We may only cross paths a few times, but you will always be remembered with a smile.

Rest in peace, Miss Tara Santelices. May you finally have rest in the arms of our Lord.

I find it really strange when writer’s block strikes whenever I can write something and the sudden flow of topics to write about congest my brain at the worst possible time.

A few months back, I was struggling to access my wordpress dashboard so I could write down all the interesting topics in my head. After that domain transfer drama I just had, I seemed to have lost all thoughts completely. I tried to piece them together but the details were lacking and I couldn’t remember how I’ve constructed them back then.

I really wish I could have a recorder/transcriber for brain impulses. Things would be much easier with them.

While tracing back my thoughts for a better entry, I took the liberty of changing the site layout again. WPUnlimited is super nice and flexible with all the customization tools (SEO included) but I just didn’t have the time to improvise a design other than the bare white and violet. With the new Illacrimo theme and flickrRSS plugin plus flickr badge, SBS looks more sleek and organize.

The new design may not drive the writer’s block away but it did bring pleasing aesthetics. As it should, whenever you’re redecorating your home… or on this case, your personal soapbox. =)

After all the frustrating hours and senseless emails, my domain transfer is complete!

It’s about time too, I might add. Three months is a very very long time to transfer registrars and webhosting. That and the stress and frustration that came along with it are things that I want to avoid from this point onward.

I haven’t dug deeper as to the reason why my domain transfer took this long, though. Knowing my temper, I would only aggravate myself. I did found out that the old registrar has been facing some problems. I’m not really sure if this is connected to the issues they were encountering at that time.

Oh well. No matter what the reason is, what’s important is that my domain and webhosting are transferred to a hopefully better service provider.

*Sigh of relief*

I should get back to wrting more blog posts now. Where should I start? Hmmmmm…..

Time sure flies pretty fast if you’re not keeping a close watch.

Case in point:

I went bowling with Pam and Michelle last Labor Day weekend. I kept on saying a few meetings back that our barkada should really adopt a sport (for more gimmick options other than eating and drinking coffee) and I picked that weekend to start the resolution. We went to the bowling lanes in Eastwood (oh, the irony!) since Megamall was having a mall-wide sale and Sta. Lucia might be crowded as well.

We didn’t realize that it would be a sort-of High School reunion as we coincidentally run into 4 High school batchmates (plus 1 that Michelle met earlier that day plus 2 that Pam and I met after seeing Michelle off). Seven might be a small number but in a class that only has ~170 students and still has its own subgroups, it was a big deal.

Note: For unexplainable reasons, I decided not to explicitly name the people/group involved and their role in this so-called circus. Though, I did put their names out there for all the world to see. A simple matching type activity for the curious cats, I guess. =P

It was late March when I decided I should change my webhosting provider and have my domain transfered. Server downtime almost always occurs especially on those few (and I mean very few) moments that I wish to post a blog entry. Pretty irritating considering I only have the night hours to do all my leisure activities.

Since domain transfer would take up too much time and difficult to do on staggered sessions, I asked my Dearest to take over. He had his domain transferred himself (with no added fuss) so I thought he is the best person to handle my domain transfer. I never thought a simple favor would turn out to be time-consumming and infuriating for both of us.

After two months, countless emails and an expired-and-renewed domain, this blog is up and running again!

Finally!

The site needs more tweaking here and there. New widgets and plugins wouldn’t hurt as well.

I would write about the little details of my so-called domain transfer in my next(?) post. I prefer to relish this new look first before I resume to the regular rant-and-write program.

Thank you so much to my Dearest for the hosting transfer and the site overhaul.

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Three funerals, two birthdays, and a wedding.

Some people go through these things in a span of a year or so. My family went through them in two months.

December: It was over breakfast when my mother told me that her oldest brother had past away. I knew he was hospitalized a few weeks before that but I never thought he would pass away just days before Christmas. Then again, who has the power to dictate when he/she would die anyway?

Less than two weeks later, my brother got married. His wedding was the first in the family so I guess my parents got too excited and went all out with the preparations and the gimmicks. The wedding wasn’t until 7 in the evening but honestly I felt it lasted for a whole day. Good thing, the Astoria Hotel rooms was rented for the night. My sister and I got to sleep in a swanky place not to mention the ample rest time I could get before the barkada gimmick the next day.

January went by just like any other new year. After all the new year anticipation and excitement had subsided, my aunt (father’s sister) passed away. News of her death greeted me and my sister while I was on my way to work and she to school. She never got married and had been living with us even before I was born. And since my father is the only surviving immediate family member she had, we were tasked to take care of all the funeral arrangements and be at the chapel for the wake.

February came and I celebrated my birthday. Then came valentines. And then, another news hit us on Tuesday night –  my aunt (mother’s sister) bid us farewell. It’s hard to meet your relatives again in the most depressing cirsumstances. It couldn’t be helped, though. I just had to applaud my mother and her siblings’ strength despite everything.

These series of celebrations and tragedies really made me ponder on my life and what have I been doing recently. I’m already 24 and I still feel I’ve got a long way to go before I could say I’ve had it made. Funny (and frustrating) how the last hurdle ended up being the the hardest and most exhausting struggle I have to overcome. I wish, though, that I make the right decisions and that lady luck wouldn’t leave me behind.