Bruce is back from training! As some of you may know, we sent our 1-year-old Belgian Malinois to the training school run by my brother’s officemate’s boyfriend (’s sister’s nephew’s classmate’s dad’s… JK) and he needed to stay there for a month to complete the training. He’s so much better now from how he was when we sent him off, because he had a rough childhood. I didn’t want him to end up selling drugs on the street, or caught dead after a shootout 5 years from now, so I shouldered the expenses in the hopes of giving my boy a bright future.

Okay so it isn’t all that dramatic haha. Anyway, here’s a list of my baby Bruce’s new features!

1. Sit — Okay believe me, this is a big deal for him.
2. Heel — This too! Before, he would just run as fast as he could as soon as he got the chance. Heck, nobody would let me take him out for walks because they were afraid he’d drag me along to the highway.
3. Lie down — Apparently, his favorite command.
4. Stay — I love this one.
5. Jump  — Okay he’s still working on this. Thankfully, I see no practical use for jumping… until the circus comes.
6. Bark — Still working on this too, but it’s also a novelty trick.
7. Catch — And he used to dodge stuff we threw haha! The trainer said he has good eye-to-mouth coordination.
8. He doesn’t shrink when people crowd around him anymore. He doesn’t flinch with sudden movements or noises anymore. No more Scaredy Dog!
9. HE DOESN’T EAT OUR STUFF ANYMORE.
10. Finally, his commands are in French!

Okay, sounds like pretty basic stuff right? Well, except for the last one (He learned French before I did!) Seriously though, to him they’re big leaps already. He was in really bad shape before the training (VERY bad conditions and treatment in the pet shop), so just seeing him stand up straight all confident-like, is worth it for me.

Welcome home Bruce! Now, do my taxes. Kidding. You can do them tomorrow. :]

Welcome to my “12 Days of Christmas” series — where starting today until Christmas day, I’ll be posting random things that fall under the infamous countdown. On this 12th Day of Christmas, I’ve decided to post my 12-item wishlist, especially since everybody else has been posting their lists.

My 12 Wishes this Christmas

One. A trip somewhere nice and relaxing.
I think I’m getting this wish soon, me and some girl friends are planning to go to Tagaytay next weekend — dinner and spa at Sonya’s Garden. I want!

Two. A Nikon D60 DSLR.
Pictures are just so much better with DSLRs! I promised myself I’d get one soon… juuuust maybe not that soon.

Three. New shoes.
Because I’ve been depriving myself of Chucks for too long. It’s time to give in, Abby. I also want new girly shoes.

Four. A Nintendo Wii.
… because I’ve been depriving myself of this for too long. It’s time to give in, Abby, seriously.

Five. My own business.

I’m working on it! For now, it’s a secret. *rubs hands* Okay so maybe it won’t make it in time for Christmas, but who cares? Haha!

Six. Food — Pasta.
And lots of it.

Seven. Food — Cakes and pies, please.
Banoffee pie, apple pie, Dulce de Leche cake, chocolate mousse…

Eight. Colder weather.
Am I right?

Nine. Happiness for all the people around me.
Because quite frankly, they all seem like they need it (meaning of this statement may vary)

Ten. A fun company Christmas party.
We all need it.

Eleven. A good launch for our project this season!
Despite everything, I hope it turns out great!

Twelve. A meaningful Christmas for me this year.
Because meaningful Christmases are not automatic.

Here’s to the days ahead, and here’s hoping that I make it though this countdown! P.S. If you think I stopped posting pics at the end because I ran out of time, you’d be right! A thousand points to you. :D

Okay, it’s really a big deal for me that I enjoyed this one, because I’ve hated kiddie parties even since I was a kid myself! I don’t know, something about the loud low-quality sound of the emcee trying to sound happy about what she’s doing. Well, this is really the first time that I actually like (or really know, for that matter) the people other than family who were in the same table. :D

Melanie, me, Jaz, Columbia and daddy EJ (father of the celebrant and gracious host haha) at the top. Random spooky shadow behind us. Ernest, Ali, JJ and a lot of others were also there but I don’t have the pics of them. What I have are videos, woot! I love videos. :D Adding to the fun is that it was at Shakey’s, and I absolutely love their chicken, mojos and…

Dessert! I was planning on buying the Oatmeal Cookie a la Mode because it’s been a long-time favorite of mine (long story), but since Melanie and Jaz also wanted dessert, we decided to buy this big momma. Yum! And just when I was thinking of that bowl of insanely awesome dessert Mikko shared.

Didn’t get the mini DV to work though, so I had to use the SD memcard. I need to get that fixed before the Christmas party! :( Anyways, happy birthday again baby Jay Jay! :)

Strange coming from my background, but anyway this time I was the interviewee. They re-aired their Level Up Live 2008 video, and to spice things up, held some interviews with GMs and people relevant to their games.

While technically I’m not a GM, people in-game know me as GM Abby. The interview turned out more fun than I thought it would! And it felt good to see a lot of international players on the chat with us, asking questions and showing a lotta love. Heartwarming, considering that for some of them it was around 3am. So anyway no details on that, but I’m glad I went. :]

Then had dinner with Ali at The Old Spaghetti House. Man, did I miss Italian food. And guess what, I only found out last night that it was called TOSH. Haha, I don’t know whether to feel good or bad about not knowing that!

Going to EJ’s kid’s birthday. First time I’m looking forward to a children’s party! Shakey’s love. <3

Click it.

I CAN REST (and chat more) NOW.

I’m not going to work tomorrow yay! Well technically I shouldn’t considering I just finished working from home and it’s 2:31 AM. I really must be insane.

Btw I’m joining NaNoWriMo! I know I’m late but I really really think I can do it. And SHOULD do it, for my sanity’s sake. I hope I finish! :]

I’ve been staring at the “Write Post” page for days now, I can never find it in myself to write, even if I’ve got so much to tell. I’ve been in one of my famous slumps, where words don’t come too easy. In fact, I’m rambling now to fool myself into thinking I’ve written something substantial already. And now, I’m thinking “Might as well go on…” Wow, I know myself pretty well!

No birthday post from me! That’s how much I suck as a blogger right now. So anyway let me see what I can come up with now.

Must have been five or six in this picture, I really don’t want to compute given my confusing school-year history (some of you know what I mean). How time flies.

October 4 was actually a great day for me, I got a lot more greetings than I expected to get. Really. People I didn’t think would bother to greet actually did, even a friend I haven’t seen in at least 6 years! I loved it because I wouldn’t have thought any differently of them if they didn’t, but since they did I’m deeply thankful. If you’re one of those people who greeted me, and for those who gave gifts, thank you so much. You’re all part of the reasons I love my life. :]

As mentioned in my predictably vague October 11 post, had a select few friends over, and it was a blast. They say that when you’re with close friends, you tend to revert to the person you were when you first met them. Well, I might not really like who I was in general back then, but I absolutely love who I am when I’m with them. Thanks for being there guys, and thanks to Ali for bringing the Wii again haha!

View from the office building in HK, back when I was there mostly for fun.

Work-wise, things have been different. Interesting, challenging, and exciting — but different. Stress and anxiety levels are at record levels with the current status of our project, and I was telling someone over chat that we must have been a little masochistic! Haha. Well, even if by definition work’s been tough, I wouldn’t have it any other way (Er, sans the incompetence of certain *cough* devs). Because at the end of the day, after giving ourselves a pat on the back for delivering despite seemingly unreasonable deadlines, I feel good. I feel like it’s not just a job to me. And it has its perks.

In the past week, we’ve been pulling overtimes like we actually lived in the office, but man did things end up going great. Like our project manager said, no matter happens from this point on, it’s already a success. The fact that we even pulled it off given the unbelievable circumstances, that makes it a success for the team.

And things are looking so much better for the future. I’m so happy to be in this project. Which brings me to my next point, as I do my (late) obligatory birthday pondering.

This is something I often forget. Something that I lose sight of often enough to make me more worried than I should be, make me let my ego get in the way, turn me into a very angry person. When I look back every year, I come to the same undeniable conclusion, one that I pray I forget less and less — God has blessed me with so much, and words cannot contain my joy and gratitude. I’m sure my long-time friends, if they tried to, will remember me as a lonely girl who didn’t really care about anything enough for her life to mean anything to her. Call it a phase, call it temporary confusion, but I know how bad it was for me then despite appearances. When I think about how far I’ve gone, and how rich I am in good friends, a loving family, a job I love, and a future full of God’s promises for me…

I am overwhelmed. And in every single thing I do, in every success and failure now and forever, I will praise and thank my God — who has sustained and blessed me for 22 years. Here’s to the year ahead! :]

I’ve been staring at the “Write Post” page for days now, I can never find it in myself to write, even if I’ve got so much to tell. I’ve been in one of my famous slumps, where words don’t come too easy. In fact, I’m rambling now to fool myself into thinking I’ve written something substantial already. And now, I’m thinking “Might as well go on…” Wow, I know myself pretty well!

No birthday post from me! That’s how much I suck as a blogger right now. So anyway let me see what I can come up with now.

Must have been five or six in this picture, I really don’t want to compute given my confusing school-year history (some of you know what I mean). How time flies.

October 4 was actually a great day for me, I got a lot more greetings than I expected to get. Really. People I didn’t think would bother to greet actually did, even a friend I haven’t seen in at least 6 years! I loved it because I wouldn’t have thought any differently of them if they didn’t, but since they did I’m deeply thankful. If you’re one of those people who greeted me, and for those who gave gifts, thank you so much. You’re all part of the reasons I love my life. :]

As mentioned in my predictably vague October 11 post, had a select few friends over, and it was a blast. They say that when you’re with close friends, you tend to revert to the person you were when you first met them. Well, I might not really like who I was in general back then, but I absolutely love who I am when I’m with them. Thanks for being there guys, and thanks to Ali for bringing the Wii again haha!

View from the office building in HK, back when I was there mostly for fun.

Work-wise, things have been different. Interesting, challenging, and exciting — but different. Stress and anxiety levels are at record levels with the current status of our project, and I was telling someone over chat that we must have been a little masochistic! Haha. Well, even if by definition work’s been tough, I wouldn’t have it any other way (Er, sans the incompetence of certain *cough* devs). Because at the end of the day, after giving ourselves a pat on the back for delivering despite seemingly unreasonable deadlines, I feel good. I feel like it’s not just a job to me. And it has its perks.

In the past week, we’ve been pulling overtimes like we actually lived in the office, but man did things end up going great. Like our project manager said, no matter happens from this point on, it’s already a success. The fact that we even pulled it off given the unbelievable circumstances, that makes it a success for the team.

And things are looking so much better for the future. I’m so happy to be in this project. Which brings me to my next point, as I do my (late) obligatory birthday pondering.

This is something I often forget. Something that I lose sight of often enough to make me more worried than I should be, make me let my ego get in the way, turn me into a very angry person. When I look back every year, I come to the same undeniable conclusion, one that I pray I forget less and less — God has blessed me with so much, and words cannot contain my joy and gratitude. I’m sure my long-time friends, if they tried to, will remember me as a lonely girl who didn’t really care about anything enough for her life to mean anything to her. Call it a phase, call it temporary confusion, but I know how bad it was for me then despite appearances. When I think about how far I’ve gone, and how rich I am in good friends, a loving family, a job I love, and a future full of God’s promises for me…

I am overwhelmed. And in every single thing I do, in every success and failure now and forever, I will praise and thank my God — who has sustained and blessed me for 22 years. Here’s to the year ahead! :]