The Complete Substitute for All Forms of Sociability

It's been a whirlwind of a year. Started out good with a job doing what I love, a mentor I thought I could look up to, younger associates I could teach and share knowledge with, a supportive relationship. Granted I put my own practice, family and friendships on hold for my job -- I was doing alright financially. Then in March, it started falling apart. One by one, my co-workers left. I think I was numb that entire time. When my S.O. came to visit, I took a week off. In retrospect, that helped a lot. But I couldn't get back to work. That's a testament to who much I loved the work because it was unbearably lonely in that office by myself. Most of the time I could tune it out when I'm focused on the work, but there are moments when I feel it. And the stress was getting to me. I was getting back aches and hyperacidity like every week. Add to that the change in the work dynamic and by the time May hit, my mindset was that I'm not leaving yet . The keyword of course ...

Today was supposed to be the day I went canyoneering in Alegria with a bunch of my cousins. I was so ready. I had my water shoes, water-proof pouch for my iPhone, extra clothes.... Then as I was charging my phone, I decided to check Facebook and one of the notifications was from IBP announcing that the executive judge was conditionally accepting petitions for renewal of notarial commission even without an OBC clearance yet. Provided, the OBC clearance is submitted before January 16, 2016. I was resigned to filing a new application for notarial commission because I thought I'd never get my OBC clearance in time. But this changed everything and I dropped my canyoneering plans to go to the city immediately and file my petition. Court was only open for half a day. Afterwards, I just went straight to the bus terminal and take the next bus home. And the funny thing is that just now our office manager emailed me my OBC clearance. Ha-ha. There was a time when I would have ignored ...

This Christmas we got to spend it with just family - my brothers and their wives and kids, mom and dad, me. My sister didn't come home but we skyped in the morning. It was nice and quiet and fun. The kids make it fun. I got gifts :) A fiber glass egg from Lithuania A bronze ashtray from Abu Dhabi (I don't smoke -_-)

I watched it with my nephew who was having his 11th birthday. I was worried that they wouldn't let him 'coz I thought the movie is rated PG13. So on our way there, I "briefed" him that he is actually 13 years old and that he was born in 2002. I know, I know, I'm so bad. -_- Then we got to the cinema in SM City Cebu, I saw that it was PG. Ahahahaha. So anyway, the movie is so awesome. I've never loved a Star Wars movie more than this one. Everybody is so awesome. I have a crush on Poe, dammit! But I ship him with Finn ~ And Rey -- oh my god, talk about amazing. She's a hero. I love her. That moment when she holds the lightsaber and the music rose -- WOW! I felt like watching Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones say "Dracarys" for the first time. Also BB-8 is sooo cuuute! I love it. I'm just gonna rave about the movie because it deserves it. If I must nitpick, the final sequence with Rey going off to find Luke Skywalker was a little s...

Source But given that Christmas week is just around the corner, and I've got so much to be grateful for and more to look forward to in the next year, I want to savor this moment and enjoy the quiet with some good company, good food and good books/movies. MOVIES I'M GONNA WATCH: Star Wars: The Force Awakens I mean seriously. I haven't watched it yet but I read spoilers. I know who dies at the end. I'm watching it hopefully on Monday or on Tuesday. I wanna avoid the weekend because crowd be crazy. And my parents are coming with mehhh! Yeah senior citizen discount!!! Carol Cate Blanchett. That is all. I am very excited about this movie. Of course, there's no way this is gonna be shown here but who knows. It's got a lot of Oscar buzz. Both stars in the movie are campaigning for Oscar statuettes so that's a definite marketing pull. Crimson Peak Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska in the same movie together? Directed by Guillermo del...

This arrived in a box last week. An early Christmas gift from my sister. LOVE IT!~ I've heard of this manga back when I still read manga voraciously. Lone Wolf & Cub always tops the list of best mangas out there. But it isn't available as a scanlation so I never got to read it. (Yes, I read most of mangas as scanlations. Sorry, I'm poor. I do buy mangas when they're available at BookSale but they ran out of the good ones.) So this is great. I'm starting to read the first volume. Man, these things are thick. The drawings are really good and I love the stories. I enjoy the Edo period. One of my favorite mangas is Blade of the Immortal and that one's pure Edo. Lone Wolf & Cub is said to be more accurate in its portrayal of the customs of the time period though. :)