Fantastic Finds

I may not have had lunch with Mayie on our birthday this year, nor did I eat dinner with friends and co-workers, but rest assured that I was in good company today thanks to these two:

I got them for $30 each on eBay last week and they arrived today in like-new condition. They totally made my birthday! Now I wonder how many more sleepless nights I'll be having trying to get my very own copies of My Girl and My Lovely Sam Soon.

P.S. Is it just me or YesAsia boxsets have gotten ugly and cheap-looking? I remember when Pen showed me her Hotelier boxset (circa 2004) and I was wowed by the packaging/design. Nowadays, YA boxsets come in plastic cases with ugly inserts. Boo!

My Money's Worth

You know, it's hard to miss my life in Manila when I get a paycheck for my first four days at the new job and it roughly equaled to one month's salary in Manila. I can now definitely say that I was livin' la vida loca back then.

Back to School

During my salary negotiation (if you can even call it that), I didn't push for a higher salary because I learned that I would be able to take graphic design classes for free. It's a job perk that adds up to a lot of money (tax-free, too!). What I didn't know was that I would be allowed to take a class during the day!

So today, instead of walking into my office, I walked into a classroom upstairs instead. After four years, I am back to being a student! My Fridays this month will solely be devoted to getting down and durrrrty with Photoshop CS2. Yay!

But all that good stuff come with a catch. It turns out that I'm not the Marketing Coordinator, but the Marketing Manager. HR got confused about my e-mail signature (I wrote that I was the Marketing Coordinator) that they had to call my direct supervisor to confirm my job title. My supervisor told me that I'm more than a coordinator. Eek! So, being a manager, guess who I have to report to on a regular basis? The Dean of the college!

What the heck did I get myself into?! Am I ready for this?! I'll get a bigger picture next week after my 45-minute meeting with The Big D (ooh, I smell a new blog character!) to discuss my job responsibilities. Hopefully, I'll be able to come out alive to write another entry.

Job Status: Employed

When I picture God in my head, the image I get is Him standing on a cloud, looking down on me and laughing His butt off. I really think He's just having a ball watching me react to things He throws at me.

Remember on July 2 when I wrote about a job that I didn't get? No? Go ahead, check the archives to refresh your memory. After I wrote that, I spent the next three weeks wallowing in my misery. I took the rejection pretty hard.

Well, two days ago, I got a call. I was asked what my employment status was and if I was still interested in that job. It turned out that the person they chose on July 2 did not work out for them. Quit playing games with my heart, God. Quit playing games with my heart! HaHa!

Today, I signed all the papers that made me the Marketing Coordinator. Exactly two years ago today, I left for Manila and it now seems like I put my life on hold for those two years and now I'm back to where I left off. Whatever I left behind then, I got it all back today plus more: a Marketing job, my own office (no Dilbert cubicles!), my own desktop computer with a printer, my own laptop, and my own phone extension.

This is yet another great example of God teaching me about patience and trust in Him. It's either that or He's trying to be the Last Comic Standing in my life.

Got Mugged

The moment that you've all been waiting for is here! No, not that moment. No, not that moment either. My Starbucks City Mugs site is up and running!

I have been struggling with how to display these babies since I don't have a kitchen of my own yet, so I decided to put them up on the web instead. What I realized about my mugs is that each one has a story behind it (how I got it, who gave it to me, etc.) and that's enough good stuff for a blog. Whoo hoo!