(copied from FB notes)
Today I realize how terrible I am with goodbyes. See? It's already the 5th of the new year before I even thought of saying my proper farewell to 2010. And so I should do this right. Goodbye 2010. I have so many things... too many things and people to be thankful for. How many times did I have to stop and take deep breaths this year so that I don't get overwhelmed at how kind and generous and loving the people around me have been? I can't even count anymore.
I should thank PETA first. It had been a wonderful 8 years. Thank you for believing in me, supporting me, for letting me go when I really had to and then for making me feel that there is always a room for me at the Theater Center because I may have given up a post but there is still so much more I can do to be still part of the PETA family. Because of you, I may be the only person to go out of my comfort zone, comforted by the fact that you are actually still holding my hands as I take on a new path.
As I embrace the writer's life, I say thank you to MSV and PHR for the opportunity. At the awarding of the novel of the year award, I remember saying - you know, there is nothing more rewarding than to be recognized for something that you love doing. I have always loved to write. Most of the time, I write as if my life depended on it, and you know, maybe it does. In connection with this, I thank all the readers who have ever texted, called, posted comments, sent me private messages to tell me how they like/love/appreciate my works. Please know that I really really am grateful for your having taken the time to let me know how you feel about a book, a character, a line or two in a novel. To everyone who had ever bought and read a Carla Giopaolo or Angel Bautista novel, thank you.I hope that you also got a life lesson or two from what you've read.
And I say thank you to my friends who never stop making me feel I am loved. Not a lot of people have friends who would request a billing of a son's tuition so he could pay half (unasked) or take him shopping at 10am or offer to pay for a Thailand trip for a bonding weekend or give an advance prize because her name is excluded from the raffle draw. Fewer people have ones who would stay up all night to accompany her on a taping, listen to her rant, listen to her tell an entire manuscript so that she never gets the chance to be surprised by a story twist or and ending, or make a logo for a series I she is still just imagining or be like highschool girlfriends with her when she gets infatuated by a vietnamese actor, or be as teary-eyed as her when her son, suddenly blurts out in the middle of dinner - Mama, I am gonna love you forever. I don't also expect to get this response (when I posted that somewhere in my wicked youth or childhood I must have done something good because there you are loving me) - you have never been wicked nor miserable, you've always been good - but it feels so good to know that people you respect and treasure most in the world thinks a world of you too.
And I thank the Lord for because everyday is a reminder to me of his great providence. And for all his gifts. And for the many times I feel that I am God's favorite child.
This year I have learned the value of waiting and of letting go.


chipper
sleepy
blah
cold
distressed