Sunday, September 27, 2009

A Fair Share of the Good and the Bad

* I'll be starting this week's blog entry with Vonda Shepard's Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow in the background. Not that it means anything, it just happens that it's the next song on my shuffled playlist.

* The things that happened last week, it's kinda funny how things played out. It's an emotional roller coaster, really. Last, last week ("Fire's Hot, We Need More Fuel!"), I was sorta down maybe because I was in the process of brainstorming stuff for the cafe. I like brainstorming, but it really sucks the energy out of you. So what I did was put my plans into action all in one Sunday evening. That was draining but I was fulfilled.

* Last Monday, a day after pulling the strings and making the world go round (as I would like to call it) from my room/office, a barrage of things just happened all at once.

* Stressed and hassled from managing repairs early in the morning at the cafe, I posted on Facebook: What good will this Monday bring us? And I got my answer almost immediately. After Bible study, my sister Joyce and I had a financial update meeting. While we were talking, our 2 TESDA OJTers arrived from Batangas for their first day of training. I told them to sit tight as I was wrapping up my meeting with my sister. When I finally got to them for their orientation, our Shirts Avenue suppliers arrived to set up their space at the cafe. By the way, Shirts Avenue (www.shirtsavenue.multiply.com) is a Multiply site owned and managed by people from UP Diliman. They sell UP shirts online. Our friends from the UPLB Navigators decided to sell Shirts Avenue merchandise at CAnton so that UP students from Elbi can buy their UP shirts. Going back to the story, I told the shirts people to wait because I was still orienting the trainees. After a few seconds, Kuya Rodel from Koinonia.com arrived with our new tumblers. I told him that I'll attend to him right after I attend to the shirts people. After a few minutes, the crew from the Kabataan News Network arrived asking me if they could setup their equipment! What's funny was I completely forgot about our interview! So I was not really ready to face the camera and all. In addition to that, a group of customers arrived at the cafe. It was crazy. But everything went great.

* Prior to that, we just got new curtains installed. So it's a good debut for the curtains, well at least for the cream curtains from our house that my mom brought from San Pablo. We used it for a couple of hours. Later in the evening, Jenni brought the curtains we asked her and her mom to make. I didn't expect that they'll make it that fast!

* In just one night, the cafe was full of new stuff. We had the curtains, the Shirts Avenue display, and the new tumblers from Koinonia (order one today at www.cafeantoniostore.multiply.com). We were all happy about the way things turned out. Who would have thought that so much change would happen not just in a day, but in a moment. A moment definitely changes a lot of things.

* The next day, that was a Tuesday, I went to San Pablo for my work with my Pop. While I was posting pictures of the new developments at the cafe on Facebook, Dan wrote on our wall asking if I've seen my name and a quote from my blog on the newspaper. I told him not yet. He called then told me my name was on the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Go Negosyo full-page ad sponsored by Belo Medical Group (Sept. 21, 2009). Then Jenni called and told me that my blog entry ("Fire's Hot, We Need More Fuel!") appeared on Joey Concepcion's column in the Philippine Star last, last Thursday (Sept. 17, 2009). We didn't even get the chance to see it! Everything went nuts that day, I was sweating and getting all excited. My blog entry was also posted in Philstar.com and GoNegosyo.net, officially making it the most popular blog entry I've ever written on this blog site. Then last Friday (Sept. 25, 2009), while Retz was reading the Philippine Star, he saw another Go Negosyo ad, this time sponsored by Condura, again, with my name and a quote from my blog! Woah...

* Well, we had our share of good things. But of course, when good things happen, bad things also happen. Like last Saturday's typhoon Ondoy. We opened at 7 PM that day because our apartment was flooded and we had to clean our home. It's a good thing that the cafe's ceiling didn't leak. We had a handful of memorable experiences when the cafe's ceiling leaked.

* That day, I thought that it would officially be our first day without a sale. The outside looked bleak. I slept on the couch while our friend Gelo Arboleda, typed an outline for his English subject. My fear didn't come true, thankfully. Our loyal customers are really loyal. Kahit may bagyo, pumupunta parin! I can't believe it! Haha!

* It's a new week and a new hope for all of us. We'll be praying for those who have been affected by the typhoon, I hope we'll all be able to recover. For those who remained safe, be very thankful.

* We're very thankful for this week, it's been a unique experience for all of us. It gives variety and brings spice (like a dash of Cayenne pepper to a bowl of Pasta Bolognese) to our lives. Be it good or bad, everything happens for a reason. Have a fruitful and productive week ahead, God bless!


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