Tag Archives: growing up

Twenty Three

23rd Birthday

This is a super delayed post, thanks to everything that happened this week. So I apologize for now, but hey, this post has pictures! (Like that’s any consolation :P)

ANYWAY. I’d go through paragraphs and paragraphs of how my birthday went but I realized it may be a bit boring to read…so instead, I’ll go for timelines. So…how did my twenty-third birthday go?

March 16, 2009

7:00pm – received a call from Niki, and when I answered, all the YFC DLSU present at the worship (16 of them, I heard) sang me “Happy birthday”. ♥ I have no idea who everyone was there, but thank you! ♥

7:30pm – received a groupcard in my work inbox. Hey, it’s a Group Card from my IBM friends! A day early but what the heck. Thank you!

9:00 – 11:00pm – had the longest call of our training ever. I was chatting with Grace, Cors and Reggie all the while and I kept getting asked what time my call would end and all. Reggie then asked if I wanted to go get ice cream later after the call which was kind of weird since he’s on a diet. The call ended, and I started fixing my stuff. But wait, there’s another call! Reggie calls me and tells me someone was waiting for me outside, though, so…

11:00pm – I headed out to the reception area and saw Cors’ shoes immediately. I saw her carrying a cake with a candle and was already surprised, but not until Happy popped out from behind the reception table with a bouquet of flowers and the yelled “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Whoaaaa. I accepted the flowers, gaped at Happy’s presence at the office and then blew the candle out. Then I noticed, right in the middle of the bouquet was a SUNFLOWER. AWWWW talk about finally crossing that out of my wishlist! :P

11:10pm-11:45pm – I had to go back inside because I still had one call, so Cors put the cake in the box again and Happy said she’ll wait for me downstairs. I went back in and got back into another call, but still shaking from the surprise and amazed at how pretty a sunflower looks in real life. We had the call and then headed down to go home.

March 17, 2009

12:10am – arrived at home, and Happy and I set up the cake and took photos. I blew the candle off again and then it was cake time!

12:20-2:00am – ate cake and talked with Happy. And marveled again at how pretty the sunflower is. :P Ahaha, I’ve never really spent the first few hours of my birthday with a friend so this is a first. :) Thanks Happs. ♥

2:00am-3:00am – Birthday prayer time! :)

9:00am – woke up with text messages in my phone with the usual greetings. I headed back to my computer and saw my gMail inbox was filled with Facebook notifications. Overwhelming, man. And they kept on coming! :D

12:00pm-1:00pm – arrived at SM Megamall to hear mass. Met up with brother’s girlfriend after the mass then we hunted for a place to eat.

1:00pm-2:00pm – Lunch at Bigby’s, my treat! Yummy salad, yummy steak, yummy shake, oh and I got a free cake! And a birthday song. My brother’s girlfriend also gave me a really nice present — something I could definitely use in my commute. :P I’ll post about that sometime soon. Bigby’s was a lot like TGI Friday’s with really nice decor. Our waiter was really nice, and very friendly — I bet he’d also be good at sales jobs. :) Oh, it’s my first time to be greeted at a restaurant too. :P

3:30pm – Got to work, and saw a present from some office friends on my table. Opened my email and saw an overwhelming number of emails and Facebook messages again. Haha.

5:00pm – Headed to Haagen Dasz (sp?) with Grace to buy ice cream for the team…and then headed to 7-11 instead. I dreamt of Haagen Dasz, but it’s waaaaaay out of my budget. So…no thanks. Pistachio ice cream is nice. :)

7:00pm-10:00pm – Found out there were two episodes of The Listener for download! Wohoo, Craig Olejnik! ♥ It’s like another birthday gift, haha! Anyway, I spent the rest of the night at work, finishing some things and then went home when my brother arrived.

11:30pm – full with ice cream and cake, I looked at the sunflower again and then went back to my room to watch The Listener episodes with Macy.

March 18, 2009

12:30am – Felt a bit bummed that someone I know and is close to forgot my birthday. I don’t know what’s up, really…but it kinda stung. Oh well. Maybe I’ll post about it sometime, but not now. I want good vibes.

7:00pm – Birthday dinner with Cors, Gel, Anj and Grace at Pancake House. We missed you, Bel and Rosco! Talked about lots of stuff, got another present (thanks for the very pink journal :P), and took pictures for Marvs who we were all missing. :P

March 19, 2009

12:45pm-2:00pm – Met up with Jomar after a loooong time, and had lunch and talked about books, blogs, music, media and all the things that Joms and I talk about. Haha. Then had dessert at Red Mango while he played with Macy and I played NFS with his phone.

The rest of the week was filled with a game of charades, issues at work and the general feeling of being older. Haha. The “birthday” glow has long faded, as far as I can tell, but being 23 isn’t so bad. I just feel…well, older but in a good sense.

I’m happy at how my week turned out. Plus there were so many firsts in this birthday that it’s really going to be memorable, just as how every other birthday has been. :) I mean, come on, it’s another year to celebrate life, how could it not be memorable?

So, I thank everyone who’s greeted me, made an effort to make my day special (that’s you, Happy! :P), the people I fed, those who left Facebook messages, text messages, YM messages, Multiply comments, and comments in my previous post, and who greeted me in every way possible. :) Thanks to my family for allowing me to get the iPod Touch, haha!  Thank you, thank you, thank you. ♥

And most of all, thank You Lord. I know I don’t deserve any of Your grace or Your love, yet You give them anyway, and that is reason enough to be even more thankful. Thank You for another year, and I pray that this year be a year that I get to know You and love You better. Thank You. ♥

Here’s to 23. :)

Of Roses and Changes

So, belated Happy Valetine’s Day! ♥ How was your V-day?

Mine was pretty lazy. The day before Valentine’s Day was kind of interesting, though. Interesting only because I was having a semi-relaxed day at work. It was a far different cry from last year’s Valentine’s Week where my stress levels were at an all time high because of all the activities we had. But the Friday was interesting too — Subway with officemates, then Coffee Bean with club friends and Something Fishy at night. Oh, and I did get flowers, thanks to my friends. :) So it was a fairly nice day.

It just occurred to me that I’ve received flowers for Valentine’s Day for three consecutive years already. How about that. Thanks, God. :)

But my weekend was just lazy. Talk about sitting on my butt for two whole days watching TV. I would’ve gone and watched a movie today but I was too comfortable on our couch, even if they’re not home theater furniture. I don’t know why I didn’t go out, save for the fact that crowds were everywhere last Saturday. I dunno, I guess I just wanted to stay put for a change. Does this mean I’m going out next weekend? Probably. Or maybe mid-shift is just taking its toll on me.

On other news, there’s change coming in the horizon, career-wise, and I can’t help but feel a bit apprehensive about how fast things are going. You know me, I’d really rather have things done gradually, so I can give a proper goodbye to the things I used to do and have some time to get used to the new things, but life doesn’t work like that, unfortunately. It’s not that the new thing is bad…in fact, it’s a very desirable career growth. Of course with growth comes more responsibilities, and I have been trying to step up, so it’s just right. But there’s just so many changes that will happen with this that I don’t know if I’m really ready for it. And if I’m really ready to give up what I have right now for something else. The shift, the holidays, the time I have…I don’t know.

I wish I could say it’s scary and exciting, but right now it’s just plain scary.

I’m trying not to think too much about it until it is actually right in front of me and I have nothing else to do but jump. That’s kind of extreme, I know, but it’s all I could think about doing. I guess I can just take a bit of comfort in the little thing I learned a couple of weeks back during one meeting I attended: saying Yes. As scared as I am right now, I have a feeling that this is one of the things I should say YES to, even if I have no idea what’s in store for me. Who knows what will happen, right? And it’s got to be good, even if it’s probably hard at first.

Yes, I’m trying to convince myself.

And no, I haven’t watched Yes Man. I should, though.

Hay hay. Growing up, you are so hard and challenging. But I know I’m not alone, so that’s comforting enough.

Every opportunity to fear is also an opportunity to TRUST GOD.

Please include me in your prayers? :)

Have a great week ahead everyone!

On Stepping Up

For the past few weeks since work started, I’ve been thinking. The difference between 2008 and 2009 (so far) is that when 2008 started, I was all excited, all ready to jump into whatever adventure there is that the year has in store for me. I was the “DO IT ALL” woman. I think my teammates nicknamed me “The World is Not Enough” at some time. :P

Anyway 2008 was certainly a year where I tried to do everything, work wise. Name an event, I know it and is probably a part of it. I was so active in everything and was trying to do them all that a lot of things got pushed to the back. Well, not exactly “back”, but I know that my performance wasn’t as stellar as it used to be. Plus I know I put myself on second place.

So when this year started, I told myself I’d go back to basics. I’d put myself first, I’d focus on the things that matter. What are those things, I’m not yet so sure, but I know my weekends are more or less sacred, and I want to focus on my writing too. Eventually, I arrived at some kind of extreme where I’d rather do stuff for myself and put other things in the backburner again. I always seem to have that kind of problem.

Anyway, so this week, I learned of my rating for my 2008 performance. I gave myself a rating before 2008 ended and I really thought that was the one I deserved, but what I got was…surprisingly good (and by good it means I can probably afford to buy tv lifts if I want to — which I don’t). Of course, I was thrilled, but the rating came with a postscript: “This is the time that you have to prove you deserve that rating.”

Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly said in those words, but that has the gist. I’m happy and humbled to be able to get that rating, but yes, it’s challenging me too. I’m at this point where I know I should step up and I’m trying, really, but at the back of my mind, I don’t know if I can do this while still giving time for myself. I know it’s possible, I just don’t know how I’m going to do it.

My team lead is currently focusing on me and giving me tasks and situations where I can develop my leadership skills to train me so I can be ready for a leadership position sometime soon. I’m grateful for it, but in a way, I am also scared. I was a leader back in YFC, but leadership in the corporate world is different. My company is generally nice, but it’s still the corporate world, and I have been told that I need to be thick-faced and immovable. Something like that, at least. I tell myself I can do it, but honestly, I’m not really sure if I can, you know?

There’s this certain resistance I feel when I am asked to do things like reports, or talk to someone or do something or attend late night meetings. Maybe it’s because I’m not yet used to it, or maybe because I don’t know if I will be able to handle it. Maybe I’m just looking for an easier way out, a way that is not stressful. But what is life without stress, yes?

I need to step up. For how long, I don’t know. But I know I must.

Last night I was talking to Ramie and I was telling him about this entire thing. One thing that I’m kind of grateful for this is there’s this certain feeling of cluelessness, the kind where you really have no idea where you’ll be going and what you’ll be doing, except maybe for a few steps ahead. And with this cluelessness is some kind of comfort, the one where I know that no matter what happens, I know there’s Someone who is with me every step of the way.

I like that this is making me pray more, that having to step up is making me realize that I am totally dependent on God, and without Him there’s really nothing I can do.

Let me quote my favorite verse once again:

Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (Philippians 4:13, The Message)

By God’s grace, I can do this. :) We can do this. :)

Here’s to stepping up. *cheers*

P.S. Prayers will be appreciated. :)

Some Kind of Regression

So whenever I have some free time (or when I’m simply bored), I find myself not only Plurk-ing but also Facebook-ing. I’m not much of a Facebook person, but right now it’s got me fascinated because of all the stuff I can add (how late am I?!), and also on the people I find in Facebook. Awesome, right? It’s almost like Friendster, only more sophisticated. At least, I think so. :P

Anyway, so I’ve been “re-connecting” with a lot of friends and colleagues from my previous employer. Now to anyone who knows me and has talked to me and knows about my previous work experience…well, you know what I would tell you. Simply put, I was just extremely glad to be able to find a new job in a company that I like.

Needless to say, my dismal keeping in touch skills prevailed with my old colleagues and I was hardly able to be in contact with them for a year. I managed to visit them once to get my back pay, but things other than random phone calls and texts were rare. There was even a time when I was invisible to them on YM, mostly because there was this pending stuff that I didn’t have enough time to finish. Then came a time when I was supposed to meet up with one of my close friends there, but she didn’t show up…and then contact was zero afterwards.

Now I’m seeing them all over Facebook, and I can’t help but wonder how they are. I heard that my old team there went to a team building session last December (in Batangas, I think, not at a Wilmington NC real estate), and even if I feel a teensy bit bad that I wasn’t a part of it, I was glad that they actually had that. I also see a lot of gimmicks going on, something like a regular weekly thing (just like the Friday nights that my teammates have heh). There are also a lot of new faces, and I see that there are also people who aren’t there anymore. And then there are the Facebook groups that I wonder if I try joining, would I be welcome?

Anyway, the point is, I sortakinda miss it. I miss them. I don’t really miss my old job, or how I felt there (oh, but my being there was actually a time when my prayer time was very, very healthy), but I miss the people. I love my work and my team and the people I am with right now, but I did find some good friends and had some good laughs with the people I used to work with. And I kind of wish once again that I was better at keeping touch with them.

It’s not too late, isn’t it? I hope not. I really, truly hope not.

Perfect Love

One of my favorite verses about love is on today’s first reading:

There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear, for fear has to do with punishment; those who fear do not know perfect love. (1 John 4:18)

Sometimes, when I think of love (especially the romantic one) objectively (which is how I think of it, more often than not, heh), it’s very easy to see it all in a straight line — I’d do this, I’d do that, I won’t do that he did and I will never do what she it. You know, like linear motion. But when I hear and read stories from other people about love, I realize yet again that it’s not always black and white. If anything, it’s full of gray areas. Crossroads. Both roads seem the right thing to do, but which is really the most loving thing?

You know how people often wonder how you’d know if you love another person? Well, I think that verse up there is really the answer. I remember back in college, when we would have these kinds of discussion, we’d often bring up what St. Paul said to the Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

We’d often say that when you can replace all instances of “love” there with your name (unless of course, your name is Love), that’s, well, love. But that verse only describes what love is and love makes us do, which I know once a person loves someone, they’re really willing to do all these, no matter how difficult it is. But how about when you’re not sure if you love the person already?

I think I may be going in circles there but hear me out a bit. How would you know if it is love? Maybe when you don’t feel any fear, just as what the verse states. Maybe it’s when you think of the future with that person and although it’s very uncertain, you feel secure, knowing that you’ll have someone. When you think about jumping and making a risk, you feel afraid but you still do it anyway, knowing everything will be all right in the end. Maybe it’s when you’re secure with yourself and in the person, knowing that no matter what happens, no matter how you look, no matter how chaotic everything else around is, even if the world is ending, the person will still be there, loving you.

It’s a tall order. And more often than not, people fail. But that’s why we just have to keep on trying, right?

Bringing it closer to home and in a non-romantic way, perfect love is there when:

  • a mother calls to console their scared daughter about her upcoming thesis defense, and tell her that it will be okay no matter what the outcome is.
  • a father tells his tired and worn out sophomore teen that they will finish the project on time, even if he is very tired himself.
  • a brother takes the time to cook for his sick sister and make her drink her medicines even if she feels like she’s getting worse.
  • a brother goes out of his way to meet his sister at a mall and bring her laptop to the service center to have the adapter fixed, and then drop his sister off to the dorm on commute just to make sure she gets back safe.
  • friends listen to another friend who finally takes a step away from a destructive habit and promises no judgment.

Perfect love drives out fear. And God is love. Ergo, God drives out fear. :) Comforting, isn’t it?

Wherever you are, whatever you are going through right now, may you find peace in God’s love. :)

Confession

I realized a few days ago (while I’m all so down about my novel) that I hardly have posts in my blog that are in the In His Steps category. I can post book reviews, novel updates, but this category has been long quiet. It’s been a long time since I wrote something related to my faith, and I kind of miss it.

So how have I been?

It’s been…difficult. Not difficult that I can’t bear it type of difficult, but just difficult that I don’t really know what I’m doing. I don’t know where my spiritual life is going, I don’t know how I’m going to fix this. I’m not having a faith crisis, as far as I know…it’s just that everything feels like it’s in limbo.

You know how easy it is to fall back into the world and not remember who you are and whose you are? It’s kind of like that. I admit that I haven’t been exerting that much effort into my faith as much as I do before. I still go to mass, and I do my best to go to mass every first Wednesday and first Friday. I’ve had “God” moments too — moments that I feel enlightened, that I feel that He is talking to me. I try my best to revive my prayer time, to pray the way I used to back in college, where the first thing I hold when I woke up is my Bible. Right now…it’s just not the same.

Sometimes I’m scared that I’d get used to this thing, this limbo. I’m scared of not feeling scared of me losing this “battle”. I’m scared of the possibility of getting used to God not being near, to see Him as Someone I’ll run to when I need Him, not someone I need like the air I breathe. I don’t want that to happen. I can’t lose Him.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but I am taking baby steps again. It’s me being stripped of all my ideas about faith once again to start anew. Cliche as this may sound, this is a journey, and God values what happens in the journey. So…as a baby step, I finally did something about this limbo last weekend.

I went to confession. After one and a half years. :)

It’s a start, right? I’ve got a long way to go, and by God’s grace, I’ll get to where He wants me to be.

 God wants you to understand that it is a life off aith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings…Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. (Oswald Chambers)

Tough Love

Life’s interesting. And hard all at the same time.

After posting my blog entry last night and while getting ready for bed, my mom and I got to talk about some family issues that she has heard recently, which, when I heard, kind of frustrated me too since the situation is just so wrong. Well, okay, not that wrong, but you know, things could be better. My mom and I agreed with what should be the right thing to do, but at the same time it made me think — is it really the right thing to do?

One of the things I’ve learned to understand as I am growing up is that I must always face the consequences of my actions. It’s quite harsh at times and painful, but I realized that this is the only way to grow. Well, okay, maybe not the only way, but one of the best ways. I’ve learned (and still learning) that one way of maturing is to face whatever is the outcome of what will happen.

For example. A guy gets a girl pregnant and they haven’t finished school yet. They decide to have a baby and the parents agreed for them to live together, under the assumption that they’d be taking care of the kid and take more responsibility, such as getting a job and paying for their share so that their family would survive. Ideally, that’s what should happen, but what if the new parents do not do this and instead, continue to be what they were before they had the kid? Like, instead of helping out in the house, they just sit around and do nothing? What if instead of saving up for the kid, they keep on spending instead on other things that would not help but instead will just satisfy their personal needs (like Las Vegas travel, but that’s a bit expensive)? What if they don’t understand the gravity of what they are, especially with the kid in their midst?

I don’t know, but I find it very frustrating to see people like that, who fall into holes that they have dug for themselves and do nothing to get out of it. Especially when you try to help them but they don’t help themselves.

But then again…who am I to judge? I’m sure I’ve done that myself more than once (not that I’ve ever had a kid, but you know, digging my own hole and falling into it). And not only that — with all my sins and darkness in me, God could’ve just chosen to turn away, leave me where I am. But He didn’t.

That’s grace, I know. And I’m more than undeserving. But God didn’t exactly give me everything I wanted after that; He changed my way of thinking which in turn helped me get out of the hole.

But what if the person’s not willing to do that? What will you do? What will I do?

Ah such heavy thoughts on a Wednesday morning, and I’m not even sure I got them all out right. I just found myself thinking of what I will do in that situation, if I were to be asked for help. Should I help? Or should I exercise “tough love” and let them learn the lesson on their own?

What is tough love anyway?

Thick-Skinned

Today I didn’t get to do what I wanted to do: go home as early as I want to, go boxing, spend nothing for dinner, and rest without going online because I am sore with boxing. You know why? All because of the rain. :| Boo. And my rubber shoes suddenly breaking down. Double boo.

Oh well. Boxing on Saturday then.

Today was a quiet day. I was mostly working on the backlog of requests that we had for the past few days because of our system migration (haha I missed saying this), and it’s really a big test of patience to work on them because of some bugs that are still in the system. Interestingly, I got to make a bit more work, but it’s far from over. We still have a ton of backlog to work through, and hopefully the system shaping up so we can get used to using it and we can get all these work out of the way.

Anyway, other than the normal work, I realized today that I’m not as mature as I thought I was. I think I may have posted something related to this before, but anyway. It just hit me again that…well, I’m a work in progress. And I know there’s nothing wrong with that, but truth be told, my ego stings a little. I guess, deep inside, I really liked my being “old” for my age. It gives me a certain…I don’t know, edge, or maturity over other people who act their age. Of course, it’s also tiring to be like that, but I’ve been so used to it that wherever I am, whoever I meet, I’ve always automatically assumed the role of being “the mature one.” The older sister. The leader, if we may use the term.

Today I learned a few things that kind of stung a bit. It definitely hit my ego, which is why I feel a teensy bit crummy right now. But I’ve got to remind myself that these things are good for me. The things I learned are the things I need to know for me to improve. It wasn’t given to me to make me feel bad but to make myself better. I’ve got to remember that, because if not, the crummy side will take over and I’ll take all of this personally when really, I shouldn’t.

A friend once told me that as we grow up, we’ve got to get thicker skin, the kind that can take “beatings” without batting an eyelash (wait did I use the right words?). The one where you don’t get affected by the smallest things. I realized today that I’m far from that. I may seem like I’m not but that’s only because of the defense mechanism I have.

Grow up, Tina. Be a better person. Be stronger. Face this, accept this with open arms and learn from this.

Hay, growing up can be so hard, yes? It’s not just budgeting and planning, but a whole lot more. Sigh. Give me the grace I need, Lord.

For now

Hah, weekend. And I’m actually at home, instead of sitting in the condo, using Smart 3G at an attempt to be online. Yes, home sweet home.

Last week…was another difficult week. Interestingly, I’ve had three straight difficult and stressful weeks and it feels like it’s been going on forever. Hay. I can’t elaborate on things (yet), but suffice to say, I’m just glad it’s over. It was challenging, tear-inducing and very disappointing, and somehow I think all that happened has made me jaded. :|

Although, I just received some good news today, and fortunately I am seeing brighter skies (and lighter load, praise God) ahead. Next week’s going to be insanely busy with the company townhall and all that I am a part of, but I’m glad to say that after that, I will be more or less free. :) Thank You Lord. :D

But, if there’s one thing I learned the past weeks, it’s that all is temporary. Meaning, it’s all part of life. Things outside our circle of influence happen, and all we can do is try to make the right choices and never regret the decisions we make, and adjust to how things happen. Yes, that makes life complicated, but, as my friend says, “An uncomplicated life is not a life at all; it’s a routine.” I agree. :)

It hit me just now that I haven’t been paying attention to any of my 2008 Goals. :| Eeep. And we’re already at the second half of the year! Must pick them up again! I’ve got places to go (unfortunately one has been temporarily removed from the list, erm), things to do, recipes to try and bake (I haven’t baked in the longest time!), and goals to accomplish! Yeahbah. Bring it on. :)

Sort of Independent Living

So this is how it feels to “live independently.”

I’ve been staying at our condo unit for the past nights together with my brother just for kicks. Okay, first it was just for kicks when we all slept over here last Wednesday, and then I was only supposed to be here until Friday. But no, I ended up staying until today, Sunday, because of a lot of reasons.

Some things I realized:

  • It can get very boring when you’re alone. Really. I mean, when I’m alone at home, I can just turn on the TV and be logged on all day online, but since there’s no cable here yet, and my main source of Internet is Smart 3G (which means it’s on my bill), I can’t really be online 24/7.
  • It’s hard to run out of clothes. Since I was supposed to stay only until Friday, the clothes I brought were only up to then. But since I extended, I ended up buying a new pair of pants, 2 tops and underwear just so I can have clothes for the additional two days. Of course, I can always go to the laundry, but there’s no laundry service in the condo yet. So…hello Bench.
  • It’s kind of hard when there’s not much things yet. We have yet to buy plates, and shelves and stuff from furniture stores.
  • It’s so tempting and easy to just buy stuff at the nearby mall — food, clothes, and all other things! It’s also so tempting to just stay at the mall and hang out…which I sort of plan on doing in a while.

It’s fun and interesting, but at the same time it gets sad and boring. For some reason, it’s a lot different than when I was staying at a dorm — maybe it’s because school’s just there and my friends are just there and my roommates are always there…or maybe it’s because I’m really sort of independent already, with me doing some of the cleaning and spending for myself. I miss eating home-cooked meals already. :( Although I have to admit it’s kind of easier to get to work from here (even easier than from home), I still miss being in my bed and in a more spacious place than this.

The good news is, I’m going home earlier. I don’t know if I will stay here next week, or just ask my brother to bring my stuff, but I can see it’s another packed week for me next week, so it might be easier if I stay here. Hm. Let’s see.

But today…I will work on the stuff I need to work on (so. many!) and then watch Kung Fu Panda (FINALLY). Happy Sunday!