So Near yet So Far

This is the story of Ruy and myself this week. He has a Sales Conference here in Manila (a rarity as he is almost always in the province). The conference is actually held in QC Sports Club, a stone's throw away from my house. YET we haven't seen each other, nor have we been able to keep in touch over the telephone.

When he's on break, I'm busy. When I'm not busy, he is. It's a bit frustrating really. Every night, I'd try to stay up and wait for him to come home so we could talk properly. Unfortunately I end up falling asleep as I am sooooooooo tired.

Today I texted him at 6:59 am telling him that I'm in the office already. At 7:30 he texted back saying:

RUY: What?!? Bakit ang aga mo? At this rate we'd never meet.
LIV: Color Coding, I have no choice.
RUY: Damn I could have picked you up!

Awwwwwwwwww....I don't know why that made me smile. I guess it's nice to know that he's frustrated too. We'll finally be able to have dinner together tonight. Thank goodness.

Wedding?

I confess, I've completely lost interest in the wedding preps. It just seems so trivial now compared to the other things we're preparing for. It really makes me wish we just had a small civil wedding with our families. Ruy wouldn't have any of that of course (neither would my grandmother I suppose).

Right now, the entire hullaballoo of the wedding just seems so silly. Spending at least 25k on flowers? 30k on one gown? What for? Only a handful of the guests would actually appreciate it. It seems completely irrational to me specially since I don't really believe in the Catholic Church.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an atheist. I am very spiritual, but I'm not religious. I don't trust the people who make up the Catholic Church. Yet here I am, succumbing to one of their sacraments....

Beauty

I was eavesdropping to a conversation while buying my daily bottle of mineral water when I heard a woman say "Beauty is overrated." I looked at the face of the woman who said this and I thought to myself "Of course you'd think that, otherwise you'd be depressed."

I would have to say that I believe beauty is underrated. I think that people don't realize the impact of being considered beautiful. It could be as simple as being served first in a restaurant. It could be the fact that when you go to a drug store instead of waiting for hours before someone asks what you're there for, people are actually clamoring to be the one to serve you. It's about receiving free things all the time. It's about never wondering if someone woudl be willing to be your date to the most boring wedding.

It's the confidence it brings you. It's knowing that when people look down on you it's due to jealousy. It's not wondering if your boyfriend's parents would approve of your looks.

I could name so many other things that people might call superficial. It's ironic though that the people who call these things superficial are those who save all their money just to get a full body bleach.

Pagtatampisaw sa Sinasalaming Kaluwalhatian

In case people are wondering what my title means, it's the tagalized version of "Basking in Reflected Glory" (thank you to Patrick Tiongson, Patrick Porto, and Loi for this translation).

Congratulations Ruy!!! Mwaaaaaaaah (wahahaha, isn't the fact that I'm not telling you guys what I'm congratulating Ruy for sooooo irritating?)

Different Kind of Weekend

Ruy and I both try not to bring work home. We both work very hard already and we want to have a bit of rest during the weekend. More often than not, it's Ruy who's very guilty of this. It's not enough that he's working practically 20 hours a day hundreds of miles away. When he returns he still has work to do. Every once in a while I get the chance to participate (or help out)even if it's doing something as mundane as encoding numbers in Excel while he reads them. Last Sunday, after lunch, we went through Ruy's presentation together. It's not often that people get to see their partner's in their element. I often wish I could see Ruy do his job more cause I really find it impressive.

It's not the sales, not the output which impresses me. It's the way he deals with people. How people love him, and trust him. How he can talk to tricycle drivers or janitors in a sincerely nice way. I'll stop gushing while I'm ahead.

Welcome Home PT

PT just arrived last Thursday and so I called up Patric Porto and Loi for a dinner last Saturday. PT is still jetlagged but that didn't stop us from having long, funny, senseless yet mind stimulating conversations.

Here's to my 3 favorite men from Ateneo. MWAH!



I miss you guys. I expect to have another dinner with you guys sometime this week.

Busy Me -- Busy US

This week (as with the past week) has been quite hellish for me. I have so much work that I end up messing up on small details. Ruy is in the same boat, he's stressing quite a bit with his job as they have a performance appraisal coming up. He's always like that, always nervous always tense but I think that's what drives him to do well during their performances.

Back to myself, a consultant came over with our CEO. I suppose (and I sort of hope) that we'll be having a more delineated structure in the company. He listened to my meeting with 3 clients and I was happy to see that he eemed to like it. It was delightful to see him getting involved in the discussions (I was surprised by his enthusiasm as he is quite straight-laced and often times serious).

I'll be working till 10 pm tonight. I just found out that we'll be having another one of our famous parties tonight. I don't know if I'll have the energy for it. I might try to drop by for a minute or two.

Conversations with Meg

This made my day...

megserranilla: uy kelan kasal mo?
Livee: Next year pa. we had it moved cause of feng shui
meg serranilla: hahaa
meg serranilla: so ilang taon ka na by then?
Livee: 24 ata
Livee: turning 25
Livee: gosh I'm young
meg serranilla: hehehe...ok lang yan
meg serranilla: si mama mary nga 14

Trust Me

If there's one person who trusts my make-up skills it would have to be Patric. Sometimes I believe he trusts my skills more than I trust in myself. (self esteem issues people, bear with me) Looking at Patric's picture below, I'd have to say that I am quite impressed at myself (my self-esteem fluctuates, sometimes it's high sometimes it's low bear with me once again) I made Patric look fierce, yet very clean. You see, during that time Patric's skin was drying up and that's so hard to hide specially cause Patric only told me I was going to do his make-up when I was already in the office and had a very limited supply of make-up in my kit.

I also ADORE the eye make-up (of course I adore it, I did it). It looks so fierce without looking scary. It also hid his feline eyes which sometimes makes his features look feminine. I wanted something more androgenous for this look and I think I achieved it.

Patric has asked me to work on his make-up thrice. And each time he presents me with a challenge. One was during a class production for a psychology class. Second was during a Malate halloween party and lastly that time shown in the picture for an Avant Garde Christmas Party. I love it! Patric can I do your make-up next Halloween again?

Patric Porto

I cannot let this week past without blogging about one of my best friends, PATRIC PORTO. I love this guy to pieces and when I talk about him I can't help but be like a proud MOMMA! Allow me to bask in Patric's reflectd glory.

When we were freshmen in Ateneo. I saw thi guy write this HUGE sign which he posted inside his notebook. It said SUMMA CUM LAUDE. He said that he would graduate Summa Cum Laude, I said "Right!?"

Fast forward to our graduation, yes he was the summa cum laude of Ateneo. I couldn't be more proud. Patric doesn't do anything just for the sake of doing it. Each step has a motivation, has a purpose. Since college, I've been pushing him to study abroad. He said he was tired of studying.

I'm so happy he finally changed his mind. Now he set his sight on Harvard (on a full scholarship). When I heard about this, my reaction was completely different from my reaction when we were freshmen. I had no doubts, I just said "It's about time"

2 days ago, I received an excited phonecall from Patric. He just got his GMAT score he got 760/800. You only need 720 to enter Harvard.

Your one step closer Patxie!!

Love-Hate Relationship

This is what I have with Ruy right at this very moment. I seriously think that when you need something you should be the one to follow things up and not leave the other person hanging. When you change someone else's plans and include yourself in it, the least you could do is follow through.

Lastly, text back when you have 2 mobile phones. That's not a lot to ask right? AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH, can I strangle someone right now? I'm trying to strangle my 1 Liter water bottle but it's not so satisfying without the yelps of pain.

Mush

There's only us,
There's only this.
No day but today

Last Weekend

I told Ruy that after Baguio and after accompanying me to my extremely long and agonizing medical tests he deserved a restful weekend. Given that we spent Saturday braving the Quiapo crowds, we were left with only a restful Sunday.

We went to Megamall (for some weird reason, Ruy and I have an affinity to this mall when we watch movies) to watch OMEN. Everyone knows I hate horror films but I decided to brave this one out for Ruy. I have to say that this is even scarier than those horror movies with monsters because this deals with EVIL. I believe evil really exists. And the fact that the deaths seemed like accidents and not so out-of-this-world is even freakier.



We had lunch in Sugarhouse where we played around with the camera. Here is my favorite photo I call it "alone and greasy"....waaaaaahahaha. I can try as hard as I could but being deep and thoughtful is so not me. Ruy took some photos as well but I like mine better. HAhahaha. I'm the most self-centered person I know (after Affie and Patric and my mother)

After that we looked around for some tripods and a possible gift for Quitos, Ruy's brother. Eventually Ruy sat quietly in chocolat, familiarizing himself with the camera while I went to the Bridal Fair. I'm beginning to hate bridal fairs! They're so crowded! Anyway here's one picture that Ruy took, might as well include it here as this is supposed to be OUR blog (not that he's contributing anything to it....hmmmph)



Guess what this is!

Nani

A lot of you know off my grandmother. You all know that I'm the quintessential Lola's girl. My St. Scho friends have all been recipients of her cooking (remember how she would force us to have lunch at 10 am?) and of her kakulitan.

When I was single, I would always say that it doesn't matter if my mother approved of my boyfriend but my lola had to. I told Ruy this from day one, and luckily my lola ADORES Ruy. I think he's the first in-law she ever liked.

Whenever I would look at my lola's old pictures, I would be amazed at how similar we are. We have clothes that are exact replicas of each other, even the colors are the same. Our hairstyles are very similar. And we look so much alike. No wonder we are fans of each other! hehehe.

It is not unexpected for me to have her as one of my first subjects. Here are some more Nani pix.



The next couple of pictures are those of Nani playing with her great grandson. I jokingly called her "the Active Lola"....



I would like to point out that Nani is one of the best supporters of my camera. She's my only willing subject.

Dorothy

Happy Birthday!!! You probably thought I wouldn't remember right? ;) hehehe. I miss you so much and I hope you're having fun. DENNIS! You better take care of Dorothy... ;)



I have to say that you looked absolutely radiant during your wedding. This picture made me so kilig. Dennis looked so happy!! Ruy you better look that happy during our wedding...hehehe

Tall, Dark and ?

Ruy and I were having a very funny conversation about babies. We were talking about my two nephews who were born a week apart, Caspo (a nickname we gave him as he looked like Casper when he was born, his picture can be seen below) and Gabriel (i'll post Gabby's picture next time) and how one was taller than the other.



We then happily concluded that our baby would definitely be tall (I have tall genes as I'm the shortest in the family, meanwhile Ruy is really tall) so yehey for our baby! BUT our baby would definitely be dark ....AND he would definitely have curly hair! OH NO!!! I then concluded that our kids would be TALL, DARK, AND CURLY.

Ruy couldn't help but laugh at my conclusion. He can't deny it, he knows it true!! So when we were trying to come up with a name for our baby we were fooling around by saying that we'd name him (Ruy wants to have a girl, but we both think that our first would be a boy) Tyrese or Usher...para bagay sa color. Hahaha

If I have a really ugly baby, would I find it ugly? Sure, I'd love it of course but would I know it's ugly? Would I feel pity for my baby because I know it's ugly? Or would I be blinded by love as I'm the mother?

Based on recent family history, I don't think I'll be blinded by love. My cousins know what's wrong with their children. My mother is my biggest critic, and my grandmother once exclaimed that if she ever had an ugly child she'll hang it up on a tree. So you see, my family doesn't wear rose colored glasses. We see beauty and the lack of it. But we take it as it is.

Going back to our baby, I am sure I'd love it sooooooo much. But I just have one prayer, if it's going to be an ugly baby, can it at least be a boy? I have seen how mean girls in my high school were to girls they considered ugly. I don't want my childl to have emotional scars...

Our New Baby

Yup you heard it right, Sushi has a baby brother.



Yehey!! Finally a hobby Ruy and I can share (no he doesn't like shopping and make-up and I can't stand video games). The LCD of this baby is to die for. Seriously! I was amazed.

Henry's in Quiapo was really a haven for cheap (read: poor) people who want to get into photography. Imagine I bought a 1GB Sony memory stick for 2000! I looked at the Sony Philippines website and I saw that it normally costs 5,999.00 in malls. What a bargain!

Ruy thought we should have bought an SLR but I said let's practice with this gorgeous baby first. Then we'll buy an SLR when we're really really good already.

LOI

Loi was one of my bestest friends in College. God, he was my classmate in practically every subject during our first 2 years of college. He even endured learning Bahasa because of me.

Needless to say, I love this guy very much. Why? Cause he's insane!! Check out our conversation yesterday. I just told him about my Mc. Do Incident.

Loi: i think i had a crayon na may Green Blue, which was different from Blue
Green
Livee: no kidding?
Loi: meron ding Orange Red and Red Orange
Livee: matalino pala yung tiga mc. donald's. mas sosi yung crayola niya kesa sakin

Loi: baka she's rather complicated
Loi: that's why she found you plain
Livee: you're probably right
Loi: perhaps she already found self actualization with her line
of work
Loi: and sees your struggle to find yourself
Livee: oh wow, she probably saw right through my masks.
Livee: she knows that deep down, i have no identity
Loi: yes
Loi: you are plain
Livee: you're absolutely right. I am a blank slate
Loi: you better work at mcdonald's as well
Livee: yes, mc. donald's is what make's the world goround
Livee: mcdonald's is the center of the universe where one finds peace and contentment.
Livee: oh, and self-actualization
Loi: and you owe to that server this enlightenment

Loi: why did you get medical tests?
Livee: for my hormonal problems.
Loi: ahh
Loi: so you're still contemplating to become a mormon?

Love you LOI!!

Oh No...Beeyatch!

You Are 82% Bitchy

Ouch, you've got a heart of steel, and you don't mind throwing out cutting insults to whomever you hate. Those who know you well know not to mess with you. And those who don't know you well are plain scared of you!

How Bitchy Are You?

Phonepal

I spent 20 minutes of my break time looking for a digital camera for Ruy and myself. I am currently torn between these two



I was looking around when I came across ABENSON. The guy promised to be able to coordinate with their supplier, he said "Ma'm just write your name and phone number on this pamphlet and I will text you when it's ready" So I did that...I wrote Olivia and 0917-xxxxxxx and left. After the Mc. Donald's incident I went back still fuming a bit and asked the sales man for updates. He said "Ma'm I'm sorry no one's replying right now. Why don't you leave your name and your phone number here and I'll text you"

I was about to do that when I remembered, HEY! I just did this earlier, where's the number I wrote down earlier? And you know that mother f*&#@$ said? "Ay mam nakuha po nung isang customer eh" I was so mad. I said "What? You gave away my phone number?" and he said "Ma'm wala naman pong problem yun, sulat niyo na lang ulit dito" of course I freaked out and started saying stuff like "What do you mean walang problema, shempre may problema, number ko yun! I don't want to give that away to random people"

Why didn't you take care of it? When you asked for it I entrusted you with that. I'm not going to give you my number again cause I don't trust you. ....

So right now I am waiting for a text or a call from my new phone pall

Plain Girl

It was lunch time. I've been working for 4 hours. I didn't have a lot of time to eat so I decided to do what every working person falls prey to every once in a while...Fast food.

I went to Mc. Donald's and ordered a double cheeseburger. They told me I needed to wait for 5 minutes, I said that's fine. I waited...and waited.

Finally, my burger was delivered to me with the receipt. I looked at the receipt and there was a description of myself ... "PLAIN GIRL IN A GREEN BLUE SHIRT!"

Excuse me? Plain girl? First of all, there's nothing plain about me. Second, GREEN BLUE is not a color!

Yesterday I Cried

The past week hasn't been easy in a lot of ways. I'm stressed over the medical tests, I have a lot of work, I had to go on leave to go to Baguio and to be tested, etc. Yesterday was my first day back. I spent Monday night making a list of EVERYTHING I needed to do, it came down to almost 2 pages, and to those of you who have seen my teeny tiny handwriting you would know that 2 pages means a whole LOTTA work.

I left the house to go to work at 7 in the morning. This is quite early as my travel time is usually just 15-20 minutes. I was driving when I noticed something strange about the way I was driving, I tried calling Ruy to ask but he wasn't answering, so I went down to look at my car and saw that my front tire was extremely flat yet again. I wanted to cry (but I didn't)...f*$#@ tires! I changed all four tires less than a month ago, and now it's doing this again! I had no choice but to run the flat tire to the nearest vulcanizing shop. The guy said there's nothing wrong with my tire and just put it back.

I arrived in eastwood at exactly 8. I decided to park outside where there was a flat rate (I knew I was going to stay in my office for a long time, and having to pay an exorbitant parking fee was just like adding salt to the wound). The manong told me I had to pay...damn it I noticed that I had absoloutely no money in my wallet. I told the manong to point me to the nearest ATM...he made me walk all the way to the starbucks complex to withdraw. Beggars can't be choosers so I obliged, when I returned to pay him he said "Ang tagal mo naman, dapat dito ka na lang sa chinabank nagwithdraw". WHAT!!!! I held my breath and tried real hard not to strangle him... he's still alive now.

I went to work and work I did! I was in the office working, not blogging nor chatting, up until 12:00 in the evening. When that was over, I walked to the parking area dead tired, only to find my tire flat yet again.

I tried calling Ruy, no signal. I tried calling my Kuya (cousin), no reply. Eventually I gave up and realized that I had no other choice but to drive to the gasoline station.

Thank goodness for the wonderful manongs over there. I was so greatful for their patience and care. Bait talaga! When they were about finished I was finally able to call Aaron who dropped by to tell me what to do and to tell me not to drive like a maniac. THANKS AARON!!

While driving home I just couldn't help but feel sad. After working like a maniac all day, all I wanted was a warm bath and a soft bed. But instead I was stuck in a gasoline station trying to call for help. I remembered my conversation with Ruy a long time ago, the one he got really upset over. I told him that ultimately I'm the only one reliable enough to take care of myself. I can't expect anyone else to be available for me. That fact still hurts. We all want a prince charming or a fairy god mother to make everything better for us, but ultimately we're the only ones who can do that to ourselves.

That made me cry. I hate being alone. I hate the fact that I was stuck with a flat tire and no one knew. What I hated even more was going home to my grandmother's house at 1:30 in the morning to find her getting mad and saying "Ano ka bang klaseng babae, bakit ka umuuwi nang ganitong oras"

Wow. I didn't even bother explaining what happened. What for?

Fieldtrip!

I'll be going to Baguio tomorrow. I still haven't packed. In fact I'm still in the office. This is going to be my most disorganized trip EVER! I'm nervous....