I moved out when I turned 18. My parents believe that once you’ve legally become an adult, you should be fully responsible for yourself. This is also something I believe in (for myself and for my future children, if I have any).

Although I sometimes feel lonely, I’m glad my parents gave me this opportunity to develop as an independent individual. I know that my dad did not have a choice because both of his parents passed on early in his life and I’m so thankful that they pushed me to become used to thinking for myself before I no longer have the assurance that I can still fall back on them if I really needed to.

Going back to my parent’s place this short fall break was a confusing experience. I fell back into that lifestyle where I can sit around knowing that everything is taken care of.

I told my mom for the first time that I always planned to spend my life for others. I told her my thoughts on how I wanted to go about doing that.

She listened and then told me, “You haven’t lived long enough.”

I still don’t know what she meant by that but I can say for sure that the discussion we had that night definitely broke my bubble in my belief that whatever I want will happen eventually.

She knew that she had already taught me the safe way to fall, so she tripped me. I fell and broke, like she expected, but I got up and started to walk in a slightly different path than the one I was on before fall break. This, she also expected.

It literally took 15 minutes.

I noticed some tiny gaps between two bottom teeth and some rotation of this one top tooth.

My orthodontist said that since I’m in the beginning stages, these gaps are normal.

As for the wires, he didn’t change them at all today – he just tightened them.

I’m really getting used to having braces! I feel like it’ll be over before I know it!

My next appointment is November 17, 2011.

He scares me because I feel like he knows me better than I know myself.

It’s true that you see things in others that they don’t see in themselves and vice versa, but I’ve always thought that I am too complicated for anyone to understand completely.

Then this person comes along out of nowhere and unravels my thought process to show me that it’s so simple, that I’m so simple.

At first I thought that he was proving me wrong, which wasn’t difficult to deal with. But it became obvious soon after that really what he was showing me was my undisguised self.

Now that, was difficult.

I feel like I have done nothing really significant thus far and that scares me.

Sure, I developed some skills and defined my personality but if someone were to ask me my biggest accomplishment, I would not know what to say (at least nothing that would even mildly impress me).

I hope that my twenties would be different.

The last thing I would want to do is make a list of things that I want to see happen before I turn 30 – I just hope that I can be involved in many things that I can be proud of.

If the first 20 years of my life can be compared to a long and slow drive, I want the next decade to be an exciting and exhilarating drive on the highway.

I don’t want to excessively think about the obstacles as I had before. I want to be aware of the hardships and open to new opportunities.

I want to meet lots of new people, travel to different parts of the world, fall in love, read interesting books, advocate for my dreams and really, truly live.

Maybe I’ll laugh at this post ten years later but I desperately want to be able to say that my twenties were well-spent.

By now I’ve adjusted to having braces and I know that I can live with this for like two years.

As per usual, he took out all the wires and actually removed a button on a tooth (they referred to it as the 2-2) and glued a ceramic bracket on it to match the other top brackets.

They wired in all of the bottom teeth for the first time and they gave the inside of my right cheek a sore spot.

For the top teeth, he wired in everything except the back teeth on each side.

They told me to take Advil if there is too much pain after the adjustment but to be honest, I don’t feel anything except that sore spot from the wire poking the inside of my mouth.

But then again, I didn’t take Advil when I had four teeth extracted at the same time.

Looking forward to my next adjustment on October 7, 2011!

There was also a time when I had updated my MSN Messenger statuses to reflect my mood.

Just seeing all the ways social media is used today baffles me. There are so many jobs solely dedicated to creating and maintaining online channels for organizations and businesses.

I personally know of many friends who have felt that many people have a different image of themselves or a different personality online. It is not hard to fathom why this is – it feels safe, virtual and indirect behind the screen.

However, it is important to keep in mind a few things when using social media.

First, online communities are still communities.

I find that many organizations and businesses try to self-promote without any communication with their audience. This creates an unilateral effect like television (and television commercials) when the functions of social media tools such as Twitter encourage people to reply to or share the content.

Just like offline social communities, it is important to listen to feedback and engage with people.

Second, social media does not substitute for personal journals.

I often see (too) personal information being shared online. I am assuming that the personal information is something less than positive to someone because that is often the case.

If the information about someone was shared by someone else, I wonder two things: did the person sharing it not realize that it might make that person feel uncomfortable and was the subject of the information unaware of privacy options to perhaps opt out of making whatever it is public?

If the information was intentionally shared by the person, I wonder if that person realizes the influence of that information on their image both online and offline.

I am not saying that one must filter out all sources of negative information and create an artificial image for oneself but just like reputations have important roles in social communities, they also play a crucial part in online communities.

Lastly, do not underestimate the power of social media!

They are some great tools out there and every word you type and publish has the capacity to reach incredible numbers.

This can mean that it has become so much easier for people to promote content and share ideas with less of a restraint to distance and time.

However, there are consequences for what you say online. So think twice or even three times before you post anything as online communities are growing quickly and whatever is happening inside them will, one day, become more serious than you think!

The bracket on my last upper right tooth fell off the day I got them on so I had kept it and brought it with me to this appointment.

They glued that one back although there still no wire going through it.

They replaced the old wires and attached this little spring on my upper left side.

I was expecting my teeth to hurt like the time I first got the braces on, but it is only sensitive when I brush them.

I see a bit of alignment on my bottom teeth and some movement on my top. Overall I’m satisfied with the changes thus far!

As per usual, he was given an examination by the vet and prescribed the deworming oil for a few days after.

He weighed a little over 10kg!

He was given his rabies shot and the leptospirosis booster shot, both of which he did not feel as he was too busy munching on his biscuits.

Since this appointment, Diesel has gotten several red spots right beneath his snout. They were in the developing stages when we went to the vet and asked her. She just told us they would go away in a few days.

Because Diesel kept scratching them, they worsened so we began to put some skin infection cream on him. They seem to be less red now and he seems less irritated.

He is still shedding his winter coat and as of now, he seems to have almost none left on his belly area.

Now that we are done with his puppy vaccinations, we will continue to apply deworming oil on him once a month until well into the fall.

As for his teeth, four little puppy teeth on each side fell out but he seems to have no problem chewing. I think that several others have fallen out also but I couldn’t check since he doesn’t like to sit still.

He would grab the end of a toilet paper roll in our washroom and run until the piece breaks off. Then he would tear that piece up all over the kitchen and the living room.

He grabs my house slippers off my feet when I’m sitting down and toss them far away.

He chews my bed frame and gnaws on the wooden handles of my dresser.

This morning, my dad found out that Diesel had chewed and broke the shoelaces off my dad’s sneakers. He called Diesel over and scolded him for it, showing him what he had done and telling him that it is not right.

When he was younger, he would try to avoid the situation by scratching his ears and neck or looking away.

However, these days, he would go into defense mode and bark and growl at him. He would lower his upper body to the ground, lift his butt and look at my dad to see if he’ll stop scolding him.

An hour ago, he was eating something off the floor that he was not supposed to eat, and I told him to stop. He pecked on the spot again and looked at me and did that over and over again as if he was trying to tell me that he can do that, if he had wanted.

When I said no again, he went into defense mode and barked at me, pecking my knees with his teeth, jumping up to my waist and trying to bite my feet.

I did some research and apparently, this is normal. He is going through Stage 4 in puppy development. Puppies in this phase are 3-6 months old and are introducing themselves to independence. This is a phase that is equal to the toddler period in human babies (think “terrible twos”).

Puppies in Stage 4 are testing their boundaries with their social circle, seeing if they have what it takes to challenge their peers and their owners. It is important for you to display your dominance in a calm but firm way and show your puppy that you are the pack leader.

Since our last visit to the vet last month, we saw that Diesel was vomiting a few times a week because he is not chewing his food properly and eating way too quickly. I have started to fix that problem by removing his water bowl when he is eating and giving it back to him about 30 minutes after he had eaten. I gave him a thin layer of kibbles and waited to give him more until he had finished that first so that he can eat slower. That seemed to fix the problem for now because he is not vomiting anymore but I will ask the vet when we go to her on Thursday, July 7.

From fashion choices to choosing a career path, she told me her thoughts but ultimately left me to decide for my own.

I was quietly rebellious in my teenage years. I was not a bad kid but I certainly made a couple of choices that were opposite of my parents’ just to prove to them that I could be right sometimes.

I am past that rebellious phase but I still crave for that sense of independence every time I make, what I believe at the time, the best choice for myself.

Many people tell me that I became an adult too quickly and to an extent I agree. More than ten years ago, my family immigrated to Canada and my dad was the only one who could hold a conversation in English. Although unspoken, we all understood that as the first child in the family, I was to learn English quickly and help my parents and brother out. Because of this responsibility given to me as a child, I began to open my eyes to a world that most elementary school kids were clueless about. I did alright, I think, and I was free to do anything. My parents aren’t strict about anything at all and so I always made plans and decisions then told my parents, if I had wished.

For instance, I applied to the universities that I wanted to go to, then told my mom the places I was accepted to when the letters came. I spent a couple of hundred dollars on something that I felt I needed, then told her I bought it when she saw it in my room and asked me where it came from. I booked a vacation then told her about it a few days before. She always gave me my report cards that came in the mail without opening the envelop, drove me to places without asking why I’m going, listened to my phone calls without inquiring about who I’m talking to and helped me pack my clothes without wondering where I am going.

Making decisions on my own allowed me to explore my options and learn that there were consequences for my actions.

At one point, I was frustrated with her because I felt that she didn’t care about me because of her lack of interest in what I do. But she surprised me by saying that she would share her thoughts only if she knew about my decisions more often. How selfish of me to only consider my point of view in our relationship!

Now, although I still make my own decisions, I like to tell her what’s going on from time to time. She always has something to say, whether it be useful suggestions or comments about how silly and childish I can be. If I had followed her decisions for me all the time, I know my life would have been very different and most likely much better. She is right about everything and we both know that. But I admire her ability to make me feel at ease and thankful about the kind of life I had led so far and the fact that she will always be there for me to share my regrets and accomplishments.