Digital "karma"-ra

In the age of modern technology, you'd think only gadgets evolve, progress, and improve to make data processing faster. Even karma good or bad has become digitalized as well :) ... perhaps to keep up with the times? 

One thing I've noticed here in Saudi Arabia is the way some Filipinos treat each other. (I said SOME not ALL.) It has always been my guiding principle to strive to  be a good person wherever my fate brings me - which could be another job, or another country... My husband and I shares this belief and it is the same principle that we teach our children because we both want them to learn how to respect other people and other people's rights. Being away from the Philippines, we learned to stand on our own, we learned to adjust and be flexible around co-workers, other nationalities, and flatmates, and to distance ourselves from others who will only bring us strife. 

While here, you learn that crab mentality also exists; that some Filipinos will try to outdo you especially when it comes to MONEY MATTERS. Referring to my friend, Iza's blog, there are different types of Toxic people and I realised that most of the description I've read from her article fits someone I know categorically. So borrowing from her article "Toxic!!!", let me share with you the following:

MANIPULATIVE  MANNYS

There are those who are very sly and will manipulate you without You even knowing what they are doing until it's too late. They know what buttons of yours to push when they want something from you. They can make you turn away from your beliefs or make you do things you really don't want to do. One day you will find yourself thinking more of their needs than your own. And to add, that they will always assume they can do anything they please and it will be okay with you. They will demand that you talk to them about money matters but you can never demand the same from them.

NARCISSISTIC NENAS

These people are those who put great importance in themselves and think the world revolves around them. They think their needs are more important than yours and at the end of the day, you are left feeling disappointed and unfulfilled.

JUDGMENTAL JACKS

People who are judgmental see things differently. Something that is pretty to you, most probably will be strange to them. Whatever positive comment you make, they will always find something negative to say. 

DISRESPECTFUL DANIELS

These are the people who does things inappropriately and at inappropriate times.  They know no boundaries and won't care if they hurt your feelings. They can make you lose respect for yourself.

DONNA DOWNERS

There are the people who cannot appreciate the positive things in life. They would always find something negative to say. They tend to bring out the joy in everything. If you continue to be with these kind of people, you will lose your ability to look forward to tomorrow.

DREAM KILLING KARLS

Each time you come up with an idea, these people will think of something to shoot your idea down. If you believe in the saying "Anything is possible" they believe in the opposite. If you are on your way to success, you would not want these people to be around you for they will think of ways to make you fail.

INSINCERE INNAS

Ever felt that people just tend to say things because that's what you want to hear? What you have with them is not honest, but more superficial. When you need real support, they would rather see you fail. Find friends who will tell you like it really is.

Now back to karma being digital... Let me tell you that - SHOULD You choose NOT to be responsible enough to do what you ought to do then let's leave everything to fate.  You may be the master of yours but if you induce pain in any form to anyone, then remember there is a saying "what goes around, comes around" and it will kick you so hard...so fast!  

First day high

"Supervisor in the making" as described by his teacher

Am trying to catch up with events that I meant to include in my blog ages ago, like my children's first day of school; giving much attention to my youngest son, who will finally be attending school for real. We didn't enroll him last year at the same school my 2 other children attended to, since we were in the process of following my husband abroad. So we enrolled him at the nearby public school where he learned a lot. I've noticed how excited he is even going to the extent of preparing the clothes that he will wear for his "big day." Actually, all of them are very much excited! And this is due to the fact that this has been one of the most uneventful and boring summer vacation for them. They were not yet required to wear their uniforms as it was a week long of getting to know each other, orientation, preparation and less strenuous school activity. 

I went with them on their first day of school so that I can meet their teachers and know where each of their classrooms are. Surprisingly, my youngest asked me not to follow him he wanted to go to the classroom alone! Brave boy! After classes I went back to fetch my youngest from his classroom and was met by his teacher who told me that my son is a "supervisor in the making", which actually meant that he kept standing up and going around hehehe. 

happy to be in school

Welcome to our new home!

We transferred to the company accomodation on June 30th and believe me this was no easy task! As I mentioned previously, back home I had an extra pair of hands. Now I only have to rely on myself while my husband is at work and my kids are in school. Packing them stuff is already an energy zapper and unpacking them was next to impossible with most of my energy already drained. We were sooo tired that after the last plastic bag we decided to just take a bath and sleep even with our living room looking more like a battleground than anything else. 

Now our living room cum dining area looks better... I made sure that I have a space for my "mini-office"...

getting better...getting there... i just so love my office space!

Normally, there would have been a sofa provided by the company but probably due to wear and tear the sofa has been brought upstairs. My husband is planning to buy one at a harraj or junk souq (second hand shop) where we can buy some neat sofa and just have them reupholstered.

I would have loved a larger kitchen because the one that we have now is really small but who's complaining? nuh-uh

It's actually a good thing that my husband was accorded this family housing because of this we would not have to worry about rent and utility expense. This is such a big help to us especially since all our kids are now in school. And to add that we can enjoy our privacy - we would not have to be bothered about our kids being rowdy while our other flatmates are still asleep.

We are surrounded by malls (yipee!!!!) and with Ramadan fast approaching, everything is on sale right now only thing is we don't have much left for shopping...so there goes my "mall hopping dream"...down...further down the drain....boo-hoo!

The flat is fully furnished...well supposed to be fully furnished but as I said earlier the other furnitures may have been brought upstairs due to wear and tear. So the only stuff that we are enjoying right now are the big ref, TV, airconditioning units, and electric stove.

This will be our "home sweet home" for the rest of my husband's contract and we are just so happy to see that our kids have more space to skip on hahaha....

We've Just Moved!

We transferred to our new flat a week ago but have not uploaded the pictures yet so I really can't begin to tell you what a herculean task this was for me and my husband. When we were in the Philippines we had Sheila (my children's ever loving nanny) to help me pack and do the pre and post cleaning and arranging so now that we are on our own argggh! i can't imagine how I was able to fix most single handedly. I'll share that with you later. Am just on "borrowed" connection which is mostly intermittent... and our application for dsl is still on pending status due to the road and cable repairs being done in this area so... I'll just have to be a bit more patient and consider myself lucky for having "free-though-sporadic-connection."

Smart Alec!

Yesterday my youngest son excitedly showed us this -

Of course this made us really happy but his reply made us laugh when my husband said what a smart boy he is - his answer to this was "nakapikit pa nga po ako nung sinagutan ko yan e!" (and my eyes were even closed when I wrote down my answers!) hahaha

"Tonsil" Town

We arrived at the hospital at around 5:40 am
 as  the schedule written
on the admission slip was at 6am only to
find out that the surgery will be
at 9am. It's hospital policy that a patient has
to be there 3 hours prior.

Changing time; my son smiling not knowing
 really what lies ahead

frown he did when he was asked to smile :)

Playing with his daddy's phone to while away the time

first hospital meal for the day arrived...but not for my little one.
we were advised not to give him anything prior to his surgery

too busy to notice that food has arrived (though not for him)

preparation has started; here he was orally given a

 mild sedative 

my baby as he is wheeled into the O.R. now I feel a

 lump in my throat...

After the surgery, nurse said the first time he opened his eyes

 he cried a lot because he was looking for me :(

the culprit...

Parang lasing lang :) My "drunken" son
(how he was when he was given the mild sedative)

Putting on a Brave Front

We've been to the doctor this morning and were told that the procedure has been scheduled tomorrow, 28 June 2011 at 6:00 in the morning. I don't really mind if I have to wake up a lot earlier than usual even though I know I would lack from sleep again tonight. I am aware that the surgery is a routine one and have been assured, but it's those simple procedures where things might go wrong. I remember when I was still employed at HSBC, we were constantly reminded by our manager that we have to be vigilant and have to focus on our Lost and Stolen calls. Why? Because these are the calls where we don't need to think much; our opening and closing spiels are almost like a chant as we say them on each and every call. These kind of calls are such that we can do them even with our eyes closed. Our manager added that it is in the simplest things that major errors can happen. And it's true, one time I had a Lost and Stolen call where I totally "lost" it! Instead of cancelling the lost card of the customer I cancelled the one that was with him. So you can just imagine how he reacted when I told him about it. Hence, my anxiety...

Thus, I call on everyone to join me in prayer as I say....

Heavenly Father Author of Life, Healer of Wounds, Source of Abundance, Unconditional Love and Mercy, please hold Ranel Allen Francis C. Viana Jr., in the palm of your hand and look at his adenoids and tonsils more closely, examine it, heal it, strengthen the weak parts, reconnect the areas that are loose, mend it and make him new again. Please direct, guide and bless the hands, minds, eyes, and instruments of the team of professionals, the ENT surgeon/specialist,  the anaesthesiologists, specialized nurses, medical attendants assigned to do the surgery tomorrow / today and every person that touches him. Invite them to focus their minds to the tasks at hand and make each one of them perform their assigned tasks O Lord perfectly and precisely attuned to your command as the Great Conductor, Divine Healer and Comforter.O Holy Spirit and Comforter breathe love and peace to the family and love ones, that they may continue to feel your warmth and love on this day of the surgery. Assure them that Ranel Allen Francis C Viana, Jr. will be healed fast and soon as he will continue to serve you in the ministry you called him to do for the proclamation of Christs' goodness, grace and mercy. We call on the intercession of our Blessed Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints in heaven, especially St. Monica today. We lift up our prayers in the Name of God the Father, God the Son, in union with God the Holy Spirit who lives forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer from: Touching the Soul 

This morning while the kids were waiting for their carpool, I heard my older son say to Allen "Allen ooperahan ka may tatanggalin sa ilong mo, masakit yun. Gagamitan nila ng pambunot ng buhok ipapasok diyan sa ilong mo tapos bubunutin yung adenoids." (Allen, you will be operated on, the doctors will remove something from your nose and that would be very painful. They will use a tweezer which they will insert through your nose to remove your adenoids).  See??? how comforting his kuya (elder brother) sounded? I was tempted to pull him by his ears away from my youngest son but I just stood still. I wanted to know how my youngest would react. And to my surprise, he laughed and saw the funny side of it. My son is brave indeed even more than I think I am.  Putting on a brave front since this morning is such a herculean task where my youngest son is involved. Sigh.

Anyway, I have been briefed that my son should not eat or drink anything after 12 midnight. That we must tell them immediately should my son have cough or colds so that they can postpone the surgery. I told my son everything, and he asked me if it would be painful. I explained to him that he will be given a medicine that will make him sleep so that he won't feel the pain. I just told him about his grandmother's text message this morning. That she underwent the same procedure when she was his age. His reaction "E di sige po Mommy tutulog na lang ako agad para hindi ako masaktan" (Ok fine mommy, I will just sleep so that I won't feel any pain.) Or....

He'll probably do this again :)