Merry Christmas

This Christmas I pray and thank God for all my blessings: Family and friends. Challenges and new beginnings. Life, love and health.

From New York, I send my warmest Christmas wishes.

Holiday Rush

As far as I can remember, this year tops as my busiest December ever! The slowest one was back in 2005 when I took the entire month off from work.

I won't go into the details here at work, but golly gosh, work has been rough. Deadlines, pressure from all department to produce numbers and reports, closing of projects, starting new ones and so on.

However, on a personal note, the rush during this month have been quite enjoyable, tiring at times, but still enjoyable. Let's start off with the first weekend of December.

I got this free museum pass from a co-worker for the American Museum of Natural History. If you haven't been there, you should definitely try to go there at least once. I've been there a couple of times and the museum brings out the kid in me. Marianne and I have been wanting to see the exhibit on Mythical Creatures and yes we did see griffins and unicorns. But aside from these special exhibits, I always need to visit Hall of Marine Life and just gaze at this giant whale that is suspended in this great big hall. Very fascinating.

The following weekend, I find myself in Charlotte, North Carolina. Marianne's hometown. Got to experience southern hospitality, eat pulled-pork bobbyque (later on the spellings), drink Cheerwine, drive up and down 485 and heard the Charlotte Symphony perform Christmas Carols with Charlotte's choirs, jazz quartet and UNCC's Percussion Band (thanks to Mr. Duca for the tickets). The weekend trip was more of a meet-and-greet. Got to meet (for the first time) Marianne's friends (Julie and Glenn), Petey (Mare's bro), and church people from her home parish. We are planning on going back there around Spring time next year for more grubbing and relaxing. Flew back to NYC on Sunday night.

After the Charlotte trip, I zoomed in all the next activities.....

Monday, I went to my dentist in the morning and checked myself in for a sleep study. Apparently, my snoring is not just because I'm tired (my all-time favorite excuse), but I have sleep apnea. I did not take a nap nor dozed off on the train. When I got there at 9PM and after hooking me up to the machine, I slept right away. They woke me up at 5:15AM to tell me that the study is done and that I can go home. Instead, I went to the gym and kicked-off my Tuesday.

Tuesday after work, I went to Johnny Utah's (http://johnnyutahs.com/) for dinner with friends. Was supposed to ride the bull, but then again, not enough beer made me do that. Got home at 11, slept at 1:30AM.

Wednesday after work, I had to meet with Mike regarding BustedHalo's Lent's Retreat 2008. I think it was a productive meeting, I was able to share some of my thoughts on how to make things more engaging. After the meeting, we had dinner at Donovan's in Woodside. Named best burger in NYC. You got to try it.

Thursday... you'll never guess. Those who know me have not seen me dance (except those grade school field demonstration days and that one time in college which I am still trying to suppress). Can you imagine me square dancing?? Well, Marianne dragged me into square dancing. I had fun. Really. I had FUN. I won't be doing it everyday now, but I had fun.

Friday, after a relaxing dinner at La Lanteria, Marinne, Cary and I found ourselves at Lion's Den in the village for some Queen music. Almost Queen is a band that plays all Queen music, they even dress up like them! That ended at 12midnight.

Saturday was sort of slow, I had to take Winrich for his birthday treat at Max Brenner (he turned 9 last week). At around 2PM, after the first order came, Winrich already had sugar high. He was off the wall with his antics and banters. But he still insisted on desserts. A chocolate pizza did the trick. After Max Brenner, I met up with Marianne at Cary's place. Marianne did her Christmas shopping and since Cary lives right behind the mall, we decided to meet up there before heading for a Christmas party in Astoria. The game plan, leave the holiday party after an hour since we dead tired. Once we got to the party, we kinda forgot about the time and left at 11:30pm.

Sunday was a relief. Went to church. Went to the gym. Watched a movie on dvd. That's what I did. Marianne on the other hand had sister time with Angela. And from what I heard over the phone, the two of them had a fun evening.

Now, this week... we are trying to slow things down. Just had dinner Monday (12/17) and exchanged gifts with Mare. Last night, Mare had to play pool. She won her match, but I had to leave after that since I need to be at the office (early, alone by myself) to proctor an exam.

I write this entry on a laptop, while counting down the time for the examinees. That is what I call multi-tasking.

Borders was the very first establishment that I've set foot when I got to NY and it was in the World Trade Center. Books and coffee. Such a sweet combination.

A Sappy Entry

Well, I guess it's not really a sappy entry... but I'm writing this with no idea where this is going. I have all this emotions bubbling inside. I can't even identify them. Love. Hope. Anger. Dis-illusion. Confusion. It could even be more than emotions. Tired. Job-burn out. Energized.

I know its confusing, I don't even know where to begin.

Random stuff I want to do:

1. Take a weekend trip somewhere (though I'm going to Charlotte second weekend of December).
2. Walk all over Central Park (but its cold!).
3. Get a new job (been thinking about this for the past months).
4. Go back to school (wanting to since last year).
5. Not work for a whole year (just thought of this now, possible? maybe.).

BustedHalo in NJ

36 young adults found themselves in the midst of Oak Ridge, NJ in the vast acre of Mt. Paul. It was another experience that will be cherished. Malo, malo Mike, Rosemary, Chris, Diane, Michelle, Katie and Missy for making me part of the team. Danke schon to Kara, Paul, Nik, Abigail and Idania for a very open small group session. Dziekuje goes to everybody who were present during the weekend, I learned a lot from everybody. Believe. Connect. Share the faith.

Grazie, maraming salamat, mesi bokou for a weekend of renewal.

20071109-11 - BustedHalo Retreats #16

BustedHalo Retreat - November 9 - 11, 2007

Weekend at AC

We found ourselves planning this weekend two weeks ago. I don't gamble but enjoy the sights and sounds of Atlantic City. From its boardwalk, pier carnival, overly aggressive seagulls and bright lights! But one thing I enjoy the most is the peace and quite I get while sleeping inside a hotel room when everybody else goes out to gamble.

The first agenda to the weekend was to spend it at the carnival. Everybody went on the Crazy Mouse, some did the Disco Ball, and the two fearless (Cary and Marianne) did the Slingshot. The gambling started when everybody thought that they could shoot the ball through the hoop. I'm guessing around $75 was spent just for that single game.

After the carnival, everybody went for the Karaoke Night sponsored by the Wyndham Hotel. Free beer, so everybody went. I guess we were the life of the party. People started to request songs for us to sing. Let me just make it clear, the us means everybody else except me. I don't sing, sorry. But we, yep, including me, danced to the Electric Slide.

After karaoke, we decided to continue the party over the local bar, AC Bar and Lobster. We got two rounds of drinks while the other half watched the baseball game and the other half saw the boxing game. Pacquio won by the way.

Sunday, after church, everybody had their plans. Shopping. Sun bathing. Casino. I stayed in the room and slept. When everybody got back from their thing, they decided to treat the kids to Sundae Social. Marianne and I decided to skip it. Too much eating for the weekend for me.

Left AC around 8:30 an got home around 11pm.

BustedHalo Organizes Another Retreat

Hey guys... BustedHalo.com is organizing another retreat this year at Mt. Paul, NJ.

There will be a pre-retreat event with wine and cheese after the 5:15 Mass at the Church of St. Paul. The event will be at the Parish Center, 405 59th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues.

This pre-event retreat will be a great environment for everybody to meet those who have been on the retreat, meet the people behind BustedHalo , and learn what to expect about the retreat.

The actual retreat happens on November 9 to 11 (Friday night at 8pm to Sunday lunch). It is an all inclusive retreat, so you get to relax and find your faith over the weekend without the NY noise. Visit http://www.bustedhalo.com/retreats to reserve your spot. Limited space is available.

Found in a Restroom Wall

It's not a good idea to take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Photos for Charity

After passing by Court House Square on 45th Road Station one afternoon, an idea came up and I started to brain storm about it with my friends and siblings. I decided to sell pictures that I took. Put it in a frame and sell it. But to make something out of it, I will be donating all of the profits to a charity.

I was thinking of setting up a website with all the bells and whistles, but then again, I don't have the resources to do them. However, I cam across eBay's Charity listing that allows the seller to donate the profit to a charity of choice. Super!

So, watch out for the listing soon. I'll be posting maybe 3 pictures to start off.

Sa Kambas ng Lipunan - In Society's Canvas

The video runs for about 20 minutes and is worth every minute of it. Pass around... let us be inspired to do something.

Full Force in RawVegas.tv

My cousin has been a BBoy ever since. I would hear about it. Saw pictures of it. But not until I visited Vegas in 2004 that I saw the entire crew in action. From the girls to the guys, you would not believe how they are able put one foot on one side, the other foot flying the opposite direction while the rest of the body spinning in all directions.

Their group, Full Force, was picked up by RawVegas.tv and has recently launched last week their on-line reality TV broadcast. Check out the premiere video.

I can now travel the world!

Last day of distance learning class.

Sunset

View from Top of the Rock.

Welcome August 2007

My dad finally caved in and had DSL installed in his house. Now with the PC that I sent him and the webcam that followed, he is able to enjoy being "connected". He can now see pictures that I took and blog entries that we write. The last time I spoke to him, he complained that we are not writing that often. With time in my hands today at work, I decided to go in and write an entry. About what I ask myself. So I decided to peek into my entries that past 3 years and here's what I saw.

August 2004: Went to Buffalo, NY to teach what was then the last class for the Medical Secretarial program. Since I was in Buffalo, I also went to Canada that weekend. That month, I was also doing my first ever photography class and was busy preparing for a photo exhibit. That month, we celebrated the first year anniversary of Digirati Creations, Inc. My first ever venture into "professional" business.

August 2005: Apparently, I was stuck in the office doing nothing. All my entry was about my upcoming vacation (my very first 36 days of vacation). So with all the time that I had, I attended a Franklin Covey Seminar and enrolled in a free Business class at Baruch College.

August 2006: My entries were mostly pictures. Pictures of my desk and my bag in Starbucks. My entries were also about me going to the gym, finding out that the pilates instructor, Sherry Mae, was moving to London and that I had to lose 10 pounds (as directed by the doctor last year, I still have to lose them today!).

Since August 2007 is just starting today, I would not have any to compare those entries yet, but this month I can guarantee the following things to happen:

1. Two-week distance learning classes.
2. 1 week of preparation hell.
3. Lots of scheduled get-together with friends and family.

Will keep up with the pictures and entries. For now have a great summer!

Weekend Slideshow

Top Ten Things About My Weekend at Oak Ridge, NJ

10. Great weather.
9. Beautiful Lake.
8. Sumptuous food.
7. Introduction to Facebook by Chris.
6. Brownies c/o Ruth.
5. Intellectually simulating conversations.
4. Book suggestions by Sarah and Becca.
3. Silence.
2. Met great people who are now great friends.
1. Spiritually re-charged.