How are you? I hope you are well and enjoying life. How fast this year was for me - let me share it with you! (This is of course in the hopes that you in turn will share a bit of what’s new too!)

At the start of this year, I made a list of things I’d want done by December - my list was so long that I ran out of paper! Looking at it now, I don’t think I did quite badly.

Out of 21 items, I got to do 12.5 (half points were considered for items which were sort of done but not to my satisfaction). The score isn’t bad considering the unleft items - example, item #17 is to buy white cloth (I totally forgot about this one and seems ridiculous now) or item #5 which is to learn the new editing software we got- that became "un-doable" as it needed repair. (excuses excuses).

Anyhow even better yet are the multitude of things that weren’t on the list but have definitely made this year special such as the new addition to our family! Last April 20, my sister Peggy (a widow) married Charlie, (a widower) with 2 sons Carlo and Christopther. So together with Elyse, how our family has grown!

Plus other ‘unlisteds’ are the new businesses that our family is into - in particular Papemelroti Cafe and Gallery and Books for Less Bookstore which opened this year. These new ventures have brought a lot of attention and excitement to our main branch housed at the new building.

At present the cafe (managed by my bro-in-law Luigi) continues to add to its loyal customer base and regularly appears on a local telenovela! We’re on our 3rd art exhibit at present and the menu has grown to include pizza!

The Bookshop is a delight as well and one can get happily lost for hours among the shelves. It’s been done up nicely for Christmas.

This year it seems we’ve been coming out either on TV or on print every month! My sister Patsy had a lot of guest appearances on morning shows, segments on saturday craft lessons and my brother Robert with his usual Probe reports with a new show coming this month to boot!

Also this December, my sister Meldy, hubby Lito and kids will be transferring homes (a few steps away from ours!) :)

I also completed illustrations for a third book (in a series) - not yet sure how its sales will go.

My Item #16 was about learning more about Philippine biodiversity. I did this by joining several birdwatching trips within Manila, Subic and Mt. Makiling with Haribon Foundation (www.haribon.org)- it was very interesting to hear scientists talk not just about birds and endemic wildlife but about our resources and "rainforestation". It was great to see the members take a more active role in issues like illegal pet trade and habitat preservation. Incidentally, if you see an endangered animal for sale, text the particulars (What animal, Where, When) to 0918+8059298 PAWB (Protected Areas & Wildlife Bureau).

Since we’re on the issue of conservation, I also enjoyed the Dragonboat Race set up by World Wildlife Fund (www.wwf.org.ph) for the environment!

Item #9 is my favorite on the list. I was able to arrange a trip to Batanes with 3 other friends and it was an unforgettable and glorious adventure! Batanes is breathtaking in its beauty, rich in culture and the people are the kindest I’ve ever seen!

One of my favorite stories is when trekking to a remote area, I unknowingly dropped my camera case along the way. I thought I’d never see it again since we’d met so few passersby along the path. That same night, an old man knocked on our hostel door carrying it for me! This is but one of many acts of kindnesses we experienced on our 4-day journey (way too short!) We drank the local wine (palek), wore the native raincoat (vakul), had our fill of pictures within the quaint stone houses, visited the towns and neighboring island by faloa (boat), explored a cave, a spring of youth and met one of the island mayors too!

The year 2002 being the Year of the Mountain, I made a midyear goal to climb one (another addition to my list). Good thing, we got a hiking group together and climbed Mt. Daguldol, which didn’t seem like a beginner’s climb at all! But we still made it. The experience was so exhilirating. One felt so alive despite the heat, the heavy weight on your back, the exhaustion... it was really something! (I guess what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger :)

It was such a good experience that we had another climb, this time a more leisurely day trip at Mt. Maculot. It was a lot of fun since our hiking group increased in number.

Back to my list! For more than a decade now I’ve been experiencing a good life being part of a Christian community "Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon" (Joy of the Lord, www.lnp.ph) and I wanted open this way of life to others so I made this item#1. This was a good thing as I’ve even met new folks and made new friends from this and continue to do so. One of my former classmates now regularly attends our community gatherings. After attending events, they often thank me for inviting them as they find it life-giving.

This year, my life in community has, as usual, been packed! We would have regular meetings as a whole community or with other partner communities and have separate meetings for singles. Noteworthy are the many new friends I’ve met this year who’ve joined. As proof, I’ve had to change my cellphone’s simcard to extend the memory since my old one couldn’t hold all the names anymore!

We had a lot of meetings to pray, sing, dance and just plain enjoy life. The singles had a hand in our project "Give a Book" where we donated hundreds of books to a public school library. The principal was so glad that when I delivered the books, she treated me like her new best friend.

I still serve as one of the youth workers for community kids and I served at a summer camp with around 600 kids (aaargh!), University retreat, other outdoor activities and team-building events.

The best thing about serving these kids is seeing how they ‘evolve’ into mature individuals who make good decisions and lead honorable lives.

Item#2 was also fulfilled as I hoped to be of direct service to street kids. This may seem all noble and stuff but it’s not - interacting with these kids benefit me more than it does them believe me!

Item #8 only gets a half point since it’s to learn Italian. I was supposed to join this free class given by a nun but my contact went abroad so I am just learning on my own from online study guides. (cheating!)

Item#10 was to promote volunteerism. To do this I joined Hands on Manila, a network organization of volunteers that provides different opportunities for their membership. They have a wide array of work you could sign up for, like reading stories to children with cancer, or help maintain the zoo, teach computer programs to kids or fix records at the library. I promoted this through our company website hoping that many others would try it out.