Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Top 10 New Year's Resolutions
1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others shows that more than 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year. Make plans to meet up with friends for an evening of comaraderie at a favorite Pittsburgh restaurant or take the family to one of these popular Pittsburgh places for family fun. Work shouldn't always come first!
2. Fit in Fitness
The evidence is in for fitness. Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better. Why not make this the time to start getting in shape for one of these popular Pittsburgh Area Charity Walks, Runs or Rides?
3. Tame the Bulge
Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of Americans who made a New Year's commitment to shed extra pounds.
4. Quit Smoking
If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you've tried to quit before and failed, don't let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good. Start enjoying the rest of your smoke-free life! Even Allegheny County is trying to go smoke-free, and it's taken them a few tries as well. Locally, there are a variety of free support services, hotlines and smoking cessation classes to help you kick the smoking habit.
5. Enjoy Life More
Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no wonder that "enjoying life more" has become a popular resolution in recent years. It's an important step to a happier and healthier you! Consider one of Pittsburgh's holistic healing centers for products designed to bring balance to your body, mind and soul. Or just get out and try something new! Take up a new hobby or try your hand at skiing. Go to a theater performance, or head to the local spa. Pittsburgh offers a wealth of artistic and recreational activities to meet just about anyone's wishes.
6. Quit Drinking
While many people use the New Year as an incentive to finally stop drinking, most are not equipped to make such a drastic lifestyle change all at once. Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey but do much better when they taper gradually, or even learn to moderate their drinking. If you have decided that you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available. Pittsburgh Alcoholics Anonymous offers meetings throughout the greater Pittsburgh area. There is also a Pittsburgh group for Parents of Teenage Alcohol and Drug Abusers. There are also a number of treatment-based programs, as well as support groups for families of alcoholics.
7. Get Out of Debt
Was money a big source of stress in your life last year? Join the millions of Americans who have resolved to spend this year getting a handle on their finances. It's a promise that will repay itself many times over in the year ahead.
8. Learn Something New
Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? Whether you take a course or read a book, you'll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year's resolutions to keep. The Community College of Allegheny County offers a wide variety of "lifelong learning" courses, and local YMCA's offer great recreational training for beginners of all ages. Most local colleges and universities offer distance and adult education programs. Or if the arts are more your thing, places such as the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts offer adult studio classes.
9. Help Others
A popular, non-selfish New Year's resolution, volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, there are many nonprofit volunteer organizations that could really use your help. The Pittsburgh Cares organization makes it easy by connecting volunteers with projects to fit practically any schedule. Or if your time is really in short supply, maybe you can at least find it in you to donate the furniture, clothing and other household items that you no longer need, rather than leaving them out by the curb to fill up our landfills.
10. Get Organized
On just about every New Year resolution top ten list, organization can be a very reasonable goal. Whether you want your home organized enough that you can invite someone over on a whim, or your office organized enough that you can find the stapler when you need it, these tips and resources should get you started on the way to a more organized life. Pittsburgh has quite a few professional organizers who can help you reduce the clutter in your life and find peace in your home. Professional Pittsburgh organizer Patty Kreamer even offers a a six-month But I Might Need it Somday! ecourse.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
by Albrecht Powell [from about.com]Labels: articles
Saturday, December 17, 2011
2011 Christmas Wish List
It's wish list day again. Here is my 2010 Christmas wish list:
1. more clothes and shoes [discovered the teenager in me this year]
2. more travel clothes and paraphernalia
3. another perfect bag
4. a 500GB external hard drive
5. earn more money...maybe start a business
6. catch up [yet again] with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
7. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
8. a four-peat UAAP championship for admu
9. travel some more - more places in the philippines and more countries around the world [went to cebu, taiwan, bangkok, and siargao - also have hong kong and macau scheduled at the end of the month]
10. a special someone
Wow! Eight wishes out of 10, i'm getting better at this as the years go by. Here is my 2011 Christmas wish list:
1. even more clothes and shoes
2. another 500GB external hard drive
3. earn more money...maybe have a sideline
4. catch up [again] with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
5. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
6. a five-peat UAAP championship for admu
7. peace at home
8. feel happy and contented with what i have and where i am
9. travel some more - more places in the philippines and more countries around the world
10. a special someone
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOLabels: lists quizzes and surveys
a.o.u.i.e. scribbled this @
9:24 PM
Friday, December 17, 2010
2010 Christmas Wish List
It's that time of the year again. Here is my 2009 Christmas wish list:
1. an actual kikay kit with makeup inside
2. the perfect bag
3. a professional digital camera [gave up on this wish and bought a new point and shoot camera instead]
4. a new external hard drive
5. have a good sound investment i can earn money from eventually [bought a condo, which i will be paying for, for the next 2.5 years]
6. catch up [again] with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
7. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
8. three-peat UAAP championship for admu
9. travel - either around the philippines [at least one beautiful place per region] or on an asian-pacific cruise [went to palawan, china, and bohol - also have singapore scheduled in two weeks]
10. a special someone
Wow! Seven wishes out of 10, not bad at all...anyway, here is my 2010 Christmas wish list:
1. more clothes and shoes [discovered the teenager in me this year]
2. more travel clothes and paraphernalia
3. another perfect bag
4. a 500GB external hard drive
5. earn more money...maybe start a business
6. catch up [yet again] with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
7. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
8. a four-peat UAAP championship for admu
9. travel some more - more places in the philippines and more countries around the world
10. a special someone
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOLabels: lists quizzes and surveys
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
My Journey to You
Three years ago when I closed his chapter in my life, I remember feeling a sense of sadness, like saying goodbye to a long-time friend. Truth be told, I was scared of letting my feelings go, of turning away from something that felt familiar. But I've made up my mind that I want my life back, that I want to be happy again. After five years I finally grew tired of waiting for him to love me. The uphill battle started and as time went by, I slowly got used to a life without him. He was no longer my first and last thought of the day and I've stopped sending him random text messages, hoping he'd reply and ask me out. For the first time since I graduated from college I was building a life away from him, a life that wasn't ruled by memories of him.
In the same year I was struggling with letting him go, I met you. We weren't close though and even after several months, our relationship pretty much stayed on the same level. I hardly knew anything about you - I didn't see you outside of work, we didn't text, we didn't chat, we hardly even worked together - but I felt comfortable with you. I don't know why but I felt good when you're around. I felt like I can tell you anything, that you understood me even if I wasn't telling you much about myself. We were a small group and I thought it was just a matter of time before we got to know each other beyond work. It was sad that I started getting to know you, started learning details about your life, only when you were about to leave.
I understood why you had to go and if I was in that situation, I'd probably do the same. But I can't deny that a part of me resented you for leaving and that same part of me hated you for sticking me with a project I didn't feel I was ready for. I felt your leaving not because of any regrets I had but because of my apprehensions for what's in front of me.
In the year and a half that you were gone, I honestly don't remember missing you. I was too focused on work, on keeping things running as smoothly as possible. 2009 was a busy year for me. Apart from work, this was the year life gave me a tough lesson on letting go. The flood that ravaged through our house forced me to let go of material possessions that reminded me of my past, of memories I should have moved on from a long time ago. It was a painful lesson and it is only now looking back that I am beginning to understand. Life wanted to teach me that with every picture, letter, and souvenir I throw away, I was also making room for new memories to take the place of old ones. Life was apparently preparing me for your return.
I was glad when I heard you were coming back but I didn't realize things would be different this time around. I didn't realize that now you're someone with whom I’ll be sharing a lot - projects, business trips, stories about your past, details about myself. I was pleasantly surprised when you understood my frustrations better than anyone else. But I guess I should have known that, because you saw the project at its inception and you knew what it was like to be doing what I've been doing for the past two years. As the months went by and I struggled with work issues, you were there doing what you can to make things easier for me. In your own way, you were taking care of me, making sure I was okay, making sure you were there if I needed someone to talk with.
I woke up one day realizing that without meaning to I had fallen for you, that I like you more than I should. I know you're not free to love someone and you have issues you need to settle and deal with first. I'm hoping though that your coming back meant you've already accepted the realities of your past. I'm praying that you're slowly coming to terms with whatever issues your old relationship left you with and that the only loose ends left are the legalities. I want to help you with what you're going through, help you heal and be there for you just like you were there for me, but I don't know how to reach out to you. I'm scared that I might do something to drive you away, that I might screw up whatever chance I have with you. I'm scared of making the same mistakes I did in the past.
I don't know if a relationship between us is possible or how good it will be if we do get into one. A quick look at how we both grew up will tell anyone that we're very different from each other. But I'm hoping that we can bridge the gap and see beyond our differences, that we can both accept each other for what we are and for what we're not. I want this chance with you and I'm willing to grow up, to accept you and your past, just to make this chance a reality. I only hope that you can meet me halfway, that you will want to work things out with me, no matter how hard and no matter what we face.
I’m putting myself on the line again and I'm crossing my fingers that this time, this story will have a different ending - a happy ending.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
loving involves two phases. the first intuitive one is loving the person in spite of who he is and the second nobler one is loving the person for who he isn't. the first one sparks love, the second one makes it last...Labels: scribblings from me
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tangled Thoughts
A little over a year ago I was asked what would make me stay. I don't remember giving an answer and I highly doubt if I did. It just didn't seem that important then. I had no idea that not even six months after that I'd be engaged in an internal struggle whether to stay or leave - that suddenly there would be an urgency to figuring out the answer to that question.
A part of me wants to stay - I've actually already imagined myself growing old in this company and maybe even in this team. But events over the past year made me think if I am really where I should be.
None of the projects I've had in the past three years required the skill sets I was hired into the company for. I worked my ass off last year, accepting a scope that should have been handled by multiple teams each with several members. Deep in my heart I knew what I deserved and when I didn't get it, I wanted to leave. I felt that my efforts were not given due importance and recognition; that I was not getting respect for what I've done and what I've given. Despite these ill feelings though, I stayed. I stayed because I knew the project needed me.
But I don't have that excuse anymore.
It's been almost a month since I've transitioned out of the project I've nurtured for two years and I'm still grasping at what my day would be. Yes there are projects coming in but I don't know what my level of involvement will be with those projects or if I'll be involved at all. I've been here long enough to know that there is a picture in his mind of the whole team, of what each member's role is, but he seems to have forgotten that I cannot read his mind. He seems to have overlooked the fact that he has not yet painted the big picture for me, that he has not yet explained to me how I fit into that big picture.
I love details and the uncertainty of everything is stressing me out. It doesn't help either that I am in between projects with a lot of time to kill. Weird as it sounds, I do not enjoy having a lot of time on my hands because it is during these idle moments that the antsy feelings come back to haunt me. I already told myself that I will stay, at least give myself until the end of the year to get used to life post-transition and then re-evaluate whether to stay or leave. But my commitment is being sorely tested as I battle conflicting feelings and thoughts, a number of which are telling me to leave and seek greener pastures.
I'm still trying to hold on though. I'm still trying to find reasons to stay no matter how trivial or inconsequential. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that at end of it all the reasons to stay will outweigh the reasons to leave.
But until then, I'm here waiting, twiddling my thumbs until the next project begins, until I find my niche in the team again.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOLabels: scribblings from me, work-related
a.o.u.i.e. scribbled this @
5:30 PM
Thursday, December 17, 2009
2009 Christmas Wish List
This is now the fifth straight year I'm doing my wish list tradition. Here is my 2008 Christmas wish list:
1. a new wallet
2. a professional digital camera
3. a new laptop
4. improve my photoshop skills
5. catch up with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
6. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
7. back-to-back UAAP championships for admu
8. double my savings
9. travel - either around the philippines [at least one beautiful place per region] or on an asian-pacific cruise
10. a special someone
Five wishes out of 10, not bad...anyway, here is my 2009 Christmas wish list:
1. an actual kikay kit with makeup inside
2. the perfect bag
3. a professional digital camera
4. a new external hard drive
5. have a good sound investment i can earn money from eventually
6. catch up [again] with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
7. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
8. three-peat UAAP championship for admu
9. travel - either around the philippines [at least one beautiful place per region] or on an asian-pacific cruise
10. a special someone
XOXOXOXOXOXOLabels: lists quizzes and surveys
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
2008 Christmas Wish List
I've been doing this wish list tradition since 2005 so this makes it my fourth wish list. A quick look at my old lists tell me that a lot of the items appeared on more than one of my wish lists. Here is my 2007 Christmas wish list:
1. a full length mirror
2. a professional digital camera
3. travel - either around the philippines [at least one beautiful place per region] or on an asian-pacific cruise
4. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
5. a savings account with at least six figures in it
6. a UAAP championship for admu and UAAP tickets to all admu games for season 71
7. regularization in my current job
8. peace at home
9. see my lola again
10. a special someone
Five wishes out of 10, not bad...anyway, here is my 2008 Christmas wish list:
1. a new wallet
2. a professional digital camera
3. a new laptop
4. improve my photoshop skills
5. catch up with the TV series episodes in my external hard drive
6. meet erik santos in person and have my picture taken with him [jologs ako...so shoot me!]
7. back-to-back UAAP championships for admu
8. double my savings
9. travel - either around the philippines [at least one beautiful place per region] or on an asian-pacific cruise
10. a special someone
XOXOXOXOXOXOLabels: lists quizzes and surveys
a.o.u.i.e. scribbled this @
9:39 PM
Monday, September 01, 2008
Last Straw
I am tired of writing about you. I am tired of reading the same regretful lines, the same sad story over and over again. I hate the fact that you make a hopeless romantic sucker out of me. I hate you for making me regret things even if it all happened five years ago. I am stuck in a deep rut because of you. I hate you more for making me hope and making me wait for you to come back so we can start all over again.
I am so stupid for believing that somehow, you still feel the same about me. If you really want me back, you should have come for me a long time ago. I was a fool for believing only the things I want to see. I was a fool for nurturing the memories and keeping it alive deep within my heart for five years.
I should have known this before—you’re a big coward, a big baby who doesn’t want to grow up. You wasted your time whining and complaining about your life when you already have so much. You masked your fear and cowardice perfectly well. I told myself that your spoiled-brat attitude is a mere manifestation of creative angst, that you’ll get over it in a few years and you’ll make it big someday.
Five years has passed. Our lives have changed so much, but not my feelings. Not my goddamn feelings. I’m still in love with the angst-ridden boy I met five years ago. I am still in love with the fact that once in my life, somebody loved me the way you did; that I once hurt for someone as much as I did for you.
But you know what, life has finally slapped me awake. You’re totally over me—that I should accept. I am no longer you’re true north; I no longer make you feel as if the stars and the moon exist because of the two of us; I no longer make you feel as if you could fight the world weaponless for me. I am no longer “the one”.
Letting go and moving on for real has never felt this sad and liberating. Admittedly, you’ll always have that softest spot in my heart. No one can ever take your place. I’m quite sure that I’ll never fall in love with somebody the way I fell for you. But that’s okay. Maybe when my life is over, I’d look back and smile at the memories I lovingly preserved deep inside my stupid, young heart. Maybe I wont shed a single tear anymore, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll thank the heavens above for enlightening me and making me understand that it has never been us and there will never be us in this lifetime.
Goodbye my friend. Now I’m convinced that I was never your soulmate, that I was never for you. Maybe somebody out there is waiting for me. Or maybe not. Nevertheless, life should be more than regrets and tears or waiting for something that will never come.
Goodbye Andrei. And thank you for the memories.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
by ishda [from peyups]Labels: articles
a.o.u.i.e. scribbled this @
2:30 PM
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Taken almost 10 Years ago
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Labels: scrapbook pages
Sunday, June 01, 2008
First of June
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Labels: scrapbook pages
a.o.u.i.e. scribbled this @
1:49 AM
