Blessings

Last Saturday, I received a card in the mail that made me realize truly how blessed I have been. I saw the envelope lying on the table at my mom's house when I visited them. It had my maiden name on it and it was mailed to my lola's address, where we used to live when I was in college.

It was a Christmas card from Kuya Caloy.

I opened the card with a mixture of surprised happiness (that he still remembers me given I was never even an active member of DCF) and guilt. Because I remembered that he used to send birthday or Christmas cards every year since I left Molave. I always meant to reply but I never got around to it. The cards stopped coming a few years ago. I'm not sure if he stopped sending them or maybe I just never received them.

Then there was the Christmas card he sent last December, which took a month to reach me but I'm glad it did reach me.

"...you are still remembered in prayers."

I stared at the card for a few seconds, reading those words, still not believing that he really meant what he told me more than 10 years ago that he will be praying for me. I have often wondered why I have been so blessed all these years even as my relationship with God grows more distant. At the back of my mind, I have been waiting for God to punish me for straying so many times. But the blessings continue to come. And now I realized maybe it's because there were still people who never got tired of praying for me, even when I stopped praying for myself.

I plan to send a reply to Kuya Caloy this time. To tell him I'm doing well, and to thank him for always praying for me.

Google Image Labeler

Another Google feature I stumbled upon while I was searching for images .

How does it work?

Google image labeler allows you to label images to help improve the quality of Google's image search results.

When playing, you will be randomly paired with a partner who is also playing at the same time. Within 2 minutes, you will both be shown the same images and you will type keywords you associate with that image. You will receive points when the keyword or label you assign, matches the label provided by your partner. The number of points will depend on how specific your label is. After you match labels, you will be shown another image until the time runs out.

It's like a game (you don't even have to be signed in to play).

Enjoy!!

Click here to go to Google Image Labeler.

LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

I stumbled upon this feature while googling the other day and was only able to try it today. Very interesting. They have photos from as early as the 1860's.

Click here to visit LIFE photo archive.

Photo: 1880's two girls sitting on a rock.

Monday Morning Tidbits

My mind was wandering on my way to work this morning

1. New Year's resolution, broken during the first week: I used 3 plastic cups from the pantry last week... Aaargh! I'm going to have to try harder this week. Or better yet, I think I need to bring my own mug

2. Heard on the radio this morning:

Mr. De la Paz: I think we are given one year to file an appeal.
Korina: You are one year to appeal...

(I think she meant, "You have one year to appeal...")

3. Sa wakas! They finally re-opened the first U-Turn sa C5. The sign says it's open from 9AM - 4PM only.

4. I was being attacked my Monday sickness and I was fighting the urge to tell the cab driver to turn back. I swore to myself 2 years ago that I will refrain from not going to work on Mondays, even when I'm really sick, because it gives a bad impression. So here I am.

Have a great week!

Begin with the End in Mind

...according to the 2009 calendar on my desk. That got me thinking (since I have nothing better to do today until people start answering the emails I sent them yesterday)... how do I see my 2009? Truthfully, I'm not one for planning. My 2008 was all about spur-of-the-moment decisions that left MG all tied up in pretzel knots most of the time.

So for the sake of passing time this morning, I'm making a list of things I want to accomplish this year.

1. Consume only 1 plastic cup from the office pantry per week.
Disclaimer: This does not include the plastic cups they will probably serve me at fast food joints. This is the first thing that came to mind since I noticed that I've been using the same plastic cup since Monday (I wash it ok?). Must have been the guilt instilled by MG after he showed me the commercial on Discovery channel (I think) about how many plastic bottles are consumed every hour. But baby steps... let's start with the plastic cups from the pantry for now.

2. Start thinking about carbon footprints.
I just said start ok? Baby steps.

3. Have shelves installed and cabinets repaired downstairs.
This is actually part of my house repairs list from a previous blog entry last year.

4. Visit 2 Asian countries.
Candidates: Thailand (Paging... Shine!!), and either Singapore or Hongkong.

5. Get flu vaccine.
I actually appreciated the shot I had last year. I didn't get sick (and that says something for someone who gets sick with every rainy spell).

6. Visit at least one Philippine destination that I've never been to before.
There are still a lot of places I haven't seen. Bohol and Palawan top my list.

7. Limit purchases for the year to 5 pairs of shoes, and 2 bags.
Gifts do not count. So... *ehem*... mommy, I'm counting on you...

8. Make sure that ALL books and magazines in the house are in bookshelves.
All books and magazines that do not fit in existing bookshelves will have to be disposed of. I can do this! I know I can!

9. Participate in at least one volunteer activity/Support a charitable activity.
Preferably, volunteer activity involves a beach. If I can't do that, then my fallback will be to offer support to a charitable activity.

Ok, that's all I can think of and that took all morning. There are others that I'm thinking about but I'm not sure if I can do them this year and I want to stick with achievable targets.

Happy new year everyone!

Recycling Project

I saw this at the WWF office when I attended their Christmas party last December 17. It was pretty and I initially thought it was made of glass.

Upon closer inspection however...

Does that look familiar?

An empty Sprite plastic bottle! MG told me that it was made by someone who's in prison. Pretty creative huh? Too bad I wasn't able to take clearer photos to show more detail. I only used my phone's camera.