TOP 10 LIST-2009

December 8 and still no news from the Academic Manager. Is he playing hide and seek ? Beats me. I’m tired of waiting so I’ll just get on with Plan XYZ. A contingency plan as my supervisor calls it. Don’t know what’s instore for me though. I’m totally counting on him to get past this hurdle. So that’s the plan - executing Plan XYZ. Case closed.

Moving on to greener pastures of thoughts…DECEMBER. A month of celebration for everybody. And like every year, the time to look back and reflect has come. What have I done? Achieved? Discovered? Fulfilled? Failed to do? Regretted not doing? These are questions that haunt me as the year closes. Well, if I were to write  down all the answers to these questions, I could write a book. And if I were graphic and honest enough to reveal all the dirt, it could even be a best seller (this is where you stick out your tongue and throw up, hehehe). So. I'll just make this short and sweet.

Here’s a list of random things in my life that stood out in 2009 - THE TOP 10 LIST

Most annoying/ shocked/depressing/terrifying/ akward moments of 2009

1. Getting a really bad haircut when a Korean hairdresser misunderstood what I said.

2. Getting an infringement notice for parking in a prohibited area. (Sis, please stop shaking your head).

3. Taking Alden to the oral health clinic for his dental surgery and seeing him ‘sleep’ under general anesthesia.

4. Freaking out when Alden had a frebrile convulsion, calling 111, waiting for the ambulance and rushing to the ER.

5. Sending my family to the airport (in July) and crying buckets of tears afterwards.

6. Reading my sister’s text message, saying that dad fell down and his tulang patah.

7. Presenting in my first departmental seminar.

8. Having my sneakers stolen when I was picking up Alden from school. Took them off and left them at the reception and they miraculously disappeared in 5 minutes.

9. Looking at my pay slip for the first time since I started studying and getting a brain freeze afterwards (all allowances were cut off).

10. Missing a $14 million lottery win by one number. (One of the 6 numbers I dreamt didn’t appear in the results and until today hubby is still sore).

Most pleasant/ fulfilling/ exciting/memorable moments of 2009

1. Knowing that I was having a girl and spreading the news to everyone I knew.

2. Getting the Booking Confirmation from Airasia for my balik kg trip next year (after spending almost half a day on the net).

3. Hugging my mom and sister when they arrived in Christchurch.

4. Being able to fit into my favourite jeans again.

5. Getting an A-ok for my research proposal.

6. Being asked to produce a valid ID when I was buying a bottle of wine for Alva’s ‘proxy’ godmother. The legal minimum age for purchasing alcohol in NZ : 18 years old.

7. Told hubby about the above incident the first chance I got and gloat about it. (I mean seriously, that’s such an ego-booster for a mother of 2 like me).

8. Seeing and stealing my first cherry blossoms.

9. Having hubby by my side during delivery and smiling at each other when we saw Alva for the first time.

10. Winning Lotto Division 3 ($1500.00) after seeing the winning numbers in my dream. It could’ve been $14 million but still, it felt really good to win.

There you have it. The good and the bad. 2009 has been a challenging year for me but anyway, nobody gets away with a life full of pleasure with no problems or pain right?

How about you? What’s your reflection?