This weekend, I finally did some cleanup of my bookshelf and found these books. After years of serving me through my research work, assignments and projects, I decided that it's time to let them go them serve a new generation of learners. I am planning to donate them to our municipal library but I don't know the name nor contact number of the librarian. I had posted this on my Facebook wall. But if I don't get a response, I guess I'll personally bring this to the library when I have the time, hopefully next week.

Dropping a note to squeeze some of my thoughts about how the days had become. Well, it has been a very occupied week and things are turning. Within the span of four days, we've been facing challenges one day after the other. From religiously accepting and screening aspiring newbies because we need another legal secretary in the firm to help us out with the increasing bulk of workload, receiving the news of an unexpected, unannounced resignation and the growing number of tasks to finish.

We were all in a rollercoaster ride. It's that taxing that one of our lawyers had to call in sick for today and for the past days, I would often have episodes of memory impairment and I'd come home bone tired.

But on the other hand, despite these things, there's the bright side of it: seeing a friend attend the mass last Sunday, being among those to get a free breakfast at McDonald's in celebration of National Breakfast Day, seeing the same friend I saw on church again just a day apart and finishing a whole days workload leaving the list of files squeaky clean!

Well, I guess it's God's way of rewarding the hard work and effort to finish each task. Some of those I hoped and got, while some of those were unexpected; and just like what I told a friend, maybe God is laughing at me seeing the disbelief in my face when some things I prayed for (even the ones I don't but just thought of) would happen right in front of me.

Never mind, for tomorrow's Friday and before I know it, it's going to be weekend. For sure I'll make it through. Oh, and not to forget, this:


Trust me, this really works :-)

I was killing the time, resting in my bedroom going through some old journals tonight. Just for a change, I decided to read  back the things I wrote about from years ago and incidentally I found this:

It's the good girls who keep diaries. The bad girls never have the time.

I was getting my daily dose of news this morning on the web when I chanced upon this article about Senator Koko Pimentel's attempt on working on to save his marriage. While I did not take time in watching the video, I simply went through the transcript of the interview and what I liked most was the part where he reiterated these words:

“This is my latest realization. If we have divorce, definitely I or she would have availed of it. But since we have no divorce, then we let time pass and maybe some wounds have healed and we are still trying. I still don’t have the good news to tell you but the good news is the point of view, the perspective has changed and we are now trying to make the troubled marriage work,”

For me these were wise words from a wise man. Ever since the possibility of having a Divorce Bill in the country made it to the news right after the issue of RH Bill, I was having these fears if ever that happens. I remember a conversation with one of my friends in public service where I somewhat laid my cards about what my view is about divorce. While both of us were pro-RH, we had a different standpoint with regards to divorce -- he's open to the idea of having it and I am against it.

My main reason for being anti-divorce was the same reason as that of the honorable senator. If (divorce) gets to be implemented, couples will have easy access to it even for the silliest reasons. If this will be readily available like your comfort food in the supermarket, people will no longer attempt to work on restoring their marriages. In my currently job as a legal assistant, not a day passes without me having to encounter a couple filing for divorce. Their reasons range from the silliest to the legally acceptable, and it makes me feel sorry at times. I've been raised in a family with parents who are married for 29 years. And while my parents are hinting that they have been waiting for me to tie the knot, given that I am of marrying age, I won't hide that, I also hope to have the same kind of relationship they have when I get hitched. Yes, there are occasional disputes in their married life but I've seen how they both worked on it and restoring their marriage.

Mama always says that you don't need divorce if you are in a happy marriage. And to turn your back and walk separate ways with your partner is not always the best resolve. I agree to that. In my opinion, if ever we do have divorce, the words relationship, marriage and effort will no longer be put to good use so maybe it should be put to rest away from the dictionary (and to our life's vocabulary).

All things require effort. Lahat ng bagay ay nadadaan sa usapan as the group APO Hiking Society's song goes. It is best that people try their best to patch things up amicably because it prevents them from going through a more drastic, more complicated route. After all, an Australian barrister had already said it and it's one of the best lessons I learned so far:

"You take a deep risk by stepping in to the courtroom because somebody else will make a decision about your life."

So why want someone else intervene when you can amicably decide what could work to make your marriage work, right? After all, just like any other relationships, there is no cookie-cutter approach that divorce will work for you the same way that it worked for someone else.

During a conversation with Mama days ago, she told me about speaking to my niece, Kate on the phone. Apparently, the little girl is requesting something from me. If I could possibly buy her a dollhouse.

Dollhouses -- it's a little girl's best friend.

I was seriously considering getting her one. But Lord forbid, when I tried to check toy stores (I've been to two different stores), I never thought a dollhouse comes with a hefty price. I haven't been to Toy Kingdom in SM Megamall to look for their merchandise which I plan to do next week.  As of this entry, I am currently checking online shops for one that fits my budget and so far, I saw one from Lazada but I'm having second thoughts about purchasing stuff online as I don't normally do that. I am no online shopper so if you do have experience about online transactions (especially on the issue if they are really convenient or otherwise), please let me know at least I have a picture of what to expect should I choose it as a last resolve.

When I told my mom about this, she told me that one of the things she wanted to do when I was younger was to give me a dollhouse -- but then she said I never got fond of dolls when I was a kid (because I grew up loving books instead, which is in my favor!). Oh well, I just told her that it was a blessing that I never did liked dolls because I would have given her a hard time (and tantrums to boot) giving in to what I wanted if I did.

Torn between two titles.

Speaking of books, I am really wanting to pull payday as early as possible because I am itching to buy a book to read. Some of my friends attest that Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower is good but I am thinking if I would get it because I was able to read snippets of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars  as well and it got me hooked to the point that I did not want to leave the bookstore until the last minute of my lunch break.

The worst case scenario would be I'll end up buying both. Books are my guilty pleasure but I am really careful about spending because I'm saving up for something.

I better find a quick but better resolve about this. I'm keen about not destroying my budget and my savings.

Today, I would wake up to a happy morning feeling really blessed for this is the day God fulfilled one of my wishes as I mark a milestone.

On this day, I am celebrating my first year with the Australian  law firm.

I know some of you would think this to be shallow, but in my case, this is something to be happy about. A career is comparable to any other relationship; and if I were to look at it, I have been married to my career as a legal assistant for exactly a year today.


More than just legal jargons, familiarizing myself with the whole process and more than a thousand cases dealt with, this year was filled with lessons -- that though simple, to me were meaningful. In the past 365 days, I learned that:

• While nothing is ever easy, everything are worth giving it a shot.
• If you are in doubt, it's always okay to ask. I grew up being someone who hates asking questions. Blame it on the fact that I've been dealing with lawyers on a daily basis and they'd been so used to utilizing the Socratic Method, but I realized you won't lose anything if you'd dare to ask in order to understand things. The boss and the other lawyers appreciate it and they won't mind spending  time to answer and explain.
• Free your life from guilt. One of the best things I observed with the Aussies, (from our lawyers to the clients) is that pleasing them is not necessary. If you commit a mistake, the usual rule applies: ADMIT, APOLOGIZE, MAKE AMENDS and MOVE ON (believe me, they're even the ones who initiate that you move on after a fiasco -- just as long as the damage is repairable).
• If the boss gives you a task, it just means he's confident that you can do it. If he believes in what you can do, you should put the same regard to yourself.