Mel and the New Normal

3 Months Pregnant   The year of the cruise. The year of Taiwan. The year of cherry blossoms! The year of an earthquake in Taiwan (pag minalas ka naman talaga...) The year of excitement for change. The year of business growth. The year of hopes and dreams for the future. (Cheesy. I know.) The year that would have changed our lives again with another baby. The year where our house would be filled with baby giggles and laughter (and hysterical cries). The year of baby shopping for the first time! The year of the worst birthday every. The year of disbelief and disappointment. The year of hoping against hope. The year that nothing else mattered. The year of Zobel. The year of the awesome Makati Med. The year of loss and emptiness. The year of anger at anything and everything. The year of indifference. (This must be those grief phases that people refer to). The year of pushing forward. The year of working like a robot. The year of helping. The...

Justin and I have been using the Starbucks planners since it first came out (2004?) We have therefore developed this unusual  and irrational belief that this planner, where we marked all our bookings for the year, brings us good luck and growth. I know what you're thinking. There is, of course, no evidence that backs this up. However, it has been our tradition since we started the company, so... it seems like bad luck to stop it now. However, with all that has happened this past year, I have lost interest in coffee. I buy iced coffee from Total Alabang now (P35), and only buy Starbucks coffee during meetings. Not only that, I have developed a love-hate affair with Serenitea's Okinawa and Cha Time's Chocolate Mousse. (I only have 1 a day of anything because I can't have too much caffeine when I donate milk). I can't imagine being in Starbucks so many times in the next few months that I would be able to get another planner (whereas in the last few years, I was the...