I have seen this story quite a few times already – in forwarded e-mails and social
networking sites. This must have been inspired by a similar story or parable told hundreds
of years ago and then modified through time.

As I remember, the story goes this way – there was a farmer who heard of other people
finding diamonds in lands afar and getting rich as a result. So, upon the advice of others,
the farmer sold his land and set off to travel and dig for diamonds in other lands. For years
and years he traveled and dug, but could not find any. Finally, he died without seeing a
single diamonds in his lifetime.

Years after that farmer’s death, the land that farmer bought came into the possession
of a young man. That young man explored his newly-bought farmland and was puzzled
to see something glistening among the soil and rocks. Upon taking a closer look, the
young man was surprised to find diamonds! And there were dozens and dozens of them!

So the farmer, ironically, sold the very land where diamonds lay waiting to be discovered, in
order to find diamonds in faraway lands.

Are there diamonds in your own backyard that you are not aware of?

I don’t think there has ever been a time where I’ve wanted to hit the beach more than these past few weeks. I’ve been spending all day doing my taxes and all these forms are literally driving me insane.

There are times where I’d be staring at a deductions sheet and just start spacing out; imagining that I was sitting on the beach surrounded by beautiful men. I could almost hear the waves crashing! It really just makes me want to get up and call those Outer Banks rentals I keep hearing about. I hear great things about the beach life there. I don’t know if there are waves to surf on, but at this point I really don’t care. It’s hot, I’m stressed, and I need a break. First thing I’m going to do when I get there is run straight into the water and just let the waves carry me as I watch the sun hang lazily in the sky.

I badly need to get a new pair of black sandals. Aside from the fact that my current one is already waving a retirement flag, there’s the Internet Congress I need to attend this coming Thursday and Friday – I need to dress to impress. My future company boss might just be one of those attendees. Yes, I’m thinking of finding a new job.

I got a flier awhile ago advertising clearance sale of my favorite shoe shop. Just my luck, I’ll be able to get good shoes at a very low price in time for the conference! I can’t wait to go to the mall later. I hope I find one that’s comfortable and fits my style.

I recently met up with my sister Anne’s boss last Saturday. He was seeking help on how to do online insurance advertising in our local market. I thought he’s one of those bosses who’s archaic or ignoramus about internet marketing. So I was quite relaxed when I went there – I didn’t do much preparation. Besides, it was the initial meeting, so I figured it’d be more of introduction, company background, and goal setting.

I was stunned at first, then horrified, then unexpectedly became impressed when he started asking me questions about internet marketing and probing for strategies very proficiently. He’s the most brilliant online and offline marketer I’ve personally met in this lifetime. In fact, I was so impressed I proposed that I’ll throw in some good ideas for free, in return for being his padawan. I hope he says yes. *crossfingers*

I haven’t been getting enough sleep for the entire month of December and until now. The result? Dark eye circles.

I’m actually planning to buy one of those under eye creams, The Body Shop’s Vitamin E Eye Cream in particular. In fact, the need is so great that I might just buy it tomorrow at the risk of duplicating it during our high school late post-Christmas party on the 20th. You see, I included the eye cream in my Top 10 wish list to my Secret Santa. *sigh* I don’t know if my eyes could wait much longer. The anticipation is literally killing my eyes. Oh well… I’ll do my best to wait until the 20th.

Since our company liaisons officer retired, we run out of office supplies more often. He was the one responsible for the inventory and purchasing of supplies. He does his job so well that we have never experienced shortage of supplies, ever. Now, My boss took the responsibility of doing the inventory task, but as expected, he is so busy doing other things. Good thing I was able to find a solution. I bought the supplies myself online! My boss was so glad that someone had the initiative to do the job. Maybe this is my chance to ask for a raise? Hahaha. Kidding. Anyhow, Most of the employees miss the old fella. It’s not everyday that you find someone around here as prudent and as kind as he is .

While waiting for my PHP classmate Sarah for coffee after work last Friday, I decided to do some window shopping. There have been some major political issues at work and I needed time to de-stress myself before meeting her so that I won’t look haggard during our very rare coffee experience.

Blankly hopping from one store to the next, a giant lavender bean bag pillow caught my eye. I immediately went inside, inquired at the sales lady and found that it’s one of those outdoor pillows that you see in Mediterranean beach clubs. The giant pillow bean bag measures 54 inches by 72 inches - the most comfortable place to curl up, lounge, read, nap, chill or recline almost anywhere! Imagine that!

To cap it off, not only is it an all-weather durable type, it uses polystyrene bead fill which makes it easy to mold into the seating shape of your choice - simply shift and the giant bean bag comfortably shifts with you. Cool huh? ^_^