#25 in Progress

Ever since high school I tried joining Filipino-American organizations at school. I'd attend a couple of meetings and then bail. Why? It seemed like the organizations' purpose was solely for partying. I don't need to join a club to get drunk, thankyouverymuch.

Now as an adult and with slightly more leadership experience, I have more options (and lower standards when it comes to who I drink with. Kidding!). I've joined CORE, a non-profit organization for empowering Filipino-Americans. I have a couple of ideas for new programs I want to launch, so fingers crossed that they don't fall through. This is very vague only because it's not even in planning stages yet.

This Friday I had dinner with other Filipinos and Gawad Kalinga, a Philippine-based organization whose goal is to eradicate poverty in the Philippines through community building. It was refreshing to hear from the founder who's passionate about making his country a better place, someone whose motives weren't to gain political power or fame. I'm glad that there are people, even if it's just a handful, with the vision and integrity to create organizations like GK.

Enough of this. I ran out of things to say.

Doot doo doot...

Keeping up with this is proving harder than I thought. I should keep a printed copy of this list so I can be reminded of what I set out to do and actually do it.

This weekend I finally got my gait analyzed at Jack Rabbit Sports. I started running a year ago and instead of getting a gait analysis, I assumed I needed motion control shoes for my foot type. All the running magazines said so. Turns out, I don't even need any kind of motion control/stability shoe. I am a neutral runner! (I thought so, I didn't feeel like I was overpronating.)

Say hello to my new babies...

 I haven't run in them yet; I've learned my lesson. Apparently one can't just go running 1-2 miles like it's super easy after a long period of being immobile. (But those runners make it look so easyyyy!)  Fingers crossed that wearing the right shoes will fix my tendonitis pain and I can run again soon!

So if you're thinking about starting a running regimen, follow these 2 pieces of advice: Get your gait analyzed -- wearing the wrong shoes will hurt you. Start SLOWLY -- running too much too soon will hurt you.

No, no soy mexicana, sino filipina.

Pero me gustan las margaritas.

(Translation: No, I'm not Mexican; I'm Filipina. But I do like margaritas.)

Some updates: #19 Learn CPR -- check! I now know what to do if you're choking or if your heart stops working. Though I hope I never have to use it because a) did you know you have to take off every piece of clothing on the person's upper body before performing CPR? Invasive, much? And b) well it's always nice when people stay healthy.

In all seriousness, I learned a lot of very useful information. I recommend taking a class.

I'm still working on mi espanol, trying to do at least a chapter a day, but honestly it doesn't feel like enough. I missed a free Spanish conversation class at the public library today because of a work event. Though in my defense, I had a margarita, which is Spanish, si?