I Am Going Back To School

I finally did it. I enrolled in the School of Fashion and Arts (SoFA) and will take up Bag Design. It will be taught by Amina Aranaz-Alunan, owner and designer of the bag brand Aranaz.

I have been designing bags as a hobby for the past two years. My designs are executed by a supplier whose main business is bag production. I have been successful in selling my bags to family and friends but I felt I needed to know the ins and outs of this craft. I have been searching for a school that offers short courses and luckily during one my visits at the parlor, I chanced upon an article in one of the local glossies regarding the above mentioned school.

Honestly, I was a bit hesitant because in the next few days I turn 40, my classmates might be half my age or even younger. But then I got to thinking-- Isn't this the age of women empowerment? And that 40 is the new 30? And the one thought that is common in all the inspirational books I have read is that we need to love ourselves to be better people. We need to find our passion. We need to live life. Putting all insecurities and doubt behind me, I checked out the school and enrolled myself.

In a nutshell, I don't know if this is a case of mid-life crisis, I know I have to begin finding myself, that person that was set aside for a while for the children's sake. Will this open new doors for me? Your guess is as good as mine. One thing is for sure, this will be a great learning experience. School starts on Mar. 31, my 40th birthday.

I SPY ANSWER

Thank you for playing the I Spy game in my site. I must admit it was tricky because it was hidden pretty well but I figured it would be corny without a challenge.

PHOTO HUNT: I SPY

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The theme is I Spy and just like the game, a picture is taken and you will need to spy the hidden object. Well today is the first day of summer vacation and after hitting the books for 2 weeks, getting prepared for the last quarterly exams, my boys are having a blast bringing out all their favorite Transformers and Pokemon toys. Can you spy Barricade the Decepticon police car? Happy searching.

Clue: It's on the l____ side.

The Last Lecture Of Randy Pausch

Allow me to introduce Randy Pausch. I "met" him while watching the Oprah Show a few days ago and I was touched by his positive outlook despite being told by the doctors that he has at the most six months to live.

Randy Pausch is a happily married man and a father to three young children. He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He is dying from pancreatic cancer and doctors say there is nothing they can do because the tumors have spread to his liver and spleen. It is a tradition at the University to give a "Last Lecture" and this he did. He felt the best lecture he could give his students is a talk on achieving dreams and living life.

In a nutshell, I am sharing this video for all you my readers to ponder on. If your time came, what would be your last lecture?

video courtesy of www.oprah.com
picture courtesy of www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

PHOTO HUNT: PARTY

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This Saturday's theme is PARTY. The picture shows one of the gardens surrounding the Rod Laver Arena where tennis matches were played during the recent Australian Open in Melbourne. This was taken mid day and it already had a party feel because of the bands playing, stalls for drinks and food were available and people just sit and walk around while watching the game on a giant screen.