2020 was one helluva year, wasn't it?
We all thought 2020 was going to be an auspicious year kasi nga 2020. 20/20- perfect vision. Hahaha. Ha. Akala natin yung pagputok na ng Taal ang pinakamalaking dagok natin noon (puede ring ang hiwalayang James at Nadine kung ikaw ay hardcore fan). Pero ika nga ni 2020- but wait, there's more. Maybe we all thought COVID19 would skip the Philippines on its tour around the world, like SARS did. Eh this time wala daw special treatment.
Remember when we thought that the lockdown/quarantine would only take a month? It's almost a year since the announcement was made and here we are still in quarantine- less stricter but still on lockdown. And maybe living with Super Seniors (both our parents are 75++) made us more praning, so going out was and is still is definitely a no-no. AC and I ate at a restaurant once during the lockdown and we realized that the risk wasn't worth it. We only go out to do grocery, pay bills and errands. Also our househelps are not allowed to go out unless it's important. Maybe it was unfair for us to not allow our househelps and also our parents to go out unless essential, but the cons outweigh the pros.
So how was 2020 for me?
(-) Business-wise, not so good. We had to stop operations after all when the ECQ was announced. Siguro swerte ko lang na I still live with my parents, but when this all started I had two stay-in employees and I still had to give them their salary despite non-operations. Maybe it also helped that I was able to save for the rainy days- nagbunga din ang pagka-kuripot ko. It also helped that one of my sisters got Employee #1 for the time being, she stayed and helped them for four months and came back na lang September, just right before Christmas season. Employee #2 went back to her province when travel restrictions were eased a bit. When MECQ was announced, we started getting orders again albeit for personal use lang since events and gatherings weren't allowed yet. Better than none. At least there's money coming in. Operations normalized maybe around November when people started ordering for Christmas, but still it wasn't like how it used to be and I did expect it naman.
(-) Although I feel I adjusted quicker than most to this whole quarantine thing because I'm an introvert and even before this work-from-home shizz, I prefer staying home and I was already working from home- in other words, it wasn't very different from what I was used to. However, what I definitely miss is seeing my friends, my sisters and most especially, my nephews and niece. Even if my sister and her children live in the next street, we didn't allow the kids to come over and vice versa. We are strictly following the restrictions in order to protect our parents, most especially that V and H report to work on a daily basis. I miss my persons. The kids have gotten so big already and it's so sad that we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. J1 is already taller than me (at 11 years old!) and maybe the next time that we see each other, he'd be a lot taller pa.
(-) Umm, so Tannie the new dog lightly scratched my forehead with his teeth. It was a super light scratch, it didn't even bleed. BUT for my peace of mind, I decided to get anti-rabies vaccine. Nagpunta kami ng center (because kuripot si ako), but since the bite/scratch was on my forehead, I had to get not only the regular anti-rabies shots but also the ERIG shot. They didn't have stocks of the ERIG and the anti-tetanus so I had to get that from the hospital. We went to Mission Hospital along Ortigas Ave Extension and buti na lang meron dun kaso I had to spend 10K. Ang bigat ko rin kasi leche. So there, goodbye 10K. Moral of the story: 'Wag makipagharutan sa aso. LOL.
(-) Typhoon Ulysses. Thankfully, the rains stopped just in time. Floodwaters didn't enter our home, but unfortunately for my sister- the floodwaters did get inside theirs. So they had to vacate their house and transfer here, which was super risky since our parents are also here. Santong dasalan na lang na walang may sakit and this was just a few weeks after my brother-in-law recovered from COVID. Buti na lang we're all okay. Other people weren't as lucky when Ondoy proportions rains flooded nearby cities and also other provinces. Sana eye-opener na ito sa mga tao na we have to take care of the environment, plant more trees, conserve our resources. I'm really for waste segregation and composting. If everyone does his part, malaki rin ang mababawas sa mga dumpsites. That and I pray someone discovers plastic made of plant-based material.
(-/+) AB had COVID. This was during the early days of the pandemic. She and her boyfriend went to Germany for a vacation and came back to the States around March and after a few weeks she developed flu-like symptoms. Since she's all the way there in the States, we can't do anything but pray for her healing and quick recovery. It was scary, I tell you. Pero wala ka na ngang magagawa kundi magdasal. Buti na lang she and Mike were able to recover from the virus. At gala ng gala na sila ulit ngayon. Hay.
(+) Developing the ff healthy habits- exercising every morning at the balcony with Daddy and sleeping early (well, earlier than what I was used to) at night. At the start of the pandemic, I also stopped drinking Coke or very minimal lang, but balik-bisyo na kami ngayon ni AC.
(+) Lost weight! I didn't know how much I weighed before because, honestly, I stopped caring. Baboy kung baboy. Plus, both persons who borrowed our weighing scales didn't return it. But I noticed I did lose some weight because FINALLY I CAN CROSS MY ARMS ACROSS MY CHEST AGAIN AND I CAN CROSS MY LEGS AGAIN! I'm so happy ☺ I'm now at 67 kilos or 147 lbs. Still overweight for my height the last time I checked which must've been a few years ago, I was at around 160 lbs. Not bad. I want to lose some more weight. My BMI says I'm obese so I'm working to get my weight at a normal level. Also, I should keep in mind to not let go of myself again.
(+) Discovering BTS. Hahaha. Siempre, isa sa silver lining ito ng taon. Early last year (pre-pandemic) I wrote a post about needing a crush, someone to fawn over. Sabi nga nila be careful what you wish for, kaya ayan- pito sila.
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BTS is my little ray of sunshine these days. And being a new fan means there's so much material I can binge on in the internet ♥ And I have the time! We celebrated the boys' birthdays with cake and food cos, you know, you got to make your own ganap these days. I swear, watching BTS live in concert is definitely in my bucket list. Next birthdays to celebrate are J-Hope's and Suga's ☺ Then on May 4 I'll be celebrating my first anniversary as an ARMY. LOLOL.
(+) Hindi ko alam kung + ang fact na I was able to finish 25 series last year. But I guess that's a + na rin cos it means I had time. Precious time I could have used doing something more productive pero I don't want to push myself into doing productive stuff. Darating din ako diyan. Haha.
(-) I lost my Uncle, my bestfriend lost her mom, lots of friends and acquaintances lost someone close to them. COVID sucks talaga.
(-) This government.
(+) Webtoons! Had so much fun and kilig feelings while reading my webtoons. Ang dami kong nadiscover na pansayang ng oras because of the pandemic, but as they say- Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. Huzzah ;)
So there, the highs and lows of my 2020. Hope this year will be much better for me, for all of us. Let's pray for a better year. For better days to come. My takeaway from this whole COVID shizz is life is short- make the most out of it while staying home. Hahaha. Iniisip ko na nga kung mamatay ako dapat may access mga kapatid ko sa bank accounts ko at sa stocks ko. Sayang kung hindi nila makuha. But anyway, I'm still optimistic about the future that's why here are my resolutions for this year:
- Lose weight. Little by little does the trick. The hardest part, always, is starting. Naumpisahan ko na and now I know it's possible so I'm inspired to lose more weight. I have to be mindful of what I eat, exercise and sleep on time.
- Read books. With all the free time I have last year, I only got to finish one book at re-read pa siya. So this 2021, my goal is at least one book per month. Which reminds me I only have until tomorrow to finish reading Maybe in Another Life.
- Learn how to do castile soap. I already enrolled myself in a castile soap-making online course and just waiting for the supplies and the tutorial videos. Sana I will enjoy making liquid soaps more than bar soaps.
- Full force with the personalized flat note cards. I was supposed to start it last year but COVID19 happened kaya nawalan ako ng gana. I have to maximize the membership fee I'm paying for my image-sourcing site.
- Be more proactive with the businesses. I was pakipot before. Well, we were much busier naman talaga before and can't answer all queries and messages right away, but starting this year I want to be quicker to reply to my clients.
