Rainy Days
What is it with California these days? It's been raining almost non-stop since the beginning of the week. Not that I'm complaining - I love rain, it makes me want to cuddle up in bed and be all sentimental. But when you have to get up in the morning and haul ass to work, then it's a different story. Just the 5-minute drive to John's was torture; I could barely see the road ahead of me, and there were big puddles everywhere that had me splashing the sidewalks as I drove by.
Anyway, it's the last day of the year, finally! Tonight I'm saying goodbye to 2004 at Tito Gary's, with Trisha and probably Jean Michel. It sucks though that I can't get all liquored up - rumor has it that there will be checkpoints all over Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd. Geez! Do the cops like to spend New Year's Eve like that? Why don't they just go home and get drunk as well? Haha! But yeah, all for safety's sake. It makes sense.
Things have been gone pretty well this week. John's away for New Year's (he left Tuesday) so it's been relaxed here. It's a welcome change from the flurry of tasks I had to handle before Christmas. That was crazy. Now there's just traffic school for me to do when I'm not busy with anything else.
I also climbed a lot this week, and I think I'm going to go at least twice a week now. I've become friends with this Polish guy Greg, and we've climbed and bouldered together twice. He's such fun, and he's introduced me to his Polish friend Kalina, who's super nice as well. Anyway, those three visits did me good, because last night I was able to climb a 5.10B! Yay! Progress! :)
So here's my 2005 toast to myself: To friends, new and old, to climbing, to music and playing the piano, and to more new experiences!
New Year's Resolutions
Well, New Year's Eve is coming up so I have to compose my list of things that I want to do in 2005 (which hopefully I'll
really do). This is about the only tradition I follow now because as far as jumping when the clock strikes twelve to make you grow taller... well, there's no hope for me anymore. So we'll stick to the resolutions list.
1. I will play the piano at least five times a week, and learn at least one new piece by heart every month. This January, my goal is to memorize Velocity of Love, which I had studied in part back in Manila but never really got around to finishing.
2. I will stop buying yarn until I've used up all the yarn I've bought.
3. I will go to the climbing gym more often.
4. I will try to listen more and talk less.
5. I will make more new friends than I did in 2004. I made only a few for the most part of the year, but I've made up for it this December, at church and at the climbing gym. :) I want more though.
6. No more stuttering and less "um"s! That usually means thinking thoroughly before opening my mouth.
7. No more hasty decisions, or taking action without thinking.
8. Enjoy my cousins more. I think I have been somewhat neglecting my cousins since we moved to Brentwood, but I would like to spend more time with them. It's a bummer they can't all go to Mammoth, save for David and Christine. My cousins always make me feel so comfortable and loved. Probably because I am only one of two girl cousins they have. April and I are spoiled!
9. Watch more classic movies. I watched
Singin' In The Rain recently (and loved it, loved it!), and I realized that I've been missing out! I need to catch up on all these classic films.
10. Keep in touch with more people. Sometimes I tend to zone out friends when there's too much going on in my life. But I should really make sure to always reconnect with them regularly so that I don't go crazy. I think living here and not having that many friends in this area took its toll on me this year. But since I have new friends, I resolve to deepen these friendships, get to know these people more and keep them in my life. I've found at least six worth keeping. :)
11. No more spoiled-brat mentality. If I can't have it, I can't have it. If it's mine, it will come to me somehow!
12. Write more. The latter end of this year, because of all the events that happened, I was pushed into writing more than I ever have, and I realize how therapeutic it can be. Sometimes if I'm obsessing about something, writing eases the frustration and I feel at peace afterwards. It helps to put my thoughts on paper and create some kind of logic that will make me feel better. Or sometimes just seeing the words stare back up at me makes me accept whatever issue it is I am trying to overcome.
There's probably more to be added onto this list but I think this will do for now. No serious stuff, that goes in my bedside journal!
Limbo
You know when you're on a rollercoaster and you just passed a big loop and can see the next big one up ahead? That's how I feel. Christmas is over, but New Year's is coming up, and I'm gearing up for another endless night of partying. It's all at once a mixture of excitement and weariness because part of me just wants to curl up in bed after the Christmas Eve festivities, but part of me wants to welcome the New Year with a helluva lot of wine and dancing and friends all around.
And then have I mentioned Mammoth? People are probably tired of me writing about it by now. But just a little quickie to say I'm happy that it's going to rain this whole week because that means it will be snowing all week in Mammoth. Brilliant! Super!
Alright, enough of that for now. Here are the pictures from our Christmas celebration:
Christmas PicsEnjoy and Happy New Year to everyone!
Weekend Recap - Movies and Dinner
Nothing major this weekend, but still enjoyed it just the same. Friday night, Marc and I caught a showing of the indie French film called
A Very Long Engagement, and we both loved it. It was just the right quirky mix of humor, action and drama. It seems that any movie with Audrey Tatou turns out to be a winner. She knows how to pick, that Audrey! :P And of course she knows how to act.
Then, the next day, after a quick barefoot run at the beach, we caught
Ocean's Twelve, which turned out to be a disappointment. Marc and I gave it a rating of "Two restless bodies!" We definitely could have seen a better one than that. But one-for-two is not so bad. We've had better movie days though.
Sunday, I hauled ass to mass even though I was dog-tired, and then rushed back to make three flans for Allan's Christmas dinner. I had promised him that I would be there early to help out so I had to make everything early. On the way there, I was assigned to pick up some paper plates and plastic utensils, and I made a discovery: Christmas is not a good time to shop for paper plates and plastic utensils. I had to go to three stores before I was able to find what I needed! Yikes!
So anyway, Christmas is just around the corner now. I still have gifts to buy and wrap. Oh, and my little cousin April is coming for a visit again! Whoopee!
I Met The Fockers!
John couldn't decide who to bring to the
Meet The Fockers premiere last Thursday, so he brought me! Whoopee! The stars of the movie were there, but I only saw Dustin Hoffman. We got there late so we missed the pre-party, and at the after-party, only Dustin showed up.
Anyway, I give this movie two thumbs way, way up. It's just as good as the first movie, and I highly recommend watching it.
The thing that sucks about watching the world premiere is that you have a hard time finding people who will understand jokes that you want to make in reference to the movie. Friday night, I was aching to swap one-liners with Marc, as he and I can get pretty silly with movie lines, but I couldn't do that with him. All I could do was make him promise not to watch it until he gets back from the East Coast, and he could watch it with me. I can't wait!
Hello, I'm Still Alive
...But it's turning out to be one heck of a busy week. Starting Monday, I have been nonstop burning, labelling and mailing CDs out for my boss. Damn, I've never met anyone who has that many friends. We're nearing the 200 mark now, just with the CDs... and he's not even giving it to everyone he knows! $%^#$%^&^#$%!
So I'm even more eager to get to the weekend now than I've ever been. I'll have to figure out some kind of outlet somehow so I can release all this stress that I've accumulated during the week. Do I hear
par-tay?!?!?!
One Month To Go
It's exactly one month before the much-awaited Mammoth trip, and I have become outrageously obsessed with shopping for winter clothes. I am now on the way to being an expert in wind-resistant and water-resistant materials, and in the various features winter jackets and pants can have. I've also become obsessed with finding climbing clothes and running clothes that will keep me warm during the wintertime. I don't know why I'm bothering though - winter will almost be gone before I'm actually able to get these things. I'm so indecisive about what to get that I'm actually paralyzed.
Anyway, another long day, and it isn't over yet. I had to make Christmas CDs all day long, field phone calls and take care of bills, both my boss's and my own. And the CD label I'm supposed to be creating isn't done yet, I think. I tried to do it on my own and failed miserably so I had to call on an old friend of mine and ask if he could do me a favor. Yikes! I mean, I haven't talked to this guy in a
long time, but I became desperate. Thank God he's able to help me! But I'm just stressing out because my boss is breathing down my neck about this CD label too, since he has to get these CDs out by this week, and the end of "this week" is already tomorrow! $#^TYG%&&$#%&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I'll be glad when January rolls around.
Otherwise life is good. It's Christmas, how can it not be?
Busy as a Bee
Is it just that there are so many things to do now or are the days just getting shorter? I feel like it's such a task to squeeze everything I want or need to do in one day. The weekend flew by so quickly - and it feels like I didn't get much done. Of course maybe it's also because I'm totally obsessed with my new baby, and I'm often lost in my own world when I'm playing with my headphones on. The noise-cancelling feature is at once good and bad, because the sound is so amazing, but of course I don't hear it when the phone rings or when my uncle calls me. Gosh, such problems! :P
Anyway, my weekend was pretty tame. I spent most of it cleaning and rearranging and decorating my room. Like I told Angela, it just didn't feel right to have such a messy room when it's housing a digital piano. I've made it pretty much the focal point of my room, and I'm lovin' it!
Sunday night was the YMA Christmas dinner, and that was a blast. I had so much fun dancing and hanging out with everyone. It's great to meet new people and make new friends, especially when they're as nice as the people at St. Monica's.
But of course it's always nice to spend time with old ones, and that's what I did. :) It was a great way to end the weekend.
Today it's cold and rainy, and I feel so lazy. It's just one of those days when all I want to do is spend time with someone I'm really close to and ponder life. Just like the good old rainy Ateneo days. Except of course then we would ponder life over tequila or vodka at 12 noon. Not the greatest habit in the world. :D
Well anyway, back to work.
New Baby
Isn't he a beauty? (I've decided that this piano is a 'he' because you have to play it right and press the right keys in order for it to work and sound right. Otherwise, it just sits there and does nothing. hahahaha).
Kick Ass!
I just feel very chipper today, like I'm on crack or something (Chris Rock would be very happy to know that). I had a pretty good climbing session last night - was finally able to do a couple of 5.10A climbs, even though I haven't really been climbing a lot, so I'm just a tad bit proud of that. Now if I could only do the 5.10B's and so on, then it would be like I was on crack and Prozac. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time (with the climbing, not the crack and Prozac, although now that I've brought that up, hmmm.....).
Also, my bordering-on-obsessive-compulsiveness checking of the status of the delivery of my piano has paid off, and now I know that it's only one day until I can get my hands on that baby. My fingers are restless (which is probably why I'm typing; it must be some sort of outlet for them), and there's an extremely long list of sheet music I want to get that's saved in a little file on the desktop of my computer. I'm being very ambitious, I am.
Tonight is my very glamorous laundry night, but it's also Christmas night, as I am wrapping gifts and going shopping for more Christmas ornaments and decorations. Save for 2 couples I want to give gifts to, I'm pretty much done. Whoopee!
Oh, and before I log off, I just want to share a snippet of my last song syndrome:
It's the way you love me
It's a feeling like this
It's centrifugal motion
It's perpetual bliss
It's that pivotal moment
It's impossible
This kiss, this kiss, unstoppable
This kiss, this kissYeehaw!
