On growing out of a friendship

From The Wonder Spot by Melissa Banks:

... and these reasons have nothing to do with our friendship and everything to do with how I see Dena now.

***

When she drops me off at the Hot Plate, she says, "Good-bye," and I'm surprised to hear in her voice what I myself have been trying to conceal: Whatever affection we have for each other is from a long time ago.

***

I realize I will never hear from Dena gain, and I will never call her. It gives me a chill. It is a strange thing to end a friendship, even if you know it's what you want. It's like a death; all of a sudden your experience of a person becomes finite.

Whew.

A colleague asked end of last year if I would be willing to take a student intern while she's on maternity leave. Honestly, the thought of it brought butterflies to my tummy and doubts to my worry-prone head. That's when I knew I had to say yes. Yup, butterflies in my tummy is always a good sign that an experience is outside my comfort zone... I like having a few correctly-sized sharks in my fish tank :0)

The rotation started last Monday (and will end March 28... u-huh, 3 whole months) and I am so relieved and grateful that the intern is smart, confident and open-minded. It could have easily gone the other way, meaning a shunga-shunga intern or an arrogant and close-minded one; imagine how long and tortuous the next 3 months would have been!

So I offer another prayer of gratitude to the One looking out for me. I was sure before that this is going to be an interesting learning experience , and after the first week, I'm glad to know that I get to enjoy it:0)

Iska at heart.

Thought it would be fun to go down memory lane...

1. Student number?
94-06032

2. College?
UP College of Allied Medical Professions

3. Course?
B.S. Physical Therapy

4. Nag-shift ka ba o na-kickout?
Haha! Nope, granted that I was delayed a year, I didn't give up :0P

5. Saan ka kumuha ng UPCAT?
Hmm. Sa UPIS yata.

6. Favorite GE subject?
Comm 1 and Humanities1 and 2

7. Favorite PE?
Definitely Social Dancing hehe :0D

8. Saan ka nag-aabang ng hot guy sa UP?
Meron ba? Haha!

9. Favorite prof(s)
Definitely Prof. MRuiz :0)

10. Pinaka-ayaw na GE subject.
Let's see, a toss between Math14 with Salamida and Physics lab with Iggy Boy :0P

11. Kumuha ka ba ng Wed or Sat classes?
I honestly can't remember.

12. Nakapag-field trip ka ba?
Yup, for PI100, in Batangas yata.

13. Naging CS ka na ba or US sa UP?
Haha! Twice when I was still in AS then once during postgrad but never when I was in CAMP haha!

14. Ano ang Org/Frat/Soro mo?
APTS in CAMP... none when I was in AS, masyado ako nag-enjoy sa mga blockmates ko hehe :0D

15. Saan ka tumatambay palagi?
Let's see -- sa BatCave when I was in AS (near the DPSM office yata, near the gate that opens to the Court of Appeals) and sa parking lot when I was in CAMP.

16. Dorm, Boarding house, o Bahay?
Bahay :0P Except for a month during internship.

17. Kung walang UPCAT test at malaya kang nakapili ng kurso mo sa UP, ano yun(Given ang mentality mo nung HS ka)? The thing is, Physical Therapy was my first choice. Maybe that's why I stuck it out hehe

18. Sino ang pinaka-una mong nakilala sa UP?
This pharmacy freshman, Jaerus.

19. First play na napanood mo sa UP?
I can't remember, but I know it was in Diliman.

20. Name the 5 most conyo orgs in UP
Huh?

21. Name 5 of the coolest orgs/frats/soro in UP.
Another huh?

22. May frat/soro bang nag-recruit sa yo?
None. Haha! I guess that means I'm not 'Sis' material :0P

23. Saan ka madalas mag-lunch?
Let's see, Wendy's probably and if we're broke, Pinay's hehe :0D

24. Masaya ba sa UP?
Not always, 'coz CAMP then can be really, really toxic! haha! But I consider my years in UP (including my years in servitude hehe!) part of the best years of my life :0)

25. Nakasama ka na ba sa rally?
Once. I remember it was for LFS regarding UniLever workers or something.

26. Ilang beses ka bumoto sa Student Council
I'm not sure... but I vaguely remember doing it once.

27. Name at least 5 leftist groups in UP
Huh?

28. Pinangarap mo rin bang mag-laude nung freshman ka?
Haha! Oo naman... until CAMP opened my eyes to how wishful thinking that was :0P

29. Kanino ka pinaka-patay sa UP?
Depende. Anong year ba ang pinag-uusapan natin? :0D

30. Kung di ka UP, anong school ka?
Malamang UST. Coz those are the only schools I applied to :0P

MALIGAYANG IKA-100 TAON, MGA ISKOLAR NG BAYAN!

(Survey swiped from here.)

Resolution ba kamo?

Did some New Year online shopping to increase the odds of following up on resolution #1. Fortunately for my holiday-beleaguered wallet, B arnes and N oble dot com was having a clearance sale!

Here's my loot, all for about $120, inclusive of shipping.

So far, I've finished Stardust and Notes on a Scandal and starting on Sideways. I also have 2 books loaned by colleagues on my nightstand, waiting for their turn.

I'm so happy to be back to reading for pleasure (as opposed to reading for test taking :0P) again!

This stash will definitely see me through winter and the start of spring. Meanwhile, I'm open to suggestions to add to our library once I get through this stash :0)

We Believe.

game tickets : $$$

game gear: $$

game fuel: $

chance to watch the War riors beat the S purs in a game that went into overtime (yep, you guessed it): priceless!

***

Gol den Sta te War riors vs San Ant onio Sp urs, 130-121

Notes from an untrained eye...

• There's a reason why the S purs are the defending N BA champions. Those guys are smooth!
• The War riors are still a little rough on the edges but they have some good raw talent to work with.
• Medyo may pagka-bakaw si Bar on Da vis.
• Crush ko si To ny Par ker!
• I think M onta E llis and To ny Par ker are well-matched in speed, E llis just needs to be a little more... uhh, suave .
• I may not be a basketball fan but watching a game live, especially when it's a home game, can be a very exhilirating experience (uh, given that your team wins in the end hehe!!)

Quality time.

Last night, the power went off. We couldn't go out (can't open the garage door :0P), couldn't surf the net (even wiith the laptop charged, there was no wifi), couldn't watch TV; even reading was out of the question since we didn't have emergency lights.

So I lighted some candles, Mr.A cranked up the emergency radio for some mood music then we cuddled and... talked.

We talked about 2007, what our favorite parts were. We talked about past trips. We talked about the future, what we were looking forward to. We talked about friends and co-workers (yep, chismis!). We talked about work and taxes. We even had kwentong barbero that left us laughing our a**es off!

It reminded me of the time when the only thing that sustained our relationship was our long talks on the phone.

I am grateful that, stripped of all the things that often consume our time and demand our attention, we still very much enjoy each other's company :0)

resolutions, baby, they come and go

I totally respect statistics and evidence-based practice but what the heck, here goes...

• read more books
• exercise more regularly
• get my driver's license

I'll stop here.

Happy New Year!

May 2008 bring all of us...

- the daring to meet our hearts' longing

- the courage, despite the odds, to be true to ourselves

- the certainty that, yes, we deserve the happiness we are getting

- the audacity to let the world break our hearts over and over again

- the temerity to get to know our loneliness, fears and pains

- the humility to accept that there is something/someone far greater than us

- the power to choose our own thoughts

- the ability to be alert in our prayers

- the wisdom to know that now is the only reality, to trust in each moment's fullness and emptiness

- the awareness that we already have everything we need to be the best that we can be

Instead of wishing everyone a blessed 2008, I wish everyone the realization that we are already blessed :0)