Christmas 2023 Before Bedtime Reflections: Preparing to Change for the Better

Just some things that I'm thankful for every day to remind me of what the Christmas season is all about. It's part of the Christmas tradition that I'm establishing starting this year.

Nov 06 (Mon): Woke up before noon today. It's a brand new week: new things to learn and new opportunities to conquer. I'm very happy that my after-job part-time called me back for my services again. Super grateful to my partner for being so supportive of my decisions in

my professional life. Also, I'm extra-craving for this Dalandan coffee from our recent trip to Boracay. This day though is going to be extra long because of the tasks that I have in my full-time job. Oh well, it's Monday after all.

In addition, bawing bawi ako sa tulog nitong weekend lalo na last night. Super thankful rin na I finally had the energy and will to clean the living room and put away some things.

By the way, nag-samgyup din kami kahapon sa Jin-Joo Glorietta. Hindi ko gaanong na-enjoy kasi parang and bilis kong nabusog tho okay na rin, at least napagbigyan ko din si jowa sa gusto niya. He had been craving for samgyup since last week. LOL.

Bumili din kami kahapon ng sourdough bread sa newly opened branch ng The Daily Knead sa Glorietta. I like it. I think I found my new go-to bakery. Looks like I'll be buying my weekly bread from them in the next few months or until may artisan bakery na mas malapit dito sa bahay.

Nov 07 (Tue): I was not able to get the amount of sleep that I wanted to have, given my busy schedule at work last

night. But thank God for coffee. I hope this mug that I have right now will be able to keep me awake until 04:00 AM. After getting up from bed, I immediately toasted two slices of sourdough bread and they were great. But I think they could use a side of scrambled eggs instead of just a spread of coco jam. Well, there's still tomorrow to try it.

My first day at my part-time after three weeks turned out to be great. I'm thankful that the executive virtual assistant of the owner is very easy to work with. Anyway, I love the workload that they gave me, I get to put another skill of mine to use.

Also, I'm super grateful for my colleagues in my full-time job. We're now able to work as a team and people are already sharing their ideas freely. I have a new project, as a contributor, that's gonna eat up the bulk of my time but it's a good avenue for me to learn new skills and hopefully be able to apply them to the project that I'm leading.

Nov 08 (Wed): Doing this after logging out from work. This morning was one of those days, to get up from bed was a challenge. So I stayed far too long and late to even type my entry for today before I started working. Anyway, I'm so thankful to my partner for being so understanding during this kind of day. Big shoutout to my colleague who is always ready to cover my tasks during these days.

Lastly, just because I'm very sleepy already, my heart is full because of the simple act that the owner of the company where I'm working as a part-timer did before I logged out a few minutes ago. He apologized and said that he felt like he let me down because of the downtime that I had in the last 3 weeks. But of course, I assured him that all was well, that I understood what he had to do. And yes, I meant every word in that. I'm just excited that I'm now back to my regular programming in this part-time.

Nov 09 (Thu): Woke up very early again today. I think I'll be able to fall asleep later during my lunch break at work. Anyway, I'm both excited and anxious for today. Just some first times at work but I'll be okay. I just need to super focus on my tasks.

I'm grateful for my energy today. Right before I took a bath, I was able to run a load of laundry and probably another one later. Also, I think I'll be able to fold the laundry that I washed yesterday.

I think the next thing that I need to try harder to get done is my daily reading and every other day workout routine.

Nov 10 (Fri): Too sick to write a full entry for today but I'm very thankful that my manager agreed to not have our 1-on-1 coaching session because I can't talk much due to my sore throat. I'm very glad too that the owner of my part-time agreed that I could just work for my Friday hours tomorrow. Despite my partner working long hours this week, he still was able to buy the roasted chicken for our dinner.

Nov 11 (Sat): I'm so thankful that I got to rest throughout the day to recover from sickness and not escalate it to a full-blown flu. So grateful for my partner, he cooked Tinola and I think it's one of the reasons I got well easily on top of Biogesic every 12 hours. After my shift in my part-time job, my boss informed me that I could also render some hours tomorrow, but of course, I'm working the hours.

Nov 12 (Sun): Thankful for a chill Sunday this week. We ordered McDonald's online and just chilled at home with our dog. I feel so rested and ready for the week. I ended my Sunday with a 4-hour shift in my part-time. I hinted to my boss that I wanted to take his project offer in one of our GCs if it's still available. And I just got a confirmation that it's still up for grabs. Now. I'm wondering if my schedule can still accommodate it. Anyway, last night, I was

mentally in this coffee shop with their Real coffee and that toast with scrambled eggs plus the view of the white sand beach. LOL. But yes, it's a fun way to start this week.

Nov 13 (Mon): Woke up around 11:30 AM, too early than my alarm at 02:30 PM, because of loud banging and drilling in our neighborhood. It turned out the public road in our street is getting jack-hammered just to be reconstructed later on. I don't know the reason but from my perspective, that road is perfectly fine. Anyway, it's been an extra challenge at my full-time job today because it's my first time actually doing the report of my colleague who is currently on a 2-week vacation. But I'm excited for him, at least he gets to rest from all the craziness going on in our team right now. Nothing bad, all good stuff but extra challenging. I just hope that when he gets back, he'll have a refreshed perspective and be able to take the challenges head-on.

Nov 14 (Tue): Too tired to actually function after my 13-hour work. But I'm thankful that my partner is very supportive of this endeavor and understanding of the things that come with these long hours of work. Also, my partner bought a comfort food for our dinner, dinuguan. Oh my gosh! I super loved the way that dinuguan was cooked.

Nov 15 (Wed): So today, I decided to ask my boss at my part-time job if I can move to the day shift temporarily, just until the construction in our neighborhood is over. I'm very grateful that he accommodated my request. Such an amazing human being! But of course, I assured him that for anything collaboration-related, I'm always available to hop on a quick call before 12:00 PM, his time. This way, I still get to maintain my flawless inputs and outputs in his company.

Nov 16 (Thu): Finally experienced having at least 7 hours of sleep. Also, it was my first time working from 08:30 AM to 12:00 AM the following day. I don't know but I felt so productive compared to working from 03:00 PM to 06:00 AM the following day. Maybe it's because I had enough sleep? Yeah, maybe that.

Nov 17 (Fri): I had to move out of the hours for a few hours to be able to think properly while working. The drilling noise in front of our house was driving me nuts. It made me happy na nakalabas din ng bahay and got to have coffee with my partner after his work. I'm excited to have a 7-hour sleep tonight. I'm also excited for tomorrow, finally another badminton game.

Nov 18 (Sat): Been a great day dahil nakapag-badminton ako. However, I didn't like the way I was paired with other players in the queue that's why I asked my badminton buddy to get us in the Saturday morning queue instead of the afternoon next time. At least the queue master in the morning already knows my level of play. My partner and I were supposed to have pasta for dinner but we did not push it because he was still full from his catch-up eat-out with his friend from his previous work. So I just had a burger and fried chicken from McDonald's.

Nov 19 (Sun): It's Miss Universe 2023 coronation! I'm happy that the Philippines bet got into the Top 10 but it felt and looked like she deserved to get into the next cut, Top 5. I honestly still can't move on from that until now. Anyway, MERALCO decided to do their maintenance on this same day so my partner and I had to rely on the data from our mobile phones. That's why our viewing experience kinda sucked. Since it's kinda hot inside the house without electricity to run our fan and AC, we decided to go to the mall and compare prices of the newest model of iPhone from different retail stores. We also had a satisfying lunch at a Thai restaurant plus a coffee sesh at CBTL.

Nov 26 (Sun): Had a blast day with my best friends and their girlfriends. Kasama din sana namin si Art pero meron siyang plano na lakad prior to our day out getting finalized. We had lunch at Din Tai Fung. We also had coffee bago pumunta sa condo nina Migz to surprise Vic for his farewell party. We watched some movies and ordered pizza and wings for our dinner. It's a happy experience for me, at least napakita namin kay Vic how much we appreciate him as our best friend.

Nov 27 (Mon): Today lang nag-start mag-sink in sa akin na aalis na si Vic and will live overseas for good. Nalulungkot ako, I guess I'm just not really used to saying good bye sa best friends ko. Since 2010, kasama ko na silang dalawa. They witnessed all my ups and downs ever since naging magkakaibigan kami. Ibang-iba yung feeling na lumipat lang to a different province or city for work yung kaibigan mo. At least kapag ganito lang, we can still see each other as often as we want kasi ang dali lang ng commute at sobrang mura lang ng pamasahe as compared to moving permanently overseas. I mean yeah, modern na ang communication ngayon pero yung opportunity to have coffee, drink alcohol, or have lunch or dinner any time na gustuhin namin eh mahirap na. Haist, I'm sad but I'm very happy for him kasi at least marami sa mga pangarap niya ang matutupad with this move. I hope all good things for him and sana palagi siyang safe doon. As for me, I don't know kung hanggang kailan ko mararamdaman ang ganitong sadness.

Nov 28 (Tue): Kinda feeling lost with my part-time job. My boss has not been responsive since Friday last week. I feel like he is gradually ghosting me. LOL. But still, I'm doing what's expected from me and creating my own tasks that I think are aligned with the major tasks that he plans to hand off to me once we have new clients. As for my full-time job, I had to go to the nearest site to get my laptop reformatted because some of the installed apps were not working properly. Despite

this, I was still able to learn a certain process that's very important to our ongoing project. At home, my partner cooked a delicious dish for our dinner. I'm so thankful for my partner. In the midst of everything that happened at work, I have him as my rest and comfort.

Nov 29 (Wed): I cooked spaghetti for dinner. Unfortunately, my intention to cook it on low fire almost made it burnt pasta. Masaya na akong hindi tuluyang nasunog at nagmukhang baked spaghetti lang siya kahit na walang melted cheese as ibabaw at naging black pasta ang ilalim. HAHAHA. I'm still thankful naging maayos pa rin ang dinner namin. Lesson learned: Never leave the kitchen if you're not yet done cooking. Also, balik-loob na kami sa cucumber in our drinking water. Ang refreshing pa rin talaga ng may cucumber compared sa basta lang malamig na tubig.

Nov 30 (Thu): I don't know what's with me today, sobrang wala akong energy and drive to move around and even work. Mabuti na lang my boss in my part-time informed me earlier today that I could take the day off. Maybe I'm just getting overwhelmed by my tasks in my full-time job. Ewan ko ba. I probably need to reset my perspective at work. My partner and I cooked together a veggie dish for our dinner. Aminado naman ako na I love planning what to cook, prepare the ingredients, and put them together sa pan or pot. Sadyang hindi ko lang talaga forte ang paglalagay ng tamang amount ng condiments. LOL. A lot of instances, yung matabang habang niluluto ko eh nagiging maalat kapag naka-serve na. Good thing, my partner has an impeccable sense of taste.

Dec 01 (Fri): Nothing much happened today. I still don't have the energy that I used to have. I felt like I was getting drowned with my tasks but lacked the drive to start them at all. Anyway, I cooked our dinner tonight since my partner had an event at his workplace and he had to go home very late. My boss in my part-time job decided to pause my employment since he said he had to catch up on the tasks that I finished. Right now, I'm really just looking forward to the weekend. I wanna have long hours of sleep, play badminton, jog around our neighborhood, visit a museum, and catch up on some of my video-creation items at work.

Dec 02 (Sat): I was able to clean the house and re-arrange the fixtures in the living and dining areas after our late lunch. Around 06:00 PM, I decided to ask my partner to go to the mall and buy some treats for our dog. There were a lot of items on sale and we're able to grab some with 60% to 70% discount. After that tiresome run of errands, we decided to have our dinner at Pepper Lunch in the mall's food court. It's kinda funny because a lot of the customers at the table that we chose ordered the same dish from the same restaurant. If you've dined at Pepper Lunch, you can then relate to eating your food with smoke all over the place.

To cap the night off, we decided to grab chai latte and dark mocha at Starbucks. When we got home, we both couldn't sleep. While my partner was browsing through social media, I decided to run the laundry and start a new Korean series on Netflix. I super like Strong Girl Nam-soon. I hope there are still more episodes to come aside from the current 16 released episodes.

Dec 03 (Sun): We did not to a lot of things today. Just plain chill at home: sleep and Netflix, mainly because my partner has been feeling dizzy since he woke up this morning. I had to buy him a few cans of pineapple juice and some chips to snack on while watching Netflix. I decided to end the night around 02:00 AM because of one-more-episode syndrome. LOL.

Dec 04 (Mon): The main event of my day was my appointment at DFA to apply for my passport. My appointment was between 01:00 PM to 02:00 PM. Unfortunately, I was able to finish the application around 04:00PM already just because the queue of the data capture step was so disorganized. After that, I decided to go to Mall of Asia to grab a very late lunch and coffee. Before I went home, I grabbed a cup of iced milk tea and some takoyaki for my partner. Although I filed an emergency leave at work today, I can say that I'm pretty much productive.

Dec 06 (Wed): This day has been a bit challenging. Since I don't have part-time work this week, I woke up around 01:00 PM and had to log in for my full-time at 03:00 PM. During my shift, a lot of things were happening and my mind was just running in different directions. Being too stressed by the events of the day, I logged out at exactly 12:00 AM. And to destress, I watched a Korean series on Netflix until 05:00 AM. I kinda didn't like how my day went but here's to hoping for a better Thursday.

Dec 11 (Mon): Thank God, my left foot no longer hurts. It had been hurting since last Friday. Finally, after two tablets of Flanax and multiple cold compresses, I can now walk properly. This day for my full-time has been a lot. I worked on a lot of aspects of my 2024 goals while realizing a lot of possible roadblocks. As for my part-time, I still have no shift this week just like last week. I just feel sad. I've been looking forward to working my extra hours this week but it looks like all I can do is use them to watch Netflix, read books, and update this blog.

Dec 13 (Wed): Ramdam ko na ang sinasabing busy days ng dati kong supervisor sa current role ko. I have a lot of projects to start. However, I am excited more than overwhelmed despite the number of tasks that I have to do. This day has

been extra compared to Monday and Tuesday. Financially, this is what's taking a toll on my mental health. Managing our household's finances is very taxing. I feel as if my energy is getting sucked out of my body every time I see the deficit that we still need to work on. On the good side, I am now done with the 16-episode Korean drama series that I've been watching since last week.

Jan 07 (Sun): Closing this Christmas Tradition for 2023. I'd say I'm 50% successful with this last project of 2023. Things got in the way, life happened as they said. I had been very busy at work, caught flu that made me bedridden for almost two weeks, and was demotivated to write anything for the rest of this project.

I hope to be more productive with next year's Christmas reflections and for the rest of 2024 in general. Happy New Year, friends! It's another opportunity to better ourselves.

Life Almost Starts At Thirty

"Well, just because they say life starts at forty."

When I started living on my own, celebrating my birthday had always meant sleeping for at least 10 hours, having dinner in a restaurant, watching a random movie in the cinema, and having a massage, all of these on my own. I never worried about doing things alone because it's rarely complicated. The only struggle I experienced was not knowing what I wanted to eat on that day and perhaps not being exactly sure if a movie was good enough for me to spend money on to watch it on the big screen. Now that I'm turning 30, it's somehow different. Though I still celebrated it with a lot of sleep, my boyfriend surprised me with a bouquet of roses and a cake. I'd say that my 30th birthday was a little extra. One weekend, after my birthday, my boyfriend and I, along with one of my best friends and his girlfriend, spent the weekend in the City of Pines, Baguio. We left the metro at two o'clock in the morning on Saturday, and by seven, we were already in Baguio. We had breakfast at Hill Station, went to see some tourist spots, checked into our hotel, and had dinner at Le Chef in The Manor. The following day was just another tour of the city, and we ended our mini vacation with four hours of relaxation at North Haven Spa. Onto the things that I want to do in my 30s... I want to have a two-story house with a mini-library, a super quiet bedroom, a pantry, and an outside space for ornamental and edible plants. I love having my own space where I have dedicated shelves for my books, a bedroom with thick blackout curtains, a storage area for my fermentation plans and the household's supplies, and a yard for an herb garden, rose, and orchid collection, some fruit-bearing trees, and day-to-day vegetables.

My partner and I already have some random designs in mind, but nothing is fixed yet. As for the location, it's outside the metro but still just one or two hours away. It's perfect this way to make sure that we can easily visit or meet up with our friends whenever we want to. Furthermore, it's going to be easier for me whenever I have some business at work that I need to do in our office. At this age, I'm all for this mantra: a small circle, a clear mind, a happy heart, a private life, and peaceful days. Throughout the years, since I started working, I've managed to keep my social circle tight and small. I have my two best friends with their partners, very few work friends, my badminton friends, and some good friends of my partner. I intend to keep it this way. Having a small circle means that I can give more time to all of them whenever I'm free, which is always the case if a friend needs me, rather than spending it with a lot of people without having any meaningful connections and conversations. Even though I am a self-proclaimed introvert, I also enjoy the company of my friends. At this age, I just want to spend most of my time with my partner and enjoy the warmth of our home with our dog, and hopefully a cat in the near future. But of course, frequent brunch and wine nights with my friends are always on my agenda. In my 30s, I want to focus more on my inner peace, that level of calm and comfort where I am not bothered by noises outside of my home, where the harmony between my partner and me is more important than the chatters of other people. And if we want to share laughter and stories with our friends, we can invite them to our home or meet them outside or probably visit them in their own homes. Part of my social life is playing badminton with my friends. I think this will be my sport until my old age. Since 2016, badminton has been one of my stress relievers. It's as if I can release my frustrations whenever I smash the shuttlecock. It's just a plus point if I can score through those smashes. Sometimes, I even use the bird to release my anger for someone; I imagine that I'm hitting their faces instead. As I grow older, I want to read books more than ever. I've been reading books to pass the time since I was in high school. Reading has always given me comfort, especially when it's raining, and I have nowhere to go but indoors. These days, I never leave the house without a book in my bag. And I plan to keep my relationship with books this way. In my 30s, I want to focus on books that will further enhance my knowledge in my current profession, homesteading, and sustainability. In my 30s, I want to excel further in my job. I want to earn more awards related to my role. I also want to find mentors for myself to become the best in data analytics, presentation, and call center financial management. Furthermore, I aim to continue as a mentor to my colleagues in the company. As my number one goal for this year, I aim to be promoted to a role related to data management, probably in the reporting or business analytics side of the business. All of these will be discussed once I have my one-on-one coaching session with my manager to prepare for the coming year. On the side, I want to explore data science. I'm currently using Coursera.org to learn the initial steps of learning this field. I found an article earlier on how to become a data analyst. There are steps there that include suggestions on where and what to start with and which courses to take on the platform. I also plan to complement it with the HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers. I've had this book since 2019 and haven't read it, so it's high time for me to turn its pages. With this plan laid out, I want to focus on experiencing new things by traveling. I want to be more adventurous when it comes to food. I want to explore new dining places and experiences. I also want to learn to cook new dishes, be they local or foreign cuisines. I think I will share them here too. I just finished putting up a goal board where my boyfriend and I will put our goals for the years to come. We will put our short-term goals, those that we want to accomplish within the following years, and our long-term goals, those that we want to achieve after a year or so. This year, I want to go to Siargao with my boyfriend. It's also a good idea to have a getaway with my best friends now that the pandemic has been somewhat controlled. Our last out-of-town trip was almost exactly three years ago. I also obtained a hotel membership recently that I plan to use during my #TravelGoals. I also plan to offer stays to my friends so they can enjoy the perks that I have during their travels. Throughout the years of having just enough money to live from paycheck to paycheck, I promised myself that in my 30s, I would do my best to invest part of my earnings so that once I hit my 40s, I would not worry about my financial stability. I've been constantly researching my current investments, and I think I'm on the right track. All these being said, I look forward to my 30s to experience things that I've never had before and continue enjoying those that make me have a small circle, a clear mind, a happy heart, a private life, and peaceful days.