Addiction Fix

In a hurry to get to work today, I left my mug of milky brewed coffee on the cabinet at home. Hot water was absent at the Admin office and buying a cuppa at the local cafe was not an appealing option. Though I managed to finish what I have set out to do today, my head throbbed which on a regular day meant, I badly need to get my fix of coffee.

So, as soon as the clock hit 5pm, I gathered my stuff and did a quick shopping for dinner before heading home.

Too lazy to lift a hand, i laid supine on the sofa squinting at the television watching the local news. When dad left for his scheduled medication, I got hold of the remote and changed channels. On studio 23, Misagh, on the right flank where James is usually positioned, was in possession of the ball. The game against Macau was well underway and the Philippine team has already scored a goal courtesy of Chieffy.

(lifted from the quoted news dot com)

Thumbs up to Phil in this game. Although his attempts were not converted, he was wise and unselfish, giving the ball to a more well positioned team mate instead of going for glory himself. Kudos to Muller for not giving the opposing team the chance to equalize the score at any time.

My point is, coffee is not the only cure to unexplained headaches. Watching football does the trick as well.

Azkals vs Kaya in ICanServe Invitational Football Tournament

The last match in the series promoting awareness on Breast Cancer featured the star-studded A and K teams. It was already in the middle of the first half when I get to switch the channel to IBC but the score was still nil-nil.

It's difficult to manage a team where everyone wants to be in the limelight. Why is that?

When Hartmann hit the first goal, the other team strikers started to deliver too. After Chieffy and Angel, it is apparent that Phil already felt the pressure of making one as well. It was funny. There were two occasions when Phil made two attempts just before he hit the penalty box. Either he didn't see Hartmann behind the kaya defender, or he desperately wanted to kick the ball in.

Coach Weiss must have seen the trouble about so many strikers on the field and got Hartmann replaced. Soon enough, with the able assist from big brother YH (who did a great job defending and distributing the ball from the right flank), Phil contributed two more to the team's first 3 goals.

The Azkals finished with 5-0, and everyone thinks our team is ready to face the friendlies scheduled for this week and next.

all about june

There are only four notable events that were worth writing about what happened after the day when school started.

By the end of the two weeks when we should have gone back to the vet, cuchi's stitches were already down to one. Since there was no notable swelling or infection surrounding the wound, I took the liberty of removing the last one myself. The sad thing is that we have never been to the garden after the accident until now (just outside). Weeds and grass seem to be happy about the change that they flourished with gusto, some even towering the fast maturing pigeon peas

Lil bro arrived from the middle east not a week past bringing home a suitcase of laundry shielding 4-16oz mugs, 300g of instant coffee and about a kilo of nougat filled chocolates. Restless, he's been busy changing the landscape of our electronic world. As of yesterday, we watched movies in full 32-in screen and in dolby stereo. He plans of giving mom the same experience...but this time with playing her current favorite: plants and zombies.

Never take a bone from a dog's mouth, especially if that dog is tara. I should have taken a cue about what she is capable of when she effortlessly took a big bone from Cuchi who is five times heavier. What happened was mum fed Tara with chicken bone. In my alarm of finding the little thing choke, i went looking for her and try to forcibly extract whatever was left of the bone, only to end up getting my thumb bitten. So off to the clinic I went to have my first of the three-in-the-series rabies shots.

(photo lifted from the net...i forgot from manila bulletin or philippine star)

Fifa team no. 159 is making waves in the qualifiers. Since my Wednesday class was conveniently transfered to another time, I came home early enough for the Azkals vs Sri Lanka pre-game discussion which I dismissed in favor of running with Cuchi. Game proper proved to be super-charged. Refs gave out too many yellow cards early in the game. Nevertheless, that lone away-game goal kept the hope alive of seeing the boys play in the big league.

making up for lost ops...

with lira and pats out for an official dinner with department guest (ralf dues in the flesh), i took the chance of flexing my knees in an intense game which we six girls (ping, miray, maddie, joan, cele and myself) fought teeth and nails against five boys (judah, novo, odie, jockoy and charles) and gained the advantage for most of the night's scrimmage. i played defense on the first half and forward for the rest of the scrimmage ending up with two long range goals, two with assists from cele and miray, one goal from a fast drive (from my defense post to the goal...santi-like, eh?) and a goal for the rival team from jockoy's goal kick
which i caught with crossed arms over my head :)
The pictures are from last week's, chronicling the fun we are having in preparation for next week's thirsty cup. The smiles belie week-old bruises, inevitable in an intense, fast paced game.

losing sleep...again

I hope that this is only one of those days that happen once in a blue moon. My sleep was cut short by a rather loud chatter from the main house. When I checked the watch that I kept on the window sill, it said 9:48 a.m. To think that I finally succombed to sublime subconsciousness at around 6 a.m. Not only that, the pump, which is only a meter away from my bed (separated by 6 inches of concrete wall) nearly drove me crazy. Apparently Ponching has not finished with today's load of laundry. I decided between screaming and keeping my cool. The latter won out. What I did was drape the windows with blankets, tucked my head at the corner of the bed, covered my ears with pillows. Thankfully, I promptly went back to sleep and said hello to the world with a smile at 1 p.m. I was so hungry and couldn't be more grateful to see some still warm rice on the table (Fran's an angel). The hotdogs were cooked at the minimum and I concentrated on filling my empty stomach.
Paracetamol and phenylpropanolamine make me feel lousy but they're a big help driving the cold away. Today, I can't remember sneezing nor blowing my nose anymore. I felt so down it actually crossed my mind not to play soccer anymore. I actually went back to bed after downing a rather big helping of chicken macaroni (which I prepared after lunch) but at half past 4, I headed for the shower like an automaton. I couldn't help myself. Subconsciously, I could be thinking that I couldn't wait another day to get into the field. :) Boy, we are pathetic. We are so addicted to the sport.
My playtime was around 1 1/2 hours. It was a good workout. Everyone must have had enough of accidents already, we had none of that tonight. I missed two good passes though and a million of opportunities to make a goal. Hopefully, today's exertion will render me dog tired at the end of the shift so I would be oblivious to whatever distractions when I reach r.e.m.