Albine's Corner

So, it was such untypical weekend for me... despite the busy schecule and the nagging deadlines, I chose to see my friend, shall refer to as "Sunshine". Actually, I was the one who set the date simply because I long for a different environment. I was so tired and bored then with all the usual work-home-study activities. Who is Sunshine? Sunshine has been a friend to me since our high school days in the eighties. When we parted ways to continue our pursuits separately, there were four of us girls who were really close to one another, ( silang 3 , m atatalino at magaganda pa!). I remember we had codenames then: twinkle (me), Danes, Lhyre, and of course, Sunshine. Among them, Sunshine and me have had lots of times together... given the opportunity to reminisce what we had, I think I need to open a new site for that... LOL! Admittedly, gone are the days when we were so young and free. Sunshine got married in the late 90's and I left single (for such a long period of time).

Today is September 18 th , thirty days from now is October 18 th , would be my child's 4 th birthday. If fate has been favorable to me, I would be so excited planning and preparing for my little girl's party. I could buy her new clothes and shoes, invite her playmates, or even treat her out to a fantastic theme park... but that's not the hands of time for me these days. She's been gone so early in her child's life by a silent-killer disease, bronchial asthma. It was not so long ago when I last heard her struggling voice shouting "Mamaaa!" as she coughs. It was just four months ago. There's no other pain in my life seeing my only girl dying. I knew she keeps on fighting for her acquired illness, up to the very last moments of her in this world. If only I could give her my own respiratory system just to make her survive. As a mother, I would do anything to make her comfortable. Yet, that moment of her was really beyond my control. On losing her, most of

I 'm looking forward to another weekend. Here's my "to do" list: Wash my clothes - Friday night Study my report in OS (Operating System) - Friday night Attend to OS class, I'm a reporter - Saturday morning Meet my group mates in BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) subject - Saturday afternoon Buy a topographic map - Saturday afternoon Internet: research on CO (carbon monoxide) measurement system - Saturday evening Internet: download related theses and concepts - Saturday evening Read, read, read on downloaded materials - Saturday evening Think, organize ideas - Saturday evening Start writing - Saturday late night Wake up early - Sunday morning Attend mass - Sunday morning Internet, read, write - Sunday morning 'till noon Short sleep - Sunday, after lunch Self-hair-spa - Sunday afternoon Housekeeping: sweep, clean, iron clothes Y a think I'm busy? Gosh this is another typical weekend for me!

I t was September 11 th , 6:00 P.M. H ere's what I bought from the wet market as I dropped by before going home from work: Tofu Kalamansi Cabbage Spring Onions Celery Bean Sprouts Carrots Cucumber Pears Ampalaya Pechay Onions Tomatoes Cooking Oil W ell, I'm a vegetarian right now. This is my act towards my quest and advocate of wellness. I am not good in cooking, but I try to do it wholeheartedly. There's no one else to do it for me, anyway. Most of the time I saute or blanch vegetables. A little creativity on salad dressings and well familiarization on herbs made my food enjoyable. Care to dine with me? ;)

S eptember 8 th and 9 th : I just had a typical weekend once again. S aturday Not a Day Off. Saturday had been a very busy day for me just because this is my day as a student. If I don't pursue my graduate studies, it is an ordinary work day for me. It's unfair though that if I want to upgrade m profile, I have to formally file a leave of absence (without pay) or deliberately be absent from work. What a fair sacrifice, so it seems! M y Thesis Title Approved. So I chose to work half-day in order to earn a little. If I feel that it's alright not to attend my classes (as a student) in PUP, I can report to work (as a teacher) in EAC. Anyway, two of my teachers already did not require us to attend classes until our "presentation day". They gave us time to work on our projects. Thus, I only came to PUP to seek approval of my thesis title and to meet my group mates regarding BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) plans. I could say, the best thing that happened to me d

I t's one-hour past midnight of September 6 th . I just finished washing clothes. I enjoyed the whole evening in the solitude of my home. Sometimes it really feels good to be all alone. I can do unplanned things at any point in time. Best of all, I can wander around my thoughts while doing things or while enjoying the comfort of my seat. So I picked up my ball pen and started scribbling this diary. I t is very unusual to me to wash clothes in ordinary working days like this. Why do you think I did it today? Well, you know I just got a new washer. At last, after 13 years of living independently, I decided to acquire this machine. I feel that I need to have this now so that I can lessen my time doing housekeeping. Lots of other things are trying to grab my time, like doing my thesis, maintaining this blog, socializing, and catching up with unfinished tasks at work. I t is coincidental today that I left the house this morning without running water on my faucets (blame it to the wate

H ow about my graduate studies? Well, I've been worried about a certain subject, which is "Research Seminar 1". The thesis title I submitted before was not approved by my professor because that was mainly a descriptive type of research. What she was expecting from us is both a descriptive and an experimental research all in one. Then something about "Air Pollution" comes into my mind. H mmm, air pollution... and why that particular area of interest? Indeed, there's one big reason behind this thing: my child died of asthma. In other words, she died due to air pollution! Truly, my child became the biggest meaning of my existence on earth. I really strived hard just for her. She has been my inspiration. Now that she's in the house of the Lord, she's still the second reason in everything I do. This thesis would be a milestone both to my educational and professional lives and I acknowledge Beijah Rose, my pretty child on this. W ill It be easy for me to