12.21.2007

merry christmas cuervo!

cuervo got into an accident again. yes, second time, same situation. i was driving back to somerville after having picked dichi up from her apartment and was taking the backroads of summit because i figured it's the shortest way back. like any obedient driver i stopped at a red light not knowing that an idiot behind me is gonna slam her beat up toyota highlander into cuervo's rear.


now it doesn't take a genius to know that it was the toyota highlander's fault. there's no way the driver could argue her way out of this. i felt sorry for her though, because she looked frazzled and told me she just got her driver's license. tough luck. she oughtta be more careful next time, not all drivers that she would slam from behind their cars are as nice as me.

so she wanted everything settled without involving the cops and her insurance company and i told her as long as she would pay for the damages, i don't really care and she was ok with it.

so for christmas, cuervo is gonna get a brand new hard spare tire cover. he's been a good car this year. always bringing me places, keeping me close with friends, helping me do friends a favor and always bringing me home safe and sound although sometimes a little bit frazzled.

12.14.2007

weder weder

“Whether the weather be fine, Whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, Whatever the whether, Whether we like it or not."


we're going to the city tomorrow to watch an NBA game. the weather channel says, it's going to be nasty. freezing rain and snow with the temperature going down to the low 20's which would feel like it would be on the 10's for us. tanginangsyet! what a time to have fever and cough.

it started the night before while i was at work. i was freezing at the nurses station even if i cranked up the heat to 80. it got worse last night with the sore throat and cough making me miserable. i was thinking of calling in sick but felt guilty because i know how hard it is to find somebody willing to drive through icy road conditions. so i came to work feeling like crap and for the entire 12 hours i kept saying to myself that i will never ever feel fucking guilty about calling in sick again (especially if i'm honest to goodness sick), ever!

so tomorrow, i'll be bringing my dayquills, motrins and cough drops to the game. i'd be like a walking walgreens store the whole time. i just hope i'd get better tonight.

12.11.2007

i call you on the telephone... but you're never home

i just love to hate telemarketers. i hate them so much that i keep our phone beside me and wait for their out of area numbers to pop out on the caller id screen. i then answer their call with total silence and hang up on them every chance i get. you'd think they'd get the message that you don't want anything to do with them the first time i do that, but they don't. so i try to tell them exactly just that the minute they call again, saying politely that all i wanted out of them are the call minutes that i use for whenever i call my family in davao. i would reload whenever i know that my minutes are not enough for an extensive chikahan with my sister. the operators, telemarketers, customer service personnel or whatever they call themselves in directline philippines (there i said the company!) don't have to remind me to reload.

i don't need any offers for any computers, printers, cameras, magic microphones, sacks of rice or whatever it is they're selling. i would go to bestbuy or the nearest asian food store for those things. i also have no time for people who tell me i won a vacation package to cancun mexico because i have things to think about like PTOs (paid time offs) before i jump into giving myself a holiday. also, i wasn't born yesterday to think there isn't any catch to any giveaways like that. you are talking to the most cynic person this side of the world, i mean, what were you thinking? oh and please, do not get me started with those robot sounding people looking for alejandro guerra, because I DO NOT KNOW this freaking guy!

another thing that irks me to no end is when they call and they'd get the answering machine and leave a blank voice message (he he patawa, may voice message ba na blank?). naman! that's what the answering machine is for. you hear the beep...you leave a message. if your call is that important that you have to dial our phone number every few minutes or so, then shouldn't you be leaving that important message? i'm just saying this because i'm tired of erasing forty seven million empty messages on our machine everytime. i hate that bleeping sound our phone makes telling me that the telemarketers are at it again.

i know these people are just doing their jobs. they probably don't like calling me as much as i hate getting their calls. but i am just one person among the millions of people that they bug everyday. is it too much to ask for them to effin leave me alone.

anyway, here's some funny shit from youtube. i wish i could do what this guy did. but i don't have his talent.

11.22.2007

give thanks

“One of life's gifts is that each of us, no matter how tired and downtrodden, finds reasons for thankfulness: for the crops carried in from the fields and the grapes from the vineyard.”--- J. Robert Moskin



you and i have a lot of things to be thankful about and being a pinoy here in america who has never celebrated thanksgiving for the first 26 years of her life i am not exempted. i've been here for three years now and i have yet to celebrate thanksgiving with a dinner with family and friends and the much celebrated turkey. i've always been working on thanksgiving night and tonight is no different. so while you and your family celebrate thanksgiving tonight and i am with my pediatric patients, let me greet you a happy thanksgiving!

11.18.2007

ready for winter

i spent most of my day today at home only going out for an hour and a half to go to the gym and the rest i spent puttering around the apartment. the weather was pretty blah anyway to really enjoy it outside. there was a wintry mix of rain and flurries that makes one not care about going outdoors.

so i did something productive. i cooked, sorted my laundry, checked my emails, made sense of the mess that is my desk and waited until my roommate left for work so that i can dig in through my closet and boxes of clothes and say goodbye to summer and fall. i had been putting this off for a while now, hoping that winter wouldn't be here for a couple of weeks more. that, and i really didn't have time to be alone at home. it took me almost three hours to sort through my clothes contained in two extra large plastic boxes and one big luggage. in a way it's a pain to have to go through this task every year but it's also one of the things that i look forward to come winter time. to gear up and accessorize for the cold weather which i don't have the luxury of doing when i was still in tropical pinas.

yes, the perks of living in the northeastern. please remind me to read this when i'm shivering outdoors in below zero temperature trying to dig my car out of waist deep snow. 'coz i'd be really too pissed and frustrated to remember.

11.13.2007

today

the sun is shining brightly outside. temperature is on the high 60's and i actually drove with my windows down, can you believe that? i went out for a quick trip to the post office a while ago and dropped by borders to get a little bookstore therapy for myself. before heading home, i stopped by my favorite bakery to buy something that i have been craving for for several days now. something that is sinfully good which is gonna make me pay big time on the elliptical and treadmill this week.

i bought this.

(my favorite brown derby cake. a chocolate cake filled with strawberry and banana custard filling.)

anyways, i got three new books from my short trip to the bookstore
which is reason why i shouldn't be going out of the apartment at all. i step out and i end up buying stuff. come to think of it, i shouldn't be allowed to have web access too because shopping is also as easy as clicking a button. hopefully those books will tide me over the days that i plan to just bum around at home. so on my "to be read" pile of books is nick hornby's newest fiction SLAM, murakami's collection of stories blind willow, sleeping woman and david sedaris' barrel fever. i'm so excited, i can't wait to start reading them.


last time i wrote about an NBA game that we were planning on going this december right? well, just the other day i got a normal looking envelope from the mailbox and guess what's inside? seven tickets to the knicks vs. nets game! woohoo! it's official... we are going to be at madison square garden on the night of the 15th of december. he he he... super excited! i know it's still a month away but its reason enough for me to behave myself and be a good girl at work.





11.12.2007

thank you mario, but our princess is in another castle!

i downloaded the old school super mario brothers game on my wii and have been playing a bit of that for a couple of days. i can't believe i still remember some of the cheats on the game, like where to get the 1up mushrooms, the shortcuts, those kind of stuff. anyway, i stumbled upon this video on google and i was doubling over in giggles because i could relate on the guy's frustration.

so what does it sound like to play the hardest mario levels of all time? watch this.

11.06.2007

gym drag

i went back to my gym today.... yay for me!

after not waking up for our 9 am step class and having stood up hannie (to which she's probably mad because she hasn't replied to my sorry text yet) yesterday, i dragged my lazy ass to the gym after work. it took a lot of determination to drive to the gym on a cold, rainy morning after a 12 hour shift at the hospital but i did it anyway.

on my way there, i kept thinking of stupid reasons not to go to the gym. visions of my unmade bed, my comforter and my pillows kept popping in my mind. i was really tempted to go back to the apartment when i stopped at a red light, but i was already halfway there so i kept on driving.
despite the muggy weather, there were still a lot of people sweating it out at the gym. the regular old ladies who works out in groups and who i have a high respect for were already doing warm ups. i mean, here i am, a strong energetic girl who just turned 30, thinking about cutting my usual 1 hour gym time to 45 minutes and these grannies are practically at the gym every morning and seems to be enjoying it.

it's not that i don't enjoy working out. it actually kinda relaxes me and keeps me up and about most of the time. it focuses my mind on becoming healthy. it gives me the drive to stay away from evil, evil chocolates, not to mention that it updates me on the latest about britney spears, lindsay lohan, brangelina etc. while on the treadmill. it's the drive going to the gym that is such a drag for me. i almost always feel like there's a lead weight on my feet while i'm going up the stairs that leads to the locker room. changing into my gym clothes takes a lot of effort on my part. but once i'm up on one of those elliptical machines with my ipod on, trying to ignore the chatty mother of two beside me while browsing the latest copy of us and people magazine, there is no turning back for me.

i hope i could will myself to go to the gym tomorrow. good luck na lang sa akin!

11.05.2007

taking a breather from fun

"I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life." Eleanor Roosevelt


i was supposed to go to florida to attend the christening of kyla, my college friend's daughter. dennis was bugging me about my schedule for the longest time. sadly it didn't worked out so i will be stuck here to sort out the stuff that i've been putting off for long. the summer months were hectic and it was definitely one of the most fun i've had, but i should slow things down a bit and take some time off from having too much fun. that is until december comes along and we start the ball rolling again with an NBA game between the knicks and our very own nets.
until then i will be this person who will while away the cold, boring days and nights watching tv, playing wii and accomplishing the important stuff that needs to be done.

damn it...i can't wait for december!


10.20.2007

this is me rambling

third week into october and i don't feel like it's fall yet. the sun is happily shining it's bright rays outside and the temperature is well off into the 70's. yesterday, it was raining like it's springtime. the only thing that reminds me that it's autumn are the changing colors of the leaves which looks magnificent and which makes longish drives bearable. i'm not complaining about the nice warm autumn we're having. i'm just worried that this might stretch winter this year. a friend was even joking that we might not get any snowfall until april. i think the guy who's got the controls for the weather is vacationing somewhere in the bahamas. that, or he's got something up his sleeves come winter time. please god...no.


i am pissed right now with the way our schedule for the next 4 weeks came out. everything was messed up. i was given holiday time on a day that i didn't want holiday time and was scheduled to work on thanksgiving when i requested to take time off on that day. it would've been ok if they told me earlier that they couldn't grant me my requested days, but no they kept holding off putting the schedule out for reasons only known to them. those witches! so there goes my plans for black friday shopping spree up in smokes thank you very much.


it's saturday and i am home. lounging around, watching old movies on tv and waiting for kuya erwin to pick up my balikbayan boxes and hoping it will reach davao before christmas. i've done three loads of laundry, folded them and now they're waiting to be put into their proper cabinets and drawers. now this is what kills me with doing laundry. i am ok with loading my clothes on the washers and dryers and i am even good with folding them neatly into a pile. the thing that i am lazy about is clearing them from the top of my bed. i always procrastinate on that part, the reason being i don't know. maybe i'm just a freak that way.

i am excited with a new hobby i found online.... mooching books. mooching what? well it's actually a way of getting rid of my old unwanted books, giving it away to someone who's keen to read it and mooching those that i want from somebody else. cool huh? now how do i do that? well let me direct you to this site ( www.bookmooch.com ) to spare me the task of explaining to you all about bookmooching. i'm actually set to mail out 5 books tomorrow that i'm feeling generosity coursing through my veins. yay! i'm trying to be nice now specially since the holidays are coming.

i'm off to do some errands tomorrow. i'll have two more days off 'til i get back to work. lovely!



10.08.2007

so sick

i am sick.

i was on a more than two weeks of hiatus from work. i took some requested days off and used up some of my PTO's so that i could spend some time going away on a long weekend with friends who came from the UK. in between our trip to toronto and driving to and from new jersey, i used up two of those days to renew my expired PALS (pediatric advance life support) certification. luckily i passed the course even without reading any of the course materials those ems guys provided. bringing that manual with me to my toronto vacation proved to be useless, because i never got around to reading it. how i passed the pactical exams, i have no idea.

so anyway, i am battling it out with the colds, a low grade fever and a scratchy throat. post nasal drips are my thing right now. i have gone through two boxes of kleenex in three days and am working on my third box as i type this. i am chugging bottles of water and switching from motrin and tylenol every 4 to 6 hours.

so how the hell did i got sick? well for starters, i didn't get much sleep on those how many days of vacation to canada, i was kinda tired with the drive to and from canada which dennis and i split. i spent the night before my PALS course taking pictures in liberty park not thinking of the very cold weather and then driving back home at 1 in the morning by myself hoping that i'd have a good night's sleep before my class. of course it didn't helped that the weather couldn't make up it's mind. one day it's so sunny and humid and warm, next day it would get so cold. i mean come on... the leaves are turning orange already, just get it on with the autumn weather for god's sake!

so yeah, i'm stuck with my lozenges, nyquils, dayquils and the vitamin c's that i only remember taking whenever i feel like i'm gonna be sick. bad nurse, i know!

9.14.2007

take me home, country road

now we come to the finale of my summer this year. the supposed last hurrah before we start preparing for the colder months. it was a trip that we've planned for so long. a trip that had (wether we admit it or not) made some people feel unwanted. but dwelling on that wouldn't be right anymore. so i'll go on and tell you the crazy things we did on those five? six? days (oh i don't even remember!) of being away from jersey.

our road trip started out as a 6 hour drive to virginia beach. it took us almost 8 hours i think, including the stops for lunch, gas fill ups, bathroom breaks, wrong turns and exits and the like. i was driving believing that the route we're taking was gonna bring us to chesapeake bay bridge tunnel. apparently it didn't. to the disappointment of everybody. we arrived at virginia beach with just enough time to get some rest and have dinner (which consists of iris' delicious chicken adobo imported from new jersey) before we went out to explore virginia beach.

we headed off to the boardwalk (which isn't really made up of boards but of concrete). we saw how people were riding this multi bike that could be driven by four persons and we immediately decided that we should rent one. so there we were 5 girls pedaling their way through the bike path checking out the sights and sounds of the virginia beach boardwalk. there was a lot of things happening there that night. a lot of parties going on, which is explained by the fact that this is the week of the annual surfing competition. so naturally there were a lot of surfer dudes roaming the boardwalk.

day 2: we went to busch gardens in williamsburg. it's a europe themed park where you can walk, ride the train or the cable cars to and from different european countries. we had a blast with the water rides escape from pompeii, roman rapids that we had to go on it twice. the 3D rides were great too. it was so much fun feeling like tiny little people on a match box on corkscrewhill. while the curse of the dark kastle was also a great ride which is very similar to the men in black ride in universal studios in florida. but it was hannie who outrode us all by riding solo on griffon. all those rides and all the walking we did, worked up quite an appetite, so we ended the night by forgetting about our diets and lining up on a seafood buffet. that, i say is how you end a night.

day 3: was spent doing something that all of us girls haven't done before and that is to get a pap smear. just kidding! we went ahead and signed up for parasailing. yes, we have some kind of a death wish going on... he he he. hannie and i paired up and opted for the 1000 feet ride and even asked to be dipped in the sea on our way back to the boat. joyce and maricar on the other hand went for the conservative 800 feet, while iris wanted to stay safe and was happy just being an observer slash photographer. it was one of the best things that i've done in my life so far. the feeling of just being there, suspended high up in the air is so relaxing if you could just ignore the feeling that at any moment, the rope that connects the chute and you to the boat is gonna break. while we were up there hannie and i were the queen of morbid thoughts, thinking of the worst case scenarios that could happen. the funny thing is that we were both calm but we were trying to plan what we would do in case the rope breaks. it wasn't long until our 15 minutes up in the air was done, and i felt that we were slowly descending straight to the water. going for the dip was the best part of parasailing. it was like we were wakeboarding and it was immediately over before i knew it. maricar and joyce went after us and like hannie and i agreed while we were up on the air, we wouldn't tell them that it was a little bit scary up there. "usap lang kayo sa taas." was our advice to them. i was glad they didn't backed out from it, because it was totally worth all the jitters. i was still all smiles from the experience while we were driving to tita emma's house.

when we got to tita emma's house, all the talk about parasailing was lost to the sight of food on her table. crabs, pancit, shrimps, lechon kawali, fish, kutchinta, watermelon. whoever was thinking about the word diet in front of all those food is not in her right mind. after the heavenly lunch, we got to meet tita emma's kids and they were all very nice and warm. oh and i fell in love with somebody. yes, intriga ito! i fell in love with their dog ella. she was so adorableand gentle, i could just eat her up (not literally!). when night time came, we had to say goodbye to them and moved right along. our destination: durham north carolina.

the drive to durham was nice. there was no traffic as it was night time and the road was pretty much straightforward. i was really tired though, because this was the third day in a row that i was driving. all the way to durham, i was counting down the miles left before we could finally rest and eat something (na naman!). when we got to the house, we were all impressed because it was spanking brand new and huge and the neigborhood was quiet.

day 4: we heard mass at st. matthew's church and later on planned on going to the shenandoah caverns which didn't happen because of time constraints. so we just drove around looking for something to do and just decided to go shopping and buy some groceries and then headed home to lounge around in the village pool.

day 5: we finally went to the shenandoah caverns. it was a four hour drive from durham. this time hannie took over the wheel for a while which i was thankful for. it was a nice day for a drive, and it has been like that since we started out on this road trip. thank heavens! we reached the caverns with no problems and we were immediately taken down on an elevator down to the mouth of the cave. sosyal ang mga cavemen na nakatira didto, naka-elevator! so we toured the insides of the cave and took loads of pictures on every stalactites, stalagmites and columns we could find. ethan, the tour guide pointed out the water that drops from the roof of the cave and called it the "kiss of the cave". if it drops on you, it means you've been kissed by the cave... and i was, a couple of times...which means the cave likes me!

the rest of the day we spent getting pissed at the inefficient cafeteria staff, looking at displays that i really don't care about and looking for the authentic local barbecue place na may sign na baboy. it was recommended by an old lady at the register. she says to just follow route 11 for 21 miles until we see a place with the picture of a pig. so for 21 miles, there was the 5 of us all hungry with eyes on the look out for a picture of a pig. go figure. true enough, the food didn't disappoint. the baby back ribs were good, but when i ordered the barbecue, i was imagining pieces of pork cooked from a grill. when our orders came, it was strips of slowly cooked pork with barbecue flavored sauce on a bun. it was tasty but not the barbecue that i imagined it would be.

before we headed back home to durham, we decided to drive up the skyline drive in shenandoah national park where we flirted with a park ranger, defied death by taking pictures on cliffs, bought souvenirs and took pictures of wild deers roaming around the forest.

day 6: was the day we headed back home. hannie was once again the designated driver. this time though, it wasn't uneventful. there we were cruising through a north carolina highway, talking about speed limits when joyce noticed a police car behind us. his lights and his siren were on which means that he was pulling us over. so after 5 days of driving around, we got ticketed on our very last day, hows that for a treat? it was actually kinda funny because i was trying to get it on video complete with ambush interviews of the eyewitnesses at the passenger seat and an interview of the culprit while she's putting make up on. however, i didn't get it on video. disappointing, yeah.

on the way home we had a hard time looking for *chesapeake bay bridge tunnel. we've been meaning to go through these series of bridges and tunnels since the first day of our trip. however the gps navigator keeps re-routing us away from it for some reason. so we had to find our way through it the old school way which is to ask for directions and pray that we would hit the right road. "just follow the gulls" is what the old man from the vietnamese restaurant told us as he gave us directions in a very "hagrid" like manner. except that hagrid told harry and ron to "just follow the spiders!"
we were supposed to be following these sea gull signs along the road

so follow the gulls we did and in no time we were paying toll to get through the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel. it seemed to me that there were a choir of angels singing hallelujah as we were cruising the length of the bridge. sa wakas, the search for the fuckin' bridge is over and we can drive home peacefully and live to tell about the road trip that was.

-------------------------------------------
the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel is a 20 mile long series of bridges and tunnels that provides direct link from southeastern virginia and delaware and maryland. it's supposed to cut 95 miles from your travel if you're coming from delaware going to virginia beach. more here.

exit 0

i just remembered that even before i went with friends to nantucket, there was this long weekend that i went to cape may with joyce and iris. see, i told you i couldn't remember what i did this summer chronologically.

it was at the end of spring, early summer that we drove to the southernmost part of jersey. we had high hopes for this trip, this being the first time we are going for a longish drive. 3 hours by garden state parkway down south to exit 0. we had a nice sunny weather on our drive going there, but it was as if the weather had this devious plan to ruin our cape may weekend by sending his gloomy dark clouds and rain showers by the time we got there.


the rainy weather did not stop us from making the most of our weekend there. when the rain was pouring outside for instance, we made use of the time to swim around the heated indoor pool of the hotel which we had all to ourselves. when the sun would come up even for just a little bit, we strolled around washington street mall, looking at shops, antique stores and buying souvenir stuffs. when we got a little bit of a rain shower, we hopped on a trolley tour which took us to the usual cape may attractions or we would drive around ogling the historical bed and breakfasts which litter the whole of cape may. we also drove to sunset beach and armed with our umbrellas went to the shoreline looking for cape may diamonds.


on the second day, we headed off to the boat that would take us for our second whale watching experience. it was a nice enough deal because along with the 2 hour boat ride and whale watching tour they served us free pizza and hotdogs. the boat took us around cape may but because it wasn't the season for whales it turned out to be a dolphin watching tour. since i was on this trip with iris, it only means one thing... that this is going to turn out as a photo shoot of sorts. so while the rest of the group were inside the boat stuffing on pizza and hotdogs, we were on the top deck taking pictures like mad.






on our last day, the rain was really pouring hard, but it didn't stop us from driving over to the cape may light house and taking pictures on the top amid the whipping winds and rain. the light house is a 157 foot tower that served to guide ships along the coast and into the delaware bay since 1859. it took us 199 steps and a thousand huffs and puffs before we got to the top just to take pictures and marvel at how beautiful cape may is from a bird's eyeview and how (because of the chilling winds) were my knees shaking even if i wasn't afraid of heights.

it was a really cold, we got wet, nobody had any idea where to go next, nobody had any suggestions where they wanted to go and that is usually a surefire way to irk me. but knowing me i easily get over things like that and i am back to my usual self by the time we got to morey's piers and we were walking the boardwalk and people watching before we headed for home.

hook, line and sinker

so i agreed to go with dichi and rheza to a fishing trip that was organized by aya and her friend. i've never gone fishing in the middle of the sea before so this is gonna be a fun first for me. with only 3 hours of sleep, i drove to pick dichi up from her apartment and we drove to atlantic highlands pier really early because i was scared we wouldn't be able to locate it and i'm certain we would get lost on our way there. i was wrong. the gods of traffic and the gods of map directions joined forces that day and helped us reach the pier 2 hours early. but those two hours weren't wasted for nothing. we used it to shop and look for shorts and other stuff.

with our thirst for bargain shorts quenched, we headed off to the pier where the rest of the fisherman wannabes were waiting. soon our boat was cruising the bay heading off to where the captain thinks is a good spot for catching fish. it was a bumpy ride. we encountered big waves that created big splashes of water against the boat. dichi and i had to hie off inside the closed area where the captain drives the boat (hey, i'm not a fisherman so sue me if i don't know what that area is called!) to prevent us from getting more soaked. one of the two anchors of the boat fell off and that was a signal for the captain to stay put. in short hindi na nag-ambisyon pa ang kapitan na pumunta pa sa kalagitnaan ng laot. according to him, he isn't gonna risk it because he's got women and kids on board his ship. what a wuss! he he...


when the boat stopped everybody grabbed a fishing rod and started fishing like they do it everyday. dichi and i grabbed the ones near us pretending like we know what to do with it. the guy with a really nice body who is by the way a crew of the fishing boat probably sensed the lack of my skills and knowledge when it comes to this activity came over and taught me how to hook bait, handle the rod, cast the line and how to reel it in. he even attached the sinker himself. he could do the entire fishing gig with me just looking at him for all i care and i would be happy. but i gladly did everything he told me to do and in a few minutes i was bored to death waiting for any fish to bite. an hour later nobody on our boat caught any fish except for a few stingrays and baby sharks which the hot fishing boat guy sent flying back to sea. i got quite a scare when i felt a tug on my rod and it felt really heavy while i was reeling it in. it felt like it was giving a good fight. i was like "this is it! i'm gonna be the first one to catch a fish today." somebody had to help me maneuver the reel because it was heavy, but then the line broke and there goes my story of the one that got away.


tito leo put it in this perspective. "isipin mo kung dito nakasalalay ang pagkain ng pamilya ko, tiyak diet kami lahat." a few more hours went by with no fish in sight. we got tired of reeling in stingrays and baby sharks which we had to let go back into the water. a lot of people were feeling seasick. i felt really seasick at one point and made an ass of myself by throwing up on the boat which was witnessed by the hot fishing boat guy. just my luck huh? he was really nice by the way because he brought a bucket of water to wash off the vomit from the floor of the boat while dichi was handing me paper towels. pakauwaw lang jud ko.

i was in high spirits again at the end of the day. a nine year old kid who threw up with me on the boat saved the day for us by catching an 11 pound blue fish. they were kidding me that i would be the next one to catch a fish since me and the kid got seasick at the same time. that was the catch of the day though. when the captain called it a day, the hot fishing boat guy came over to me to help me reel the line back so he can put the rods away. i learned he is just 19 years old. he's just a baby shark.... i had to let him swim back to the ocean.

nantucket

overload. this is exactly the problem when you forego blogging for the million things you needed to do and the million places you needed to go to. two months i think it was, that i haven't payed a visit to my blogger dashboard. so what have i been up to? god! i don't think i would be able to remember the past two months in chronological order, but i will try my best.

first off, i went with my dmc friends to this tiny island of nantucket in massachusets where we gorged ourselves with lobsters while celebrating senen's birthday. we rented bikes and biked our way around the island, stopping every now and then when we think that we are on the verge of losing our lives to oncoming traffic and of course for taking pictures (which still remains to be in dichi's memory stick). i don't know how some people ride bikes, but dichi seems to have a knack for getting beaten around by her bike whenever she rides one. a week after our trip to nantucket, i saw her again on a fishing trip and the bruises on her legs were big enough to shame the meanest wife beater in town (but of course i'm exaggerating a little bit...he he). anyways, here are some of the new friends and people i've met on that little trip we made to nantucket:

aya - thank god for her, i didn't have to do any driving except for when we went to her house to pick her up. she was behind the wheel from new jersey to manhattan to boston. she just kept going and going and even handled the situation when we got *bumped in the rear by a black bmw suv the night we got to boston.

cheryl - this girl is rheza's friend who also works in new york presbyterian hospital. also a certified bisdak who hails from cagayan de oro. she's so much fun to be with, gladly going along with the flow. she was our official photographer when dichi and i were "pseudo surfing" on the beaches of nantucket.

jeff - he was senen's guy and i hope he still is up to now (but i heard they're breaking up which is sad but hey, such is life). he is a nice guy who gladly gave us a tour around senen's condo and who made the reservations for the ferry to nantucket which he quite bungled up but really felt sorry for. hey jeff.... tao ka lang... you make mistakes.. he he.

art - this guy is weird in a funny, makulit, interesting way. he's a close friend of jeff and senen who tagged along during the nantucket trip. i felt sorry for him because he's the only one who doesn't know how to bike and when everyone was biking around the island he was by himself walking around.

so that was the first part of my summer this year. for some reason dichi still hasn't sent me the pictures of our nantucket trip so i don't have pics to go with this post. i will try to write about the fishing trip and the road trip later tonight if i don't get lazy and if i don't get distracted by tv. so 'till next post.


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* we were on our way to quincy market when this black suv driven by a middle aged woman with a bunch of twenty something guys bumped us from behind. while we were idle in the middle of the road dialing 911, the suv drove away. now here's the funny part. we were all of 5 girls in the car and for some stupid reason nobody thought of taking the plate number of the suv. anong tawag nyo don? if the word "engot" comes to mind...then you are right.

7.02.2007

i am so back

so after countless weeks of having a life i decide to pay my blog a visit and post something. a lot of things have happened and have been happening that i don't know where to start.

maybe i'll start with how i got to meet my relatives in brooklyn. how a death of an uncle got me driving from jersey to new york by myself. how freaky it was that the certain uncle called my parents in davao asking about my phone number and address wanting to touch base with me days before his death. how that freaky premonition moved me to brave the goethals and verrazano bridges and of course new york traffic just to pay my respects for the last time.

things i realized:

  • in a big foreign place such as america, it's nice to know i have relatives who despite the distances are still thinking of me and are always there in case i need help. i've always felt alone when i came here and knowing that they are just an hour drive away gives me comfort that i have a family here.

  • death is freaky and it will get you on the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected place.


  • there really was no need for me to be scared of driving in new york. i've conquered brooklyn, maybe manhattan will be next.

now on to other things. don't we just love summer? the picnics, the barbecues, the beach. i mean despite our rising electric bills because of my excessive use of the AC, i have to say summer is my second favorite season, next to spring. but then i'm typing this while cool air is billowing in from my open window and the temperature is in the mid 70's. if it went higher up to the 90's i wouldn't say i love it so much but it would still be my second favorite season. too bad it couldn't go on forever. anyway's a lot of things have been lined up for my summer. things like parties, fishing trips, camping trips and a road trip late in the summer are some of the things that i'm looking forward to. hopefully i get to go to all of them. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that i could arrange my schedule so that everything would fall into place.

4.24.2007

i make lists

do i have any plans of continuing blogging? oh yes i do! it's just that my days have been busier and i'm trying to focus more on one thing that blogging has been shoved down into the lower rungs of my priorities.

so since i blogged in bullets the last time, let me do it in lists this time.

things that makes me go yay!

1. a warm sunny day where i don't have to go to work.
2. playing with a cute puppy.
3. the idea that i'm going home in november.
4. good music.
5. a nice book.
6. mini breaks.
7. finding out that i've lost a pound despite not trying.
8. being able to sleep at night.
9. remembering a good dream when i wake up in the morning.
10. a quiet, problem free night at work.

things that make me go boo!

1. the last day of a four days off stretch.
2. whiny people.
3. a gloomy rainy weather on a non working day.
4. getting dumped with admissions.
5. getting stuck with crappy tv shows without any good dvd in sight.
6. friends that are not keeping in touch.
7. junk mails and telemarketers.
8. days when you badly needed to do laundry and you don't have any quarters in hand.
9. getting lost in the back roads.
10. people who do not mind their own business.

ok so here's a list of questions that i found in a crumpled piece of paper inside my bag. i don't know if i got it somewhere or if i've written it on one of my downtimes at work or in the train or inside my car. it's really random stuff but i like it.

what's important?

each day.

what do you treasure most?

sunshine.

fave night out?

my couch, a rom-com movie and popcorn.

what did you expect you'd be, but are not?

tall

what makes you sad?

insensitivity of people.

what would you give your daughter?

self-confidence.

what does the world need now?

a little bit more of love.

4.06.2007

bullets

this post is gonna be in bullets, because i'm too lazy to string together sentences to make coherent paragraphs.

  • thank god we're done moving! we're beginning to get settled, but there are still boxes and stuff lying around the house but right now, i just couldn't be bothered.

  • our cable, internet and phone lines have been reconnected yesterday (yay for that!) by two guys from verizon who robbed me of my needed sleep before i go to work.

  • it still feels weird having a roommate again but i know i'll get used to it.

  • the weather is getting crazier and crazier everyday. why can't it just make up it's mind! i mean, my flipflops are all set to go... he he he

  • certain people are getting what they deserve. i just love how karma rules!

  • i want a mini break for myself.

  • i just realized i haven't read a good book in months now. i miss my books!

  • it would be a real treat to watch another sunset again.

  • i still haven't gotten around to going to the guitar lessons hannie has been bugging me to go to. i guess i'm gonna be frustrated when it comes to playing the guitar for the rest of my life.

  • i hate how i went over my free cellphone minutes last month. how did that happened? i have never went over my free minutes, ever! i guess i should stop talking a lot on my cellphone.

  • we're going to washington dc tomorrow to ogle the cherry blossoms...tee hee! i hope the weather doesn't get too cold. we'll leave in the morning, that's why i have to go pack my stuff and end this post....now.

3.13.2007

on being thirty

i come home from work tired and sleepy ready to jump into my bed after 12 hours. yesterday, i was 29 years old. today i turn 30... and what a sad day to turn 30, because just a few hours ago i admitted a 2 year old boy who just lost a mother, a brother, a sister and their home in a fire. i heard from the ER nurse that his dad is still waiting for a telemetry bed down in the ER.

it was the most difficult admission i've done not because the doctor's orders were complicated (that was actually the easiest part) but because it was hard to act like i wasn't affected while i was asking the grandmother and the aunt questions for the admission history. i mean how do i ask them about allergies, about their family health history and about that 2 year old's usual bowel movement pattern without eliciting tears from them and not looking like an insensitive jerk. that was so not the way i thought i would start my birthday. i felt sorry for the family's loss. i felt sorry for the boy who all of a sudden has no mommy to come home to. all throughout the time i was starting an IV line on the boy, i kept thinking about what's in store for him in the future and with all the support i've seen from the family, i know that he's gonna be okay.

anyways, i forego sleep and pondered on what i would do today now that i'm 30. i don't wanna do anything special or anything different. i just wanna be with myself.

when i was in grade school, i used to think that i would feel differently when i get to the big 3-0. that i'd be this really matured person who would scoff at people being silly in their carefree ways. i thought that i'd turn into this strict-librarian-type of person who wouldn't know how to have fun. i honestly thought that being 30 would totally suck. but it surely doesn't.

i realized that at 30, i could still watch spongebob squarepants and enjoy it's (sometimes) sick humor. that i could run around the hallways of the apartment building with nicolas (adriana's dog) running after me without feeling silly. i could still play games and ride bikes with my friends kids in the park during our once a year picnic. that i could sit in the playroom with my toddler patient and color books or finish a jigsaw puzzle or just watch the fishies in the tank as they gobble up the fish food and still call it work. i guess i could put it in this perspective. i could still be a kid at heart and get away with it being 30 and all.

a friend asked me the other night over the phone what would be the worst part about seeing my 20's go away? i guess the fact that i cannot go back to it all. that there were a lot of things that i haven't done or tried to do because i was too busy, too lazy or too scared to do it. excuses... excuses... this time there shouldn't be any at all.

2.20.2007

life is what happens when you're busy with something else

these past few weeks was a busy time for me. busy in a fulfilling accomplished sense. you see at the end of the month, me and my housemate are moving in another unit, 2 floors below the one we live now. that means we have a lot of packing to do. if you knew of my procrastinating abilities, you'd be proud of me when i tell you that i've packed most of my stuff that needs to be packed. my cds, books, photo albums, out of season clothes and other stuff are all neatly packed in boxes and suitcases. of course there's more packing left to do, but getting a headstart this early is such an accomplishment for me.

in between the packing and going to work, i helped out my friend with his 'super secret surgery'... he he he. i had to drive an hour and forty five minutes to philadelphia to become his personal driver/travel nurse/slave. i had to endure 8 hours of boredom in the surgical waiting room of the philadelphia hospital, was mistaken for his girlfriend and later on for his wife by his doctor and the PACU nurses (which we both laughed about later on) and had to drive back home late in the night by myself (yes dennis, i am writing these things to make you feel guilty...joke!) oh the things i'd do for a friend. see, i'm not such a bad friend after all.

the nice part about it all is that i was able to update my calendar, fix all my schedules and was able to make all the calls that i needed to make in the eight hours that i was waiting for the "super secret surgery" to be over. now for some reason, these things i can't do if i'm just lounging around the apartment doing nothing. the mysteries of life i'd say.

anyways, the weather is getting colder by the day. freezing in fact. the good thing is no blizzards/snow storms in our area...yet. i am probably one of the few people happy about the fact that there is not much snow this year. i love it! oh and i noticed that daylight seems to be stretching until 6 pm now. i just can't wait for spring.

2.03.2007

deathly hallows

well, well, well ...it seems that all that anticipation and waiting and theorizing is gonna end in july 21. everyone is excited. well at least everyone who knows what the hell quidditch is or who has a bit of knowledge about the rise and fall of "he who must not be named" should be excited. it is afterall the last of the series. the seventh book that will chronicle harry potter's adventures in the wizarding world. unlike the 6th book which i read in a matter of hours, i am gonna take my time and savor every page and every chapter of this book.


oh man! can you tell how excited i am? times like these, i miss my younger sister and jazz and dr. dada who shares my childish passion over the potter books. i actually pre-ordered it from borders the other night and called up my sis to tell her that i got one for her too. which made her crazily happy.


oh! and borders is giving away snape stickers. how cool is that? i hope they still have some left when i can finally find time to go to a borders store. in the meantime, i have to force myself to get some sleep so that i could survive my 12 hour shift tonight.

2.01.2007

the peter pan in me

i've been meaning to post on my blog for the longest time but certain things that we call "work" kinda gets in the way. at first i thought that doing 12 hour shifts every other day was good for me. apparently, it wasn't. it just screwed my tried and tested sleeping pattern that was working very well for me for almost 3 years. good thing i'm back to my usual schedule of either 2 days on-2 days off or 2 days on-3 days off routine. yay for me! now i can spend quality time with my bed like a normal person would. you know, like sleep when there is no sunlight creeping through my window blinds.

anyways, i can't believe i haven't blogged about my recent trip to florida. oh yes! i was one of those fortunate souls to have spent 5 days away from the freezing cold. we were actually driving through the streets of miami when the first snowfall of the year in the tri state area was happening. how is that for a treat huh?



of course the reason for our florida trip wasn't only to escape the cruel weather but also to catch up with our college friends who are now based there. my god! it's been 10 years since we graduated from college. a lot of things have changed , but still more have remained the same. sure were 10 years older, were talking about taxes, mortgages and stuff, sexual orientations have differed but i still see us as the same kids who slaved over nursing care plans and tried their best not to sleep in mrs. veloso's class. i don't feel like i've grown old at all. i've matured...yes, but like peter pan i refuse to grow old. i'm stubborn like that.

in less that 2 months i'll be celebrating my birthday. i'm excited. i can't wait to be 30........ NOT!

1.06.2007

looking back on 2006


About You...

Name:nerie
Nickname:yeng
How old were you in 2006?:29
What was the most important thing you discovered in 2006?:smug girlfriends are worse than smug marrieds
What will you always remember about 2006?:the trips

In 2006 did you...

Keep your New Years resolution?:never made any
Go on a holiday?:oh yes i did!
Change jobs?:nope
Buy anything from eBay?:no, but i checked it out a few times.
Prank call someone?:i don't do that stuff.
Get drunk?:yes, but not drunk, drunk...if you know what i mean.
Get high?:no
Fall in love?:with nicolas (adriana's dog)...yes!
Break up with someone?:nope
Get married?:what? and give up my precious sleep hours?
Get divorced?:no
Stop speaking to someone?:hell yeah!
Kiss someone?:yes
Kiss someone whose name you can�t remember?:no
Make a new friend?:yes
Do anything embarrassing?:a few times and trying my best not to remember them.
Do something that you thought that you would never do?:yeah, that 9 mile kayak that i thought was the death of me.
Do something you have always wanted to do?:yes, and that is to travel more.
Do anything that you regret?:never regreted anything i've done.
Do anything illegal?:is jaywalking illegal?
Break a promise?:there were times...
Lose something?:i do tend to lose my mind sometimes.
Go crazy?:you bet.

Best of 2006...

Movie:borat... great success!
TV Show:grey's anatomy
Song:there were just too many
Album:nothing in particular
Thing you bought:the clothes
Memory:memories of the cruise

Worst of 2006...

Movie:the omen
TV Show:reality talent shows
Song:anything hip hop
Album:can't say
Hangover:for some reason, i don't get a hang-over
Memory:nothing

About 2007...

What do you want in 2007?:happiness and contentment
Is there anything you would do differently in 2007?:i guess i'll just take it one day at a time.
Do you think it will be a good year?:i'm hoping
What do you look forward to most about 2007?:vacations... anything that would keep me away from work!
Do you have a New Years resolution?:nope, i never get to keep them anyway.

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