Taking a Break

I'm
taking a break from debugging the whole day away. I sure hope that
debugging burns all of the calories I've put in for the past week of
eating cheesecakes, cookies, and Graters ice cream. I really, really
hope so.

So here I am, blogging from sunny Cincinnati. It rhymes! Too bad it
isn't true. The sun isn't up at 7AM in the morning. The cold goes
through your bone. And it rains, it snows, and it hails. But I
absolutely love it.
Somebody might laugh at me when I say I love the cold weather, but I
really do. And I hope it doesn't wear off me if I experience it more in
weeks, months, and years to come.

There's someone who
doesn't seem to like the cold that much. Back in Manila he was smiling
a little, but here, he's back to his sad old Eeyore self. I even heard him singing this by the
window...

Why can't it be

Why can't it be the two of us

Why can't we be lovers

Only friends

You came along

At the wrong place

At the wrong time

Or was it me...?

That's it for now from dreary Cincinnati! It rhymes! I miss you guys!

Surprising Week

This week has been surprising, funny and heart-warming so far.

Sunday
Coffee at Starbucks with my cousins and Ate Cel's
now-husband. It was great having the five of us go out again. It's been
a long time that we all went out as Ate Cel and Kuya Sonny have been
busy with their wedding and starting a family. It was just like before:
jokes, stories, and kwentuhans of our now favorite topic: baby Sean,
with Belgian waffles, whipped cream and coffee.

Monday
Dinner with Mike at The Old Spaghetti House. We went gaga over their Colossal Chocochip ala Mode. Hot+Cold = Perfectness!
Super na-miss ko tong si Miki. Our conversation touched a lot of topics
and it was very relaxing. Thank you for everything, Miks! hugs!
>:D<

Tuesday
I had a long chat with Robert, a teammate from my
most recent project. We talked about how work and life was going. In
the end, we both realized that we should be happy because we are
blessed with work that we somehow enjoy doing. There's a lot to be
thankful for, like a surprising chat with someone you get to learn a
lot from, like Roberto.

Wednesday
It was so early in the morning and I got stuck
with a bunch of people in the elevator. While we waited for the
technicians to "save" us, I couldn't help but have a silent, hearty
laugh. This could go straight to the record books: Chubbs got stuck in
an elevator in SMPC. Haha, well, that's part of living life.

Thursday
I went to mass and confession at UP with Ate
Mitzi. We had lunch at our beloved Rodic's after. And guess who we saw?
The UP Basketball team eating lunch. If you know me well, then you'd
know I was ecstatic. I even bought tapsilog "for my sister" just to
stay a little bit longer. That surprise made me smile.

Before this week started, I was beginning to think my life was a
boring cycle of waking up, working, and sleeping. Now, I know that life
can never be boring. It's just that I'm too preoccupied to pay
attention to its details. If I just paid attention, I would have
noticed how fun and inspiring it was to be with family and friends. I
would have realized just how many
jokes, misadventures, and
surprises God sends me in a week that I just had to throw my head back
and laugh. I would have realized that I learn life lessons from people
I interact with everyday, that I learn how to love and be loved by just
being with people that really matter.

That is what I learned in this week of surprises -- in a nutshell. Plus the fact that there will definitely be a lot more surprising weeks in the future.

Sunday Slowdown

I remember when I was still in school, Sunday nights equated to
cramming time. Back then, the only thing I looked forward to was
listening to Magic's Sunday Slowdown while studying. I would pore over
pages of SocSci readings, differential equations and numerical methods
while humming to the best slow songs in the radio. Sometimes, I would
take a break and sing a song close to my heart. Other times, I would
doodle lyrics at the back pages of my notebooks. Sunday Slowdown sure
eased the burden off last-minute studying and made my Sunday nights
enjoyable.



Tonight, listening to Sunday Slowdown after a long time, I hear songs
of broken hearts, selfless love, and sweet nothings. I reminisce and
think of the old times that I can never bring back. I daydream and look
forward to future memories. I assess myself in the present and see
nothing remarkable, but surprisingly, I am content.



Tonight, I realize what Sunday Slowdown nights have always done for me.
Yes, they have helped ease the arrival of work weeks over the years. But for me, even
more than that, they have continually reminded me that even with all
the bitterness and cynicism, deep down, I'm still your hopeless
romantic girl.