2010

Blessed. That sums up my 2010.

There is no doubt that I have been truly very blessed this year. While it is true that I have had a few emotional moments just like any other person, there is no question that 2010 was indeed great for me. And as 2010 is winding up in a few hours, here goes a few highlights of the year that was.

JANUARY

I opened the year with a prayer for a better 2010 with things being in place -
bar, career, love and family.
One month with Allan at Picobello
Adventures with my students
Bajeck passing the Nursing Board Examination
I turned 29!




FEBRUARY

My first Valentine Date!
WII moment with Law School friends
Outliers
Dealing with students who cheat .. tsk, tsk!
Teacher's Day gift from my 2BM-A students



MARCH

Flowers
Pray, pray, pray
Tension building up but keeping the faith
Not being insecure
Passing the Bar Exam ... Yahoo!!! Not just me but Allan, too as well as my classmates!




APRIL

Hong Kong and Macau Trip with Sarona and Martin families
Cocoy Martin
Thanksgiving Parties
With Hanniyah
Oath-Taking and Roll-signing ... Full-Fledged Lawyer!




MAY

Election Opportunity
First Timer - North Cotabato
Visiting Aning
Summer Teacher
Mom and Dad's 30th Wedding Anniversary!


JUNE

Notary Public!
Decisions, Decisions
Johanna @ Melbourne
Samal Adventure
Law Professor!


JULY

New President!
New Hair
Emotional Rollercoaster!
Court Appearances
PWC Reunion!


AUGUST

Letting Go .. or Not!
Anonymous
1-SR Send-Off!
Talking with Elaine
Senior Citizen Dad!


SEPTEMBER

Bar Ops Trip!
With Bem and DM
Impressions
Being Careful in What I Say
Dealing with Students


OCTOBER

Badminton with Friends
Savings
Night with Gaby and friends
Sales Class!
LLM .. swerte!


NOVEMBER

Nego Everyday
Learning!
Mom @ US
Evaluations
Sisters


DECEMBER

BSA Classmates
Raffles
High School friends
Memorable One Year ... in a Different Way!
Blueberry Cheesecakes

Thank you Lord for my 2010!
Cheers to another year full of blessings in 2011!

Kenkoy

If you have a Facebook account, you are probably aware of the Violence against Child Abuse Campaign that is going on through the Profile Pictures.

It's pretty simple. You are asked to change your Profile Pic to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. It is asked that this should go on until December 6th, tomorrow, where there should be no human faces on Facebook.

I changed my profile pic to cartoon characters. Twice.

And I was happy I did.

Indeed it was a walk down the memory lane for me and for my friends. We reminisced what cartoons we watched, what days they were shown, the famous punchlines the characters uttered and which cartoon character reflects us.



I first changed my Profile Pic to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. During my childhood years, my sisters and I would be assigned to a respective TMNT. I was Raphael since my favorite color is Red and he is sort of the leader among the four. I'm the eldest and the leader, so to speak.

Changing my Profile Pic to TMNT led me to reminisce other cartoons as well - The Ghostbusters (I'm Egon), The X-Men (Jubilee is my favorite), among others.

Reminiscing such memories made me appreciate of the childhood I had - an enjoyable one indeed. It also made me appreciate the bond my sisters and I have formed. And it gets to me considering that 2 of my sisters are now living abroad.



Then, I changed it to Dopey. When I was growing up, I had big ears, big smile and apple cheeks. My cousins called me Dopey. Looking back, I did not detest it. I just took it in, may be because I thought Dopey was cute.




When my friend suggested that I change my profile pic to Dopey, she reminded me of my childhood picture which was passed around the office to make people laugh. At first, I was hesitant. We are working in a corporate world and a picture of mine taken when I was 2 years old was going to be passed around! What the! Anyway, the picture was eventually passed. Someone even suggested to put it in a poster - "Bawal ang nakasimangot dito". And beside those words, my picture would appear instead of that grinning monkey, hehe. We didn't push through with it though, not that I have regrets, hehe.

With such memories, I can't help but compare it with the youth of today. Did they experience the same kind of joy I had with these cartoons as well as all those outdoor games with the influx of internet and game consoles? How I wish they would experience such joy!

Amidst all these trip down the memory lane, it can't be avoided that there would be adverse reactions. One reaction would be - How on earth would you be able to stop child abuse just by changing your Profile Pic on Facebook?

Actually, no. I don't think you could directly stop child abuse just by changing your Profile Pic on Facebook.

The thing is if you are aware of someone being abused, you do everything in your power to intervene. Stop it if it is happening before your very eyes. Call the proper authorities.

However, it doesn't mean that this changing of Profile Pic leads to nowhere. Such campaign is about awareness - making people aware that this is a reality. And if you happen to cross paths with such situation, you'll know what to do.

When I changed my Profile Pic, it made me more grateful of how blessed I was with my childhood - just in case I forgot. When I changed my Profile Pic, I said a prayer for those who are being abused, for the abusers and for those who are aware but do nothing about it.

Cartoon characters are funny. Children being abused is not. Cartoon characters bounce back when they fall. Children do not. Cartoon characters have super powers. Children do not.

If this Campaign in Facebook made me realize it more, then, so be it.

I really don't I changed my Profile Pic for naught.