Jotting my happies

Norwhich city ;-)

Things/events/people that made me happy the last few days:

- yesterdays jap lunch ( we overindulged as usual). sashimi octopus is yum!

-my niece today on skype saying "hi tita chelo, four na baya ko. good night and bye!" while she hastily interrupted my skype conversation with mama.

-Norwhich..shopping!

-my niece enrolled in kindergarten.

-(on skype) my niece, prepped by my sister about the impending bullies in school, her tita Ana said "what will you say when kids at school will call you "ahh you're fat!""..

Dominique flipped her hair and said "no, i'm gwapa and sexy". (Hahaha!)

Tita Ana: "but what will you do after"?

"be nice to them and still say "hello, and good morning!", Dominique said.

(well taught by the tita who went through the same thing in school like myself ,lol).

-make-up haul!

-Adrian indulging me.

-friends who leave messages despite their busy schedules and their troubles at home, just to check if im ok.

-tea and scones in my little cottage.

-Lydia and her family.

-seeing my old colleagues in facebook, who after all these years, never forget.

-Ana blogging.. because when i read her, i feel she's just near. (thank you Ana, i know you do it for me)

-Ana's lovely news about her creative endeavours.

-friends who are nice to my family. you know who you are. (what you do for my family, you do for me 100x).

-friends and family who are indulging in their passions. i see them travel, do well at work, finish long personal projects and still never forget to connect. i love that. thank you.

-Ruby back at the house.

-my brothers happy with their married lives. they are such loyal, loving men to their wives, i'm proud of them.

-my job. oh how i love it.  and because i know i'm very good at what i do. it just is my sanity saver from being too homesick.

-Adrian's family. they are lovely and such awesome loving people.

-mama. and she will be here a week from today. (yayyy!)


***

please list down things that made you happy the last few days. let's share notes.

grateful for these blessings.

pre graduation night

monday early evening, the 16th.

we travelled all the way from norfolk to essex, to stay at a friends' house. the same friends who were coming in to witness my graduation because i already paid for two other tickets for my mom and my sister (who by the way could not make it--ahh,well, plans).

it was nearer to leave from their house to my university, which could take an hour in a good traffic. (because of the olympics traffic however, it took as 15 minutes longer to get to uni the next day).

we arrived expecting just two of my friends in their house, but i wasnt expecting another friend and her partner to be there,too.

it was a happy reunion. one over stories, and food and gifts-- all a surprise to/for me.

when in a rush, make-up has been the normal sacrifice of late.

i couldn't sleep that night. its that feeling of just having had a great night, the buzz of a wonderful evening took a long time to wane, not being in your own bed and the anticipation of an event i would have loved my family to witness but they couldn't.

*

the next day, i received my degree. with second highest honours while my friends and husband looked on with pride.

birthday 'thank you' post

i am another year older.

apart from another birthday it is the start of a new job in a new place,so it will be a crazy day for me, as i am moving a different county, a new job, and staying in a hotel for a whole week.

just in case i am unable to due to the crazy schedule, i would write this now and say my birthday 'thank you's' for the lovely messages over at Facebook/Twitter/Skype/Multiply/private messages


**
i had great laugh reading a birthday blog dedicated to me from my family.


here is the blog


some photos that made me feel the love..judging from the photos you would think that our family has some screws missing..(yes,they are really like that in person, wacky and 'kengkoy').

even the little girl has the same personality,hahaha;-)

my super 'game' mama;-)

my cousin by blood,but my sister in love;-)

my sister Mayel,and niece Dominique

B1

and B2

i know, they're all weird..but lovely..and i love them to bits..

theyre very creative on sending their love to me every birthday..last year was a video..this year was mugshot messages..i wonder what's for next year??



**

my birthday started early. on saturday my friends gathered online for skype and wished me a happy birthday.

they sang for me too.

and had a birthday cake for me (and candle too).

they are my friends since we were teenagers ..we missed one of our barkada, but we knew she was in the middle of vacationing in Seattle ;-)

**

on saturday i also received a wonderful birthday loot from bestfriend, Kharla.

i still am trying to get over receiving kropek over the mail..one of my long-time misses.

wonderful lovely messages from auntie/uncle and cousins...and lovely handwritten message from Simone (my goddaughter and niece)..

and some tear-enducing message from kharla..

**


and some nice time with Ana and Dominique today;-)

**

i thank the Lord each day for such wonderful amazing people that surround me..;-)

thank you too for dropping by this space and leaving some lovely thoughts,too;-)xxx

kharla at the natural history museum

old photos from last year..(my girlfriends teased me last night how i'm greedy/lazy with my pictures and that they're never posing for me again if i dont post them).

took Kharla to the Natural History Museum..but we had lunch before that..

i love Dino's..sadly their South Kensington resto has been hit by the recession and is now closed

missing her

the pizza with olives and anchovies was one of the best

outside the Natural History Museum

posing with an ancient relic

reading the facts

some more interesting finds in the place

she is generous and kind;-) and we love to tease her

by the grand stairs inside the museum

in our Skype sessions, i showed her these photos and she said,how come i haven't posted them yet? she and leah laughed and teased me that they'll never have their pictures taken again if i dont post their pics.. my friends are blackmailers;-)

i teased her, that the bear is her Brit boyfriend.. (R) a photo by the Harrods Dodi-Diana Memorial sign

by the memorial of Dodi Al Fayed and Diana Spencer

waiting for our tea and scones..

**

i miss her;-)

a curled aspiration

found these photos on my drive today. it was the day i went to someone's birthday and i had time to kill to "poof'' up my hair.

i shared these photos to my friends this afternoon during our skype session. the photos were funny coz it reminded my cousin Kharla of one auntie of ours who never goes a day without curlers (and i have some facial similartities to her too).


its funny,some of our pics remind us of people we are not particularly fond of.


just sharing. (i liked my hair this day).

**

a therapeutic lunch

my classmates and i decided to have a lunch to celebrate the culmination of our university studies.

my classmate A volunteered her country pad for our lunch..

everyone had to bring something for the lunch..i brought spring rolls and some fresh strawberries from Adrian's garden.


some photos;-)

***

one of the many discussions we had was how annoying it is that the grad ceremony is not until next year. it will be a long wait and by then, we will not have the excitement to do the march.

(but i was fine, as i wanted my mom to be here)

also,we talked about how lucky we were to be given the chance and got the free university funding by the HSA (Health Strategic Authority, in connection with our prospective employers), but in the same breath,we know how difficult the job market is for newly qualified therapists like us since the recession and freezing of jobs in most of the public sector and private sector. we are just lucky that currently, we are in our current jobs, even if its only unqualified level.

overall, that lunch was a great way to cap off 4 years of getting to know one another, like-minded individuals who value our profession more than ever.

i cant wait for the next tete-a-tete

**

PS> the reason why the grad ceremony was not until next year, is bec. the university's Health and Human Sciences (which my degree comes under) does not finalize the marks until end of July and the ceremonies for graduation is first week of July. Our student organization campaigned for it to be moved to October so we could still have it this year (in october). They finally approved it,but to be first trialled next year. the next year's graduates will graduate with my group next year.needless to say, they are very thankful to our batch,haha.