Editing in Cold Blood

Unbeknownst to many, I was awarded Best Creative Writer when I was in College. It was an award for a talent that I thought I would have no use for in my chosen line of work. 

Fast forward to more than 20 years later, I managed to make use of that talent for my job. 

It's my responsibility to review and edit official audit responses of the units that I oversee. I would rewrite them to make them more "palatable" without losing the original intent or message. 

I managed to see the result of my efforts last night. One of the units had an initial rating of deficient and we met with the auditors to discuss the results and of course, defend their process. It was grueling as it involved a lot of back and forth discussions and I had to do it alone as the resource person was out of commission. Fortunately, what I wrote down must've passed scrutiny. The unit received a pass rating.

I got an email from my boss later that evening telling us we did a good job. That was worth more than the pass rating. :) 

Bread Galore

I finally gave in to peer and family pressure and agreed to sell my cream cheese garlic bread. I've been baking madly since the quarantine and have been posting my baked stuff on my IG and FB accounts. I really had no intention of selling but people have begun asking me to make some for gifts. I then had a logo made, ordered boxes and opened up for orders. 

My first delivery date is on Saturday and I'm nervous. I've stocked up on ingredients and hopefully, our kitchen will cooperate. I'm sure I'll get tired of garlic soon. Thinking of adding new stuff in my list of products after this batch.

If you wish to order, mosey onto my socmed sites. Please do give a like or follow.

FB: Kitchen 216 

IG: Kitchen 216

Wish me luck!

How?

I used to be a prolific writer. I could write sentences and come up with plausible stories in just a whim. Am not sure how this skill disappeared or depreciated during time. 

I look back at my old blog posts and I would write so much then. Nowadays, I would find it a struggle to even come up with the proper words.

This pandemic has put a toll on everyone, me not excluded. I thought that I was a homebody but I'm now rethinking that. The only reason then why I prefer to stay at home was to take a break from life. But now that I'm always home, how do I take a break from life? 

At least I do not have to worry about the incessant Metro Manila traffic now. I remember waking up in the morning and worrying what route to take to avoid traffic. I've been waking up since mid-March without that in my mind now. However, work is now mostly in my mind which bothers me. How do you now escape when work is at home?

I'm turning 45 in a few months. Should I look forward to it? I'm not scared of getting old. The only thing that bothers me is the reality of facing menopause. I had a taste of it last month and let's just say, I don't want to go through that again. I woke up that morning feeling heavy and depressed and after talking to a friend, I started crying. When my period came that afternoon, I felt lighter and happier. I mean, I have periods every month but the last episode was definitely different.

I just want this year to be over even if it's memorable.

Why KDrama?

Woo Do Hwan (The King: Eternal Monarch)

I've been watching KDramas for a relatively short time (since June 2018) and I've already watched quite a number. By my count, I'm 7 shy to reach a 100--that is excluding movies and variety shows.

Friends and relatives can't seem to understand my "addiction" to the genre and why I exert so much effort to read the subtitles. I guess I'm a speed reader so it's easy for me to read but other than that, I've fallen in love with the stories, production and of course, the beautiful oppas.

At first, I couldn't understand why they looked so effeminate but I ate my words when I saw them act and they proceeded to charm their way into my heart. Watching the dramas is my happy pill and they provided me the distraction and stress reliever that I badly need.

During this ECQ, I had a handful of people message tell me that they now understand where I'm coming from and why I'm crazy over the dramas and the oppas. I'm glad I was sort of vindicated and at the same time, I'm happy that I have more people to share my interests with.

So far, these are the current dramas in my plate and I want to add more!

ONGOING:
The King: Eternal Monarch
Hospital Playlist - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Good Casting

CONCLUDED:
Cheese in a Trap
Are You Human?

That's few considering I can watch more than that at the same time. Still checking out the new ones and even the old concluded dramas. I need some romcom to cheer me up.

Smokey Mountain Reunion - May 3, 2020

I've always known them as the brainchild of Maestro Ryan Cayabyab. They went through several versions until their group eventually retired. But their songs were a part of my youth.

They reunited yesterday virtually for Bayanihan Musikahan. They sang this medley which brought tears to my eyes when I first heard it this morning. Though sung online, they were able to deliver superbly that I felt the heartfelt message of the song/s.

Paraiso
Help me make a stand
Paraiso
Take me by the hand
Paraiso
Make the world understand
That I could see a single bird
What a joy this tired hungry land could expect
Some truth and respect from the rest of the world.

--

Singing we are gonna love people of the world
We are gonna make you a better world
We all respect you people of the world
We are gonna make you a better world

----

Somehow, I've been playing this repeatedly throughout the day. One of my favorite performances during this ECQ.


 

Cooking Mama

I've been cooking non-stop ever since this ECQ began. Best of all, I was able to cook meals that I never thought I'll be able to do before.

So far I've tackled:

1. Kimchi Fried Rice
2. Deep Fried Oreo Cookies
3. Jajangmyeon
4. Pandesal
5. Tuyo Pasta
6. Sun Dried Tomato with Grilled Chicken Pasta
7. Squash and Potato Soup with 5 spices
8. Banana and choco chip bread
9. Tuna with sun dried tomato pasta
10. Corndogs
11. Strawberry Jam
12. Orange marmalade
13. Kimchi pancake
14.Levain-inspired cookies
15. Gungjung Tteokbboki (Royal Rice Cake)
16. Chapaguri
17. Kimchi
18. Naan Bread

Probably the most painstaking thing that I did was the preparation for the jams. It was then that I burned myself.

I would like to explore more cuisine and expand my cooking skills. Good thing I have an awesome assistant at home who I can teach and who I can learn from as well.

Next up, growing my own vegetables.

Pause and Reset

The world is now at a pause. First time in my whole working life that I haven't been to work for two weeks now and I'm not even on vacation. This only happened if I'm out of the country or when I got married more than a decade ago (I was on leave for three weeks and I did not even leave the country as I was preparing for my wedding and was on my honeymoon).

Ever since I started my new role this January, I've been very busy and barely got time to pause and recharge. I have this weird feeling that if I rest too long, it will be hard for me to catch up as the world will not stop on moving and turning. But that is what has been happening for more than two weeks.

Our President declared an Enhanced Community Quarantine on effective March 15 because of the COVID-19 threat. Since then, people have stayed at home (well, I went to work on March 16 since originally, we planned on doing rotation but we're now doing work from home) and only to go out to get food supplies for our 11-member household.

I've been seeing pictures of deserted streets and clear skies as people no longer go out. If ever there's a silver lining over this virus that's wreaking havoc around the world, people have had this chance to rest and nature had this chance to recharge.

Of course, I do not discredit the efforts of our frontliners and health workers who keeps the economy going and our people safe and healthy. My sister is a nurse and I pray for her well being and health. We also have staff going to the office to process transactions which cannot afford to be delayed.

Nevertheless, I hope that this will be over soon and we can return to our lives. On the long-run, this will not do good for our economy and more lives will be affected.

Tiredness

So far, so good.

More than in a month in my new role and I'm starting to get the hang of it.

It's really meetings and meetings galore. My brain is really getting a work-out. I feel like I'm a walking Wikipedia already with all the fact and regulation checks that the different businesses are asking me to verify. It's really interesting and I'm learning a lot as I go along. I really hope I can sustain this.

Downside is that I'm exhausted when I get home--exhausted to the point that I couldn't sleep anymore. I've also been working during holidays and weekends to catch up. Since I'm in meetings during the day, I only get to answer my emails after work or when I find a lull.

Best of all, my boss has not left yet. I'm learning a lot from him and I've never been this happy. Hopefully, I'll be able to support him as much as I can by doing a good job. So far, nobody's complaining--yet. I already caught some inconsistencies and called the attention of some people. The true test of my role is the upcoming BSP Audit. I'm praying we'll survive that.

Fingers crossed!

Wake Me Up When January Ends

We just want January to end. 

Though it has brought me good news, but it's been quite a ride this start of 2020.

First of all, there was Taal Volcano's phreatic eruption on Jan. 12 which blanketed most of Manila with ashfall and forced the evacuation of all towns within its 14km radius. Philvocs raised the alert level 4 which means that eruption was imminent. It made us all wary and nervous until a couple of days ago, they reduced the alert level to 3.

However, we then had to face the worldwide health crisis of the Novel Corona Virus--a deadly virus within the family of SARS and MERS. Infection has no started and has spread to other countries. Being a warm and tropical country, we're hoping that the virus will not reach our shores. 

And just this morning, we had to deal with the tragic death of one of NBA's legends, Kobe Bryant. Though I'm not a basketball fan, I can't help but she a tear after reading the tributes. Many people were devastated by his passing as well as that of his 13-year old daughter that died along with him.

Hopefully, we'll have enough time to breathe before the next tragedy hits us. If there's one thing I know, people, especially us Filipinos, are very resilient. We'll all get through this.  

Intellectually Yours

I'm beginning to immerse myself into my new role and I, including my brain, am happy.

I miss using my brain. Don't get me wrong. I did use my brain in my past role but since it's been something that I've been doing for almost two decades, my decisions are automatic and does not require maximum brain power.

But now, I've gone back to my researcher roots. Information that I've thought I've forgotten are resurfacing and I'm actually using them to make decisions.

I'm also having a grand time organizing my lean team and finding a place for everything. As everything is digital, I was able to create a system where deadlines can be tracked and information can be easily retrieved.

I'm also more careful now in my decision making as I know whatever I do or say carry weight. Hopefully, I can maintain this momentum.

What is Success?

I was going through my old blog posts (and when I mean old, around mid-2000s old) and I was surprised with my eloquence. I didn't know I could write that well when now, I could barely write a complete sentence with correct grammar (and when I reread that sentence, I already saw something wrong).

It made me wonder what happened to my story-telling skills. I tried my hand a couple of years back in writing stories but that somehow disappeared when I gave birth to my second child. Maybe life happened? I'm not sure but I miss being able to write as much as I wanted. Maybe my creativity got buried under the guise of formal business correspondence?

Anyway, I went through my old blogs and found something interesting. I wrote this around November 2006---13 years ago.

So what really drives me? What do I consider as a success?

I am an intellectual person. As long as I am doing something that enables me to learn regularly, I'm a happy camper. Success is also not measured through material wealth or promotions. Success for me is reaching my full potential and being able to use all the talents that God has given me. Success for me is measured by meeting the objectives set AND surpassing them; to see how far I can be stretched; to see how far I can go.

It made me reflect if the definition still stands until now. Probably, maybe that's the reason why I made this move--so I can reach my full potential. However, in my goodbye letter to my team leaders, I wrote this:

My definition of success is not how far I've grown but how far my people have grown. Even if I'm no longer in Credit, I want to see you guys grow. I want to witness your success and victories and be there for you when you fail so I can show you where you can learn. Only then can I say that I'm successful. 

The first definition of success was a bit self-centered and I understand that. But after managing teams of people for the past decade, my definition somewhat changed and it's something I can relate more to now.

However, I can always aim for both. I am, after all, an achiever.

Tired but still Grateful

Even if the effectivity of my new role is not until Monday, I'm already attending meetings and immersing myself into the intricacies of my new job. One thing's for sure, it's not boring and would challenge my brain. It's definitely a thinking job and one that my mind appreciates.

I'll be doing a lot of reading and creative thinking. Now if I can only get a law degree, it would be so much better!

Grateful

After eight long years, I'll be leaving my comfort zone and will be trying something new.

The work is not relatively new but it's heavy enough to bring my downfall if I fail or lift me to new heights if I succeed.

I'm very excited with this new role but the feeling I have right now is more of sadness. I'll be leaving my team--my family for the past eight years. I had to talk to three sets of people (including my boss) and I cried in each and everyone of those conversations.

Maybe what made me emotional was the abruptness of the change. My move will take effect by next week. My bosses have identified my replacement and we have started our turnover.

I will really miss my team and our synergy. I will miss managing people even though they've contributed to the proliferation of white hairs on my head.

I take on this new challenge with an open heart and open mind. My reading prowess and comprehension will be duly tested.

I am beyond grateful and forever thankful.