the year in review

ah, 2010.



you were the greatest, and you were the craziest. in a sense, you were the worse -- oh how you made my wallet bleed! -- and yet you were the most abundant.



here are the highlights of 2010:

i got that "job" with the supreme court and this NGO which allowed me to go to Bohol for a second time. Not only was the trip for free, i earned money from it which allowed me to pay for a whole lot of things that i wanted for this year. the money is all but depleted by this time, but let's just say that without the money i earned from that sideline, i wouldn't have been able to defray the huge mountainload of expenses that came my way this year.


mama came home! after seven years, i think, mama finally made good her promise to come visit. it was a hectic trip, filled with our usual issues and major disagreements with my brother, but at the end of the day, it was still precious time with my mom. i was happy that i got to introduce her to my friends, and that she met people who have been my family the last couple of years.


mama, kit, and i also found ourselves in hk disneyland! our family, save for my dad, has a thing for riding the craziest rides and the last time we were in HK, we got to go to ocean park. of course it's a dream that my brother and i will finally be in the US with our parents, and actually go to disneyland and/or disneyworld, but for now, hk disneyland is the most viable alternative. it seemed especially meant for us since at that time, cathay had this buy two take one promo which was perfect for our three-some. being the ride-crazed fanatics that we were, we made sure to book into a disney hotel and spend two days in disneyland. i don't care that they said it's tiny or that there isn't much to see. we loved every minute of it.


i also got to go on trips with friends this year -- to vietnam with the lingkod girls last august, and to kuala lumpur with the tuloy peeps last september. i don't even know how i managed to afford these things, i guess it helped that we purchased the tickets months in advance and the trips didn't take place until months later. plus, we all stuck to a miniscule budget which meant (at least in the KL trip) no taking cabs, eating at local places (instead of fancy schmancy restaurants), and minimizing the shopping (or so i'd like to think). all the times i've gone out of the country, i was either with my immediate family or with tita celia, so traveling with friends made me feel soooo much like an adult (shallow, i know. plus, yes, i AM an adult, but sometimes, i don't feel like it, like i'm still pretending to be someone i'm not.)


i switched jobs!!! when i first worked at the court of appeals, i knew that it was just an in-between job until i get my bearings, and when gay finally made me see the light and "forced" me to take the plunge, i actually did, and began working for a law firm that i've always had my sights on since law school because i was "in love" with labor law and believed that my labor law teacher was the nicest. and then i did litigation for two years, which, if my bosses were to be believed, i was actually great at. except -- something that i didn't factor in -- i didn't have the stomach for it. i couldn't bear doing stuff i didn't believe in, and hated billing a client especially when i knew the client could no longer make ends meet. there were a number of times i wanted to call the client in and tell him, hey, you should just stop cause you're fighting a losing battle (so not a litigation lawyer, i know). and there were times i also wanted to tell the client that what they did was wrong and that things would be better if they just owned up to the mistake and rectify it soonest (again, so not a litigation lawyer). there came a point that i hated every minute so much that i -- gasp! -- actually told some friends that i didn't want to be a lawyer anymore ... that i just wanted to be, say, an office worker who didn't have to think about her job the moment she left the office. then, one august evening, i got this text about a job. i sent my resume ASAP, got an interview ASAP, and got an offer. the only downside: the take-home pay was much smaller than i was used to. so not right, and so against every single thing that someone my age should be doing. but there was one major thing: i wasn't happy anymore, and i needed something new. so i took the job. and i'm loving every single minute of it. it was everything that i wanted -- super nice officemates, coolest boss ever (that's you, jewel!!), gwapo other boss (sigh ☺), and a job that stops nagging me after 5 p.m. and, oh, i'm still a lawyer, and i'm enjoying the lawyer stuff i'm doing here -- different, but in a good kind of way. so, i don't want to stop being a lawyer anymore. i actually want to become a better lawyer!



i finally got to cross off things from my "things to accomplish in 2010" list. one was to go to HK disneyland. the other stuff include finally replacing my 20-year-old television (which i got to sell for P500 to my neighbor -- hey, it was still working, and quite well, IMHO), having my sink re-attached to the wall once more (after one year and 4 months), getting an automatic washing machine, having a working kitchen sink, and get a new laptop (okay, the last one was courtesy of my dad, but it doesn't really matter as long as things get crossed off, right?). so, while i'm not 120lbs yet (a major major thing on my list), i think i've got that part covered in 2011 (yes, i have a plan! hahaha. the best laid plans of mice and men) so i'll get back to you regarding that next year, okay?


here's the biggie, i think -- we finally have running maynilad water at home! five (yes, FIVE!!!) long years after BF waterworks stopped supplying us with water, i finally got connected to maynilad. it's lovely, oh so lovely. and, while the repairs have set me back more than i bargained (and budgeted!) for, and while there are more repairs that would have to be done (gasp, said rosa's wallet), i am still thankful that water supply is now the least of my problems. i always think that money, i can earn, water, i cannot manufacture.

there's three days of work for me -- no vacation leaves yet for this probationary employee -- but it's all good. i'm working on two projects that i want to work on, although there are unhappy stuff that i have to finish. still, it's all good. after all, before i know it it'll be new year's eve, and new year's day, and then everyone will have a fresh new start.

2011, can't wait to meet you!