24 days to go...24 DAYS TO GO! Waaahhh...! I'm not yet done with my Christmas shopping! Sobrang madami pang kulang. Hay. 24 days pa Ivee...24 DAYS PA!

Moving on, obviously I've already started with my Christmas shopping and for some reason I'm having difficulty deciding on what to give my friends this year. If only I could read their minds...If only I could find a way to know what their hearts desire! In any case, I hope they do like what I got (or will get) them. Nag-effort din naman ako, hehe.

Grabe, December na. Ang bilis talaga ng panahon lalo na kapag tumatanda ka na. I realized this when I hit 20...yata. Basta all of a sudden parang ang bilis na ng mga araw at 'di ko na namamalayan na hindi na pala ako ang dating paslit na si Ivee.

Hay. Pagod lang 'to. Gotta re-charge for another busy day at the mall!

Sa wakas, nagwakas narin ang aking krismas syaping, hehe. Well, actually kulang pa ko para sa mga "VIP" pero madali nalang yun. At ngayon ay excited na 'kong magbalot ng mga regalo. Sana kayanin ng powers ko.

Wasn't able to watch any flick this week gawa nga ng pamimili ng mga regalo. Hopefully this weekend mapanood ko na ang Fred Claus, Enchanted at One More Chance, haha!

What else makes me excited?

• May Buy-the-Book na sa Market! Market!
• May nabibili na raw na dibidi ng Prison Break Season 3!
• Ang mga regalo ko sa sarili ko!
• Malapit na ang Pasko!

 Nakakaantok. May pasok nanaman bukas pero hindi ako nalulungkot (masyado). Bakit kaya?

In fairness maganda naman talaga itong si Song Hye-Kyo. Pambihira, crush ni Paul 'to but he can't remember her name.

I'm not a big fan of Korean series and films, simply because I don't have the patience to read subtitles. I have seen one movie though, yung My Sassy Girl and of course yung Tagalized na mga series sa Primetime Bida dati napapanood ko rin (bakit kaya wala na silang Korean series ngayon?). Pero yun nga Tinagalog na so di na kailangang magbasa kaya ko natagalan.

At ngayon, dahil nahihilig si Paul sa mga ganito (which is quite odd for a guy), parang gusto ko na subukan manood ulit, pero siguro yung movies lang. I don't have time for the series kahit di naman sila mahahaba.

Hmmm....sisimulan ko nga sa "My Girl and I" kung saan bida itong babaeng ito. Sana masiyahan ako.

Bakit ba OFFLINE ang mga ATM tuwing sweldo?!

Good thing I didn't need that much cash yesterday. I actually managed to stick to my budget!

Been looking for the perfect Broadway outfit for the company Christmas party on Monday and I finally found one! Er, actually I have yet to decide which Broadway play the outfit would be from. The whole time I was looking I was thinking of The Sound of Music and I wanted to be Liesl, the eldest Von Trapp sibling, so I kept looking for a "flowy" dress, kind of like what she wore during the "I am Sixteen..." number in the movie version. Well, pasok naman sa category na 'to yung nabili ko (though it isn't plain), so I guess it would work. I will be Liesl. Yeah, the outfit would be from my ultimate favorite musical!

Moving on, today I'm scheduled to:

1. Wrap Christmas presents. Oh yeah, I haven't wrapped a single gift! Lazy, lazy. In the previous years, I asked my sister to wrap my presents for me since she's a much better "wrapper" than I am. She's always been the artistic sibling. Ako maarte lang! Wahahahah!

2. Watch "My Girl and I". Paul finally lent me his dibidi, para daw malaman ko kung bakit gustong-gusto nya yung movie na 'yon, so sige na nga. Pagbigyan.

3. Meet-up with Paul in Market! Market! We need to have some "quality time" since we haven't been seeing a lot of each other lately. He's busy practicing for their Christmas presentation on Tuesday. He's gonna dance! Haha! Paul's definitely NOT a dancer and he admits it. ("Mukha akong tanga! Ayaw ko na nga eh, kundi lang 1k ang multa, nag-backout na talaga 'ko!" --Paul). Okay lang 'yan baby, hehe.

4. Finish Rich Dad, Poor Dad. My goodness. Bakit ba hindi ko matapos-tapos ito? 'Di ko tuloy masimulan yung ibang libro!

It's definitely going to be a looong day for me. Better get started NOW!

...right? I hate playing this "what if" game. I DON'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN. It will NEVER happen. I WON'T allow it.

I'm going crazy just thinking about it. I seriously have no idea what I''m going to do IN CASE in happens. I never thought it was possible...until now that these questions were raised. It hasn't happened YET (and, again, I hope it NEVER does), but it is possible. VERY possible.

And if it does happen, one thing's for sure. My world would be crashed

HaPpy thoughts HaPpy thoughts HaPpy thoughts HaPpy thoughts

Reading is one of the things that I have been putting on hold for as-long-as-I-can-remember, along with going on a diet, getting some exercise and fixing my closet.

My excuse for this one would be the sky-high prices of the good books that I ought to be reading. But of course, this was back when I was still a poor student who had to rely on anything in excess of my meager allowance for my indulgences.

But now that I am already earning my own money and can afford to buy some of the good books, why can't I still get myself to turn those pages? I can't say that it's lack of time because I have lots of that. I can't say that I'm not interested in reading either because I really do enjoy it. I love letting my imagination work. So I guess this is just plain laziness then.

Reading is good. Most of the intelligent people I know love reading books. Great writers (of course!), teachers, friends, fellow bloggers, my boss. All of them have the passion for reading. And now they have FINALLY inspired me to start reading, again.

I have been lurking bookstores (NBS, Buy the Book) lately looking for interesting titles and so far I've managed to buy two: Citizen Girl and Can You Keep a Secret? (prices are still high, you know)

Citizen Girl

Can You Keep a Secret?

Aside from real books, I have also been fond of reading ebooks, thanks to Bubbles, my Palm TX. I just finished reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad (finally) and now I'm reading Smoke and Mirrors, which, I found out just recently, came with the Palm TX. Other ebooks stored in Bubbles are Deception Point, Digital Fortress, Breaking the Da Vinci Code, The Duke and I and The Mysterious Island.

Smoke and Mirrors

Other (real) books that I'd really like to buy (and read) are The Other Boleyn Girl and The Historian. Hopefully I will be able to buy them before the year ends.

So it's official. READING is now included in my new year's resolutions list, along with going on a diet, getting some exercise and fixing my closet.

Yeah. The signs are all around. People carrying huge paper or plastic bags filled with gifts, noche buena goodies, all sorts of company giveaways (from 2008 calendars [desk, wall, pocket, name it!] to planners or diaries, to umbrellas and pens) walking around the business district with their kids who are in their best clothes. Terrible traffic. Long lines at ATMs and gift wrapping sections in malls. Busy, busy toy stores. Empty wallets. Jam-packed refrigerators. Happy kids. Kids richer than their parents. Bright lights. Big, colorful stars. Moving carnivals. Happy people. Beggars. Thieves. Ang pao envelopes (is that how you spell it?). Greeting cards. Parties. LOVE. GENEROSITY. PEACE (I wish). Yeah. Christmas is here!

Had to go to the office today. I filled in for Ma'am Chat (again) since she had ANOTHER wedding to go to. I didn't mind, really. Especially substituting for this particular meeting because there was a feast, sort of the ExComm's Christmas Thanksgiving lunch. Seafood galore, baby! And the lechon de leche was amazingly still crunchy despite having to wait for about an hour or so.

Aside from the "feast", it was also the company's special day for kids. Employees' children, nieces or nephews lined up for their pamaskos from the executive. Some gave cash (P20, kuripot! Haha! pero sa dami ng bata, sobrang dami rin nilang nilabas na pera pag kinwenta mo) while others opted to pack candies, chocolates and other treats to give away to the kids.

It was getting a bit chaotic when it was time for the BIG boss to hand out his aguinaldos, so I sneaked out and proceeded with my other plans for the day. And because I was in such a big hurry, I've forgotten the rest of the goodies that I was supposed to take home AND the Buddy's Longganisang Lucban, which my boss gave me as a present. Nakakahiya. I had to ask her to take it home muna dahil baka masira. Darn this memory gap!

Anyway, I met up with Paul in Glorietta as we were planning watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I passed by Landmark on my way there and was, um, "hypnotized" by their P75-VCDs. I ended up buying a few titles and I plan to watch them ALL over the looong holiday break (good luck to me). 

Let's see...I've got Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I have been dying to see; Marie Antoinette, which I bought out of curiosity; Vanity Fair, starring one of my fave actresses, Reese Witherspoon and Roman Holiday and Paris When it Sizzles, two Audrey Hepburn flicks (I probably am Audrey's weirdest fan because I HAVEN'T seen any of her movies YET. One of these two would be the first. Oh, I simply adore the lady's beauty and style!).

Moving on, I met up with Paul near the Gift Factory's booth in Glorietta. On our way to the cinema (at G4), we passed by another temptation, which was the book sale! Yeah, he's into books as well, but more on compilations of inspirational stories. So after browsing though a rack full of books on bargain (P99, buy-one-take-one. How great is that?!), we settled for these:

(L-R) The Biograph Girl, As Seen on TV, Bare Necessity and The Chase. Paul brought home Glimpses of an Invisible God, the inspirational book before I had the chance to take a picture of it.

We finally reached the cinema, but we were a bit early, so tambay muna sa Starbucks. After finishing our hot drinks, we entered the theater, just in time for the trailers. Lots of great movies to watch out for in 2008! Sydney White (Amanda Bynes), Heartbreak Kid (Ben Stiller), Atonement (Kiera Knightley) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Nicolas Cage), to name a few.

Anyway, both tired and a little hungry, we went straight home after the movie (which we both enjoyed) and grabbed some hotdog sandwiches on our way. It has been a fun day and we hope to do it again soon!

Hmmm...looks like I'll be having a busy holiday. Got to get some rest. Happy long weekend!

I want to start a new hobby, and it's called LOMOGRAPHY!

I'm sort of a frustrated photographer. Heck, I am a frustrated EVERYTHING!

Anyway, I'm seriously thinking of buying a lomo cam. I found some online stores selling all sorts of lomo cams and "accessories" and I'm considering buying either the Holga starter kit or a Diana. I've also started visiting these lomography websites to get to know more about this cool kind of photography.

I just hope this hobby isn't that expensive. I mean, the cams are quite cheap, but what about developing and other stuff? Oh I still have so much to learn about this lomo thing, but I really am genuinely interested and very excited!

Had a "secret" quick trip to Market! Market! this afternoon to buy Paul's gift. Yeah, super late Christmas gift. Ngayon lang ako nakahanap ng chance eh. He was out with his dad and brother (at another mall, of course), so sinamantala ko na.

Anyway, while I was there I was able to score some "late Christmas gifts" for myself as well .

Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson - bought this on sale. P100 lang!

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella - After Can You Keep a Secret?, I just had to have a copy of this!

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - This one I bought out of curiosity.

Now I can't wait to finish The Chase and get started on any of these! As for The Historian and The Other Boleyn Girl...there's always a next time.

In a few minutes, it's going to be 2008 already. Wow. Another year to look forward to. There are a lot of things that I should be wishing for, but I guess all I'll really be needing is the determination to turn these wishes into reality.

For the past years, I have also been making a list of resolutions that, by the end of the year, remain as written promises. So this year, I'm not going to make any. I realized it just adds pressure on me and I end up not doing anything at all to change. With this new strategy, I am hoping to get results that (hopefully) will last the whole year and beyond.

I shall continue hoping for the best for my family and friends who have always been beside me in good times and bad. I am also hoping to try new things, meet new friends and achieve something that I can really be proud of. Likewise, I am hoping to make a difference in other people's lives in my own little way.

No more negative thoughts. I shall leave the bad memories of 2007 behind and be optimistic in 2008.

Happy New Year!