From the monthly archives: November 2006
I haven’t played Thursday Thirteen for the entire month because of NaNoWriMo. On this last Thursday of the month, I’m back! And because I didn’t blog as much for the past month, here’s a recap of November in my twelfth Thursday Thirteen.
Thirteen Things about my November 2006
- Obviously, National Novel Writing Month! I was kind of nervous about how I’m going to squeeze in NaNo writing for this month because of work, but thank God for giving me time to write everyday!
- More on NaNoWriMo: I had somewhat of a hard time writing my novel at the start because I felt like my story was kind of boring. I got out of it eventually…and now I’m really psyched about what I’m writing. I really think there’s a story there somewhere. :)
- And again, more on NaNo: I reached my word count goal earlier than last year! Amazing. :)
- Marvs arrived from the US and got me books. :) Haha. I now have: A Delirious Summer and Lost in Rooville by Ray Blackston and What a Girl Wants and She’s Out of Control by Kristin Billerbeck. Thanks, Marvs!
- Starbucks planner mania! Every year, Starbucks Philippines has a promo/charity thing where you have to collect 21 stickers (1 sticker = 1 drink except for fruit juices and bottled water). 9 stickers for special/Christmas drinks and 11 stickers for the regular drinks. When you complete it, you get the planner for next year, plus a donation in your name to the Spark Hope foundation. :) I have six more stickers to go! :)
- HILLSONG UNITED IN MANILA. Need I say more? :)
- We finally got DSL! :) As of now, I am typing this in my room, using our WiFi Internet. How cool is that? Finally, I can download lots more stuff with this Internet speed! :))
- Because of the new Internet connection, I fixed my room. See before and after pictures:
Okay, so you can’t really see the bed, but the table is the more important part. now if only I could get the sofa bed out, and then put a bookshelf there for my favorite books! - So much work to do all of a sudden! My gosh. I know I should expect this, but the stress level is just so high, y’know? I’ve never been this stressed since I graduated from college…
- …but amidst all these stress from work, I have one important lesson for me this month: Be still. God is in control. :)
- Another important lesson: God doesn’t hold my sin against me. He has forgiven me, and He loves me like I am the only one to be loved. How amazing is that?
- My first thirteenth month pay. Hmmm. Not that big, but then again, it’s okay. :)
- And finally, my November is ending with a supertyphoon on the way. :( I’m praying it would change its course fully and NOT hit Metro Manila anymore. And we have a long weekend ahead too. Please Lord?…uh-oh the rain is here. Better get my electronics charged already.
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
This has probably been the busiest week I’ve ever had at work since I started. Have I said this before? Well, if I did, this week was just toxic. It wasn’t only full of work; but it was also stressful to the max. The earliest I’ve been able to go home since last Monday was at 7:00pm. That’s just…blah. It was so hectic that I got over my Hillsong United hangover come Monday.
Anyway, for the entire week, I feel like I was back during thesis times, only this time there’s a lot more at stake. When you’re doing your thesis, the only thing that is at stake is your personal grades. However, at work, you’re dealing with real life things, people who may not be as understanding as, say, your thesismates, when you make a mistake. I was thisclose to crying yesterday from all the stress, and if I didn’t get to talk to Tue, Happy and RJ, I don’t think I would’ve been able to have a restful night last night.
One thing I learned this week though, one thing I heard God tell me during the times I’ve been stressing out: be still. Still your heart, still your soul; I am God, I am big enough for whatever worries you. Sometimes when my heart and mind are raging, all shouting commands and worries and thoughts that I couldn’t think, I force myself to be still because there’s only one voice that really matters, His. No matter how hard the task is in front of me, no matter how there may be so many things that could go wrong, no matter how much I want to take control, no matter how much I want to just quit and forget everything, all that really matters is what God wants, what God is saying. When everything feels like it’s coming undone, keeping still is the only option left. Don’t bother trying to take even more control, being OC or letting your perfectionist side come out — those won’t work. Be still. God is in control. He won’t give you anything you can’t carry, and He’ll never let you out of His sight.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
- Psalm 46:10
The week is over. The work week, that is. No work tomorrow because of a holiday, and I was planning to get out of the house tomorrow for some needed R&R, but because of the tropical storm Reming (International Name: Durian), all my plans are as good as cancelled.
Ever since I started working, I am SO out of touch with these kinds of things. I didn’t know Milenyo was here until the day that it hit Metro Manila — can you believe that? Now I didn’t know about Reming until yesterday. I should watch more news…or at least, read news online so I won’t get left behind.
Good news is, Reming is not going to hit Metro Manila directly…but they say that’s even worse? Gah. The only thing I don’t like about this is the no electricity thing that we might experience (which I pray that we won’t…because that would be just…boring). Especially now that my iPod’s having battery issues again (drains batteries too fast. I wish replacing its batteries is as easy as looking for makita batteries…but alas. Time for a last replacement before the Apple Care ends!). Bah. I’m going to have to find ways to amuse myself once again. Like, read and read and read before darkness falls.
But please, Lord, no brownout? If it’s okay with You. *bats eyelashes*
On last bits before I leave the office: the reflections I have from the Hillsong United worship will be posted this weekend, if we have power. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post a new layout by next week too, because as much as I love this layout, it’s just not fit for Christmas. :P
Anyway, I’ll be out of here in a few. :P Have a happy long weekend everyone and keep safe. :)
I really didn’t get to know you on the first night we met each other, on the night we first attended the GenRev night at ECR. I got to know your name during the LSPO prayer meeting, where only you and Kina got attended it in behalf of GenRev. Then we attended another night, and that was when we all got to talk to each other.
We didn’t really talk until one day at the tambayan. I think you ended up being there because you have a long break and I just happened to be there too…and that was when we talked. Talked and talked and talked and talked about so many things — school, life, our communities, God. In High School Musical words, it was the start of something new. It was the start of your being an official YFC GenRev tambay, and the start of our friendship. :)
Your name definitely lives up to how you make the people around you feel. Seeing you in school always makes me smile because I know that if we ever stop where we are standing and talk, we’d talk soooo much that we won’t ever stop. Haha. Plus you complete the Gilmore foursome — if it weren’t for you being a member of GenRev, I would not have been able to taste the goodness that is Happy Veggie Village. If it weren’t for you, there would be no Happy’s Veggie Girls. :D
We don’t get to see each other as often now, but I’m glad for the times we get to text/talk/see each other. Haha. Soon we’ll be able to see each other a lot more…well, depending on where God brings us in the future, but I’m pretty sure He won’t forget the friendship He had grown in us. :) I’m really glad that I found a sister in you, and like I what I told you through text: hanggang sa pagtanda na ‘to. :P Happy’s Veggie Girls Forever! ;) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY! =) I am and will always be here for you. May you have a blessed year ahead, and may you be a woman after God’s own heart. :) See you soon dear. ♥
There are only a few events in my life that had rendered me speechless. These things have to be pretty darn good to make me speechless because well…I’m a talking machine. These are (well, those that I can remember at least): Jars of Clay concert, Christ Wars Megacamp and last night’s event, Hillsong United in Manila.
This is one of the hardest parts in having to experience something so tremendously wonderful. It’s hard to document it after, especially when you can’t find the words to describe the entire event. But of course, because it’s such a wonderful experience…I can’t just let it remain in memory without writing it down lest I want to forget it (which I really don’t think I will :p). Anyway.
Bea and I got to Taft around six-thirty, and we met Migs to get his camera. Then we met Tuesday, Ces, Rina and Jomar at Starbucks, left Bung’s ticket to Marvin and then went Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which was right across Harison Plaza. There were soooo many people already, but since we have good seats, we just have to figure out where we have to enter. While roaming around, we found the shirt booth and bought T-shirts for Php400 (expensive, I know, but they say it’s made by the Hillsong team themselves). Then we found our way in.
When we were there, we got to our seats and we were screaming already because we are so near the stage. Our seats were from A21-A26, which is the front seat of the audience, with three sponsor rows in front. Celebrity spotted: Piolo Pascual right at the front row.
Anyway, so the show starts, and we all start screaming again because we can see people on stage. The music starts, and we saw people rushing to the front, and we rushed to the front too. Join the fun! :)
We got to stand right in front of Jad Gillies (it is just right to say here that my friends and I have been crushing on Jad since we watched him in the Look to You video, where he had his solo in All for Love. For those who don’t know about it, All For Love was mostly sung by Holly and the camera is focused on all but Jad. However, at the last part, Jad gets focused — which is the only time he gets to be seen in the video — and sings…and in my best friend’s words, it was like he asked that specific moment to sing that part for his God. Altogether: awwww. ♥ His wife is such a lucky woman!) who looked broader in person than in video. The three of us — Tue, Bea and I — were kidding that Jad is a major distraction because it’s hard to pray when you’re distracted by a good looking guy who loves God in front of you. Haha. Anyway, we remedied it by closing our eyes and focusing on other things than him instead of looking at him during singing part.
We were asked not to take pictures during the worship event and so my friends and I decided not to, believing that we can get pictures taken after the worship. Plus we wanted to enjoy the worship experience, so no pictures for us…during the start, that is (And this explains the lack of photos in my post).
You know how good Hillsong United is in their DVDs? Well, they’re so much better LIVE. Everyone was screaming, clapping, jumping up and down praising God for the entire night, even if our vocal chords are straining, we still sang! Because we know practically all their songs, we were able to follow along the worship and not feel left out on anything. :) My favorite song for the night would have to be From The Inside Out…tear-jerking, Lord-I’m-Yours song of the night. :D
The pastor for the night wasn’t Phil Dooley, but the Powerhouse pastor, Chrisham Jeyaratnam. He spoke about having dreams, which are what God placed in our hearts and that when we have these dreams, we shouldn’t be afraid to do it. Just do it. He also said that it doesn’t matter where we are right now, because God will surely use you wherever you are. Amen!
After that, there was a series of slow songs, followed by faster songs (you wouldn’t believe the energy by Salvation is Here! Man!), and then they had three encore songs: All Day (where JD made everyone in the place sing “All day, all day now, all day” in a whisper, and then all of us would slowly crouch down and they lied on the floor), and then Everyday and finally, King of Majesty. By this time, I finally got my camera out, and took some videos and pictures (which you will see here in a while, when I transferred them already). The energy level was so high, that even if my tummy is aching from not having eaten any dinner, my feet are aching from jumping and standing and I’m already getting dizzy from not having enough water, I was still jumping up and down, singing!
And then the worship was over and they got off the stage. We took a couple of more pictures and watched them get their instruments (Aww, Jad! ♥ Haha). We were not allowed to approach them and have pictures taken, so we satisfied ourselves by just looking at them. Hahaha. And Jad! Okay, I shall stop swooning now (and if by some weird chance, Jad happens to read this…MAKE YOUR PRESENCE KNOWN! Haha. :D Seriously).
I got home at around 1:00am, still full of energy. I was tired, but everything was starting to sink in, that I couldn’t help but just smile so big. Right now I’m in the office, and my body is crying out for sleep, but when I think of what happened last night, I get so happy again that I just SMILE. Haha. :) In Tuesday’s words, I just want to declare: WE WORSHIPPED WITH HILLSONG UNITED! :)
And FYI, the only band members I know who came were Joel, JD, Michelle and Jad ♥. The others weren’t there, and that only meant one thing:
WE SHALL GO TO AUSTRALIA AND JOIN THEM ALL IN WORSHIP.
Like what I’ve been telling my friends: itaga sa bato. This is written in stone (by God’s grace). Like what Pastor Chrisham said, don’t stop dreaming, because God placed those dreams in your heart. We dream of going to Australia and actually getting inside Hillsong Church. Hey, maybe we can attend an Encounterfest too! DREAM BIG! By God’s grace and providence, we are going to Australia in the near future. Are you with us? :)
Anyway, that ends my oh-so-memorable night. I shall write other thoughts related to what other things happened last night in my In His Steps way of writing, because the lessons I learned last night deserve another post.
Pictures to follow soon. :) GOD, YOU ARE AWESOME. ♥ Amen!
In less than 6 hours, I shall be in the Rizal Memorial Center at Vito Cruz. I shall be sitting (or standing) right at the front row of Ninoy Aquino Stadium, near speakers and bright flashing lights, singing my heart out in a Hillsong United worship.
I. Can’t. Wait.
This is going to be totally random, but you know how much you look forward to something and now that the thing you were looking forward to is almost there, you don’t want it to arrive anymore because you won’t have something to look forward to after? I feel like that. I can’t wait for tonight, but I half wish it isn’t tonight just yet because…it would be over soon. And I sorta don’t want that.
Plus the fact that I have work tomorrow. I wish this was in a weekend, so you know, I could rest and marvel at how amazing tonight is going to be and all. You know.
Anyway I told you it’s random. I’m at the office, writing and waiting for things to happen regarding with some emails I sent and after my meeting later, I shall be out of here. Wohoo.
I want to buy slippers, man. For tonight. Hm. Maybe I should go down later? Let’s see.
Back to work.
We don’t always get along, and I remember we used to have shouting matches here at home over some petty thing. However, there are moments when I remember crying because I was afraid you’d get hurt, or crying because you feel bad about something. Whenever we argue, I always, always feel my worst. But you know what? We’re more similar than I thought we were. And you know what (again)? I don’t mind being like you. :)
I know I may not be the best daughter around, but I know that you always try to be the best mother you can be, and I really, really appreciate that. I may not show it as much, but believe me, I do. Thank you for being so forgiving, for always praying for us, for always putting our best interest at hand, and for loving us completely. I know that by the end of the day, you’ll be the one waiting for me to get home (and texting me relentlessly about where I am and all that).
I’m happy that you’re given another year to spend with us, and I pray that there will be many many more years to come. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA! ♥ I love you! ♥ ♥ ♥
And here we go again! :) Current wordcount: 40,025 out of 50,000 words. Yeah! 10k words to go! I’m dreaming of finishing it by tomorrow, but let’s see. :)
So here we go, a fourth excerpt. No editing whatsoever done, so there’s still a lot of tweaking to be done. Here we go, click on the link below. :)
Remember back in elementary, whenever the teacher goes out of class, or whenever there’s a spare period, he/she would always assign someone to take note of who are the noisy while the teacher was away? There’s nothing that could probably frighten an elementary student than seeing his name on the board under the big heading of NOISY (and, okay, sometimes STANDING too, because we’re not supposed to do some unnecessary standing while there’s no teacher…and who could forget Not In Proper Seat or NIPS? Memories!). In my experience there are several ways to avoid being listed:
- When you are really good and do not make any noise/stand/go out of your seat;
- Pass notes instead of talking;
- Be a really good lip reader or learn sign languages;
- Be really good friends with the person listing the names to ensure that he/she doesn’t list you (now you know where corruption starts, pfft); or
- Be the person listing the names.
I remember that being the lister was the most coveted position in the class, even more than being class president (because in our school, the class president doesn’t always handle the discipline of the class). I remember praying that I was picked to be the person assigned for the day because I love being able to stand in front and watch each and every one of my classmates squirm under my gaze. Okay, that was bad. Seriously, I want to be the lister because it gives me an excuse not to list myself, you know? Not that I had a problem keeping my mouth shut if I wasn’t, but I never knew if a small whisper can be counted as “noisy” or not. You know? Sometime around Grade 5, I started becoming more responsible (Class Secretary, awarded Most Helpful and Most Responsible at least once during the school year) that the job came to me. I held that position until we were too old do that (of course, I almost got in trouble for being too talkative — my mom almost got called to school for disciplinary reasons during Grade 6 because I couldn’t control my mouth. My bad), and I guess in some way, I relished in the power it gave me. Somehow it made me feel that I was better than the others, that I am more trustworthy, that I am more responsible, that I hold their fate with the teacher in my hands.
Talk about power tripping.
But being in that position feels lonely too. If you decide to be really strict, your friends would get mad at you for doing so (this is considering the ages of the people who need someone to list is at the young age and wouldn’t really know better than not get angry at a friend who lists their names in front), and if you decide to spare your friends from the trouble, those you list would get mad at you for playing favorites.
So who wins in this situation? Do you? No. Sometimes, even if there’s so much power — more than anyone else that is — in that position, you’d rather be one of the students who stay in their seats in watch the lister in front warily. At least that way, you wouldn’t be harming anyone, right? You’d be responsible for your actions and not worry about how other people would react to what you do (except maybe for the teacher).
In connection. Sometimes we’re placed in positions we like, but is in a seemingly higher level than some other people who are also close to you. And sometimes, you can’t help but feel like those people who are close to you resent you for being in that position. You know? It’s not your fault your teacher placed you there, or you get assigned to that job or whatever, but still people resent you for being in that position. When you weren’t so busy with that job or assignment, you feel connected with them. But when things take you to hours occupied by things related to your job or assignment, you feel disconnected from those people…like you’ve gone and left them, or worse, they’ve gone and left you.
*insert sigh here*
This has been a busy week, although there are some things that didn’t seem to feel that okay since last week. You know the feeling? Of course, I may be paranoid and all, but the feeling sucks just the same.
This weekend I’m going to write. Write and write even more. Because I want to lose myself into that writing, to temporarily forget some things that are bothering me. To those who are now worried, don’t. This may be some hormones acting up, we never know (and I hope it is!). And it’s all about perspective, y’know?
Happy weekend everyone. :)
I. Am. Sleepy.
Okay, not so much, but sleepy and lethargic enough not to want to work today. It could just be the morning thing, and because I didn’t have enough sleep last weekend (stayed up to 3:00am waiting for my brother in Eastwood after the old YFC East A2 oldies reunion where Pinky and I left early thinking my brother would be there early, but he got there late. Sunday, I didn’t take any naps at all because I was busy writing, and I wasn’t sleepy). I feel like I had a long weekend again, probably because I spent most of it awake, and having long weekends make me feel like lazy to go to work by Monday.
I need busier weekends. Weekends where I actually go out and do something instead of hanging out in the house. And the energy and will to do it.
This is also a perfect example of a time when I’d rather be in school. Again, I am craving the familiarity of school. Don’t get me wrong; I’m adjusting quite well with work, but sometimes I wish I was back there in the academe, worrying only about grades and projects and even thesis, and not having to do things that may be life and death of a company you’re working on (okay, or not).
Hay. I wish I could go visit DLSU again soon, but then it’s too far and I’m in the office the whole day and I still have writing to do by the end of the day. So it’s not really possible for now.
Or, I could get this Monday sickness out with a strong dose of caffeine or something. :P
Hay Lord. I also miss my old YFC days. I miss having households to look forward to. I miss going up to the worship place every 6:00pm, and then having dinner with everyone else who were at the worship. I miss sleeping over at Tuesday’s condo, staying up all night talking about things and watching Hillsong videos. I miss having conferences to look forward to, and singing my heart out in worship during those conferences. I miss visiting GK sites. I know SFC is here for me already, but I’m still adjusting, and it’s not like YFC campus based where I can go to the tambayan anytime and talk YFC stuff anytime I want to.
This is a bad case of Monday sickness. Argh. I want to go home. I want to sleep. I think I shall sleep early tonight for a change. I can put off writing just for tonight so I can rest. Right? I am ahead of schedule.
I need to stick by that. :P
Anyway. I have a New Employee Orientation in 13 minutes and the elevator takes a long time going down to the 18th floor. At least that’s a nice way to spend my morning? I think. Haha. Don’t let me be too sleepy there, please.
Lord, give me energy. Enable me.
Because I felt like posting another one. :)
WORDCOUNT UPDATE: 31,917 out of 50,000 words. :) I’ll finish to 32,000+ by tonight before I sleep. Hopefully by this week I’ll get to 40,000 to 45,000. :) I can do this!
Work again tomorrow. I bet it’s going to be busy this week, so I better put in at least an hour of writing every night to be in the same pace.
Once again: this has gone through minimal editing, so don’t expect anything that stellar. This particular excerpt is taken from Chapter 7, as Rain was welcoming people into the reception of her brother’s wedding. Some revelations start here. :) Click on the Read the rest of the entry link. :)
