Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Such a hell week for me.. Been coming to and fro Miami. At least I'm getting used in driving the freeway. haha! Pwede na ako magstate hopping. lol. Well, five days from now, I'm gonna start with my work. I got my badge yesterday! I'm a certified employee of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. Yikes na Yeyyy! hehe. Mixed feelings... But I hope everything will be fine. It should be or else.... nah, I wanna be positive about it. I know it will be fine.

Oh last night, guess what.. at 6:30 PM I was already asleep. Haha! I was sooo tired, and the previous nights I seemed to lack hours of sleep. The pressure... a lot of things to deal with regarding work and relocation, they're just pulling my legs off. At 3AM, I woke up, then wasn't able to go back to sleep so I just surfed the net until 6AM.. muni-muni.. Then I slept for another hour and got ready (by 7AM) to send my sis and bro to their schools and then met my mom in Walmart (she's from duty) in order to buy stuffs for my apartment. Hayyyy, it's so tiring! When we got home, it was already lunch time and my parents gave me lotsa errands to do... laundry, pick up sis, go to the post office and to the bank. Whew! I'm still doing the laundry now, hehe, waiting for it to be done...

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Anyhoo, tomorrow is Thanksgiving day! My second time experiencing Thanksgiving here. Last year was so much fun, so I wish tomorrow's gonna be more fun with the entire family, cousins, aunts & uncles. It'll be the last gathering, kase sa pinas na sila magchristmas =( But yeah, lotsa turkey again tom with yummy stuffing! Lovin' it! and I'm gonna make some dessert again for them. And since it's a holiday, there will be a big sale on the mall this weekend. I hope I can do some shopping for furnishing my flat.. Ughh, I feel I'm already in debt, and to think I haven't started my job yet. My mom's been paying for all of my expenses for now & I owe her a lot!


Last year's Thanksgiving day with cousins

And since it's Thanksgiving day.... I would like to thank everyone for keeping up with me. THANK YOU PO...

Thanks to the Lord for all the blessings He has given me and my whole family... and for guiding my friends. Thanks to Him for hearing my prayers and for making things happen for my best. And thanks to Him for helping me fight whatever struggles that I come to face in this eventful life of mine.

I would also like to show gratitude to my parents, my brother and my sisters for loving & supporting me. The times that we get to bond, to talk heart to heart and get to laugh about some thoughts are great moments that make me smile and treasure them all my life. Even though sometimes we are sooo tired of hearing complaints & we argue (esp my sis/bro and i), well it's part of the family relationship where we can grow up & learn from each other.

my family

To my cousins and relatives for the same support as well. For my cousins who make staying in Florida worthwhile and fun.. talking about the gimmick and other escapades we've been to.

Florida Espanol cousins

And of course my barkada and friends... Hayyy, I don't know what would happen to me if I have no friends. Life without friends, without you, would be such a bore. I know you have known this ever since but it's not tiring to say.. Thank you, that even if we're far from each other, we still got each other to rely on.


barkada since birth
UP Barkada

Close college friends - my sisses and bros

Moreover, being here in FL without my close friends nearby is kinda lonely. But I'm still lucky that I got my two kabarkadas Max and Alex in Chicago who are always there for me, who got the patience to listen to my rants... Thanks for the advices and for hurting my ass laughing with your corny jokes.. Thanks for all the fun times we have had! For showing me the beauty of Chicago.. For the support of course.. Tsaka I'm so grateful na damayan tayo sa kung anuman ang mga tinatahak natin.. Hindi rin po kase biro ang mabuhay dito sa States.. (Thanks to American Airlines & Northwest and to T-mobile & Cingular as well! hehehe..)


Max, Kat and Alex


To Hiyas and Colet for being there keeping in touch no matter what (parang hindi ako nalalayo sa pinas kapag kausap ko kayo), for the texts... and Hiyas, thanks for your e-mails which get longer and longer with all your stories... hehe. I miss you - the bond, girltalks, inuman!!! Sana punta na kayo kagad dito...


Kat, Colet and Yas

Basta to the rest of the barkada, my friends....you know who you are... Thanks for the friendship and love! MISS KO NA KAYO! Sana hindi aabutin ng two years bago ako makakauwi uli ng Pinas..

And to my fellow bloggers... Thanks thanks for reading... and sharing your sentiments with mine as well...

Sis Rho especially, salamat din... Ikaw ang isa sa mga paborito kong kaibigan sa blogworld! hehehe... Kase napakathoughtful mo eh.. tsaka magaan loob ko sayo.. (di ako tibo ah! hehehe) Basta we'll see each other someday... After all, NC is not that far naman from FL diba?

Okidoki then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE. Take care all of you... MWAH!

Late Fall Escapades

I know it's been a while since I've last posted. Things got pretty busy lately this late fall. Well, busy in taking a vacation, hehehe. But apart from unwinding with my friends in Chicago (again after three months! I'll expound on that later), I've been dealing with my upcoming work, attending to the paperworks, going to Miami for the medical exam, taking an ocular survey of my soon-to-be crib... those sort of things.

Yeah before I departed Miami to O'hare Chicago last week, I've signed some paperworks in the hospital and I've seen my apartment already. But I'm still thinking if I'll get that room, because I am only allowed to stay there for quite a while. I still don't know but it will just be like 3 months. I'll call them tomorrow if 6 months will be possible. So yeah, I'm thinking that it will be a hassle for me to transfer again to some other flat soon, and since it's still unfurnished I need to bring a bed, a microwave, and some furnitures. Hence it is better if I find a place where I could stay permanently for like 2 years, and I'll be luckier if it's furnished. Oh well, if I really can't find an affordable place anymore for a short period of time (I need to move in by nov. 26), then I have no choice but to take that apartment. Actually it's really good since it's within the hospital campus and it's cheap (electricity included). I'm just concerned with the hassle that I'll be going thru and the additional expense, i.e. having cable & phone be connected.

Anyways, I've taken a short break in Chicago with my two kabarkadas Alex and Max, again!!! It felt so good to hang out with them for almost a week. The last time I was there was three months ago. Since we're on mid-November now, the weather was so cold there, that it seemed it's already winter. The temperature ranged from 30's-40's degree Fahrenheit. So we have to wear layers of clothes and jackets when going out. The weather is so tiring that you just wanna lay in bed and cuddle your pillow (or someone, hehe) all the time, since it's cold and it gets dark early... 3PM seemed like 8PM!

Since I've done most of my sightseeing last summer (which was a good time really to stroll Chicago, weather-wise), this time we spent days and nights together doing foodtrip, watching movies, some more foodtrips, window shopping, did an eventful clubbing and more more foodtrips. hahaha! Omg, the three of us actually gained weight. Seriously. We took a look of our photos last summer and have them compared to our newly taken photos, there's a big difference, lol. May be it's with the weather (weather weather lang yan!) hahaha! (palusot eh noh) But still we enjoyed eating! We dined in Sal & Carvao and it's amazing!!! It's a steak buffet and a sort-of fine dining resto, if you're a steak lover, it's worth the price! We had dinner in Todai (Japanese seafood buffet) twice too, and my boys devoured the oysters (panalo talaga!) Max and I also dined out in Joy Yee's (sayang wala si alex) and we ravished ourselves with their Tapiocas, some varied Asian cuisine. So, who would not gain weight with that? And oh, add some midnight snacks still! The condo we're staying at is near a pizza place and one night Max was craving and we went out just to buy 6 slices of pizza (big slices! lol) Then the next night, at the same resto, we managed to order more Italian foods - Mozzarella sticks, Lasagna and Quesadilla. Hahaha! Our rationalization? so that we have something to eat for breakfast; and our general rationalization for our ever foodtrip? we're gonna lose it when we start working (for me & Alex since Max has been working since then, lol) and we just seldom hang out together, so why not enjoy voracious eating right?! Hmmm.. sounds good rationale, so go go go! LOL. And now, I need to burn all those calories, eat less and exercise more. And so far, since yesterday, I'm doing well with my diet. hehe. And I bet those two guys are also managing to watch out what they're consuming.

Hayyyy.. I miss those two. The movies we have watched were the Borat and The Return. We laughed our asses off with Borat! Non-sense but really funny. The Return was just fine, not soo good. We didn't know why we had chosen it, hehe. And with regards to our clubbing escapade in Bamboo Room, I said it was eventful because there was a fight inside the club, and it wasn't just a fight. It was "madugo." Basag ata ang mukha nung isa eh. Damn! It was freaking scary, but this Max was enjoying the scene. Sira talaga! We went out of the club immediately, but then the people on the fight were on their way out too, so we were so close to them (Yikes!) What's scary wasn't the blood (sanay na sa duguan! hehe), but it was that may be the fight will get more intense, and yup it did actually outside the bar since the cops weren't there yet. It took a while before we were able to leave since we put the car on valet parking. Geez, there's even a scene that beer bottles were thrown and we're almost hit. It was indeed eventful huh, my first clubbing in Chicago. Not the last though. I'm going back, hehehe.

Sooo there, I still have a hang over now and I'm happy that I got to spend time with them before drowning myself into work soon. At least I have shared my rants and sentiments to my two close friends. I'm gonna miss them and I hope it won't take a long time before we'll see each other again. Good thing Chicago is just three hours away, and the fare from here in FL to there isn't that costly (mas mahal pa ang fare ng domestic flights sa Pilipinas, i.e. Manila to Gensan! Imagine!?) And I'm proud that an added change in the three of us is that we'll all be working RNs. I mean Alex and I got our work permits and all just this late October (Max is already an immigrant). Unlike three months ago, where one of our rants was that whether the two of us will be granted by the immigration a chance to work and that we won't go home in PI anymore. I guess our wishes were granted. Thank God. Well, I hope next time, it will be the two of them who's gonna visit me here. My treat that time of course.

Ok then, that's it for now... :)

Into becoming a butterfly

I get butterflies in my stomach everyday...Well recently... and it gets more and more intense as each day passes by. Really!!! Whew! Can't help it.. I'm counting the days! Is this for real? The long awaited moment has arrived, after being bummed for a year and 5 months. But the supposed-to-be excited feeling is slowly becoming an anxiety... Anxious that I doubt my capabilities to perform accurately and intelligently in the real world. Am I ready? Oh for sure! I mean this is definitely not a game, not an internship nor a course where one tries to perform while trying to earn a high grade and to pass. Rather this is a profession and I'm holding a license that I must protect and be careful with my whole life. Ughh, I feel I have forgotten a lot already, haha! Trying to remember the meds..cardiac meds especially, and the procedures.. Gaaa, they're freaking me out. I would absolutely need to scan my notes again, read ECG books. Heyyy you, I hear you telling me that I'm toxic, lol.. But yeah, I am.. ever since. Haha. Guilty?! Nah, I would proudly admit it. Lol.

Despite the wobbly feeling I'm having right now, I am trying to compose myself of what's going to happen soon. Surely this would be offering me a great deal of change. My life is beginning another chapter and I am about to build a new comfort zone. It seemed hard, yes, to start. I hear it all the time, but how would I know how deep the water is if I don't take a dip on it, right? I am about to take a big leap on my career and this is it! Sleepless nights and the big adjustment might stimulate my lacrimal glands along the way. I'm quite ready for that... Well, I'm trying to get myself ready for that. But I believe that it would just be a matter of time and I'll be used to my new life.

Yes, it will be a fresh life... away from my family, new set of people to get along with, fitting in with them, with their expectations.... new environment and living alone, on my own, in my crib... paying my own bills (gosh!)... saving to buy my own car (it's a necessity here!)... and oh, cooking my own food! And the list goes on and on... Yeah, I would like to promise myself this time that I would avoid fastfoods and buying those instant meals, i.e. instant noodles. Ughh, they're unhealthy and I had enough of them during college days.

I will surely miss my family, even if they're just an hour away. I know I can drive home anytime when I'm off duty, but the thought that I would be alone there, without even knowing a single person/friend to talk to (for now) in there, give me shivers. Perhaps I will try to drown myself into work for the first months, which will be my defense mechanism, against my loneliness. Yes it works for me. I tend to forget my problems once I get busy and if I find something else to focus to. (Just like Karlo days and Psych Nursing! hehehe...)

Sooo... Miami Beach here I come! November 26, it's goodbye Coral Springs and hello Miami! Good thing though I will start after Thanksgiving. In that way, I have the last chance to hang out with my whole family/relatives. Yeah, last chance for this year =( since they're all going home in the Philippines for Christmas and New Year. I pray to God to help me get through this, that this opportunity will help me undergo a successful metamorphosis to grow into a beautiful and mature butterfly... that it would not become a painful experience as I imagined it to be. Rather it is one, in which I would enjoy. I really hope that I can gain friends, learn to trust people, be a caring nurse in such a way that my Alma Mater has molded me, and most of all I can still smile and laugh. Finally in the next months and for the following years, I hope to hear myself say "Where I am now, I feel fulfilled and happy."