The Weekend That Was

I have to say, I surprise (and scare?) myself sometimes.

Last weekend saw me attending five parties in a span of 25 hours! I don't think I've done this much partying in my entire life. In college, friends and I would just party for 25 hours, not go to five parties in 25 hours.

Starting the series of party was the birthday dinner of Pingping, my "adoptive" father (I'm counting on the thought that Pingping knows he has adopted me...LOL), after an pleasant eat and run dinner, next stop was monster Friday, the annual birthday celebration of all the August celebrants of UP-PGH "Orthodocs." After a couple of hours, some friends and I went to a bar nearby to lend some support to our musician friends who had a gig there; we went back to monster Friday after watching them play a set.

Saturday was bright and sunshiny. Lunch was with the I Can Serve sisters, the event aptly named ICE - I Can Eat. It was nice to see and catch up with old friends. Even though the "oldtimers" were not really happy to see a lot of new faces, it was nice to forge new friendships. Lunch finally ended around 3!

Saturday night, it was dinner at a friend's house, continuing the birthday celebration of one of the "Orthodoc," highlight of the night was the new rage of Beer Below Zero, where the beer is served ice cold. You can just gulp it down! I lost count of the number of beers I consumed - I think I had six (and I was still holding back - makes me wonder how much I can really drink).

Sunday morning, I slept in, waking up lunchtime with no hangover - yipee! Met up with Olive and Jerome after lunch and just hanged out. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad the weekend was over.

Ouch...Waaaiiittt...Ouch

Since I started working in Makati (and since I "lost" my parking space at home), I have been taking the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) to and from work. For the past year, since fuel prices have been skyrocketing, taking the MRT during rush hour has become a nightmare.

You have to fall into line to get in the station, and once you're in, you literally have to fight your way into the train. Getting on board is the hardest thing in the whole commuting stuff, but once you're in, you can get to your destination in 30 to 40 minutes.

I still choose to commute even if I can bring my car since the drive from Quezon City to Makati (or the other way around) is somewhere between from an hour and a half on a good day, to three, even five hours on bad days! So, being squashed for an hour is better than being on the road and stressed for twice that time.

It can't be helped that people tend to get physical when they're already late or have been waiting for a ride for more than half an hour already. If they see half a space, three people would jostle in and fill it. This morning was no exception...

Overheard from a "demure" girl during the jostling: Ouch! Wait! Please lang, waaaiiiitttt! Awwwuucch! Putang ina!

So much for being demure. That girl made my morning.

Hello, Audrey Lauren!

Hello, world! Meet the newest member of my family, my niece, Audrey Lauren "Kung Pao" Khu Garcia.

I accompanied Olive to her doctor yesterday around lunch time. When I picked her up, I commented that her tummy is really low and looks like she's about to give birth already! Little did I know that my observation was right on target.

When the doctor examined Olive, she told my sister to call her husband and tell him that they need to check into the hospital already.

There were no contractions yet at that time but she's almost ready to give birth. So, I brought Olive back to their place and met up with Jerome there. Together, they calmly gathered what they needed for the hospital stay and proceeded to Asian Hospital in Alabang.

I followed to the hospital with Paul. When we got there, I sat with Olive while the boys went to the Admitting Section to get a room. I was just sitting there, chatting with Olive, while the contractions come at a more regular interval.

After a while, Jerome came back to the labor room and sat with Olive; Paul and I went to the nearby mall to look for lunch (this was already around 5 P.M.) After our lunch-dinner, I sat with Olive once again so that Jerome eat (I don't think he has anything to eat the entire day). By, 6:45 P.M., the doctor popped Olive's water; by 7:15, they were ready to move her to the birthing room. I called Jerome and told him to come right away so that he can go into the birthing room with Olive. Then I went up to the room to wait.

The wait wasn't too long, by 8 P.M., Jerome called me to tell me that both mother and baby are doing well and that we can already go see Audrey at the nursery.

When we got to the nursery, I saw a baby lying face down with her butt in the air. Right then and there, I knew that baby is Audrey! It's just so like mommy when we were kids. And yes, she can really scream - very loud! We were not able to look at Audrey up close as they were still cleaning her and doing whatever is needed with newborns.

After a couple of hours, Olive was transferred from the recovery room to her room. The nurses told Olive that they will be bring Audrey up to the room for feeding at midnight. So, we waited until the baby came, fussed over her before finally calling it a day and went home.

This afternoon, we went back to see how the new mother and daughter are doing. Both are well and recovering beautifully. This time, when I visited the nursery, I was able to get a couple of pictures. The first one had Audrey peeking out at me; then I asked her to smile for me - I'd like to think that she heard and understood me when I took the second picture (the one posted here) - so let me have my silly thoughts. Isn't she just lovely?

Lost Mojo

Wanted: Inspiration.

Since my Dad got sick, and when his health deteriorated, I find myself having a more and more difficult time writing. When he passed away, I just lost all the words. Writing became an uphill battle. I tried to go back to blogging but words elude me. Whenever I sit in front of the computer, trying to put my thoughts into words, the letters just seemed to be running for the hills, leaving me with a blank page and me staring into it. My fingers could not even type.

Perhaps it's the grief.

This Sunday will mark the first death anniversary of my Dad. It's been a year and I still miss him so much.