If you remember my New Year Goals, you will note that my first two goals were
1. Start the construction of our new home by February.
2. Move in to our new home before the year 2007 ends.
Unfortunate circumstances can turn into blessings. I posted my New Year Goals entry on January 2, 2007 at 7:00 AM, the first working day of the year 2007. Determined to start on my goals, I hied off to the seller of the lot we wanted to purchase so I could check on the documentation. The journey to the seller’s residence was daunting. Taytay is an alien town to me. Driving in circles, I gave up and parked my car by the tricyles stand. Showing the address of the seller, I hired a tricyle to drive me over there. Riding a tricycle terrified me as I hadn’t ridden one in years. Besides, the barren land opened my mind to all sorts of gruesome imagination. What if the tricycle driver robbed me and dumped me here? What if no one knew where I was? I didn’t tell my husband that I was on my way to Taytay. Anyway, I have a point. I finally reached the seller who was supposed to be the authorized person to sign any legal documents. It took her two freaking months to get the “Special Power of Attorney” (SPA) from her sibling. I eagerly looked for it so I could pay her the full payment within the week. Much to my consternation, the SPA came from the US Military not the Philippine Consulate.
I said “this won’t do.” The seller whined that it will take another two weeks to get the SPA I wanted. I was furious inside. That means a setback of another month in my plans. Then my fury turned to my real estate brokers. I thought “how dare they let me go all the way to Taytay? I could have gotten killed going here! How could they not have checked the papers?” Not about to give up, I told the seller that I would type out the SPA myself and email it to her sibling.
I drove back to my real estate broker but she was in Japan! Her agent (my aunt) excitedly told me about a lovely house and lot that I might want to consider. She said this was the house for me. I didn’t want to see it because my mind was already set into building a house. The property was also 500 thousand over my budget and I became more suspicious of my aunt’s motives “she just wants a higher commission”. My bad mood just clouded my mind for a minute. Since I loved my aunt, I grudgingly said I’d see it out of curiousity.
You know how it is when you fall in “love at first sight”. The minute I laid my eyes on the pretty house, I fell in love.
The first time I puffed a cigarette was when I was 18 years old in utter defiance of an ex-boyfriend who refused to leave me alone. Thinking he’d get turned off with my smoking, I blew smoke into his face. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. He continued to pursue me relentlessly until I met my husband. (having another boyfriend didn’t stop him but that’s another story) The sad thing was I got hooked into cigarettes till my mid-thirties. Until one day….an 8 year old Lauren wrapped her arms around me and begged me “Mom, smoking is bad. I learned in Science class that you could die of lung cancer. I don’t want you to die. I love you mom”
My sister in San Francisco greeted me a Happy New Year then asked me “so what are your New Year goals?”. My goals are etched somewhere in the crevices of my brain but I hadn’t written it down in paper. I realize now that I needed to write down my goals, as an affirmation of myself, my life, and my ability to choose. Then I let it go. New Year goals are something we need to dig within and discover what we would like to happen in our life this year. It is an affirmation that we are interested in living life in the year to come. Goals give us focus. Goals give our life direction.
[tag]Happy New Year[/tag] [tag]2007[/tag]. My ears are still ringing from the din of our neighbors merriment. The house across our home were filled with party revelers spewing [tag]firecrackers[/tag] blast and [tag]fireworks[/tag] display starting at 9:00 PM till midnight. It’s been a long time since I’ve inhaled so much toxic smoke considering the village we live is relatively peaceful. Next year, I should remind myself to check in at a hotel to avoid this racket. The street looked like a warzone with debris of the fireworks strewn all over. The firecrackers’ explosion created so much noise I could barely hear anyone beside me for the whole duration. The girls were furious and scared of the noise. I mean , we can take in some noise but these were like total destruction to our eardrums. While taking the video, sparks flew towards our front porch hitting me on my arms. That’s how powerful it was. Listen to this