Last December, I went to see the Ayala Triangle's Musical Light Show. It was a show that happens in December and is played every 30 minutes from 6 in the evening. I had seen the past years' shows and was looking forward to seeing it again. For this year, I came to see it with my friend Maia on my last day of work in HP. 

After seeing it, this year's show seemed to me shorter than the ones before although I am pretty sure it was just about the same. I may have felt different about it because I was standing right under the lights and not far away as in the past years. I may have been so tired too when I arrived to the place since I have been walking around doing shopping and looking for a gift for a friend. At any rate, it was still a sight to see and will still definitely make you feel that Christmas is near since the lights and music are fantastic as it is.

Luigi is certainly enjoying his new gift from Santa which is a kiddie microphone. The moment he wakes up in the morning, that toy microphone is one of the things that he will look for. Actually, it's been used so much and without care that it broke down already and Dad had to look for a soldering gun to fix it. I had wanted to connect it to a huge amp so it would really sound good...but of course, not sure if it can be done or if Daddy can do it. Hahaha! 

Here's a picture of Luigi with Bea, his niece, during our Christmas Family Reunion. :-)

This early, I could already sense how musically-inclined my kids are. For example, today we spent the whole day together and I noticed that both Zoe and Luigi couldn't stop singing. They are practically singing their favorite songs all day be it be some church songs, the Philippine National Anthem, some songs from school and a couple of songs they learned from some videos in youtube. It's so amusing and I'm so glad that they love to sing. I would definitely encourage them to carry on with this interest. I would even facilitate to grow their talent for music, if I could, by buying them more musical instruments next time.

After almost 3 years, we finally had a chance to meet with our good friend Gina. Gina is a the godmother of Luigi and the last time we actually saw her was during Luigi's baptism which was just after the Ondoy typhoon. That's ages ago! Hahaha! Anyway, it was great to see her again. We hope to keep in touch more often. 

Recovering from almost a month-long sickness, I find myself picking up from where I left off in many things: in my plan of life, my friends, in my health and wellness plan, my parenting-related plans and many more.

I need get rid of all this chaos and get back to normal soon. There are so many things to do now I haven't had some "me" time: had not exercised at all for the past 2 months. That's not good right? I had not even had the chance to go to the parlor for my regular trim, coloring and manicure. 

And more importantly, I are also my mommy-duties. I had not touched any of their books for bedtime reading (a plan I wanted to do for the past months but never got to). I even had not find the time to sign daily my daughter's school diary. Plus, there are other domestic stuff that I need to take care of. Our air-conditioner needs to be repaired and we need to look for raypak pool heater parts for my dad. 

I need help. :-)

I've been asked to sing a song for a friend on her surprise 60th birthday celebration. I don't know yet what song to sing but I am secretly hoping that there could be some kind of live accompaniment like something using a flute while I sing. Hahaha! Wishful thinking!

Anyway, what could be a good song to choose? Maybe some kind of love song from a classic movie or musical? How about something from Les Miserables since it's something that's more relevant with the movie coming up? Maybe "I Dreamed a Dream" or "On My Own"? I am so undecided! The party is this week! Help!

Very soon, I'll start again to drive myself to work. With that coming up, I have been considering my options on how to continue to make use of the travel time to pray, do my spiritual readings and catch up on my books to read. You see, I always try to make use of my time while I'm commuting. It gives me time to do my norms of piety by making use of my iPhone where I have all my books and prayers are stored. But then now that I need to drive since commuting to my new office is so hard and boring holes in my pocket, I might as well buy a new car to use to get to the office and back. But then with that, I could not anymore read and drive at the same time (obviously!). Thus, I'm now considering getting a free audio book download to try and see if I can still manage to do "read" my books while listening and driving.

How's that for a plan?

I'm scheduled to go to Hong Kong this month and I am so looking forward to the trip! I would love to experience the cold weather, shopping galore and delicious authentic Chinese food once again.

For this trip, I already purchased a few jackets and a wind breaker. What I just need are gloves, Garmont Momentum Snow Boots, and a neck warmer. My schedule there will be jam-packed but I hope to still find the chance to visit Ocean Park and Macau on the side. I also want to back to Central and go around the malls and luxury shops and see if there is anything there for me from Santa...hahaha!

I'll send you updates on my itinerary soon!

My husband finally received his promotion papers after months of waiting for it. I'm so happy for him. He deserves this and more.

This happy event got me to think that we ought to start focusing again on our long-term goals, particularly our financial goals. The kids are growing up fast and we need to cope with the increasing expenses to be borne in relation to the kids' education and health. We really need to sit down and assess how our financial level is right now and where we want to be in the future. I've recently been looking at www.AnnuityAdvantage.com to study the positive stakes in going into investments. I think it's a good way to be more financially secured on top of just having our own jobs.Annuities provide you the security on having a steady income especially during your retirement years where we no longer have a regular income from being employed. It's really something very important to look into this.

Wish us luck!

Christmas Day is over and people are trying to oil their engines to be able to go back to the usual grind. Today, I suddenly find myself reflecting on how my Christmas has been. I feel that it went by so fast without me really noticing it. Could it be because I was sick with cough and fever most of the Christmas vacation? Really, being sick is not good. Anyway, as I go back to "regular programming", I am gearing myself up for some serious spring cleaning every weekend of January. I would need those useful plastic bins in organizing my many stuff - and there is a lot! I might even decide to give away some clothes and toys just to clear the house of clutter. My goals for the year are order and detachment. Let's see how it all comes together.

How about you? What are you plans for the new year? Any new year's resolutions?

It's exactly a week ago since I started out on my new job. I'm overly excited for the many projects that I need to fulfill in my role. Of course, there are a lot of challenges along the way but I can see that all these things will all the more make the work that I do more fulfilling and will sanctify me more.

Anyway, now that my first pay is near, I'm so tempted to give myself a treat. I'm thinking of buying either for myself or my husband a new watch. I've been going through some sites and I'm totally fixated with Rolex. I'm going somewhere out of the country soon and will definitely look it up in the stores.