Two days ago marked the sixth year of my being a responsible citizen when I filed my ITR.

Every day I work my butt off to make sure that there is food on the table, that we can pay for the bills and save some for the rainy days. Every payday I check my pay slip and smile at the fruits of my labor. I dare not look at how much tax is withheld for the risk of heart attack. Since I left my regular job, I have to go through the rigors of filing my own ITR every year.

I take pleasure in everything that I do… except filing my taxes. I will not even waste my time and effort elaborating why. I just want to make it plain and simple to make change feasible.

It would really really make this annual filing of ITR a pleasant chore if…

1. They stop posting those streamers of their greetings and their priority projects in every corner.

2. They stop excavating and repairing roads that are not broken.

Are these too much to ask!?

It’s just a matter of coping with changes and grabbing opportunities fast.

Since I lost a TV show to cost-cutting reasons, I had the privilege of enjoying two rest days in a week. On such days I would enjoy the comfort of my bed and think of money-making ideas. One such idea is moving nearer to EDSA. It’s not exactly a money-making move, but it’s more of a preparation for the opportunities that will be knocking on my door.I guess it is true that only when you are aligned to your heart’s desire, everything will fall into place. True enough, I still haven’t moved to my new address in Project 8, but I already have enough projects on my plate until June.

My project line-up made me realize that I still can do other things aside from what my present job is demanding from me. Only, I need to be pushed to the wall to get my brains working in top shape. By working in top shape, I mean getting myself to do serious writing and conceptualizing. The downside of working at home is that I have no one to compete with. So the job gets less challenging and the brain exercises less compared to that of having a “real” job. Anyways, I’ve always been a sponge for new information so I guess getting on new work experiences will be a breeze.

Recently hubby and I have also decided to venture into franchising. Right now we’re still saving up for the initial capital and franchise royalty fee. We’re thinking if we can get at least two of these franchise businesses running within the year, we can expand into other businesses and then we can save up for our dream house. Not like the first house that we initially bought last year. But if not for that house, we wouldn’t have been wiser. Truly, everything happens for a reason.

So, while most people are talking about this recession thing, I’m keeping my hopes up because that’s the only way to beat it. I thank the Lord for leading us to the right decisions and to the right connections. Truly, his will is for us to prosper and to enjoy the fruits of our labor. I’ll end this note with a passage from the Bible…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” — Jeremiah 29:11

Last Sunday I went to White Rock Beach Resort for the third time. We did a short ocular inspection in preparation for Edmark’s 6th Leadership and Team Building Camp in July. They added two new features to their attractive roster of amenities. The Super Bowl Slide and guess what? They also put up a wave pool… just beside the beach! What’s up with that? Seriously!? LOL!

But really, I must say that this initiative is just timely when almost every resort I have gone to for the past year and a half have their own version of the wave pool.

I’ve been to 9 Waves in Montalban, Rizal (Feb. 2008), 8 Waves Water Park in Bulacan (Sept. 2008 and twice this April 2009), Fontana Sports and Leisure Park in Subic (December 2008), and Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal (Feb and March 2009).

For me, the best wave pool so far is the Ocean Waves in Club Manila East. The pool is so wide its like putting 9 Waves, 8 Waves, and Fontana wave pools side by side. And the waves are so spectacular that you can actually do surfing on it.

I don’t exactly know what’s the psychology behind this transition/trend. But what I do know is that I’d rather pay a little more to do wave catching in the comfy of a pool than to do the usual private pool rental tradition. Plus, I find it cheaper and safer than going to the beach.

Going back to White Rock’s wave pool, I find it a bit small. Smaller than that of 9 waves. So I’m thinking its more of a wave pool for kids. But according to their Sales exec. the waves rise up from four to five feet high. Sounds exciting enough for me. But i’ll see about that when we go back there for the event.

On the way to Bulacan and Subic, I saw about four or five billboard ads of different wave pools in Bulacan. Only, I wasn’t able to get their website or phone number. But I do remember that Jed’s Island Resort opened up 12 wave pools recently.

Have you guys into any wave pools other than the ones I’ve mentioned above? Please let me know about it. I’d be glad to try them all!

I don’t know why but for some reason, I can’t get my mind off the idea that the new address we’ll be moving into has a “mumu.” I got this crazy idea from this man (about my age) who used to live in that house, who claims that he is a “manggagamot.” No offense to our “manggagamot” friends out there but I just don’t believe in ghosts.

Don’t talk to me about mumu, especially now that I’m almost thirty years old. Especially after shelling out a quarter of my month’s income for two months of house rental deposit.

Let me just be rational about it for a few seconds. Let me tally. Ghost stories heard = countless. Ghosts actually seen/heard/felt = ZERO. So what’s wrong, exactly? If I don’t believe in it, why the heck am I fussing to much about it?

A light worker once read me and told me that I have a strong spiritual belief system. I want to remember that. And if it still holds true I want to keep my faith so I could see and feel only the good energy around me. So help me God.

Sleepless. That’s what I have been these past few weeks.

First, I had to make sure that all the graphic requirements of my clients are met before the holy week. I still have a few pending projects that needs to be finished before Monday, but somehow I managed to squeeze myself into a family outing. We spent last Wednesday night swimming at 8 Waves Water Park and it was fun. The water was cold (brrrr) but we did not care anyways. My kid enjoyed the waves and the bubbles so much! It’s such a bummer that we were so engrossed in the swimming that we were able to take only a few snapshots just before the resort started turning of the lights and water features. I’ll be posting some photos in my friendster and facebook accounts soon.

Second, I already started packing our stuff in boxes. We’re moving to a new address on the 18th and I can’t wait to live next to Direk/Mareng Aleah. We’ll be working on very promising projects starting after the holy week. I’m visualizing more finances pouring in this year! Yipee!

Just some quick trivias after doing all those packing (more of sorting what goes in to the boxes and what goes to the trash). I was able to keep some letters and souvenirs from way back since nursery and the person who sent me the most number of letters (yeah, people used to write real letters in paper back in the old days!) is none other than my best girl friend TONI! She practically wrote to me everyday as if I was her journal. I read some of the letters and it reminded me very much of how we used to be in college. Next to Toni is BREEZY, who wrote to me as if I was her little sister. She wrote me most of the best advices that I cherish until today. I received the most number of Christmas cards from CINDY. Every year since she left for the US, she would send me a Christmas card with a picture of her. But it stopped when we learned to use e-mail in the year 2000. Neat huh!? Next to Cindy is my grandmother, who always gave me a Birthday card. I didn’t realize this until I made all this sorting and packing for the move. Now I love these women even more!

Third, I just acquired my dream domain name (which i will divulge later on) and a web hosting package. So I’m pretty much back not just to blogging, but also to webdesign. Taking baby steps once again to refresh myself on the tricks of the trade, so to speak. I have never been this excited in the past few months.I’ve been really waiting for something to break the monotony out of my work-at-home setup and all of this moving and new work experience is making me very positive about the days to come. I could say that my sleeplessness is well, worth it.

This policy is valid from 15 March 2009
 This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact  attoribio[at]icreateideas[dot]net.
 This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

 The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

 The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

 This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org