Though, I was not with my family on New Year’s Eve, I was happy to celebrate it with my friends. We had a fun night singing each of our theme songs, dancing zumba and learning how to dougie. Thanks to my flatmates and NICU colleagues for making my 2 years memorable and fun. I will never forget my experiences in Riyadh. I wish 2011 would be the last year without Mike and Mikka. Happy 2012 everyone. May you have a wonderful and blessed 2012 J
A sweet brother who teases his sister but buys food for her
A helpful cousin who is willing to lend a helping hand
A caring nephew who is compassionate to his aunts and uncles
A warm-hearted uncle who gives what he can to his nieces and nephews
A trustworthy friend who can be there at all times
And most of all, a faithful follower of God who loves and serves Him unconditionally
Happy birthday Jappy! Thank you for all the favors you have done for me. And thank you for loving Mikka and be with her in times when I couldn’t.
This has been my second and probably my last Christmas in Riyadh. I have a mixed of emotions, I am grateful to have friends who shared their lives with me while we were away from home. It makes Christmas happy and memorable. There is no greater gift on Christmas than being with your family. I miss home. I miss the way my family celebrates Christmas. I just talked to my mom and she’s busy preparing food with my mother-in-law. Hubby and father-in-law were singing and having their usual talks with bottles of beer. And my dear Mikka was entertaining everybody with her songs and “ala Dora” monologue. My greatest wish is to be with my family on next Christmas. To all my friends and family, may you filled with blessings and love this Christmas. Merry Christmas!!!
It has been nearly two years since I am working abroad. And one of the disadvantages is spending holidays alone. It is my second Christmas without my family and friends and honestly it sucks. Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the Philippines. With the spectacular decors and festive parties, one can truly appreciate this season. I am working in a country where no trace or symbol of Christmas can be found and it makes me sad and homesick.
I miss the Christmas Carol. I don’t listen to Christmas songs because it make me miss home more. I used to play Christmas songs in the piano while my mom sang or played the guitar. I miss children singing Christmas carols. When I was in the Philippines, I was annoyed listening to carolers singing out-of-tuned Christmas songs. But it has been two years since I haven’t heard children singing on different pitch, tones and harmony.
I miss the Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Dinner). At 12midnight, Filipino families enjoy a scrumptious meal . I miss keso de bola, red wine and ham. In my opinion, there is no better ham than the one made in Philippines.
I am hoping and praying that this will be my last Christmas without Mike and Mikka. I miss both of them more than anything. Now, I can feel how the other OFWs are feeling. We may not be home this Christmas, but we wish that our families will truly enjoy this season.
Recently, I had an argument with my charged nurse about covering my baby inside the incubator. My baby (patient) is 1.1 kg, premie, with nasal cannula and continuous feeding thru oral gastric tube. Though, he is so small, he is very active and can be easily startled by sounds. So I put a blanket over him and he slept peacefully. My charged nurse told me to remove the blanket and I told her the situation plus I am handling another baby. She said, I couldn’t check my baby’s respiration, heart rate and color if I cover my baby. Instead of removing, I stood firm with my decision and I told her that my consultant was already aware of putting blanket for this baby. But she shouted frantically in my face and what disgusted me more was she let me choose who I will follow: her (my charge nurse) or my consultant. Well, I just held my composure and smiled. That even made her angrier J Thank God for giving us two ears, one for receiving good information and one for ejecting the bad ones. She didn’t even give me any alternative to appease my baby, with all the credentials she is boasting. To make the story short, the following day, my consultant affirmed that blankets can be used for small babies for providing comfort.
After this incident, I took time searching the net to support this idea. I found a lot of non-profit organization in the US that helped NICU babies and their families lessen the stress that the hospital provides.
· Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. The Blankets for Babies program provides blankets and quilts for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). They are used by our NICU babies and taken home as one of their first keepsakes. The quilts and blankets are made by the creative and generous efforts of our community volunteers. They are even part of the President's Volunteer Service Award Program.
· The University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. The Preemie Project is a non-profit organization that comforts premature and critically ill infants and their families by giving gifts of hats, booties and blankets that have been handcrafted by a devoted group of local and national volunteers. In addition, The Preemie Project offers solace to families who are grieving a loss by providing bereavement items such as handcrafted burial layettes and tokens of remembrance. The Preemie Project uses financial contributions to supply UI Children’s Hospital families in financial crisis with basic necessities such as diapers, toiletries and clothing.
http://www.thepreemieproject.com/
· Montefiore Medical Center, New York. The Covered with Love Program was developed by the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses to provide comfort and hope for the critically-ill babies during their care. These blankets provide a touch of home and color for the critically-ill babies. This project comes from the heart and helps the whole family.
http://www.montefiore.org/whoweare/stories/covered-with-love/
Lesson learned: stand on what you believe is right. It doesn’t signify that you will always follow what is being told. Most of those who became successful took risk. Now, my baby is 1.4kg, still very active, on continuous feeding and sleeping comfortably with his blanket. I couldn’t put his picture because of confidentiality but I’m glad I took a stand for him.
As a parent, we need to educate ourselves about the common childhood diseases like chicken pox, so we can take care of our children very well. I have listed some information about chicken pox and my thoughts about it.
· Chickenpox is usually acquired through inhalation of airborne respiratory droplets. We have a perception that we can have the disease by rubbing our skin to the skin of the person suffering from chicken pox. Well, it is not true. We can have the disease if we are exposed to the host. And we cannot prevent it from happening but we can limit the amount of rash by having varicella vaccine. It is usually given at 12-15 months old with booster at 4-6 years old. For adults, vaccine is also available. Just consult your physician about it. I had one when I was in college J
· The disease is benign in the healthy child and increased morbidity occurs in adults and immunocompromised patients. The older we get, the greater the complications we can have. For adults, we can get more widespread rash, prolonged fever or even varicella pneumonia. But more interest should be given to pregnant women suffering from chicken pox because it can affect the fetus. Consult your OB doctor immediately so she give appropriate intervention.
· The common signs and symptoms of chicken pox are fever, pain on the abdomen, sore throat, head ache, a flu like symptom and rash that look like pimple or insect bite which usually appears on the abdomen. Aspirin is not recommended to treat fever because it can cause Reye’s Syndrome which can lead to liver failure or even death.
So when my daughter suffered from chicken pox, hubby provided her with oatmeal bath which can relieve itching. He trimmed her fingernails so she couldn’t scratch the blisters. I also recommended to put mittens at night. During day time, daddy distracted her attention by letting her sing, dance, draw and ride her bike. We didn’t let her go to school so she could have enough rest and not spread the virus to her classmates. My daughter looked pitiful when she had this disease but good thing she had it while she was young.
For more info, just visit: http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/chicken_pox.html#
Most Filipinos are fond of watching soap operas because it mostly depicts rugged-to-riches stories, but in my case I prefer to watch Korean dramas. Specifically, I like romcom dramas because of its humor, lightness and “kilig” factor. And not mention the cute Korean actors who could melt my heart and the bubbly Korean actresses whom I wanted to be. What I like the most about these dramas is its short and uncomplicated stories. Mostly, it has 16 episodes, few characters and the storyline is not dragging. I’ve known a lot of friends who are crazy about Korean dramas, and my dear cousin (Thea) is one of them. I’ve listed some dramas I’ve watched .
Tae Young lives in Paris and is working on a screenplay. She meets Gi Ju while working at a friend’s stall and Soo Hyuk, when her bicycle breaks down. Soo Hyuk and Tae young become friends. Gi Ju asks her to act as his fiance for work reasons. Things go badly and everyone returns to Korea. Back in Korea Tae Young, Gi Ju and Soo Hyuk begin to develop friendships with Tae Young and end up feeling more feelings towards her than they initially thought. However, Gi Ju is Soo Hyuk’s uncle and they had grown up like best friends since they were only about 7 years apart. Their feelings towards her slowly begin to be revealed causing heartache for all the people around them.
This is the first Korean drama I’ve watched religiously on tv. My mother liked this drama because she had a crush on the main actor.
When Gong Chan (Lee Dong Wook) meets the lively and beautiful Yoo Rin (Lee Da Hae), he finds out that she has connections to his missing cousin, whom his grandfather has been searching for. He asks Yoo Rin to lie about being his long missing cousin until he can find his real cousin. She says yes, but soon their feelings for each other get in the way of their plans. Gong Chan’s friend, Jung Woo (Lee Joon Ki) falls for Yoo Rin while Gong Chan’s ex-girlfriend, Seo Hyun (Park Si Yeon), a pro tennis player, tries to win him back. Will the two ever tell each other how they feel? Will Gong Chan ever find his real cousin?
I remembered watching this drama several times with my cousin Thea. I even bought a DVD so we could watch it over and over again.
Gong Ah Jung, a level 5 Ministry of Culture official, gets entangled in a web of lies when she mistakenly lies that she’s married to Hyun Ki Joon, a hotel manager from an affluent family. Their relationship is further complicated when Ki Joon’s ex-fiancée and a close friend of his brother’s, Oh Yoon Joo, reappears in his life.
I’ve come to know this drama from a friend’s link in fb. I am a fan of the main actress and the story is quite interesting.
No Eun Seol finally gets a job as a secretary at a law firm after struggling with unemployment, only to fall in love with her boss, Cha Ji Heon, the immature youngest son of a chaebol family.
I am not familiar with the actors and actresses but when I watched the trailer I was entertained. But I haven’t finished watching the full episode since I got busy. I will find some time soon.
My Little Korean Girl
Recently, my daughter won Miss UN in their school. Because of my fascination with Korean dramas and my husband and I have a lot of Korean friends, we let her wore a Korean traditional costume called “hanbok”. And she looked so cute on it J
If you want to try watching korean dramas, just visit: www.kimchidramas.net
Marianita, as what I often call her, is a sweet and caring friend. She has this laugh that is very infectious. And it is a soprano’s laugh because it is high-pitched and the reason that our living room has a “Please observe silence” sign. But deep inside, this lady has a soft and meek heart. A girl that loved truly and sacrificed a lot of things for her family. And because it is her birthday, I want her to know that we are here in this challenge she is facing right now. Our ears are listening to whatever you say, our shoulders are strong enough for you lean on, our lips are uttering words to make you smile and our hearts are comforting you on what you’ve been through. So, Marianita, cheer up! We will have a party! We will eat and drink (Bebsi) till our stomach will inflate. We love you!!! ( Flat 7B girls)
I am a hopelessly romantic person. I didn’t acknowledge it at first. But being hooked to romance novels of Judith Mcnaught, Jude Deveruex, Julia Quinn and others made me realize that I am indeed. Hell ya, I am proud of it. These days, only a few are reading these kinds of books. Modern girls are into facebooking, surfing the net, chatting and reading fashion magazines. Though, I also enjoy these things but I would rather spend days and nights on reading books, specifically ebooks which my husband provides. And so, I gathered famous love quotes and put my opinion based on my experiences and beliefs.
Definitely true. I believe in soul mates and destiny. There is nothing more fulfilling than to love someone who understands and accepts you.
Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well... Vincent van Gogh
Some people are afraid to show how they’ve felt. Saying I love you first to the one you loved doesn’t show your weakness but it means your courageous enough to let him/her know your true feeling.
The course of true love never did run smooth. William Shakespeare
Loving someone is never easy. The most important thing is how you hold on.
We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. Unknown Author
There is no perfect man or woman, just like the characters in the books I’ve read. In reality, you must love each other’s imperfection to have a perfect relationship.
And my favorite love quote:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
The greatest gift of life is to love and be loved. The reason that we are alive and breathing is because of God’s love. I may not have a perfect life as I used to imagine, but I have a perfect love from God, my hubby, my daughter, my mom, my relatives and my friends.
Tell me your favorite love quotes and let me know your thoughts J
