napapayag ko na rin sa wakas yung kapatid ko na bigyan ako ng refresher course on driving. grabe, it's been months since i started begging him to spare me some of his time para ma-practice ko naman yung driving skills ko. actually, marunong na naman ako. i enrolled in A1 driving school two years ago. kaso hindi nga ako nakakapag-practice kaya hindi pa din ako ganong confident on the road. lagi nga akong inaasar ng mga kapatid ko eh. sabi nila EWAN daw yung mga natutunan ko sa A1.

at natuloy din sa wakas ang aming driving tutorial last sunday. we agreed to go to UP after we hear mass in the morning. when we reached UP i treated them first with breakfast at rodic's shopping center. yummm. after breakfast, we went on na with our driving lessons. we searched for a place na tahimik and walang masyadong dumadaan. we chanced upon the street going from palma to NIGS. the place was perfect! nag-park muna kami sa college of science. since maluwag yung parking space dun, nagpaikot-ikot muna ako dun. tapos paikot-ikot lang yung andar ko from cs, to ee center, to msi to nigs. after how many rounds si pau naman yung tinuruan ni
lep. lep and i were suprised kasi ang bilis natuto ni pau. not bad for a beginner. he just practiced going round the cs parking lot.

yesterday naman on our way home, lep allowed me to take care of the wheel starting from artienda (couple of blocks away from our place) to our place. it was my first time to drive at night. hindi pala siya madali. medyo heavy pa naman yung tint nung windows namin. mabuti naman at walang nangyari sa min. hehehehe buo pa naman kaming nakauwi sa bahay.

can't wait to get a hold of the wheel again so i can start cruising down the highway!

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i always turn into a sentimental freak whenever my birthday comes up. ever since i was a kid, i always look forward to celebrating my birthday. it's not because i always have parties or gifts. i just feel extra special on that day especially when people remembered that it's my day. it really meant so much whenever someone would take the time to text, to call or to send out a card.

this year, i made an attempt to document all the people who remembered me on my birthday. actually, this is not a pioneering effort. i have my former officemate, iam, to thank for inspiring me to do the same thing she did on her birthday last year.

List of Well-Wishers (in no particular order):
1. Elaine Ragunton - sade
2. Chris Jovida - ust hs - dominica
3. Myla Saret - ust hs - dominica
4. Michael Narag - ust hs - dominic
5. Jojo Quizon - sade
6. jobstreet.com
7. sheryl tugna - ust hs - dominica
8. paulette wy - ust hs - dominica
9. malou ocampo - ust hs - dominica
10. iya solis - ust hs - dominica
11. mia rodriguez - ust hs - dominica
12. sol clado - jom's gf
13. isa ang - lep's gf
14. joanne yaneza- vectrix barkada
15. daisy labao - family friend
16. ompi sanchez- family
17. mitch - family
18. len casis - family friend
18. roma cruz - high school barkada
19. ruth santos - high school barkada
20. jmee ortiz - sade
21. tito priss - tita vicky - family friend
22. tito ed - tita josie - family
23. sarah - up / vectrix barkada
24. nanay uwe - family
25. edison lacorte- family
26. ryan glo - sade
27. ia mendiola - up barkada
28. joanna advincula- vectrix
29. carlo manongdo- vectrix
30. vienna austria- vectrix
31. ervin ola- vectrix
32. sir rolan veron cruz- vectrix
33. jemson baltazar- vectrix barkada
34. carol tuazon - ust hs - dominica
35. mike santos- vectrix barkada
36. diane lampa- vectrix
37. lester belen - vectrix
38. jay gapusan - sade
39. jennie arevalo - ateneo
40. aldous sanchez - sga
41. rachel dacanay - up barkada
42. geejay lacorte - family
43. tita jing lacorte - family
44. jane jonsay - sade
45. kuya volt bohol - sade
46. ian manahan - sga
47. jeff de leon - ust hs - dominic
48. shey sosa - up friend
49. jimboy lacorte - family
50. cora de leon - ambergris
51. sheree lacorte - family
52. precious sanchez- family
53. toto manuel - sade
54. ria reyes - up barkada
55. beck gabuya - sade barkada
56. jom cardenas- barkada
57. cindy manuel - sade
58. tito barry ortiz - family friend
59. tita chriss ortiz - family friend
60. tita lina sumera - family
61. tita pasing sumera - family
62. dad - family
63. mom - family
64. lep - family
65. pau - family
66. ate helen - family
67. tiger (our doggie) - family
68. hotdog (our doggie) - family
69. mater dei friends
70. ugnayan friends
71. ian lacorte - family
72. joere lacorte - family
73. edison lacorte - family
74. ta nene lacorte - family

i'm really very overwhelmed with the number of people who made my day extra special because of their warm greetings and wishes. i'm also surprised with the greetings of friends whom i haven't spoken for a very long time. thank you all so much!

talking about being sentimental, i composed this message to send-out to friends: on my birthday, i wish to thank speical people who have been instrumental in making me the person that i am today. i consider you as one of them. thanks and God bless!

giddy is the perfect word to describe my current mood. i can't help but feel like a high school teener whenever i gaze at leonardo di caprio's picture. (fyi, the picture below is from the december 2004 issue of vanity fair magazine.)

leo was my number one crush back then. my admiration for him started when bop, seventeen and ym magazines were in heavy circulation in our classroom. i think i was a high school sophomore back then. my seatmates and i would gush and drool over the pin-ups of edward furlong, devon sawa, elijah wood, etc. but for me, i find leonardo di caprio THE most appealing. i like his myterious and boyish charm.

when romeo and juliet came out, i fell head over heels for him. he was so good, not to mention so gorgeous in the film. how i wish i could exchange places with claire danes.

time came when the titanic mania surfaced. that was the time when my crush for him sank. notice the allegory? hehe it was as if everyone was into leo. it was only when catch me if you can came out when i noticed him again.

then, when news about him playing howard hughes in the film the aviator came, i was glued to him once more. especially now that he won the best actor plum in the golden globes. i can't wait to see the film to see for myself how he displayed his gift as an actor.

one thing now is for certain, he will forever remain to be my number one crush!

i was once again chosen to be a godmother; this time to ate mercy and jayvee's cutey baby - justin miguel. from the many times that i've been asked to be a godmother, 'twas my first time to encounter an extra-ordinary christening ceremony. instead of having the water be poured on to the forehead of the baby, the child is immersed in water. and it was not done once, the child is soaked three times up to the head. imagine the riot and the chaos in the baptismal room when the babes wailed and screamed their lungs out as they were being plunged in the -thankfully, lukewarm- water. it was such an experience. actually, the celebration seemed like a fun feast! come to think of it, it should be a fun feast for the child is officialy cleansed and baptized in the Catholic faith.

and another one is added to my growing list of inaanaks. let me see if i can recall each one of them.

1. geejay (tito jun and tita jing)
2. jomic (kuya orlan and ate dory)
3. ogie (kuya buddy and ate tina)
4. jason (kuya boyet and ate merlet)
5. hazel (kuya gerry and ate helen)
6. hans (kuya noel and ate duda)
7. beng (emy)
8. gwen (kuya joel and joan)
9. justin (jayvee and ate mercy)

wow! i didn't realize that i already have a close to a dozen godchildren. for sure, the coming years would produce a dozen more.

2005 has finally arrived! 2004 was a great year for me and for the rest of the family. a lot of things have transpired - some good, some not-so-good but still we consider ourselves tremendously blessed for the many graces and miracles that the LORD has performed on us.

here are some of the highlights of the past year:

january
- mom and dad celebrated their 27 years of wedded bliss.

february
- my 25th birthday. just had a simple lunch treat at the office. was overwhelmed with my many well-wishers. the family just had a simple dinner at teriyaki boy tomas morato.

march
- mom's birthday. a special party was thrown for her at home. we were swept by her many friends from church and the community.

april
- start of the toxic business schedules. the family went on a bonding / leisure trip to subic. one of our favorite places to go to for a vacation. we stayed at the homey forest hills. the highlight of our vacation was our semi-close encounter with a lion at the zoobic safari.

may
- lep's birthday. he celebrated his birthday in zambales.

june
- start of classes. hectic sked still for the business.

july
- pau's birthday. we still couldn't believe that our buncho is now an all grown 16 year-old lad.

august
- dad's birthday. the family threw a party for him at home. his closest friends were with us to celebrate his big day.

september
- the office barkada went on an out-of-town trip to villa escudero.




october
- the family went on an out-of-town trip to villa escudero. we had a lot of fun depsite the rainy weather.





november
- trip to lipa to visit lolo ponse, inay taba, tito imi, mamay and nanay. we went there with tito jun, ompi, chuchay and anjo. we also met nanay uwi and mamay eddie. of course, a trip to lipa would not be complete without stopping over at rose grace famous bulalo. yummmm!

december
- a lot of fun and memorable things happened in december. first, we attended carol's shower party and wedding. we were so happy to see one of our sisters finally finding and settling down with her one true love. congratulations again, carol and ely!

next, i was so excited to see one of my bestbuds, jojo come home again after three long years. beck and i finally got to meet david, her hubby. we had a fun-filled day with her. we met up at SM north, our usual meeting place for years then we ate merienda at shakey's. jojo told us how she missed the place. we used to frequent shakey's kasi when she was here. jojo thought of having our picture taken again. we did that kasi before she left. grabe, we had a lot of fun hamming it up in front of the camera. tawa nga ng tawa yung photographer sa mga kalokohan namin. of course, with beck and jojo around, for sure riot! hehehe then we were picked up by david and jojo's brothers and they brought us to the spa. it was my first time to be pampered at a spa. it was soooo heavenly. then, we had a sumptuous dinner at little asia. david loved the food. it was really great to spend the day with a dear friend whom we dearly missed. thanks a lot, mare. for all the pasalubongs and for spending the day with us despite your hectic schedule. hope to see you and david again next year!




next, the family went on a vacation to lagos del sol resort in caliraya. the original plan was to go to singapore but with considerations presented by dad, we opted to just go for a local tour instead. it came as a blessing in disguise because singapore also experienced the effects of the earthquake which hit indonesia. grabe, buti na lang! anyway, we had a lot of fun naman at lagos. it was a different experience. the atmosphere is comparable to baguio because of the pine trees and the cool breeze, the plus factor is the magnificent lake. what i love about the place is the feeling of serenity. we got to commune with nature. after dinner one night, we went to the lakeside and just gazed up to the full moon. i just loved the way the moon reflected its light on the lake. ang ganda!