Checking Off 2009

LUCAS, the highlight of our 2009

All I wanted to do for 2009 was to end it on a high note, and I did!  It was a very special year for me and Charles primarily because it brought us our first-born.  To us, Lucas was the highlight of the year!

But there's more to 2009 than just Lucas.  I have not forgotten about the wish list that I blogged about right around this time last year, and I am happy to report that I'm checking off most of the items on my list.

Here's what I wished for this past year--
☑ for a safe delivery and a healthy baby - thank God, Lucas was born healthy and my delivery experience was nothing but awesome from start to finish!  I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

☑ that charles and i will gain more strength and patience to embrace the difficulties of parenthood - parenthood, indeed, is a test of one's patience and I think this value is the one we hammered on ourselves almost instantaneously as soon as we became parents.    

☑ for more opportunities at work, for my team to stay intact and for better correlation among colleagues from our different offices - despite reorgs an several of our colleagues impacted by layoffs, my team has remained intact and in fact, there were additions to our team this year.  I also embraced a new opportunity at work.  I took on a new job this year!  It's with the same company, but the work is totally different and better than what I used to do.  I'll spare you the details, but let's just say "I am no longer a Finance person!"☺

☑ to be better at photography and to meet more people with the same interest so I may learn more from them - I did meet a lot of very talented people both here and at Flickr who inspired me to be better at photography.  If you are reading this, then you are one of them!  Thank you!  I am better because of you!

☑ that my parents will have a grand time while vacationing in the US - my parents' visit was cut short, but they had a wonderful time--so wonderful, it was hard for them to leave.  And it was hard on us too.  We miss them badly!

☑ that my nephew will grow up to be a vibrant and healthy little boy - thank God, Nathan has never been sick!  He's been healthy since he was born.  He is such a vibrant and happy little kid too!

☑ that my cousin and her husband be finally blessed with the baby of their dreams - oh yes, they were!  My cousin delivered a beautiful, bouncy baby boy and they named him Benjamin.  What a wonderful year it was for our family!  

☑ that the world economy will start to recuperate and thus help people improve their way of life - the economy has started recuperating, but it will be a long way to go before we are back to where we had fallen from.  I continue to hope that this year is better than the last, and next year is better than the current, and so on...

☑ that my brother will finally marry the girl of his dreams - my brother got married last June (and I did not even know they had plans when I made this list).

☒ that at least one of our friends from outside the country will come visit (maybe chichi? hint...hint...) - unfortunately, this didn't happen in 2009.  But I have a feeling somebody will come this year!

☑ that my friend jocab will have a blissful marriage and that i may get together again with my girl friends lori, minerva, lolit, kathleen and joy - my friend is now happily married!  I attended her beautiful wedding last May, just a week before I had Lucas.  And yes--I was reunited with my friends, in fact, twice this year!

☒ that wars will end and I will hear less and less about innocent children dying - I see this as an ongoing wish, more of a lifetime dream than a yearly one.

☒ that at the end of the year, I will find myself checking off this entire list - no, I didn't check off my entire list, but I checked off more than I had expected to. 

At the end of it all, I checked off 2009 as another phenomenal year!


Next steps... a list for 2010!  Coming soon...