Prinsesa’s Anatomy

Oh yeah, keeping it cool

I really need to get my nails cut.

If there is one known parameter in the world that would tell me I am hell busy, that would be the presence of my overgrown nails – that is the ultimate signal that I am slaving to the point of neglecting my body. I realized the fact only because my BIOS-325 class this morning was discussing about the Integumentary system.

When I was younger, I have always believed those who have said that growing up was so overrated and there was nothing that brought more joy in the world than studying – it is practically the easiest life ever. If I believed in the past, now I completely understand why. LOL.

My teaching load for this semester is unbelievable – four major subjects to begin with. How do I manage to breathe right? I really don’t know, maybe I should always check myself in the mirror – I maybe cyanotic for all I know. LOL.

But the good part is that I am licking my fur, practicing my perfected deep breathing techniques, and sure as hell is trying to be above all this in a calm manner, keeping it cool. It may be some form of miracle, but I am glad the old cabbage is sorting everything out just in time, though I sure hope I could get more rest.

No matter how embarrassing, I admit to feeling so low when I get tired that sometimes I reach a point where I ask myself if all this is worth me dying young. LOL. But after a good glass of agua and a little sit down, here I go again. I guess life is really mystifying this way.

However, you will be glad to know that the peach tree story has shown signs of sinking in. Amidst the chaos, I feel I have been successful in trying to take things one day at a time – that may just be the secret to what little sanity I have left.

Plus, I can always get free banana splits from the Hotel and Restaurant Management department during their laboratory days (Thanks Sir Reggie).

I think I will be fine. Well, after I get my nails cut, that is.

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Photo from google search

Enjoyed till I burst

I just received my creative swap loot bag yesterday from Leah. It came all the way from Canada in a red box with the word “enjoy!” written on top. Sorry, but I think it did not do the package justice. Instead, I think it should’ve been “have fun till sunshine burst out of your ears!”.

Thank you very much Leah, for all the effort, thought, and creativity you have put in this package. I definitely felt all the love that came with it. I was like a little girl bouncing in excitement as I opened the parcel and unwrapped them piece by piece. I especially loved the princess mints and saucer, and the key chains too. She also sent me a couple of paper cranes that her hubby made! It was so cool it could’ve frozen hell over. LOL.

I was not the only one who received a gift yesterday though, for I have also given my Man two handmade clay polymer key chains (they are really wonderful, you should also order yours from Cheryl Abrigo; comes cheap too) last night, for being such a wonderful Babe.

Wow, all these gift talk makes me crave for Christmas more and more!

Success is the ability to move on from one failure to the next.

I spent the day with my good friend who had just failed in the recent board exam for accountants. We ate a lot – almost had a party, and gave food away to the neighbors, who one after the other asked, “whose birthday is it?” We thought he was really special because failing and all, we still had a bash.

We talked about it, the failing, a bit, but it was really more on a fun tone, though we never dared to underrate the impact, it was definitely not okay – but more definite was that I won’t allow him to sulk about it. I told him that crying upon hearing the news was enough; doing it again would be redundancy, and to be called redundant was just ridiculous.

I have enough sense stored on the old cabbage to think about success in a positive way, I mean, about failure, in a better light. We decided that what happened to him was just one way of not passing the board – and there are tons of ways he can take next so that he’ll eventually receive a different outcome. I’m sure it hurt, and probably it hurt like hell, so much that I would never understand… but a little self-pity and that’s that, no more, no less.

For one, things happen for a reason – the universe is so grand I cannot bear to think that the cosmos would allow something to occur by mere chance, without rhyme nor reason – maybe in a parallel universe, but definitely not on this one.

Plus, failing once is not really failing. Ultimately, it is what you really do after failing that will determine how the world judges your success.

HB polymer clay keychains

These are for my best friends that I sorely miss from the university publication. They are also all professionals now, but I think we would all agree, our days as campus journalists were one of the best times of our lives.

Indeed, growing up can also have a down side.

I miss all of you autistic people. I will surely give a lot just to be with you all again.

camelbak m.u.l.e polymer clay keychain

This one is a replica of my Man’s backpack, not really exact because of the discrepancy in shape but it is pretty close. My Man is pretty much in love with this backpack and it is really amazing how this key chain looks a lot like it, details and all. It is really very cute how it hangs from one of the bag zippers, looking like a mini me of the whole thing!

All these are creations of Cheryl Abrigo of R Angel. I really am a big fan of her creativity. These are made-to-order though there are some ready made ones, but it is amazing how you can send her photos of what you want done and she will deliver by giving you a cute tiny version of it! She does key chains, phone accessories, necklace pendants and earrings – all these made of polymer clay.

Surely, gifts like these will be very much appreciated – for one, they are only one in the world! Plus the thought and effort are really valuable. If you are interested in having your own or seeing more of R Angel’s products, visit her facebook account and browse through her albums. I am sure you will also adore her and her work.

I for one was amazed.

I just turned 22 last weekend. We had a quiet lunch inside our house with only my family as guests. It was really hard to celebrate and be festive when thousands and thousands are left hungry and homeless across the nation, but of course something’s got to give.

The mood was murky and wet, but again, we were very lucky that the storm has kept us dry and warm and safe, that when the people on the hardest hit areas were panicking and fighting for their lives, we were sound asleep and cozy on our beds. With this thought, it is more than enough to be thankful for the 22 last good years on Earth, and some maybe in a parallel universe.

The past days leading to my birthday has left me badly preoccupied and fatigued that I really lost it trying to prepare for my day – anxiety attacks hounding me every five minutes and all, that really, celebrating my birthday has become a thought pushed somewhere at the back of my mind, that when it actually came, I was unprepared for all the love and attention my loved ones poured on me, it felt like too much ear scratching for a cat, but then, if you are a cat you can never have enough ear scratching.

I pause to think about my life, yet all that comes to me is an enormous wave of gratitude towards all of the people that has kept on loving me through the years, who has been by my side, who never doubted me and my abilities, and who have used all the patience in the world in trying to put up with me – my family, my handful of friends, my Man… I am not the easiest person to love, and there really are no indications that it is about to change, and yet I am blessed with everyone and everything that I could possibly have, give and take one or two.

Don Domeng keeps on telling me how young I still am, and I agree, since day after day I stumble upon tons and tons of meaningful and meaningless things I still have to learn, but no worries, I really do not have any plan to take hold of any machine to expedite the process – I enjoy growing up; lately, I feel I am starting to be very process oriented, unlike my previous years where I was an output maniac of some sort.

I am still reciting my Kung Fu Panda line of the times, “you are too concerned with what was and what will be”. I try my hardest to live in the present, to understand that it truly “is a gift, that’s why it is called present”, and to put my trust in the Absolute that in the long run, things will fall into their proper places, just as they always should. It is not really an easy thing to do; as you’ve probably guessed by reading my posts, I have not fully learned to let go of the illusion of control – I am not sure how much more I have to hear the peach tree story until I finally get it, but so far, I feel I am willing to watch it a thousand times more.

I know there are still many goldfish to catch, and many more cans of tuna to open waiting for my whiskers to reach. As of now, it is clear that it won’t be an easy ride; but if one thing’s clearer, it’s that I am not about to give up – that may be the easiest thing to do in the world, but that is not for me.

After all, I still have eight lives to live.

I would often play Guess The Sketch (GTS) Challenge on Facebook these days against my sister Kulot, her classmates, and my Man. We would often have such a grand time that every round ends up with us having stomachaches from too much laughing. It was so much fun that there would be times when Kulot would open her account and her classmates would ask for me so that we could play GTS already. LOL

On one particularly fun game, it was my turn to draw and the word was yacht. What was funny was that they knew what the word was but could not spell it correctly! I was dead on the floor laughing my lungs out. The kids would spell yatch, yates, yatee, yate, yatch, yate yan eh di ko lang alam spell! [that is a yacht, i just don't know how to spell yacht correctly!] – everything but the correct one!

The best part about it is that you could tease them endlessly about their blunders – either when they misspell a word or cannot guess an obvious one after everybody in the room has already done so.

But more than that, I think it is the bonding that we create which is most special, especially that my sister is an adolescent, the knowledge that I am a part of her life, and a fun one at that as attested by her peers, is what would definitely keep me drawing hands that look like edematous bananas in GTS, possibly for a long time.

Working on the accreditation of the College of Nursing and Midwifery in the university, PM spend the whole day at another campus and slaved till the world spun around my consciousness.

I was designated on Area II – Faculty, with my good friend, Sir Benj, and when lunch time came, we decided to go to a nearby fastfood chain.

While waiting for our order at the counter, Sir Benj played with the drinking straw container, strangling its top cover to make his hands busy. Little did we know that a tiny monster kid on the other counter was watching him intently and maybe, when the kid could not resist what she was seeing, she went up to us and pressed the straw container while telling Sir Benj, “Ganito po gamitin yan o [You get a straw from here like this],” demonstrating flawlessly then saunters triumphantly away.

More than the kid’s surprising helping hands, what made me laugh really, really hard, was when Sir Benj defensively said, “Alam ko naman gamitin to no! Pinapaglaruan ko lang [I know how to use this! I was just playing with it]!”

Hmm… I think kids have been stalking me real good lately!

The Association of Nursing Service Administraitors of the Philippines held an intravenous training for registered nurses in the city this past week and I attended along with 64 other participants, who mostly were my batchmates from the university.

I had a wonderful learning experience, though doing return demos again in front of a preceptor, I must admit, was nerve-wracking, especially so when I had 38.9 fever the same time [not to mention one preceptor was my boss]. In fact, for the whole duration of the training, I was so sick I should’ve been hospitalized but had to refuse because I was committed to getting my license as an IV therapist. It was a very big price to pay, up to this moment I am taking loads of medications, but I’m just happy I can now rest.

What bothers me most was the fact that out of 65 professional registered nurses there, I was the only one employed who was receiving a salary. Many were volunteer nurses and some were just at home, still waiting for a call – apparently there is a waiting list before you even get hired as a volunteer.

I can’t imagine life for my colleagues, how hard it is to be unemployed, how hard it is to think of everything they went through and still be with nothing. I am just so thankful for being very blessed, though it is hard to think of that when you are hacking with cough and soiling a whole pack of Kleenex in just a few hours.

The highlight of the training of course was the actual one on one IV insertion. Everybody picked a partner amongst all the participants and punctured them once, or twice, or thrice. LOL. Now if you were wondering how many times was I punctured, the answer was none. LOL.

One of the lecturers and preceptors at the event was my very good friend Benj and not only did he surveyed me inserting the IV, he also owned the hand I was hitting. LOL. I really owe him a lot of thank yous for being so nice and accomodating and helpful. Thank you Sir Benj!

As I write this, I still have a terrible cough and colds but the headache, fever, and difficulty of breathing has subsided dramatically, though I still am considerably short of breath. I would also like to thank my physician cousin, Kuya Alex, for ’seeing’ me and I felt way better after his prescriptions.

Between the training, my job, and a horrible illness, I really felt like an unlucky leprachaun – with whiskers of course.

You might’ve known for long that the art of paper crane folding originated from Japan. Let me tell you something: they came from Brazil – from shadowmoon to be exact!

The flight of the paper cranes took some 1800 Kms to reach me!

I just received the parcel that shadowmoon sent which contains nine paper crane donations for my 1,000 paper crane project.

I think shadowmoon's paper cranes look way better than mine. LOL

I really, really appreciate the effort shadowmoon, thank you so much – to think how far these wings came from! I can imagine you folding them one by one, just like when you are doing your wonderful paper crafts.

If you would recall, I started my paper crane project as an anti-stress technique against the hassles my work environment presents me. I stated that each time I would be stressed out, I would transfer my negative vibe into folding paper cranes until I reach 1,000 by the end of the semester.

Fortunately, I am glad to say the necessity that is to fold paper cranes has decreased dramatically, since I am now able to control my thoughts and emotions better in response to not so healthy energies around me. I think you would be happy to know that my bubble is back and stronger than ever, my claws and whiskers on their proper places.

I stress very little nowadays and I find so much to be grateful for – like receiving paper cranes from a friend! I realized that moving to a new environment would always entail a crisis, that later will be nothing more than a laughing matter.

There came a point in my life where I wondered why people celebrated their birthdays the way they do – or was I only questioning who should treat who? LOL.

Happy Birthday Don Domeng

Don Domeng celebrated his 57th birthday yesterday, here with us at home, with a simple dinner with family and some friends. It was so much fun and the food that Mother Goose whipped up out of her kitchen was absolutely divine. My Man and I came home early so we could be taste testers and it was a hard job to stick with the only testing part. LOL.

What I found to be important was that birthdays are a constant reminder to us, not only of how long we’ve been staying here, but of how much we have done with our lives. As each year passes by, before blowing those birthday candles, we are compelled to take a pause to reminisce about what has been going on, and the faces of our guests tell us who we have become. I realized that the number that comes with birthdays really do play a significant part – because the higher it is, the longer the measure of what we have done good should be.

Looking at Don Domeng last night, looking at myself in the mirror this morning when I woke up, I can honestly say that what my father has done in the past 57 years has been a good job – and I believe it is my responsibility to keep it that way for a long time.

After all, I have always reiterated, my father is my honor.