weekend roundup

Last week has been one of the most tiring to date hah what with all those preps we had to undergo in order to bring correspondents from all over Luzon and Visayas to Makati for the weekend's Read-Along 101 workshop - yes, similar to that one in Marinduque earlier this year, but without the, uh, beach. Heh.

(cut for real-life rambling and shop talk)



All in all, a good weekend, that; spent both Saturday and Sunday at work, but then, nothing different there. It's always amusing when I get to meet the face behind a byline. (I've been told by a certain correspondent from Southern Luzon that my name gives the impression that I was someone 'much, much older.' Thanks Kaka, you're uh flattering. Hah.)

Spent Saturday alternating between research duty and Alitaptap's day-long storytelling seminar with the correspondents and a group of Don Bosco students AND reimbursing people of their transpo expenses (I have never really been comfortable handling money, much less handling money I have to liquidate after ugh FORMS) -- that went surprisingly well, actually. Caught up with dinner after duty with the correspondents who managed to remain standing after all that -- at Gerry's in Glorietta 5, then to this quaint little hub named Guzia on Guijo.

Thankfully woke early the following morning despite having crawled into bed a little before 4 a.m. - who says I don't have the stamina anymore LOL - and during Sunday's dry-run read-along session, a little girl came up to me as I was setting up the powerpoints and asked for my name. When I looked up, she was the cutest little girl with a pink dress on. I introduced myself and asked for her name, and she introduced herself in kind, and then walked away.

Times like these put things in perspective, I think. Whenever things with the Read-Along get a bit complicated, I remind myself why we're doing this in the first place. Complicated is when you sweat too much on the small stuff, when you obsess about the details. But when you look at the whole thing, it's all about luring kids back to books. This is shop talk, but I must say a good chunk of my life is irrevocably entwined with this now, so no use avoiding talking about it. Heh. I don't even like kids that much -- but on weekends when I have to, well, I manage. Hehehe.

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This is not to say that's all I've been up to all weekend -- Friday I was out with the girls for Cy's press con (LOL). Caught up with them at Cyma where I finished off their lovely dessert (thanks girls!) before transferring to Chili's where we had some really fine frozen margaritas (BEST EVER) and an endless flow of nachos. HAHA gold mine!

After that (yes, the same night) met up with Andrea and the Ates for the rest of the night -- from Greenbelt, drove to Eastwood at the other end of the city for a quick round of beers at Agave before hanging out at the bridge area of the Eastwood mall and staring up at the windows of the buildings around us (LOL looking back, were we on drugs? Haha.) and envying their color schemes, before turning in around 3 a.m.

Spent most of Monday after paying bills in banks and cleaning the bathroom and walking around aimlessly at Shopwise, which is a very comforting activity in itself. And sleeping a little. And then Andrea was thankfully not due for any overtime work so we headed to Wabi Sabi at the Collective for some quality viet pho and fantastic potstickers (best gyoza I've ever tasted, ngl) -- plus the staff = AWESOME. And then by some grace of God, the nearby Vinyl on Vinyl was open (oh you know - sells collectible toys, owned by Gaby dela Merced) -- surprising as it was normally closed on Mondays. Anyway said owner was there so we were able to look around and chat a bit. Fun times, fun times.

In summary: A good Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, that. Here's to the rest of the week!