We got her from my sister’s boyfriend August last year. She was a relatively small puppy, with eyes still closed, crying for milk, and nearly dying. We didn’t plan to have a pet again in our house, but seeing how the puppy needs our care, we took her. I searched for the internet for an alternative formula of a dog’s breast milk and bought a feeding bottle. We named her Coby, after the basketball player Kobe Bryant since she has brown spots all over her body. The formula went well and Coby became a very healthy dog with a big appetite.

She’d grown big, without getting sick. We kept her well, took good care of her and loved her like a real baby in our family. I can’t sleep without saying good night to her and I can’t leave the house without tapping her head and wave goodbye. I even planned that we will celebrate my 22^nd birthday and Coby’s first birthday together.

When I got home from school, Coby vomited what she ate from lunch which did not surprise me for its sometimes normal for dogs to vomit. I gave her water and she drank plenty of it. My sister and I were shocked when Coby did not respond to our “goodnight Coby” routine that night. We headed downstairs to check her out and she can’t stand up, looking dizzy and very lethargic. Heavy rain is pouring outside and we rushed her to the vet. I was crying when I saw Coby’s situation. She was the usual hyper, noisy dog when I got home from school, and then she became like that all of a sudden.

We left her at the clinic that night, hoping she’ll get better. I was on duty at the mental hospital when my cellphone rang all of a sudden the day after. It was a call from my aunt, telling me the bad news – that Coby is dead. Tears ran down from my eyes uncontrollably. Why? Of all dogs, why Coby? She’s our baby, we love her so much! And why this sudden? Why so soon? I haven’t hugged her yet. I haven’t said how I loved her, and that I am thankful she came to us.

But then, we can’t blame anyone for Coby’s death. People come and go so as pets and best we could do is move on. Maybe Coby’s purpose was accomplished so God called her to join Him in heaven. I was just so sad because I miss her so much.

I have no classes today so what I did was bathe our dog Polka, cleaned my room and fixed my closet, turned my laptop on and twittered, checked my friendster account, browsed videos and jump into another at Youtube. I can stay the whole day in front of my laptop just surfing the net, that’s how addicted I am. No wonder I’m wearing a 180-150 grade, with a negative 50 astigmatism glasses now, tee-hee.

After I did all my worldwide webby routines, I typed in google.com on the address bar and think of what to search. First search was Heart Evangelista, because I find her so pretty (I’m sort of a fan, yeah) and I haven’t seen her in a while popping into our television set. And oh, I got bored with that because of the old news that Jericho Rosales is a bad influence on her. Haha.

Second search was the band Up Dharma Down. I have not been watching their gigs lately and I want to read on some news about them. So there goes Armi, Ean, Pol and Los, the band I once knew from Cubao X is reaching the top now. And that did not surprised me at all for they are kind and humble beings, making good music, only one of its kind.

Third stop: I couldn’t think of any interesting things or names to search on Google and I’m on the verge of turning my laptop off. Then a thought came, why not search Rachiel Cuaresma, my lovely name on Google and see what the results are. First on the list was my friendster account and of course this blog was there too, and some link loves from fellow bloggers. And there’s this blog, The Far Corner which dragged my attention. He/She writes a few words about one of my posts. It’s kind of late for me to see it because he/she wrote it last July 22. Here, check it out:

Finally, the rain is out, or rather classes resumed today and students like me are expected to be sitting in their armchair and listen to their respected professors (really?). Three consecutive typhoons hit the country wreaking students of all levels to be in their early vacation. But last week for me was a bore. Staying at our house and doing nothing but eat, sleep, eat, sleep made me gained a pound. And how I hate it. Yak, ang taba taba ko na!

What more is that I caught a runny nose *singhot singhot* due to prolonged soaking in the pouring rain while doing jumping jacks on our rooftop. It feels so juvenile, hehe. The runny nose will subside in a few days with water therapy anyway.

I will be 22 years old in a few days and sure, I do have wishes. Ok, that’s a plural so it means I have a lot. No, make it countless. Majority are impossible, blech . But I will post some of them here:

Chel’s Top 5 Birthday Wishlist:

 
A Nokia N70 Music Edition – ever since it came out in the market, I longed to own one. And now I think it’s been a year, and here I am wishing the same thing again.

A pair of Havaianas flip-flops – Comfy slippers and a great value for money. I want the plain one, any color would do.

Haruki Murakami’s Books - except After the Quake and Norwegian Wood because I already have those. Simply, he's my favorite author and I would love to read all of his novels, as well as to collect them.

Kickboxing/Muay Thai shorts – for my kickboxing training purposes, hehe. I want it with my name patched on it with the Philippine flag. And again, any style or color will do.

 
Memory (RAM) upgrade for my laptop – another 512 MB to make it 1 G. The faster, the better.

Any one of those can make me very, very happy. Of course, I do have wishes also that are not materialistic and that, I will keep to myself. I’ll spill one though: World Peace! Yey!

Today, I turned 22 years old. And thanks to text messages and friendster comments from friends, which reminded me that I am a year older now. Yikes, that’s 3 years away from being a teenager, and it scared and excites me at the same time. Scary because the more you get older, the more your family expects a lot from you, the more they ask what your plans are for the future. Exciting since I can do whatever I like, go wherever I want without the curfews. I am getting closer to a point in my life wherein I have to be really independent.

Maturity is one aspect that proves you are getting older. I clearly remember my sister telling me, “ate, tumatanda ka na” when I told her to save electricity, stop talking on the phone until the wee hours of the morning, go home early and study hard. I’ve been through the same thing as hers when I was still *ahem* a teenager. I believe it’s a crisis anyone my age has to go through. And I’m glad I’m not experiencing it alone.

But regardless of my age now, I would still want to play outside the rain and never care if I’ll get sick or what. I’d still have this childish dream of becoming a world renowned Broadway star ala-Ms. Saigon. I’d still write my name beside Justin Timberlake’s or Wentworth Miller encircled with a heart in my notebook. I’d still keep on learning how to dance no matter how hopeless I am.

God had continuously poured blessings on me. Supportive family, a handsome special someone, lovely friends, wonderful (and funny) group mates in duty, good hair days, losing pounds, a lovable pet, good grades… to mention a few. Despite me not being worthy, despite me doing bad incessantly.

What’s special about birthdays is that it only happens once a year.
Best we could do is fasten our seatbelts and enjoy this scary, at the same time exciting roller coaster ride.