went to the store to buy a bag...

and i came home with this:

i'm not complaining. =)

which one?

i'm taking votes. which one is your favorite among the three?

1. sukey




2. jolie





3. side tassel tote

monday is a new day

january is almost over....

monday nanaman bukas...i should:

• wake up early (so i am not rushing to get out of the house).

• plan what to wear to work tomorrow (so i don't end up looking like i just grabbed whatever from my closet).

• take a multivitamin (maybe it will help me not feel so lethargic after my day at work).

• watch what i eat (whole grain, more fruits and vegetables).

• get on the elliptical (joke ba ito?).

i'm an ISFJ

Portrait of an ISFJ - Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging
(Introverted Sensing with Extraverted Feeling)

---

The Nurturer

As an ISFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you takes things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your personal value system.

ISFJs live in a world that is concrete and kind. They are truly warm and kind-hearted, and want to believe the best of people. They value harmony and cooperation, and are likely to be very sensitive to other people's feelings. People value the ISFJ for their consideration and awareness, and their ability to bring out the best in others by their firm desire to believe the best.

ISFJs have a rich inner world that is not usually obvious to observers. They constantly take in information about people and situations that is personally important to them, and store it away. This tremendous store of information is usually startlingly accurate, because the ISFJ has an exceptional memory about things that are important to their value systems. It would not be uncommon for the ISFJ to remember a particular facial expression or conversation in precise detail years after the event occured, if the situation made an impression on the ISFJ.

ISFJs have a very clear idea of the way things should be, which they strive to attain. They value security and kindness, and respect traditions and laws. They tend to believe that existing systems are there because they work. Therefore, they're not likely to buy into doing things in a new way, unless they're shown in a concrete way why its better than the established method.

ISFJs learn best by doing, rather than by reading about something in a book, or applying theory. For this reason, they are not likely to be found in fields which require a lot of conceptual analysis or theory. They value practical application. Traditional methods of higher education, which require a lot of theorizing and abstraction, are likely to be a chore for the ISFJ. The ISFJ learns a task best by being shown its practical application. Once the task is learned, and its practical importance is understood, the ISFJ will faithfully and tirelessly carry through the task to completion. The ISFJ is extremely dependable.

The ISFJ has an extremely well-developed sense of space, function, and aesthetic appeal. For that reason, they're likely to have beautifully furnished, functional homes. They make extremely good interior decorators. This special ability, combined with their sensitivity to other's feelings and desires, makes them very likely to be great gift-givers - finding the right gift which will be truly appreciated by the recipient.

More so than other types, ISFJs are extremely aware of their own internal feelings, as well as other people's feelings. They do not usually express their own feelings, keeping things inside. If they are negative feelings, they may build up inside the ISFJ until they turn into firm judgments against individuals which are difficult to unseed, once set. Many ISFJs learn to express themselves, and find outlets for their powerful emotions.

Just as the ISFJ is not likely to express their feelings, they are also not likely to let on that they know how others are feeling. However, they will speak up when they feel another individual really needs help, and in such cases they can truly help others become aware of their feelings.

The ISFJ feels a strong sense of responsibility and duty. They take their responsibilities very seriously, and can be counted on to follow through. For this reason, people naturally tend to rely on them. The ISFJ has a difficult time saying "no" when asked to do something, and may become over-burdened. In such cases, the ISFJ does not usually express their difficulties to others, because they intensely dislike conflict, and because they tend to place other people's needs over their own. The ISFJ needs to learn to identify, value, and express their own needs, if they wish to avoid becoming over-worked and taken for granted.

ISFJs need positive feedback from others. In the absence of positive feedback, or in the face of criticism, the ISFJ gets discouraged, and may even become depressed. When down on themselves or under great stress, the ISFJ begins to imagine all of the things that might go critically wrong in their life. They have strong feelings of inadequacy, and become convinced that "everything is all wrong", or "I can't do anything right".

The ISFJ is warm, generous, and dependable. They have many special gifts to offer, in their sensitivity to others, and their strong ability to keep things running smoothly. They need to remember to not be overly critical of themselves, and to give themselves some of the warmth and love which they freely dispense to others.

*****

Guardian™ Portrait of the Protector (ISFJ)

We are lucky that Protectors make up as much as ten percent the population, because their primary interest is in the safety and security of those they care about - their family, their circle of friends, their students, their patients, their boss, their fellow-workers, or their employees. Protectors have an extraordinary sense of loyalty and responsibility in their makeup, and seem fulfilled in the degree they can shield others from the dirt and dangers of the world. Speculating and experimenting do not intrigue Protectors, who prefer to make do with time-honored and time-tested products and procedures rather than change to new. At work Protectors are seldom happy in situations where the rules are constantly changing, or where long-established ways of doing things are not respected. For their part, Protectors value tradition, both in the culture and in their family. Protectors believe deeply in the stability of social ranking conferred by birth, titles, offices, and credentials. And they cherish family history and enjoy caring for family property, from houses to heirlooms.

Wanting to be of service to others, Protectors find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden, and can deal with disability and neediness in others better than any other type. They are not as outgoing and talkative as the Provider Guardians [ESFJs], and their shyness is often misjudged as stiffness, even coldness, when in truth Protectors are warm-hearted and sympathetic, giving happily of themselves to those in need.

Their reserve ought really to be seen as an expression of their sincerity and seriousness of purpose. The most diligent of all the types, Protectors are willing to work long, hard hours quietly doing all the thankless jobs that others manage to avoid. Protectors are quite happy working alone; in fact, in positions of authority they may try to do everything themselves rather than direct others to get the job done. Thoroughness and frugality are also virtues for them. When Protectors undertake a task, they will complete it if humanly possible. They also know better than any other type the value of a dollar, and they abhor the squandering or misuse of money. To save, to put something aside against an unpredictable future, to prepare for emergencies-these are actions near and dear to the Protector's heart. For all these reasons, Protectors are frequently overworked, just as they are frequently misunderstood and undervalued. Their contributions, and also their economies, are often taken for granted, and they rarely get the gratitude they deserve.

Mother Teresa, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Stewart, and Tsar Nicholas II are examples of Protector Guardian style.

what is your personality type

at work, i took the myers-briggs assessment to find out what my personality type is.

but first, here's the information about the assessment (taken from the myers briggs website):

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment. "Perception involves all the ways of becoming aware of things, people, happenings, or ideas. Judgment involves all the ways of coming to conclusions about what has been perceived. If people differ systematically in what they perceive and in how they reach conclusions, then it is only reasonable for them to differ correspondingly in their interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills." In developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator [instrument], the aim of Isabel Briggs Myers, and her mother, Katharine Briggs, was to make the insights of type theory accessible to individuals and groups. They addressed the two related goals in the developments and application of the MBTI instrument: The identification of basic preferences of each of the four dichotomies specified or implicit in Jung’s theory. The identification and description of the 16 distinctive personality types that result from the interactions among the preferences.” Excerpted with permission from the MBTI® Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I). Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N). Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F). Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P). Your Personality Type: When you decide on your preference in each category, you have your own personality type, which can be expressed as a code with four letters. The 16 personality types of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument are listed here as they are often shown in what is called a “type table.” ISTJ Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability. Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized – their work, their home, their life. Value traditions and loyalty. ISFJ Quiet, friendly, responsible, and conscientious. Committed and steady in meeting their obligations. Thorough, painstaking, and accurate. Loyal, considerate, notice and remember specifics about people who are important to them, concerned with how others feel. Strive to create an orderly and harmonious environment at work and at home. INFJ Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision. INTJ Have original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas and achieving their goals. Quickly see patterns in external events and develop long-range explanatory perspectives. When committed, organize a job and carry it through. Skeptical and independent, have high standards of competence and performance – for themselves and others. ISTP Tolerant and flexible, quiet observers until a problem appears, then act quickly to find workable solutions. Analyze what makes things work and readily get through large amounts of data to isolate the core of practical problems. Interested in cause and effect, organize facts using logical principles, value efficiency. ISFP Quiet, friendly, sensitive, and kind. Enjoy the present moment, what’s going on around them. Like to have their own space and to work within their own time frame. Loyal and committed to their values and to people who are important to them. Dislike disagreements and conflicts, do not force their opinions or values on others. INFP Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. Want an external life that is congruent with their values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened. INTP Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. Have unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical. ESTP Flexible and tolerant, they take a pragmatic approach focused immediate results. Theories and conceptual explanations bore them – they want to act energetically to solve the problem. Focus o n the here-and-now, spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they can be active with others. Enjoy material comforts and style. Learn best through doing. ESFP Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant lovers of life, people, and material comforts. Enjoy working with others to make things happen. Bring common sense and a realistic approach to their work, and make work fun. Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people. ENFP Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life as full of possibilities. Make connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and spanport. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability to improvise and their verbal fluency. ENTP Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another. ESTJ Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions. Organize projects and people to get things done, focus on getting results in the most efficient way possible. Take care of routine details. Have a clear set of logical standards, systematically follow them and want others to also. Forceful in implementing their plans. ESFJ Warmhearted, conscientious, and cooperative. Want harmony in their environment, work with determination to establish it. Like to work with others to complete tasks accurately and on time. Loyal, follow through even in small matters. Notice what others need in their day-by-day lives and try to provide it. Want to be appreciated for who they are and for what they contribute. ENFJ Warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find potential in everyone, want to help others fulfill their potential. May act as catalysts for individual and group growth. Loyal, responsive to praise and criticism. Sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership. ENTJ Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in presenting their ideas. For a description of your MBTI type, place your cursor over the box containing your four-letter type code. You may also wish to browse through all of the 16 type descriptions. If you do not know your MBTI type, you may wish to take the instrument. Type tables can also be used to gather and facilitate analysis of information about teams or specific groups of people. All types are equal: The goal of knowing about personality type is to understand and appreciate differences between people. As all types are equal, there is no best type. The MBTI instrument sorts for preferences and does not measure trait, ability, or character. The MBTI tool is different from many other psychological instruments and also different from other personality tests. The best reason to choose the MBTI instrument to discover your personality type is that hundreds of studies over the past 40 years have proven the instrument to be both valid and reliable. In other words, it measures what it says it does (validity) and produces the same results when given more than once (reliability). When you want an accurate profile of your personality type, ask if the instrument you plan to use has been validated. The theory of psychological type was introduced in the 1920s by Carl G. Jung. The MBTI tool was developed in the 1940s by Isabel Briggs Myers and the original research was done in the 1940s and '50s. This research is ongoing, providing users with updated and new information about psychological type and its applications. Today, more than two million people worldwide take the Indicator each year.

michelle's [pretend] telephone conversation

mommy caught michelle whispering on the telephone....

mommy: "michelle, who are you talking to?"

michelle: "my co-worker."

mommy: "your co-worker? what's your co-worker's name?"

michelle: "jason. his name is jason." and she walks away.

if she wasn't three years old, i would think she's having an affair with this jason fellow.

motherhood without the internet (google specifically)

i can't imagine being a mom and not having the internet so i can google things like my daughter's symptoms. the not knowing would have driven me insane.

yesterday, michelle woke up from her nap all clingy and irritable. i asked her if anything hurt, and she said her head hurts. her cousin comes over for a quick stop and she's jumping up and down, screaming, "i have a playmate!" her cousin leaves and she's grumpy again.

we go out to dinner and she tells me as we're walking to the restaurant, "i just want to lie down mom. i'm getting dizzy." we quickly ate dinner and went home. she was ok when we got home...slightly warm to the touch but the lollipop she got after dinner seemed to brighten her mood.

we went to bed at 10 and then she woke up at 5 am, she was burning up. i took her temp the first time and it was at 101.9...i was starting to worry. while she was awake, i gave her some tylenol and prayed for her. i asked her again if anything hurts and she told me that her head hurts. i asked her if she wants me to put a towel on her head (she absolutely hates this) to my surprise, she said yes. she must really be feeling crappy. i placed the damp towel on her forehead and she falls back to sleep at 545 am. i took her temperature again at around 6 am and it read 102.6. then she started to twitch for 10 minutes...one twitch after another. i thought to myself, 'ganito ba yung kombulsyon pag tulog???' i hold her hand and whisper to her, 'everything will be ok sweetheart.' as soon as the twitching subsided, i get my laptop and google 'fever twitching' and read that it is harmless and common when the fever goes beyond 102F. nakakatakot ha!

she twitches several more times and talks in her sleep. the first time she says, 'dad, why you not go there?'. the second time she says, 'my hands are sticky!'--with matching hand gesture like it was indeed sticky.

anytime she falls ill, i google the symptoms so i know if what's happening is something that should be cause for concern.

she woke up today at 845 am, all clingy and irritable still. after breakfast and another dose of tylenol, she's all better. she's a chatterbox again and laughs at the silliest things. she's still warm to the touch and i researched about fevers that occur only at night and here's a sample of what i found:

Obviously she is sick and as happens occasionally this illness only produces fever at night. It is a characteristic of the illness. Most of these illnesses last about 4-6 days, although there is great variation. Getting the fever down may make her feel better but it does nothing to the course of the illness. I suggest you limit her activity to indoor stuff until she is completely well.

Fever, which is caused by some of the same internal chemicals that promote airway inflammation, and is also one of the body's defenses against attacking microbes, also tends to rise as night falls. Like normal body temperature, which is lowest in the morning and highest toward evening, most fevers peak near the end of the day. In fact, this pattern is so characteristic that even if a nighttime fever has eased by morning, doctors are trained to wait until the next evening before pronouncing the fever gone.

sana magtuloy tuloy na yung pag galing nya. take care michelle!!

taking my fafa to chez papa

one month away and i've already decided where to go for our valentine's date.

dahil takot ako sa tao, i dare not go out on feb. 14. sobra dami tao na nagdedate, wag nalang.

so i made reservations for lunch on feb. 13, saturday (tipid na, less crowded pa). we're going to a french restaurant called chez papa. it made the list as one of the 100 best restaurants in the bay area and the reviews i've read on yelp give it very good ratings. so we're going to try it next month.

tumutulo na laway ko just reading about the kobe beef tartare. i still remember the first time i had beef tartare...it was at bix (another restaurant that's always in the top 100 list). it was one of the bosses at work taking me out for a holiday thank-you-for-all-that-you-do lunch. he said to me, 'you should try the beef tartare here. it's amazing.' sagot ko naman, 'uhm, raw beef? i'm not even a fan of steak, so maybe not.' ika nga ni jean, innocence.... he ordered it for himself as an appetizer so para matanggal ang innocence, tinikman ko.... oh my! he saw how much he liked it, binigay nya na sa akin yung inorder nya. hehehe

excited na ako. sana di makalimutan ni husband ang roses. (he doesn't read my blog unless i tell him to so i'm not really dropping hints here)

aldwin goes to vegas

many months ago, southwest airlines had a fare sale (nahawa na ako kay jean kakabantay ng mga fare sale!) so kahit wala pa ang kuya ko, ibinili ko na sya ng ticket para makapunta kami ng las vegas. it was perfect timing since paul was also having a reunion of sorts with his friends from high school.

so just a week and a half after kuya got here, we whisked him away to a weekend in sin city. i must have changed my mind about our hotel 20 times. ok, that's an exaggeration. i changed my mind about four times. i first booked at caesar's palace, mgm, then mirage, then settled for aria - the strip's newest hotel at city center. city center is SOOOOOOOO MODERN. i felt like i wasn't in vegas at all. reminded me of pictures of shanghai, china actually.

this is the cascading water feature outside aria

mandarin oriental on the left, aria in the center, vdara to the right of aria and veer towers (yung mukhang tagilid)

we didn't see any shows...i realized this was a mistake after we got home. i wish we watched the lion king at mandalay bay. sayang. we just settled on walking down the strip. surprisingly, it took up a lot of our time, too. each time we stepped out of our hotel, we were out for at least 4 hours: 1 hour eating, 3 hours walking. then we'd head back to our hotel, hang out, nap, and then go out again to eat and walk. nakaka ubos din ng oras.

i think my brother had fun. michelle surely did. she got a kick of the remote controlled curtains and played with it constantly whenever we're in the room.

here are more photos:

outside aria

city center at night

some sculpture at city center

sunshine at monte carlo

team pacquiao at mgm

michelle with yellow at m&m's world

me inside our hotel room

at the conservatory at the bellagio

bellagio front desk

bellagio's dancing fountain with paris in the background

at the venetian

at the bellagio

no comment

some vegas tips:
restaurant highlight: grand luxe cafe at the venetian. it's from the same company as cheesecake factory of which i wasn't really a fan. pero the prices and food quality at grand luxe was good. the restaurant was also really pretty. i felt like i was inside at michelin star restaurant.

total rip off: rainforest cafe at mgm. DO NOT EAT THERE. it was soooooooo expensive. and the food wasn't even good AT ALL! $26 for an entree`? no way!

hotel: we stayed at aria - the rooms were beautiful, the building was beautiful but it felt...cold. after walking around bellagio again, i wish we had stayed there. maybe next time.

i've been lazy

i've been too lazy to blog...so there hasn't been any blog about christmas, new year, or the trip to reno. they all happened, i'm just too lazy to write about them. =)

i'm nursing a terrible cough and cold. i'm tired and can't stare at the computer for very long. i called in sick today at work and decided to rest. i'm going back to work tomorrow then we're off to vegas saturday-monday. hopefully i'll have enough energy to have fun in vegas and find some time to do a little blogging too.