Welcome 2005!

New Years in America are boring. Seriously. No fireworks on the street, no festive surroundings, nothing. At least, not where we were.

We spent the New Year celebration in Sacramento with relatives on my Dad's side and, while normally it would be quite festive with all the singing and laughing, this time, it was just dull. Must be the rains? I dunno. But the fact is, it was just so boring. What a way to spend my first New Year's Day in America.

Anyway, we all tried a bit of everything: singing, playing board games, playing card games, watching DVDs, etc. But it just wasn't there. I enjoyed the cards, though, as we played Pusoy Dos and poker. Those games would have made me a rich man, had we been playing with serious money. We tried playing with chips and I ended up sweeping everybody. Beginner's luck, heh.

I think the only fun thing we did was go shopping at the outlet stores in Vacaville but that's not really my idea of fun. I did get a bunch of items, though, like a new pair of sunglasses, a pair of Levi's jeans, and a London Fog leather jacket - all in drop down prices. I also got a new pair of shoes at the Air Force base shopping center near my Uncle's house and I got those tax-free! Oh, well. Basically, that was it.

As I look back into 2004, sadly, I don't think it was a very good year for me. It might have been the worst, in my opinion. Certain events helped make 2004 possibly the ugliest ever:

* The death of a dream, all the backstabbing crap after that, and the birth of a "what if" - a carryover from late 2003.

* Migration blues - being apart from friends and loved ones; missing my old life.

* John Kerry lost the US elections - I really wanted him to win the White House.

* Personal attacks and burning of bridges courtesy of "terrorists" - this reshaped the way at how I look at friendship, in general.

* Key beliefs shattered - it changed the way at how I look at "signs" and believing them; let's just say I'm more cynical now.


The past year may have been largely bad, but let's not forget the nice events of 2004:

* Graduation - finally, after 5 long years, finally.

* Living in America - I know this sounds contradictory (especially with all my complaints), but, at least I know I'll be fine.

* Meeting some great friends here in America - Christine, Giles, Avelino, Michelle, Celine, etc.

* Getting a job - it took a while but at least, when they came, they came.

* Being reunited - with my relatives and some really good friends (like Raffy and Del Munds).


Okay, okay. Now we've gotten to the last part, which is the New Year's Resolution:

* LOSE WEIGHT! LOSE WEIGHT! LOSE WEIGHT! - Time to work out. I want to lose as much as 50 pounds by December 2005 and maintain it. After all, I made a deal with my friend Camille that we'll both be thinner when we next see each other, hehehe.


So much for that. Hopefully, 2005 will be a better year in all aspects of my life. Hopefully...