highlights of a fire dog year

a summary of things i've managed to keep records of, whether on paper or in my steadily dimming memory.


 


 


TRAVEL


 


Scratched off my always-wanted-to list


 




  • MAR - Diving in Tinggo off Olango, Monad Shoal off Malapascua


  • APR - 11-day backpacking tour of Palawan (PPC, El Nido, Sabang, Honda Bay, Narra)


  • MAY - Going up Osmena Peak


  •     - Seeing the Liloan lighthouse


  • JUL - Canopy walk in Cagayan de Oro


  • AUG - Road trip with Mama (Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Davao Sur, North Cotabato)


  • SEP - Diving in Arbor and Granada off Boljoon


  •     - Working in Mindanao (ComVal, Davao Norte, Davao Sur for an agrarian reform project)


  • NOV - Road trip with Papa (DVO-CDO by bus, CDO-DMGTE by boat, DMGTE-CBU by EZ-ride, pumpboat, and v-hire, BOLJOON-CBU CITY by multicab and v-hire)

 Unexpected bonuses


 




  • FEB - seeing the Supreme Court in session in Manila


  • MAR - 6-day backpacking tour of Southern Cebu (Argao-Alcoy-Moalboal-Badian), with separate tours of Mactan/Olango and Malapascua (w/ side trip to Tabuelan)


  • JUN - 2-day tour of Palau in Micronesia


  • OCT - ferry ride to Seattle, Washington across the Puget Sound


  •     - deer and autumn reflections in water in upstate New York (Salmon River, Lake Ontario, Poughkeepsie, Croton Grove Dam)

  Revisited, with significant implications


 




  • FEB - Masinloc (thesis site) and San Antonio, Zambales after 6 years


  •     - Bohol Bee Farm and Pamilacan Island after 2 years


  • APR - Lake Danao, Ormoc, Leyte after 6 years


  • JUL - Initao, Misamis Oriental after 5 years


  •     - Gulf View and Talomo beaches in Davao after 5 years or more


  • SEP - Boljoon after one year


  • OCT - New York after 3 years

SKILLS (things i was totally clueless about before but now have actually tried)


 




  • using an EKG


  • talking my way into getting sponsorships for a big, low-budget article


  • cooking adobo


  • skimboarding


  • driving a motorcycle (yep ;-) though very preliminary)

 


PREGNANCIES/ BIRTHS


 




  • 3 former officemates


  • 2 cousins (with another one forthcoming)


  • 4 high school classmates


  • at least 3 Sun.Star people i work with


  • first-time mother Keesha (2x! --> 6 kittens in all)


  • 2 dogs in the compound where i live in Dumaguete (8 puppies!)

 


DEATHS


 


None too close, thankfully. After year-end 2004's terrible purging, God has just been busy repopulating the Earth.


 


LOST


 




  • Ashley


  • some faith =(


  • my church community and housemates in Cebu


  • the security and familiarity of home


  • Conching, to the States


  • singing =(


  • Strunk & White =(


  • high school articles, to termites =P


  • my Sunday School kids

 FOUND




  •  Conchita


  • writing poetry in Cebuano


  • a lot of weight =P and other signs of aging


  • courage to face situations i'd rather avoid (and have avoided for years)


  • courage to be impractical and listen to my heart


  • patience as a form of love


  • online shopping


  • a renewed obsessiveness for reading and learning


  • my zoology lab students

 


============


 


on a more reflective note....


 


THEMES


 


Quarter-Life Angst


-what do i really want to do? do i even have dreams?


-why can't i commit to anything long-term?


-why haven't i done anything significant in my life?


-why don't i have a lot of true friends?


-am i ultimately destined for an ordinary life of mediocrity?


 


 


Family


-met fathers’-side relatives in Cebu for the first time and discovered the photography and NGO side of the family; met mother’s-side relatives in Washington for the first time


-me and papa in the same house for the first two months or so


-me and both my parents in the same house for about three stressful weeks =P


-all 5 of us in the same house for the first time (since 7 years ago in Baguio) for 5 days


-me and my two siblings in New York for a month


-opportunity to live with each of the wannabe stepparents


 


 


Underwater


-underwater camera!


-actively diving with josrique, esp. in Davao


-investment in diving equipment


-investment in education and moving to a city by the sea


-building an underwater wardrobe


 


 


BIG DECISIONS




  • quitting my job once and for all


  • moving out of Cebu


  • bumming for the first time in my life


  • living at home again


  • taking up Marine Biology 

REALIZATIONS/ RESOLUTIONS


 




  1. Thank God for difficult situations and homework, because they challenge my brain and increase my faith.


  2. Thank God even for tedious work (like cleaning house and editing), because it's character-building and much better than no work at all.


  3. Do beyond what is required, because work is a gift, and too much is better than too little.


  4. I complain too much. Need to count my blessings more.


  5. I take a lot of what I’ve been given for granted. Need to purposefully nurture the seeds.


  6. DO MORE, FEAR LESS. (pray more, sleep less) --> New Year's resolution

let me just say that at the start of this year, i never imagined that 90% of the things that have happened in the last 12 months would happen. not because they're too good to be true, but because my life has gone off in a direction i didn't anticipate. so even with all my certainties,there are a lot more surprises in this life, after all =)


 


A HOPEFUL NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

Comments

  1. Manang KaiyenDecember 28, 2006 at 9:00 AM

    yay for an awesome oh six. and cheers to a fantastic oh seven ahead! =D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cathy PerezDecember 28, 2006 at 4:08 PM

    Happy New Year, Neen!
    Carry on! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Janjan PerezDecember 28, 2006 at 5:38 PM

    I'm curious... what exactly do you consider as a true friend?

    I've always been under the impression that you were blessed with so many people who are fond of you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. XXXX YYYYDecember 31, 2006 at 8:31 PM

    and yet again, how absolutely eerie where our lives parallel and meet head-on!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jemi AquinoJanuary 1, 2007 at 2:35 AM

    HUG.
    how do you measure a year?
    thank you, neen.

    more hugs,
    jemi

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jeneen GarciaJanuary 4, 2007 at 4:27 AM

    and a bigger bang for you, too! =) it's always a comfort to know i journey with like-minded spirits, even though we've never met.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jeneen GarciaJanuary 4, 2007 at 4:41 AM

    you, too, cathy =) God grant you your deepest desires this year.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jeneen GarciaJanuary 4, 2007 at 4:47 AM

    thanks, janjan, that's good for the heart =) and yes, as i said, i complain too much. i am very thankful for all the people who share their lives with me.


    but, well, by my definition, a true friend is someone who loves me no matter what i am, no matter how unlovable i get (or how difficult i am to be with, and i can really be extremely selfish and self-centered and stubborn), even when i'm drab as an old rag and just as unusable. people like that are extra-special blessings =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jeneen GarciaJanuary 4, 2007 at 4:52 AM

    here's celebrating two years of parallels and intersections! =D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jeneen GarciaJanuary 4, 2007 at 4:54 AM

    how, indeed? definitely not in the number of times we see each other, thankfully =) hugs back!

    ReplyDelete

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