This sums up my office life...haha!

My Brother's Shining Fan Boy Moment

Someone posted this video on Facebook and I watched it because I recall my brother mentioning that he saw the X-Factor auditions live in Cebu (to support one of his friends) and there was this girl who kind of sounded like Mathai from The Voice. I love Mathai - hence, the curiosity.

Quick comments: Angelica looks like Jessica Sanchez, her voice is unique to the Philippine music industry (which is great for her), and well, Charice has certainly developed a new personality that's somewhat annoying. Totally putting the blame on her management team.

Anway, that's not the point of this post.

I am posting this to immortalize my baby brother's one second of fame. Yahoo! Watch the video, please. It's at 2:12, and he's the bibo guy in black, jumping up and down. Hahaha!

Hey, Mic! Ma discover gani ka!:))

Things That Matter

I got this story from Facebook (no author was credited, though). Just have to post it here for future reference. Also, if anyone comes across this little blog thing, I'm hoping they might also find this story inspiring. The message hits hard and I salute whoever came up with the metaphors.

*****

When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,

Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class 
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions – 
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.
The sand is everything else --The small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.
So...
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled
'I'm glad you asked'.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
There’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

*****

Officially Ravenclaw

The Sorting Hat has spoken. I am a Ravenclaw, just like I've always wanted to be. Yey! I've always thought the word "Ravenclaw" sounded pretty cool and besides, I want to be in the same house as Cho Chang. Also, I'm extremely glad the Hat considers me smart enough to get into such a brainy house.

The Sorting Hat asked me a series of questions ranging from choices between black or white, river or forest, which mystical creature I would like to study, what scent would draw me in, etc. Finally, the sorting hat asked me to choose between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. In my mind, I was like Harry. "Not Slytherin." I picked Ravenclaw and that's where the Sorting Hat placed me. My friend Pam, an extreme Harry Potter expert and fan, is jealous because apparently I'm a Hatstall. What's a Hatstall, you ask? You can read about it on Chapter 7 of Pottermore. Ha, I'm not giving it away just like that :)

I know I'm lame 'coz I only started Pottermore recently. I'm still trying to catch up. So far, it's been kind of slow, but there are some really interesting tidbits from J.K. Rowling. I've had much more fun playing the Harry Potter Playstation games back then, but then again, Pottermore isn't a video game anyway, so it's not fair to compare. Pottermore allows you to explore back stories and interesting trivia that you'd never know just by reading the books. J.K. really has the whole wizarding world figured out. The coolest I've read so far is Professor McGonagall's parents' story.

I'm slowly treading through (took me a while to figure out Potions!) but I'm enjoying the ride. Can't wait to experience the rest of the chapters. Hopefully, I get to contribute to the Ravenclaw house points so we'd win the house cup. Current standing is Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. How very true to the book.

And so I end this in the words of the great Albus Dumbledore, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

:)

Addendum: A few weeks back, I learned that both my brothers also ended up in Ravenclaw. Now isn't that cool? I swear we didn't talk about it. We can be like, the Weasleys of Ravenclaw. Ha! :D As much as I don't want to put pressure on her, I really hope our baby sister ends up in our house when she finally gets sorted. She's our own little Ginny!:)