tuesday

Amazing how a two hour meeting with clients today can leave me struggling to get some sleep. I spent half of my morning preparing for the meeting with one goal in mind - get them off their interim contract that had allowed them to enjoy a sweet deal in the last two months and finally get them to sign a new one which I believed they agreed to do upon signing the interim contract. In those two hours however, the contract was barely discussed as the meeting turned into an indepth discussion of their wish list. All well and good. I had a clearer understanding of their business and where the industry is at, got a peek into some of their secret strategies and was challenged by the opportunity to establish a partnership. My manager and I decided to park the contract negotiation for a little longer while we walk away to do some thinking.

And here I am at 1am doing just that... still thinking! I can't stop. Perhaps I should make a note to myself: do not schedule meetings in the afternoon. Coz then, by the time you get back to the office, it's time to go home so you quickly attend to emails waiting in your inbox, attend to missed calls and work on stuff you'd put aside earlier - all these in 10 minutes. So when you head home, your mind hasn't totally switched off and it keeps thinking no matter how many times you tell it to stop.

Or maybe I had too much coffee today. Or maybe I'm just too hot. Geez, I do love summer but sometimes the heat can drive you nuts. Hmmm.... this is when the thought of Manila's tropcial climate can get daunting.

Anyway, I decided that blogging is better than lying down with eyes wide open. And no, this post's title does not refer to today's day. I had been meaning to thank my readers and commentators like good friend in the UK, Kirsten Tuesday. Hey, girlfriend! How is it going? Before anything else, let me tell you that I am seriously suffering from june-rain blog depression. When will your blog be up and running again???? So, you haven't found your own Laura yet. Well, one's survival kit has got to be tailor made. Let's put it this way, your working with kids is my parenting Cerise; your theatres and films are my fave shops, cafes, waterfronts; your internet equals my reality tv shows; your vegemite is my daily fix of coffee. May I also thank you for all the helpful pieces of advice you give. And for making it known that I am not the only one who can see over the top stepmums. They do exist. But not everyone has the gift of sight for such creatures. Zoning - yeah, it's got it's pros and cons. And I'm afraid this Yumul family is one of its slaves. We are renting in Macleans zone. We choose to stay here and we choose to buy a house here even though it'll cost so much more. What a pity. So, you're really serious about cello, huh? Good on you. Cerise is having her first piano recital on Sunday! We're very excited. Well, I AM very excited. Although our pianist will only play "Mary Had a Little Lamb". I was hoping they'd let her play "The Chimes" as it is my current favourite among the songs she can play. But I guess, they didn't want to risk her making a mistake so they're letting her play the shortest and simplest. Hahaha. Daddy, being in charge of the skills and talent department has been practising her fingers and note reading while I, in charge of the glamour and poise department, am organising her dress and training her how to bow to the audience. I'm sure many will agree that stage presence does matter.