Mighty Moments 2011 pt. 1: Loss, nightmares and toenails

2011's almost done and I can't help but think about the things that happened over the year. Was this year a good one or a bad one? You can tell only by the memories you make.

This is my attempt to count down the Mighty Moments of 2011. I'm posting the worst ones first, because I want to remember what I went through this year. Also, it's the challenges and hardship that make someone stronger. Somehow, I think I did.

So here goes...

10. One of the scariest dreams of my life
A dream isn't a real memory (or is it?), but this one was so damn scary I can't forget it. I was one of those dreams where I woke up with the chills. The dream starts out with my ex's parents waking me up and congratulating me because I got her pregnant. All hell breaks loose from there.

9. The craziest flight delay
My Boracay trip with my high school buds had a crazy ending because of the delays we had going home. Our flight back was pushed to the next day, so we ended up moving to a creepy resort. When that next day came, we found out in Caticlan airport that we had to change to Kalibo. I curled up on my bed when I finally got home.

Ok, this doesn't do justice to the tedious waiting we endured.

8. Blood exam
I had a blood exam to check out how my health was going. Found out that I was a few points over the normal levels of cholesterol and uric acid. So that means watching what I eat, less of the that oily tasty goodness and more of sad bland food. Ignorance is bliss indeed!

7. My big toenail breaking off
This happened in one of our company outings this year. We were playing beach football and genius that I am, kick the ball with my bad toenail. For the ugly visual click here.

6. The sh*ts of my life
Food gone bad means stomach gone bad. It was signal #3 in the toilet and had to work from home for a week. If you're sick and want more details, click here.

5. Got NTE'd for the first time
This was the first major work blunder I had ever since going back to Wideout. I was at Bangkok with Anj and my boss asks if my reports are done. I knew they were done, so I said they were done. They weren't. My boss made me write my own NTE (notice to explain).

4. Kulit gets lost
Anj's parents gave me a dog we could use as a guard dog for my dad's new farm. So after a month of getting attached to it in the house, I finally let him go to do his job. After a few months, the workers there tell us that he's gone missing. Never saw him again. I hope he's in a better place.

If you find this dog please return him to me.

 3. My Peruvian guinea pig Joonie dies
Second pet tragedy on this list, my pet guinea pig Joonie dies from what I could only describe as loosing it. After a few months of putting his cage in the garden we found him dead in his cage, biting one of the bars. I guess this was more of a lesson for me to be more responsible when taking care of pets.


2. The long December
This was probably the most tiring december I've had in my life. Work was really busy with trying to fix things with our clients. It was such a long checklist of things to do, we had to Google Doc a spreadsheet just for it. Also, I made another reporting error this month which sucked. All that plus a lot of drama, made for a very very long December.

1. Shirley Dies
After a good long life our family shih tsu Shirley dies from I don't even know what. Must have been something really bad because a lot happened to her that should have killed her before. Falls, cars and freaking time wouldn't even kill her. Even though she became damn stinky and cranky, she was still my dog and it was a really sad day when she passed.

Back when I was thin and she was not smelly.

So these are worst Mighty Moments of 2011. Had to deal with a lot of mistakes and loss. I'm glad though that there was a lot to learn from these experiences and pets live on in our memories. Nightmares stay nightmares, and it's time to live out dreams. Looking back, it doesn't feel so bad. I feel good now that I can laugh about these moving on.

Christmas post

Christmas this year was great. As usual things, were fun and loud in the house and gifts giving is always fun. Family was complete plus a new addition to the family with my brother's new kid.

What was different with this Christmas was that everyone was busy. Work was crazy and everyone else was either going out to parties and scrambling for last minute gifts. But still, I'm glad that as the 24th got closer, things started to get more and more Christmas-y. It may have not been the best December of my life, but it was definitely one that felt worth it in the end.

Our Christmas Tree

That night though, we had to get my brother asthma medicine in Mercury Drug and good thing the one near our house was open. We went in and saw some really tired looking sales people. As thankful as I was, I felt really bad for those people who had to work on Christmas night.

Thinking about it, we were lucky. Realized a lot of families were not able to have a Christmas like the one we had. Anj and her brother spent Christmas eve on the airplane home from Singapore and got home missing noche buena. My brother's girlfriend spent it in the hospital with her mom and the new kid. My cousins were at the hospital too with their lola in the ICU. And those were only the people I know. Hundreds of families in Cagayan de Oro and other grief striken places are having Christmases that hurt just thinking about it.

As much as I can complain about how hard this December was, I think it doesn't really compare with what a lot of other people are going through. So yes, I'm now very thankful for the December and Christmas that I was able to experience. Having family together on the holidays is already gift enough to enjoy the season.

And for those people who have unfortunate holidays, I guess the best we could do is be generous no matter what the season. I don't think there's any rule against gift-giving outside of Christmas. If you could make someone feel special whenever you can, then maybe everyone can feel a bit of Christmas all year round.

Let's all be off-season Santas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Be a crayon in someone's life, not an eraser.

Fight crazy with crazy

I will remember this month as the hardest December of my life. I don’t know why but for some reason things are not going well over at work. We got issues to resolve, projects to finish and clients to make happy. Plus one big crapola is that there was a reporting mistake I was involved in. That in my job is a big deal because I’m supposed to be the data guy in the company.

Yeah, it was hard trying to find out how to make it right plus having that painful conversation with my boss. Adding to that the pending stuff on my plate, officially makes this December pretty darn crazy.

So what do I do? Nothing else but get back up and fight. Learn from the mistake and move on to kick ass. The month’s not over and it’s not too late to make it awesome. (did I just pep talk myself?)

In the spirit of fighting back and feeling good, I had myself a haircut. It represents fighting this crazy month with crazy.

The only thing I want on my plate this Christmas is ham. And that’s how it’s going to be.

What is Mightyoranda?

Everyone owns their own personal fishbowl, living within means and capabilities.
That is only where we start.
Everyone has the creativity to dream big and live life beyond the glass walls.
It's because we can see through those walls and discover what else we can do.
We be negative, we realize how small we live and drown.
Instead we be hopeful, active, generous and kind.

We be mighty.

Never afraid to break free from the bowl.

A party before Christmas

Remember when I said that the host of the party enjoys the least during the party? Guess what, I ended up hosting out company's Christmas party again. This time was different though. I don't feel like I missed out because it was like a big, fast, enjoyable blur that was satisfying.

I didn't really want to do it first but then again nobody wanted to do it. And for some weird reason, because nobody wanted to do it, I suddenly wanted to. Well, it was that and realizing that it would be a while since I attend another one of these events. If it's the last, then you do it right.

It was a masqueradey Christmas party

Presentations from the newbies were great, it just goes to show the energy they're bringing into the company. I just hope they don't bring their desire to go drag and strip in social events into the office. Games were funny as hell because the bosses joined in. It was the one night where it was cool to laugh at your boss, worth ittt.

What was crazy was that I had only one cup of beer in the party. Good thing we had more drinks in the after party but not so much that I regretted it the day after.

Aside from a soar voice and aching legs, it all just felt right. It was a good party.

Stomachs and ankles

Just got back from a trip to Singapore to visit Anj. Funny thing though was that this time, she was the one that needed care because she severely sprained her ankle. Ok, that isn't really funny but it's kind of ironic, me and my stomach probems a few weeks ago and now her with her ankle.

Now a sprained ankle doesn't sound that bad, but this one was crazy. And being in a city where most of what you do is walk, that's just not cool. Still, we managed to have a good time and had awesome food in Singapore.

It's not the place you're in but the people you are with that counts. And the food.

Yummeey.