What Sings to My heart

Again, my furry friends..it's a rascal flatts weekend.. Let me enjoy this song with you..for you know and I know one day will FEEL LIKE TODAY!....



I suppose hope keeps us going and going like the everready bunny...Just sometimes you wish there's a fast forward button you can press and voila! all troubles gone! Wishful thinking!...

But then again, we are alive and being alive is the first step for not losing hope and faith...

Name that Name!

I have a five-letter name. Nothing more. Just Five. I typed nothing more but didn't type nothing less - coz my friends drops the last letter and just calls me with four.

Hence, Reina becomes Rein. And since 5th grade, I got accustomed to that. If you're my friend, most likely you will call me with those four letters. If you are just an acquaintance you will call me with five. If you are my family, that's another story - they call me with only three letters which only 2 of them you can find among the five. Am I confusing you, my furry friends? Ha! Just simply put, my family calls me Yna. Which I haven't really heard for quite awhile unless I call my pops and he'd pass the phone to ma - then I hear them say the name they call me.

So when I got to high school, my name evolved. Yes! those five letters!!!...my closest friends started calling me with a five letter but substituting the "a" with an "s" - so instead of just Rein, they started calling me REINS...nevertheless, I'd still sign cards without the s. Then a teacher started calling me differently - with a four letter word but dropping the "e" - so REINA became "RINA". And that started confusing me at first...until I realized he's a bit phonetically-challenged. He was nice anyway, so I stopped squinting each time he calls me.

Then college came, most friends either called me with an "s" or without. I started working, most colleagues called me with the five letters. As soon as we got close, they drop the "a". Which was probably a sign they have accepted me OR they felt I have accepted them. Ha!

And so I did quite a bit of jobs here and there. Until there was one company where my boss - who happens to be the president of the company, called me with the four letter name - without the e - RINA. I started squinting again (she wasn't challenged and she wasn't nice either),wondering when will this ever stop? It tormented me. Ending of the story? I ended the job. And vowed that anyone who doesn't call my name properly - cannot be trusted. So job hunting I went, with that in mind. Prospective employers should be able to say my full name otherwise I can't accept the job.

Years passed...Companies passed my little test, but being a restless spirit - didn't last for very long as well.

And now I am here. Today. And with all the different cultures and nationalities surrounding me - I have to be a bit lenient with how people call my name. Rina, Reiny, Reena, Rena...oh ya, at one point somebody even called me Renata! Ha! I had to double squint! Some had been corrected while others, no matter how you tell them over and over, it just won't sink in. So I just go away.

I can make all the excuses covering up people's fault in trying to pronounce my name correctly but for some reason, when it comes to writing it, I can't. Again, it gives me a bad rub when they type in my name wrong and yet types in my family name right. Makes you wonder if you have a blood relative out there you don't know about.

One of those Songs that Speaks to the Heart

I know double-dip is no good, but I suppose to double-post is cool? I mean, let me make up for that boring post I just did, ok??

Here's a very nice song by one of the coolest bands I've heard so far...Okay I'm not a fanatic YET but their songs are pRRREEEtty kewl!

Listen and you'll know what I mean.



I'd like to see them perform live one day BUT I don't know if I can withstand all the screams!..Yikes! I'm getting old. tsk.tsk.

The Makings of a Zombie

I suppose three more sleepless nights would qualify me for the club. Okay - I admit I haven't been really sleeping too well the past few nights. My brain is so wound up I can't unwind it! Can you believe that?? It's like it has a mind of its own! (Ah, excuse me, we're talking about the brain)

It's terrible. Give me a few more sleepless nights and you can call me the bag lady. Or better yet the luggage lady. (Hint:those puffy things under your eyes). Before you know it, I would just be needing a passport! Good, eh?

The only advantage though is I am losing weight. So I think. Ha! And I kinda lost my appetite on eating regular. I eat just whenever I feel hungry. Good training though. Plus it will be to my advantage too - graduation is next month!

So why am I not sleeping too well lately? I suppose being anxious qualifies as a reason. (See first paragraph about brain). I won't expound on it further just in case you happen to see my doctor. One doctor is worried enough already. Sheesh, give them a break, people!

And so.....it's Sunday today my furry friends. And Monday is back to the grind. In the meantime, maybe I should try and get some shut eye while I think of it...

Wish me luck!

P.S. Sorry for this boring post. I know you understand your sleep-deprived blogger...zzzz

Weekend Song

When sometimes you wish you were someplace else..



But then again you can just sing along...for now.

Lucky Five Dollah!

I found a crisp Five Dollar bill today. On my way home. Walking while cursing the bus for missing it. While trying to blame it on that tramp hogging the escalator (going up from the metro) as if she's on a photo shoot....Hey!

I should thank her right? 'Coz! if she wasn't striking a pose by the escalator - as if her boots are new - I think... Really now, if I caught the bus, then I wouldn't have found my lucky five dollah! Ha!

Hmm...now that I'm five dollah richer, what should I buy?? Think Quick! Nah, it should be carefully planned you know. Not too many five dollah you find nicely folded in the streets..So I placed it in a jar. To remind me that walking isn't so bad after all. And that it's OK to miss the bus once in awhile. As a matter of fact, Sue suggested I should walk going home everyday now. Ya right!

Nevertheless, it's a lucky day!

Now, I will just need about 4,995 dollahs for my vakay!! wooopeeeedooo!!!

Call Me a Crybaby won't Ya

I finally finished reading the latest book written by Mitch Albom - "Have a Little Faith". The last four (or was it six) pages was the hardest one to read - it took me 2 bus rides going home to finish those pages! Whew!

Okay, before you even think I'm a slow reader of some sort, it took me awhile to finish the last few pages 'coz I ended up crying in the middle of the paragraph and before I know it, I just have to close the book and hope that nobody noticed that I was getting teary-eyed. Crybaby!

Well, I suppose I am one. In fact I should join the CA - Crybaby Anonymous or maybe even be the founder of it if there isn't one yet. Hmm.. I should look that up Mr.Google.

What makes a crazy ol' me cry easy? Hey this sounds like one of the chat sessions I have with my 6th grade BFF...Go on!!..

So, to continue, what makes me cry easy? It's easy!! Reading a sad story/book where the main character dies or becomes a zombie or a ghost or what have you... "Finding Nemo" never fails to make me cry! Sheesh!! whatta sad sad movie that is..I tell you, there's nothing like being a lost clown fish in a sea full of fish! Glad I wasn't a fish! And darn right I am not a clown! D'uh! the foundation doesn't suit me! Why am I shouting! I don't know!

Seriously (as what my special friend would say), anything sad and true makes me cry. And my life, sometimes, makes me cry too! So we're not gonna think of that right now.

When I was a kid, the loss of a dog made me cry. But one dog dying after another, it just kinda numbs you. And sometimes you just have to tell yourself it's okay to let go. And you know what? It was ok. But then a loved one passes on and you find your tearducts out of control...sad...really sad...and you just can't even hold up yourself to stand. But you know what? As time passes by, it is true what they always say...

"It will be Okay but it will never be Alright"....

Whew! In the meantime, maybe I should join the circus! Anyone care to join?

My Song Pick this Week!

Bear with me my furry friends...I know this may be too cheesy for you. This song never really meant too much for me not until late. It's one of those wishful thinking you get every now and then. Like a sunflower brightly staring at you miles and miles away...



b-e-a-u-t-i-ful!

My Weekend Wish!

My furry friends, this weekend...let's have some world peace here...



Alrighty, thank you!!

Blues Clues

"Do you remember me?" asked the old lady to another who was just about to sit beside her in the bus. "Uhm, give me two clues" she replied. "I asked you about your knee". "Oh, oh, I remember we were talking about it and I even gave you my opinion about surgery". *ding* Arret Demande. My stop. Ha!

I wasn't eavesdropping. I was merely a bysitter (I was sitting beside the older lady inside the bus), who couldn't help but overhear their conversation. Which made me think - are all the people on my FB remember me at all? Okay I think that's a toughie.

I'm just lucky,I suppose, to have quite a good number of friends through the years. Each friend is different and each memory is unique. And mind you, so far, dating as far back as 20 plus plus years, I haven't encountered even one of them asking me, "give me two clues"...I say let's give it another turn of the century?

Speaking of clues...I should start thinking of them this early eh?..If I was asked, give me two clues..I'd say, 'oh I was the one who got you in trouble in first grade after our siesta time' or 'I was the one who twisted your arm in third grade coz you were cheating while we were playing jack's stones' or maybe the classic - ' I was the one who punched you in first grade (where I was just actually a sit-in-not-yet-a-student)coz you wouldn't give me the stick when the teacher left'

Hey, I wasn't so bad of a kid, was I? Ha! But c'mon on now, I'm not as horrible as I was back then..I was a good friend and still is - to many! Ask my bestest buddies around..yes I say around...coz they are around the world as we speak (or type). I can be your best pal ever..you get in trouble, I get in trouble. We cut classes. We gave the boys a hard time or two. We laughed until we cried. And until now we still do that when we reminisce the old times.

I'd say we should drink to that! Cheers!

A Bus Load Experience

I missed the bus! Not that I missed "riding" the bus. But I really missed the bus! Poof! Well what else is new. It's either I get to be too early or the bus is late. Or both.

I remember my first Canadian city bus experience - in Guelph...teeneeneeneening...(btw, that's more like a sound effect segue for reminiscing the past) Ha! Okay now back to the story : I was coming out of the restaurant which by the way was my very first gig ...and there it was, the "bus"...the restaurant door isn't so far from the bus stop, but just the same, it was a tough run - it was winter!Can u imagine?! There I was - waving at the driver (as if he wants to see me)...and shouting "stop the bus!"...I was actually laughing at myself for saying that...As if! Good thing the people getting in the bus takes a lot of time getting inside the bus *wink*wink*.

Each city I noticed has different public transpo system and it's always an experience and a half to ride in one. You should try that my furry friends. And you should also try riding the bus until the end of the line..until the driver notices you are still there when everyone else has gotten off. And yes, I did that once (or twice) rode the bus up to the end point where the driver looks at you as if to say, 'where the hell you wanna go?? this is the end of my line'...and so I get off and walked to the nearest bus stop and waited for the same bus to pass..and I swiped my buspass - Ha! that moment I felt like I was being filmed for a Mr.Bean sequel. Wait. Can I just pause right now. I need to laugh. HAHAHAHHAHAHA.

Okay, back to missing bus.I honestly think it's a love-hate relationship. You love it when there isn't so much peeps inside - you can sit freely wherever you want. Yes, I am talking about that twin bus they have now (only in certain parts of the city) Or you hate it when you were just coming out of the metro and there it was - wheezing through the intersection, didn't even bother slowing down 'coz maybe you need a ride. But you know what, there will always be another bus...for the next 20 minutes.

On second thought, I think I need to get a car.

Open Windows And You Know You Can't Win

For some people it's the Lent season, to others it's one of those long weekends and for me, it's spring cleaning time. One day one space at a time - or lack of it.

Spring cleaning also means opening the windows, cleaning them, yep, time for those acrobatic stunts you so carefully mastered - but then again, you can always use a longer handle. Ha! stop right there.

So with the windows open - there are consequences: you get the wind from whatever breeze city air brings in, along with all the allergens that goes with it, hence, you end up with baggy eyes, restless sleeps, and a great headache. Coffee please! Not only that, and because you opened your windows, you can hear your operatic next door neighbor stretching her vocal chords, hear next building neighbors try to belt out the same, smell the neighbors cooking bacon (which almost always inspires you to fry some cholesterol as well), and hear one of the most annoying thing in the world - the neighbors' wind chime -yes! hanging right there! just a little way across above our kitchen window..eeew!

The freakin' wind chimes...I never thought it would bother me so much - until I opened the windows..and heard it again...I almost forgot about it - must be that winter fever. But it's not winter anymore..it's springtime and it meant opening WINdows to hear those WINd chimes! grrr! I remember looking at 'em, it wasn't that big, in fact, it was one of those small ones..but BIG enough to annoy others.

Hmm..which made me think, could it be why wind chimes are hung outside? Was that the reason for it? Eureka! I think I cracked the code! Ha!