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Did you ever play You Don't Know Jack? It was a big hit way back when... YDKJ is a trivia game unlike any other. I love that the host is funny and was not ashamed to curse, which was ground breaking at that time. Dis or Dat? Jack Attack! These were great and we even played with a group. Well, now Cookie is back and he is online! Its in episode 8 already. Go ahead and play now!
I wrote this last April 7, but only had the guts to post it tonight.
Warning: may not be acceptable to very young audiences.
My good friend Gretch said it's really a time when you take stock of your life and see what you've done thus far. Other people like to say the 30's are the new 20's... Originally, I didn't think it would be such a big deal for me. Last year, I found my husband amusing when he began gravitating towards "turning 30" books. And this year, only two months shy of my 30th birthday, I find myself going through similar grapplings. What does it mean to be turning 30 today? (Although still not that large a number, it is still about entering a new decade- though at least I'm still in box no.2 in most surveys and feedback forms hehe- aged 25-34) How does one behave/dress/think at 30? How much money should one have saved? All these questions based on social norms.
I am already so blessed in that I have a wonderful husband by my side, am able to do many enjoyable things that I am good at , own my own home and car, get to travel pretty regularly, and have a strong support network in my family and friends.
Then what seems to be my beef with turning 30? One major thing is the biological clock that doesn't stop ticking and seems to get more persistent as the years go by- I even made a public declaration of the most challenging thing Noel and I have been struggling with in a local magazine. (I forgot all about it as I actually wrote the piece in hopes of winning a really cool gift pack) If you happen to snag a copy of Marie Claire's March issue, you'll find it there. A good friend of ours, Cargo, was actually the one who sent Noel a text message saying he read it. For the very first time ever, (and I'm still not sure why I'm posting it here), my biggest struggle to date is with infertility. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) about a year into our marriage. This means one does not ovulate or if one does, it is highly erratic and cannot be predicted without the help of an infertility specialist and/or ovulation predictor kits. (yes there are such things!) I was on and off fertility treatments for about four years before deciding to give everything a rest last year, after a more aggressive round of treatments. To this day, I'm still trying to understand why I was given this- I've always been good with kids and always saw myself as someone who'd start a family young as I had originally wanted a large one. So while I have the need to pretend everything is fine, I must acknowledge that there will be good days and bad days- and healing takes time. Perhaps turning 30 will shed new light on this very real struggle that a lot more women go through today. I try to take comfort in this, and the fact that Noel has been very supportive all throughout. And as I pray that God will reveal all in due time, I must take extra care in remembering all I've already been given and that allowing myself to feel the pain is in no way a sign of ingratitude.
Yesterday we spent the morning and the early part of the afternoon in NBI Carriedo. We needed to get Via's clearance for her name change from Via to Maria Victoria (and that's just step one, but thats another story) Having done this in NBI QC before, we came in knowing we needed someone from 'inside' to help us. When we arrived someone already spotted us:
Totoy: wearing a black sock over his head, ala hiphop, to protect him from the heat. He constantly looks for potential customers a block away from the building. He was the first one we saw and it was good that we did. He is the 'runner' of the group. He brings around a bundle of black ball pens because "Sa NBI black bolpen lang."
We follow Totoy to a row of chairs, then comes the next character:
Buddha: I have no idea why she is called this because she doesn't look anything like Buddha. She is thin, dark, short haired with a very loud voice. You can tell that this is what she does all day, shout out people's names to call them. She seems to be the 'money man' meaning all transactions are done through her. She sets the price and divides it. So we made a booboo when we gave one of the team players a tip. She demanded extra from us.
Tanda: is the guy who we gave an extra tip to. He is old but doing the job of a runner. He waits for the NBI clearance to be released and waits for us to get it. He gets pushed around and we feel sad about it, which is why we gave him something extra.
Marlon: the top of the team. Marlon gets it done. He knows a lot of people on the inside. Insists not getting paid. He believes it is part of his job. He knows the ins and outs of the system, asks you to double check items before he submits it. He is very bright and has a lot to say. By the time we came back, he had bought himself a Motorola RAZR V3... he said he got it very cheap at 6k.
I hope you don't take this post the wrong way. Please keep the names to yourselves. This post is not to incriminate these people in anyway. I believe these people help the system even essential to keep it running.
Hahaha. I sound bitter. But at least I didn't come home empty handed. I won a license for Adobe Studio 8. Plus also a mouse from one of the sponsors. I wrote more about it at my other blog. I'm planning to redesign this one, so see you again next year! :)
Here's a photo of us during the event from Best Home & Living Blog winner Toni.
