Baby Anya
My favorite girl’s name is Marie because it sounds sweet and innocent. However, when my sister-in-law asked me to suggest a name for her baby, my first niece, the first name that came to my mind was “Vienna.” Armi immediately liked the name but there was one problem. She said it sounds like a brand of canned sausage and she worried that people will someday tease her daughter. But when I told her about my online friend whose name is Vienna and who is currently based in Austria, she was amazed so we made a long list of names that would rhyme with Vienna:
- Venice Vienna
- Vienna Christine
- Vienna Angela
- Eidelle Vienna
- Alyssa Vienna
- etc.
So there, my newly born niece’s name is Vienna Rose A. Vargas 
We are still undecided if her nickname’s going to be Eros or Anya. My brother likes Eros because it means God of Love in Greek mythology. My sister-in-law likes Anya because it means grace. Our mother likes Ayen, my sister likes Ina, while neighbors have already started calling my niece as Enyang. Well, I hope it’s Anya but whatever it is, one thing is for sure, Vienna Rose is very pretty and she doesn’t look like a vienna sausage HAHA! She looks a lot like her late grandfather which means to say she’s the xerox copy of my brother! At the hospital, the nurses were calling my niece “Valentina.” When asked why, they said her name, Vienna Rose, reminds them of Valentine’s day. Coincidentally, Baby Anya was born on the love month - February.
A laptop that fits the bill
Because I don’t want to spend a lot of money in computer rentals, all of my posts are hand-written first in a piece of yellow paper or any other kind of paper - tissue, receipts, etc. In this way, I wouldn’t have to rent for a very long time in the internet cafe thinking about what I’m going to write. One hour is enough - 15 minutes for typing and editing, and then the remaining 45 minutes I use for blog hopping, commenting, and visiting my account in Friendster.
Sometimes, I use colorful ballpens to get me in the mood for writing. But I often use mongol pencil because it allows me to edit/erase without making the paper dirty. Also, my pencil should be newly sharpened and the paper should be super clean and without crumpled parts.
This has always been my blogging routine and laughingly, I’d been comfortable with this set up for more than a year. LIAR! Hehe. Of course, it’s such a hassle to go in the internet cafe just to update my blogs especially when it’s raining. That is why I am now planning to buy a pre-owned laptop. Specs: 512MB, 15″ LCD with built-in wifi. Budget is 10K. Target date is on or before March 2010.
We know you want a bolder paper person
Goal for 2010
In spite of the financial pressures that I went through last year, I still would like to report in my journal that 2009 was a good year for me. Well first, I was able to acquire my own domain. Second, my first nephew was born. Third, my total annual income is higher compared with the previous years although the expenses still exceeded the earnings. And then I also met a few nice friends and I have a good feeling they are for keeps.
Of course, I’ve also had some disappointments. Like not being able to meet my target blogging income and not being able to find a new job. But I’m not losing heart. In fact, these disappointments are just pushing me to work doubly hard so that 2010 will be better than 2009 In no particular order, here are my goals:
- make time for my blogging activities. I really intend to update my posts at least twice a week.
- get a new job - the kind that I really love doing. I’ve already gotten tired of being a QA.
- try my luck in freelance writing - I’m not sure if I have the talent but there’s no harm in trying, right?
- go back to school or at least get a TEFL certificate - this one’s a bit complicated as it will require time and money, lots of money.
- learn how to swim - only optional. Maybe if things get too boring, I might enroll in an inexpensive swimming class.
Reading aloud baby books
Because I really want my 3 months old nephew to learn how to speak English, I’ve already started reading english books to our baby hoping this will acquaint him with simple english words and phrases. First, I tried Like Water for Chocolate (it was the only available english book in our house at that moment) but in the middle of reading it to him, I realized that the narrator talked about things like sexual desires, anger, unrequited love, etc., which are very inappropriate for minors, particularly for a 3-month old baby boy so I changed the book to The Birthday Burglar and A Very Wicked Headmistress. It’s just so funny because Baby Timberland kept on giggling and cooing while I was reading Tita’s recipe for Christmas Rolls, as if he already understood those things :) Honestly, I couldn’t find any book in my cabinet that suits his age. Margaret Mahy’s The Birthday Burglar and A Very Wicked Headmistress is suitable for children whose age are 10 years old and above. But I still tried to read him more grown-up books like Hannah’s Gift and Rain and I think he loves it! He likes it! He keeps on staring at my face specifically at my lips and he laughs and makes ”ooh-ooh” sounds. My mother, his grandmother, is against this because according to her, there is a proper age for studying and a conducive place for learning. She even cited my younger brother as an example. She enrolled him in kindergarten at the age of 4 (instead of the usual 6) and he became a consistent honor student but he also easily lost his interest in school. Of course I consulted this to Timberland’s mother, my sister, and she doesn’t mind as long as I don’t read to him my collection of Pugad Baboy Comic Book.
Something about swimsuits
My best friend thinks I’m weird and funny (but she told me that it’s also the same reason why she chose me to be her best friend). One time, we went to a beach resort where women are required to wear proper swimming attire such as one-piece, tankinis or bikinis. The trouble with me is that I didn’t want to wear a bathing suit because I was too conscious of my body and I worried that people will only make fun of me. She told me that the other girls will not laugh because they are also wearing swimsuits and that they don’t even know us so they’d probably won’t notice our presence. I remember she was laughing really hard while explaining those things to me.
Honestly, I really like sexy string bikinis (but not the T-back type). I find them beautiful and very feminine especially when worn at white beaches during summer. I sometimes wish I had the body of Adriana Lima, the famous Brazilian model, so that maybe I’d feel comfortable wearing the black bikini which I’ve kept hidden for a very long time. My best friend is asking me “when are you going to wear that? when you turn 50? Haha!” I’m not really updated when it comes to summer fashion trends but of course I know that it’s so passé to wear shorts and t-shirt in the beach. I love swimsuits but I still need to gather more guts.
