A few hours to go and it's Christmas

I'm not used to thinking about things on Christmas Day (or in this case, a few hours before Christmas). Usually I get introspective as New Year draws near.

But for some reason, I got to thinking about how much has happened this year. How many new people have come into my life, only to leave again, this year. Time flies, indeed. And you never know what can happen in just a year.

Who would've thought that K would resign early this year, follow her Singaporean dream, and thrive there? While R had been preparing for D-Day, I never really thought that day would come this year and that I would find myself in a position to really build a team, have a vision for us, and think of all the things that a leader should do and should be. And G, well, let's just call it a year-end surprise.

In a seminar almost two weeks ago, the facilitator taught us about how to come up with a vision. One thing he pointed out was that a vision should not be rooted in current reality-- after all, when the US wanted to put a man on the moon, the technology to do so wasn't even available yet. All they knew was they wanted a man on the moon. So come up with a vision, and then think of what you can do or maybe create in order to achieve it.

And so my vision for myself is to be healthy next year. I'm tired of getting easily winded and getting sick so easily. At 28 (rounding up already since my birthday is just three months away), I'm not getting any younger and I feel that my body is telling me that. I'm really praying that I have enough motivation this time. I also had another vision, but that one isn't exactly in my hands. Haha!

Christmas and all the events leading to it is making me think of what I want next year to be like, both for myself and for my team. Perhaps it is the time to look ahead, and as New Year draws near, I will find myself looking back instead at the year that was, and all the things I was thankful for this year.

Until then, I leave you with this song. It turns out that the lyrics are concise but meaningful. This is my Christmas message to you all. :)

ave yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
Our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yuletide gay,
From now on,
Our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Updated reading list as of December 23

11/33! One-third down the list!

From the old list

1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

2. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

3. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

4. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

6. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

From the Powerbooks Powerbarter (aka the Guilty Pleasures)

7. Toxic Bachelors by Danielle Steel

8. Up Close and Personal by Fern Michaels

9. The Long Walk Home by Will North

10. The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes

11. Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding

12. Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself by Judy Blume

13. Diary of a Mad Mother-to-Be by Laura Wolf

14. The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

15. Wives Behaving Badly by Elizabeth Buchan

16. The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith

From the Fully Booked sale

17. The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld

18. Brown Owl's Guide to Life by Kate Harrison

19. The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax

20. Why Men Want Sex and Women Need Love by Allan and Barbara Pease

From the Powerbooks sale

21. The Position by Meg Wolitzer

22. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

From the National Bookstore sale

23. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

24. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

On the borrowed list

25. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Yet another new list

26. Shi*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

27. Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Books for Learning

28. The Difference Maker by John Maxwell

29. The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell

30. 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People by David Niven

31. A New Breed of Leader by Sheila Murray Bethel

32. Nikon D5000 For Dummies by Julie Adair King

33. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell

Updated reading list as of November 28

From the old list

1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

2. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

3. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

4. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

6. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

From the Powerbooks Powerbarter (aka the Guilty Pleasures)

7. Toxic Bachelors by Danielle Steel

8. Up Close and Personal by Fern Michaels

9. The Long Walk Home by Will North

10. The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes

11. Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding

12. Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself by Judy Blume

13. Diary of a Mad Mother-to-Be by Laura Wolf

14. The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

15. Wives Behaving Badly by Elizabeth Buchan

16. The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith

From the Fully Booked sale

17. The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld

18. Brown Owl's Guide to Life by Kate Harrison

19. The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax

20. Why Men Want Sex and Women Need Love by Allan and Barbara Pease

From the Powerbooks sale

21. The Position by Meg Wolitzer

22. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

From the National Bookstore sale

23. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

24. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

On the borrowed list

25. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Yet another new list

26. Shi*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

27. Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Books for Learning

28. The Difference Maker by John Maxwell

29. The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell

30. 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People by David Niven

31. A New Breed of Leader by Sheila Murray Bethel

32. Nikon D5000 For Dummies by Julie Adair King

A quick update on my list of 101 things in 1,001 days

1. I have crossed two books off my list but added one more-- in fairness, it's a book on leadership, which I will need.

2. I finally got my camera! A Nikon D5000. The goal is to familiarize myself with it by Christmas so that I can take kick-ass photos over the holidays.

3. I got promoted again-- well, sort-of. I'm heading my team now, but will be evaluated after six months before they truly give me the title.

That's it so far! Told you that was quick. I'm off!

The reading list just keeps on growing!

Here's where my reading list stands. Yes, I've added titles. Que horror.

From the old list

1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

2. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

3. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

4. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

6. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

From the Powerbooks Powerbarter (aka the Guilty Pleasures)

7. Toxic Bachelors by Danielle Steel

8. Up Close and Personal by Fern Michaels

9. The Long Walk Home by Will North

10. The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes

11. Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding

12. Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself by Judy Blume

13. Diary of a Mad Mother-to-Be by Laura Wolf

14. The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

15. Wives Behaving Badly by Elizabeth Buchan

16. The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith

From the Fully Booked sale

17. The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld

18. Brown Owl's Guide to Life by Kate Harrison

19. The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax

20. Why Men Want Sex and Women Need Love by Allan and Barbara Pease

From the Powerbooks sale

21. The Position by Meg Wolitzer

22. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

From the National Bookstore sale

23. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

24. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

On the borrowed list

25. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Yet another new list

26. Shi*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

27. The Difference Maker by John Maxwell

28. The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell (actually an old book I just started reading)

29. Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

30. 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People by David Niven

Yes, friends, I expanded my list by five books. But I'm currently reading two books at the same time: The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader  and 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People. I need to attack a book that doesn't require a lot of brain cells. Hahaha.

The New Reading List

Because the Book Hoarder struck again, I now have a new reading list to contend with:

From the old list
1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
3. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
4. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
6. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

From the Powerbooks Powerbarter (aka the Guilty Pleasures)
7. Toxic Bachelors by Danielle Steel
8. Up Close and Personal by Fern Michaels
9. The Long Walk Home by Will North
10. The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes
11. Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding
12. Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself by Judy Blume
13. Diary of a Mad Mother-to-Be by Laura Wolf
14. The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
15. Wives Behaving Badly by Elizabeth Buchan
16. The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith

From the Fully Booked sale
17. The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
18. Brown Owl's Guide to Life by Kate Harrison
19. The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax
20. Why Men Want Sex and Women Need Love by Allan and Barbara Pease

From the Powerbooks sale
21. The Position by Meg Wolitzer
22. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

From the National Bookstore sale
23. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
24. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

On the borrowed list
25. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella


Whew! Now that I've struck out two out of 25, I wonder what I should read next. I need some light reading-- Her Fearful Symmetry turned out to be a tad disturbing. :O

Update: 101 Things in 1,001 Days

It's now August, and the last time I posted an update was in April. So it's high time that I reevaluate this list!

START DATE: 01 January 2010

END DATE: 28 September 2012

READING AND WRITING

1. Write one journal entry every day for two weeks. (0/14)

2. Write one blog entry per week for one month. (0/4)

3. Finish my reading list. (7/12) --The list has grown to 24! Oh no, oh no!

4. Write a short story.

5. Write a poem.

6. Read "Pride and Prejudice" then watch the movie again. --I just bought myself a copy of the book, so that's a step!

7. Read five books I already own on TIME's All-Time Top 100 Books list

- Animal Farm

- Catcher in the Rye

- The French Lieutenant's Woman

- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

- To Kill a Mockingbird

8. Read three books from my Gabriel Garcia Marquez collection. (0/3)

9. No buying books until I've completed my reading list. --I broke this. :( See previous entry.

10. Come up with five books I would recommend to anyone. (2/5) --I would recommend "The Time-Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger and "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult.

MOVIES

11. Finish watching my VCD and DVD movie collection.

12. Watch the whole series of "30 Rock". --I ended up finishing the first season of "Modern Family" instead, and buying the first season of "The Mentalist" and a boxed set of CSI NY. Yikes!

13. Watch "Terms of Endearment", Academy Award winner for Best Picture on the year I was born.

14. Watch five Academy Award winners for Best Picture:

- Casablanca

- Gone With the Wind

- Kramer vs. Kramer

- Amadeus

- Rain Man

PHOTOGRAPHY

15. Own and maximize the features of an SLR camera --This is almost happening, hopefully this month! *crosses fingers*

16. Learn something new from the Digital Photography School once a week for six months. (0/24)

17. Have photos from travels printed and organized in an album per trip.

18. Join Project 365.

19. Take more pictures of family and friends.

Still unsuccessful with Project 365, and I haven't been able to take photos lately. But I'm working towards getting that SLR, and it's not even going to be a joint purchase anymore! I'm looking forward to photography dates with M though, who is equally excited for me and is talking about going to parks and other places where I can practice shooting. :)

ARTS

20. Re-learn how to play "Tarantella" on the piano.

21. Learn a popular song on the piano.

22. Be able to play three pieces from memory. (0/3)

23. Learn more Photoshop tricks.

Still nothing from this part of the list. :(

TRAVEL

24. Visit three new places in the Philippines. (1/3) --Bantayan, Cebu

25. Go on at least one trip abroad.

26. Go on a beach trip. --Check! I went to Boracay over the summer for work, and to Batangas with M and the girls!

27. Explore a city I've never been to.

FOOD AND HEALTH

28. Eat in a new restaurant once a month. --The tight budget still rules. :(

29. Eat vegetables once a week for a month. (0/4)

30. Sleep before midnight every night for a week. (0/7)

31. Enroll in a gym and work out for a minimum of three months. --Still zero motivation for gym, but I'm now trying to start a routine of walking in the village at night for 30 minutes.

32. Try eating kare-kare. --I tried it once when we stopped over for lunch on the way to the Batangas beach trip. It was okay.

33. Learn to make five different fruit shakes. (0/5)

34. Finish my jug of water everyday. --There are days when I get to finish my jug!

35. Have some cotton candy on a random day.

36. Learn how to swim.

37. Cut down on sweets. --This has been working, largely because my tummy doesn't tolerate chocolate anymore. :(

FASHION AND BEAUTY

38. Buy ten dresses. (5/10) --3 dresses for the Boracay trip, 1 for date night, and a black dress for an event.

39. Update my wardrobe. --This has been happening steadily.

40. Grow my hair to ponytail length before getting a drastic cut. --It's at ponytail length now!

41. Wear my hair differently once a month.

42. Learn how to put on eye makeup.

ORGANIZATION

43. Clean up my office email.

44. Clean up my personal email.

45. Do a general cleanup of my room quarterly. --The first quarter cleanup happens tomorrow! :)

46. Do a general cleanup of my office space monthly. --I was able to a massive cleanup when my allergologist told me that the number one culprit for my allergic rhinitis is dust mites.

INTERNET

47. Get all dishes on Restaurant City up to Level 10. --This is becoming more difficult to do, as the game keeps adding new recipes to learn!

48. Use the computer for only two hours a day during the weekend, twice a month for a year. (0/24)

49. Go for an entire day without Facebook once a month for six months. (0/6)

50. Submit a secret to Post Secret.

51. Greet all my Facebook friends a happy birthday-- even the ones I don't know. --I've been doing this as best as I could, although there are some days when I neglected to check the birthdays section.

WORK-RELATED

52. Get to work by 9:00 A.M. everyday for one week. (0/5) --I've been coming to work everyday before 9AM, so I think I can strike this off my list. :)

53. Update my resume.

54. Get promoted. --CHECK! :D 

55. Get a raise. --CHECK! :D

FINANCES

56. Get my bank account to 100K by the end of this list.

57. Save all spare change for 1,001 days.

58. Make a budget and stick to it.

59. After computing for my expenses budget, withdraw everything and deposit into my savings account.

DRIVING

60. Be able to drive the big cars.

61. Take a different route to work once a week.

62. Take a different route home once a week.

63. Conquer my fear of driving in Makati by driving around on a Sunday for no reason.

FAMILY TIME

64. Get home in time for dinner twice a week for one month. (0/8)

65. Treat siblings out to lunch/dinner, just the three of us.

66. Have a sleepover with my cousins.

67. File a leave on my parents' birthdays. (1/2) --Didn't file a leave on Dad's birthday because he wasn't home anyway. I would've ended up hanging out with my mom, haha!

68. Go on five random weekday mall trips with my mom. (0/5)

69. Bring home pasalubong for my family on a random day. (0/3)

70. Have a Scrabble night with the family.

MELBERT

71. Go on an arcade date.

72. Watch DVDs together for an entire afternoon.

73. File a leave that coincides with his day-off and go on an unplanned, spontaneous date.

74. Go on a videoke date.

75. Go on a fancy dinner date. --CHECK! We got a little more dressed up than usual and had dinner in "The Chocolate Kiss" in UP Diliman. :)

76. Go on a trip together. --CHECK! We went to Bantayan with my officemates and Batangas with my college girlfriends. We hope to hit Bohol someday.

FRIENDS

77. Catch up with an old friend over dinner or coffee. --CHECK! Still need to work on keeping it up though.

78. Make a personalized gift for friends this Christmas.

79. Have a videoke night with the girls.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

80. Give 12 "saw this and thought of you" gifts to people who are not Melbert. (0/12)

81. Treat an officemate to lunch for no reason.

82. Buy fries and a drink at a drive-thru and give to a street kid on the way home. If not, to the neighborhood guard.

83. Leave a very generous tip at a restaurant.

84. Send a "just thought of you and hope you're well" text to ten people. (0/10)

ME-TIME

85. Take a birthday leave. (1/3) --Granted, the birthday leave wasn't exactly on my birthday, but still.

86. Have a massage monthly for a year. (0/12)

87. Pray every morning and every night.

88. Write down something I'm thankful for everyday.

89. File a leave just to stay home three times. (0/3)

90. Go to Ateneo on a Sunday for some quiet time. (0/3)

91. Take an afternoon nap during weekends twice a month.

THE FUTURE

92. Decide if I want to take graduate studies or not.

93. Have a list of things I would like in my future wedding.

94. Have a list of random things about my future.

MISCELLANEOUS

95. Write an entry for each day in my Starbucks 2010 planner. --CHECK! My Starbucks planner has my daily to-do list, and I feel naked without it.

96. Watch a concert. --CHECK! Watched Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, and Jojo last March. If all goes well, I'll get to watch Boyz II Men with M this coming Friday!

97. Finish a coloring book.

98. Vote wisely in the 2010 national elections. --CHECK!

99. Get braces removed.

100. Join the lotto.

101. Get a henna tattoo, just because I've never tried it. --CHECK!