7 Extraordinary Things After “Ding Dong”

“Ding dong!” There goes my alarm. Uhmmm, it’s 4:30 in the morning. HOW COULD I LET THEM DO THIS TO ME??? (My mind was screaming with a hint of bitterness towards my teammates because although this client pays lower than everybody else, he gets to make me do things my better-paying clients never had me do, and yes, I’m referring to having me wake up this early.) But after getting over that moment of struggle, I was okay again. Yey!

Oh, by the way, “ding dong” is not the sound of my alarm clock. It sounds more like a subtle music that gradually increases in volume. If you have an old Blackberry, it’s the tone called “Evolving Dream.” Oh, what the heck. Never mind.

Years of being a freelancer, usually the earliest I get to wake up was 6:30AM, not so much because I have a meeting, but because I want to have time for prayer, exercise and yes, sometimes, breakfast. But last Wednesday, I had to flee the house by 6:00AM to make it to our photoshoot at 8:00AM. And since, I would be commuting, I had to leave allowance for waits and queues. Not to mention, I was too sleepy to iron my clothes the night before, because I spent extra hours proofreading pdf files. (Oh, pdf files! Remind me why I haven’t bought a printer yet, right? Oh, oh, it’s ’cause I can’t afford one, and I don’t really need one, except for this client. Arrrgh.)

Anyhow, before I turn you off with my ceaseless ranting, I’d like to go on with this otherwise inspiring day. (Honestly, I really like waking up early! Am I kidding? Nah. But I don’t like being forced to wake up. Well, who does, right? Haha.)

So again, back to this otherwise inspiring day. How many times was I blessed, let me count the ways!

Uno. I reached the shuttle terminal and lo and behold–a short queue! I had a good seat and the shuttle could not have departed any sooner than that! Which leads me to my next happy thought turned into reality: early breakfast at McDonald’s

Dos. I have a lot of fond memories of early breakfasts at McDonald’s. The ones I love most were those 6 or 7AM meals with my figure skating teammates and coach way back when I was in high school. We’d catch some practice time before the ice rink officially opens. Well, last Wednesday, I arrived at my destination an hour early so I first had my fave breakfast meal at a nearby McDonald’s branch to energize my day: sausage w/ rice and hot choco for the win!

Fast forward to our photoshoot. Everyone arrived late except two people–one model and myself (err no I’m not a model, I’m there to have my ‘mug shot’ taken for one of our layouts). Hurray! But that’s alright, I was happy to find out that I don’t have to apply my own makeup, especially that I wanted false lashes on for my chinky eyes. And the MUA did a great job. Whew!

Then came the shoot, which was rather fast. And  they fed us, and I really liked the juice I ordered and I got to take home a pastry.

Then came the meeting.

Tres. It didn’t turn out as scary as our creative director had expected. I was expecting it to turn out great though. And I prayed it would. And it did. But yes, yes, we had more work to do after than before the meeting. *Faint* But thankful, nonetheless.

Cuatro. Aha. Italian lunch. Free. And coffee latte. After that, we had a “work meeting” that lasted until around 5:00PM. Okay, this is starting to get really boring huh?

Cinco. I have been hoping, contemplating, planning, hesitating, dreaming, and yes, praying to get a diamond peel for the past few years. (Seriously, years?) Well, kinda, but most especially the past few weeks. 🙂 And I was hoping to get another facial too. So yeah, you guessed it right–somebody offered a free facial+diamond peel after we’re done with our meeting. It must be my birthdayyyyy!

Diamond Peel! (This is not me on the photo! I just grabbed this online from groupon.sg)

You see, I’ve been looking forward to the last part of my day, which was a wine night with friends that I miss. But we had arranged for 8:00PM, which felt like a lo-o-o-o-ng way off from my 7:00AM arrival in Ortigas for our photo ops. But because of the ‘facial+diamond peel’ insertion into my schedule, all of a sudden, my day’s schedule seemed like it was all planned out by God.

Seis. On my way to Galileo Enoteca in Mandaluyong, I crossed paths with one of my closest friends. We had a nice walk together towards the bus “station” and after some day-before-the-long-weekend-holiday traffic, I finally reached the elegant yet homey and relaxing wine library con restaurante, Galileo Enoteca.

My home, by now, is 2 hours and I-don’t-know-how-many-miles away. It’s always a bit stressful to think of my trip going back home when I travel this far. Not to mention, my dad doesn’t want me traveling late in the night. Anyhow, as I prayed on the bus, for the rest of the night and for my dad (as God impressed him to me), I felt peaceful and assured that there’s nothing to worry about.

My friend Vanni treated us to cold cuts, lots of new kinds of cheese, pizza, pasta, and wine. She also concocted her own mixed drink. It was perfect. Afterwards, we were so full we almost could not finish the food. (But we did! Well, at least Sam did! Haha.) And we had a relaxing time chatting and laughing. We also surprised Sam, who just had her birthday a few days ago.

What we had:

Appetizers: Assaggio Di Formaggi, Salumi Misti
Pizze: Shrimp & Garlic
Primi Piatti: Aglio & Olio, Spaghetti Con Pomodori & Basilico
Dolci: Mint & Chocolate and Pistachio Gelato
Vino: Red Wine and White Wine Sangria (specially mixed by Vanni)

Check out my friend’s post, Girls’ Wine Night for more on this: http://www.janeodulio.com/?p=1093

Photo by John Grande

 

Siete. I was worried about taking so much time on my way home. And about my dad texting me where I was, so I took a cab! I was supposed to have the driver drop me off at the nearest shuttle terminal to my place but we had second thoughts because of the traffic. But I was also concerned about the huge fare if I would have him take me straight home. But I realized that if God provided so much already, it makes sense to just take a cab straight home and not worry about money, besides it’s not like we’re talking about millions here. So I did. And the bill was not that huge. And so I didn’t have to struggle with the difficulties of walking long distances and looking for a ride late in the night. And yes, I made it home before Cinderella.

Conclusion: Sometimes, we think our day won’t go as we hope it would but with a little faith, it can be way better than we imagined. If we give got a chance, He’s out to surprise us!

Happy resurrection Sunday!