Padlock Party

Evie/Piper posted pictures and a video of the PADLOCK party held at my apartment last week, in honor of my birthday and Jeng's (and Blessie's). Couldn't have been any more fun than it was. Only things missing were Blessie (and her pansit, which means shorter lives for Jeng and I - hahaha!) and Prue.

Click here to see the pictures. Be sure to check the video as well.

Happy Happy Birthday

I don't know, maybe when one gets older, one loses the inclination to party.

Spent the eve of my birthday with my brothers, Ian and Adam. We were drinking and singing - two things we like in common - at my apartment until about 2 in the morning. When they left, I savored my first official night as a single person living alone. (I let go of my maid, rather, was rid of her finally that day so I literally live alone now.)

On D-day, I went to work and met Illac Diaz and his mom, Sylvanna, two very well-adjusted, happy, and generous people. At the shoot, I got a very surprising SMS from a talent coordinator who called me the day before for a project. He told me that the project was pushing through. (More of this in a later entry.)

After work, I spent some time at the office and jammed with some staff. My mom called to greet me, and so did many other good friends. My phone told me I was running out of space in my inbox - it was filling up with birthday greetings from friends and family.

Later, I went to Bar Uno, where one of the hosts asked me what my birthday wish was. I responded with, "I couldn't wish for anything else. I have everything I need."

Up to now, the words still ring in my head.

Yes, I do have everything I need.

The Chronicle of Change - One Year After

"I have been contemplating on creating my own blog for some time, but I never really found the time nor the drive to do it."

- July 12, 2007

Thus began my personal endeavor to bare my life open to the world. It was a little more than a year ago when I started chronicling the changes that happen in my life. The Charmed Bloggers - Prue, Piper, Paige - encouraged me, and I couldn't be any more thankful to them that they did.

So many things have changed. So many good things have happened. And following the line of previous posts on gratitude, I thought it wise to make a list of the major changes that have happened in the last year that I am much grateful to God for.

• I used to hold a good managerial position in the Network but realized that the job was not perfect for my personality type. God gave me a more fitting, more relaxed, more creative job as TV Director and I love it.
• I realized I could write songs, something I have always considered doing but was just so afraid to try. I learned to play the guitar, and learned to play percussions, and I continue to learn something new and improve on my playing everyday with practice.
• I have learned (and am learning more everyday) the keys to happiness: embracing change, throwing out the negative and keeping to happy thoughts, staying away from (or closing the door on) dark, gloomy, negative people who can so easily drag you down with them, always looking at the brighter side of things, keeping myself from changing the things and people I cannot change but changing instead the way I look at them, and finally, being thankful.
• I realize now I have the power to change other people's lives by showing them how I changed mine and how these changes have affected my life positively.
• I have grown more independent. Now I live alone (albeit belatedly at 33 years old) and wash my own clothes and cook my own meals and work my ass off to pay the rent and the bills - all those grown up stuff I did not have the chance to do earlier in life.
• I have grown to love my family more than I ever thought possible.
• I realize that helping others is infinitely more satisying and fulfilling than just knowing you can.
• I have learned to love being alone.
• I also realized how my pride has led to so many of my downfalls in the past, and I am learning to always keep it in check.
• Most importantly, I have learned that God is infinitely more infinite than infinite.

I will end this anniversary entry, the same way I ended my first entry. I leave you with this quote.

"I guess things have changed - as they do all the time. And really, if there's ever going to be a theme to this, it will have to be change - the strongest and the only constant force in nature.

So here begins the chronicle of my life and times, the chronicle of change."

Happy Thoughts

Just thought I'd share with you my mantra for this season: HAPPY THOUGHTS!

Woohoo Paige! Woohoo Piper!

Gratitude

Found this on the net. Good read. Click on this link.

I especially like this part from Melodie Beattie:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Here's something I also found from (or was reminded of by) Paige, where she quoted Oprah. Here's the link. Especially like this quote from Oprah:

I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased. That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.

So I am taking this opportunity to thank my family and my friends - the people who love me in spite of me. I am where I am now and I am who I am now because your love has shaped me, your patience has empowered me, and your own gratitude for the blessings that have come to you from heaven have inspired me to do the same.

Special thanks to Piper and Paige for the enlightening talk. I am grateful we had it.

Alright

Another beginning is starting its ending today. I ain't okay
so don't come raining down on this parade.
The bubble has burst. The clowns have gone. The party's over.
Now, I'm done with this charade.

You left the room and left the lights on all night.
I woke up blinded and you were nowhere in sight.
Honestly couldn't remember if we had a fight.
And all this time I thought we were alright.

Now there's no more laughing and talking 'til morning comes
through the windows. No more kisses on the nose.
And now I'm beginning to feel the gaping hole you left in me.
You have gone, and so it goes.

You left the room and left the lights on all night.
I woke up blinded and you were nowhere in sight.
Honestly couldn't remember if we had a fight.
And all this time I thought we were alright.

Promises made and promises broken, feelings to share left unspoken
We could've given. We could've chosen. We could've been.
But you made your choice and now I'm broken. What else is left to bargain?
I could not have seen it coming.

Maybe tonight when I imagine you beside me
under the sheets on my bed.
I'll close my eyes to try to catch some scent of you
on the pillows on my head.

You left the room and left the lights on all night.
I woke up blinded and you were nowhere in sight.
Honestly couldn't remember if we had a fight.
And all this time I thought we were alright.

Another beginning is starting its ending today. I ain't okay
so don't come raining down on this parade.

- for Doc, completed August 4, 2008

Brownbuds at Umagang Kayganda