Week Back Up

TROUBLE Of  The Week: yes..I'm guilty.

FOOD Of  The Week:
I started working full time hours so I hardly have time to make my lunch.
This past week I would either go to Kroger or Sonic to get chicken meals.

 

SAYING Of  The Week:
It was just appropriate this week.

SONG Of  The Week:
This was posted in one of the blogs I visited this week. I've been listening to it ever since.

   and that's my week!
journally yours,
Gem

a purse named after me...

Fun thing happened at work. I helped a lady picked out a new handbag for herself. After asking her a few lifestyle questions, I brought over some collections that she might be interested in and among them was a big camel color purse with compartments-one of the few things she was looking for in a bag. She let go of a big "gasps!" when I handed it to her...the color, the compartments and the style--she fell in love with it at first sight. She asked for my name then told me that she is very excited because it's her very first (brand) bag and decided that she will call it  her "Gemma" bag. I told her I'm excited for her and honored as well. She was very fun to assist with...full of enthusiasm..

Here are a few of my favorite things:

Lladro figurine

a bracelet I received for mom's day...sweet!

Mango, a fleshy stone fruit, is the national fruit of the Philippines.

peanut butter and jelly..yum!

and yes...STILL working on that project!
journally yours,
Gem

an indecisive 10 y.o.

The book Josef picked out from Costco.

my new pair of shoes!

Today was a fun and bonding day with my youngest son. 

We went and had lunch at Costco where he picked out a book about a kid surviving middle school. My daughter's birthday was coming up so we ran from one store to another trying to pick out the perfect gift but instead I found a new pair of shoes.... for me :)

While looking around at Costco I pointed out to Josef  a darker rug that would look nice in the kitchen. He said to me that I should be looking at a lighter color rugs since the kitchen floor is light color. I asked him when did he become a "fashionista" he answered: "Mom it's not fashion it's home decorating." (smarty pants..)
He also needed a new flip-flops and found two styles to choose from at Ross store but what struck me about him is that he was very indecisive. He looked and looked back and forth between the two trying to decide for what seemed like eternity.

Me: "Josef..which ones do you like?"
Josef: "hmnnn...."
Me: "Josef....?"

Josef: "I like both of them"
Me: "well I can't afford to get both of them..it's one or the other."

He then continues on deliberating......
Me: "Josef...we don't have all day."
Josef: "Let me try them on again.."

He then tried BOTH of them again at the same time putting one style on the left foot and the other style on the right foot. (unfortunately my cell fone died and couldn't take pictures of him trying them on)

Me: "So..which one?"
Josef: (still can't decide...)
Me: "ok...which one feels more comfortable?"

This time Josef started to feel the sole of the flip-flops to see which ones feel better on his feet...and he still couldn't decide.

Me: "oh jeez!! ok which ones do you like more??"
Josef: "I like both of them"
Me: "make up your mind. It's one or the other..hurry up!"
Josef: "ok..the blue one!"
Me: "finally!"
Josef: "no...I like the yellow one too."
Me: "Josef..it really is up to you.."
Josef: "nah..."
So we left the store without buying any of the flip flops.

I just realized he has always been like this. There were other instances where he had to decide what to do or what to get but for some reasons he just couldn't decide right away. He thinks about it long and hard. I just never really paid any attention to this demeanor. His brother and sister was never like that. I am an indecisive person and it sucks sometimes (sorry for lack of a better word). So I guess he got that gene from me.

Well I have big project waiting for me and will post all about it when I'm done.
journally yours,
gem

retail funnies...

The place I work for sells very expensive handbags. The prices of these handbags range from a couple hundred up to at least one grand or more. When you carry this bag you're sure to have more than a few heads turn your way because the bag is NOT just any other bag. It's one of the "it" bags of all time. When a customer walks in they know what they're buying. Working in a retail setting means you're almost always sure to have a conversation with your customer whether it's a mini dialogue about what they're buying or listening to their life story. (ok...I'm exaggerating on the life story part but still...) Sometimes there can be some funny remarks or come back dialogue between me and a customer. Like this one time I was helping a lady pick out a bag out of a few she was holding and there was one she really love but the price was a little out of her range:
Customer: "oh I LOVE this bag but the price...my husband's going to divorce me if I buy it"
Me: "at least you'll get to keep the bag."

Another time a male walked in the store and I was a greeter:
Me: "welcome to our store...everything is on sale today!"
Customer: "Including you?"
Me: "No sir..I'm priceless!"

and...
Customer: "Is everything free today?"
Me: "oh, you missed that sale...it was yesterday!"

Just recently a customer I've helped before came to the store and remembered me. I noticed she was looking at me intently and with curiosity then the conversation started:
Customer: "hey!" O.M.G.! your HAIR is SO short!
Me: (I answered back in a way as if I know or remember her and made a friendly conversation with her) "hey! I know! the lady kept cutting my hair..I had to tell her to stop."
Customer: "I like your hair when it was longer. How are you?"
Me: "I'm doing fine. How are you?"
Customer: "oh..I have not been in this store for three years. Whenever I shop here with my husband I look for you.."
Me: "yeah..I know..I have not seen you two in a while. How is he?"
Customer: "oh he passed away..."
Me: "oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. How are you holding up?"
Customer: " I'm ok. I remarried now."
Me: "oh! congratulations..!"
then I met her new husband.

I have another customer that always call me by my first name. I asked her how does she remembers my name and she said I'm the only gemma she knows of.

It's fun where I work. I get to meet interesting people.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I am again participating in another blog hop this weekend. This time it's the "Aloha Friday Blog Hop". I've accumulated quite a few reads since I started joining blog hop parties. The best part about blog hop parties is there's always more great blogs to discover.

journally yours,
Gem

oh, how pinteresting!

While blog hopping a few days back I stumbled upon a blog called The Vintage Apple. Michelle's blog theme every Wednesday is called "oh, how Pinteresting." As a Pinterest lover myself I knew I just have to join in on the fun. I have 36 boards and over 1,200+ pins and still pinning. If you don't know it yet, Pinterest, is a pinboard-style photo sharing website.  It is a social media site that allows users to share photos on virtual bulletin boards.

Below are a few collections from my pin boards.

             

             


             


             


             


             

Check out the other pinners at Michelle's blog!

get to know me page

I added another page to my blog: Get To Know Me

before and after...

As you can see in the before pictures I have boxes piled up by the front door, clothes and jackets hanging over the chair, baskets and laundry bags on the dining floor, shopping bag, papers and cake box laying on the table. Behind the living room couch are laundry baskets full of clean clothes that I need to fold and put away. Not only I don't fold the clothes right away I also do not put them away as quickly as I should thus leaving me mountains of clean clothes sitting in the baskets.

When I woke up today I was already determined to clean my house. As I looked around looking and thinking of ALL the things I have to do it started to overwhelm me so I told myself to do one section at a time and think about getting something done instead of nothing at all. My problem is I tend to want to clean and do it all at once or none at all which leaves more things for me to do later on.

So I tackled my chores a little at a time, taking a break in between when I'm starting to have that feeling of  laziness or when I'm starting to tell myself  "I don't wanna do it.." or "I'll do it later.." These kind of thinking is obviously my downfall and is hindering me from keeping my house clean. Though I did most of the work my two sons deserved some credits because they help me out today with the trash, sweeping and dusting.



So here are the after pictures of  clean dining/living room...don't they look better? It took me a while but I got it done. What a big difference..it felt good too!

'till next time my friends!
journally yours,
gem :)

Thoughts on my previous post...

So I was thinking about my previous post *fat, old and frumpy* and realized I was harsh on myself. I was putting myself down and it's not a nice thing to do. It's like saying that to somebody else which is mean so why I should I be mean to me? I am feeling fine and I like being me it's just that I'm not happy with what I see in the mirror and I am going to do something about it because it is time, I want to and I need to for my health's sake.
I don't want my blog to be all about "what I don't like about me" or "feel sorry for me" posts because it can get boring and annoying. There are too much negativity going on in the world now why add myself to it? I'm alive and living in a borrowed time...so might as well make the most of my time here in this world because you'll never know what tomorrow will bring. Live today as if it's your last they say.

   
We celebrated my son's 19th birthday today at home. Dinner was homemade egg rolls and pork bbq over plain white rice. We treated him to Coccadots birthday cake and a few gifts. I can't believed that he is 19 yrs. old and will be sophomore in college this Fall. Where did the time go?





I am planning on getting back to doing crafts again like I used to. I think it'll be a fun thing to blog about it here for a change. Thinking about it is making me excited! There is one very important craft project I still need to finish so I will post it here hopefully in a day or two once I'm done. I didn't get to clean the house yesterday so that is my plan for tomorrow. Well this is it for now....'till next time my friends!
journally yours,
gem :)

fat, old and frumpy...

well..I have been lagging a  LOT lately. And by lagging I mean like I'm hardly doing anything around the house. I sleep in on my days off  from work or take a nap if I get off early from work. And I'm tired of it. I mean seriously...who gets tired of taking naps or hardly doing anything? Only me... right?
The truth is I feel lazy. I don't want to do anything around the house. I don't want to clean, dust, do laundry or fold clothes. I dislike ironing but do it anyway because Sunday church clothing and some work clothes need to be ironed. I don't like procrastinating yet I do it. I don't use to be like this. I am heavy too.
Recently, I went to a friend's party and when picture taking was done I didn't recognized myself  in the pictures. I asked myself how did I ended up looking like that? I know growing old, slow metabolism and having a shorter hair didn't help. Though I smiled big in this particular picture, I looked and felt SO fat, old and frumpy. I'm a picture person but when asked to join for more picture taking I refused..I couldn't bear seeing myself  looking the way I did.

I didn't mind the purple bows and polka dots purple ribbon as props (we were having fun..after all it's a party!) ...it's how myself  looked. My friends at the party does marathon every year so I told them I'd like to do it too..in fact it has always been a dream of mine to run a marathon...I always wonder what it feels like to get to the finish line. I also figured this will motivate me to start weaning down on carbs and start exercising again.



 I took my son to our community pool yesterday (Thursday) and took pictures of  him jumping onto the pool. There was quite a good number of neighbors/residents there and all seems to be enjoying getting tan and/or swimming. We were there for a good two hours until I finally told him it's time to go home for dinner. He wants a take out but I said no..that we'll have left overs since tomorrow is Pizza day (Friday). He was having fun at the pool and I told him I'll do my best to take him there most of the times if not everyday.


So today is actually that day (Pizza Friday) and I have a lot of things to do. Buy pizza, pick up birthday cake, buy last minute things for birthday dinner and gifts tomorrow, make egg rolls, marinade BBQ and wrap gifts. On top of  that I have to clean the house. At least kitchen is clean as of writing this. Have a wonderful weekend friends!
journally yours,
Gem :)

flipboardin'

so...I found this (new) cool app called "Flipboard" through google play by accident while browsing for games on my Samsung cell phone. I checked the descriptions which I found interesting so I downloaded it and was hooked ever since. And you know how you sit and sit and sit there trying to figure out how that new apps work? yap...I was telling myself today I know I have a LOT of housework and if it wasn't for internet where you can literally go anywhere in the world now on the palm of your hand because everything is now accessible through cell phones- my housework would be done by now. But nope. After hours of  browsing online from pictures to recipes and adding it to my flipboard magazine which I keep checking every minute I I am now finally updating my blog knowing I have one interesting topic to talk about: Flipboard!

If you don't know it yet..."Flipboard" is an app that aggregates news and other content and presents it in a personalized magazine-like format. It is available for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle Fire. In other words Flipboard is your personal magazine.

Here's a few links where you can learn more all about Flipboard:
http://flipboard.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/content/help/mobile/flipboard/flipboard-app.h
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flipboard.app&hl=en

....and when you do decide to add "Flipboard" to your other collections of apps..make sure you look up my name as shown in the picture and flip through my magazines. :)

and while you're here you can also find and join me on the ff sites:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/lovetofv
Twitter: ursotweet

journally yours,
Gem

A Taste Of Hawaii

(I'll let the pictures do all the blogging!)

I came home today with something special waiting for me....

                     

A package from Dana and Woody!
(card, cookies and earrings!) 

SS earrings with Sea Glass and Mother of Pearl from Hawaii!

From Bry and Josef: Juicy Couture Bracelet!

 (My treats for Mom's day!)
Coccadots Red Velvet cupcake and Boston Pizza Tiramisu

 Wishing you all a wonderful Mother's Day!
journally yours,
Gem~

I hid the coffee...

I told myself  that I'll just write once a week here since I can't think of anything unique to write every single day. I was also thinking that I'll bore myself out of my new found blog if I write every day. But ..here I am. Just day after.
Yesterday,  instead of finding the air pump I needed for my tires I actually found something else that upon seeing it I realized it had been sitting in the back of my car for sometime now:

Mocha flavored Starbucks Frappuccino

Mocha flavored Starbucks frappuccino coffee drink. It comes in package of 12 and I have two of them! 24 bottles of Starbucks coffees sitting in the back of my car since last month. I remember buying these but don't remember when but I know why I bought them. It was for my son who's in college and loves Starbucks. I usually buy him loads of foods when he comes visit (or when we go see him) so he can keep them in his dorm. And whenever I buy the case of Starbucks coffee, I usually "hide" them from both of us (yes! both of us)  because we both love that coffee and we tend to drink it like it's water when it's in sight. But since he was not home when I bought it,  this time I "hid" it from me and forgot to bring it when we went up to see him last month.
Well, he'll be home in a couple of days. And this coffee is not going anywhere.
journally yours,
gem

Lost & Found!

..well finally found this old online journal of mine. Can't believe it has been eight years since I last wrote here. Just getting back to doing this again. Writing really short for now until I get a hang of it again. Have quite a few ideas of what to write. But I think I'll let things go with the flow.
journally yours,
gem

A poem I wrote...

"Loveones..."

There is going to be a moment in your day
Where you will suddenly realized
I am not there to see, to touch, or talk to.
That moment will be filled with sorrow, tears and longing for me...
You might even regret the times we'd never get to share,
All these you will feel the moment I joined God in heaven.

You see I didn't want to go..
Because I know I'm going to miss you too.
But when HE called for my name & held me by the hand,
"Son, it's time for you to come...I'm taking you to my promised land"
"No hunger, no pain, no past to look back..."
"There is no tommorow to worry & hurt...."
I knew then that today will always last..it's all the eternity my heart desires.

So now I am with HIM and I see your eyes filled with tears...
Oh how I long to wipe the tears and wrapped you tenderly.
Please my dearest loveones, be not in despair
But if you must grieve..I ask you to not let these
....hinder you from all the wonderful things that's left for you to fullfill.

I know how much you love me....
You've shown me in many ways.
You are my blessings, and remembered I will always be
by loveones & friends, by you, most specially.

When it seems solace is so distant away...
That neither the arms of a friend
Or a loveone's shoulder can comfort you,
Please close your eyes and envelope yourself
With the times of our lives filled with love, laughter & tears
and that moment I will be...right here in your heart.


{Written by Gem R. **11.24.05**}
(Orig. 11.27.05)
(Rev. 12.01.05)

When In Rome.......

When I was a little kid I was told
That when in Rome..Do As The Romans Do.
I listened faithfully and followed dutifully
Until depression visited me relentlessly.

There I saw the lonelier world
I am just as angry when I don't listen to me.
Sleep seems to be my comfort buddy
All the while the world continued without me.

Depression may be a dark ugly place
But there I learned what truly exists
Solitude and my soul seemed to emerged as one
There all the answers were screaming to be find.

Once I was told: "you and your depressions I can't take no more!"
The words stung as if inflicted by the bees'
Because truly deep inside
Depressions were my emotions gone haywire...
Showing how exactly I am not being heard and seen as I wish it to be.

It hurts way so deep inside when I don't speak for me
Yet my head throbs when I'd let my tounge slip
Because then I'd wonder if I said the right thing.

Sure self-esteem might have something to do with it
Self-confidence can contribute as well....
If these emotions were borne from the society I looked up to..
Then why oh why...I am so darn confused??

My search for inner freedom seems to have become an endless quest
Some days self-help feels/looks tedious yet I don't get anything else done....
I have a mind I can't make up or follow....
My poor body image sway the soul helplessly
While the spirit had long gone and left me.

So it seems what's left for me
Is the tried and true rule of thumb...
"When In Rome..Do as The Romans Do"
The one motto, without a twitch, I looked up to.

Now that I am an adult, it sure is not working...
I'm overweight, I got migraines
I'm a doormat and such a people pleaser
I'm so locked up in Rome and chained up in my emotions.

So while I'm working on finding my way out of here
I've found I'm sane enough to give advice away
I suggest that when in Rome..DO What YOU WANT TO DO....
It'll keep YOU collected and happy too.

Written by: Gem R. 11/29/2005 Tuesday!

A Recipe For Happiness

Happiness is something we create in our mind,
It is not something you search for and so seldom find-
It's just waking up and beginning the day
By counting our blessings and kneeling to pray.
It's giving up thoughts that breed discontent
And accepting what comes as a "gift heaven-sent."
It's giving up wishing for things we have not
And making the best of whatever we've got.
It's knowing that life is determined for us,
And pursuing our tasks without fret or fuss-
For it's by completing what God gives us to do
That we find real contentment and happiness too.
(author: Helen Steiner Rice)

Dear online friends,
You brought smile, laughter, hope, helped wiped my tears and lend me your broad shoulder for support.
You are one of the many blessings I am thankful for.
This Thanksgiving I wish you and yours another wonderful memory to cherish.
Thank you so so much for the most treasured friendship
.................... I hold so very near & dear.

**Happy Thanksgiving***

journally yours,

Gem :-)

(hmnnnn..if I get to post this entry for the uptenth tries....I think I might just like it here at blogspot!)