Happy Thanksgiving!

Every year, we celebrate three occasions in the church and it has always been busy every time these are celebrated.  Every December, we don't celebrate Christmas but we celebrate our year-end Thanksgiving and it's usually done either the 2nd or 3rd week.  

It has been a very very long (not day but) weekend for me since it started at 3:00am on Saturday and it ended at 5:00pm on Sunday.  It was so exhausting but I never felt tired since I enjoyed our celebration.  It started with a worship service and ended with a small get-together/lunch/party.  There was gift-giving and games which I did not participate because of my post-op foot (Oh, by the way, I tried to wear closed flat shoes but then my foot was swollen after)... but it's all good! Great food and lots of fun!

To all my brothers and sisters in faith, Happy Thanksgiving!

Mom, my brother and me

My brother, me, our missionary worker and mom

My First Day @ Work (after the surgery)

Ok, so today was my first day at work after my two-month medical leave.  I don't know if I just missed my cube so much or too excited to see my friends because I woke up 45 minutes earlier than my set alarm... Apparently, I had a sort of upset stomach and never returned to bed. Doh!  I was then inclined to think that the upset stomach was due to stress of going back to work.  Haha.
So, anyway, how was my first day?  It has not even ended yet; it's 1:20PM (GMT +8) on my watch now, and I can already say that I got a very bad welcome.  First, two of my friends were on their rest day; Second, our delinquent customer service rep was caught (by me) pressing the wrong Aux; Third, calls were pouring in so bad, and lastly, the supposedly sunny weather became a rainy one.  So much for a welcoming party huh?!
On lunch, my tummy was still not cooperating that I have to stick to a Hotdog Sandwich Meal from a local fast food chain; good thing though I have a pack of my favorite candy, Skittles for "dessert".  Having un brutto momento (a bad time) on the first part of the day, I decided to just chat with my best friend in Plurk for so-so minutes to somehow rest my mind.  Also, instead of doing my dailies, I made myself busy by blog hopping... and later on, blogging. Haha! Oh, however, in between these brutto momentos were things that made me smile about--a surprise call from a friend and a package full of treats! 
Now that I'm "recharged" from the "hustle and bustle" of my real world,  I should go back to work.  Ta ta! 

So, am I working or not? Notice the Blogger interface :-)

After the scorching heat... was this :-/

And a box full of Bacolod treats! :-D

Wish List

I don't celebrate Christmas but for the sake of the season I'm sharing my Wish List... 

1.   Lenovo laptop

2.     Nokia X3-02

3.     To walk normally

4.     Capoeira or Hiphop lessons

5.     Room make-over

6.     Baby Grand Piano

7.     Trip to Italy

8.     Baby girl for my brother and my sister in law

9.     New car for papa

10.     Range hood for mama

11.     Italian boyfriend (haha good luck!)

12.     Bicycle lane on every road in the Philippines

Date with Myself

My mom always tells me not to watch a movie alone... but I'm just so stubborn, I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows alone.  And, this was not the first time I saw a movie by myself, it's the nth time!  As expected, the movie was bitin because it's just the first part but I can't help but to look forward to the second part. Oh, and I have to re-read my books because I can't recognize some parts anymore. 
Overall, my movie experience was just great! The seats of the theater were new and there was already this place for disabled persons (on wheelchair).  I think, the sound was already SDDS...? Also, I think I made the wrong decision to wear sleeveless blouse and short pants because the movie house was freezing!
After my date with Harry Potter (hehe), I went to my favorite Italian place--Gotti's--for my late lunch.  I just so love eating in this place!  Earlier, I ordered their chicken fingers, spaghetti Bolognese and pizza meal.  The meal also includes a glass of iced tea for only P125!  Oh yeah!  Who says you can't eat cheap Italian food?!  After my sumptuous lunch, I ordered for a Tiramisu flavored gelato.  The gelato, however disappointed me because it was not the "authentic" gelato that I order from Amici or Gelatissimo... It was just a Magnolia-Nestle ice cream :-(  Notice below, I didn't take a photo of it...
My churchmate sent me an SMS yesterday that goes "Try to make at least two persons happy in a day, but make sure that one of them is yourself."... I just did! :-)

My food up-close

PT Session Day 1

Today's my first physical therapy session and it turned out ok.  My therapist Chey is very nice and she explained everything to me.  From the instruments that she used for my foot to the exercises... As in everything!  And I also learned some good news: the cane shall be out by Christmas.  Yey!

Hot compress for my swollen foot

Gel, preparing for the ultrasound

Ultrasound

That was my post-surgery foot.  The hot compress and the ultrasound prepare the foot for exercises (according to my therapist).  Oh and by the way, the rehab therapists just loved my Vibram FiveFingers!  They were asking me where I bought those nice, cool and comfy shoes ;-)

Last Day of the 30 Day Bloggie Challenge

How fast time flies.  Today is the last day of our 30-day blog challenge and now I feel sad.  I never expected that this already became a part of my daily routine and ending it would mean that I'll miss doing it.  I asked my friends to have a repeat of this and they all agreed!  So I guess I shouldn't feel bad at all.  

The last challenge was for us to take a photo of ourselves and state three things we learned for the past 30 days. (I just so love my self-portrait because I got the right camera settings!) And for the past 30 days, I learned that there's so much fun in blogging (maybe because I have nothing to do during my leave haha!), that being a bum is so tiring even if I'm not doing strenuous activities (hehe) and that "disabled" persons are not disabled at all because we can still do a lot of things even with our crutches or cane.  I just hope I can already do away with my cane... Soon!

30 Day Bloggie Challenge Day 29

Things I'll never get tired of doing

Capturing memories

Going to the beach

and lastly...

     Attending to my church obligations

30 Day Bloggie Challenge Day 28

Today's blog challenge is about our favorite movie.  I have watched a lot of good movies which I could consider my favorite.  Love Affair is one, and Up Close and Personal, or Harry Potter series.  But there's only one on top of my list and that is Serendipity.  Serendipity is not just my favorite movie, it is also my favorite word which means finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it.  Or in simpler terms, delightful or happy accident.
This movie is about two people, Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) and Jonathan Trager (my Hollywood celebrity crush John Cusack) who met by accident, both were engaged to be married but they tested their fate by splitting up and seeing if destiny would bring them back together.  It is a romance-comedy film that made me say "Whoa! Can that happen in real life?"  Well, although I think what happened in the movie is less likely to happen in real life, this flick gives me the hope that one day, love will find me... It gives me patience to wait for the right person, at the right time, right place and for the right reason. 

30 Day Bloggie Challenge Day 27

These are my photos taken in December of last year and this year... The only difference that I could see in the pictures is the length of my hair.  I'm still medium built and was able to maintain my weight from the previous year.  But, since our hair sometimes change how we look, I look thinner with my hair long.  What do you think?

Lovin' my Vibram!

Last night, I already planned to go to the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell to buy specialized shoes for my "very special foot", haha.  Mom actually did not want me to leave the house because she and her motherly instincts just don't want to.  But then she, my swollen foot and limited mobility did not get in the way of my shopping.  After giving my mom the longest face, she gave in and allowed me to go out provided that our house help would accompany me.  Ok then, fine by me!  

After the long agony of walking with my cane and some inconsiderate people who just can not give way to "disabled" persons, I finally bought my own Vibram FiveFingers!  Yey!!! I so wanted to buy this pair of shoes prior to my foot operation but I just didn't have time to go to the shop (it's only available at Power Plant Mall which is very out of the way).  And now, I already had all the reasons like it's for my "special foot" to purchase the shoes so the distance was nothing. 

I wanted to buy the Gray one but it's out of stock. I was hesitant to buy the Pink one because it won't compliment some of my shirts' colors.

I'm scheduled for Physical Therapy session tomorrow and my Vibram is just right for it.  The fit and the feel were great!  I just so love my Vibram!  For more information visit Vibram FiveFingers.

30 Day Bloggie Challenge Day 26

I've been to several places already, mostly beaches in the Philippines, but I really won't forget these places... Basically, because it's my first out of the country trip and the first visa on my passport.  Oh by the way, today's challenge is about a place I've been to. :-)

In 2003, I was given the opportunity to be trained in Houston, TX.  The trip was not "all work", we have the weekends in our hands and one of our itineraries is the NASA Space Center.  Other weekends were spent either at our boss' house, Six Flags Astroworld, Kemah Boardwalk or our favorite shopping places.  

 

Taken at the "photo opp" place in Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Our bosses were just kind enough to allow us to go outside of Texas and spend the Thanksgiving with our families.  Some of us went to New York, some to Illinois some just stayed in Texas but in a different city... and I spent my Thanksgiving weekend with my cousins in San Francisco, CA.

Lombard: The most crooked street in the world; The Golden Gate Bridge; and San Francisco's Cable Cars