hope everyone had a wonderful new year’s celebration. i, on the other hand, had a unusual way in welcoming the new year. i was down with the flu. and not just ordinary flu wherein you have fever and colds, it’s the kind wherein it comes with body pains which make you look like a senior citizen when you move around. after coming home from the wedding of my childhood friend on the evening of the 30th, i already felt weird. driving home that night, i was slowly starting to develop a headache and when i finally retired for the night, i felt unusually chilly. i woke up past 3am and was completely shivering, so i thought i’d take some medicine to counter the fever-like symptoms. after all, it was new year’s eve, the time to eat, drink and party, so i can’t afford to be sick. i went back to sleep again and when i woke up that morning, my condition developed into a fully blown flu–with the body aches and everything. i tried to fight it with medicine every three hours and not much activity around the house. it worked, temporarily at least, coz during the afternoon, i felt a little better and was able to set up my little light show i prepared for the midnight celebration. although i was still experiencing headaches and body pains, it was much less than what i felt when i woke up that morning. although my body was able to go along with the holiday celebration, i still kept a close watch on how i was feeling throughout the rest of the day and night when the sound of the fireworks became more intense. i wasn’t at 100%, but i’m not letting flu ruin my partying spirit. after dinner, bottles of booze started to fill the table outside where my cousins and i set up where we would welcome 2005. we promptly started drinking and reminiscing about 2004. imagine, a sickly guy drinking brandy and telling stories–sheesh, i still can’t believe i was out there when i should be resting in bed. anyways, the flu affected my taste buds, so i wasn’t able to enjoy much of the food that was served. every now and then, i would light rockets that i had ordered through a friend to keep the fireworks atmosphere going. at least the flu in a way helped strengthen my liquor toleration, or is it just i took a few shots less than my cousins? i felt better as 12 midnight came about, and lit the sparklers, giant rockets, and other fireworks during that time to welcome the new year with a bang. it would have been better if i was feeling a tad better, but at least my body was able to withstand the onslaught of the flu. after eating and greeting some friends over my cellphone, i finally went to bed. my condition went from bad to worse the morning after and it continued to be that way until sunday. i was left with no choice but to bring out the heavy antibiotic artillery. and by monday afternoon, i felt ok in time for the first workday (duh, night) of the year. i’m still taking the antibiotics but today will be the last day. i’m getting back to my old self and i only noticed one thing–i tend to eat less as i got better–i mean, my appetite hasn’t changed even when i was sick. i was still eating the same amount of food (as if it was that much), but it has lessened now. does this mean i’m on the right track to losing all that weight i gained last month? hmmm…maybe being down with the flu had something affect my appetite or something, but hey, whatever works to lose weight, right? what are my goals for 2005? well, lose weight, that’s my top priority. second is to find another company that has less work, because to tell you the truth, it has now come to the point that i have to psyche myself up each and everyday just to go to work. if that happens, then it means that i’m no longer enjoying working with that company. if i could succeed in those two things, i would consider 2005 as a good year already. all the other good things that’ll come will be just a bonus. i won’t focus much on my personal life since i still carry much of the burden of what happened last year. and i even don’t expect my sex life to pick up either. anyways, as i mentioned, if i could lose weight and transfer to another company, this year will already be a success. it was the first time i welcomed the new year not feeling “normal,” yet hopefully as the year unfolds, it gets better along the way.