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Free Posts Insights Life

Goodness Gracious

I wanted to share an article I read about being a good person. The author—drawing from social media standards and contemporary novels—humorously summed it up this way:

First and foremost, a good person possesses a deep understanding of power structures and her relative place in them. She has a sense of humor that never “punches down.” She doesn’t subtweet, buy stuff on Amazon, or fly on too many planes. She has children in order to fend off narcissism—a bad quality—and develop a stake in the future of planet Earth, but she would never presume to judge another woman’s choice. And though she occasionally makes mistakes—cheats on her boyfriend, offends her friends after drinking too much, doesn’t call her mom very often—she admits them. A good person is not perfect (she has read enough not to fall for that trap), but she is self-aware.

Lauren Oyler — For Goodness’ Sake
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Money Diaries Secrets

Q3 Expenses | As Expected

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It’s time for the quarterly report!

Just like last time, I’ll start with the percentages of our monthly average expenses, then move on to the detailed breakdown of the numbers. Looking at last quarter’s average (left), there were definitely changes.

EXPENSE BREAKDOWN

Again, I’ve highlighted the highest and lowest expense for each month:

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Books Journaling Life Secrets Today's Log

Today’s Log #23 | Perfect Day na Sana

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Happy Things Life Secrets

Happy Things #28

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Hello Panda

Nung nagta-trabaho pa ko sa Maynila, madalas akong mag-bus mula probinsya namin papuntang Makati. At minsan, may makakatabi ako na may naka-ready syang snacks (4 hrs din kasi ang byahe) tapos maiinggit na lang ako habang sarap na sarap sya sa pagkain ng Hello Panda (minsan Chips Ahoy or Oreos). Nakakainis. Bakit nga ba hindi ko naisip mag-baon? Tamang wishful thinking na lang ako na sana alukin nya ko kahit isang Hello Panda lang. Tapos matatawa lang ako dun sa thought kong yun kasi ang unusual naman na gagawin nya yun. Kahit ako hindi ko yun maiisip gawin kasi parang weird.

Sa dinami-raming beses na sumakay ako ng bus, never nangyare na may nag-alok ng pagkain. Kaya nagulat na lang ako nung nasa flight ako papuntang Winnipeg last month. May nakatabi akong babae (feeling ko mas bata sakin) tapos inalok nya ko nung kinakain nyang sweets! Bumalik yung mga bus memories ko at natuwa ako. Ang thoughtful naman nya! Pero tumanggi ako kasi hindi naman ako gutom (kung Hello Panda pa yun).

Touch ID

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Free Posts Life

Q3 Recap + Happy Anniversary!

I didn’t even realize that my Gleniz da Menace newsletter just turned a year old! I still have my occasional once-or-twice-a-month free posts, but September last year I started making these exclusive posts to help support this ancient blog of mine.

Though I am fairly consistent with my creative output here, I am sluggish in a business sense and find discomfort in promoting this paid newsletter too much. So if you find enjoyment in what I write here, I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription. If you’re wondering if it’s worth it, here’s a note from one of the early subscribers:

I shared this with Kenneth and tried reading the message out loud to him but failed ‘cos I started crying. Thank you for your generous words 🥺

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Life Secrets Travel

I Need to Take a Second and Savor This

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May random moment sa sasakyan (on the way kami sa Waterton para ipasyal ang Mama one last time bago sya umuwing Pilipinas) na napa-blurt out ako ng, “12 times pala akong sumakay ng eroplano this year!” After saying that, ang unang pumasok sa isip ko ay exhaustion.

I will not deny the feeling of relief na last na yung Waterton sa itinerary namin ng Mama. After ng sunod-sunod na ganaps sa Pinas, tuloy pa rin ang ganaps pagbalik ko ng Canada. I know this is a great thing, pero looking forward na rin akong tumiim ng bahay. Lalo na dahil sa result ng blood test ko. Mababa raw ang WBC ko, meaning mababa rin ang immune system ko. Kaya pala ang bilis kong magkasakit at ang tagal kong gumaling. Napa-paranoid ako kakaisip kung nag-normalize na ba yung WBC ko or mas bumaba pa. At feeling ko, ang solusyon para maging normal ulit ay magpahinga.

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Family Free Posts Ramblings

Maliit na Pulang Speaker

I was connecting to my Bluetooth speaker at nakita ko sa device list yung speaker ng Mommy. My heart sank. Bumalik sakin yung mga days sa ospital na tatanungin ko ang Mommy kung gusto nyang makinig ng music, tapos tatango sya. Papatugtugin ko dun sa maliit na pulang speaker yung mga paborito nyang lumang kanta, o kaya minsan mga piano music. Tatanungin ko sya ng, “Rinig mo Mommy?” kasi nakikipagsabayan sa music yung tunog ng mechanical ventilator nya. Ipi-pwesto ko yung speaker sa may ulunan nya para sure na rinig nya.

Hay sobrang miss kita Mommy 😔

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Life Money Diaries Secrets

Paycheck Routine

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I have a very complicated budgeting system, so I won’t go into every detail. I have an expense tracking app, an Excel file, and I track every cent—if you ask me how much we paid for our Instapot back in 2019, I could tell you (it’s $67.19). In short, it’s a whole thing (but it’s an obsessive-compulsive’s dream).

Today, I just wanted to share what I do during paydays. I remember our abundant months when I’m not waiting for paydays to arrive. Back when I was confident that if I forgot to allocate funds to our different money buckets, I know that our bank account had enough money to cover all the auto-debited bills. Oh how I miss those days.

June 2013 (this is my old app, I use Money Lover now)

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Career Insights Secrets

The Okayest Employee

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I’ve downloaded the LinkedIn app again just to take a peek of what’s out there. I even  received two messages about remote job opportunities na para bang alam nilang babalik na ko sa trabaho soon. Pag nakauwi na ang Mama sa Pilipinas, I will be in my full-on job hunting mode.

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Happy Things Life Secrets Vietnam

Happy Things #27 | Choir Days + Best Foot Massage + O’s

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The ultimate throwback

May pagka-bitter ako dahil wala akong video footage nung bata pa ako. Understandable naman kasi hindi naman uso ang mga smartphones noon. Pero tuwing nakakakita ako ng mga rare footage ng random people nung bata pa sila, nakakainggit. Tsaka pag nanonood ako ng Kardashians tapos ipapakita nila yung mga old videos nila, ang sarap lang panoorin. Very active ko pa naman nung elementary ako, ang dami kong extra-curricular activities na ang sarap sanang balikan.

Na-surprise na lang ako nung pinuntahan namin yung kaibigan ng Mama dito sa Calgary. Inimbitahan nila kaming mag-lunch sa bahay nila at may nabanggit si tita na pinapanood daw nila nung minsan yung mga lumang videos nila. Tapos andun daw ang Mama sumasayaw kasama yung ibang momshies. Tapos ako rin daw nandun (??) Wait. What?! Matutupad na ba ang wish ko? Haha!

Turns out, ka-choir ko pala yung anak ni tita at na-record nila yung isa sa mga performances namin. Nung una, ang nahanap nilang footage ay yung sumasayaw ang mga Mama, tapos nakalagay sa date stamp, September 1999. So nag-calculate na ko at if ever totoong nakasama nga ako sa video, 10 years old pa lang ako nun! Sobrang excited na ko. Pero ayoko pa masyadong mag-expect kasi baka wala naman ako or baka hindi na nila mahanap. Hanggang sa nakita ko na yung muka ko sa screen at tawang tawa na ko, and at the same time, super amazed. Ang cool. Thank you universe sa unexpected gift and thank you sa sosyal kong ka-choir noon na may camcorder! 😄

Periodt.

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