It's the last week of my three-week vacation, which seems like a retreat of some sort - the kind that the nuns hauled my arse (along with those of my classmates) off to toward the end of senior year in high school: went somewhere cold and deafeningly silent to face my demons, see the light, and come back raring to spread the love.

I didn't think I'd want to go back to work after just a week off, but I did.  Maybe it's because I decided not to go out of town, interstate or overseas, or because I haven't gone out every night like I would have if I were, say, in Manila.

So what do I have to show for my three-week vacation?  Almost every day was the same: life coaching, workout "Aerobics Oz Style", watch reruns of TV shows I used to like a decade ago only to realize how bad the acting and the special effects were, run errands, watch more TV, wander around the Internet... oh, and, eat.

Today was no different, with some high(low)lights.

- I cleared out some stuff during a coaching session in which I was the client.  It was the eighth of nine sessions, and I think I'd miss having a coach so I'd definitely look into continuing to have one.

- I've only seen hail a few times, so today I actually enjoyed sitting down by my window as grains of ice sprinkled on to the ground.  I've always thought of myself as a big kid.

- A friend whom I've known for 20 years (*gawd!* we were classmates since second grade until we were high school freshmen, then we went to the same university) just got engaged and she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.  I'm not the marrying kind but I'd gladly travel halfway around the world when my friends ask me to be part of their wedding.  Any other friends planning on getting married soon?  You might want to keep in mind I'll be in Manila in December and in the US (in Los Angeles, but I'm just presuming at this stage) either Spring or Summer 2008 for weddings, and help me minimize my carbon emission from flights and save on airfare.

- After dragging myself away from the TV, I went grocery shopping to get four cents off a liter of gas (er, I should say petrol since I'm in Ausfriggintralia) and fill the tank because for some reason gas is cheapest on Tuesdays.  I didn't expect a queue, which was silly because naturally everyone would want to get their fuel on Tuesdays, so while waiting for my turn I turned on the radio and the first song that played after the ads was Alanis Morissette's Ironic.  Either my life's so boring or I take pleasure in the simple things, because the song brought a smile to my face - I haven't been driving long (I only got my license - a probationary one at that - last Thursday), I'm just discovering the joys of having a car, and I thought of the song's video in which four Alanises were in a car and it was also winter.  Oh, and, today  was the first time I pumped gas by myself (yep, some Filipinos could be so spoiled). (So that's how it feels, driving a small car with a tank full of fuel...)

- One of my coaching clients called tonight to say she just saw my invitation to dinner on Saturday (the first time in more than a decade that I'm officially celebrating my birthday), and that she'd love to join me and some of my friends because I've been a big help to her.  Wow.  That reminded me why I love being a coach.

And that was it for July 17, 2007.  Good thing I don't have to do this every day - it's not easy looking for the day's highlights.  Then again, maybe I've just conditioned myself to think that there's not much excitement going on.  The good thing about beliefs is that I can always change them as I see fit.

So what the heck - my life's fabulous!