I had a crazy Saturday night.

Last night was my good friend, Cathy's birthday celebration just a few blocks away from my house. I wasn't supposed to attend since I only got a P100 with me and I wasn't in the mood to socialize with my friends who are all employed and working (and who I also haven't seen for so long). I thought it would just make me feel a whole lot depressed about my situation.

When the birthday celebrant called and asked me to come over because she's all alone, I said "Okay. I'll be there in an hour, I'll walk.". I wished I really did walk instead of taking a cab. I was just in the middle of my place and my friend's when my cab driver started honking because the car in front almost hit the bumper of the cab. I guess the driver was in reverse or something, or the car was manual/stick. Worried, the cab driver tried to talk to the driver of the car (we were on a stop) and then the driver got out and started shouting and before the driver and I knew it, she left her car and ran to the nearest police station!

Freaky!

The police had to take our statements and blah and I had to call my friend to pick me up because it seemed the police wouldn't let me go anytime soon. After an hour at the police station, my friend and I finally left and went to her hotel room for dinner. FINALLY! I lost my appetite though. It wasn't until more than an hour later, around 10PM that I was able to start eating and drinking again. When 12 midnight struck and it was officially Cathy's birthday, I already consumed 6 glasses of Vodka, 2 slices of Pepperoni pizza, 1 Chicken wing, 1 slice of cake and half a box of Mojos and dip and the celebration was still on-going with shots of tequila, another glass of Alize and another glass of vodka, I was down in the bed for 15 minutes before finally heading home at 2:30AM. I had a goodnight's sleep by the way. :)

I woke up to a very slow and lazy Sunday afternoon. I had late lunch, checked my Facebook and Twitter and watched college basketball and before I knew it, it's already nightfall. I am currently YM-ing with Riel for my new template and we're tinkering with it as I'm typing this so please bear with me if my ads and EC are not yet up. My page elements won't re-arrange and I have to manually add the gadgets in order. *sigh*

Hopefully I will be done in a few hours. Let me know what you think of it. Should I change the black to its original blue color?

Happy Birthday, Bruhita!

Today is my friend, Anna's birthday and I'm greeting her here to make up (in advance) to her because I will be missing her birthday celebration tomorrow night and her birthday dinner at her office tonight.

Happy, happy, happy Birthday, Bruhita!

Thanks for everything... and you know what I mean by everything.

I am so sorry that I won't be able to celebrate with you. We still have a lot of time. We can always see each other anyway. I'll make it up to you when I'm emotionally and mentally okay and when I give IT back to you before the second week of October.

I hope you have an enjoyable and fun birthday today and a much more happy birthday on your celebration tomorrow. :) I'll see you soon!

Greet her too, guys!!!

Mara's Personal Bubble's New Theme.

I am still not using it. I would do the changes during the weekend but for now, I would like to know what you guys think of it. An online friend gave it to me as a birthday gift months ago and I don't know why but I guess I was too preoccupied then to set it as my new template. I personally think it's pretty cute, it shouts "happy and lively" all around. ;) And we all know how much good and positive vibes I need during these days. I was thinking of having some colors changed or just the black background but... I have yet to talk with Riel about it. I would also do some "cleaning up" on my ads and other affiliate links I have on this blog.

Take a look:

You could also visit http://hunsample.blogspot.com.

I'm excited. It's about time that I take my blogs (especially this one for that matter) to the next level: change the template, de-clutter and hopefully post more interesting things about my personal bubble with a more improved writing style. :)

You guys like it?

You are still MY NUMBER 1.

Yes, I am so upset by this major upset in the US Open last Monday. I stayed up from 4AM to 8AM knowing that my love, Roger Federer would win in the Finals and do a 6-peat. Unfortunately, during the 3rd set I sort of had a feeling that he's losing his momentum and he was definitely annoyed with del Potro's late challenges. It was like the first time I saw him like that. He was saying the "F" and the "S" word although he says it "calmly", the irritation was very obvious. Sigh. I was really hoping he'd win. This del Potro guy surely is making his way to the Grand Slams. I won't deny that he did play good. He may have had his "tantrums" during the match but he was good. BUT I still believe Federer could have won then. It was a close match after all.

So yes, that's why I only posted about the US Open Finals just now. I am still stunned. If it's the other way around, I would have updated this blog like I do with Twitter. LOL.

YOU ARE STILL MY NUMBER 1.

photo from: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

World Number One, my favorite, Roger Federer holding up his 2nd place plaque for the US Open.

He will regain his championship in the US Open next year. He better! ;) In the meantime, he still has time to practice his game in the next tournaments in time for the next grand slam event, the Australian Open '10. Woot woot!

My very own version of FUN rainy day activities.

I talked about how crazy the weather here has been in my post yesterday. Today, it only rained early in the morning and the sun was up the rest of the day. I don't know if that's good because it was extremely hot. See how crazy and weird the weather is? Extremes. It was raining nonstop yesterday and then today... the sky was clear, the sun was up and the cool air was gone.

Nonetheless, I still continued my super fun and relaxing rainy-day "activities". Okay, I am more of a boring person than a cool, spontaneous one. I like peace and quiet and alone time most of the time but like a normal person, I get crazy and silly too once in a while. Plus, I am not a sporty person. The only physical activity I have are walking and jogging. I guess I can say that I am a laid-back, homebody girl.

Want proof? Take a look at what I enjoy doing on a fine, cold, rainy day:

• Stay online: check my mail, Facebook, blog and visit other blogs while...
• I stay curled up in my soft bed with my pillows or on the comfy couch while...
• I watch a lot of TV shows or watch and do a marathon of re-runs of my favorite TV series or DVDs and
• Munch on my favorite chips, candies, juice, coffee and water and then afterwards,
• Do my indoor exercise: climb up and down the stairs for 15 minutes and do crunches, sit-ups and jumping jacks.
• Take a loooooooong good bath.

Sometimes, it also varies depending on my mood. The third bullet changes when my mood does. It can change from a movie/TV series marathon to a book reading day to researching and browsing through different articles from different websites in the internet.

Now, I know that it may seem like I could do these things even on a normal sunny day. I still do BUT, when the sun is up I have no problem getting out of the house, going to the mall, having coffee outside, window-shopping, hang out over at a friend's house and all other outdoor thingies. When that happens, my rainy-day activities (which are also applicable on a sunny weather) is cut down to just the first and fifth bullets. You cannot ask me to go out of the house when the sky is cloudy and it's raining even if you drag me, NO. I am a boring, homebody girl when it's raining and I LOVE it! :) I love that about me.

Ooh, this post is also inspired and is an entry to Ate Earth of Earthlingorgeous' Rainy Day Contest.

*crossing fingers to win*

Check it out too!

Hugs!

Random Rainy Sunday Entry.

I don't know about you guys but the weather here in the Philippines, specifically here in Manila, has been crazy for the past couple of weeks. When we have typhoon signals, the rain stops. When there is no typhoon signal, it's dark outside and the rain just won't stop. Crazy I tell you. It gets even crazier because this is the second week that we are experiencing cloudy, cold and rainy days nonstop except for last Thursday when the clouds finally cleared up and I thought that finally the weather is going to be okay again but night time came and the rain poured down... poured down hard. It hasn't stopped since. Not completely anyway. This kind of weather just makes me want to stay at home, have a huge mug of coffee, eat, watch some TV and do online stuff.

Having said that, today is a very cloudy, rainy Sunday and in lieu of keeping my word of having a more productive day than usual, I took baby steps and started backing up my files and deleting a few of them afterwards. My MacBook's memory is down from it's original 160GB space to a 3.15GB and it's killing me. Yesterday, I am almost in the brink of a panic attack when my laptop's startup didn't end. It usually starts up fast even with a memory space below 20GB but yesterday, no it didn't. I had to wait for more than 10 minutes with no success, I turned it off and on and off a lot of times. Good thing it worked. I sweat droplets! So, now before it gets worse and the "folder with a question mark" appears instead of the Apple when I turn it on, I am backing up everything I got here. Better be safe than sorry, right?

What else?

Oh! My good friend, who I also call my BFF, were supposed to go out for a good food trip at KFC or McDonald's earlier tonight but yeah, since the weather is a "bed weather" we decided to stay in and just do it next week. I was already picturing KFC's hot and crispy chicken and McDonald's fries and caramel sundae. Yum! But then it's fine, at least I won't be spending on food... again! I tell you, food is my ultimate weakness hence my food blog was born. :)

Btw, while I was browsing through different blogs I stumbled upon one who posted a proof of payment from some site which they claim pays you for the traffic that you get. I read several comments from the post and decided to give it a try. It sounds too good to be true but then what's the harm in trying? It's for free anyways and it's not time consuming so I really have nothing to lose. The site is called Paid-To-Promote and they send out payments twice a month, on the 15th and 30th via Paypal. From what I understand, all you have to do is to put up their code on your site and for every visitor that you get that stays for at least 10 seconds, they will credit you for it. Told you it's very easy and too good to be true. Let's see how I'll do and I'll keep everyone posted. If anyone is interested just click HERE.

Hugs!

photo c/o: www.flickr.com

P.S.

Today (or tonight in my case) is the Men's Singles Semi Finals between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro to be followed by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. I don't know whether I should go have an eye shut first and just wake up after Nadal and del Potro's match or stay up all throughout the start. The first match starts at 12PM New York time and 12MN Manila time. Yes, that late. I'm used staying up until early in the morning but I felt my lids getting heavy just now. Hmmmmm. You guys know I am a huge Federer lover, so.... fighting off sleeping is my number one goal.

My Open Letter.

Dear visitors, readers and friends,

I would like to say to apologize if my posts have been all too whiney to anyone in the past few days. If you have been a regular visitor here, you would know how I am like with the happy and frustrating moments of my life. I share everything. This blog, Mara's Personal Bubble, was born mainly as an outlet of my emotions. I apologize if you think I am a brat and/or is too whiney but this is MY blog. My PERSONAL blog. I talk about how I feel, what I think and what my interests are. I rave and I rant. I know money is mostly the problem of almost everyone. I understand how you must be feeling reading mostly rants recently and I apologize that you feel that way. But please also understand that those problems I have are what's going on with me right now and the only place I can talk about it is here. In MY PERSONAL blog.

I am not thinking about doing blogging as a profession. At least not yet. If you guys have been reading my posts, you would know that I am actually looking and applying for real life jobs. I only get up high to interviews and I never hear from those companies again. So please do not assume that I am just sitting here at home, sulking, wallowing in self pity, whining and NOT doing anything to get a job. Trace back my entries, read them and you'll know.

I always get like this when I feel like I have hit rock bottom (an exaggeration but you know what I mean), I have to talk about it a lot and get it off my chest until I see the light of day and get back to thinking positively. That day came yesterday. I decided to focus on the things that I have control over. I would concentrate on my blogs and try other online opportunities while waiting to hear from the companies that I have applied. That is the next best thing to earn a little on the side for my personal expenses.

I have not felt like I have to explain my blog but I received a "constructive criticism" about my recent posts and I would just like to clarify things. I want to explain my side for my readers to understand. Do not take this the wrong way but if you have had enough of my whining, when you read my entry title and it seems like the rest of the entry is a huge whine for you to handle, just spare yourselves and close the window. Just my thought. And it's not like the whole of this blog has been about my financial difficulty. It's not. I am not giving the attitude here, I'm not mad or angry. I most certainly do not want any enemies here. I just want to let this out. If you understand then I'm grateful, if you don't then it's not my problem anymore. To each his own, right?

Now that I got that off my chest, I would like to thank everyone who posted such supporting, encouraging and sweet comments on my entries regarding my problem and to those who tolerated my whining. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! To those who said that all I do is whine, thank you also and I hope you could visit my other blog to avoid reading my personal raves and rants here. :) Again, this is my personal blog. This is a general blog not a niche. I talk about everything about me and my life here. My other blog on the other hand focuses on a certain topic: Food and Beverage and Dining.

As I said yesterday, I'm out of my shell and I'm focusing... yet again on the brighter things in life. Bear with me. :) I'm just like this all the time. Extreme lows and extreme ups. Right now, I am so hopeful about everything and my number on feel-good thing to do is making lists! I started yesterday with my list of things to do for the month. Today, I started with my things to save up for. No, I am not splurging. This is just me being hopeful and relaxing. I am weird and unusual, I know. Only a few may understand me but there's no need for me to explain myself all the time. :) I'm happy, I'm fighting off bad vibes, I'm attracting as many positive energies and good vibes as I can and I won't let small, petty things bring me down again. I can get out of this alive and triumphant. Things will turn around soon and I will be on top. Cool?

Check out some of the things that I have listed on my "things to save up for" list... soon. Or later.

Hugs,

Mara

My Game Plan.

You friends know that I am sort of in a financial "crisis" right now and I am so upset, worried and frustrated about it. I have a lot of things going on right now even when in actuality, I am unemployed and mostly just at home. I feel exhausted thinking about ways to solve my problem without asking my Mom who is a thousand miles away and make her worry too. I want to spare her my problem because I know she has a lot of worries too (she pays for ALL the bills and other expenses here at home). The only help that I could give her right now is to NOT add up to her problems.

During my being on "house arrest" for about 2 weeks now, I came up with a game plan. No more worrying too much. No more thinking about the problems too much. No more too much wallowing in self pity. No more too much. I would focus MORE on the things that I can control.

I have got to do something more productive while waiting for things to turn around for me.

• Arrange my pre-employment requirements (SSS, NBI clearance, TIN #, etc.). I think it's only proper that I have them already since I graduated more than a year ago.
• Get an EON card at Union Bank for my PayPal transactions.
• "Improve" my online opportunities.
• Continue to apply for a job.
• Take things easy. Although my friends can't expect me to be as happy, spontaneous and as available as before. It's still hard not to worry about this kind of thing.

Hmm. I hope this is effective. It's the end of another week and I can start feeling better NOW. I will try my hardest.

To LEVY: No, it's not about credit card but it IS about a debt that I have.

For those willing to lend me whatever amount you can leave me a comment here.

Also, follow me on Twitter too. :)

Much thanks!

Ways to Earn from My Blogs.

In an attempt and in the hopes of making and earning more with my blogs to finance my current financial situation, I have signed up with different programs in the past week. Other than my already existing accounts in:

Adsense

Adbrite

Adgitize

PayingPost

Blogsvertise

I decided to add more since I am only earning in the first three sites (more especially on Adgitize).

Here are my additional programs:

PayPerPost v4

LinkWorth

LinkFromBlog

SponsoredReviews

The only programs I am lucky on is Adgitize. All you have to do there is what you normally do when blogging: click and visit other blogs and post blog entries. The only difference is if you are registered there, you earn points for those activities and you earn actual money. Adsense and Adbrite are already popular among bloggers. You just have to put the code on your site and hope companies advertise and visitors click on them. PayingPost, Blogsvertise,PayPerPost, LinkFromBlog and SponsoredReviews are paid-to-review sites. Advertisers will contact you and you just have to follow the instructions about the review that they want you to write. I still have no idea how LinkWorth works so I seriously need help on that one.

As of the moment, the only sites that I am actually earning money are on Adgitize which I make payout almost every month, Adsense and Adbrite even though I only earn a few cents a day. All the others, I have not received any offers/opportunities yet so I am still waiting and hoping that I get A LOT of offers soon.

"Donations" for my current situation are still very much welcome. Please contact me for my PayPal address.

Hugs!

So, I am financially challenged.

"I just need something to happen, I need a sign that things are going to change. I need a reason to go on. I need some hope! And in the abscence of hope, I need to stay in bed and feel like I'm going to die today."

-Meredith Grey (Grey's Anatomy)

FYI, I am not suicidal or anything. I am just feeling this quote so much and it suits my sentiments exactly. Figuratively and literally, I mostly stayed in bed today feeling so down and problematic, a lot of things that I am worrying about. I just played FarmVille on Facebook and did a Sex and the City marathon the entire afternoon.

My shameless asking for donations (which I promise to pay back) still stands and no, I am not kidding. A dollar, two, five, ten, twenty, thirty, whatever amount you can lend me, I would be forever grateful and I WILL pay it back. I don't know how to put up the "donate" PayPal badge here so you can just leave a comment here or check out my profile for my e-mail (also my PayPal) address.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am one desperate Tweeter.

Yup. I gave in and signed up for a Twitter account and now I am officially a Tweeter. It has been a almost a week since I finally decided to tweet and I have about 20 followers and several followings to this day.

Like any first timers, I didn't know what to do after I signed up. I don't know how it works. But after a few hours of tinkering and searching for celebrities and friends to follow and after posting my first tweet, I sort of got "addicted" to tweeting and replying to tweets and now I already have an idea on how Twitter goes and works. It is actually fun once you get the hang of it. Dang, now I have another addition to my uber busy DAILY online life:

• blogging, dropping, clicking, reading, commenting, browsing, chatting, facebook-ing, uploading, updating and watching.

I cannot believe I do that much in less than 24 hours.

On another topic, do you guys know what I realized just now? I realized I am living two different lives/personalities; my real life and my online life. I am not saying that either one is not real, both are but when I go online and start to blog I try not to dwell much on my problems. I try to sound less sad and more happy than I really am (yes, all my Friday Frustrations posts are already LESS sad).

Like today, I did something for the first time in my entire life. I texted my friend and asked if I could borrow some money and that I will pay her once I get my payment from Adgitize. I NEVER borrow money from friends, not any amount above P50 ($1) anyway. I am so desperate I want to ask monetary donations and post it as my status in Facebook, tweet it on Twitter and post about it as an entry here. It is not for personal leisure use (not mainly).

I would just pay up my debt to my brother (cos I "borrowed" a few thousand pesos to pay up my disconnected phone bill and buy meds after I got out of the hospital). That is my number one ultimate major problem right now because he is already asking for his money so that he could pay up his dentist. You see what I mean? So I swallowed my pride and asked a friend who replied a few minutes ago that she'll see what she can do, meaning still not sure. I need help guys! If you could spare me some, I promise to note it down, save your info and pay the amount back to you early next year. I would forever be grateful and sorry for the desperation.

To end this entry on a lighter note, please please please Follow Me on Twitter. I promise there's less, if not no drama tweets from me there! :)

Hugs!

The Mommy Journey's First Blogversary.

There is something about this month that I feel so optimistic about. I do not know and I am not exactly sure what it is but since the month started I just feel a tad positive about things (or perhaps I am just trying to fight off the negative vibes and financial problems that I have), but whatever good feelings I have, I hope that that good thing will come and it will stay.

So, since I am feeling so positive and lucky this month, I have decided to join The Mommy Journey's 1st Blogversary contest. Like what I have said in my earlier post about a different contest, "who knows, I might win!", right? :D

Here is the list of the sponsors and the prizes:

1st winner
blogspot makeover by Momgen Designs
4000 EC credits from Nishas world and baby Alisha
2000 EC credits from Dorothy's Vineyard
1000 EC credits from Blog Fusion
1000 EC credits from Worth's Road
1000 EC credits from Mouth's Delight
125 x125 ad space for 1 month from There is Happiness
125 x125 ad space for 1 month from Twins Happiness

2nd winner
blogspot customized template by Web Blog Designs
$5.00 from Thoughts and Obsessions
5000 EC credits from Simple Happy Life
2000 EC credits from Bitz n Pieces of My Life
2000 EC credits from Empowered Mom
125 x125 ad space for 1 month from Also Mommy
125 x125 ad space for 1 month from TH Corner

3rd winner
5000 EC credits and 125x125 ad space for 1 month from The Mommy Journey
2000 EC credits from Inhale... Exhale...
2000 EC credits from Just the Tip of the Iceberg
$5.00 from Inspirational Insights
125x125 ad space for 1 month from iluvcontest
125x125 ad space for 1 month from another contest

4th winner
3000 EC credits from Chuchie's Hideaway
2000 EC credits from Honeysweet Learning Center
2000 EC credits from WhereAbouts
$5.00, 1000 EC credits and 125x125 ad space for 1 month from Just About Anything
125x125 ad space for 1 month from Sherry Contest
125x125 ad space for 1 month from Sherry Rambling

5th winner
$5.00 from Our Family Story
5000 EC credits from a housewife's journal and an extraordinary path to parenthood
2000 EC credits from Dharlz Creations
125x125 ad space for 1 month from That Blog 4 Me
125x125 ad space for 1 month from Travel Blog


Joining this contest is very easy. All you have to do is just write about this blogiversary celebration at your site and visit The Mommy Journey for more details.

Good luck to me and to all of us! :)