Lots of MUSTs this August

Wow, we're now on the 8th month of 2010. I don't even wanna think about the things I haven't even done yet (like learn how to drive, read all my books, make spa products, learn how to surf and windsurf again, make homemade soap, regularly play with my guitar, drums and keyboards, etc...). Honestly, 24 hours in a given day is just not enough. I tried, Oh God, did I try. But it felt like I was killing myself and my marriage. Who really has the time to do all these things?! I'm no wonder woman. I try to be but... Anyway, I still have four months to attempt doing everything that's on my 2010 list. Maybe, just maybe, I can still hack it.

For this month, I intend to continue with my VA work. On Thursday nights, I have the Brownman Revival gigs to look forward to at 70's Bistro. On weekends, I hope to be more productive by hiring part time help to do house cleaning so I can make some more beaded accessories, concoct my own spa products, make my own soap and read my books ( I just recently bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Eat Pray Love, and 4 new double digest Archie comics. But of course, there are still tons of other books on my bookshelf which I haven't even touched yet. Talk about "takaw mata sa libro"), go surfing at the end of the month and windsurf in between all these activities. I think I need a miracle to be able to do all of these activities. LOL!

On August 10, I'll be claiming one of my policies with Prudential Life and invest it further in a small but manageable business. The amount is not that breathtaking but it will have to suffice. I hope I can make it grow for Popsy's sake. I just dunno how long it will take before I receive the cash. I hope it's not one of those irritating things in insurance companies --- When you need your money, it takes forever to get it, but if they wanna sell you some sort of insurance, mabilis pa sila sa alas kwatro. *Keeping my fingers crossed*

On August 14, Peter and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary as a romantic couple. We're married 8 years now but those 3 years of just being boyfriend-girlfriend prior to our marriage marked the real foundation of our solid relationship. I have nothing planned and I doubt Peter has either. We'll just see how our days go and just do something at the spur of the moment.

I'm hopeful that August will bring us a lot of blessings and wonderful surprises. It's the month before the BER months begin. I really hope we can make the most of it.

Til my next post. Ciao!

The Heat is On!

The heat is definitely on! And the only thing that I look forward to every week are our adventure weekend out of town trips when we finally hang out at the beach, discover new places, do some windsurfing, frolic in the waters, and hopefully begin surfing again and take scuba diving lessons.

I was not joking when I said in my last post that I work so hard. My gosh, I am literally living every weekday, from our bed to my work station. I seldom get out of my office, and when I do, it's because I feel so stressed and tired, and that's the only time I go down to clean the house a bit (coz it  relaxes my mind), do a batch of laundry (it's all automatic anyway), prepare a super quick meal,  or spend around 5-10 minutes playing with  drums and my guitar (yes, I'm still playing Alone and This is Me, the only two songs I have memorized), or tinker with our keyboards which I am still getting used to. And thank God for lunch and dinner breaks, I can watch my favorite TV series one episode at a time. (Right now, I just started with Desperate Housewives Season 6)... All to relieve pressure and anxiety that I sometimes experience when I feel so overwhelmed with my virtual tasks. Could I really do this? Could I really hack 3 virtual jobs for a long time? I am grateful though for being a virtual assistant. I still think it's the best job in the world coz you can have the best of both worlds. And it does make you earn lots of money if you know where to look and how to use your time.

It's just that with 3 jobs, sacrifies were indeed made on my part and I am getting used to it. I am getting used to not blogging every now and then; I am getting used to not checking my social networks every 5 minutes, I am getting used to the solitude I have when I'm fully focused on my jobs, and I am getting used to feeling more at peace. I didn't realize that I can consider all those social networking stuff as  clutter in my life. When I really had to make a decision, they were the first things to go. My life has been more calm since. Coz while some have been helpful, many of them have been  very distracting that I didn't realize before how much of my time was used (or maybe wasted) just updating and commenting on facebook, twitter, plurk, myspace, friendster, etc.   Anyway, these are just my thoughts for now since I have never been this busy before to the point that I couldn't even get up to buy myself some drinking water supply from our neighbor. Thank God for my husband who thinks of me when I can't even think of myself.

Anyway, I just needed to share my thoughts. I am looking forward to a  series of happy weekends with my hubby this summer. This weekend, we're hoping to do the two rides we weren't able to do two weeks ago: Superman and Silver Surfer rides at Treetop Adventure, then head to Dungaree beach in Subic. Two weeks ago, it was All Hands Beach we checked out and it was nice too. I'll do a post on that on my travel blog soon. Come Sunday, we plan to do a bit of windsurfing again then look for the other lakes in San Pablo.

Happy weekend, everyone and have a great summer!

Work Hard, Play Harder, Love the Hardest

Growing up as the eldest of three siblings, and with responsibilities beyond my age, I learned how to be efficient so I can still devote some time with activities that make me happy. I remember, when I  was just a kid, making stationery and origami during the rainy season made me feel so happy. When the sun  was out, I played tex, or football, or tumbang preso, or taguan, or shato with my friends. I was such a boyish little girl. I had more guy friends than girl friends. Go figure. Anyway, I digress. I just thought of these memories coz I'm still trying to make sense of the way I am currently living my life.

The second week of February was quite challenging for me. Like I told you before, I accepted another full time job. Now, why the heck did I do that when I was already living a beautiful life?  I work hard, I play harder and I love the hardest. I guess it has something to do with my being efficient and more productive. You see, if I'm not busy with my job or tinkering with my personal projects, I spend hours just checking my social networks, emails, blogging and watching DVDs. Sure they bring me joy but then again, I'd rather exploit all my resources making a living out of something I love rather than doing what I love but wasting my energy, time and not earning money from it. Besides, I want to fund my new water sports activity, which is windsurfing,  without using our savings. Plus, I still have plans of conquering my trauma in surfing and my fear of scuba diving so I might as well earn as much as I can so I can use my additional income to fund my new and old hobbies. ^_^ Then all my hard work won't be for nothing. Like what Peter's boss told him once, "I'll rest when I'm dead." Hehehe.

Windsurfing at Lake Caliraya

That being said, I am thankful for my jobs, the sleepless days and nights when I also  try to squeeze in my other projects, and our wonderful weekends full of fun and adventure! (We got a couple of trips planned this summer. See my travel blog) And despite everything, I was still able to accomplish the following last week:

Practice, perseverance, and visualization... these are the keys to perfecting any craft.

• I started with my windsurfing lessons last Saturday, yay!
• I got to play with my guitar and drums (see videos I placed on my sidebar). I'm such an amateur but I don't care. I just studied on my own and look, I can play some tunes!
• I continued reading my books.
• I consulted with my Tarot cards and I was able to make readings for some friends.
• My hubby helped me with the laundry
• I was still able to clean the house.
• I was able to blog.

The things that were taken from my schedule were:

• about 30 minutes of meditation
• about an hour of workout.... no more time to bike and exercise
• no more time to cook
• therefore, no more time for the other things I said I'd do!

Hmmmm...

Let me just get the hang of my new working schedule and I promise myself to make time even when there seems to be none.

This is my plan:

• Meditate while stretching and exercising after I wake up each morning. Kahit 10 minutes lang.
• Consult with my Tarot cards after breakfast.
• Read a few pages of my books for  5 minutes each hour.  
• Prepare easy dishes during my lunch break and while waiting for the food, I can play some tunes. I should start tinkering with our keyboards soon!
• Ask Peter to water the plants before he leaves the house in the morning and to fix our bed every morning too.
• Simple cleaning of the house in the morning and in the afternoon.
• Bike ride for only  a few minutes after 6 pm.
• Watch videos while I do my 2nd and 3rd jobs late at night and at dawn to keep me awake.
• Play  a bit of Wii boxing and/or Soulcalibur and No More Heroes for a few minutes to jolt me from slumber in case I feel very sleepy. 
• And on those weekends when we are not traveling, I will start making spa products and beaded accessories. 

Ok, that's it for now. I think I'm quite happy with what I came up with. Carpe diem, folks!

THIS IS IT! Hello 2010!

My second week for 2010 is almost over and what have I done to accomplish my goals? I know I haven't made any strict schedule to do everything I've set out for this year. Being an Aquarian, I know and I accept both my strengths and weaknesses as well as my quirks and limitations. I am much too carefree to be bound by a strict schedule day in and day out. Believe me, I have tried creating an excel file for my schedule but it just didn't work. I always end up doing what I felt like doing.

So for now, let me just put in writing the things I have accomplished so far. Being a visual person, this helps me organize my cluttered yet O.C. mind and I can see everything more clearly. I really am a walking contradiction, noh?

1st week of January:

• I went on an Asian backpacking trip where I got in touch with my spiritual side with the help of one of my best friends, and my guru, Jem. 
• I meditated and prayed a lot.
  
• I was able to practice my photography by taking tons of photos non-stop on those 8 days we were touring Southeast Asia.

2nd week of January:

• I am back at my hectic work schedule.
• I was able to continue doing my meditations and prayers of gratitude.
• I cooked twice and hopefully I can start cooking a recipe next week from one of my cook books like I promised before.
• I will try to do a blog post for each of my other blogs that I haven't updated yet: bookworm and witchcraft.
• I was able to update my other personal blogs: sexynomad, fashionko, Kicking Pinay and diet motivator.
  
• I was able to upload tons of songs on my itunes. Yay!
• I was able to watch a couple of DVDs with my hubby.
• I was able to clean the house and do the laundry.
  

What's next?

Okay, I admit, I do feel overwhelmed. Mondays-Fridays are devoted to my online work, a bit of personal blogging (which includes tinkering with my tarot and other Wiccan stuff, doing fashion posts, reading books, photography and cooking). Weekends are for errands, our Vita Plus biz, acting gigs (if any), trips (if any), social meetings and of course, time with my hubby. I guess I'd have to squeeze in there all those other things I intend to accomplish this year like:

1. Soap Making

2. Level 2 of Drums
3. Baking

4. Guitar playing (must memorize 4 songs)

5. Painting

6. Candle Making

7. Spa Making

8. Scuba Diving

9. Wind Surfing

10. Surfing

11. Making Beaded Accessories

12. Driving

13. Biking

14. Play Keyboards (must memorize 2 songs)

I can do this!!!! Perhaps what I can do is eliminate those things that are not very important and take up so much of my time like:

• Spending a lot of time checking Plurk and Facebook.
• Staring into space (yeah I do that when I'm zombified).
• Try to limit watching my new copies of TV series (24, Dexter, House, Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, Supernatural, etc.)
• Watching my fave DVDS over and over (Harry Potter and Superman series, Sex & the City, Iron Man, etc.)
  
• Cleaning every time I see something that is not clean or not in order.

I'll update you again after this weekend. Hopefully by then, I can clear my mind as to what I want to focus on first. Gotta go to work. Ciao for now!

Facing My Fears in 2010

Hi! I'm back!

Since I am doing these little personal projects which I have been putting on hold for the longest time (some of which for even a decade now), I figured, why not try to face my fears too and include them on this blog? There are three major things which I have always wanted to do but due to freaky past experiences, traumatized me and stopped me from bringing them to the next level. Here they are:

DRIVING LESSONS - Peter and I took A-1 driving lessons after we got married in 2002. It all went pretty well then... bam! After I cruised the whole of Edsa and some parts of Manila, I ended up crashing one of the curbed pavements of the subdivision where we lived before in Meycauayan. tsk, tsk, tsk.  Our Revo ended up with a broken steering wheel and I was of course traumatized. I tried getting over it. I even bought an A-1 Driver's Manual to help myself get back on track again.

Since the book wasn't enough, I tried harder getting over my trauma. In 2007, I bought a car that I love (Toyata Yaris) thinking that it will give me the motivation to drive. Well, as you can see, my plan backfired. My sister said that the motivation should come first before buying the actual car. In my case, the opposite happened. Whatever the case is, I am looking forward to learning how to drive this coming new year.

~~~oOo~~~

SURFING - It all started out pretty well. I first surfed in 2006 and continued to do so every chance I got.  I even bought a book to further enhance my skills. Then come December 2007, I almost drowned while surfing because of a strong underwater current.

Since then, I was never the same in wavy waters.  I want to get over this fear coz I had so much fun prior to the drowning experience. Plus, we need to use Didi (our yellow surfboard). It's just gathering dust now in the lanai.

~~~oOo~~~

SCUBA DIVING - Peter and I first had our fun dive in 2006. I had a hard time using the mask but eventually I got over it. I also had problems with the pressure... it hurt my ear.

Hopefully, this coming year, I'll be able to enroll in full scuba diving lessons, get over my fear of the water pressure and enjoy the beauty underwater.

Regarding the schedule which I am supposed to follow, I haven't figured that out yet. I'll be travelling to Singapore, Saigon and Kuala Lumpur first week of January (Jan.1-8, 2010). At least, I am facing my fear of flying head on. I'll be in a total of 6 flights. I hope I don't freak out as much since I won't be with my hubby, just my girlfriend.

Ciao for now. See you next year and have a prosperous and merry one!