The year 2009

This is the first time since the year started that I find myself with a little extra time to reflect on my 2009. Life really is full of surprises! My year turned out very differently from how I planned it.

At the beginning 2009, I documented my plans for the year (see Begin with the end in mind, January 7, 2009). Let's see how well I did.

2009 Plans:

1. Consume only 1 plastic cup from the pantry per week.
(Just the ones from our office pantry and not including the plastic cups used to serve drinks at fast food joints). I think I actually did better than this. Since I started using my own mug... I think I stopped using plastic and styrofoam cups from the pantry as early as February last year.

2. Start thinking about carbon footprints.
As I said... just START ;) Since we didn't get to go anywhere all year (no flights)... and I was even stuck at home for a month (no cab rides, car rides), AND I started bringing my own re-usable cloth shopping bag late last year when I go to the grocery, I think our carbon footprint was significantly reduced.

3. Have shelves installed and cabinets repaired downstairs.
Yey!!! This is done :) (See Home Improvement - Part I regarding the book shelf). My husband installed new shelves for our books and the cabinet doors in our kitchen downstairs have been replaced (thanks to my in-laws, they were the ones who had the new ones made :D).

4. Visit 2 Asian countries.
Sadly, this was out of the question last year and for the next few years I think until Andrea is old enough to actually enjoy an out of the country vacation.

5. Get Flu vaccine.
I wasn't able to get one last year either since my OB Gyne asked me to wait until after I gave birth. But I've never been so healthy in my entire life as I was last year. Even without the flu vaccine, I didn't get the flu. I took vitamins everyday, milk 2x a day, no drinking, no exposure to 2nd hand smoke, plenty of rest, etc etc.

6. Visit at least one Philippine destination that we've never been to before.
Hmmm... I didn't get to do much travelling last year due to a complicated pregnancy. My husband and I did get to go to Clark to witness the Hot Air Balloon festival though. It was the first time we've been able to see it (though we've been to Clark before). I think that can count... though it wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

7. Limit purchases for the year to 5 pairs of shoes and 2 bags.
Stupid plan for any other year but I was able to keep to this last year. My feet were so swollen for most part of last year that I lost all desire for shoes and just bought one comfortable pair which I wore out from overuse and discarded immediately after I gave birth.

8. Make sure that all books and magazines in the house are in bookshelves.
I think they are... except for the ones my husband read and never returned to their proper places X(

9. Participate in at least one volunteer activity/Support a charitable activity.
Wow... I forgot this was even part of my plan. I think I only had Earth Hour in mind when I wrote this but I didn't get to volunteer for that since I was already pregnant then. But I was able to give my support to a couple of organizations during their Typhoon Ondoy relief operations.

That was it. But I had additional accomplishments:

1. My blog did 2x as well as it did last year. As of last year, I was only targeting 1000 visits before the year ends. I was able to meet that. Then this year, I had more than 2000 visits. So Thank you!

2. And very important: I had Andrea :)


Now I have to start thinking about 2010.