Saturday, October 25, 2003
An article was published about me. Unfortunately. Okay, thanks to my parents, there is an article about me in the Filipino Reporter entitled "Fil-Am named asst. prosecutor" in the October 24-30, 2003 Edition. Let me just say: It was NOT my idea! It's really comforting to know that my parents are proud of every little step I make, however, I am very embarassed about this. Heck, they even called me boss to ask for a quote!! Great, now he'll think I'm a loser who wants all this publicity. I tried hard to stop my parents from doing it, but my dad I think had a friend at the Reporter who said it would be a great idea. So the ball started rolling and in a matter of 4 days, there was an article. I personally don't think it was factually correct. I don't think Hudson County is the biggest county in NJ, but hey, they're supposed to do fact-checking, no?
Spoiled Brat. Okay, the hubs thinks I'm spoiled by my parents, and unfortunately, I can only concur. I have a good relationship with my parents (which was not the case while growing up --especially in high school and in my earlier college years). Between me and my brothers, they have given us everything we have ever asked for. It's weird, because while in high school, I worked part-time and hardly ever asked them for anything. At that time, I was living in Los Angeles without them, and so I felt like it's only fair that I don't ask them for anything more because they let me stay there. So in high school, I was more frugal, wasn't really into shopping that much, and lived off my allowance money (which wasn't that much at the time) and my work money. But now that I'm older, I actually spend more, definitely shop more, and definitely receive more assistance from my parents. So yes, I'm pretty spoiled because my parents always give me things and I am embarrased. At the same time, they keep telling me, "well who better to share things with than with our own family?" I can't really explain how I feel. I am happy that they are very generous. And at least I do know the value of money because while I do get spoiled by my parents, I still worked hard and I don't take things for granted. I was there when we were struggling to make ends meet. And I am frugal in many different ways. I'm scared for my brothers though, because they are spoiled and I think that they will just take this for granted.
Not to worry though, as soon as I get the paychecks rolling, I have a master plan for my finances and will once and for all, start paying my parents back (for some outstanding debts), and stop asking for and receiving gifts from them. (Which is not to say that I don't appreciate it, because I do). And I definitely know that albeit spoiled, I am certainly not a brat. I consider myself a generous person and always share what I have (not necessarily just material things in life). In short, I do try to be a balanced, independent, and sound person, no matter what people may say.
In that same vein, let me just say that this is the reason why I admire some of my friends. Take my friend Girlie for example (and this is just an example --this is not to exclude equally admirable friends of mine). She's a strong, independent woman who in a short period of time, has already found success in life. She came here from the Philippines in 1994, went to college, found a great job, a great husband, and a great career. Now, only 10 years later, she's self-sufficient, a co-home-owner, has her own money, is a proud dog-owner, is very well situated in life, and she did it all by herself! Like a lot of my other friends, I am proud of her. She worked very hard and deserves all this success!
Actually, most of my friends are in a similar place in life and I just thought I'd give props to all of them. One at a time.
POSTED BY KAT AT
10/25/2003 11:06:00 AM |
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Employed again. I just finished my first week at work. All in all, it was very exciting so far. I started on the 14th and the week was a mix of observation, mini-lectures, exploring the courthouse, meeting people, and learning, learning, learning. (I even decided to devote a whole blog just to document my whole learning experience.) I was placed in the Domestic Violence Unit and I'm really glad that this was the unit I started in. My supervisor's been great so far, and I even got some files to work on already. In fact, I have to do my first court appearances this coming Monday. Yeah, talk about scary! I'm bloody frightened of messing up. Good thing is, I spoke to a lot of prosecutors so far and they all reassure us that it's always scary the first few times, but how will you ever learn until you just go ahead and do it. The drawbacks to the job are a) my horrible commute, b) my parking fees, c) the pain of waking up early in the morning Monday to Friday, going through the day, and being tired at the end of the day. Other than that, I must say, I'm pretty darn happy.
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10/18/2003 02:27:00 PM |
Monday, October 6, 2003
Blessings. This past Saturday, we got our house blessed. We had a small party with only our families and the priest. We had a simple ceremony with a few prayers, and then the priest went around the house to bless each room with holy water. The priest explained that the blessing of the house should not be associated with driving away evil spirits. He explained that actually, the "house blessing ritual" is inherent in the Filipino culture (which is why I've never been to a non-Filipino house blessing) and is really more of a celebration of your good fortune. A house blessing is a way to recognize that you were "blessed" with the good fortune of owning a home and that you are sharing your good fortune with others.
I can't wait until the house is a bit more "presentable" so that we can throw a huge house-warming party and share our home with our friends. Everyone's been asking when we are going to throw one. Since we're working on improving the home in a room-by-room basis, the house still looks like we just moved in and there are boxes everywhere. So far, the nicest area is the living room because it looks most complete. I guess come next spring, it'll look much more fabulous. Sometimes, I feel like rushing it all, but then again, I realize I'll be living here for a while, and the house isn't going anywhere. It's a bloody bitch to try to make your house look like your home, I must say. There's also tons of money involved. Our next big priority projects are to fix up the bathrooms and buy a washer and dryer. What we'd like to do next year is to renovate the kitchen (which is the most dated part of the house --we're talking 70's-style wallpaper complete with a 50's-style avocado green oven) and replace all the windows. We'll see how it goes. But we are aiming for a big house-warming sometime next late spring/summer.
Lost in Translation. I dragged the hubs to see this movie this past Saturday. Big mistake as he was really bored with it, as was I. At least for me, even when a movie is not what I expected, I still pay attention. Anyway, I wanted to see this flick because it was Sofia Coppola's second film and I loved "The Virgin Suicides" (her first film, which incidentally, I was toying with the idea of writing a screenplay about when I read it in high school....*Sigh*). It's about 2 people who are both "lost" while staying in the same hotel in Japan. I can see why it's been receiving critical acclaim --fabulous cinematography; wonderful acting by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen; and great imagery. However, the movie went by sooo slowly. Crawled really. What I really didn't like about it either was the audience. The hubs and I were probably among the youngest viewers in the audience. About 85% of the audience looked to me like 50+ -year-olders who were predominantly Caucasian. They laughed and laughed and laughed when there were itneractions between Murray and the Japanese. Basically, they laughed because they thought the Japanese folks were funny. Really, it's not that funny. Basically, the film reduced its Japanese characters to these caricatures --and the audience, (being non-Asian, and not very cultured), thought the whole thing was supposed to be funny. For example, there is no dominant letter "R" in the Japanese alphabet --obviously, they won't be able to say it properly. So the audience laughed and laughed when this woman was saying "lip it" instead of "rip it" in one scene. Very frustrating. Still, the movie was done very well. Go watch the DVD.
POSTED BY KAT AT
10/06/2003 10:03:00 AM |
Friday, October 3, 2003
Be careful what you wish for. Yesterday, I finally found out what my start date will be at my new job. But now that I know I will be definitely working there, I'm suddenly overcome with anxiety. Isn't it weird that when you're unemployed or in-between jobs, you feel restless, scared, and confused until you get a new job? Of course, once you do have a job, you feel like groaning..."aw man, I have to go to work." I really, really, wish sometimes, that I was one of those trust-fund kids who don't have to work, or be the winner of the lottery. That way, you have the choice to work as little or as much as possible. Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy I'm starting an excellent new career. Heck, I feel mighty lucky that I got this job since it's very hard to find a job with today's market, let alone a job that I actually wanted (out of 2 choices I had for myself). I just don't like that feeling of anxiety when you're starting afresh and you don't know what to expect, you don't know anyone, and you're scared you might screw up. In that same vein, I am looking forward to the challenges of this new job, all the new people I will work with, and the chance to grow from this new experience.
POSTED BY KAT AT
10/03/2003 10:05:00 AM |
