I'm moving over to one of my neglected blogs. Revamping it, giving it a shot in the arm, because there's so much more I can do with it design-wise.
For now, I'm back on Wordpress as The Pseudo Expat.
It's live but under construction, i.e. the offspring is making me a header and tinkering with the CSS, so it'll definitely change from time time.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Faithfulness
I realize I've never really gotten to share my impressions of what it's been like coming home to America as an adult. I promise to. Really I do. I've been in a pensive mood lately with this business of growing. . . mature.
I was remembering my fascination with the convenience of Check Cards and drive-thru tellers and rows and rows of Coca-Cola choices the other day and realized I've never gotten to articulate my amazement. Now that I've been back for almost two years this September and the novelty has worn off, I'm sure my recollection will be somewhat altered to a certain degree. After all, isn't that what time does to all of us regardless of how old we are?
I didn't get to say much about why we left Orlando and how Nashville happened and I will. Just not today.
Today, I will share an old post I stumbled upon last year, when it was dark, and I didn't think life would get any better.
I wrote this in January of 2008.
January 2009 was when the wheels were set in motion for our lives to change.
And here we are in Nashville.
Thank you, God.
sound playing in the background: the gentle hum of the 24" iMac I get to use at work
I was remembering my fascination with the convenience of Check Cards and drive-thru tellers and rows and rows of Coca-Cola choices the other day and realized I've never gotten to articulate my amazement. Now that I've been back for almost two years this September and the novelty has worn off, I'm sure my recollection will be somewhat altered to a certain degree. After all, isn't that what time does to all of us regardless of how old we are?
I didn't get to say much about why we left Orlando and how Nashville happened and I will. Just not today.
Today, I will share an old post I stumbled upon last year, when it was dark, and I didn't think life would get any better.
I wrote this in January of 2008.
January 2009 was when the wheels were set in motion for our lives to change.
And here we are in Nashville.
Thank you, God.
sound playing in the background: the gentle hum of the 24" iMac I get to use at work
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The Best Part About Turning 40
I know women aren't supposed to reveal their age but my philosophy is that since I've been told I don't look it, there's no harm in telling the truth. Besides, age is another double standard women can do without living up to. If men can proudly announce how old they are, women should too.
So there. I'm forty.
It's easier typed, than said. Believe me. I was depressed for five minutes, thinking that being a single parent with a daughter almost out of the house and on to her own life, was the end of the journey for me. That and still having unchecked life goals.
Such as:
Someday, grandchildren.
Yes, here at possibly the halfway mark of my life -- give or take five to ten years -- there is so much to look forward to; checking off these unchecked goals and then some!
But if this is as good as it's going to get, I have much to be thankful for.
I have a big God who will keep taking care of me and my daughter.
So there. I'm forty.
It's easier typed, than said. Believe me. I was depressed for five minutes, thinking that being a single parent with a daughter almost out of the house and on to her own life, was the end of the journey for me. That and still having unchecked life goals.
Such as:
- Go back to theater. Even in a tiny role. Or as a production assistant! Or at the Front of House!
Me with orange hair and purple bangs as 5B in Repertory Philippines' Murder for Rent
- Learn how to play the drums.
- Run in a 5K.
- Live in New York.
- Live in San Francisco.
- Go home to Portland.
- Go to London for the 2012 Olympics.
- Work in radio. Again.
- Do voiceovers. Again.
- Write a book.
- Go back to school.
Someday, grandchildren.
Yes, here at possibly the halfway mark of my life -- give or take five to ten years -- there is so much to look forward to; checking off these unchecked goals and then some!
But if this is as good as it's going to get, I have much to be thankful for.
I have a big God who will keep taking care of me and my daughter.
Friday, July 31, 2009
First Time at McAlister's
So here's the debut mobile post, a picture of the inside of McAlister's Deli in Brentwood, Tennessee after lunch with some of the office posse.
When I worked as a housekeeper at Governor's Square Mall in Tallahassee, I never got the chance to eat at the McAlister's at their foodcourt. I don't know why. Well, actually I do. It was out of my league. I couldn't afford it on my $ 7.50 an hour, 12-15 hour per week part-time job.
Nearly two years later, I finally set foot in one and ordered a McAlister's Club with a side of potato salad and a Sweet Tea. It was pretty good! $ 10 on lunch is a bit of a splurge for me though so I won't be back any time soon. We'll see. There's a part of me that feels guilty doing stuff without K so if I do go back, she'll be with me. Then that'll cost $ 20-25. Maybe.
We do like foodie adventures. Franchises don't actually qualify as "foodie" destinations but anything that will let me not have to cook? I'm so there.
Sent from my Ozone on Verizon Wireless
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Someone's in San Francisco
Kyera never really bought into this planned joint blog. It was all my idea. Her apprehension had less to do with it being "mom's idea" and more to do with her fear of being compared as a writer.
Foolishness, I said, and reassured her she's just as articulate as me.
But she's just not that into "Exits and Entrances". I'm completely fine with that because she is her own person who's talented in her own right. And I'm very proud of her.
When she followed me to Orlando in 2007 after we were apart for six weeks while her paperwork was being processed at the US Embassy in Manila, she was miserable. The prospect of being reunited with her mother was overshadowed by her sadness at leaving friends and the only country she knew. Ow!
Orlando wasn't exactly either of our dream cities. New York is, so's San Francisco, and so's Portland, Oregon (For me at least because I'm from the northwest). The first two for their great public transportation and culture, the last, because it's where I spent a good part of my childhood.
Orlando was simply a necessity - my aunt lived there and we needed a place to stay. Mickey Mouse had nothing to do with it. (My only Disney World visit was an afternoon as a hired babysitter for the twins and little girl of a wealthy single mom.)
We were miserable in Orlando. To leave someday was the only thing that kept us plugged in at our jobs. And then Nashville miraculously happened, changing our lives once again in ways we didn't expect.
While we both love it here, the cities on our dream list are still comfortably lodged, listed for a hopefully future reality. A reality that Kyera is possibly one step closer to.
It's another God story:
So if you wonder where she is around here, you know where to find her. She's busy being her own beautiful, talented, wonderful self.
Foolishness, I said, and reassured her she's just as articulate as me.
But she's just not that into "Exits and Entrances". I'm completely fine with that because she is her own person who's talented in her own right. And I'm very proud of her.
When she followed me to Orlando in 2007 after we were apart for six weeks while her paperwork was being processed at the US Embassy in Manila, she was miserable. The prospect of being reunited with her mother was overshadowed by her sadness at leaving friends and the only country she knew. Ow!
Orlando wasn't exactly either of our dream cities. New York is, so's San Francisco, and so's Portland, Oregon (For me at least because I'm from the northwest). The first two for their great public transportation and culture, the last, because it's where I spent a good part of my childhood.
Orlando was simply a necessity - my aunt lived there and we needed a place to stay. Mickey Mouse had nothing to do with it. (My only Disney World visit was an afternoon as a hired babysitter for the twins and little girl of a wealthy single mom.)
We were miserable in Orlando. To leave someday was the only thing that kept us plugged in at our jobs. And then Nashville miraculously happened, changing our lives once again in ways we didn't expect.
While we both love it here, the cities on our dream list are still comfortably lodged, listed for a hopefully future reality. A reality that Kyera is possibly one step closer to.
It's another God story:
She's been enamored by San Francisco since she watched Princess Diaries. Her dream school - the Academy of Art University - is downtown. She sent for an information packet in '07 and was put on their regular mailing list. From time to time, she gets invitations to their Open House on the East Coast. The last week of June, she got an invitation to their free three-week summer workshop. Free!She may not be necessarily comfortable writing on this blog, but she is definitely in her element on her own site, www.kyerabianca.com.
Her dad bought her a plane ticket and friends from church helped her find a place to stay. Things I couldn't have done for her. Definitely God.
So if you wonder where she is around here, you know where to find her. She's busy being her own beautiful, talented, wonderful self.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
My Part-time Life as a Convenience Store Cashier
Welcome back to America.
I tell myself this each weekend before heading to the gas station where I work.
Many people I know here – both friends and acquaintances – have at one point in their lives worked either underemployed or employed twice over. One would think that that would be the norm in a developing country but I don't know anyone in Manila who held down two full-time jobs, or one full- and part-time job. At least not among the people I knew. And working in radio while playing for a famous rock band doesn't count!
Driving home recently, I remembered when I left radio for good in 2003 to be a corporate cubicle holder and was asked if I would consider staying on the air at night or on the weekend. No way! I couldn't fathom how my body would handle the presumed fatigue.
Paradigm mind shift. Hello, fifty to fifty-six hour work week and tired feet.
So for the better part of the week, I sit at a desk and stretch my mind.
On the weekend, I stand on my feet for eight to nine hours and count money that isn't mine so I can make a little more that will be.
Good times.
Monday to Friday, I'm surrounded by colleagues who inspire me to do and be my best.
Weekends, I'm surrounded by gas station customers who test the boundaries of my luxury hotel guest services skills.
Ah, life lessons.
Ya, gotta love 'em.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Halfway into the Year
I know, I know. What excuse do I have now for not updating Exits and Entrances? I'll spare you my usual sob story of busyness and go straight into the updates. God has changed our lives yet again in ways we never expected.
1. We arrived in Nashville on April 1st. I drove more than 650 miles in the rain. Colleagues from new office came over during a sudden downpour and helped us unload. It was a Wednesday. I kicked into OC gear and had all the boxes emptied and everything in its place by Sunday. Monday, was my first day at my new old job. It's been... amazing. How else can one describe leaving a minimum wage-paying hotel job and moving out of a low-cost housing apartment complex in a crime-infested part of Orlando, into a job I love and a beautifully manicured, security-code requiring apartment in Nashville?
2. Kyera found another job in the same fashion as her first one in Orlando - she was offered one without applying. So proud of my uber-talented offspring. She exceeds me and her father.
3. We adopted a brother for Rocco! We found Kirby at Williamson County Animal Control and fell in love with him the minute Kyera held him and he wrapped his long, lanky mini-pinscher/chihuahua arms around her.
4. Kyera was given a 17" MacBookPro to use for work. Gasp. Wow. An item on our yearly prayer and fasting list gets a huge check! This image is an example of the cool things she can do with her new toy.
5. Yesterday, I was moved into my own office for the next three to four months. Finally, peace and quiet while writing. Today, I went out to lunch and returned to find a 24" iMac sitting in the place of my PC. Gasp. Wow. I'm a Mac! Again! Another item on our yearly prayer and fasting list with a huge check!
Stop by again for the story of my part-time life as a convenience store cashier. Seriously.
1. We arrived in Nashville on April 1st. I drove more than 650 miles in the rain. Colleagues from new office came over during a sudden downpour and helped us unload. It was a Wednesday. I kicked into OC gear and had all the boxes emptied and everything in its place by Sunday. Monday, was my first day at my new old job. It's been... amazing. How else can one describe leaving a minimum wage-paying hotel job and moving out of a low-cost housing apartment complex in a crime-infested part of Orlando, into a job I love and a beautifully manicured, security-code requiring apartment in Nashville?
Drove a 21' truck with a 15' trailer more than 800 miles, 650 of which in the rain, to Nashville. Exhausted, stoked, grateful, speechless.12:12 PM Apr 3rd from webLooking out the window feeling like Melanie Griffith at the end of Working Girl. Madly in love with my job, pinching self it's for real.12:33 PM Apr 9th from web
2. Kyera found another job in the same fashion as her first one in Orlando - she was offered one without applying. So proud of my uber-talented offspring. She exceeds me and her father.
3. We adopted a brother for Rocco! We found Kirby at Williamson County Animal Control and fell in love with him the minute Kyera held him and he wrapped his long, lanky mini-pinscher/chihuahua arms around her.
4. Kyera was given a 17" MacBookPro to use for work. Gasp. Wow. An item on our yearly prayer and fasting list gets a huge check! This image is an example of the cool things she can do with her new toy.
5. Yesterday, I was moved into my own office for the next three to four months. Finally, peace and quiet while writing. Today, I went out to lunch and returned to find a 24" iMac sitting in the place of my PC. Gasp. Wow. I'm a Mac! Again! Another item on our yearly prayer and fasting list with a huge check!
Stop by again for the story of my part-time life as a convenience store cashier. Seriously.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Beauty of Silence
It's our final thirteen days in Orlando, Florida. Thirteen days. My head is still spinning when I think about this and I must admit that it hasn't fully sunken in that we are driving north to Nashville, Tennessee to restart life anew.
I can't count the times I thought that we would be stuck here - me in my job as a club concierge at a fancy hotel and K as a receptionist at an eye clinic - or how many times I gave up all hope of ever working in a job that would maximize all of my gifts and abilities; a job that would not feel like a job but would feel like a perfect fit, a glove of my former career.
It was well into my third month at the first hotel I worked at (which is the sister property of where I work now) that I plummeted to the depths of self-pity. There I was, in the first job I could get in the US (not counting my three week stint as a housekeeper) after looking for four months and sending out close to 100 resumes, busing tables, replenishing drinks, making gallons of coffee and preparing buffet presentations for high-paying hotel guests, every day. My fingers would sometimes get smeared with leftover food, my muscles would strain from lifting cases of soda and beer, my mind, seemingly slowed from lack of stimulation.
Of course there were days that I had to make difficult dinner reservations for large groups while giving directions to another theme park to another guest and reading babysitting rates for another. My radio career was good training for entertaining and talking people up!
But wallow in self-pity I did. Each day a divine act of grace to get to and from work with a smile on my face. Each day a wrestling match with my Maker.
Each day, silence. All I knew, all I sensed, was that God loved, that He was near and that someday, everything was going to be alright.
One day, I was promoted to supervisor at our sister hotel, which is where I work now, and then two months later, I suddenly wasn't. My glimmer of hope was just that.
So there I was, wallowing in self-pity, questioning my ability to hear God when facebook set me straight.
I wrote a quick note to one of my dear pastors, Rey Corpuz:
Suddenly, out of the blue, a message about a possible opening at the US office of my former employers, Every Nation Ministries. A visit, an interview, a job offer, an acceptance and then here and now, the final two weeks in Orlando.
I don't know what else to say. My fourteen months at the hotel has been a most beautifully grace-and mercy-filled season. God allowed for me to stay in a "dungeon" where I had unlimited access to free food; free movie tickets; free entrances to theme parks and concierge perks at expensive restaurants. In His infinite wisdom, He permitted me to work in a job that would show me how much I love people.
And yet every step of the way, I kept seeing what I did not have, friends and a career in communications.
So here I am, humbled, pinching myself that I am returning to the job I loved dearly, in an office I never thought I would be working for again.
We truly, never deserve the goodness He lavishes. Everything is icing on the cake of His Mercy.
I can't count the times I thought that we would be stuck here - me in my job as a club concierge at a fancy hotel and K as a receptionist at an eye clinic - or how many times I gave up all hope of ever working in a job that would maximize all of my gifts and abilities; a job that would not feel like a job but would feel like a perfect fit, a glove of my former career.
It was well into my third month at the first hotel I worked at (which is the sister property of where I work now) that I plummeted to the depths of self-pity. There I was, in the first job I could get in the US (not counting my three week stint as a housekeeper) after looking for four months and sending out close to 100 resumes, busing tables, replenishing drinks, making gallons of coffee and preparing buffet presentations for high-paying hotel guests, every day. My fingers would sometimes get smeared with leftover food, my muscles would strain from lifting cases of soda and beer, my mind, seemingly slowed from lack of stimulation.
Of course there were days that I had to make difficult dinner reservations for large groups while giving directions to another theme park to another guest and reading babysitting rates for another. My radio career was good training for entertaining and talking people up!
But wallow in self-pity I did. Each day a divine act of grace to get to and from work with a smile on my face. Each day a wrestling match with my Maker.
"Father, how long is life going to be like this for us?"My resumes kept going out and kept getting ignored.
"Did I make a mistake in coming to Orlando?"
"Where do we go? What do we do?"
Each day, silence. All I knew, all I sensed, was that God loved, that He was near and that someday, everything was going to be alright.
One day, I was promoted to supervisor at our sister hotel, which is where I work now, and then two months later, I suddenly wasn't. My glimmer of hope was just that.
So there I was, wallowing in self-pity, questioning my ability to hear God when facebook set me straight.
I wrote a quick note to one of my dear pastors, Rey Corpuz:
It's been a tough year readjusting to a country I left as a child of 12. Napakahirap po magsimula sa Amerika! (It's so hard to start life in America!) Not like people who come here on work visas who land jobs on their same career path, I'm seen as a local who lived overseas too long.His reply left me in tears:
So I work at a hotel, the only place that would hire me! No complaints since I just got promoted to supervisor. I'm a club concierge and I love working with guests. (we serve food, buss tables and make restaurant reservations) But a part of me wonders if I will ever get to do what I did before - communications in the ministry.
Perhaps that is the Egypt I must leave behind? I don't know. But with each step of the way, I only thank God for even allowing me AND Kyera to have a job.
(She was hired on the spot when she got her eyes checked for glasses! She's the front desk person for a Christian Haitian optometrist, and she also knows how to measure eyesight with those contraptions!)
She's not in school yet because we haven't been able to afford it but we're believing that next year God will make it happen.
what a blessing to hear testimonies of His faithfulness to you and kyera. ms menchie and i are so proud of you both exercising God's gift of work. doing your work for God is real worship which i call 'workship'. both of you are 'communicating' the life of Christ in you to people around you. so you haven't left your communications ministry, you're just doing it there instead of manila with the partnership of kyera to boot. and about egypt? the real egypt is in the heart where discontent, murmuring, complaining and dissatisfaction reside. it is the heart that is not most satisfied in the God of creation, salvation and provision. come to think of it, leaving our egypt is not the issue at all; it is removing all of egypt from our heart.And so I shut up, embraced the status quo, and became... still. No dreams other than wanting to please God, no requests other than having Him by my side, no comfort other than His Hand holding mine.
Suddenly, out of the blue, a message about a possible opening at the US office of my former employers, Every Nation Ministries. A visit, an interview, a job offer, an acceptance and then here and now, the final two weeks in Orlando.
I don't know what else to say. My fourteen months at the hotel has been a most beautifully grace-and mercy-filled season. God allowed for me to stay in a "dungeon" where I had unlimited access to free food; free movie tickets; free entrances to theme parks and concierge perks at expensive restaurants. In His infinite wisdom, He permitted me to work in a job that would show me how much I love people.
And yet every step of the way, I kept seeing what I did not have, friends and a career in communications.
So here I am, humbled, pinching myself that I am returning to the job I loved dearly, in an office I never thought I would be working for again.
We truly, never deserve the goodness He lavishes. Everything is icing on the cake of His Mercy.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Coming and Going Again
Exits and Entrances has been silent not for lack of inspiration, but for fear of oversharing information. Too much has been going on that cannot be divulged. One thing that happened was sad and disheartening, and involves people whose identities I will not name here; another thing is exciting and has been long anticipated, but since the dust has not yet settled, I will wait for a better time to go into details.
What I can say, is that the daughter, the dog and I are packing our bags and leaving Orlando once and for all. How do we feel about this? Ecstatic. How soon will this happen? As soon as possible.
This now brings the total number of times we've moved to fourteen. I chronicled our former Philippine addresses into a blog and will continue the count here:
12. The Dinh Apartment, Alexandria, VA
I landed in DC September 19, 2007. I didn't accept the job offer I had there and found myself in Tallahassee, FL instead with the Turners.
13. John St., Orlando, FL
Lived with a long-lost aunt for a season. K arrived in the US November 13th.
14. XXXX XXXXX XX, Orlando, FL
The place we've called home since May 2008.
You'd think I'd be a pro at this by now but I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of leaving and moving to another state. While the stress and sheer magnitude is daunting, I must admit I'm just so ready to hit the road again and hopefully settle down for good. Good being a solid ten years or longer in one place.
Crossing my fingers. Please God. Please.
Excuse me while I disappear back into real life and start packing and boxing our lives.
Keep you posted.
What I can say, is that the daughter, the dog and I are packing our bags and leaving Orlando once and for all. How do we feel about this? Ecstatic. How soon will this happen? As soon as possible.
This now brings the total number of times we've moved to fourteen. I chronicled our former Philippine addresses into a blog and will continue the count here:
12. The Dinh Apartment, Alexandria, VA
I landed in DC September 19, 2007. I didn't accept the job offer I had there and found myself in Tallahassee, FL instead with the Turners.
13. John St., Orlando, FL
Lived with a long-lost aunt for a season. K arrived in the US November 13th.
14. XXXX XXXXX XX, Orlando, FL
The place we've called home since May 2008.
You'd think I'd be a pro at this by now but I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of leaving and moving to another state. While the stress and sheer magnitude is daunting, I must admit I'm just so ready to hit the road again and hopefully settle down for good. Good being a solid ten years or longer in one place.
Crossing my fingers. Please God. Please.
Excuse me while I disappear back into real life and start packing and boxing our lives.
Keep you posted.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thank You, 2008, I'm Glad You're Over So We Can Take On 2009
The biggies that happened to us this past year:
1. I got a job! I took a chance and returned to a hotel where I applied at last year and gave it a second shot. I was in the right place at the right time this time around and found myself employed on January 30th as a Club Concierge after waiting for close to five months.
2. Kyera got a job! We went to get her eyes checked for glasses and the doctor was impressed by her English. (People assume Filipinos can't speak English...) She offered her a part-time job on the spot and a month later, Kyera was wearing scrubs.
3. We moved into our own place! We had been living at my aunt's house until she re-married and moved out of state. Good thing our application at a low-cost housing complex was accepted!
4. I got my own website! My dear, dear friend, Roxy Francisco Kurze aka Shockboogieninja and I reconnected after a good six years and she offered to make me one. We found each other where else but online. She is a very talented, and very gorgeous, designer/audio engineer. She and hubby Jeff are a most adorable couple. She's in Michigan and we hope to see each other one of these days in Chicago.
5. Rocco came into our life! My supervisor called me one Sunday and asked if I still wanted a dog. I said yes. He then explained that his Yorkie had a littermate who was on his way to his new home when the owner changed her mind. The breeder couldn't keep him so they needed someone to take him in so technically, we rescued our little boy.
6. Trisha came to Orlando! Kyera's buddy from our church in the Philippines was in town vacationing at Disney so she invited K to join her. It was a much needed visit for my very lonely daughter.
7. The Turners came to Orlando! This family is our family because we are theirs. Kyera and I have been so privileged to be "adopted" into dear friends' families that we genuinely feel a part. We miss the Titulars, the Santos-Calayans, and the Mayugas in the Philippines but are so grateful for our family here, the Turners. When I first landed back in the US last year, they took me in and took care of me and made sure I got everything I needed to get Kyera here. They may be in Tallahassee, but they are forever our "Mom", "Dad", and boys.
8. My other best friend and her son came to visit! Len and Miguel are another family that are family. They made a side trip to Orlando on their way to San Francisco just to see us after being apart for eleven months. When I left Manila, Kyera was Len's adopted daughter.
9. Miguel came back to Orlando! To make Kyera's 19th birthday special, Miguel is spending/spent a week of his month-long Christmas break with us. He's been such a refreshing presence for us. I love him dearly like my own. We hope to visit him next year in San Francisco.
10. I got promoted to supervisor! After my sixth month at our hotel, I put in an application for a transfer and promotion. I waited for six long weeks for the phone call that would sound like this, "I'm calling to make the official job offer...." Yay!!!!
There's more to say and more to thank but I'll leave it at: Thank you, God, for being faithful to us even when we are faithless.
We are excited about the cool things we expect to happen in 2009!!
Nothing is impossible.
Happy New Year!!!!!
1. I got a job! I took a chance and returned to a hotel where I applied at last year and gave it a second shot. I was in the right place at the right time this time around and found myself employed on January 30th as a Club Concierge after waiting for close to five months.
2. Kyera got a job! We went to get her eyes checked for glasses and the doctor was impressed by her English. (People assume Filipinos can't speak English...) She offered her a part-time job on the spot and a month later, Kyera was wearing scrubs.
3. We moved into our own place! We had been living at my aunt's house until she re-married and moved out of state. Good thing our application at a low-cost housing complex was accepted!
4. I got my own website! My dear, dear friend, Roxy Francisco Kurze aka Shockboogieninja and I reconnected after a good six years and she offered to make me one. We found each other where else but online. She is a very talented, and very gorgeous, designer/audio engineer. She and hubby Jeff are a most adorable couple. She's in Michigan and we hope to see each other one of these days in Chicago.
5. Rocco came into our life! My supervisor called me one Sunday and asked if I still wanted a dog. I said yes. He then explained that his Yorkie had a littermate who was on his way to his new home when the owner changed her mind. The breeder couldn't keep him so they needed someone to take him in so technically, we rescued our little boy.
6. Trisha came to Orlando! Kyera's buddy from our church in the Philippines was in town vacationing at Disney so she invited K to join her. It was a much needed visit for my very lonely daughter.
7. The Turners came to Orlando! This family is our family because we are theirs. Kyera and I have been so privileged to be "adopted" into dear friends' families that we genuinely feel a part. We miss the Titulars, the Santos-Calayans, and the Mayugas in the Philippines but are so grateful for our family here, the Turners. When I first landed back in the US last year, they took me in and took care of me and made sure I got everything I needed to get Kyera here. They may be in Tallahassee, but they are forever our "Mom", "Dad", and boys.
8. My other best friend and her son came to visit! Len and Miguel are another family that are family. They made a side trip to Orlando on their way to San Francisco just to see us after being apart for eleven months. When I left Manila, Kyera was Len's adopted daughter.
9. Miguel came back to Orlando! To make Kyera's 19th birthday special, Miguel is spending/spent a week of his month-long Christmas break with us. He's been such a refreshing presence for us. I love him dearly like my own. We hope to visit him next year in San Francisco.
10. I got promoted to supervisor! After my sixth month at our hotel, I put in an application for a transfer and promotion. I waited for six long weeks for the phone call that would sound like this, "I'm calling to make the official job offer...." Yay!!!!
There's more to say and more to thank but I'll leave it at: Thank you, God, for being faithful to us even when we are faithless.
We are excited about the cool things we expect to happen in 2009!!
Nothing is impossible.
Happy New Year!!!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
What Breaks My Heart
I'm a big cry baby. Anyone who knows me in Real Life can attest to this fact. It doesn't take much to draw tears out of me. The waterworks flow from everything from TV commercials, poens, books, movies, choreography, photos, newspaper articles, and blogs. Stories that are happy, sad, profound, and outrageous.
Like this one about my beloved Philippines.
One of many throughout its history.
There has to be an end to stories like these. Where the bad guys get what they deserve and tears have no place.
Like this one about my beloved Philippines.
One of many throughout its history.
There has to be an end to stories like these. Where the bad guys get what they deserve and tears have no place.
Monday, December 29, 2008
I Want My Own Park Bench Someday
Isn't this wonderful?
We found it one Sunday afternoon on a bench outside the Orlando Historic Center.
Le sigh.
We found it one Sunday afternoon on a bench outside the Orlando Historic Center.
Le sigh.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas 2008!
I know, I know. I keep threatening to blog but these days my bark has been worse than my bite. They're still stewing around in my thought stream so as soon as I make time for cyberspace beyond checking my account balance, I will spew as many as I can in one go.
I often wonder though about our little clustr map on the right. Are people stopping by to read or to borrow K's ballet photo? Either way, my hope is that the little red dots mean that this blog is helping or inspiring in little ways.
And on that note, we wish you a Merry Christmas!!!
Here's our token Christmas photo for this year, featuring the newest member of our little family, Rocco the chocolate Yorkshire Terrier that was given to us by my former boss.
I often wonder though about our little clustr map on the right. Are people stopping by to read or to borrow K's ballet photo? Either way, my hope is that the little red dots mean that this blog is helping or inspiring in little ways.
And on that note, we wish you a Merry Christmas!!!
Here's our token Christmas photo for this year, featuring the newest member of our little family, Rocco the chocolate Yorkshire Terrier that was given to us by my former boss.
Monday, December 15, 2008
My Ex-Morning Show Partner the Billboard God
Zach and I had some of the best times of our lives on radio. I've blogged about some of them here on my I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-blog blog and shared some of our airchecks here. I think our success was based on the fact that we were not only self-deprecating but that we could throw each other down and roast each other every morning.
We created a Verbal Reality (That's radio-speak for taking what an announcer says as true.) that had people in stitches every morning. For instance, I was gone for a week to get liposuction but the press release he created about me was that I went on a tour of India to visit various ashrams. In a week! And got married to a man named Oscar Bandot. In a week! And had three sons. In a week! I came back a week later, shocked to find some listeners actually believe the tales he wove.
(He got his payback of course when he disappeared and I announced he was getting certain parts of his... anatomy... altered. And on another day, that he was shooting a film in Hollywood. You get the picture.)
We created a playground right alongside tackling relevant issues of the day. As producer, my daily goals: inform, educate, entertain the listener, could only be realized with him holding his own against me bringing mine to the table. We would have been helpless though without our faithful assistant Glenn Sibal (more on him in another blog).
One of the jokes we used to throw out on occasion was that either of us had a billboard on EDSA - the major highway that connects the north and the south of Metro Manila - endorsing whatever product we currently favored. That has actually happened for one of us. The billboard part that is.
As for the briefs, Zach favored the aged kind with bacony garters. (We auctioned off our underwear one time... don't ask why. The winner actually came to claim their prize.)
You've come a long way, my friend. I terribly miss the fun we had. You were the best morning show partner any domineering, female co-host could ever ask for and I love you for it.
(P.S. Zach is the drummer of popular Philippine rock band Imago. He got his body from capoeira and working out like a former morning show host who probably now uses his mornings to get to the gym.)
We created a Verbal Reality (That's radio-speak for taking what an announcer says as true.) that had people in stitches every morning. For instance, I was gone for a week to get liposuction but the press release he created about me was that I went on a tour of India to visit various ashrams. In a week! And got married to a man named Oscar Bandot. In a week! And had three sons. In a week! I came back a week later, shocked to find some listeners actually believe the tales he wove.
(He got his payback of course when he disappeared and I announced he was getting certain parts of his... anatomy... altered. And on another day, that he was shooting a film in Hollywood. You get the picture.)
We created a playground right alongside tackling relevant issues of the day. As producer, my daily goals: inform, educate, entertain the listener, could only be realized with him holding his own against me bringing mine to the table. We would have been helpless though without our faithful assistant Glenn Sibal (more on him in another blog).
One of the jokes we used to throw out on occasion was that either of us had a billboard on EDSA - the major highway that connects the north and the south of Metro Manila - endorsing whatever product we currently favored. That has actually happened for one of us. The billboard part that is.
As for the briefs, Zach favored the aged kind with bacony garters. (We auctioned off our underwear one time... don't ask why. The winner actually came to claim their prize.)
You've come a long way, my friend. I terribly miss the fun we had. You were the best morning show partner any domineering, female co-host could ever ask for and I love you for it.
(P.S. Zach is the drummer of popular Philippine rock band Imago. He got his body from capoeira and working out like a former morning show host who probably now uses his mornings to get to the gym.)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Modest Needs
I got a most compelling e-mail from a complete stranger. It wasn't spam, nor bacn. It came from a man who was instrumental in helping me and Kyera get out of a temporary financial set back last June.
To make a long story short, money I was expecting to cover the deposit on our apartment didn't come and I had absolutely no one to turn to for help. (It's been one of my toughest realities since resuming my life back here in the US; tougher still because whereas before I was an only child being raised by a widow, now I am here, single parent, raising an only child.)
I heard about Modest Needs at work, crossed my fingers, and visited their website - http://www.modestneeds.org. Their mission in a nutshell: to help normally self-sufficient individuals get back on their feet.
I applied for a grant and hoped for the best. Each day as I logged in to see if our request had been funded, I prayed, sometimes fearful, sometimes hopeful, waiting for the small change from around the world to come in. Thirty days later, I got e-mail with this in the subject line: Help is on the way. I posted my thank you on the site and a few days later, a check came in the mail made out to our apartment complex.
In these tough economic times, Modest Needs has a total of 447 individuals on their site waiting for a grant. The e-mail I got was a simple request to help spread the word for these people. Having once been in their shoes, how can I deny them the help I myself once received?
Small change may not seem like much but it has the power to make a big difference in someone's life. Hopefully, this blog and the others I keep will help do the same.
To make a long story short, money I was expecting to cover the deposit on our apartment didn't come and I had absolutely no one to turn to for help. (It's been one of my toughest realities since resuming my life back here in the US; tougher still because whereas before I was an only child being raised by a widow, now I am here, single parent, raising an only child.)
I heard about Modest Needs at work, crossed my fingers, and visited their website - http://www.modestneeds.org. Their mission in a nutshell: to help normally self-sufficient individuals get back on their feet.
I applied for a grant and hoped for the best. Each day as I logged in to see if our request had been funded, I prayed, sometimes fearful, sometimes hopeful, waiting for the small change from around the world to come in. Thirty days later, I got e-mail with this in the subject line: Help is on the way. I posted my thank you on the site and a few days later, a check came in the mail made out to our apartment complex.
In these tough economic times, Modest Needs has a total of 447 individuals on their site waiting for a grant. The e-mail I got was a simple request to help spread the word for these people. Having once been in their shoes, how can I deny them the help I myself once received?
Small change may not seem like much but it has the power to make a big difference in someone's life. Hopefully, this blog and the others I keep will help do the same.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Sunday Thought Swirl
I'm cooking a late brunch. It's my first Sunday off since becoming a supervisor at our sister hotel. It goes without saying that Kyera and I have been missing church. Missing our church in Manila, to be exact. If you've read through the older posts on this blog, you'll notice that at the start, I would wander off onto a spiritual tangent from time to time. It was much more evident that my faith was/is such a huge part of my life.
I guess somewhere along the way - as with many other things in life - I tried striking a balance by including other aspects of our move into this blog. I find it difficult to articulate this morning; this looking back at where we were and where we are. (No doubt, due in part to the new omelet recipe I'm trying out and in the middle of cooking...) But two things come to mind that almost explain what I think and feel after a year back in the US. They'll be blogs very soon:
The Novelty of Squirrels, and
In Search of the Perfect Door
Happy Sunday! Wherever you are and whatever it is you're doing.
I guess somewhere along the way - as with many other things in life - I tried striking a balance by including other aspects of our move into this blog. I find it difficult to articulate this morning; this looking back at where we were and where we are. (No doubt, due in part to the new omelet recipe I'm trying out and in the middle of cooking...) But two things come to mind that almost explain what I think and feel after a year back in the US. They'll be blogs very soon:
The Novelty of Squirrels, and
In Search of the Perfect Door
Happy Sunday! Wherever you are and whatever it is you're doing.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Krispy Kremed
But what the hey, they're free for voters!
Now the question is: Do we now hit Starbucks for our free cup of coffee?
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Difference Between Missing and Remembering
I have days wherein it doesn't take much to remind me of Manila and my life there. An Asian product here, a Tagalog sounding word there, and suddenly I'm back in my beloved, hot and humid country, sweating like a pig, hair frizzy and skin sticky.
Some days, I'll be in the middle of doing the most routine of tasks and I'll be reminded of someone. Or to be more exact, that someone doing the said task much better than me. I had one of those moments today. I was driving our twelve year old Chevy down Highway 50, listening to its many creaks and groans and moans when out of the blue I thought of one of the safest drivers I have ever been driven by, Angelo Barretto.
It was a rainy night past midnight in November 2000 and Angelo had just flown back to the Philippines after bagging the Gold medal from an endurance race in Europe. I was his unofficial publicist at the time. (We met when he guested on my morning show, Zach and Joey in the Morning, in 2000.) He had been racing - and winning - across Europe without any sponsorship deals back home and I wanted to help his cause by connecting him with all my (at the time, traditional) media friends.
He won, I helped people know, the press awarded him Driver of the Year 2000. He came home to a TV channel crew welcome, monsoon rains and a surprise welcome back party. We partied with his closest friends and supporters until finally calling it a night at 3AM. The Barretto family chauffeur was going to drive me back to my radio station where I had left my car.
But seeing how slippery the roads were and how low visibility was, Angelo took the wheel. Jetlagged and exhausted from traveling halfway around the world, he reasoned he felt he was the better driver for the conditions. Fresh from his victory on an endurance track where driving for 24 hours is the norm, none of us argued with him.
We flew steadily and safely down the main road called EDSA - his brother, his driver, and his publicist. I felt... secure. His steady hands and able maneuvering had us all dozing off that by the time we arrived at my building twenty-five minutes later, we hardly knew we had stopped.
I remembered this night today and as I thought of Angelo and wondered what he's up to these days, I caught myself in mid-missing and realized our friendship does not so much warrant a longing as it does a remembering.
Now that I have been back in the US for more than a year, I'm learning more and more how to distinguish between the two.
Slowly, the things I once thought I could not bear to be without are merely things I remember.
I guess this is what happens when a new life takes the place of an old.
Some days, I'll be in the middle of doing the most routine of tasks and I'll be reminded of someone. Or to be more exact, that someone doing the said task much better than me. I had one of those moments today. I was driving our twelve year old Chevy down Highway 50, listening to its many creaks and groans and moans when out of the blue I thought of one of the safest drivers I have ever been driven by, Angelo Barretto.
It was a rainy night past midnight in November 2000 and Angelo had just flown back to the Philippines after bagging the Gold medal from an endurance race in Europe. I was his unofficial publicist at the time. (We met when he guested on my morning show, Zach and Joey in the Morning, in 2000.) He had been racing - and winning - across Europe without any sponsorship deals back home and I wanted to help his cause by connecting him with all my (at the time, traditional) media friends.
He won, I helped people know, the press awarded him Driver of the Year 2000. He came home to a TV channel crew welcome, monsoon rains and a surprise welcome back party. We partied with his closest friends and supporters until finally calling it a night at 3AM. The Barretto family chauffeur was going to drive me back to my radio station where I had left my car.
But seeing how slippery the roads were and how low visibility was, Angelo took the wheel. Jetlagged and exhausted from traveling halfway around the world, he reasoned he felt he was the better driver for the conditions. Fresh from his victory on an endurance track where driving for 24 hours is the norm, none of us argued with him.
We flew steadily and safely down the main road called EDSA - his brother, his driver, and his publicist. I felt... secure. His steady hands and able maneuvering had us all dozing off that by the time we arrived at my building twenty-five minutes later, we hardly knew we had stopped.
I remembered this night today and as I thought of Angelo and wondered what he's up to these days, I caught myself in mid-missing and realized our friendship does not so much warrant a longing as it does a remembering.
Now that I have been back in the US for more than a year, I'm learning more and more how to distinguish between the two.
Slowly, the things I once thought I could not bear to be without are merely things I remember.
I guess this is what happens when a new life takes the place of an old.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Reinvent
I was promoted two weeks ago to supervisor at our sister hotel so I've been spending the time learning the new systems, the culture and the cast of personalities known as The Staff.
In all honesty, I've been kicking and screaming along the road called my hotel career, seeing that I landed on it purely out of necessity. Translation - nobody would hire a former web writer, training manager and morning show host and producer who lived too long overseas (this is debatable) other than a hotel for a concierge position.
But six months, five interviews, and two months after joining our upper upscale hotel chain, here I am now, doing the same thing and then some. There really is so much room to grow at the hotel. So much room to grow in America if one is hardworking.
Ask me if I'm happy though. I'll tell you I'm deeply grateful for not only having a job but for getting promoted in less than a year. That doesn't answer the question of happiness though.
This is the part that I'm still trying to figure out.
In all honesty, I've been kicking and screaming along the road called my hotel career, seeing that I landed on it purely out of necessity. Translation - nobody would hire a former web writer, training manager and morning show host and producer who lived too long overseas (this is debatable) other than a hotel for a concierge position.
But six months, five interviews, and two months after joining our upper upscale hotel chain, here I am now, doing the same thing and then some. There really is so much room to grow at the hotel. So much room to grow in America if one is hardworking.
Ask me if I'm happy though. I'll tell you I'm deeply grateful for not only having a job but for getting promoted in less than a year. That doesn't answer the question of happiness though.
This is the part that I'm still trying to figure out.
Monday, October 20, 2008
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