I have a job! I’ve always had a job!

I engaged in small talk with the servers of the carinderia across our house while buying lunch earlier this afternoon, and I mentioned that it’s so hot that I can’t work properly. The two servers-cum-cashiers (a girl and a gay guy) looked at me in surprise as the girl asked, “Ay, may trabaho ka pala, ‘te?” (Oh, you have a job?) Yes, I explained. I have a job, I write for a living, but I work at home. The gay one, Kuya Bong, jokingly exclaimed, “Akala namin tulog ka lang ng tulog diyan!” (We thought you just sleep all the time!)

I was mortified! So the neighbors think that I’m unemployed and spend my days sleeping! I couldn’t blame them. After all, I do stay home all day. They don’t see me going out to work everyday, and I buy lunch or merienda from them every afternoon in my house clothes.

I know it shouldn’t bother me, but I wish all our neighbors knew that I work and that I don’t spend all my days sleeping. I don’t like the thought of them thinking that I’m unemployed and that I’m relying on my husband for financial support, because I’m not and I don’t. I am proud of my job and of the paycheck I bring in. I don’t want anyone thinking that I’m a housewife with no income, because that is something I would never want to be (that’s just me).

I work at least 40 hours per week. That’s around 6 hours per day including weekends, and after doing household chores, I’m still left with a lot of time to Facebook, to window-shop online (right now I’m looking at high sierra backpacks), or just laze around and do pretty much whatever I want, including, yes, sleep. But I work full-time; I work as much as your average nine-to-fiver.

I’m still working on achieving that I-don’t-care-what-anyone-thinks attitude, and until I’m there (not quite yet), things like this will bother me. I wish those two people at the carinderia will tell everyone that I have a job.

I admit that I’m not really giving this blog the respect it deserves. I don’t write regularly, my links are outdated, and the look is generic. It deserves more from me because it gives back. It’s just barya-barya, but it adds up.

One of these days, I’ll overhaul this blog. The first thing I want to do is to get a customized theme. I like how it looks now, but I can name three other blogs that use the same WordPress theme. The blogroll will also have to be cleaned up since there are a lot of dead links, and I haven’t added my new-to-blogging friends yet. I’ll also look into webhostinghub reviews to see if I can find better hosting options. I should probably also put up an “About Me” page, because what decent blog doesn’t have one?

I’ll make this blog more serious-looking once I get the time. It’s the least I can do for it, since I can’t really write.

Like my friend Dang, a.k.a. The Neurochiq, I’m quite fascinated with zombies lately. Blame it on the addictive plot of the TV series The Walking Dead. I’m such a wimp when it comes to horror shows and movies–I couldn’t even watch scary cartoon shows for kids–but I’m just drawn to this series (but I can only watch it with my husband, and only after I have read the episode’s synopsis on IMDB).

I’m so into zombies right now that I’m thinking of joining The Running Dead, a 7-km run in Alabang in April where you’ll be chased by zombies. I’ll probably get ‘killed’ within a couple of minutes, but it should be fun.

I’m also lemming for these garden gnomes:

. . . and these car stickers:

Pretty cool, aren’t they? Now, if only I had a lawn and a car.

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What a jam-packed month this May is!

On weekdays, I work full-time at my job. My breaks at the office are spent on wedding stuff, I barely have time to go down for a smoke. On weekends, I get to do the job I really love to do: being a makeup artist. At home, I’m in front of the computer writing about random things like Texas Workplace Injury Attorney and doing more wedding stuff, and that’s besides the clothes to launder and makeup brushes to shampoo and a cat to feed and play with. I don’t know where I can squeeze in the time to exercise.

Busy, busy, but I’m not complaining. It’s all good.

Hello there, my blog readers, all six of you! Just wanted to say I’m still alive, and I’m back!

The last couple of weeks had been busy. It’s Same S#!t, Different Day at work with all the calls, emails, faxes, refunds, meetings, updates, and conference calls but made a hundred times worse (I want out, seriously now). And then there’s still makeup school, but we’re almost done with our course, we’re having our portfolio shoot this weekend. There was Ria and Web’s lovely beach wedding in La Luz in Laiya, Batangas (I did the makeup for Web’s family), and the road trip with my high school friends to and from the resort (with lots of stops for food glorious food).

What little time I had left went to this beauty:

Anyway, just a little filler post to say give my excuses on why I haven’t been blogging lately. (Actually, this is for my mom, who keeps bugging me about why I don’t have any new blog entries — Hi, Ma!)

See yah!

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One of my personal goddesses is the ultra-glamorous Dita von Teese. I just love, love, love her.

That last pic makes me want to grab a Cohiba cigar.

Sigh. I want to be just like her.

Oh, I don’t mean to go burlesque and swish around in a giant martini glass and marry Marilyn Manson. I want to be as gorgeous as her, always flawless with not a single strand of hair out of place. She’s so glamorous and elegant and put-together with her unbelievable skin and red lips and pretty half-moons on her nails. She looks perfect ALL. THE. TIME.

It’s been said that Dita von Teese doesn’t sweat, she glistens. How does she stay so fresh???

I think I’m gonna go Google her beauty secrets now.

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My brother Momon and his now-wife Ros have been collecting turtles (figures, etc.–not live!) together for years now. So cute. Now, whenever I see a turtle, I remember them, and if the budget allows, I get it for them. Their turtle collection even had special participation in their wedding video.

Abet and I don’t have a joint collection. Memories don’t count, because that’s so cheesy. We do have ref magnets from the places we’ve traveled to, but that’s nothing special, everyone has those.

It could be fun to collect something together. I wonder what would make a good joint collection for us. Starbucks mugs? Or snow globes? How about certified us coins?

Nah, I can’t think of anything. I guess we’re not collectors, at least not together. We’ll just say we collect memories. (Ang cheesy!)

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I had quite a well-documented childhood:

My father was a photography enthusiast back then, and as the first-born, I got to be his subject more often than the rest of ‘em siblings. They don’t have as many childhood pics as I do, mwehehe! Good thing my mother was able to preserve most of the photos. She was even the one who converted the photographs into digital copies, my brother taught her how to use the scanner and the scanner software.

I’m going to make sure that before I have children, I’ll know how to take good pictures and use Photoshop. My dad got to take lots of pictures of me during the film era, now that we’re in a digital world my future kids will be photographed way more than I ever did.

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I’m 28 years old, but I still pray this:

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. AMEN.

I find myself praying this more now than ever. This is a crazy, crazy world we’re living in right now. Harm is everywhere and no one is safe: not people riding a bus home along EDSA, not workers going about their daily construction jobs, not car dealers showing cars to potential clients… no one. I guess all I can do right now is to pray to God to keep me and my loved ones away from harm, aside from being extra-cautious.

Be safe, everyone.

Can you believe that? Didn’t we just celebrate Christmas yesterday? I can still practically taste my parent’s holiday paella. And I’m still writing ’2010′ when filling out slips at the bank.

I can’t believe that it will be Valentine’s Day again in 10 days. Abet and I haven’t made any plans to celebrate yet. I want to watch Rent, but a pair of tickets could already buy me two MAC eyeshadows (yes, I think of monetary values in terms of what make-up they can buy now).

This  is probably why I won’t be asking Abet for anything this year. No flowers, no chocolates, no strawberry roses. We aren’t really big on Valentine’s anyway.

Do you already have plans for Valentine’s Day?

In my tummy right now are baked mac (the best baked mac in the whole wide world), leche flan, 4-day old Estrel’s cake (Estrel’s have a shelf life of 3 days), spring chicken, pansit, sweet and sour pork, and spinach soup from Savory, green mango with toyo+bagoong, ripe papaya, and piyaya from Bacolod.

My tummy is feeling really funny right now, but I don’t care. My lovely mother turned sweet 60 today, and we must celebrate.

Alas, tomorrow I’ll be back to my no-rice diet, and as penance I will not eat meat until the weekend. Now, excuse me while I go look up diet pills that work.