living alone and dealing with my neighbor's leaves

i live alone and, while it could get pretty lonely at times, i've gotten used to it. when you're too lazy to pick up after yourself, or when the trash reaches smokey mountain level, there's no one to nag you, no one who'd judge you for your sloppiness.

but then you learn to live with the mess. at the end of the day, when it gets so horrible you can't bear it, you can always force yourself to spend an entire weekend cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning some more until the house is clean enough you won't be ashamed to have friends over.

it gets horrible though when you have neighbors - neighbors you've peacefully co-existed with for the last 18 years or so - who decide to one day trim their tree and allow the trimmed branches and leaves to fall into your yard. and horrible cause you have to drag that uber-heavy branch and sweep thousands, if not millions, of leaves.

hateful. hateful. hateful.

so i have a dream. i dream that i will be rich enough to afford someone to fix my house for me. someone who'd scrub the bathroom floors (yet another job i hate). someone who'd take care of the leaves in the yard and who'd tell the neighbor off for dumping his trash on my lawn. and, oh, someone who'd keep me company when it gets too friggin' lonely for words.

but for now, i guess i'd have to rely on my own powers to deal with it. so far, i've dragged the offending branches and they've been disposed off and the millions of leaves have been encased in garbage bags. i've taken the first step to fabulousness at home by buying curtains and lovely curtain rods.

who knows? a month or two for now, i can take the next big step and actually invite my friends for coffee or tea or drinks at home. god knows they've asked often enough.

finally, my words, published.

of course, since i'm basically a ghost writer, no one would really know that it was i who churned out those words using my aged laptop in a cold corner in room 310 of the centennial building.

but then again, i blog. so now everyone who cares to read this would now know. :)

manila standard

business mirror

gma news tv

p.s. thanks to f.b. who first informed me that it was on the papers. apparently, he saw it on inquirer but it's not online anymore. hmph.

what do you know. i've actually fulfilled a number of my new year's resolutions.

last december 29, 2007, i promised myself that in 2008, i will:

#1 - buy more shoes.
#2 - spend more time at the mall.
#3 - eat kfc regularly.
#4 - apply for a law firm.
#5 - go to ortigas to get IBP id.
#6 - update resume.
#7 - renew passport.
#8 - apply for a us visa.
#9 - relax and not panic that i'm not married/coupled up with someone/dating someone for the moment.
#10 - spend more time with family.


and guess what ...

#1 - i've bought at least three pairs (i'm not really sure how many but i'm at least sure of three that i've bought recently) of shoes. and the only reason why i haven't bought more is cause i've bought a very expensive bag that i'm still paying for.
#2 - like, duh. of course i spend LOTS of time at the mall. i'd like to say though that because of aforementioned bag, i actually do not BUY much at the mall anymore. galing, no?
#3 - i still do eat kfc regularly, notwithstanding the inexplicably long lines. i mean, come on. all they serve is chicken, more chicken, and even more chicken. so how come it takes forever for them to serve you, right? still, i must admit that the long lines and my recurring allergy to chicken can prevent me from having my kfc fix.
#4 - i've not only applied for a firm, i applied to a LOT of firms and in 18 days, i'll begin working for one. happiness, right?
#5 - i've got my ibp id and my lifetime certificate too. totoong abogado na talaga ako.
#6 - my resume is not only updated, it got me a job :)
#7 - i've gotten my picture taken and i've filled out the form. thanks to tita mayu, by august 3, i can readily pack up and leave the philippines any time ... except that, well, uhm, i'm pretty broke.
#10 - well, the fact that i'm always either at tita mayu's house, out with lingkod and tuloy people can mean only one thing: i'm making time for family and friends.

clearly, i've only got the US visa to apply for (keep fingers crossed that tito lito will be able to help me apply for this) and to relax over my present state of life.

the first one is achievable. with the super handsome ex calling again for some reason, the second one is going to be a bit more difficult though.

but, i don't care. 8 out of ten ain't so bad midway through the year, doncha think?

glad it's done and over with

when i first passed the bar, i thought the euphoric state would never pass. gay told me it would but i sort of didn't want to believe her. after all, it took me an extra year to finish law school and another extra year to finally make it so i was convinced that becoming a lawyer at thirty meant that i would enjoy every single day of it.

in fact, for the first month or so, i'd always wake up with a start and sort of whisper to myself, shucks, ang galing, abogado na ako.

of course, being the wise person that she is, gay was right. it was not long before the giddy feeling actually passed. the days started being normal again. and, while i don't have to correct the guards when they call me attorney now, it felt like it was only then that i felt like a lawyer. for all intents and purposes, i was doing the same job, for basically the same pay, in the same place, at the exact same desk.

but at least three times a year - june to july when people pass their bar petitions, september during the bar, and march when the results come out - i'd get reminded of the fact that i'm a lawyer now and there's no more bar examinations to deal with and NOTHING IS EVER - short of being disbarred - GOING TO CHANGE THAT FACT.

and honestly, during those times, the only thought that clutters my brain is that i'm glad the bar is done and over with.