sisa reunion

i know this is two weeks late but i still want to share this short but meaningful experience that i had with my sisa family last april 19 at craving's shangri-la ..

the plan

friday, april 17, i blogged about the things that i'de doing for the weekend to start my much-awaited/needed vacation. well, the kick-off was a day-long rest wherein i remained curled up in bed playing with and cuddling my two cutesy dogs or watching tv. . .REST. . . SLEEP. . . those two words kept on bouncing in my head, hehe, since i never had the luxury of getting good, long sleeps when school was still on... i really scheduled that saturday for my beauty rest, hehe, that i cancelled my date with the angels! hehe, sorry guys, but i know you understood how much i wanted to rest, right?..

the reunion, april 19

then came sunday, the very first sisa reunion two years after kriz, weng and i left the company. after our take-off that time, some teachers also followed in search for greener pasture, hehe, so the get-together really meant so much to us.. thanks to teacher rose who did the arrangements and make the event possible. the get-together turned out to be a blast! a lot of cam-whoring (too bad, i forgot to bring my cam), eating and catching up was done. we were supposed to meet the sisa gang at cravings, shangri-la at 12noon but i arrived with my partner at around 1. others came in at 2 and my fellow angels came in at, guess what, 3 pm just in time for snacks! ahaha, you haven't changed guys! it's supposed to be a lunch date! hehe... anyway, i just had coffee! it was so hot yet i still opted to have coffee since i missed my morning dose of it! while everyone was eating steaks, which according to some was not worth their 300 bucks, i was enjoying my cup of cappucino! it was good! but what made the craving's coffee experience really great was the conversations that i had with my ex-co-teachers over that cup.. conversations over coffee are indeed the best! ... two years is a long time and a lot has really happened-- some got married, the others already gave birth and there are some who are pregnant and my friend, weng, is one of them! hehe... some of our mommies even brought their uber-cute babies along as well and i realized that the sisa family is really getting bigger. i hope to have my own tot by the time we had the second reunion! haha, dream on, grace! ... it was really nice to see all of them again. i had learned a lot of new things from them and about them and so, i look forward to more get-togethers..

my sisa family

there's nothing like my sisa family. prior to this 'toxic' job, i was working as a teacher for YBM sisa, a korea-based company that caters tutorial services. my fellow teachers and the experiences that i gained in that company are really etched forever in my heart. i must admit that the pay that i used to get there was unsatisfactory but nothing would beat the experience that i gained in there. it has greatly contributed to the person that i am now (hehe, drama!)... but no kidding, my being part of the company hastened my language skills and instilled in me the passion in teaching. what also made my tenure there so incredible was the fact that i met wonderful people such as the angels, cocoy and of course my partner, hehe... that two years were really unforgettable and had i the chance to relive my life, i'd definitely want to go through the whole sisa experience ;D . . .


**got no time to upload the pictures. i only got 8 minutes to pack up... will just do the uploading (and editing) tomorrow..


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yey!!!!

need to go now but i just want to share this piece of good news! i passed writing in the professions! yeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!!! now i'm just waiting for my grade in methods! i never could describe how ecstatic i am! this is a good day after all! feeling VIP pa ko coz two of my closest friends dedicated their post to me, haha...

rants.

let me correct yesterday's entry. it's supposed to be our 27th monthsari! my math skills failed me again, hehe!... anyway, it's just 730 in the morning but i'm pissed off already! i'm here since 530 hoping to start monitoring but here's the thing: the system seems to be down so i cannot download the classes!!! so much for a very early bird. i have slated 7 monitorings today to meet the deadline tomorrow despite the two-hour training later, the meeting that i'll be having tomorrow and the preparation that i'll be doing for my june project and another meeting next week! my hands are full! .. i know i promised to take things lightly and to think positively but i cannot just bring myself to act as if i'm not affected by all these things! i definitely need a break from everything, not just from school, but everything. away from all the responsibilities that i have and roles that i play. i wish to have a long vacation worrying about nothing... but then again, it's just a wish. i know i don't have the luxury to do that. boohoo.

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"Being an adult: TOTALLY overrated. I mean seriously, don't be fooled by the hot shoes and great sex and no parents anywhere telling you what to do. Being an adult is responsibility. Responsibility really does suck. Really, REALLY sucks. Adults have to be places and do things and earn a living and pay the rent. And if you're training to be a surgeon, holding a human heart in your hands... Hello! Talk about responsibility! Kinda makes bikes and cookies look really really good, doesn't it? The scariest part about responsibility... When you skrew up and let it slip right through your fingers. Responsibility. It really does suck. Unfortunately once you get past the age of braces and training bras, responsibility doesn't go away. It can't be avoided. Either someone makes us face it or we suffer the consequences. " --- meredith grey

monthsari again

it's our 25th monthsary. time to be slushy again! this is what my tartie sent me in the middle of work, work, work!

syempre, my heart melted once again. hahah! i really am a sentimental fool :p...

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despite the date though, i'm cranky today! hehe, it's the month's last week so i'm a little stressed out again. it's one of those days when you want to borrow meredith grey's expression, "cut me some slack!" hehe... i also feel dizzy after listening to eight classes simultaneously today. while monitoring, i was ranting deep inside and i was irritated even by the slightest ungrammaticality. hehe, man, i'm not sure if it's just the deadline or, the fact that i'm getting old! tsk.

good news from frends

what is it about summer that two of my really good friends got preggy :p.. hehe, yes, jp and weng, two of my special friends in this lifetime are going to be mommies soon! so so happy for both of them... i would probably never experience such thing but the thought of sharing this wonderful moment with my friends makes me so happy and complete already!

to my two friends, please do take care of yourselves and of the little angels in there! I'll be praying for you and your babies' good health.. love you guys :)

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"it is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding"-- Emma Bombeck

summah time

done with all the school requirements. just hope that my prof would be considerate enough to give me a passing grade knowing that i was not aware of the principles and concepts in genre analysis. we only met twice to talk about my final paper, imagine? we didn't have formal meetings to discuss the theories that underlie the said subject. oh well, i still have to wait until next week until the final grades' are out! im really keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that my almost sleepless nights would pay off!

anyway, for now, i want to focus on making my summer worthwhile. i'm on sabbatical by the way, i won't be taking my compre next week! hehe! i'd be taking it in july. that means, i have almost three months to smell the flowers, hehe.. but really, not taking the compre was a big decision that i had to make. when i started my masters, i'd thought of having my degree before 2009 ends, but this time, i realized that i need not worry and need not to hurry. i've been pushing myself to the limit for the last two years and i guess it's really time for a BIG break from school! that 3 months would also be enough preparation for the compre :)

anyway, tomorrow's the official start of my summer! can't waaaaaiiiiiiit ;)

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TGIF... not!

Thank God It's Friday (TGIF) has been my student's favorite line during our classes on, of course, Fridays. He would always greet me with it and tell me about his plans for the much-awaited weekend. Sometimes, I can't help but feel a twinge of envy as he gets to enjoy some things during the weekend while i'm stuck at school or hitting the books or researching for a certain homework. the past two years have been a challenge to my knowledge, skills, perseverance, patience and even health. Juggling work, school along with my personal life is really no picnic. It is through these experiences though that I learn a lot of things like managing my time and prioritizing different tasks.

right now, i'm in the middle of weighing things again. today, friday, is gonna be a busy and dreadful day again as i'm faced with different tasks from both school and work. Faced with the same situation some months back, I would've probably vent endlessly and think about life being so unfair as I don't get to enjoy the carefree life that others have. Right now though, I keep in mind what I learn from our trainings on dealing with different and demanding tasks.

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3 Tips for Prioritizing Tasks

1. Psyche yourself up. A tired, emotional brain is not best placed to make decisions. Good decisions are made by alert, objective minds, so make an effort to keep your energy levels up and your stress level down.

2. Take pressure off and make good prioritizing decisions by creating a list of questons to ask yourself when deciding what should be done first and when.

3. Help can can come from anywhere---from your manager, peers or partner.


*** so there, i'm writing this to refresh my memory on the lessons that i got from our trainings. i hope to have encouraged someone on the process and let him/ her realized that we are bigger than the all the tasks given to us! so hang on for a while in there, i'm sure that you'll benefit a great deal if you had conquered all challenges that you are experiencing at the moment.

***it's 5am now.i'm almost finished with my first cup of coffee and the teachers behind me are starting their classes already. guess it's time to conquer my tasks now... =)


SEIZE THE DAY!!!

stress

been away for a couple of days because of deadlines at work! i was too anxious came monday since i still had like 18 classes to monitor and that's 9 classes for the last two days of last month! gawd, i could only finish a maximum of 5 monitorings...good thing some of our trainings were postposed until yesterday so i was able to concentrate on the monitorings. deadlines really serve as motivation or inspiration to finish a task, hehe, well, at least based on my experiences.

one thing i learn and believe to be effective in times like this is the power of focus. it really works! because of it, i was able to finish all the required tasks in the office despite the number of trainings and schoolworks that i attended to in between monitoring hours for the last two weeks... once again, i was stretched to the limit but the consolation that i felt after was reassuring. really, pressure or stress could be tedious or exhilarating or could probably be both. and right now, i'm trying to look at it not just as a taxing experience but an exhilirating one as well. i believe looking at stress or pressure in this perspective would also allow us to still be more effiecient and productive in other things and not just the task alone.

right now, i'm stressed again. training period for my first project is not yet done. still have to meet 4 team leaders until tomorrow *sigh.* and to make things worse, there's another deadline that's looming-- school deadline. i barely have two weeks to accomplish all that there is to pass this term but it seemed that things are getting out of hand-- i'm out of respondents for my other paper and i got no sufficient background on the other one since it's a special class.. i'm screaming inside but i know that worrying would do me no good. i have to summon my happy thoughts once again and be optimistic as well! i need to look at the things that i can do rather than those that i failed to do.. i really need to FOCUS once more...





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incidentally, here are three simple and practical tips on dealing with deadline-related stress.


How to Beat Deadline Stress
By Triskit, eHow MembeStep1

Step 1
Learn to Focus: If you're working on a project, don't answer the phone, don't surf the internet and set aside a few specific times in the day for checking your email.

Step2
Be Realistic: If you are stressed your brain loses it's ability to work as effectively. If you are juggling several projects, as your manager to help assign priority to each one. Determine which projects are most urgent and start there.

Step3
Reward Yourself: When working under a deadline, you're more likely to finish on time if you have something to look forward to at the end of the day. If you have a 5pm deadline, plan to take a 6 pm yoga class or meet your buddies at the pub, or perhaps set a dinner date. When you're driven by anticipation instead of fear of missing the deadline, you'll work more efficiently.


** Have a stress-free day, everyone!