And just like that, a week has happened.

We started the new year with a new experience of celebrating it with us three—our little family. In the dark skyline we watched sprouting fireworks with as less booming noise as ever.

Jaycelle and I were both mustering what was left of our wakefulness as we ate grapes and tooted our toy trumpets. Bryce our son, on the other hand, had his depleted self sprawled on the bed—indifferent to the significance of a new year’s celebration.

My number one resolution: to sleep early and wake up early and J was quick to point out how dare we start the year defying our first resolution.

True enough, our mind was drifting—wanting to float away in dreamland but for me, the day was just getting started.

Road Trip to Cavite

In the afternoon of January 1, we had to be in Tagaytay to celebrate with our friends’ wedding. So while J dozed off, I was packing our things and tidying the remnants of media noche.

It’s better to hit the road before sunrise than join the busyness of the morning. So with thirty-nine winks, I was confident enough to drive back to my parents’ home to have our complete sleep there before heading to the highlands.

The roads were hazy with all the aftermath of fireworks. Welcome changes can be felt and seen with the sudden disappearance of firecrackers—unlike the realization that less and less lights could be seen decorating houses in every street and corner.

Gratefulness comes to light

In this phase—a fast-paced lifestyle, it’s not difficult to wake up when a week, a month had already gone by. Jotting down our thoughts of which in life needed acknowledgement and appreciation somehow makes the movement of time trickle by slower.

We have two clocks in the living room that barely orchestrate their ticktock. And I could hear only them during the deep night as I write my thoughts on gratitude.

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Cheers to this new year and to all the new experiences ahead.