It's already halfway through January and I'm still catching up on finishing blogs on my draft folder which I'm supposed to do last year pa.

But first, I just wanna share how my first half of January went...

Right after the noises went down on New Year, I spent the first hours of 2018 watching a Kathniel movie with DJ. Haha, yes, what a cheesy way to start the year but I'm a fan of Kathryn Bernardo's beauty kaya yun ang pinanood namin. We watched the movie 'Can't Help Falling in Love' until 4 in the morning.

I hope it's not yet late for me to list down my new year's resolutions for 2018. 

Last year, 'Come What May' motto ko. Sa awa ng Diyos nairaos ko naman ang 2017 albeit the sorrows, bad news and negativities. 

Ganyan naman talaga ang life. Indi puru happiness lang. Thankful pa din kasi marami din naman ang magandang nangyari last year. 

The other day at the office, I started listing down what I want to accomplish this year. And also gusto ko na mag lifestyle change. Naks! Haha!

But seriously, 2017 made me experience stuffs that made me decide to take care of my health. Hindi na ako bumabata. 

While going through my list, I came up with 2 categories: Resolutions and Goals. People often consider both under New Year's Resolutions in general but based on an article I read at www.lifehacker.com, they are differentiated as follows:

"If there is a specific achievement it's a goal, but permanent changes to your life are resolutions since you keep doing them every day and not just until a specific achievement is reached."

So here is the list I came up with.

1. Take my multivitamins religiously. As in araw araw including weekends. Last year, during work lang ako umiinom, nakakaligtaan pa minsan. This year, dapat walang palya na. I better buy that medicine box with 7 pockets corresponding to each day of the week. Nung buntis ako, I have that. Effective naman.

2. Sleep at least 6 hours daily. For a night shift full time working mom like me, a good sleep is a challenge talaga. Imagine, ako tulog pero ang anak ko gising na gising at gusto akong laruin. Sleep is always compromised if I want to take care and bond with him. Kaya instead of 8 hours, I'll try to stick to 6 hours, acceptable na. Last year, ilang beses akong pumapasok sa work na walang tulog. Sobrang hirap at nakakasira ng katawan. This year hopefully wala ng ganun.

3. Exercise. Eto I want to take seriously. Last year, I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Arthritis. Masakit tanggapin dahil feeling ko I'm still young to have this disease. Sabi ng doctor, di na raw to mawawala. Titigil ang sakit pero babalik at babalik din. But still I want to exercise hanggat kaya pa. This is to strengthen my muscles surrounding my joints. Also to feel alive and active na din. I miss those days na nagpopole ako, ang gaan ng pakiramdan ko lagi. Ngaun feeling ko lagi akong walang energy. Pinag iisipan ko pa if worth it to enroll sa gym sa condo. I plan to do it before going to work. Planning on swimming also kasi its the safest exercise I could do.

4. Eat on time. Eat healthy. Kaya ang payat ko kasi lagi akong walang ganang kumain. Sometimes, l sleep through lunch pa nga at work. This year, 3 heavy meals ang goal, everyday.

5. Hydrate. Eto talaga sinasabi ng halos karamihan. So the other day dinala ko na sa office ang 600ml tumbler ko. Goal is to finish 2 batches of it during work and sa bahay 1.5 naman.

6. Take care of my skin. Last year I bought a lot of skin care stuff sa Althea website. I started using it and noticeable nga ang ginanda ng skin ko. Kaso I stopped using it dahil sobrang nabusy. Indi ko na nagagawa before matulog, matagal din kasi siya gawin. So this year, I'll go back to this Korean skin care routine. I already started a few days ago.

6. Go to work early. Flexible ang in namin sa office. From 7pm until 11pm. I'll try to come in between 8:00 to 8:30 so I could go out the office ng mejo madilim pa. Wala pang traffic and I will have enough time to prepare for DJ's baon and uniform as well as have a few time bonding with Kiel before he goes to school.

7. No to unscheduled leaves. Andami kong unscheduled leaves last year, yung iba dahil tinamad lang pumasok dahil walang tulog. This year I'll use my personal days during sick time or emergencies lang talaga.

8. Do my time entries at the end of the work day. Kasi ganun naman talaga dapat, not on the next working day. Matigas lang talaga ulo ko, kasi minsan super busy. This is how our clients pay us for work done.

9. No to credit card. Always use cash na ang gagawin ko this year. Sobrang kalugi ang interest ng cards, late last year ko lang nalaman na ADB (Average Daily Balance) pala sila magcompute ng interest?!? Seriously? Yoko na magbayad ng interest! Also I can handle my money efficiently if wala credit cards. THough I won't deactivate my card naman. It comes in handy in some times. But make sure to pay for it agad agad after the purchase.

10. Save. Every payweek, I allot a certain amount for savings. Aside pa to sa tinatawag kong 'disposable savings' kasi di talaga maiiwasan minsan na magshoshort sa budget. I have a spreadsheet na for my budget bi-weekly (bi weekly kasi sahod namin). I'll try to stick to it and not overspend, especially for things not needed.

11. Spend more time with Kiel. Ang bilis lumaki ni Kiel. Baka di ko mamalayan teenager na siya at malayo loob sa akin, mas marami pa time nila ng yaya nia magkasama kesa sa akin eh. This year I'll play more with him, especially outdoors.

12. Pray more. No further explanation needed for this.

13. Reconnect with friends. Bahay-work lang routine ko lagi . I need to reconnect with my old friends kahit man lang sa text or messenger to make me sane. Nakakamiss rin ang me kachikahan with girl stuff.

14. Blog more, at least once a week. Antagal natengga ng blog ko na to after we transferred house last year. Wala kasi internet sa building namin. Last month lang naikabit. I'll try to update it weekly. Outlet ko na din to for my daily musings. I'll also try to catch up with my backlogs, andami pa nila sa draft folder ko!

1. Kiel will start talking this year. He was diagnosed with speech delay kasi. 

2. Save a certain amount, 100k maybe? Iba kasi talaga ang feeling pag me ipon.

3. Learn to drive. I started driving lessons last year pero di ko naman natuloy tuloy so di pa din ako marunong magdrive mag isa at mag eexpire na ang student license ko.

4. Finish that crosstitch. 2012 ko pa sinimulan un, hanggang ngaun di pa tapos haha. Nagfade na nga ang kulay ng ibang parts. I'll finish it this year and have it framed. Then hahanapan ko ng magandang pwesto sa condo.

5. Pay up CC bill. Goal is to be debt free this year! 

6. Be Java certified. I'm a Lotus Notes developer sa office but soon, everything will be shifted to Java na. Next week we will start with our internal Java exams na. Goal is to pass that internal exam and then take the Java certification exam.

7. Hike Pinatubo or Masungi Georeserve. Matagal ko na kasi gustong gawin to, wala lang akong kasama. And gusto ko pa din ipursue bago lumala ang arthritis ko at di ko na magawa ever.

So there! Andami and ang haba pala nia! Haha. Next year, I'll revisit this post and mark all those I was able to follow and accomplish.

Good luck to me!