Puppies for Sale

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read "Puppies For Sale."
Signs like that have a way of attracting small children, and sure enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner's sign. "How much are you going to sell the puppies for?" he asked.
The store owner replied, "Anywhere from $30 to $50."
The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have $2.37," he said. "Can I please look at them?"
The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur.
One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, "What's wrong with that little dog?"
The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn't have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame.
The little boy became excited. "That is the puppy that I want to buy."
The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I'll just give him to you."
The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner's eyes, pointing his finger, and said, "I don't want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I'll pay full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for."
The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies."
To his surprise, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, "Well, I don't run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!"
We ALL need someone who Understands!

The Tip

Two Nickels and Five Pennies In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely. The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - her tip.

Rocks and Sand

"Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set
your priorities. The rest is just sand."

 

A Stranger Passed By

 

I ran into a stranger as he passed by.
"Oh, excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please, excuse me too,
Wasn't even watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said good-bye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My daughter stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked her down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

She walked away, her little heart broken
at how harshly I had spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
But the children you love, you seem to abuse.

Look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers she brought for you.
She picked them herself, pink, yellow and blue.

She stood quietly not to spoil the surprise,
And you never saw the tears in her eyes.

"By this time, I felt very small,
and now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by her bed;
"Wake up, little girl, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
She smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em, because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like'em, especially the blue.

I said, "Daughter, I'm sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."

She said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway."

I said, "Daughter, I love you too,
And I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

i can't sleep. blame it on insomnia or stress or derpression. i just want to have peace of mind. so, i got a pen and scribbled what i'm thinking about.

most women my age are dealing with stress. from the mundane little things to the major C4 explosive type. we all try to cope. what's the best way of attack?

well, here i am, trying to write the ideas that pop into my head. i was thinking, oh, well, who would believe me? i'm just a nobody, an ordinary person from this ordinary world.

wait a minute. maybe i got it all backwards. people are more likely to believe someone they can relate to, someone who experience the same day-to-day grind. well, not entirely the same, but similar.

most of you are probably going to say "PROVE IT. HOW CAN YOU CARRY THE SAME LOAD THAT I'M TACKLING?"

I will prove it by telling you a little of what i go through each day, but i warn you, this is not an autobiography. it's a birds-eye description of my life every single day. and, my life may be not-so-different from yours after all. so, read on and find out.

Okay, what do i do? i train people to communicate effectively in English (or in simpler terms, i teach english). wait... some of you might snicker and say "That's what you do? Hah! I face balance sheets and numbers every day. Or, i operate on people's body parts, as a surgeon might say. Or, i invest millions of money every day in stock and gamble my reputation on the rise and fall of the economy." Again, no matter how different our careers are, we still have our own routine;and, we really don't know the complexities and intricacies (the ins and outs) of each career, so BACK OFF, and let me say something more.

i wake up around 3 or more hours before my shift to make myself presentable. take a bath, lather up, moisturize as quickly as possible, then brush teeth.

then i walkd to my closet, dress up with the clothes i picked out for the day, and head to my budoir for hair and make-up (only if i need to wear make-up). this does not even give me enough time for a meal (breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, not even a snack, which basically depends on the time of shift i have.) Blame it on heavy traffic. then, once i'm in my office, (or maybe i had 5 minutes to grab a frappuccino in starbucks or any other coffee shop i favored) I IMMERSE MYSELF IN WORK WORK WORK. so, my 8-9 hour shifts turns out to be 14. or even 15. or 16. still in counting

i rarely take breaks, lunch is even out of my vocabulary. some may take a few minutes, say when you're itching for a carb treat, or for the others 2-3 sticks of oxygen (that's what we call smokes or cigarettes nowadays).then, as soon as i myself can't force my mind to work anymore, (we have our limits) that's the only time we lean back and call it a day.

after, some of us head to malls, or gyms, or bars. as for me, usually if i don't need to, i go home to crash and catch some zzz. IF I CAN SLEEP. if not, i find refuge in looking for something productive to do.

those are for career women like me. do you still have time left for yourself? that's the main question. Ultimately, the answer is NO. but, that's where we're all doing it wrong. we take our "ME" time for granted because it seems that we can do something more productive if we use it for something else. therefore, we suffer from the inside. and, this causes burn-out.

to be continued...

I had a lot of fun during my one week leave.

It was a welcome break from the time that i started. I had fun and used up all the in lieu's that i've earned.

somehow, i felt that i owed it to myself. knowing that i worked myself so hard and abused my physical body to deliver and perform the demands of the job.

it was cool. let me narrate what happened from saturday morning up until monday afternoon. that was from april 12 up until april 21...

so, i got off from work on april 12 at around 11am, since i had to finish some audits and stuff. I went home, packed and went back to prestige tower at around 4pm, since we were on our way to antipolo (cattleya resort), where most of the trainers were, for our team building.

Jean, our boss, was there, the seniors Gladdie and Niño (her husband) plus her kids Yvon and Keon, Bee and Nikki were there. Anna, Ina and Pedro, Carlo, Monty, Joy, Angelo, Ronnie and her hub, Kim plus aaron and beaver (her kids), Kat, Pablo, Richard and me...

we ate dinner, had a little game of hotdog relay, had a couple of announcements then some sang their heart out. I swam my gills off hahah.

It was so much fun, we went home around 5am, then i went straight to the office to finish some reports. as soon as i've been able to do so, i went home then packed for tagaytay. i went there with ninang lydia and the family. aa, and mikel just followed after 2 days. we went to olivares, went shopping for UK, (used klothes) hehe. then, we went to people's park. that was from tuesday to saturday 1pm, around 6pm, went to mass.

then, i went to riviera mansions and slept there for 2 nights. in between, we went to enchanted kingdom. first, we tried the "tsubibo" or the flying fiesta. then, we tried rio grande rapids, after, we went to the wheel of fate. then, we watched oliver's high dive, (it was fun). then we rode anchor's away, and roller coaster. then we rode in balloons, bought souvenirs, and went home. space shuttle and turbo drop was closed for the day. we were supposed to ride jungle outpost but we ran out of time. then we went back to the hotel and slept.

earlier, i brought analie and dei to the airport then went home. I watched a movie, then i went to work. hah. that was tiring but fun...

what the hell am i doing right now? well, taking a break from my extremely busy life to sort my thoughts and think things over.

The sound from my keyboard is an endless chatter and my fingers fly at 150 mph as i pour my thoughts into this blog entry.

clack, clack, clack...... an ongoing sound that never fails to amaze anyone who happens to be passing by.

i'm listening to the song of usher entitled Movin Mountains... It's talking about the hopelessness of things. A love story that had a tragic ending because of lies.

I love this song. It expresses the reality that happens everyday.

Every single individual living in this world has their own opinion, their own story to tell. It never fails to amaze me that the complexities of life leave nothing to be expected. We never can rely on the norm, the everchanging standards that we set for ourselves everyday.

Once, I was listening to a former trainee relate her story. It was sad. She left everything she had for the love of her husband who left her for another woman. Her family condemned her and even blamed her for the failed marriage. Imagine that.

But, I can't help but compare myself to the stories they share with me. I know my story is not as tragic, as bloody and as cursed as the others. We all have our own tale to tell.

People say that i'm lucky. They maybe right. Because I never even thought that I'd be able to reach where I am right now. But that doesn't stop me.

I try to be a person worthy of the life given to me. I try to be a caring individual who is sensitive to the needs of others.

But, sometimes, when everythings gone awry, I can't help but envy people who have a friend like me who takes care of them. I'm so tired of taking care of everybody and I just want to have someone care for me as well.

I'm listening to Whatever you like by Nicole Scherzinger. Man, she has a body to die for. It kinda answers my question.

The song tell me to do what i like. What do i like? What do i want to do? Enroll in a cooking school perhaps. Have more time for myself. Develop my own routine. Hava a system set up for myself at work.

How i wish the new deal would push through. Life is a series of answers. yes, no, wait or expect the unexpected.

One thing that I envy other people, though, is the fact that they always have their family to turn to. With me, it's different. My family turns to me. But, I can't turn to them. Because they need me, and they feel that I might be stronger than the most of them.

i have back to back classes starting from next week to the 3rd week of April... imagine that?!? ahahah. I'm gonna go crazy soon. :D

anyway, here i am, gaping at the intolerable cruelty of the world. Life's like that. you just have to learn to live it. you just have to learn to survive.

i feel so drained. I'm so upset...I just want to let go of the feeling of stress.. can i just cry it out?

i don't know what i want anymore... I should feel so lucky but something is bothering me.

life in training is fun, and i love what i do... but there are certain times that some situations really get to you. not only the situation but also some of the people...