I have mixed feelings while I'm typing this post. Part of me is happy, sad, worried but most of all, tired. Allow me to relate how my life will change after this week. 

After the long holiday break, I was alarmed with the news about my colleague. My colleague has been in teaching for the last 20 years. She is famous to almost all college kids. She's smart, approachable and best known for that unique sense of humour. I started receiving text messages requesting prayers for my colleague's recovery last Monday. As the day progressed, my inbox was loaded with the same forwarded messages. Wednesday came and I finally discovered what happened. Her medical condition was not clear to me. The only thing that is definite to me now, it would take some time for her to return to work. The atmosphere at work suddenly turned gloomy.

As I was busy fulfilling my backlogs at the office, my teaching supervisor called me for a brief meeting. I received one of the biggest surprises in my teaching career. My supervisor requested me to become one of the substitute professors. Oh Dear God! Handling two classes is more than enough to rattle my life. How much more if the bulk of work is doubled? I often introduce myself in this blog as a rank and file employee and a part time educator. But with the situation now, my work life took almost a 360 degrees turn. Technically, I'm a full time staff with additional teaching assignment. In practice, things turn out the opposite at this stage.

I would like to however emphasize that I'm not complaining. I rather feel worried of my inability of not fulfilling my responsibilities. When I was telling my work adjustments to one of my friends, I joked and told her that I suddenly became more famous to an additional 80 college kids. Apart from teaching, I'm also worried for my office job. I have a lot of backlogs and my hardworking boss doesn't deserve my inefficiency. I feel sorry to my boss because he has been giving me high ratings for my performance appraisal. Unfortunately, all I can provide is a set of tardiness records and delayed outputs.

As I'm still overwhelmed with the abrupt changes in my work life, I found myself in the comfort of a good friend last Friday. As always, Anne is always there to save the day. We meet up last Friday and had our regular pre-weekend dinners. We had Chicken Bon Chon and our favorite Dezato Mochi Balls. Thank you Anne for helping me keep the last strand of my sanity.

My work life over the next week will elevate with the additional kids I will meet. Before I face the sudden blast, I treated myself to some little things that can make me happy.

Sophie's Mom
A box of red velvet cookies from Sophie's Mom, enough to keep me happy over the long weekend. I forgot to take photos of the cookies because I became more occupied consuming each piece.


The Red Velvet addiction extends to cupcakes. Anne gave me this cupcake and all I can say is that it's bloody and heavenly great. Perfect stress buster! The cream cheese and the moist bread are the best.


A trip to the mall will never be complete without a book. Powerbooks is likewise hosting price reductions in almost all titles. So here's my recent acquisition.

As I browsed the first few pages of the book, I found this quote

As I was checking my previous posts over the last years, I noticed that changes and challenges in my life occur from the third to the last quarter of the year. Hopefully, this challenge is something I can surpass as well. 

Hope you are having a Beautiful Sunday