winter weather advisory: pain on the horizon

another snowstorm hit the east coast yesterday but instead of staying at home and grumbling that there's nothing to do, we drove over to pennsylvania at the poconos mountains to don our skis and hit the slopes. yes it was crazy driving the freeways on a weather like that, but doing it with friends makes it crazy fun.

it was already sundown when we arrived at the ski resort because we were trudging along the highway like sleepy turtles but we had the perfect weather for skiing. ok, maybe not, because it was snowing like crazy and was really really cold, but at least we had a fresh layer of powder on the ground.

we were supposed to take legitimate ski lessons because it was a first time for us girls, but because we arrived late, no more lessons were available. however that didn't stop us from renting skis and making fools of ourselves on the slopes. we made do with whatever ski knowledge the two guys who were with us could give but most of the time we were on our own. when it was our turn on the lifts, each one of us dropped like fallen dominoes because we didn't know how to land properly on our skis. we probably looked funny as hell, but we didn't care because lots of people were also falling on their asses everywhere you turn.

after about two hours of struggling with our skis, i would say that we had seen some improvement. i for one was able to ski down a slope without falling on my face and was able to stop on my tracks without resorting to using my ass as brakes. yay me! winter olympics here i come! he he he.

it was a fun weekend all in all, but it wasn't without a drawback. right now i am actually typing this post with very sore wrists and arms and legs... make that sore body. i was coughing all throughout the more than an hour drive back to new jersey. i was so tired i slept for 10 hours straight when i got back home. will i be donning skis again anytime soon? hell yeah! we have another trip planned next weekend off or maybe on february. pain? bring it on.

another new year

the holidays are long over and if it's true that what you do on the eve of new year's is what you'll be mostly doing the rest of the year, then i would be travelling with friends and having fun. oh yes, more travelling is on the forecast this year. it's because new year's eve was spent driving to dennis' place in philly, watching the fireworks, meeting new friends and drinking booze.

(more pictures on my multiply)

to start off the year's lakwatsa, we celebrated dichi's birthday with a formal (meaning jacket required attire for the guys) dinner. it was at this nice little restaurant overlooking jersey and new york city. it took a while for me and dennis to find the place though, what with all the traffic and getting lost but we eventually found it. we were supposed to go clubbing in new york afterwards but because everybody was tired and rheza was sick we decided to just hang out at dichi's place and watch scary movies, sing videoke to our heart's content and take crazy pictures c/o crazy director senen. (pictures to come soon!)

the next day we drove to poconos to get our fill of snow tubing and skiing. we went to shawnee mountain ski resort. it was so much fun just watching the little kids ski their way on the slopes. it looked so easy but we were so sure it was more than our balance challenged bodies could handle. so we bored ourselves with snow tubing on shawnee's snow tubing park. it got so boring that the four of us (gina, rheza, dichi and i) stopped tubing and just took pictures and watched as the kids kicked dennis' ass as he fall on his bum on the beginner's slope (he he he). at one point i even told the pierced guy manning the tubes that taking pictures is way more exciting that riding the tubes and he was incredulous. he was very nice though because he even offered to take our pictures.

we ended the night driving back to new york and eating at our favorite vietnamese resto in 90th and amsterdam. after stuffing our faces with calamares (which i can't get enough of), cha gio, ca chien and the barbeque chicken, we dropped rheza off at her apartment, senen at the port authority to go back to boston while gina, dichi and i began our search for the missing camera which became the search for the missing wallet later on while dennis is driving us back to jersey.

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.

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.

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!