The List

            I don’t have a bucket list.

I am probably the un-coolest being that has walked the face of the earth with that confession---you might as well stamp the word L-O-S-E-R on my forehead and I’ll wear it without objection. I would even stamp it on myself when I have the chance.

In my defense, I am not entirely without dreams or aspirations. Sure I have places I want to visit, things I wish to have, businesses I aim to own, and fame I hope to savor. I have those and more. To list them down would probably take more time than actually do them.  If I had a list, I would probably tear it up every once in a while and write something new.

Now, like in so many nights when sleep is elusive, I am feeling a sudden compulsion to do something better with my time( or maybe because it's my birthday today lol ) --- I WILL WRITE A BUCKET LIST. I had actually tried doing one before but I couldn't remember one single thing I wrote there anymore. So I'm getting help from someone very willing to help---the internet. If by some stroke of fate you are in the same circumstance as me, you may want to check out these few tips before we dive into some serious bucket list writing :

1. List  things that are purposeful, meaningful and reasonably challenging.

2. Arrange your goals according to importance or mark items according to priority.

3. Your items may include your answers to the following questions:

          a. Where do you most want to go?

          b. What food or cuisine do you want to try?

          c. What sport do you want to learn?

          d. What or who do you want to help?

          e. What fear do you want to conquer?

          f.  How much money do you want to have in the bank? when?

          g. What is your ideal job?

          h. What musical instrument do you want to learn?

         

Bucket Lists range from the simple to the extreme --- the possibilities are endless. I'm excited for mine :)

Testing the Waters

       I HAVE RETURNED (cue in booming orchestra music). For the past couple of months, I have put most of my mediocre life's perks at the back burner to earn extra cash---errrr scratch that---to do service to the world by helping the youth in their journey to academic excellence---  I have become a teacher!!! hahaha I'm surprised at how upbeat I am writing about my teaching experience so far. It is actually no laughing matter and had I known it would be this demanding--physically AND emotionally-- i probably would have bowed out at the start. 

        Anyway, I did not bow out and here I am, suffering the consequences :) I have not fully adjusted to 3 continuous hours of class five days a week and I come home every night feeling drained and hungry. Whoever invented reporting---Thank YOU! At least I don't have to talk for three hours straight in my other subjects. If I were to describe this new experience, I'd say it's never boring. I always come home with a story to tell--from the amazing to the annoying--and every time I get past the frustration and disappointment of it all, those stories always make me laugh. 

         I had been a student for most of my life--6 years in grade school, four in highschool, four in college and another four in law school. Now that the tables have turned, I am slowly discovering truths---boy, was I wrong!

    

Fact I 

        The teacher's table has got the best view in the classroom. Those side glances during exams? The teacher sees it--on high definition! Admittedly, I did my own glancing at a seat mate's paper in desperation as a student. I realize now that it's not a pretty picture. Hand signals? Whatttt? Don't even try it. Believe me, the teacher sees EVERYTHING. We may not call your attention right there but there's an oral recitation waiting for you down the road :P

Fact II

         Teachers like their students equally-- Pfffftttttt!  There will always be one or two students who will stand out and will be liked more than the rest. They are not necessarily the best students in class, they may actually be poor performers. Conversely, there will be that one or two students least liked in class---usually those that are disrespectful and do not show eagerness to learn. Teachers, like ordinary mortals, have their own prejudices. However, this doesn't mean that grades are proportionate to likeability. Scores are scores---but we just don't easily get mad when they don't get the right answer :P

Fact III

         Teachers have lazy days. Like students who wish that the teacher won't come to class, I sometimes wish that there's a school activity I don't know about and classes become suspended. Holidays are hallelujah to us once in a while. 

Fact IV

          When teachers say they will fail the students, they actually say that with fingers crossed that it's not going to come true. I personally want all my students to pass. When several students fail in class, it is most likely not the students' fault.

Fact V

      The teacher doesn't know everything. The teacher doesn't know everything. They may appear all-knowing (and some may actually be all-knowing) but most of us still have to study before every session and get nervous if a student asks a question and we do  not know the answer. When a student asks and I'm not sure of the answer, I call another student and make it appear like I was testing them if they actually know the answer. This will buy me time to scan my notes and save the day by explaining the answer at the end of the "debate" :P  

   

      That said, I am soooooo hoping none of my students get to read this hahahahahaha :) 

Peace Offering

            If I can have one very very very selfish wish, it would be that my nephews and niece don't grow up  hehe I seem to be more in tune with children's thoughts and behaviour, especially that of a three year old ( Now saying that I have a mind of a three year-old is not nice, so zip it hehe) You show them tricks, funny moves and drawings and their eyes would light up in awe. The best part is making them do what you want them to do and they happily oblige :) My nephew Vince was exactly like that a few years ago when he was just a tiny tot in his diapers. Now at 7, it takes a lot to make him do whatever you say or even listen.

            Vince did not have school today, so his mama said he had the whole day to do his homework. As expected, he took a little over 2 hours to eat, helped his younger brother mess up the living room (while eating), and basically did not listen to every word I was saying. Pissed, he received a litany of "Your mama  and papa are working very hard to pay for your Kumon and you don't do your homework!" , " I told you no TV after ten" and threats of going back to the Philippines if he doesn't do his homework. 

                He didn't budge.

             A few minutes later, he gave me a piece of paper with red crayon hearts on it and drawings of two cups of coffee on each side. Then he said, " This is for you, I want you to have it" I was so moved that I gave him a huge hug. He remembered i love coffee!! Isn't that sweet? :) But just as I was about to give him another hug, I noticed a writing in the middle of the card in yellow, almost invisible,  crayon... "mum" HAHAHAHAHA Clever, Kuya Vince! He must have made it for his mama for Valentine's day. Now that's recycling! hahaha You had me kuya...     But it's perfectly ok, it's the thought that counts. The sweet little tot in diapers is still somewhere in there after all :) 

                Oh, he offered to set the plates for lunch...Good job, Kuya Vince! 

Birthday Blues doo-bi-doo-bi-dooo

         I am 30 .  I am...no really, I am thirty?  I am 30... *sigh* This mirror is a little bit hazy. Breathe in, breathe out....I am waiting for a sudden jolt of wisdom, 'coz as you know, I am 30. Dang it! Maybe I should bathe in the warm sunshine to get that...or not. 

         Age didn't bother me this much growing up. Although I should have seen the signs. By 18 I wasn't looking forward to birthdays. By 25, I stopped counting. Last week, a milder form of dread started brewing inside me as I realized I was turning thirty. Thirty years, here you are...temporary but irreversible.  (*Quick emotional struggle with self, auto-counseling here-and-there*)  So how has my life been the past 30 years? I've had highs and lows, naturally. I've had some wishes granted and some still waiting for His approval. I have made mistakes, learned from some, laughed at some, and probably haven't learned the lesson in some. I have hurt people and got hurt back, learned to apologize and accept one. I grew up! By a few inches. Waistline, almost reaching the same digits as my age and plans to stay that way GRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Lines on the face...Hmmmmm I really don't like where this is heading so I'm stopping now.

           My woes aren't that profound really. Weight? Waistline? Wrinkles? I just have to deal with it.  Besides, I picture old age with me sitting on the terrace looking at the shore, drinking coffee with my husband, white haired and all and not 70 with a 24-inch waistline, perky breasts, and red lipstick walking around the mall in stilletoes. 

               So...In conclusion (for purposes of todays thoughts only haha I'm a woman, I'm supposed to be fickle!!)  I might as well enjoy the ride from here on in. 

                 I am 30! and I am in Sydney! How great is that? :)  Happy 30th Birthday to me!!!


        

Older

                In a few months I’ll be hitting the big 3-0. I haven’t given much thought about aging until recently when “signs” successively manifested themselves albeit uninvited. Starting with lines around the eyes, weight that’s so hard to keep off no matter how little I eat, ragged breathing from walking a short distance, inability to memorize as well as I used to, and a whole lot of other things I discover day by day. Add to aging my irregular exercise habits (or lack thereof hehe) and unhealthy food choices---I am now, repentantly, reaping the fruits of my lack of labor.

                Gone are the days when I could practice dancing all day and wake up early the next day to practice some more. Now, I move my head around for a few minutes or wiggle my hips for 3 or more songs and my body would be screaming for a body massage. Yesterday, I fell on my back trying to “amuse” my 10-month-old niece with some moves. Until now, half of my body feels sore and I’m reeking of liniment. At least my niece had a good laugh out of it. I, on the other hand, need a massage, a hot compress, or some more liniment.

          I am getting older. I’m saying that as if I just realized it now  J Next year, I’ll be celebrating January, March, May, July, August,October, and December because those are the only months where my age will still be on the calendar (Stop counting, people!). While I’m hanging on to the last vestiges of my youth for a couple more months, I think it’s best to do damage control however late it may be. I’m starting a new “year’s resolution” tonight---try to eat healthy, exercise regularly, read more, sleep early, moisturize (hehehe), and don’t dance as if you’re 18!!!

Friday... friday...

           Poor 13-year old singer Rebecca Black has had one flak too many, I decided to cut her some slack hahaha Now that rhymes! Anyway, the Youtube sensation has been criticized for her song "Friday" due to the technically altered vocals and cerebrally challenged lyrics ("Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after ... wards I don't want this weekend to end"). Her Youtube video for "Friday" has more than two hundred thousand likes and more than two million dislikes. The vocals was not too bad but the lyrics...let's just say it wouldn't make you thank God it's Friday :) 


           However, I can't bring myself to jump into the haters bandwagon. I find the song extremely funny (I remember how much I liked Backstreet Boys singing I'll Never Break your  Heart while skiing hahaha) I was laughing the whole time I was watching her video and even a day after, I was still singing the chorus in my head hehehe Pretty much like those Lito Camo songs you frown upon but absentmindedly blurt out when you're ecstatic ("Macho papa, kaya mo ba 'to? kaya mo ba 'to?---see what I mean?) :)

             Here's hoping you too will have a fun, fun, fun day :)

                



(Video from Youtube, uploaded by Trizzy66)

One for the Cardio Exercise

      Flipping over pages of the Manual of Land Survey Procedures. Not exactly my type of read so I'm blogging in between boring paragraphs. No, change that...boring would mean you understand it but you're just not interested. Interest is not a question, I AM interested. Do i understand it? Yeah, I DON'T hahaha (note to self: i love this job, i love my life, and i love what i'm reading now....inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale....)

                                              

One-ingredient Cakes

         I LOVE CAKES. My first baking experience was in cooking class in highschool. I learned to do chocolate cakes, butter cakes, and later on carrot cakes. Now more than ten years after, those three are the only cakes I know how to bake. Perhaps I have mastered the skill of the great three cakes? NOPE. I may have done a few palatable ones which my mama and sisters politely praised but i knew better :p I don't even recall looking forward to eating my creations.

         What I liked best about making cakes was the decorating part. While I don't enjoy baking them, I always looked forward to putting the frosting. Fortunately, I discovered new cakes that would beat my mama's One-egg Cake and save me all the trouble of mixing and sifting ---my One-ingredient Cakes! 

I made this for my sister's birthday

The first cake I made

My take on a Black Forest cake

This one's for my eldest sister's birthday

        

                The one and only ingredient, you ask? modelling CLAY....I forgot to tell you, these cakes also  saved me from eating too much sugar :)