Refresher.

It's so sad to trace and evaluate the beginning of my blog's neglect the moment I stepped into my Junior year in college and the lengths that it has stretched to now that I am now officially a career woman. It's been 3 years and I can't believe that the blogger kid has finally outgrown the impulse to document her life with sometimes-shallow-but-can-eventually-have-depth journal entries in her blog. And it sucks, really since I feel that a lot of my life's meaning pays tribute to these blog entries because it's only through them that I get to hear myself think out loud, reflect back, squeeze myself of opinion and really ponder on the things that transpire in my life. 

So a glimpse at the the not so recent entry (2 months back) that I attempted to write but predictably failed to finish: 

[January 11, 2011]

A new year, a fresh start. 

My mind fails me as I try to summon the right words and describe the latter parts of my 2010. Exaggeratedly dramatic? A wild rollercoaster ride? A series of unfortunate events? And I could just put n numbers of cliches here. Let's leave that to the testimonies of my friends (and/or shock absorbers at the time). It was just... plain CRAZY. 

Let's not be cryptic here. I'll actually share some specifics. (You are my bestfriend after all, I have long abandoned you so you deserve the gory details) First, I had a bit of trouble with my parents. You know the usual crisis that strikes almost-to-none parenthood when your parents realize that they have nothing else to teach you but to be a responsible adult? And that they have no other role but to let you make your own choice, learn from mistakes and consequences; like mere spectators who can just cheer for you whenever you need support and encouragement? That because you are now trying to make a living for yourself, they cannot really ground you (or they can and immediately say that you still live under their roof blahblahblah) and they don't have any sort of power over you so they struggle to keep that hold through other means like unreasonably holding you in house arrest for charges of simple things that blow over... 

[So of course I forgot the whole point of this entry anyway and will just leave it at that and try to continue the last trail of thought to come up with this fresh new entry :)]

It's March 2011 and in a few weeks I'll be turning 22. I can vividly remember this month a year ago, when almost all the hallmarks of my life took place starting from my last week in school, to my last finals week, to my graduation, to me turning 21, to ending a lot of things and consequently starting a whole lot more. But that was so last year and after a much needed break (that lasted about 4 months) before finally joining the corporate world, I now have a much improved life: a new set of priorities, a better sense of direction, a more fast paced and flexible lifestyle and more issues to conquer. 

With that, this year so far has been an overhaul of sorts. I've been living my life quite at ease since the year kicked in and needless to say, I've been having a really really really great time. Yes, it was so alien to me for the first couple of weeks since I was used to carrying such a huge weight on my shoulders brought about by a large number of external and internal factors in my life. I transitioned from my dark ages in the last quarter of 2010: breaking up with my bf, adjusting with the demands of work, getting in trouble with my parents, undergoing depression, being out of the loop with friends, etc. I decided that I needed to get back up and pick the pieces so on the remaining weeks of that year, I forced myself to rehab: getting my hair permed, going shopping and whatnot (basically all kinds of therapy) and then keeping myself distracted with highly achievable ambitions with short-term goals to long-term goals. I have to say that the rate of accomplishment beginning this year has been quite a surprise. 

The first month of this year was dedicated to finally letting go of all the pain and hurt that was handed to me by the last bits of 2010. It was the window of opportunity to start things anew, to improve, to raise expectations, to feel free and to focus on what's ahead. I must say that I did a pretty good job. I regained a much better (which I am very proud to say is an understatement) relationship with Ojie, I also placed myself in a more promising position at work and I have all the luxury and time to do things for myself: shop and go crazy and even be all over the country on weekends with my family and friends. Of course I have yet to do everything on my to-do list as my time and energy haven't really leveled up and permit me to be Wonder Woman. Despite all these too-good-to-be-true-but-indeed-happening events are the tinges of stress and work, the need to satisfy other people (aka clients, bosses and parents sometimes the bf), priorities and financial management. Thank God I'm in sales. At least I know that everyday is an advanced lesson in multitasking. As the pile of work builds up, I get better at answering emails on one hand, taking calls on the other, processing documents on another, and managing accounts on another. But wait, I only have two hands. HAHA. 

So to give you highlights more briefly, here is a bulleted list of what happened in the first 3 months of 2011 :) 

1. Meet my new baby ♥ 

I got this as a Christmas present for myself since my older camera's lens said goodbye for the 2nd time and I can't really bring it to work ever anyway. Haha. It's the Canon Powershot SX210 one of the hippest and cutest in the line of Canon's Prosumer series. When you say prosumer, it means that it's the borderline between a point and shoot and an SLR. You have a mix of both features but you are given the freedom to explore on more advanced options similar to what DSLR's can give you. Adjustments on aperture, shutter speed and the like are available for you to tinker while you retain the auto settings that deliver your quality snapshots with ease. I chose this precisely because in the series, it looks like such a cutie point and shoot but is as feisty as an entry-level SLR. Unlike the Powershot G12 and Powershot SX130 which almost look like their compact DSLR's. And, HAHA, I haven't really tried learning all the features that it has. That'll be in my to-do list soon. :) 

2. I also got myself new phones. WHY? 

No, I am not a materialistic brat. I can still control (to some extent) my spending habits. But of course this one, I just had to. Please refer to my note in fb for the details. Of course these were, crucial decisions that I had to make because of obvious reasons. I could've saved the money for other shopping items like replenishing my corporate wardrobe instead of spending moolah on these babies. 

The logic of course for both is 1) I really wanted to get a BB 2) I don't want them to get stolen again so I had to carefully pick out a decent field phone 3) I also wanted to retain my touch-qwerty phone combo hence the choices :) Plus the specs are nice too. 

Because of the above entry, I also had to replace my wallet with another one but whatever that's not even important because it's another financial burden. I can hear my wallet pumping up its fists as I type. Heehee. 

3. Kick-off Mania :) 

Last Jan 26 in the middle of an intensely busy month (since most companies' funds are now open and thus ready for shelling out once again) we had our kick off at Dusit, Thani. It was pretty fun despite the side comments from long-time employees. I think they were used to having outdoor trips with GDs and activities for their kick off with the former president, RGA. Now since Allan Chng is trying to stir the company to a more MNC direction, we're trying to emulate patterns of a more formal upbringing as a company, which is better I think. The food was to die for (but of course I had to hold it in) and we made sure to consume as many coffee and tea cups as we could the whole afternoon. The band was also way better than the one we had in our Christmas party in Marriott. There was a shortage of booze towards the end and a lot of people were trying to scavenge leftover beers on tables. But it was super fun and everybody went home happy, inspired and hopeful for the year :)

4. Weekends are for rendezvous ♡

I've been trying to do my best in keeping up with a rollercoaster life - one whole work week of stress and a handful of paradise on weekends then snap back to reality once again. It's a great perk to be surrounded by fellow yuppies who have been indulging themselves in travel and finding extra time to get out of the work routine to have a little adventure. For us the rut can drain all of our pent up energy so it's always a good feeling to look forward to something as a reward for all the OT's and stressful deadlines. I began this year with a random getaway with Ojie's gang to a daytrip to Laiya which was so fun and relaxing. A week after, we booked ourselves a flight to Cebu in June and the girls' impromptu plan became an instant couples' escapade. Just recently I finally tried surfing with my SOM loves in La Union to celebrate Drew's victory as Sanggu president (and well it was also a long overdue plan anyway). Pictures below. 

Paradise ♥ 

These, coupled with barbeques, random pig out dinners (we had this in Racks), inuman fests and reunions just reinstate me to my sanity and happy bubble all the time. This is such a must-have :) 

5. Career life 

For 2011, Philippines will win again! :) 

I've been upping my level as a Sales Consultant since the year zoomed by - handling a million-peso deal account, presenting to Board of Directors, being groomed as a MAG consultant and the next Philippine delegate to the Asian Demo Challenge. It's quite a handful if you ask me and as time goes by, my coverage for my area has drastically decreased. I've been stuck in the office for weeks now doing double OT's, polishing presentations and attending to post sales matters. Which is kinda bad. I haven't really reached my full target (highest is 94%) so I'm pressing myself down to double up my game. But I'm very proud that even the bosses have started seeing my potential and have even considered me for more upscale projects. I just have to continue with this and exert extra effort so that I emerge as a more successful yuppie this year, climb the ranks and avail more opportunities. 

6. SHOPPING > FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, NOT. 

I've been enjoying a lot of great deals lately (when I discovered the wonders of ebay and sulit.ph) with some stuff like swimsuits, wallets, clothes and other items. Once you get trusted sellers, it's always a good bargain to get low prices with less fuss. I've always been a mall rat and there's still no other experience like shopping in a mall but sometimes when you don't have time or when you don't have money when you're in a mall, goodies can be bagged with just a click of a mouse through these online portals. The issue here is that it almost works like a credit card. You get to spend money that you don't need to dole out right away since you have to deposit it in a bank days after you reserve the item. When you rummage through your wallet to account for all the things that you have to pay for, you then realize that you've committed to buying stuff more than how much you have. 

Which is the same case as mine. (I can even post pictures of all courier packages I've opened) Hahaha. I really have to control my spending habits. I have to save up for trips, invest in clothes and whatnot so I have to control the voluntary click of my muscle when it just seems to give in to good finds in online stores. 

7. TIME 

I hope I still have more time to do all of the other things that I want to: cook, push through with my business, eventually start my masters degree plan, my NGO commitments, join a Toastmasters club (chapter nearest me) and write for advocacy magazines. I've reassessed myself when it came to these bottom tier priorities and I really cannot squeeze in any extra time since it's already insufficient for now. So I guess I just have to stick to losing weight  and finishing my home-based projects on weekends for the meantime :) 

That's about it. I promise promise promise to update when I have the chance. I've been browsing through blogs and I kept asking myself what the hell am I doing with my life because it almost feels nothing. But after reading this post, I really am having a great time with everything. I just needed to pause, breathe and be grateful for everything that has happened. Thanks 2011! ♥ ♡ ♥