As of yesterday, I am officially 27 years old!! I am no longer mid-20’s. Belch. It was my friend Steffy Toh who made me realize this. She’s 7 days older than me and we used to have joint celebrations at Nestle every year. So during our exchange of annual birthday SMS, she mentioned how we met when we were only 22 and super nene but now we’re near our 30’s na…marrying/childbearing age. I kinda freaked out a bit. Not about the marrying and childbearing age but with how time just flew by us. I realized I’ve known her for 5 years already. Seems like only yesterday when we first met during our H.R. interviews at the ground floor of the Nestle Center. We were both super young then, dressed in trying hard corporate outfits feeling all mature and trying to make good impressions when in fact we knew so little of the corporate world. Tsk. Time flies.
Then I realized that I’ve known my college friends for 10 years! *gasp*
And my high school friends for 14 years! *nosebleed*
Anyways, after a bit of fretting over my age and after wiping off the blood from under my nose, I took a good look at the wrinkly lines below my eyelids, swore to use my eye cream regularly and let it go. Age? Just a number. I’m still young at heart. Sometimes too young at heart for my own good. Snicker. Snicker. So I decided to treat my aging self to a birthday coffee. I finished work at around 4pm (give me a break, it was my birthday!!) and drove over to Starbucks at Shell Fort. It was raining hard. Which happens every year during my birthday. They say it’s raining blessings daw for me. Sana. I’m hoping those will be career blessings. I’ve had a tough year. Boohoo.When I got to Starbucks, I got my usual non-fat-iced-white-chocolate-mocha and an extra hot grande non-fat-decaf-café-mocha to take home. Kinda drooled a bit over the cakes but decided not to since I’ve been eating nonstop all weekend (Saturday house blessing party, Sunday buffet with family). So I sat there and did a bit of Reflection Time with my lonely birthday coffee as I watched my blessings pound on the misty windows of Starbucks.
I realized that I did have a lot of blessings over the years. And I am grateful for all of them. Thanks to PJ (Papa Jesus).
- My family. My moody and funny dad, my chatterbox caring mom, my carefree Ate and my OC Diche. I think I’m a mix of all of them. I’m grateful I have them in my life. 27 years with them? Crazy. Fun. Wouldn’t trade for anything else. And I can’t wait for our family to expand as we all eventually get married and have our own little happy families.
- My fiancé. He’s my rock, my go-to guy. My bodyguard, my doctor, my therapist, my chauffer, my parole officer, my manager, my fan, my best friend, my love, my future, my life. I will love him to death.
- My friends. All of them. 83 people greeted me through SMS yesterday. Didn’t know I had that much friends. Thanks to Multiply and Friendster for those birthday reminders ☺ But seriously, I am so blessed to have so many great bunch of friends from different eras of my life. I hope I can accommodate everyone on my wedding. That’s almost my share of number of guests. But to all my friends, you’re all great, all fabulous. I’m grateful to each and every one of you for the friendship.
- My job. Past and present. One: Manila, Nestle and Wyeth. I have learned so much from these 3. Yes I jobhopped a little but I feel like I have made worthy contributions to each before leaving on for greener pastures. I’m at a crossroads now with my career and whatever decision I make, I will be grateful for the 6 years I have spent in those companies. I’m so blessed to have worked for such people and such Filipino, Swiss and American corporations.
- My health. Glad to say I have never been confined in a hospital since I was a few months old. 27 years of migranes, flus, more migranes, coughs, colds, a bit of chicken pox and measles but nothing deathly serious. So help me God.
- My worldly possessions. My old car Roxy (the City). My new car Venice (the Vios). My future car Bailey (the BMW) hahaha. They took me places. My workplace away from work, my home away from home. My refuge from the rain…Ever since my bag was stolen, I have learned to treasure my stuff more and to take better care of them. They’ve been good to me. And I’ll try to be their better owner. I don’t have a pet…would like to have one but I’m not sure if I can take care of them…
- My past. There are things in my past that I wish never took place. Things I want to erase from my memory. But then I realized that if I haven’t gone through what I’ve gone through or I haven’t been with people I’ve been with, I wouldn’t have what I have right now and wouldn’t be who I am right now and for that I am grateful. For every wrong decision. For every mistake. I am making peace with my regrets. All that I have now…all products of what I’ve been through.
It’s been a good solid 27 years. I’ve written resolutions in the past. But I realized I haven’t made any of those things happen. So I just stopped resolving and just started thanking. In the wake of the tragedies happening everywhere (mall blasts, flash floods, wildfire) I just wanted give out my thanks to the world!! I have lived a good life. And am looking forward to living a better one (hopefully a long one if God will permit)…and I hope you all stick around.
Cheers!
XOXO
