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The three of us siblings left home in our teens to study in Manila.

During the first year away, I would look forward to the school breaks so that I can go home to Cagayan de Oro.

Then I was able to make some friends in the university that made my life quite colorful, I started to dread the school breaks then, for it means going home to Cagayan de Oro, and that I would miss out all the "action" and fun of the gang.

After graduation, I was debating for a brief period (all three days of it) whether to look for a job in Manila or accept the job offer in Cagayan de Oro. Obviously, I chose to stay in Manila.

From then on, my life is in Manila; it became more of a "home" for me than Cagayan de Oro; I jumped right into the fast paced life and loved it. I only think Cagayan de Oro as "home" then for my parents are still there. I would go back once a year to spend the holidays there, which admittedly, I sometimes dread, for the place has become alien to me. The only people I know there (who are not family) are the friends I have from high school, who in turn are also just visiting.

The longest stay I had in Cagayan de Oro in years was when I had my surgery last year. There, I realized that I am indeed just a visitor of Cagayan de Oro. I even had a hard time understanding the dialect, especially when it's spoken fast and big words were used. It takes an extra effort and concentration on my part to listen to and understand the dialect.

A few years back, my brother moved back to Cagayan de Oro to start his medical practice. He is now raising his own family there. Olive and I, on the other hand, continues to stay here in Manila.

The difference now is that I DO look forward to going back. I look forward to the limited time I can spend with my parents, with my brother, with my sister in law, and with my nieces. Okay, maybe with a few visits with my high school friends thrown in.

This Saturday, May 6th, Alexia will be baptized and I have the honor of being one of her godmother. I am going home for the baptismal and I am excited! I can't wait to go home once again.

One Month? Already?

My, goodness! It's the last day of April already??? It seems like we were just up to our neck trying to pack everything for the move and already a month's passed.

After moving in, Olive and I were unpacking every spare minute we have - meaning when we're home from work, and not asleep; and yet tomorrow is already the first of May and we still have a handful of boxes lying around!

We tried to analyze what happened to our unpacking momentum when we realized what's stopping us from finishing up: we ran out of storage space. While packing, we have thrown out quite a bit of stuff; while unpacking, we threw out some more stuff; and yet we still ran out of storage space??? This is embarassing!

So, Olive and I went window shopping for the solution/s.

Yesterday, Olive went on the shopping errand of purchasing a bookcase and a console table with a bunch of drawers. These should be enough for us to store the remaining stuff.

Canada

A colleague asked me today if I will be interested in working in Canada. They are in need of MTs (medical transcriptionist).

Migration? Maybe.

Canada? Definitely not (yet).

Dare I?

Two Strong Women

Two of the strongest, bravest, and warmest women I know have departed this world last Holy Week. One of them was my "classmate" in three or four of my chemotherapy sessions, the other I met through I Can Serve. These two women have inspired me and touched my life in ways that they never knew. It's a little wonder that I cried my eyes out for them when I was at the wake of one and at the funeral of the other. One is 79 years old when she passed, the other 56, both had put up a very good fight against cancer.

Towards the end of my chemo sessions (the last two), I find it harder and harder to go to the hospital to have my treatments; mainly because I was already feeling the cummulative effects of the drugs. I would try to make up excuses in advanced so that I can present them to the doctor when chemo day comes. Then, I would remember Tita R, who at 79, was cheerfully going to each of her chemo sessions. Tita R would bring sandwiches, softdrinks, and other stuff enough to feed the whole Ambulatory Unit staff, her doctors, and if we had our chemo on the same day, she would include Olive and me. Tita R, who treats each of her chemo session as if she were going on a picnic, and there I was, trying to think of a way to worm my way out of mine. Shame on me! Because of her, I would set aside my excuses and have my chemo dutifully. Tita R taught me to see the positive side of things, to look into the positivity of the future and not dwell on the present negativity.

"Live each day as if it were your last." This is what Tita V always tell us whenever we see each other. "Life is too short, enjoy it to the fullest." Tita V was one woman who really lived her life to the fullest; she always insisted on quality, not quantity. Even on the last days of her life, she still did what she preached. She would still try to dance with her husband while they shared an embrace; she would doll up for him; and she always, always had a ready smile - a smile that is genuine, free of pain, and a smile that lights up not only her face and her eyes, but her whole being.

These are two women who are selfless, who loved unconditionally, who always put others before themselves, who never had a harsh word for anybody, and who had touched countless of lives just by being in the same room.

I hope that someday I might be as selfless as they were; that I might learn to curb my temper and not speak ill of anyone; that I will learn to live each day as if it were my last; that I will be able to live my life to the fullest.

I will sorely miss these two women.

Celebrating Life and Death

I "celebrated" my birthday yesterday quitely, just the way I liked. No parties, no fuss, just another ordinary day. Of course, my cell phone's been beeping and ringing constantly, with family members and friends greeting me. I am still even receiving some greetings today.

Late in the afternoon, while having coffee with Olive in one of the numerous coffee shops along Tomas Morato, I received a message informing me that someone passed away. I felt immense sadness but I did not cry. I felt sad that I would not be seeing my friend again, but in a way, thankful that she is not in pain anymore. She has given a good fight, and it is time for her to rest and be at peace.

I realized that we all indeed have much to celebrate, not just special days but everyday is a cause for celebration. Let's celebrate friendship. Let's celebrate birthdays. Let's celebrate weddings. Let's celebrate the births of babies and baptismals.

Let's even celebrate the life of those who have passed on. Let us celebrate the life they have lived and the lives they have touched, the memories that they have left for us. We are all transients in this world, let us live it to the fullest. Let's celebrate life!

Next Step

Having moved, next step would be unpacking and fixing up the place.

Still needing to go to work, I can only unpack after office. A few days of the past week has been devoted to unpacking, other days were spent attending parties. We have not yet even unpacked and we are already partying! No wonder I feel tired most of the time! I would find myself nodding off in front of the computer at the office, prompting me to believe that I get my rest more in the office than at home! Hehehe.

It is much more tiring for Olive, for she's on night shift last week. She would come home in the morning, sleep for a few hours, then call the appropraite people for the installation of some appliances. I made it up be TRYING to unpack as much as possible during the evenings. Oh, well, at least we could now see big parts of the floor, plus there are no more boxes piled on top of other boxes. Everything is just on the floor, one layer only. Hooray!

By Thursday, we had set up almost everything. I was able to do our laundry by Friday night. As I explored the neighborhood one night, I saw a promo offer of the laundromat downstairs, offering to wash for free 3 kilos worth of laundry on your birthday! Hmmm, tempting! Then I thought of the possible consequences of having our laundry done outside (I am allergic to a lot of detergent, so I would not want to take my chances), I opted to do it myself. The freebies would not be worth the allergies!

By the end of this week, the place would look like home.

All Moved

We were supposed to move to the condo on April 1st. Late afternoon of March 31, I received a call from the friend who is going to lend us a truck to move our stuff. I was told that the truck's in the shop and that it would be better for us to move on the 2nd. After talking to the building administration (to stay an extra night for free), we agreed to move on the 2nd.

We were supposed to be packing like crazy that night, but when we found out that it was delayed, we decided to take it easy for the night, as we were all tired with all the flurry of activities for the past month.

Sunday morning, the movers arrived an hour earlier than expected, Olive and I were still packing the last of our stuff (will the packing never end???). Somehow, we managed to load ALL the stuff in 3 hours (that long, huh? must be tons of stuff!). We all decided to break for lunch and then meet up at the condo.

Olive and I went to the condo to wait for the movers, grabbing lunch along the way. The movers arrived around 1 pm and immediately proceeded to unload our stuff. It took an hour and 45 minutes. Wow.

After we got all the stuff unloaded and into the unit, Olive and I took a 15 minute breather and then rushed off to attend a children's party (baptismal of a cousin's daughter, and I'm one of the godmothers) in Pasay. Talk about stressing one's self out! *LOL*

Well, we managed to move, attend a party, and tire ourselves out; BUT we're all moved. =)