mood: geeky
has it been a week since new year's? it feels like an awfully long time ago. right now the exhaustion's creeping up, partially due to not having had a proper relaxing christmas vacation. but i'm glad that i was able to make the most of it.

with the lack of kilometric blogging, i'm opting to make a summary (and not a novella!) of my goings-on last month, to save you the good parts. =D

~ WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE! ~

December 6: @ vente
there's no reason why december isn't my favorite month -- mom's birthday starts it all... the dine and whine! my launch into wisdom went fortunately well -- i got to spend neat chunks of it with my intimate friends (ha!) and my family, but most of all it became an impetus of my life realizations, and i began my personal campaign for finding my purpose. i believe that 20 is going to be a significant year for me. :)

December 15: under the star-filled night
the d-day for every wannabe writer of uste... i finally joined this year's Gawad Ustetika (almost didn't for the third year running, but since i promised anne i'd write... i did!), writing about my favorite topic = me. (haha. updating The Portfolio soon) ... wildly enough i was able to beat the deadline and getting all the technicalities done, when 10 days before that i was grappling with a topic. a month later, my favorite girl and i went to the so-called 'awards night' at the university's quadricentennial park. the evening was a throwback to 'something like prom night': with a number of ladies and gents dressed to the nines, soft bossa nova playing, the rhythmic fountain springing, and beautiful strobes adorning the trees. the attire was semi-formal, but i looked like a prof with my long sleeves! the program was good; there was some honoring, some entertaining, and some winning of course. it's funny that in our table of five contestants, three of them won -- and not just that, one of 'em bagged three, including the Rector's Literary Award! (congrats again Khristine!) ... the night wouldn't be complete without the dinner culminating the event, as we were treated to a sumptuous buffet (paella! lechon! bolognese! salmon! dessert!). i don't feel bad about being empty-handed... i was glad to be able to join this competition, and be surrounded in the company of thinkers. (major ego boost eh? *kidding*)... i'd definitely enter again next year (if not for the food! =p) and if there was one plus factor, i saw my dreamboat that night wahahaha... first major lurve! ^^;;;;

December 18: what i'd do for...
our class christmas party was enjoyable as always... it was pretty much equal to last year's, as we had a lot of games (now improved) and a lot of food (plus ice cream!). i like the effort the officers made so that we could have a nicer bond. the secret santa took on a whole new meaning for me this time, as i had to give a real special present to A., whose wishlist was a donation to the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) . i've never given a more inspired gift than that, so i took on the challenge. no small thanks in part to mom and ms. marian from paws, wish granted! mine was fulfilled too, as i was given a set of foreign language phrasebooks. merci / danke schoen / grazie / arigato, L.M.!

December 19: first time's a thrill
giving in to the persistence of laarnie, i attended this year's Paskuhan for the first time in my existence. i came early to meet des for some catching up, who shocked me with the loss of her phone. to drive away the blues, we went around and chatted and met some batchmates of ours. at the grandstand, we were impatiently waiting for the festivities to really start, when a few minutes later lo and behold, firecrackers started firing just 15 feet behind us! it was a stunning spectacle, seeing the lights right in front of your eyes. it lasted about 10 minutes, and by the end of it des and i was grinning from ear to ear. that was one marvelous show. unfortunately she had to leave early, and so about an hour later i met up with laarnie and her friend. due to really bad signal traffic in the campus, we weren't able to meet our other blockmates, leaving us short of people. it was fun anyway, with the food, freebies and picture taking just about anywhere... i got to see * again!. i left the area at around 11pm, not knowing there was a concert sometime afterwards! no matter, Paskuhan '07 was memorable just the same. :)

December 25: christmas cleanup
our customary practice at home when the year-end kicks in was to do some spring cleaning. obviously our house was one hell of a mess for a year's worth of semi-neglect, with piles all over the place (mostly by yours truly!) ... discarded all the useless clutter, gave away our clothes and stuff, and tidied up the rooms. i promise myself i won't make my desk look like a compost pit -- clean living right on! after all the fixing up, we were finally able to breathe well, rewarding ourselves with Starbucks (Frap in a bottle!) and choco-walnut cookies. throw the slob act away!

December 22, 26-29: ellie the workmeister
serendipitously enough, i got a chance to do actual accounting work! my mom's office was short of people to do the bookkeeping last december, so i kinda scrubbed in. so for the 30-something hours i spent hobnobbing around, i encoded the receipts into their accounting system. those terms i kept on droning on from the books came to life, and even the database brought back (not-so-fond) memories of (murderous) tinkering my visual basic program! it was relatively easy save for a few hesitations and triple-checking. i'm happy i was able to have this work opportunity, even if only for 4 days (i felt welcome in the office... they were generous enough for the 1100 php... thank you!)... because chances like this are few and far. sure beats counting cobwebs and doing nothing at home! :)

December 31 - January 1: revelry
apart from the annual new year's eve family gatherings we have, the folks and i -- for the first time in years -- decided to go the extra stretch and spend the last day of the year for some serious fun! after the lunch feast, we first stopped over to SM Mall of Asia (went people-watching, window-shopping, sunset-viewing, sandwich-munching -- we even took a free tram ride!) ... and when night fell, the manic sheep in us flew and crossed over to the Global Fun Carnival! it's been my wish to go there, not having gone to those things for about a decade already... i want to feel like a kid again! i guess i pretty much rode everything -- the Wave Swinger (twice -- like EK's Flying Fiesta), the Ranger (thrice -- like Anchors Away, only it rotates upside down! my favorite =D), the Flipper (which made me really dizzy), the Carousel (twice! haha), the Bump Cars (twice! i suck at driving xp), the mini Roller Coaster, the Space Invader thing, and let's not forget the Ferris Wheel (four times!) ... the most memorable was when we ran for our lives to it at 11:50pm just so we could catch a ride atop in time for 12 midnight - New Year's Day! i believe we were destined to, since we were the last passengers to be let in for that duration... and we even had an extended 4-minute ride! we saw Manila popping all over, with the many firecrackers lighting up parts of the sky... it was so surreal. i was saying breathlessly "this is so perfect!". i'm thankful we were able to experience it. i'm proud of my parents, for being so game to do this with me. :) we were in the carnival for a total of seven hours, and by the time we got home it was already 2:30am... so exhausted but totally overjoyed. =D

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a lesson i learned last 2007 and constantly keep to mind is: If you want something, do all means to have it, and you will get it. it's The Secret itself, more known as The Power of Attraction. no, i haven't read the book, but i think this is the essence of it. when you really want something to happen, be positive that you will be able to attain it. don't cloud it with any doubts, and make an effort into making it possible. the mind is a truly powerful thing, i tell you. that's what i realized with these events, so enough of my guru-ness... try it! =)

Libellés : fun, life, love

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