• super traffic this morning going to work; but super free going home!
• got teary-eyed during the big boss’ last flag ceremony.  farewell and hail to the chief!
• lifted ang UVVRP ng MMDA until New Year daw…pero not in Makati.  shucks, coding pa man din ako and have to go to makati tomorrow. ala rin.
• NBI chief R. Wycoco finally joined the creator at 18:16 after being in coma for more than 20 days.
• Gosh, unbelievable! Twice a day na ang "Game Ka Na Ba?" — lunch and dinner time!  asar nga si nanang kasi natatagalan i-show ang kanyang drama marathon at night.

• traffic this weekend was soooooo bad sa service road!  the cause: mga nag-ka-counter flow and useless accidents. sobra talagang kapikon that i even went down sa car ni kris and helped direct traffic like the guy from the car behind us (para kaming MMDA people).  dang!
• sigh, i’m sooo not done with my xmas shopping despite my o.c.-ness!  malls and most bazaars are so crowded na kasi and i’m a wee bit broke with all the amount payables to attend to. hay, ang sad!
• in college, i pass by EDSA (northbound) everyday; thus, i know all billboards, buildings, sights along the way.  it’s even a game for jing and i to identify any new billboard/things.  now, i am sooo amazed at the new stuff that have sprouted along EDSA.  ang daming bagong buildings and billboards; plus ang daming pagbabago sa mga buildings and road attachments (pink fences, concrete barriers, etc.). nakakapanibago and medyo nakakapikon ang iba (the bright tv nga by the guadalupe bridge, the many billboards of kris aquino, and the pink fences that suddenly block your way esp sa may ortigas at the foot of the flyover —- twice already, i was to turn right under the flyover but since i was avoiding the yellow lane, i suddenly ended going up the ramp and thus had to make a u-turn na lang by p.tuazon pa! grrrr). 
• grabe, pigang-piga ang pinoy big brother ah.  may unseen footages shown on air pa rin, may dvd pa, ang daming guestings ng mga housemates sa shows sa abs-cbn, ang daming stations blasting the tune, ang daming shirts/pillows/etc. showing the logo/pictures of the housemates being sold sa mga bazaars, and ang daming huge billboards ng bench showing sam milby!  but no, i never followed the whole thing.  i just watched a huge portion of the first and the last episodes (para hindi huli sa usapin ng mga tao)!
• i dunno why people recycle fruitcakes given to them.  i love fruitcakes (minus the fruit —  hehehe, i pick them out)!  heck, i even make baon fruitcake in highschool and college during xmas season.  and cheese balls (quezo de bola), i like grating them and liberally putting them sa pasta.  and ham, yummy, artificial and unhealthy ham!  hay, nakaka-miss talaga mga gifts kay papa!

• the christmas party at the institution i work for was sooo fun yesterday…even though i did not win any of the raffled cash prizes (haha, bitter)!  pero, we had a great photo op with the big boss man naman! yahoooooooooooo, mission accomplished! actually, it was more than "yahoooooooooooo;" as mildz’ put it, "chief, kinikilig po si ria." hahahahaha.

• ang walang magawang ria and mel (with the new reindeer at home) at 12am!

·        My Tita Fay was discharged from the hospital yesterday.  Dang, the bill and professional fees are huge!

·        Out of the blue, I wondered, IF and WHEN I get sick/get involved in an emergency, who would facilitate my papers and admin matters? This led me to thinking, I guess I better do a last will and testament, emergency instructions (what to do, relatives to contact, contact numbers/emails, where I keep things), and write my other mga pabilin na nga now.

·        Kept on sneezing.  My cube is so dusty again.  To think I just wiped all surfaces the other day.  Where the heck did the dust come from eh aircon and closed naman windows forever sa office?

·        Hugz, Bets!  Here’s to good karma to compensate for the recent bad news!

·        Mel and I just heard anticipated simbang gabi.  The priest kept on emphasizing that the term “anticipated” for simbang gabi is incorrectly used.  Anticipated masses are for Sunday masses lang daw and the simbang gabi masses are actually just novena masses (may difference daw in liturgical rules).

·        Since Mel and I were early for the mass (wrong time ang alam namin), we went around the different ‘stores’ near the church; inalam na rin namin prices ng bibingka and puto bungbong (we both didn’t carry money to buy anything!)  Tripping na naman sa Moonwalk!

·        Christmas party at the institution I work at tomorrow!  Gosh, I’m sooo excited ‘coz parang High School Fair ang dating (complete with play money as stubs) minus the rides and the Marriage Booth daw. Hahaha. I truly wish ma-accomplish namin ni Bane and Mildz ang photo-op mission namin with the departing big boss!

·        I went home using my morning-airport route today.  That will be my first and last. Dang the traffic! 

·        Our garage sale last Sunday was an experience.  Low turn out esp with the pasimuno stuff (Kris’ unused clothes).  Pero Shey, Betty, Mel, GP, Nanang and I had fun din! Si displaced-Polo lang talaga ang unhappy. 

·        Something good happened to me in the office yesterday. Almost cried sa tuwa.  Gosh ang babaw!

·        I no longer wear a band-aid over my left wrist.  Keloid forming stage na.  Sigh, not pantay as my right wrist.

·        So many things happening in the world early in this month: on-going UK oil depot explosion/fires, the Nigerian pane crash, and the hostage-taking in Iraq (again).  More elections this month din: Iraq and Chile (in the latter, like Germany this year, they may have their first woman president pa).

success! we got mickey with the glue-tray-trap!  sana mag-isa lang talaga siya!  but anyhow, nanang cemented all holes she could find from floors and cupboards.  we’d re-bolt all the remaining uncemented drainage covers tomorrow. the battle is still on!

·        The insurer of my aunt said her aneurysm was ‘congenital;’ thus, the proceeds of her coverage decreased. Hmmm, how the heck is her condition congenital?  We don’t know and it is hardly common knowledge the existence of these time bomb blood vessels so how the heck can we declare their presence in advance?  Naku, the next time I need to declare medical history ko for insurance purposes, I’d list along lahat ng naging sakit ko at ng pamilya ko until the 4^th degree!  Pero, when I do that, sky high na siguro ang premium ko kasi despite living healthy, our family’s physiological make-up is just soooo bad. 

·        It’s sad that whenever I get to the office, I feel like half the day already passed.  Driving through three cities (where jeeps, buses, and stupid drivers pass) is just tough.  Imagine how irritating it is to be behind a jeep that doesn’t budge despite the traffic light changing to green already.  And after skirting through the said jeep, gagalaw siya and the one along the lane na linipatan ko biglang titigil. Dyoshko po!  Imagine also being forced to go to a u-turn slot when I just need to cross an intersection na still in effect pa rin ang traffic lights.  And so, after making the blasted u-turn, I get stuck sa lane ng mga buses that will go straight and do not give way for me to make my right turn (siempre, nagsasakay pa sila kaya ang tagal talaga before they budge).  Imagine also observing my lane despite the heavy volume of vehicles, while cars behind  would counter-flow and make singit way in front of my lane.  Cheaters and causer of traffic for both lanes (mine and the opposite lane)! Kaya pag sa front ko sisingit, I stick my ground: tutok ako sa car in front of me and won’t let anyone force their way back to my lane.  Finally, imagine, in an intersection, vehicles proceeding to the other side despite it being full already; thereby blocking the perpendicular lane — the lane na sobrang free naman beyond the clogged intersection (which is usually the lane I am on).  If not for my “mini-car-concert” I’ll have a heart attack soon or worse, I’d be gunned down by those I don’t make pa-singit na counterflow-ers.

·        Had lunch with Mildz and Bane yesterday.  Chismisan-marathon! Haha.  And shed a few tears of joy with Bane’s pencil pasalubong!  Ang happy!

·        Super no traffic yesterday morning and evening sa mga routes ko. I was early to work and 15 minutes early for mass (which usually, despite a 30mins allotted travel time, 15 minutes late pa rin ako). Ang funny how the priest last night attacked the El Shaddai group and the Garci issue! Great still that he did not sound like he’s in a political or ecclesiastical rally.

·        Wow, the temperature everyday is getting cooler already.  Malapit na nga ang pasko!  Pero sobrang lamig daw sa

Cagayan

Valley

according to an sms from a relative there.

·        Everyone is now raving about Divisoria, particularly 168.  I wanna go, but everyone’s caveat na soobrang daming tao makes me think otherwise.  Claustro-place!  Punta kami post Christmas and buy stuff for the self na nga lang.

·        Ang happy I saw Jove today.

·        Have I mentioned that Polo lost his food plate?  Ay, nalagot siya kay nanang!  San daw ba niya tinago (he does so when he fails to finish the food given to him — either he throws the content by toppling the plate sa garden or shoves it outside our gate)? 

·        Mylene texted me that the non-stop rains in Calapan,

Mindoro

are causing heavy flooding.  They are seeking help and donors of relief goods/medicines.  Julia’s relatives in Lucena also texted that they are deep in flood waters! Kawawa naman.

·        Gosh, my cubicle is so brought to you by Pfizer!  Thanks so much for the recycled office-supplies and product give-away, Bets!  The Listerine Pocketpaks for everyone in the office was such a blockbuster as well!

·        Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarg! Mel and I discovered a small mouse at the kitchen last night!  Dang, the very first I’ve seen in the house.  No, no, nooooooo!  I can’t take pests, sooo dirty and carriers of diseases.  Nakakaiyak; but this means war!  Mousetraps first; but if that will not be successful, professional exterminators na.  No to Dora and Racumin, it/they might die in hard to reach areas and we’d have to suffer the friggin baho if ever.

·        I’m getting addicted to C2 green tea! Cancer prevention tea! Sana totoo.

·        Congrats, Kris and Farewell to the dependable TJA!

·        I noticed, hospitals make me “heartless.”  They make me appear walang paki-alam; but truly, I am very much concerned and takot for loved one who is confined/sick. I guess for a long time kasi, everyone expects me to be the ‘strong one,’ and the one to facilitate this and that (billings, notice sa office, and other papers).  Thus, being in-charge leaves little room to ‘grieve’ or dwell on emotional matters.  I’d rather get things done so I can study/work and/or get proper sleep (eh I’m a 6-8 hours sleeper to be a normal human being pa naman). Pero din kasi, papa always told me to face things head-on eh, be solution-oriented than just cry.

·        Huhuhuhu, I logged in 30mins late today in the office.  My very first tardy record.  There was fire near Julia’s place (ang daming firetrucks) kaya I had to look for other parking space.  The early-parking entrance I know at the mall nearby was closed.  Hay, gulo-gulo and the friggin’ jeeps just won’t budge even though traffic lights to green already.  Not just my morning.

many people i know are sick with either/both cough and colds. a number of people in the office are too. i hate to think nahawa ko sila…but just the same, i cough soooo quietly in the presence of other people lest they pin the blame on me for having started the fad of being sick :p

back pain still there. lessened as i’ve been regularly taking calcium tablets.  yeah, i think jm’s theory is correct.  my back is brittle already due to coffee.