Monthly Review: July 2022

Social – July was a busy month with birthday parties (almost every weekend!), Myka’s piano and dance lessons, and her piano recital. It was pretty exciting to “go back to normal” and finally see friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. It was also a bit awkward at first because I was still recovering from Covid and still had cough. Our first gathering was after almost 3 weeks since onset of Covid. From what I read online, they say that I wasn’t infectious anymore but the coughs can take a while to heal. I didn’t want to scare my friends off so I tried to control my coughing. But I was a little worried about possibly getting them sick so I put some distance between them and myself. In retrospective, I wish I didn’t feel self conscious about wearing a mask. Note to self: if coughing, wear a mask!

Work – I am learning my new boss’s working style. I like how she gets involved and mentor me. I think I am learning from her about management, requirements gathering (asking lots of questions) and client relationship management. I like learning from others so I am glad she is my new boss.

Career – I’ve been looking at job boards, including those that are internal to the company I’m currently working for. I want to see what is out there and also learning what skills I should acquire. And I’m trying to see how I can get my ROI for the course and certification that I took. I am still seeking clarity on what I really want. I think I really want to grow myself as a manager and learn new technologies along the way. But I also want to have some focus. I’m glad that I’m given the opportunity to take trainings internally so I’m very grateful that my bosses are very supportive of that.

Family- Myka is growing and is more independent. I let her play Roblox and talk to her friend and “ate” (her cousin in the Philippines) through Messenger Kids. Still not a lot of time spent with his husband.

Business – RubMyRib didn’t do well this month. Derek said it set us almost 2 moths back from our target sales. Mostly because of the heat and being closed for 2 weeks when Myka and I had Covid didn’t help either. I think people aren’t going out as much and staying in their homes to enjoy the comfort of the AC.

Health – I started doing Zumba, which is great. I enjoy dancing instead of doing the regular workout, which I find very boring. I am conscious that I am about to turn 40 so I’m trying to be healthier.

Monthly Review: June 2022

Career: June was my “graduation month”. I graduated from my Data Science and Business Analytics course from Great Learning/The University of Texas at Austin. I also completed my video trainings for AWS Solutions Architect Associate.

I felt like I got my life back after getting my weekends free again. Since October 2021 my routine has been, spend a few hours during the week to watch a few training videos and then finish all the training videos for the week, take my quiz on Saturday mornings or finish a project and then have my 2-hour mentored learning sessions on Sundays. It has been exhausting to do this extra “study/research hours” on top of work. Plus, starting April, I also took the trainings for the AWS Solution Architect Associate exam. I finished both with flying colors and I gained confidence so I’m grateful.

Project: The launch of 2 of my projects at work was very successful and I’m proud of the work my team and I have done. It was my very first time to be a “real” project manager for a scrum team so I am very happy with the results. I learned a lot on how to do sprint planning, pivoting when needed, and addressing demo issues and keeping a timeline.

Health: This month was also the time Myka and I had COVID-19 so it was not that great. Luckily I was already done with school work and I was also done with my big projects at work. It also gave me a bit of time to take some mock exams (about 2 hours a day) when I felt capable. I have documented my COVID-19 experience and will work on the post on that some time this week. For me, the worst part was the headaches and then the cough. I only had 2 days where I had fever, thankfully! Right now I still have a bit of a cough but I’m no longer taking cough medicine (I think I got addicted to Nyquil.. and it made it hard for me to get up in the mornings).

Business: Rub My Rib didn’t do so well this month because of the scorching heat and a 2-week closure due to Myka and I having COVID-19. My husband didn’t have it but we wanted to make sure that we don’t get any of our customers sick.

Garden: I didn’t have lots of flowers this year compared to last year. And mostly it’s because of the 100 degree weather this summer. It’s been really bad. We are currently at Stage 2 water shortage so it’s not advisable for us to use the water for the garden. It’s just not justifiable. Anyway, I hope next spring will be a lot better! I will start planting my seedlings by December.

Overall, it was a productive month.

1 Week After Being a Design Lead

2 months ago (Nov 2020), I volunteered to move to Design team to learn something new. I’ve been with this project for 7 years, working on batches and interfaces. I was promoted from Team Lead to Associate Manager after almost 3 years. Then I moved to Maintenance and Operations. It’s been fun but also stressful when I couldn’t sleep at night because I am on call.

I thought, instead of leaving the company or leaving the project, I can move to a different team to try something new. Design’s senior manager took an LOA so I wanted to help out the lead who’s also a momma of 2 toddler boys. I could just imagine te struggle of working from home with 2 toddler boys. Although she sends them to day care most of the time but they have been getting sick a lot.

So I moved to Design team in December 2020. It was nice, learning new stuff but then the lady announced that she was leaving the company. Gasp! That leaves me as the most senior in the team. I literally panicked. I did not want to be the lead. I only wanted to support her. Plus, I got promoted to Manager, which was highly unexpected because I knew there were only a few spots during the pandemic. I realized it must be because the company is promoting gender equality so they are putting slots for women to be promoted.

So, my entire Christmas vacation and holidays, I spent on preparing and thinking about how to be an effective manager. During that time, I stumbled upon videos of Julie Sweet, our CEO.

I learned a lot from her, about working hard, dreaming big, and preparing yourself.

I think I did well on my first week. I managed to get things done and be on top of the team’s activities and status reports.

I do have a big hill to climb, as what my client counterpart said, but I’m going to prepare my mind, body, and soul for that climb!

Plans for Feb 2020

This month is going to be a busy month for me since I will be going on a month-long PTO and go home to the Philippines.

• Hemorrhoidectomy with Sutures on Feb 4. Oops, TMI! 😀
  • Need to plan meals to make it easy for me!
  • I have been suffering of this discomfort since 2004! Time to really get rid of this for good! I just need to remind myself that this is the best for me and I should endure the pain and temporary discomfort
• Daughter’s EENT checkup
• Husband’s teeth extraction and other stuff
• TAX!!!!
• My month-long transitions at work
• Valentines.. I need to do something special for my husband.
  • Call OB GYN for a prescription of birth control patch
• Prepare stuff to bring to Philippines
  • swimwear – I think we have everything
  • swim diapers
  • ALL medicines!
  • Papa’s BP and sugar check devices
  • Mosquito repellent
  • Sunblock
  • Ant killers (?) 😀
  • Pasalubong galore (should be light enough!)

I’m Back! January 2020 Monthly Review

We just ended the first month of 2020. A lot has happened since I last wrote a post on this blog.

• Mommy lost the battle with lung cancer and joined Tatay and Nanay in heaven on Jan 9, 2020. Broke my heart. A part of my soul died with her. 😦
• Our project went live on the cloud, successfully in general. First week was tough and me and my team had sleepless nights (mostly due to inaccurate settings of Tech and incorrect decisions made by Ops)
• Myka has been to the doctor again for her allergies, ear infection. 😦 Been having ear infections almost every month so now she has to go to the EENT doctor
• Booked flights to the Philippines and then the day after, it was announced that there is a positive case of coronavirus in the Philippines. Derek is not so keen on traveling but I really want to go home.
• Had my first broccoli! It’s still growing in the greenhouse, but very excited for it. We have a very ambitious plan for the greenhouse and the backyard/frontyard. I am very excited for it and need to contain my excitement because I tend to want everything to happen NOW!

That’s my little Filipina loving the mic and singing on top of her lungs! 😀

• Life is short and fragile. In addition to Mommy’s passing, I (with the rest of the world), was shocked when Kobe Bryant died from a helicopter crash together with his 13 yr old daughter and friends. So make the most out of life and make it meaningful.

We moved to a new house!

It’s been 10 days (moved in Aug 28) since we moved to our new residence. It’s an older one storey house, which I love! No more running up and down the stairs or shouting (or calling on the phone) at each other to communicate when husband is downstairs :). And of course, with having a toddler, I always have the fear that she would fall down the stairs – never happened by the way!

It’s a lovely small home with a much bigger yard and it came with a bonus of a greenhouse! Something that we’ve always wanted to have. We’ve never used it, but for sure, someday we will- when it is less hot outside. Anyway, we’re just settling in and there’s still boxes unpacked around the house.

Sometimes anxiety would kick in and I would have this fear of paying 2 mortgages. But I just need to have faith that everything will fall into place soon. We will still have to repaint the other house, replace the carpet with wood floors, fix the garage door, and clean it before we can start the process of selling it. Hopefully it sells quickly, it’s a 3 year old house so it is relatively new and we took good care of the yard.

Maybe we will have to pay 2 mortgages for 2 months.. hopefully not more than that!!! We’ll stick to the plan and do whatever we can in our power to speed things up.

Sept – 1 mortgage on old house, plus all the bills = around 1700 or so

Oct – 2 mortgages plus both house bills = around 3500!

Nov – hopefully by this time someone already put an offer on the house. It usually takes a month to process papers, so we will still have to pay 2 mortgages plus both house bills = around 3500

Dec – please, give me my Christmas wish to have the other house off of our bills to pay because we would have exhausted whatever is left on our savings….

Questions, Answered Part 2

1. What are my long term goals?

My long term goals include settling down with a responsible, loving and faithful husband who will serve with me in The Feast. I still have to meet this lucky guy though. Hehe. I also wish to homeschool my would-be children until they turn 10 and then they can go to a regular school. I also dream of going back to Davao and live in a home with a beautiful garden. 🙂 Another long term goal is to develop our tiny farm into a farm resort where we can rest and commune with nature. These are more of big dreams than long term goals.. 🙂

1. How can I improve my processes?

Hmm. I could be more systematic and organized. I could document and take note of the things that worked for me (and why) and those that weren’t effective. I think it could also help if I choose my activ

1. How can I get better?
2. What are the things that I should continue doing?
3. What is blocking me from doing what I really want to do with my life?
4. Am I really happy?
5. Am I making a difference?
6. Have I been loving myself or did I try to please people in the expense of my own happiness?
7. Am I learning new things?

Monthly Checkup: March 2018

Based on my WordPress blog history, i am most active with planning and reflecting during the month of March. I think this is because of my upcoming birthday.

So i thought of taking as advantage of this and start my monthly checkpoints.

I modified the checkpoint from http://meaningring.com/2016/08/23/monthly-checkpoint-by-todd-henry/.

Work Focus

Challenges: What are the biggest challenges you faced this month?

Top 3: What are your Top 3 areas of focus for the month?

1. Defect management
2. Responding to issues with interfaces
3. Dealing with difficult people in the team

Relationships

How would you rate yourself in terms of relationships this month?

As a wife: Poor. Need to plan more solo time with my husband. Maybe look for a nanny who can watch her for 2 hours to have a date with husband for at least a few hours. Watch a movie or something.

As a mother: Very Good. I think I havr spent more than enough time with my daughter, I give her baths and put her to sleep.

As a daughter: Bad. Haven’t spoken to parents for 2 months. They are just not reachable. 😦

As a sister: Good. Talked to my borthers and sister.

As an aunt: Good.

As a friend: Poor. Don’t really know if I have someone I could consider a friend here in Texas. I mean I have a few acquaintances, work friends… but not really someone I could share my innermost thoughts and feelings with. Well, aside from my husband, of course. Just miss having a close girl friend I can pour my heart into.

Energy

Whole-Life Planning: For now, the life plan is just to stay afloat and enjoy life more. The past years I have been busy with so many milestones. I feel like now is the time to enjoy those milestones and to stay on top of them.

Pruning: Need to learn to automate and delegate.

Purposeful Experience: What kinds of experiences would you like to schedule into the upcoming month? More outdoor activities with family. Golf, swimming, picnic.

What experiences would help you enjoy life more? 1 week vacation every quarter. Need to see the ocean and smell the sea.

Hours

Time Logger chart:

Additional Questions

• How do you feel about the work you’re doing right now? I think Im doing great work. I often get praisies and good reviews from my leads.
• Do you feel like you’re doing your best work? Yup.
• What are areas for improvement?Mentoring, automation
• What do you perceive to be lacking in your work right now? Pretty content. Maybe to work from home more. Learn more about web services.
• • What do you perceive to be lacking in your life right now? Time with husband, relationship with parents and friends
• What can you do about it? I can be more deliberate with how I choose to spend my time.

Gratitude Series #1

I’d like to start the day with a grateful heart. Thankful for the 6 hours of sleep, for the comfort of being at home, for a chance to start a brand new day, for a chance to be with my husband and daughter – to serve and love them, to contribute to my project at work, to improve the way I do things.

I am thankful for this life, that I am able to use my talents and abilities to help my loved ones and to better our lives.

Our first Airbnb experience

We landed at LAX yesterday around 10 am. After checking that it will take Uber 1 hour to get to our Airbnb, we took a taxi and after 30 mins, we were at the “Abbey Apartments building”. We were all tired from the early trip and looked forward to relaxing in our Airbnb home for 3 days.

Myka fell asleep in the taxi. She did so well in her first flight.

We went to the lobby of the building and introduced ourselves to the guard. Bryan, our host, already informed us beforehand that since we’re arriving on a Sunday, he won’t be able to greet us and left the key with the guard. It took a while for the guard to figure out where the unit was – not sure if it’s because he was new or because the unit itself was new.

The guard finally escorted us out of the building and to our unit, which was actually at the side of the building. It had its own entrance, which I thought was cool.

Everything in the unit was new, we were the first guests!

Myka and D liked it too!

What I liked most about it is that it is close to almost every place I wanted to go to – the Philippine consulate of course, and then Hollywood and downtown LA. The host, Bryan, was also very responsive. He forgot to install the shower head before we arrived and when I informed him, minutes later, he was at the unit with the shower head. 🙂