I love shopping for unique birthday gifts for my Nth level friends. Whenever possible, I also organize events or surprises for them. However, for this year, one of my Nth level friend specifically instructed, “no gifts” to me.

I was stumped.

You see, I consider birthdays as a day where you get to be the Prince or Princess – and everyone treats you like one. That is, you can get away with everything and anything, and just because it is YOUR day after all. And I like pampering my Nth level friends like that. For me, it’s also a day where you can legally smother them with your affection without them saying, “It’s too much!” Frankly, they deserve more than what I can come up with during their birthdays. Much, much more.

So for this year, to celebrate my friend’s Birthmonth, given the “no gifts” instructions, I decided to do small things in an extraordinary or special way for my friend. Like last Tuesday, after dinner, I treated my friend to a savory yogurt dessert we both haven’t tried and surprised my friend with a pink stress ball. The next day, Wednesday, I dropped by my friend’s office to deliver a slice of luscious cake.

The month’s almost ending though. I wonder what unique gifts I will still come up with…

My  best friend, who is married for two years excitedly called me to announce that she was delayed for two weeks already. She always had a regular period so there really is a big chance that she is pregnant. Even I am very excited for her. She was currently with her husband to have a pregnancy test in the lab. They really want to make sure they are expecting a baby so instead of trying those over the counter test kits they went straight to the doctor.

It took just a few minutes then she called me again announcing that she was indeed pregnant! She was already advised to take prenatal vitamin supplements to help in the baby’s development. Her husband even talked to me and invited me over to have dinner with them. They seem to be planning on the christening already, haha overly excited. Anyhow, I am really happy for you guys. Congratulations and keep the baby healthy okay?!

I have been seriously considering resigning in my current job. And seeing an advertisement about philadelphia airport jobs triggered something inside me (believe it or not, I had wanted to be a flight attendant - free travel!). My friend once advised me that there are two reasons why people stay at work. It’s either you:

1. Love your job, or
2. Your pay is great

I like my job, but there’s no room for growth in my company. As for the pay, I happen to know that industry standard dictates that - modesty aside - I’m worth three times my current salary. My boss is just too dense and stingy to acknowledge the need to align me with that.

I guess the only reason I’m still working in my company is because it has become my comfort zone. I am in a position where I have a lot of authority and the people on my team and those that really matters trust and respect me. It took me a long time to earn that respect and trust and I know that if I do decide to bid my farewells and join a new company I’d most likely start from scratch.

But, come to think of it, that’s not enough reason to stay. I guess it’s time for me to be bold and move forward. God, help me.

I’m pretty knowledgeable in setting up a computer from scratch – from the assembly to the partition, OS installation and software customization; plus network connection. In fact, I used to be the unofficial IT when we were just around 15 in the company. However, when it comes to laptop computers, I’m quite hesitant in tampering with it, especially if it’s my own netbook with my personal files. I’m afraid I might do something wrong and end up losing all those precious files. Yes, I know, I should have a back up hard disk to avoid utter lamenting on misfortunes such as a laptop crash. But due to budget constraints, I never get to buying one, until yesterday that is.

Over the weekend, I finally had it with the smart failure screen on my netbook’s startup which has been there for months now. So, using my credit card, I asked my friend’s help in upgrading my hard disk to 320 gig and finally starting from a clean slate - a fresh install of Windows 7. He also suggested I use my old hard disk as an external one for file backups. Having an ECE computer-fanatic friend really does come in handy in times like these. ^_^

He just skyped me informing me that I can get my upgraded netbook later after work. I can’t wait to customize it! 0:D

The cold days are finally over, Say hello to summer! Again all of us in our office are looking forward for an exciting company outing on May. We are going to the beach! But this time, we are going to take it to a whole new level. Instead of going straight to the beach, we are going to have a road trip - backstreet style. Oh and during the trip, we are going to wear hippie costumes. hehe.

The company rented four of those used travel trailers for the trip. All of them complete with amenities: bathroom, beds, kitchen and etc. I was one of the people who suggested this and I’m glad that the employees loved the idea.

And with only two months to go to shape up those abs and trim those flabby legs, all of us are quite pressured. I guess it’s about time to stop eating quarter pounders for a while and start that south beach diet already.

I recently attended my friend’s garden wedding in this really heavenly place - much better than the one in Reese Witherspoon’s Just Like Heaven movie. It was an intimate wedding consisting of just around 25 people.

Since the group was just small, there was a sort of get-to-know-the-guests introduction-and-message portion wherein each guests answers the , “How are you related to the Bride/Groom?” followed by, “What is your message to the newlywed?” During that part, I was amazed to find out that the one beside the groom was actually his mom. She looked like she’s merely in her thirty’s!

I approached her after the toasts, complimented her gorgeous appearance, and asked how she maintained that look and if she could recommend some top rated wrinkle cream to achieve that look. She laughed and simply said “It’s in the genes.”

While the TV was talking about Anchorage foreclosures, I was on the phone talking to my sister about her upcoming wedding. She decided that it will be an intimate wedding. Only 20-30 people will be attending. Her dress was designed by her, she’ll be doing her own hair and makeup, designing the table arrangement…well just about everything.

She had always been a do it yourself gal. She wants to make sure that everything she planned was well executed. And so, she handles everything. She’s been really tired lately. Her work load makes her stay till 10pm then she has to handle wedding plans in between. Her fiancé is out of the country doing a project as well and the time zones are just complete opposites.

She lost about 5 pounds this week and 3 pounds last week. I told her to keep drinking vitamins and take some time off before her wedding. Otherwise she’ll look like a zombie.

Her wedding is next week. I’m so excited for her. We all have our dresses and are ready to rock her wedding day. Best wishes my dear sibling!