Noel & Via

Posted by Via at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was finally able to take a shot of these, inspired by Noel's sudden urge to clean up his desk. (My husband is such a Virgo!) It's also fitting since summer is coming to a close, and my last class will be this coming Monday.

Each little present has a story: The wooden photo frame came from one of my students with a learning disability and was also incredibly shy, but she always had something nice to write to me at the end of each session. The beaded centerpiece was handmade by one of the sweetest little girls and her brother. Both gifts are extra special because they came from the first class I ever taught this summer. (That and the fact that they are not edible so they will last :) ) The pink little bag contained lip gloss and nail polish from one of my all boys' classes at that! :) And the chocolates came from one of my sweetest students from MIriam. (When she realized that I wasn't a Mommy yet, she quickly told me Happy Wives Day! instead) The wallpaper of Audi TT in hot pink came from a very thoughtful boy who even changed the background color to something he thought I might like. So when I am overcome with exhaustion and questions as to why I teach, I just need to revisit this entry and all the pure and joyful gratitude that came with my loot.

Posted by Via at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tagged by Toni

Instructions: Name ten of life’s simple pleasures that you like the most, then pick ten people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not to use things that someone else has already used.

1. Cuddling with our two Jacks
2. Fresh sheets
3. Espresso percolating in our Moka.
4. Chocolate flavored dirty ice cream
5. The original mint source shampoo and conditioner
6. Freshly mopped/waxed floors (Lysol - pine scent, Pinesol - lavander and Johnson Wipe and Shine wax)
7. Salted cheese popcorn by Homejoy
8. Resensa green tea iced tea
9. the smell of Noel's tshirts
10. Good hair days :)

I tag Pin, Bets, Chris, Leah, Zette, Abby, Fran, Rowie, Issa, Cris

Posted by Via at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Somehow, I thought I'd be a mellow-er color. What's your true color? Find out from the www.tickle.com True Color Test.

Your color is *red*, the color of racy sportscars, blushing cheeks, and luscious roses. Red symbolizes passion, romance, and love. So, since you're ruled by red, you probably trust your feelings more than your brain and tend to act spontaneously. If you see something you want, you go for it without thinking twice. Impulsive is your middle name. You don't wait around for people to make decisions, either; you dive right in. Quite the romantic, you pay close attention to your emotions. In fact, if your heart isn't in what you're doing, you won't be satisfied. Of course, even when you do pour all your energy into the projects you tackle, your impetuous nature means your passions can shift as frequently as the wind. That's why some reds have trouble with commitment. Our advice? Next time you're feeling fickle, think before you act, if possible. You might be surprised at the results. Overall, though, it's great to be red. No one lives life more completely than you do.

Posted by Via at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ok, so I was trying a bit too hard to rhyme. :) This post is to recount our restful Saturday afternoon. Noel and I treated ourselves to a soothing massage at the newly-opened The Spa at The Podium. We love it's new monastery-theme. The receptionists are in toga-like outfits, but I think it would've have been more realistic if they had been male. There's a waiting room section that's quite dark with a few fake orange candles that are similar to what one sees in some cemeteries. It has an eerie yet soothing effect. Of course they put efforts into trying to make the flooring cobble-stoned and made the doors look splintery-woody like in Gothic times. I was at times transported to the set of The Name of the Rose. (a really cool Sean Connery murder-mystery movie based on Umberto Eco's novel) It was my first time to try out the steam room- I have a tendency to be claustrophobic. So I was deathly afraid when the steam seemed to form a wall and my eyes strained to see the other end of the little room. But the mentholated steam seemed to do my sore muscles good. I highly recommend it. (It also helped that I kept stepping out when things got too steamy- pun intended- inside)

Dinner was at NYPD pizza. And we were starving. I noticed something in Noel's iced tea. Thank goodness it was already dead. But STILL. Noel had already taken a sip. Blech! So I tried not to go into heightened hysterics when I explained the situation to our order taker. She offered to replace our drinks, of course we declined. So I scooted over next door to Subway for our beverages. Later on, the other food server (a male this time) announced that our whole meal was free!!! We were really pleasantly surprised. And offered to pay at least P 200.00- which we did. Talk about turning around a critical customer moment! :)

Posted by Via at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was inevitable... the day had to come... we had to get our NBI clearance. (equivalent to a police clearance for other countries, NBI is our FBI, the barbaric kind) I needed mine for work, Via needed hers for her documents.

One thing we knew that we would experience and why we dreaded this day was the inefficient system of getting this clearance. Standing in the hot summer sun waiting in line of over a hundred sweating people was just the half of the story. When we arrived at the NBI satellite office in our city hall at 7:30 am, the line was already packed. It reached about 3 blocks away. For a moment we put ourselves at the end of the line. By 8:30 we were hearing that the receipts for the clearance were not yet delivered thus the line won't start moving until it arrived.

We considered leaving until a "fixer" approached us and said that they can do the waiting for us for a fee. It was a no-brainer why we agreed to them. We would rather do our chores that day than waste our time waiting for the stupid receipt to arrive. So we did, by 10:30 we decided to leave and left our mobile phone numbers with the fixer and asked her to send us a message when the receipt arrives. A lot of disappointed souls waiting in line also left around this time.

Only at around 3pm did I get a message from our secret agent. The receipt was there and they were waiting for us to fill up forms and put in our thumbprints. The whole process of form filling, thumb-printing, digital photo taking, and data encoding took about an hour with some line-waiting. The last step before releasing the clearance was where an encoder inputs your names and details in a computer. Then the encoder hits enter to search for similar names with bad records in their databases.

HIT! A small red window pops up in the encoder's screen. "Sorry ma'am, may hit po kayo. You can only claim your clearance next week." She explained that Via's name (Maria Victoria) is very common, but not to worry it doesn't mean that she is the one who has a criminal record. I was cocky at this point, I didn't think Emmanuel Antonio was very common... HIT! The red window popped up again. Apparently it is common and both of us have to come back next week to claim our clearance.

Posted by Noel at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just realized how very Sex and the City my title just sounded. Clearly, we are all in hot pursuit of something, perhaps a lot of the time, it is the somethings we perceive to be most elusive that make us strain even more to have them. I have this compulsion. And at times it makes me feel very motivated, other times just exhausted. )The whole process in between of course drives my husbands bonkers). And I noticed just this morning, that my tendency is to replace one obsession with another when the latter doesn't quite work out. I suppose such is the case for people suffering from one type of dependency or another. Is it really just so difficult to just accept things as they come and have a peaceful joy knowing that we are already blessed with everything to make ourselves happy? One thing our retreat master (and well-loved priest and human being) Fr. Reuter said to us once comes to mind: "The most beautiful thing you'll ever have, is what you have right now."

Posted by Via at 01:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

To my utter surprise, my class this morning was a set of 7 boys! (my last class of all boys being 11) Having been out of commission for almost a full week due to Laryngitis, I was a little wary of how challenging my new boys would be. But thus far, they are all angels.

Today I had to withstand another smelly emission. Whew! I wonder if it's the snacks we serve them... and one boy was asking his classmate to sniff his armpit to see how stinky it was. To which his classmate replied that his own armpit was so black. It's just crazy how they are so gross like Garbagepail Kids. Hehehe! But endearing just the same.

Posted by Via at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Noel and I had a pretty quiet long weekend- much needed rest for us both! :) We spent yesterday afternoon making "pasyal" (strolling) in Gateway Mall. Noel got me a cool embroidery kit and accounting book using the classic lemonade stand business as a model. It's called The Accounting Game. Such a sweet husband! Our dinner was reminiscent of our dates back in college- Orange Julius hotdogs and Dairy Queen ice cream for dessert! : ) Yes, folks it's back in Gateway! Very brave of them. So we are happy to report that it still has a following proven by the lines yesterday.

That was our lazy Monday night date. To my husband, you're still my favorite date. :)

Posted by Via at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)