Sunday, January 01, 2012

Hello 2012, Hello 3.0

I'm about to enter the phase of 3.0 . Nope, it's not web3.0, nor is it Globalisation 3.0 as per my MIS lecture notes. The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, I'll still be in my 20s for another 6 months and then hello, age 30.

Before that, have you guys watched Disney-Pixar's cartoon movie 'Up'? The old man's wife fascinated me deeply because she knew exactly stuffs she wants to do when she grows up and actually had it written down in her 'Adventure Book'. Of course I was not that gung-ho, but I do remember some of the things I wanted to do when I grow up.

At the age of 6, I wanted a lot of things to happen. Simple, innocent things like boarding the plane, and going to university. Read my post about my dreams as a six-year-old in my post written 7 years ago (wow!).

At 10 years old, my idea of being 30 years old is well, old. With a few kids (5 to be exact, like what I told my friend Nick Chang when I was 14). Definitely a grown-up. Even being 20 years old is considered a grown-up back then.

Ok, fast-forward to me at age 20.

At that age, I was already in university (cross out this item from my life plan) and working hard towards being what I want to be at age 30. A successful career woman. My vision of me as 30 years old  was, well - a confident, wise and very much well-to-do woman (WOMAN ok) who is breezing through her career in an international MNC and married to an engineer (what can I say, I went to an engineering varsity). Oh, I also revised the number of kids down to 2, although I'm still keeping an eye on the 5 kids vision. Let's just be a bit more realistic here, Internet.

So here I am. Almost 30. Have I actually made it, or did I break it?

1. Married, 2 kids (originally 5) - I would say, I almost made it. I got married at the age of 24, in 2006. I first became pregnant at the age of 26 (2008), but it was an unsuccessful pregnancy and left me traumatized for a few months following the miscarriage. Praise be to Allah, I became pregnant again at the age of 28 (2010), and we welcomed Khayla in December 2010. But, if my first pregnancy was successful, I would have taken this off from the list of stuffs I will do when I become 30.

2. Go to land of mat salehs (part 2 - Europe) - Refer to my entry in 2005, this was one of my to-do item back then. I'm proud to say - yes, this is definitely a completed item! Thanks to my sister who read my blog and then offered to take me to Paris in 2007. It was the most fabulous trip of my life. Then we had another accidental trip to Europe when my previous Company sent me to a conference in Madrid, Spain. Managed to persuade En Suami Terchenta to tag along so we could have our nth honeymoon (we lost count of how many honeymoons we had before Khayla come).

3. To own my own car and house. Still working on that. Checked. We bought our first car in 2006 (not a pleasant experience, mind you), but it was definitely a worthwhile purchase. Our CLK had brought us to countless destinations and served us most loyally despite my initial dislike to it because it wasn't the blue car that I ordered. Thank you CLK!

Secondly, the house. Like most things that happen in my life, it was pure accident that we found ourselves as house owner. We were shopping for household items at Jusco and a month later, found ourselves signing S&P agreement. Will blog about the house in details when I have the time.

4. To have enough money to shop for my own clothes - it's a difficult area here. I used to have the figure, but not the money. Now I have the money, and not the figure. But all in all, this is completed as far as I know.

5. To go to Mecca - still working on this. 

6. To have a grand wedding (later revised to a simple but sweet wedding) - What was I thinking when I revised the vision?? Of course every brides want a big wedding! I wished I had paid more attention and details to my own wedding. As it was, I was too busy working and being in denial of the fact that I was getting married and forever tied down to a big commitment. So, suffice to say that my wedding preparation was my biggest regret and if I could turn back time, I would take all the time in the world to make it my big day. Yes, on top of a sea cliff, wearing white gown, sauntering beneath a beautiful arch, complete with perfect weather and everything.

7. Confident, wise, earn big salary working with MNC - Alhamdulillah, I had progressed well when it comes to my career. Even though I hate my job, I still do well in it. And money department is quite satisfactory. Although not really that high, I still have excess to save for rainy seasons and home renovations and whatnot.

Of course the confident and wise part is debatable. In fact, this is something that I am still working to achieve - being confident and comfortable enough to break away from the rat race and try my hand at being an entrepreneur and stay-at-home Mom who raise successful kids. Some day maybe.

8. To marry an engineer - My husband is a computer engineer. So yes. I married an engineer all right.

To sum up, I had had a good life, thank You Allah. I had managed to accomplish many things that I visualized myself of doing at certain stages in life, although most of them are done without really thinking (like getting married, having a baby and buying a house). I don't plan them either. It just happened. Life's like that.

This year, again I don't plan for what will happen. But this year, I will do what I did when I was 10 and 20 - I will visualize myself at the age of 40. What will I already accomplished as a 40 years old woman? I have yet to think. Only time will decide.