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.

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.

Fabulous February

Feb just passed by in a flash. I had lots of activities packed last month that I was not able to blog on a more regular basis.

And now it’s already the 10th day of the month – and exactly one month before my birthday! Oh my oh my… I’m excited! 🙂 Hmm.. I have some wish lists for my birthday. But I’ll share that in a little while. What have I been up to this Feb?

Work

• Attended numerous trainings (Application Analysis, Application Component Detailed Design, Jquery)
• Took on a Job Jar

Relationships

• Spent time with my housemates – and ex housemates (Callie’s christening, Carlo’s visit)
• Met new friends at the iLoveLife retreat

Spiritual/Service

• Continued attending Call Center Feast
• Continued serving at the Ortigas Feast (Usher and Awesome Kids Ministries)

This month’s pics

This March, I’m looking forward to

• Attend Worship Workshop
• Attend JEWELS
• Visit relatives at Rizal
• Shop! 🙂
• Basic Communications Skills Workshop
• Yoga! Woohoo!
• Sharepoint project
• Travel to a nearby beautiful spot
• Lenten reflection
• 3rd birthday celebration of my niece Nycah
• Grand Easter Feast!

My Wishlist: (Some of you might like to get me some of these..hehe)

• spend my birthday with the babies at Grace to be born
• lose 20 lbs by April
• yoga and run
• new backpack
• books!
• Super food grocer items
• pretty AND comfortable shoes/sandals
• new working clothes
• Ardent Spring perfume
• laser hair treatment for my underarms and legs

 

January 2013 Assessment

What Worked Well

– body clock is set to wake me up at 6am and doze off at around 10:30 to 11pm
– batch food processing during weekends or at night
– preparing  of weekly wardrobe during Saturdays
– read books (Big John, Women Men Love/Women Men Leave, Head First Design Patterns)
– subscription to Mega250 (Smart’s promo, unlimited texts to all networks and 3hours worth of calls to Smart/TNT/Sun
– called and kept in touch with family and friends
– visited relatives at Rizal
– improvement of service at The Feast by being at the venue at least 45minutes before the start of the mass, allowing ample time to perform duties as an usher
– painted again, triggered by the service at the Awesome Kids Ministry
– started attending CCFM Feast
– tidier and more organized room

Needs Improvement

– morning prayer time is not yet consistent
– more control over impulsive purchases using credit card
– consistency of blogging/Internet usage at home
– gym/jogging/Zumba needs to be done on a regular basis
– planning of healthy meals and snacks
– sticking to the budget
– caring for my hair

The Fourth at USEP

FOURTH.

My little cubicle is a mess. Yes, I’m happy that I no longer have to prepare for my six different subjects but I’ve got a lot of papers to check before I can finally say that the sem’s over. Sigh. I wish I could just skip the checking part and just call the random function to generate the students’ grades. Haha..

Ayy.. four months..

2nd Monthsary: kaizen! :)

I am at a much better state now than I was a month ago, when I celebrated my first monthsary in USEP.

I am really glad that: I feel a lot better physically (though I still have to recover from my cough.) I am now very comfortable and have gotten used to my new environment… the cubicle, the office, the 5th floor rooms, the deadly schedule and the rain! I feel that I have adjusted well to my new environment. Last month, these things were a struggle to me:

• tricycle-jeepney-tricycle ride to and from USEP (This is the first time in my life that I have to commute to school this far. From elementary, high school, college, and MSU, I either walked or rode a tricycle to school because it was very near to my place.) Solution: acceptance and paradigm shift. I look for ways to enjoy my trip like the beautiful scenery, amusing passengers, cute kids with their bulky bags and sexy yayas… I also love passing by the 2 churches (Redemptorist and Carmellite) because I am reminded to say a little prayer. During days when I don’t have to be in school at 7am, I grab the opportunity to ride with my Tito, Mommy and April. =)
• competition for the jeepney ride to Damosa at 8pm onwards. It’s so difficult to get a ride after my evening classes, and it used to really stress me out coz I just want to lie down and sleep after an exhausting day. Solution: be smart! walk a few meters away from the waiting “madlang people” so I could have better chances of getting a ride.
• large number of students in my classes. I was used to having a maximum of 45 students in class so I really felt dizzy when I look at a sea of students inside my room. Solution: just get used to it or divide the class into batches (if possible).
• preparation for my Statistics and Trigonometry class. Well, as I’ve said, this is the first time that I’ve handled these subjects and I really have to dedicate some precious time on preparing my lessons. Solution: downloaded materials from Esnips, study lessons ahead, prepare solutions to problems
• waking up at 5:30 am and starting class at 7am. I used to wake up at 6:30 am for my 7:30am classes at MSU. It only took less than 5 minutes to get to my classroom so it really took some time for me to accept and adjust to my new schedule. Solution: get some cat naps during the day and try to go to bed as early as possible.
• tons of papers to check. With the large number of students per class, I really have tons of papers to check every time I give assignments and quizzes.  Solution: let the students check the papers after the quiz so they’ll also know their scores immediately.

I spent most of the past 2 months adjusting to my environment and workload. It was challenging, especially because I also had to struggle financially. It feels really good now, that I have tasted the sweet fruit of my labor. Yey! =)

Other Accomplishments:

• produced 2 IEC materials for DOST. At first I was really hesitant to accept this extra task because I’m still so busy preparing my lessons but I have to admit, I also enjoyed doing the leaflets. Though it was really mediocre and it wasn’t well thought-out. Maybe I could do a lot better next time. But at least I learned something from it.

Next month, I will:

• submit my syllabi
• work on the PHP project (Faculty Load and Grade-Input)
• transfer to Sandawa
• be through with my PRELIM(and hopefully, MIDTERM) grades in all subjects.

I’m glad that I can work on getting better – with processes, as a person, at my craft, at relationships, and in handling finances. KAIZEN!