34 reasons why my 34th birthday was fabulous fantabulous

1. waking up naturally -- no alarm clock, no need to quickly jump into the shower to get to work on time. just a leisurely morning, which included ....

2. breakfast at home! wait, to be more specific, home-cooked breakfast at home. i had tuyo from tapa king (one of my most favorite things in the universe), garlic rice, and tomato omelette.

3. PvZ ... yes i've finished the game before, but i've reinstalled it and it's still bliss to play it all the time!

4. the couch at kamiseta. if i had something like this at home, i probably might never leave!

5. being able to do my errands. was actually able to do everything except 1!!!

6. lots and lots and lots of text messages from good friends! god bless those who chose to spend a peso on me rather than simply posting on my facebook wall. you guys are the absolute best!

7. new friends to celebrate this birthday with -- new friends from community, new friends from work.

8. the surprisingly cool weather! made it easy for me to do my errands. and while it rained, each and every single time i had to be out, the rain would just stop and allow me to get around even without an umbrella.

9. my superga rubbershoes that allowed me to get everywhere quickly and pain-free. the best P500 i ever spent on a pair of shoes!

10. the blackberry finally arriving. technically i was supposed to get them today, but they released it to me yesterday cause i wasn't going to be at work.

11. being able to tell people "it's my birthday" as an excuse/reason/basis for everything. case 1: bought a jelly case + screen guard for my blackberry and when the girl won't give me a discount, i told her, "but it's my birthday tomorrow!" and she relented! case 2: when they won't release the blackberry (for a whole lot of reasons), anji whipped out the birthday card in my behalf, saying, "sige na, birthday naman niya tomorrow."

12. people who actually called, rather than texted, to greet me happy birthday!

13. yet another outfit to add to my dumaguete wardrobe.

14. said outfit coming in my absolute favorite color -- hot pink!

15. said outfit in eyelet! (i just looooove eyelet fabric)

16. paying only P50 (plus tip ☺) to get my hair blow dried. i truly love that "cheap" parlor.

17. my "parlor girl" being there to blow dry my hair. she's the nicest -- always smiling, and is smart enough to blow dry my hair with the ends tucked in, rather than what i usually get these days -- trying to blow dry it really straight which makes my hair totally flat and limp looking.

18. getting to eat at yakimix ...

19. ... for free! thanks gay. i super owe you for this one!!!

20. catching up in real life! while gay and i realized that because of our blogs, we're pretty much updated about each other's goings on, it's still different seating across each other and just chatting and chatting.

21. realizing that the "vocabulary" you share with friends, if they're really good friends, don't change. it was as if we picked up from where we left off last and just went on and on and on without having to explain, or give a back story.

22. knowing that there'll be yakimix again on sunday, this time with my action group!

23. a surprise party on the eve of my birthday. so what if it was late, and it was raining, and they all have to go to work today -- they made time! thanks paz, anto, jc, theo, nina, kiko, ariel, luke, chacha, and shy.

24. receiving lots of presents during my surprise birthday party. my language of love is presents so you can just imagine how loved i felt yesterday!

25. the upcoming birthday party at my goto-and-tokwa place.

26. sharing my birthday with dr. seuss and (born on the exact same day) chris martin.

27. birthday leave!!! it's my first time to enjoy the benefit and i LOVE the concept.

28. while the bus i rode to NAIA started breaking down in pasay, it got as far as the ayala MRT station ... exactly where i meant to go to renew my driver's license!

29. spending only a little more than an hour to renew my driver's license. (and most of the time was spent at that cramped drug testing place.)

30. looking pretty acceptable in my driver's license. (that P50 trip to the parlor totally paid off! hahaha!)

31. the Today Show being shown on local cable once more. thanks, talk tv! (while i totally perked up upon hearing the theme of doogie howser, md. monday morning, it's not enough to make me want to forego my Today Show every morning).

32. reading this when i got home. i spent the entire night with her and she didn't blow the surprise. how cool is that?

33. Jeremiah 29:11

34. having the gift of another year. not everyone makes it to 34, and i'm thankful God chose me to be one of those to continue on.