Thursday, January 24, 2008

Resolutions

It's that time of the year again when we make plenty of resolutions to change somethings in our lives to make it better. I'm not good with the resolution thing. Well, I'm okay with making them but its the follow through that really stumps me for some reason (lol!) I guess I'm really a procrastinator at heart so by the time I'm ready to implement one of my resolutions, a half year has passed and I decide to just start the whole thing next year :) Case in point: at the end of 2007, I decided that I would need to write down or at least mentally list down all the things that I would like to change or improve on in the new year. I can now see February rolling in and still, NADA!!! Not a piece of paper, not even a mental image of anything. Now, I'm not saying that there's nothing about me I would like to change. On the contrary, there's plenty about me I would like to change.

For one thing, it might be a good idea for me to dress up more and spend more time on my physical appearance. I'm just so used to a ten minute shower that it usually doesn't take me more than a half hour to get ready in the morning to go to work. Now, this quickie thing is good on so many levels, like the fact that I can sleep more and still be ready in no time. But, it's really not a good idea to get out of the house with wet hair because by the middle of the day, my hair has gone so messy that people actually think it was deliberately styled that way. I don't wear make up either. Man, those lipstick and blush ons in my closet have been feeling so lonely and so useless from about the time I purchased them or got them from my mom's vanity table, as the case may be up until this very day. I think hubby would appreciate it if i made more of an effort because it's really not a good thing that he spends more time getting ready than I do. It takes him sooo long to finish grooming in the morning that I could have showered twice and no one would be the wiser. No hair out of place, please.

Another thing that I may have to improve upon is my office organization skills. I try to be organize so I create so many different files of things that in the end, I might as well have none for all the confusion it ends up causing me. I have a medium size table in the office but I work in a teeny tiny space because documents and papers are strewn all over the other parts of it. Sometimes, I even work on top of piles of documents. This can make me really crazy, but what can I do, every time I turn around, there's another "to do" thing on my table begging for attention. I tried to list down things that I should be doing and but the irony is that, I ended up with a list of my lists and still nothing gets done!!!!

A third thing that should really be placed first in my lists of things to improve upon is the regularity of my visits to my OB-GYN for my fertility. I should be going to my doctor monthly but I don't. I go for three straight months and then I get tired of going so i stop and rest for a couple of months (well, all right, more than a couple of months, more like 4 months). Honestly, it's very depressing to go to the doctor on such a regular basis when nothing really happens. I know patience is a virtue, but I have that in short supply. I think only women in the same boat as me would understand how frustrating it is to spend so much time, effort and money, all for naught. However, having said that, I know of a lot of women who have religiously done as their doctors have instructed and have gotten pregnant. I suppose that if I'm really serious about having a baby, I should really learn to acquire the virtue of patience and buck up and visit my doctor whenever so instructed. And I really should monitor my monthly cycle.

Those are the major ones so far. Hey, what do you know, I do have a list after all.

Monday, January 7, 2008

A View from the Top - Montmarte, Paris

Paris, during the winter months, is magical. Our last stop on our tour was Paris and what a way to cap off a fabulous vacation. True, it did get a little cold and there was a little rain, but still nothing can take away the magic of the place. On our first night there, we were still with the insight group but as usual, we wanted to do things on our own (plus we didn't want to spend extra on the optional tour), so we went by ourselves up Montmarte (an artist colony) where the Sacre Coeur Church can be found, we rode the funicular up (we could have walked, but really, who would want to in the freezing condition but we did walk down (hey, money still doesn't grow on trees :))



The place was different from what I remembered when I was there 7 years ago. Honestly, all I could remember from the last time I was there was that little French bistro we ate at and some artists painting. This time up, I had a whole new appreciation of the place. Although, I thought that the place has become more touristy than the last time. Nevertheless, I thought the place was exactly what an artist colony should look like.



The first thing we did when we got up was take pictures, of course. This time, we had the tripod with us so we wanted to get really excellent shots. Unfortunately, the freezing weather and our hungry stomachs refused to cooperate with us, so we ended up taking a few shots only before we slipped into the Sacre Coeur. There were so many people inside so it was hard to move around but the church was gorgeous so that more than made up for it.



We had some crepe along the way while looking for a restaurant we can eat at. Wasn't that good, actually, but we were tricked into buying by long lines of people ordering that stuff (lol!) And I thought the French were gourmets (well, I guess most of those lining up were tourists like us, haha!) Anyway, we had dinner at this nice restaurant but the place was so full that in order for half of our group to get into our seats, they had to move the entire table. What this means is that once you are on the other side of the table, you cannot get out, unless the entire table is moved again. So much for bathroom breaks. The food was so-so so no need to recap the meal here. Still, we were hungry so it tasted pretty good.

J'aime le Paris!!! :)