So here we are in this stage where my girls want to hang with their friends more than with me. I’m a cool mom so I had been driving them to places where they meet up with friends.
Trampoline playground at Ayala Feliz. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
So this afternoon I drove them to Ayala Malls Feliz in Pasig along Marcos Highway. I loaded their Timezone cards and left them there while they waited for their friends.
I went around a bit but shopping isn’t really my sport so I just went to a foot massage place and did a 70-min session, which was just so-so. Then I just waited for the girls at Agave, the Mexican restaurant in front of Timezone and had this:
Churros and hot chocolate. Photo by CallMeCreation.com I did some finishing touches to this but I’m still unhappy. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com So I am remaking it for someone who liked the first sketch. Photo by CallMeCreation.com Still half-way through but tthe light is already fading.
I think my astigmatism or myopia has gotten worse. I feel a dull pain pounding behind my left eye, which is radiating now to my forehead and crown.
Another visit to the optometrist is in order. 😑
And oh, I found a random guy playing beautifully on my dream piano.
My stomach is knotted right now as I would be going back to work tomorrow. I have a call at 9 am. Then I have a ton of emails and story backlogs to attend to. Then I must make my final arrangements for my trip to Singapore.
Count my blessings. At least I still have a job. I would have a fully paid home by February.
I just need to hurdle these last few issues then I’m off to another holiday vacation for Christmas.
Inking. Art of photo by CallMeCreation.comPractice. Practice. Practice. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I just realized UP Masscom building is boring.
At the rate I’m going, it will be 10 years before I see any improvement. I need to sketch everyday so I could train my eyes to be more observant and to teach myself how to translate things that I see on paper.
Meanwhile, I just completed our application for Philippine Science High School and paid the admission fee online. I’m not confident ok if they would NOT pass the final screening but at least they would have some kind of practice exam before the girls take the real entrance exam that we are really targeting—my high school.
I’m also preparing some stuff for work tomorrow and some deliveries that I should attend to, like my online purchase of more Holbein half-pan watercolors.
Gee, I promised myself that I would be more disciplined with money while I am having my house constructed but here I am…buying unnecessary stuff.
I have to keep myself from shopping in Singapore. The peso has sunk further against SGD (now at 41) and it’s madness to go shopping there. I just bought a new luggage from Suntec City and two handbags at Tangs in July. Electronics? I have everything I need. I don’t need to buy a new laptop and the current one I’m using now as my desktop is still fast and there is hardly any hiccup at all.
I should just go to Botanic Gardens and sketch there. Or stay at a coffee shop near heritage buildings and sketch. Anything that could keep me from spending unnecessarily.
While I complete some tasks at my desk, my kitties are insisting that they should be part of my work, too.
Kimchi being obnoxious by lying on my bills and notebooks. Photo by CallMeCreation.comSushi is on her usual perch on my workchair. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My girls are probably bored to death at their dad’s hometown now…
I arrived early at the conference today because 1) I wanted to do ambush interviews so I can go home and avoid Marcos; 2) I didn’t read the program 😂
I really did it. I wore pink accessories in silent protest. The Leni R watch was very obvious.
Pink!
I had four interviews, four stories, and a follow-up interview. Not bad.
I left the venue right after lunch so I won’t have to suffer Marcos.
Went to Ikea to 1) eat at the cafe and write my stories; 2) buy household stuff that I neglected to buy a long time ago. Their shipping rate of PHP 300 for small items is too much so might as well go there when I have coverage nearby. I almost carted off a kitchen sink and ceiling lamps 🤣. I need to check first with my contractor.
The pediatrician already gave me Rx for it yesterday, as she anticipated.
What’s curious is that Twin I also has aplastic left frontal sinus, which I hope is just a developmental issue that will correct over time. But then I have to wait for what the doctor will say. The rest of her sinuses are intact, the report said.
Her hematology results are normal except for her RBC count, which is above normal. If I got it right, she couldn’t breathe, hence the low O2 level. Which could be traced to her congested nose.
Her prothrombin time test is normal, so blood clotting is normal. Her nose bleeding could be traced back to her undetected sinusitis that irritates her nose and causes too much mucus production. When it dries up, my girl picks her nose vigorously and there you go—bleeding. 😑 So just like the pediatrician said, her membranes might be thinner than normal.
Tired. Need to pick up Rockwool insulation/soundproofing tomorrow and deliver to the construction site. And write two more stories before I bounce off to my week-long vacation.
If I didn’t go crazy before my APAC boss this afternoon and subtly threatened that I would go to the competitor if the company goes with its 6-month contract bullshit for non-office-based employees, she wouldn’t push the red button in London. Ghaaaad. Some calls and emails later, the global head said that there were some fuck-ups in HR that’s why our contracts were flagged again.
Ignore, she said.
I hate doing that to my APAC boss because she’s nice but my goodness, I need to stand up for myself and the rest of my team. I am underpaid compared to my peers in other news orgs. I am just sticking with this one because I like working from home, especially critical now that I am building my house and moving away from the city.
Let me just finish my house and I will revisit my options. I need to play hardball; if they would touch again our contracts, then I will have to ask for a much higher rate because the terms would be changed. The amount of work and the stress they are giving me should be compensated.
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I was so incensed today that I procrastinated. My brain refused to function so I did a quick sketch to relax me.
I really, really need that week-long break. I’m already too tensed, my patience is running thin.
My gear for urban sketching.
Doing the new color swatches relaxed me, too. I removed the student-grade Tokyo Finds watercolors and left the higher grade ones from the same brand, with Winsor & Newton and Holbein thrown in the mix. I wanted to go to ArtWhale this afternoon to buy more half-pans but I had to bring Twin I to the polyclinic nearby to have her checked.
At the nurses’ station at 2ndF, waiting for Twin I’s name to be called to the pediatrician’s office. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Her temperature was elevated but I refused to administer the antigen test because she has sensitive nostrils = ridiculous nosebleeds. She was frequently urinating. So the pediatrician recommended some lab tests to check for UTI and also to check the cause of her severe nosebleeds (she lets out a lot of fresh blood, like lots). She had her nose X-rayed to check for polyps.
Waiting for our turn at the x-ray room. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Then she would be referred to an ENT specialist if there are polyps. She surmised—as a nosebleeder herslf—that Twin I has sinusitis that’s why she always has mucus in her nostrils. Later it hardens and then my girl frequently picks her nose to remove the hardened mucus, then irritates her thin membrane in the process, causing her nose to bleed. She saw that her nostrils were inflamed.
Anyway, lab test results would be out tomorrow but I would be attending this huge conference in Manila so I need to leave here at 6:30 am. Because the presidential security group will close the doors of the hotel promptly at 9 am—for security. BECAUSE DAMN THESE BUSINESSMEN, THEY INVITED MARCOS AS GUEST SPEAKER.
I don’t know how I can stand to be in the same room with this demon. He who wanted the people in EDSA strafed during the 1986 uprising. He who milked this country of billions when he was a senator and I was part of the investigative team who tackled the pork barrel case for my news org. I still have the photos of the evidence submitted to the anti-graft court in 2013.
I must shove my earbuds down my ear canal to block out his voice during his speech, which would be drivel anyway.
My girls and their friend. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Today the girls had hung out with their two friends in UP. While I did my walking exercise, I let them roam around by themselves.
But before that we had a hearty meal as I grilled marinated porkchops. Because it was sunny.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After we cleaned up, we fetched classmate #1 from their apartment nearby then we met classmate #2 at the College of Engineering where her parents parked.
It was a lovely afternoon. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
When I was on my second loop, I met my ex-boss/ex-editor who was also exercising with his son. He caught me chatting on my phone while walking and he asked, what’s that, work? I said, yeah, one of my sources was asking me a lot of questions about xxx because xxx is yyyy. We chatted for a bit and he said we should meet with other ex-colleagues before Christmas.
Photo by CallMeCreation.comPhoto by CallMeCreation.comI had my anthropology class here. That course was a waste of time. Photo by CallMeCreation.comIt was a good exercise. I hope I had burned the calories from the porkchop 😏
We ate at Snack Shack after and drove friend #1 back home. My girls were happy, that’s all that matters.
Meanwhile, Kimchi finally used the cat tower.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I was about to give up on it and was thinking of disassembling it to Frankenstein the other scratching post. Good that she tried it now.
I want to go back to drawing again after watching videos and scrolling through the IG accounts of @shoreditchsketcher and @mysquiggles. Perhaps tomorrow.
It now has four walls. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I left QC at almost 7 am this morning even though I woke up at around 4 am (because I slept before 11 pm last night). The drive was less than 2 hours at rush hour so it was surprisingly quick.
Driving on Skyway 3 North Ave. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I stopped at the flower vendors along the highway in my hometown and bought carnations for my mom and arranged Malaysian mums for my dad’s crypt. I visited his resting place first to bring the flowers before proceeding to my mom’s house. Then I checked the construction progress.
I have a huge front door. Photo by CallMeCreation.comThey’ve removed the old windows in this room that is going to be my room. Photo by CallMeCreation.comThen they patched it up with new concrete wall and new door opening.Photo by CallMeCreation.comFrom below. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This staircase would be changed and moved so this area below would be my outdoor space, combined patio and further right would be the utility and laundry area. Eventually I can have this area covered once I raise enough money. But you know, one thing at a time…
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
In the future I can have this extended by building a deck. Just because.
I can also have this catio built too.
I built an Ikea wardrobe (Pax system) for myself using Ikea’s online planner. This will be installed just outside my bedroom door because, what the heck, I don’t have space in my room.
Or Brimnes wardrobe.
The Pax system I built using the Ikea online planner costs around PHP 32,000. I asked my contractor if his carpenter/cabinet-maker can build me something like this. He said he can have it made for less than 20k, minus the Ikea wire drawers (can be replaced with real wooden drawers, I guess?)
I worked for a bit, chatted with some sources, then left the construction site and then my mom’s house early to go around the campus. I watched the football players for a while. Oh how I wish I could still play. Nope, I’m too broken for that.
Photo by CallMeCreation.comZooming in. I used to be one of them. Photo by CallMeCreation.comTired, sweaty, and my make up is running down because I installed a towel bar in my sisters’ bathroom.
Then I went to have dinner at a friend’s restaurant while I waited for my sister-in-law (SIL) and my brother.
Photo by CallMeCreation.comBeef shawarma and yoghurt shake. Photo by CallMeCreation.comThen we had coffee and lots of talk. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My brother didn’t join us for dinner/coffee because he went ahead to move in some of their stuff into their new townhouse. I forgot to take a photo of it but I took shots of Kuya P’s future room because it has a loft bed that I wanted to show the girls.
My brother’s house is nice and spacious since it has three floors, a huge garage (two SUVs can fit) but they will use the space further in to make it a game room and some kind of lounge area for the boys and their friends.
Kuya P’s loft bed and “office”. Photo by CallMeCreation.comToo claustrophobic for me. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
But then if you’re playing games, this could be ideal because you can confine the sounds. This can also help you concentrate on studying and eliminate external distraction. When I showed this to the girls, they said they will just have curtains to make their study area isolated from each other.
I left at past 9 pm and it only took me 1.5 hrs to get home in QC. With the moderate to heavy traffic. Not bad.
It’s past 10:30 and it’s still like this along Quezon Ave. 🥴 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It’s already past my normal bedtime but I’m still wide awake because of the late coffee drinking (because I needed that for my drive). I’ve been up since 4 am. Gee, I’m running on caffeine and adrenalin.
While I was working today, I sold some stocks at a slightly higher price than yesterday. I will have the proceeds deposited in one of my bank accounts and then when I need to issue another check to my contractor next month, I would be ready. I decided to sell this time because it seems like stocks would be falling next week—the US inflation rate was higher than forecast. Despite this (which meant the US Fed will remain aggressive in its rate hikes of at least 75 basis points every FOMC meeting), the local stock market was up today; it defied logic. Good that I was able to sell. But I guess the local market was trying to go for a winning streak for the weekend before they digest the US inflation news—and they knew that stocks would be falling next week. The US Fed’s goal is to bring down inflation from the current 8.2% (the highest in 40 years) down to 2%. Just count how many rate hikes they would have to make—that would spill over to next year. They are really going to cut economic growth in favor of bond prices. That’s a lot of liquidity being mopped up. The housing market will go belly up if they continue with this.
A shopper walks past turkeys for sale in a grocery store on Nov. 11, 2021, in Los Angeles.Mario Tama / Getty Images file
So this will be another contagion. If people cannot pay their mortgages and buy food, then the this will redound to other consumer items. Global trade would…It’s 2008 all over again.
Those VCs and startups will have a lot of trouble raising funds. As they said, “winter is coming!” The abundant dry powder of yore—thanks to the super low interest rates as a result of Fed cuts in 2008 to save the US economy—is gone. Investors have become more tight-fisted quarter on quarter and they now refuse to fund untested startups even if they look brilliant on paper. The tech industry is first to freeze in this funding winter. The rest will follow. VCs and startups are scrambling to get funding before the year ends, before we officially enter global recession next year, before the world burns.
That’s why it’s critical to unload some of my stocks and VUL funds by November (until December, if I believe in Santa Claus rally–and I haven’t decided yet) so I can pay for the remaining balance with my contractor. After finishing my house and the expenses of moving, I will start building up my finances again by buying bargains. Since I cannot buy individual stocks anymore (and I don’t want to be penalized for insider trading even though I will not do that), I will just have to limit myself with funds like ETF, UITFs, and funding this particular VUL I will draw down from again (which I plan to (almost) empty by year-end).
Let me just recover a bit from this house then I will scrimp and save for a new car. I think by 2024 I would be ready, if the world hasn’t completely burnt up by then.
