obligatory year-ender survey for 2009

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
A LOT! ;)

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any in 2009 and yes, I will make a lit for 2010.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister! She gave birth the day after Christmas to an angel--Lexi!

Did anyone close to you die?
None (thank God!)

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Will power, good health, optimism, and money. :P

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I got sick from AH1N1 and got quarantined for two weeks. It almost drove me insane because I was alone in the house (sister was pregnant during the time). I also had tonsilitis which I never get before, the pain made me cry all day. =S

What was the best thing you bought?
A Macbook and an iTouch Alej gave me as a gift which was stolen a few months later. Broke my heart to pieces.

Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine? HAHA!

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Some people I know...

Where did most of your money go?
FOOD, movies, gas, and mostly material stuff.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
the coming of my baby niece and clinical duty!!

What song(s) will always remind you of 2009?
A LOT! The Patron Tequila song, Taylor Swift songs, Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Owl City, and the annoying NOBODY song.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? -- happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? -- Thinner, I think? HAHA!
iii. richer or poorer? -- poorer!

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Worked out more.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eat. Whine. Be a brat.

What was your favorite TV program?
Grey's Anatomy and True Blood!!!

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Owl City, Kings of Leon

What was your favorite film of this year?
ACKK I FORGOT! But probably "Up" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Hmm probably if I had gotten what I wished for and if traveled more this year.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Umm experimental?

What kept you sane?
GOD, family, Alej, friends and the little things that I always appreciate.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010:
WOW! There are a lot! Like how okay it is to take the leap because in the end you find yourself doing what you really absolutely love--NURSING. How much I appreciate life and all its imperfections, how much blessed I have for having awesome family and friends that keep me sane, how I appreciate myself and how stronger I am than I give myself credit for, and how much I'm pretty sure that no matter how many times I stub my toes life is going to work out just fine. I also learned to be more independent this year..biggest improvement of the decade.

What was the nicest thing someone told you about yourself:
Someone said I was cool, someone said I look younger than my age, someone said that I'm special, and someone said that I'm "gifted"-- whatever this meant.

What did you like most about yourself this year?
OPTIMISM. Definitely optimism, independenc, and breaking away from norms.

What did you hate most about yourself this year?
My being stubborn, of course!

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out
It's bringing me down I know
I've got to let it go
And just enjoy the show"
- The Show, Lenka

Was 2009 a good year for you?
It was a rollercoaster but definitely a good year.

Where were you when 2009 began?
At home. :)

Who were you with?
Family

Where will you be when 2009 ends?
At home

Who will you be with when 2009 ends?
Family then with friends after

What was your favorite month of 2009?
Don't particularly have one

What are your plans for 2010?
Take the boards and all trainings necessary, travel more, then WORK.

What are your wishes for the new year?
World peace and lessen people living in poverty.
Stay healthy by going back to the gym.
Pass the board exams.
WORK.

'tis the season for christmas parties

the Annual Circles Dinner with my UPM (college) friends:



christmas get-together with alej's buddies and their girlfriends:

panda cookies

panda cookies, originally uploaded by sevenworlds16.

OMG! WANT!!! chocolate and vanilla panda shortbread cookies!

lets go moleskine!

This blog entry is my entry for Avalon.ph's Win a Moleskine Colour a Month Daily Planner 2010.

I'm really not into joining contests because 1. I'm starting to think I have bad luck when it comes to these things and 2. I'm too lazy to follow contest mechanics. But when I browsed through my Tweets this morning I found out that Avalon.ph is giving away Moleskine Colour a Month Daily Planner in 12 Notebooks 2010 (link from Moleskine.com), retails for Php2,750.00 locally. I was planning on getting a 2010 Monthly Moleskine Planner but this one is just made of awesome.

Here we go!

What are you thankful for this 2009?

I'm feeling a wee bit under the weather. They say that writing is therapeutic and keeping a journal/blog helps release bottled up emotions. So maybe it's time to write the bad vibes away. I have nothing significant to say so I might as well just rant. I have a headache, it's not the migraine kind. It's the kind of headache I usually get when the weather is too hot. Odd though, it's not that hot today. Maybe it's my eyes-- my contacts are off and I'm not wearing my glasses.

You see, I am the type of person who gets sick a lot. Sick as in I've had way too many Emergency Room trips, too many hospital confinements, and too many needle pricks from IV insertions, blood extractions, and injections. My illnesses always seem to target major organs-- liver, kidneys, and heart. When 2009 went along without me being sick, I felt like throwing a huge party for the success of going through a year without a hospital trip. But to my dismay, in June 21 of Father's Day I started feeling unwell. It was Sunday and my throat started to become itchy. During this time the outbreak of AH1N1 virus (Swine Flu) took Manila by storm-- the numbers was growing and so was my paranoia. I thought about accidentally catching the virus at the mall or somewhere else because I was paranoid that way. On Sunday afternoon I started to have a fever. I was anxious to get myself tested for the virus this time and that evening I went to the E.R. of St. Luke's Medical Center. The resident-on-duty there interviewed me and almost laughed at me when I answered "I was just paranoid of catching the swine flu" when asked about my reason for being in the ER. I was surprised to see a lot of people in the room that time, all with coughs, sore throat, and fever or at least one of those symptoms. We were all required to wear masks because one of us might really be positive for AH1N1. The doctor then proceeded to check my throat. It wasn't even painful during the time but he said my tonsils were swollen. Since I had three of the symptoms that qualified me for a swab test, the doc immediately referred me to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine all the way in Alabang.

To cut the long story short, after a swab test and a three-day quarantine, the results came out and I tested positive from the virus. I was quarantined for 7 (LONG) days more. I was ALONE in the house because only one person could take care of me (to prevent further spread of virus). I wrote this rather lengthy blog entry on one of those days when I got depressed and lonely from being quarantined for that long: Rising Above.

After my whole ordeal with the swine flu was over, I learned that in 2009, I am most thankful for good health. Yes, good health despite the things that I go through with my body-- I am Hypertensive at this age, I have heart conditions called Mitral Valve Prolapse and Second Degree Heartblock, I have heart dysrhythmias which I am currently on medication for, and I am at risk for developing diabetes because of my family history. Sometimes I call myself a "factory defect of heaven" but then again, God made all things beautiful and there is no such thing as a "defect from heaven". I am thankful for good health because I was able to fight AH1N1 and all the emotional stress that came along with it. I am thankful for good health because even after my episode with the swine flu, my body regained its normal strength without any complications. I realized that I also have my family and my boyfriend to be thankful for. My boyfriend turned into a personal nurse who came to visit me and bring me food the whole 10 days I was quarantined (and no, he didn't get the virus) and my family for being with me in spirit even if they couldn't be with me physically (my parents live in Brazil and my sister was on her first trimester of pregnancy during the time). I felt my parents' care and love through their lengthy phone calls and Yahoo Messenger chats. Therefore, I should be thankful for technology too, I guess! It also kept me company during that long solitary confinement-- the internet, twitter, and facebook kept me sane.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I am thankful that no matter how many times my spirit is brought down from getting sick a lot, I am still able to come back after fighting it and I guess you can say that I'm braver each time too. So if 2010 comes and I get sick again, I'm not going to be too depressed anymore because I've been through tougher times and I always come back a hundred times braver.

what are you afraid of?

I've been waking up in the middle of the night (or is it morning?) lately. I'm not sure if it's night or morning because all I know is that it's still dark when I wake up in the middle of deep sleep and because I don't want to lose sleep I don't check the time. Some nights it's because of a nightmare (I've dreamt of losing loved ones and feeling so bad about it that when I wake up I can't sleep anymore). Other times it's too horrible to even talk about it but other nights it's just your typical zombie nightmare that's ridiculous if I tell you here but it's scary when it was still in my head.

These vivid dreams and nightmares started when I was put on betablockers. After doing my own drug study I learned that one of the uncommon side effects of Bisoprolol was "vivid dreams and nightmares". I'm not sure, though. If it's psychological then how come it really does happen to me?

So anyway, these dreams made me think and really FEEL the things that I am really afraid of. In those horrible dreams when I dreamt of losing people I love, I can't begin to explain how shattered my world felt while I was enduring the pain of losing someone. I realized that in real life, I'm going to more afraid of losing people forever than having to deal with ghouls, vampires, or ghosts.

My parents taught me that I should never forget to say my bedtime prayers at night so that I won't have bad dreams. I admit I've been forgetting to say my prayers before going to bed because I believe in praying any time of the day and talking to God whenever I want to like a friend who's always beside me. Maybe I should put praying every night into practice or chant the bedtime chant I learned from an episode in Grey's Anatomy:

"Bad dreams, bad dreams, go away
Good dreams, good dreams, here to stay." (with matching hand movement)

I hope for nothing but sweet dreams tonight.