Rainy White Rock Outing

The HR Ops, Shared Services and Recruitment team went on a weekend getaway at White Rock in Subic. It was my first time to get soaked in the rain - really heavy rain! And I had fun. Bet we all did. Too bad I left my camera in our room because I was afraid it would get wet too. The food was good too. The entire team obviously did not mind the heavy rain - because we all had a blast. Kudos to Joey and his crew! Good job guys!

Here are some of the pics. I hope you guys will also post yours on fb.. :)

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Tea and Sympathy

Last Saturday was my 4th session for acupuncture, and I was given herbal tea by my acupuncturist, Sis Regina Liu. The said tea has to be taken an hour after breakfast and an hour after dinner. My theory is that it is supposed to flush out the toxins, which the needles of acupuncture stimulated. Sis Liu is a woman of really few words. Although she also advised me to ask around if there's a woman I know who is about to give birth soon. She said I would have to ask for the placenta, which she will then transform into capsules, to make my body strong in preparation for my pregnancy. Freaky eh? But I would move heaven and earth just to get pregnant. Anyway, there's really no harm in trying. Here are the photos of the tea... :)

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Almost Famous!

It was just this morning when I decided to post my almost famous moments on Cosmo and Good Housekeeping Magazines.

The time-management advice that I sent to GH was chosen for their April 2009 issue.

While the photo that I sent which was taken in the streets of Macau was one of the non-chosen ones for Cosmo's "Have Cosmo, Will Travel" feature. Since it was not a winner, it was just printed together with the other non-winning entries on the centerfold of their May 2009 Anniversary issue, as consolation prize. Hee hee.

My family was so proud that even if my face and my name were just a small part of the pages of these magazines, I was still the first member of the family to be featured in the glossies! :)

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Mini Get Together

My high school friend, Regina, who is working in Dubai, is in town for a short vacation. She usually treats us for dinner whenever she comes home. Last night was a bit different because the crowd got a bit bigger. The first time we had dinner together, only 3 were present - Anna, Regina and I. The second time, which was last year, Nonie was there, so that makes 4 of us. Last night, Corina was there, which makes us 5. We had dinner at Giligan's Island, G5. Just a few steps away from my office

Like what we usually do when we are together, we were very noisy talking and catching up on each others' lives. I also noticed that we never get tired of talking about memories that do make us laugh - like the suitor of Regina whom she made "tarush", the Veni Sancte Spiritus moment I had in a jeepney, the many vocalization and practice bloopers in our glee club days, and the people whom we just so love to make okray. These memories make me forget, just for a while, the stress of adult life. Just for a short while, these memories bring me back to the carefree high school days when we do not have a lot of things and responsibilities to worry about.

I'm glad I have these memories to look back on. No matter how silly some of them might be. I'm also glad that we are all happy where we are now. Corina is a proud mom to her english speaking, honor student kid. Anna is a happy homemaker to Jayson and their cute daughter Jayna. Regina is happy in Dubai with her boyfriend. Nonie just took a hiatus from the stressful world of CVG ER and just came back from her Asian tour. Me, I am happy with the love of my life and the life that we have.

Here are the photos. Enjoy!

This was the first get together in 2007


This was last year

And finally, last night.


Another one.

Friends, I'll tag you all in fb! :)

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Nostalgic Moments on FB

Lately, some of my high school-mates, who also happen to be my friends in Facebook, have been posting photos taken back in high school. Because of this, I've been feeling nostalgic (thanks to the bed weather and my flu) for a couple of days already. It's nice to see these pictures, even if I'm not usually part of them, because they bring back memories of a happy past. Memories that remind us that life is fun and beautiful.

This afternoon, I've uploaded my share of grade school, high school and college photos in my Facebook. I've also tagged some friends. Some of them, like me, are already married. Some, already have kids. While the rest are still enjoying their single days. Although we haven't kept in touch for ages, I'm happy that we are still connected via Facebook. I hope that we'll have a batch reunion soon, both for high school and college, so that we can catch up on what we all have been up to in the past couple of years..

Here are some of the photos I've posted on FB.

My closest friends in 2nd and 3rd year high school. Mary Lou and Rona. Mary Lou is now married with 2 kids. She's also on my FB. I wonder where Rona is, though. I haven't heard from her since high school graduation. I wish her well and I hope that the 3 of us will have a chance to have a get together. I miss them..



The Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

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8 Things

8 Things I'm Looking Forward to:

1. Going home tonight to browse my newly bought magazines and put this flu to rest

2. Spending the weekend with my family and my cats

3. A nice, long, relaxing massage

4. A visit to Dra Aleta for my Immunologic problems

5. A dinner and movie date with my husband

6. A healthy, full-term pregnancy with a healthy baby or twins afterwards

7. Becoming a more active blogger with a high page rank for all my blogs

8. Becoming a WAHW - and soon a WAHM

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Nursed my flu

2. Danced with Popop

3. Fed Tweety

4. Took silly quizzes on Facebook

5. Slept

6. Watched the TV

7. Had a cookies and coffee session with my husband

8. Had home cooked dinner courtesy of my husband

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Have weekly badminton sessions with my husband

2. Join the marathon

3. Take another trip abroad this year or early next year

4. Buy the Vivienne Tam Limited Edition HP Mini Laptop

5. Bake

6. Study make-up

7. Take photography lessons

8. Get pregnant to full term and deliver a healthy baby or twins

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Another Day of Acupuncture

I presented my lab test results to Sis Liu. She asked her assistant to photocopy it, which I appreciated, because that means she would study my case more. The session lasted close to an hour. Same needle positions. But this time, I was in a different room. My husband was no longer allowed to come in because the other half of the room had another lady patient.

I just had to say that I am so thankful for my husband. Almost all of the patients there were women, majority were TTCs. But I was the only one with a husband. Thanks Hunny! I love you. :)

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My Very First Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Experience

I went to Sis. Liu's clinic, at 230PM, as scheduled, together with my husband. I was asked to fill out the 3-paged form which basically talks about my medical history, why I went there and my current physical situation. Sis Liu (Sis Shengrong Liu and Sis Regina Liu are one and the same) seemed nice. She allowed my husband to be with me in the acu room. She checked my tongue and my wrist pulse twice. I guess that was part of the acu SOP. Then she asked me to remove my pants because it was too tight daw. After that she started inserting needles one by one. I had needles on my forehead, some on my lower abdomen, one somewhere near each of the sides of my knee, and 2 more on my feet. Her assistant lighted something that looked like a small cork after placing it on one of the needles on my lower abdomen. She said it is for the improvement of circulation - I don't know what circulation she was talking about. Overall, the experience was good. The ambience was relaxing and I did sleep during the 30+ minute session. I was asked to go back once a week. I arranged for a Saturday schedule. The total cost of my initial visit and acu session was P1,300.

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Bakasyunan Resort, Iba, Zambales

My husband invited me to join their summer outing (May 23-24). Since we do not have any beach activity this summer, I said yes. The resort was nice and big enough to fit all of us. We stayed in a Bahay-Kubo room together with hubby's officemate, Agnes, and her bf. The "survivor" events were fun. Hubby and I just woke up from siesta when they started. To compensate for showing up late, my husband showed his "game" side and I was really glad to see him that way.. Aktibo! Hehe..

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My Immunologic Profile

As discussed in my previous post, I had my blood test done last April 22 at the Reproductive Immunology Center in TM Kalaw. My husband and I got the results first week of May. However, my OB was still abroad so we had to wait for her to interpret the results. We were scheduled to see her in last May 19. And the results, according to her, are as follows:

LAT
Reaction Code: 1 (for both I and II), thus, negative
%PRA: 0
*This means that I should undergo Lymphocyte Immunotherapy (LIT). My OB wants to refer me to Dr. Ed Lim. However, she warned us that this procedure will be too costly. 4 donors will be needed, 1 of which is my husband, and 3 others who are not blood related. A session could cost about P60K, and I would need about 4 sessions. This is on top of Dr. Ed Lim's hefty PF.

Lupus Anti-Coagulants
KCT: 100 (normal is 75)
APTT: 25 (normal is 20)
DRVVT: 30 (normal is 30)
*She prescribed Aspirin for this. 1/4 tab during lunch. I believe this is for APAS.

ACA results were normal.
Anti-thyroid Antibodies
*I'm actually confused here. She said I'm borderline because I got 91.60 in Anti-thyroglobulin, although the normal is <100. And I was ANA Negative.

NK Cells
As for the NK Cells (my blood samples were sent to the US - Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago, IL), here are the ones that alarmed her.
% CD3: 88.2 (normal is until 85 only)
% CD19+cells, CD5+: 16.4 (normal is until 10 only)
*For these, she said, I would need to undergo IvIg. This costs about P125K per session. I don't know if we could ever affor this. With all our expenses, and my impending plans of WAHWhood..

*My OB, since she's Chinese, gave me a more affordable alternative that would hopefully help improve my overactive NK Cells' killing capacity - ACUPUNCTURE. She gave me the contact details of Sis. Regina Liu. She asked us to give it a couple of months. And if there's an improvement, we might just need LIT and no more IvIg. (fingers crossed. sigh.). Anyway, I already scheduled an appointment with Sis. Liu in her Panay clinic this coming May 25 (my brother's birthday).

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Tweety's 2nd Visit to the Vet

Tweety hasn't been eating lately. We were worried about her because she always had a good appetite. Good thing, today is her schedule for another round of deworming. She was given Lean Recovery - a canned kitty food that should be forced-fed to her if she still refuses to eat. Hopefully she'll get better soon.. By the way, a woman, who also happened to bring her dog in the clinic asked me what Tweety's breed was. I just smiled and said.. "wala po".. Hihi. Take a look at her super cute pictures.

Cleaning...

Temperature check..

Demo - Tweety was forced to eat Lean Recovery

Checking out the store - looking for a scratching post.. but found none..

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Couch Potato

I had to post this. See these cute photos of Tweety watching TV. She loves staring at the TV this way...

Oopss.. tired na..

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Tweety's First Visit to the Vet

Tweety a.k.a. Tweet Tweet, Santina, Annie, Peter is sick. She seems weak and restless, so we brought her to Marikina Veterinary Clinic. The vet on duty, Dr. May, was also Missy's vet (Missy is Kristian's dog whom he left in their home in Marikina when we got married). Tweety had her ears cleaned and her claws trimmed. Dr. May said Tweety has fever, and her lab test shows that she has worms and needs to be dewormed. She was also given dextrose powder to keep her hydrated. Here are some photos that I took while we were in the clinic. Get well soon Tweety. :)

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Our Heart Toothbrush

My husband and I are currently using these. Soo cute. =)

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My New Makati Office

Effective today, I am no longer part of the UP Ayala Land Site (although I am still part of their headcount as per PeopleSoft data. gulo no?). I am temporarily using a workstation here in our newly opened site in Glorietta 5. I honestly don't know what my role here would be, and how long my temporary assignment would take. Although I know that things will be a whole lot better for me here - away from the shadows of nevermind who.. Anyway, here's a look at my new but only temporary workstation.

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That Dream Job

Took those photos when we went to SM North EDSA last May 1. Hundreds of applicants were lined-up, hoping to get the job of their dreams. Nine years ago, I was one of them. My idealistic self was so positive that I would land my dream job that would take me places and buy me things that I've always wanted. Yes, eventually, I was able to get my dream job. But years later, I felt tired. I realized that there really was more to life than just work. Here I am, WAHW-musing again...

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Pacquiao did it again!

The much-awaited fight ended in merely 2 rounds..

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