September 20, 2006 7:05 PM Wednesday, Jacksonville, Florida         

50-50 chance

That’s how slim my chance is to get the job promotion. The reason I was called back in for the second round of interview today is,  I am one of the two finalists (out of 4 candidates) whom they are thoroughly dissecting to fill in for the Accountant position.

During the interview, one member of the panel puts more emphasis on the following guidelines set by the Human Resources:

Promotional Requirements for the Accountant position
All permanent employees of the Accounting unit who have served for two years in the class of Accountant Junior and who meet the open requirements may be promoted upon the recommendations of the unit’s appointing authority.

Open Requirements
A six year combination of education, training, or professional level accounting experience which includes successful completion 24 semester hours of accounting course work and three semester hours of management course work at the college level. He/she must demonstrate spreadsheet skills by passing a performance examination.

He, then candidly expressed his concerns about me stepping-up  from being an Account Tech directly to an Accountant position considering the complexity of job responsibilities in the hierarchy of grade level positions in the Accounting unit:

Accountant Senior

Accountant

Accountant Junior

Account Tech Senior

Account Tech

The fact of the matter is, I have only been working with the city as an Account Tech for 1.5 years now. However, I have had more than six years of education, training, and professional level accounting experience combined. 

After the interview, I seriously doubt if they would offer me the job especially if the other candidate fully meets the requirements.

On a much lighter note though,  I do know better than get my hopes up but I seemed to gather from the tone of discussion with the other two members of the panel that they may consider my educational qualifications, skills and work ethics.  I would be very lucky if I get this job because then I’ll be jumping way ahead of the curve; three steps up and skipping two grade level positions.

We’ll see...

September 18, 2006 5:44 PM Monday, Jacksonville, Florida         

GO JAGUARS!!!

 

Jacksonville JAGUARS VS Pittsburgh STEELERS

The kick off is at 8:30 tonight, Monday, Sept 18 at the ALLTEL Stadium, Jacksonville Downtown, Jacksonville, Florida.  Live at ESPN Channel.


Last Friday, my boss encouraged all of us to wear teal on Monday to show support for our football team. Being an obedient city employee, DH and I headed to the mall yesterday after the Church service to buy whatever Jaguar-themed apparel for me to wear today. I found this t-shirt I like but man it costs me an arm. Imagine $33 for a piece of shirt?!? I am not fond of football game at all nor am I a Jaguar fan but I work for the city government so I suppose I have no choice but to cheer for Jaguars!

I feel sorry for all the wives out there who lost their husbands to football. Have you heard the news about a pregnant wife who was having strong contractions yet the husband refused to get his ass off the couch because he was glued on TV watching football game? Imagine he just told his wife to knock on the next door neighbor and asked for help. The neighbor took her to the emergency hospital instead because she nearly delivered the baby on the car. Oh boy, if I were the wife, I’ll beat the hell out of him then slap him with the divorce papers right there and then! I am telling you, I have no sympathy whatsoever with that kind of husband.

I am glad mine is still fanatic to me ;-)

September 16, 2006 3:22 PM Saturday, Jacksonville, Florida         

On our 7th Wedding Anniversary

Here are the love notes we personally scribbled on the wedding anniversary card we exchanged:

My Beloved True Love Rhebs,
You are the only one who makes my life complete.  Without you there is only existence. 
With you there is life, joy and love.  You are my reason for being.
I Love You and I will always Love Only You with all my heart, soul, body and entire being Forever.
Tony

My Darling Tony,
Being with you, staying in love and married to you are all it takes for me to live my life to the fullest.  I can't imagine how my life is going to be without you.
I Love You So Very Much and Will Always Love You Forever.
Rhebs

September 8, 2006 marked the 7th year of a wedded bliss for us. Life would have been more challenging had we have kids of our own to raise but like I said before, I refused to fuss over on something we have no control over it.

Anyway, earlier, we planned on taking a 5-day cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate our wedding anniversary and my birthday however with the tropical depressions/storms looming in the coastline, we decided to forgo the first plan and take a short road trip to the country-side instead. DH and I thought a three-day escape to the woods of Dothan, Alabama would be an equally fun thing to do as well and it's a less expensive alternative. So Friday morning, Sept 8, we drove up for 6 hours and checked in at Holiday Inn in Dothan, Alabama for 3 days and 2 nights. The hotel rate on the weekend is $79/night but I made a few bids at Priceline.com Name Your Own Price for $35, $40 and the last beat for $45 finally went through. With taxes and other fees, the total for 2 nights only come closed to 100 bucks. We had fun driving around, hiking the trails, dinning out and just visiting the botanical garden and the adjoining landmarks. Life is good :-)

You may asked, why Dothan, Alabama of all places in the US of A? There’s really nothing so special about Alabama that I can passionately talk about. It’s just that DH likes to hike in the woods and Alabama is one of the closest states we haven’t explored so far.

My goal is to tour all 50 states of the US territory before exploring other parts of the globe. A 12-day Alaska cruise would be a big possibility in our 8th wedding anniversary next year. We may conceivably take a long road trip to Georgia – Alabama- Mississippi – Louisiana - Texas in 2008.
Just for kicks and gigs, I have a tentative plan to go back to my Alma mater in 2009 for our silver high school reunion with DH in tow of course. Places outside the US I would love to visit someday if given a chance: Australia, Rome, Paris and London.  <Keep dreaming, Rhebs!>

Here's the PHOTOS we took in Dothan, Alabama

No denials please!

You know sometimes I wonder why most, not just single but married women as well are disgraced to divulge their actual age in public. Aren’t we supposed to be grateful we made it through all these years? Hey, age is just a number for crying out loud! What matters most is how much you enjoy life and how much you feel good about yourself.

No, I am not mortified to come clean and exposed the whole truth.

Guess who just turned into a big four 0 last weekend?    DH says, “Just like a fine wine Sweetheart, you are getting better with age. Today is just the first 19th anniversary of your 21st birthday.” <bolero si Tonyo ko!>

Here’s what he wrote on the birthday card he gave me:

Happy Birthday, My True Love Rhebs!
I will always celebrate this day as the day God brought you into this world to be my soul mate and true love. I hope all your birthday wishes come true.
I Love You and I will always Love Only You Forever
Tony

Every now and then, I actually still feel like I am 21 year old although there is no denying that this age sometimes has started creeping on me. The aching knees, a shoulder that doesn't move as freely in a backswing, mind that easily forgets; eye glasses with higher levels of strength, hair that slowly turning into gray, and whispers that aren't as clear to understand. Oh my God, I am really getting old!!?!?! LOL

I am thankful anyhow because I aged graciously and happily in the loving arms of my darling Tony ;-) If not because of him who knows I would have been a petulant old-maid at this point in time :-P

Those who greeted me on my birthday and anniversary, thank you so much guys for your good wishes and prayers.

Job related updates

Right after I came back to work last Wednesday, Sept 13, my boss showed me the result of my annual job performance evaluation for FY 2005-2006. She then commended and gave me a warm pat on the back for getting an Exemplary performance ratings both in my mid-year and annual job performance evaluation. The big boon for getting either an Exemplary or Distinguished performance rating  is a pay raise equals to 10% of our annual salary.

Yesterday, Friday, I received a follow-up call from the AMIO-Administrator (the lady who interviewed me for the job promotion couple of weeks ago) asking me to come back in for the second round of interview this time with the panel of three: Division Chief, AMIO-Administrator and Sr. Accountant. The first round of interview was with the AMIO-Administrator and her Administrative Secretary. Wednesday, Sept 20 is the date. Now I am getting anxious!

Here's my thought: In my current job, with the 10% job performance raise that I will be getting for the next FY 2006-2007, the difference in salary with this new job prospect is now only few hundred bucks a month. If they offer me this new job, do you think the few hundred bucks, job title and having my own corner office room instead of a cubicle are worth the risk?

Today, Saturday, Sept 16, I am supposed to go back to my part-time job at CompUSA.  However I got lazy and feel like quitting this Saturday part-time job of mine.  So here I am at home hanging-out with Marie and Will. I think I am going to turn in my resignation next weekend or maybe not. I can't seem to make up my mind.

Decision, Decision, Decision!

 

September 8, 2006 8:34 PM Friday, Dothan, Alabama           

Getting My Act Together

First thing first, this is especially very important to those Pinays who are married to westerners and just migrated to the new country.

There is no better time to start getting our act together than right now!!! I know for a fact that nothing would completely prepare us for the unexpected loss of our beloved husbands but at any rate at least we have done something to prepare ourselves for the inevitable and any unforeseen catastrophe because whether we like it or not, we all know death is inherent in life and it will surely come eventually. When? Only God knows!

My mother-in-law, as always, did her share by reminding us to get our estate plan done legally and DH is just waiting for me to make an appointment with the lawyer but I keep putting it off thinking we still have long years ahead of us to even start worrying about it… until the unexpected demise of my friend’s husband hit me bull’s-eye!

You see? Had they had their estate done before her husband passed away, it would have saved her a lot of trouble. Also, it would have been easier for her to sell their house without having to retain a lawyer and squander ridiculously outrageous amount for probate fees. So there, I learned a lesson!

Right after I got back from Montana, the first agenda on my to do list was to call the lawyer’s office listed in the yellow pages in Jacksonville area to compare services and fees in getting our estate plan done.

I spoke to at least 4 lawyers in our area and I was told the estate plan usually includes five documents, such as: 

a.      Last Will and Testament

b.      Living Will

c.       Durable Power of Attorney

d.      Designation of Health Care Surrogate

e.      Living Trust

The fees really depend on how much your total estate and what type of estate plan you would like to accomplish.  However when I asked for estimates based on the data given, I was quoted with different fees and the less expensive was $600 per person; $900 per couple. There, I finally made an appointment to get our estate plan done; next month is the earliest schedule we could get in.

Keep in mind that estate planning is not just for wealthy people.  Every adult person should have even just the basic estate plan in place to make the most difficult time for your family easier plus it prevents bitter family disputes like what happened to Terri Schiavo's case remember?

NOW IS YOUR TURN!!!

I know there are quite a large number of Pinays who are married to westerners and are totally dependent to their husbands.  We all know life in the Philippines is completely different from our lives here in the States. Here are the most crucial things I would like you to consider doing while you are still in better position to do them:

·        Learn to drive and get your way around on your own.

·        Have your college credentials evaluated by the National Association of of Credential Evaluation Services.

·        Get a job even just part-time job for experience.

·        Go back to school to upgrade your educational qualifications and skills when opportunity comes.

·        Turn in your paperwork for US citizenship as soon as you are eligible to apply.

·        Strive to be independent.

·        Have a good support group usually you'll find them in the Church.  

Also if you have been neglecting the financial aspect of your married life because your husband is the “in-charge”, now is the time to become assertive. Ask him to share with you or teach you about handling your finances as well. 

Make it a priority to stay up-to-date especially on these very essential key areas:

• Get organized and know where the files of all these very important documents: marriage contract, birth certificates, titles/deeds, SS cards, insurance policy paperwork, retirement/pension account statements and the last 5 years of your Income Tax Returns.
   

• Emergency Saving’s Fund.  The very first and major blow you will have to battle if your husband dies, aside from emotional torture, is money.  That is why this emergency savings fund is very important especially if you have no job; dependent on your husband's income and something happens to him, usually it takes 3-6 months to process the paperwork and receive your insurance claims and other benefits from the government’s social security if there is any. Meanwhile at least you have sufficient amount in the bank to use for your rent or mortgage and credit cards minimum payments due. This is to protect your house and credit score from going down the drain while you are still trying to pull yourself up from disaster.
   

• Outstanding debts/Credit card debs. How much your husband owes and to whom? Saved yourself a big trouble in the future if your husband has huge amount of credit card debts more so if you are a joint signor. Make sure he signed up for debt cancellation program. You will only realize the magnitude of debt cancellation program when disasters strike.
  
  Just get 1 or 2 credit cards on your name only and make sure to pay off the balance in full each month so you’ll be able to build up a good credit history and improve your FICO score on your own while your husband is still alive.
   

• Life Insurance Policies, Pensions and Retirement accounts.   What are they worth? What brokerage are they in and who are the beneficiaries?
  If your husband doesn’t have any life insurance yet, encourage him to get one for you and your kids’ sake. 
  Term Life Insurance doesn’t cost that much if you are non-smoker and pretty healthy. The premium usually depends on your age and health.  I took a 30 year level guaranteed premium of $33 per month for $250,000 policy.

P.S.
Right now we are here in Dothan, Alabama on a honeymoon but here I am blogging my thoughts out hehehehe. It's still too early and we are too full to do anything special anyway  ;-)

Thanks Lan for the call, sweet good wishes on my birthday and Anniversary. DH said, "that was nice of her to call you on your birthday".   Likewise thanks In~in for the birthday greetings.   Of course I'd like to thank Mom Sheila and Pop Stuart for the prayers and sweet greetings.  We received your card this morning before we left for Alabama. 

September 2, 2006 3:02 PM Saturday, Jacksonville, Florida           

Baby Shower Party for Lesley 

I hosted the baby shower party for Lesley last Sunday, August 27, 2006 at 11:00AM.   Out of 30 people in our guest list, only 20 showed up because we only made the decision to reset the party to Sunday after I called off my trip to Michigan last Wednesday. Nonetheless, we had a blast! Our two game masters, Josie and Hillary made the party even more animating and entertaining by engaging our guests with different comical games.

Whew! That was the major gathering, in terms of the number of guests, ever held in our home so far. I never thought it would go smoothly without a snag but fortunately, it did except for one thing. Few friends made me feel guilty for serving beverages that are diet and caffeine free soda only. But I did serve orange juice and lemonade for healthy drinkers.

Thankfully, I didn't have to break my prop to do the cooking and clean-up after the big mess because first, a good number of guests promised to bring a covered dish which they did. Therefore, I just fired up the grill for about 42 pieces of pork barbeque on skewers; cooked 17 cups of rice,  made a 12 quarts pot of pork sinigang soup, one big pot of pork and chicken adobo plus on top of that, DH baked luscious cookies for dessert the night before. Secondly, I decided to use a spill-proof disposable paper plates, bowls, and glasses instead of digging out the stockpile of stashed tableware from our china cabinet. Thirdly, Josie and Lesley cleaned-up after the party by washing and drying off the serving bowls, forks, spoons and pots. I could have load up those dishes in the dishwasher and let the machine do the work for me but they insisted on doing them by hand. Thanks, Josie and Lesley. I really appreciate your initiative, effort and caring heart :-)

At 5:40PM with only four guests left, we capped off the party with a karaoke singing contest. Josie, Janice, Lesley, Marietta and I sung the same piece, “The greatest Love of All”. Guess who wins? The pregnant Lesley came out the champion garnering a score of 98; first place went to Janice with a score of 96; second place was a tie between Josie and Marietta with a score of 95, and do I still have to spell out my place? LOL I just realized that I can’t win in a karaoke singing competition unless I sing one of Sharon Cuneta songs. LOL But hey, I scored 90 in that contest too. Not that bad eh?

Here's the slide show of all the photos.

Keeping my fingers crossed

In the end, there was a good reason for me to stay home after all because that Friday afternoon around 3pm, August 25 (I was supposed to fly to Michigan at 1:30PM that day), I got a call from a lady asking me if I am interested to come in for a job interview for the ACCOUNTANT position in one of the city government departments. Hey, this is a job promotion so I was all over it! I went in for an interview Tuesday, August 29 and I tell you, towards the end of the discussion, I feel like I was torn between two lovers and the only word I could muster when the interviewer asked me if I am still interested in the job was, “I'll think about it.” Aren’t I stupid or what? But here's what made me cautious and remained ambivalent until after the end of the day:

My current Job:

100% job security. I work for the payroll division in one of the two major departments of the city government so no matter how much the government cuts back on budget, manpower and resources, we all stay unaffected unless of course if we failed in the yearly performance evaluation.

New Job Offer

Pros

• It’s a job promotion with $3,800 pay raise in annual salary.

• No bi-weekly deadline to beat unlike working in Payroll.

• The job responsibilities are more challenging and complex as it is related to the department budget forecasting, planning and manning the financial aspect of the department.

Cons

• It’s not one of the major departments of the city government so the job security is not 100% as their annual budget comes from the government grants.

• Although, it is a civil service position but I would still have to start all over again as probationary for 6 months since it’s a step-up position in a different department of the city government.

After talking it over with my darling husband, mother-in-law and my boss, I feel downhearted with how I conduct myself towards the end of the interview.  My boss says she’d really hate to let me go but she thought she’ll be too selfish to hold me back in exchange of this rare opportunity for me to climb the ladder of my career.

I have never sent a thank you letter after a job interview before but this time I was head over heels.  So the next day, I sent this  thank you letter to the person who interviewed me:

[My Name]
[Street • City • State • Zip Code]
[Phone # • Fax phone # • Messages phone # • Email]

 

August 30, 2006

 

[Interviewer's name]
[Position Title]
[Company name]
[Address]
 

Dear [Interviewer's name]:

Thank you so much for talking with me yesterday about the Accountant position in your department. I truly appreciate all the time and effort you and Ms. XXXX took in telling me about the job and learning more about me.

Now I am very interested in this job. I know this is a job I can do very well and would enjoy doing. I have the necessary skills and understanding of the application of the theories, principles and practices of accounting and financial management that you are looking for. The combination of my education, training and experience in professional level accounting has equipped me for this job, and my skills and work ethics will guarantee success. I am always committed to do the job the best I can to ensure timeliness and accuracy.

You and Ms. XXXX exuded warmth, and I have never had a more relaxing interview in my entire career. I know we could all have a very smooth working relationship if I have the opportunity to work with you.

I look forward to hearing from you concerning your hiring decision. Again, thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Rxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx

I was told they are interviewing four people for this position so let's wait and see who's lucky among the four :-).   They should have the result  ready before the beginning of the new fiscal year which is October 1, 2006.  I am keeping my fingers crossed but if not... oh well, the job is not meant for me then ;-( 

 

September 1, 2006 6:49 PM Friday, Jacksonville, Florida           

 

Reflections

No one can really know the extent of our suffering except us, ourselves. We grieve with different intensities over varying durations of time and so is our coping style. I am more expressive and emotional and find it more helpful to talk and express my emotions while others tend to process their thoughts and emotions internally. I can’t even begin to describe what it is like when I miscarried a 12-week old fetus. How much more if out of the blue; unexpectedly without a word, my husband passes away? I might die too.

I know there is no word to soothe Edith in those times. My heart goes out for her and I wish I can do more or do something to lighten up her sorrows and pains. I cried with her, hugged her, listened to her, consoled her yet I still feel helpless!

At least, I am a little relieved that Edith remained steadfast in her strong faith with God despite of what she's been through in life. She knows that she needs to be strong for the sake of her daughter, Norma. Yes, she is devastated and crashed however, she believed that her husband is now in a better place and that he won’t be at peace as well if she’ll ruin her and their only child’s life. So now she’s been doing the best she can to move on and bravely face the future alone. I suppose time will heal… As the priest said, “the grieving process can be less painful if we try to understand that death is inherent in life and that it is part of the life process.”

I admired Edith so much for her faith with God and her conviction in life. Well, she's now learning how to drive; hopes to find a job and plans to go back to school if that opportunity comes.  She now realizes the value of independence.  God bless her and Norma!


My flight to California and  Montana

The longest air travel including connecting flights and lay-over I have endured just within the US territory was 28 hours and the cost of my plane ticket was  $1,480.40!

Well, I guess it costs that much because I booked my flight the night before the departure date and had to do the booking one-way each time I fly as I had no definite date as to when to fly to Montana and when will I be coming back home.

One way:  Aug 12, Saturday: Jacksonville, Florida --> Houston, Texas --> Sacramento, California = 9 hrs
One way:  Aug 14, Monday:  Sacramento, California --> Seattle, Washington --> Missoula, Montana = 2.5 hrs
One way:  Aug 19, Saturday: Butte, Montana --> Bozeman, Montana --> Seattle, Washington --> O’Hare, Chicago--> Jax, FL = 16.5 hours

No rest for the weary

Imagine from Montana, the plane took off at 7:05AM, Saturday, Aug 19 and finally touched down in Jacksonville, Florida at 1:35 AM Sunday, Aug 20!  Then, the following day, Monday, I went back to work. The whole week at work was pretty hectic because it was payroll week. Saturday was cleaning day. Sunday was baby shower party. Another week, Monday to Friday, we’re so busy at work trying to get caught up with all the reports as we are nearing the end of the fiscal year. Oh my my! Thank Goodness, today is Friday!!!  Monday, Sept 4, is a Labor Day holiday so I have 3 day weekend to wind down.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Sept 2, we’ll have a family get together: Just DH and I, Mom, Kuya Allen and Mary (Mary is Kuya Allen’s sweetheart).  Maybe we'll just do  barbeque in our backyard.

Anyway, DH and I will be taking off work next Friday, Monday and Tuesday too so that means we’ll have another 5 days in a row to do some 'relaxing date' somewhere close by to celebrate our 7th Wedding Anniversary ;-)

Meanwhile, here are the photos of the scenery I took at Lake Town George in Montana. Check them out here. 

P.S.
I’ll probably work on the baby shower photos and hopefully post them online the next day or so.