Nevergirl’s

I left the office grind almost a year ago, but I still read career articles. Yes, I’m boring that way. I find HR articles interesting, almost as reviews of makeup or weight loss Austin centers, and what Roseth Ranara is wearing, in fact. And, even though the only HR work I do now is deciding whether or not to let go of the help, and when to give them bonuses for good work, I read HR articles anyway, and mull over them in between client mails.

Anyway, I read a yahoo article on buzzwords recently, and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I have to hand it to the writer – the buzzwords he listed are indeed annoying and overused. If I hear it used on me more than three times a day, I’d probably go mad too and slap the speaker seven ways to Sunday.

Reading about these linguistic shorthand reminds me of all the phrases I hate seeing on resumes, resignation letters, and requests for cash advances ALL THE TIME!

• Hoping for your kind consideration
• I heard from a reliable source your company is in need of…
• My experience gives me a competitive advantage…
• I believe I will be an asset to your business…
• I graduated from the prestigious…
• Dear Sir/ Madame… (mind you, this is from someone who addressed me by name in the letter, and has been with the company for years)
• .. gives me the edge… (what edge? dili suwang, I hope!)
• To Whom It May Concern… (perfectly acceptable, unless you’ve been addressing cash advance requests to the same office and the same person for months!)

This reminds me of one application letter I read which asked me to contact the applicant “at his convenience”. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair. I’m sure it was a pronoun referent error (I’m ready to come for an interview at my convenience) – but I found it hilarious just the same!

What about you? Are there phrases that make your blood pressure rise?

We should have Murphy-proofed our plan, that’s what we should have done. After all, Cebu is not one cab ride away, after all. But us being what we are — and Murphy’s law governing our life the way it does — we found out the day of the party that we had forgotten many things, one of them the camera’s charger.

But, that’s not the only thing that went the way of Murphy’s law this week. We forgot to tell DaddyLo (my DIL) we needed his projector and the projector headlights. We forgot to syncrhonize the time of the party with MommyLa (my MIL) who will be throwing a party later that night. And, on the day of Charlie’s party, we had to change venues four times! By the time the party started, it rained even before the girls could move the food and the party props to the back of the house! We had to herd the guests to the porch, where we finally held the party minus the balloons, tarp, and pretty little touches.

Still, it was a fun, fun party which started at 4pm, and didn’t end til 8pm or so, when the last of the adult guests straggled home. At the end of it, though, I had to wonder if Charlie even understood it was her day and all. She didn’t laugh, cry, or raise an eyebrow. And, the whole time the kids played, she sat on her yaya’s lap, eating a chicken drumstick! This little girl is one tough customer!

Happy Birthday, Charlie! Here’s hoping your parents’ next effort impresses you a little bit more. Hahaha!

Earlier that day, in Church

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It’s 9:33 in the morning, and I’m sitting here in the in-laws’ den with an excruciating headache and the biggest eyebags this side of the equator. I want to sleep, but I can’t – I always have trouble sleeping in a new bed. My body wants the old and the familiar, especially where bed space is concerned. I’m not sure how this came to pass, but back in the day, I was a master at guerilla sleeping. I can sleep anywhere, anytime, and under any conditions. Think: lying on a cardboard haphazardly arranged on the floor of the campus student publication, catching zzz’s while the sun beats mercilessly against the shutters and while students trickle in and out of the room in a cloud of noise.

But, oh how times have changed! Today, it takes me at least two days to get used to new sleeping accommodations. So yes, I haven’t slept a wink. I want to, but I can’t. Earlier, while brushing my teeth, I actually spent a good 30 minutes staring at the Delta faucets on the sink. Who does that? That should let you know how tired I am. And, because I feel like I’ve been up forever, I’m a cranky little mess. I need something to take out my frustrations on, and as is usually the case – that it is the cellphone.

I resent cellphones. Okay, scratch that. I resent MY cellphone. I resent how insistently it bleeps when I get a message. I resent that it rings on and on until I pick it up. I don’t know about you, but I think cellphones behave an awful lot like a cantankerous maiden aunt who’s 65 and hates the world. Why is my cellphone dictating my actions? Why must I make a beeline for wherever it is once it starts to bleep? Oh, if only ESP works! I wouldn’t need a cellphone at all! On second thought, I never really needed a mobile. I spent almost three months without one, in fact. But, the husband complains of the inconvenience, and I’ve grown tired of hearing him nag – so a’cellphone-toting I go, never mind that I forget where I put all three most of the time.

Okay, I’ve blabbered enough. I’m gonna go try sleeping again now. The workmen are up pounding away at this and that, so it’s going to be more difficult to try sleep. But on the upside – or downside, depending on whose perspective – I am twice as tired and shouldn’t have any trouble zonking out.

Bye.

I’m obsessing about hair again. I know, I know-it’s shallow, it’s trivial, and it wouldn’t make me a better person. But just before I go to sleep, when my mind is in that state between wakefulness and sleep, my mind processes clutter. Perhaps next time I’ll have better success reining in this mental tendency to wander. Perhaps next time I’ll think of more grownup things, like life insurance quote and mortgage. For now, though, I’m feeling drowsy and bothered by my hair.

Yes, my hair.

It hangs down my forehead, tickles my neck, lies about lifeless and lank when it should be bouncy and bouncing, and dangles everywhere my peripheral vision, almost like a mosquito I couldn’t swat away. It doesn’t help that my hair makes me look like He-Man, or like someone who eats too much salt. I think what I really like is a glorious pile of red hair that reminds everyone of Scotland. I don’t have green eyes but with hair like that, I won’t need ‘em.

I see red dye in my future now. Red. And, ammonia-less.