Skin test – Negative!

I finally made it to the Medicard clinic at St.Luke’s late afternoon yesterday.  Another physician attended to me but it was okay becuase they had my record from last week’s visit.  The skin test just showed that I didn’t have whatever they tested me for, I wonder if it was for TB?  Parang I heard the Doc ask me if it was the PPT or whatever?  I remember hearing something that sounds like PPT (I swear I don’t know what I’m saying here, haha) for testing TB from an episode of House, MD. 🙂  Anyway the important thing is that whatever it is, I don’t have it.  The chest X-ray was clear too.

So why do I still have colds? Good thing it’s not as bad as a week ago, but I still have it.  So tomorrow, I need to head back to the hospital for a pulmonary test – spirometric test?  Has my asthma recurred from my childhood? I hope not.  But what do colds have to do with asthma?

Anyway, remember how I was so disappointed about not having a camera with me to the hospital last week?  Well I had one with me yesterday, but I forgot all about it! Haha.  By the time I remembered, I was walking away from the hospital and I just didn’t see a good shot anymore.  

While I was waiting for my turn at the Medicard clinic, I overheard a couple arguing with the nurses/attendants.  The gist of it is that Medicard was no longer approving a set of treatments that the wife needed.  I’m not sure if it was because the policy didn’t cover it or because the card was good for only until noon of yesterday.  Anyway, they were there when I arrived, and they weren’t done when I finished.  I hope it turned out well for everyone, otherwise they need to review medical insurance quotes to find one that would better suit their need.

One thing that I truly appreciate about working at NCO is that not only am I covered with an excellent plan with a solid HMO, but I get to give one for my mom for free.  Seriously, my mom’s been enrolled as my dependent for the past three years and we didn’t have to pay for anything.  It’s a big help.  I know some employees who have families who also love this company benefit, because with us, you could enrol upto three dependents.  In other companies, like Alfred’s current one, he will have to pay for his dependents’ card if he has any.  His parents are beyond the covered age for dependents though so he didn’t really get to enjoy that benefit while he was with NCO.

On other work-related news… They announced this morning that they were opening another apprenticeship post for the Operations Manager position. There are currently three team managers who have been elevated to that position, but we apparently need one more.  I do not have any intention to be an OM, but when it was announced at the GA this morning, I must admit that it got me to thinking.  Though I’m not aspiring to be an actual OM, it may be a good experience to go through the apprenticeship.  It might just give me a glimpse of what is their to aspire for after all.  If I really don’t see myself as thriving in that position, I can always just not move up after the apprenticeship is over.  I’ll do my best to perform of course, but if I don’t see my happiness in that path, I could refuse the promotion if it is given to me (though I seriously doubt it would be, haha). 

We were given a few hours to think about it, and then let our OMs know.  I left the office without talking to them about it though.  I don’t want to go into anything half-baked.

It was Esban’s 7th birthday yesterday, and also her big sister Dalnes’ gradeschool graduation, so there was a big gathering here at dinnertime.  I have very few photos from last night, but I’d share them tomorrow probably.  I’m feeling sleepy already, and I’ve decided to listen to my body for a change. 🙂

I’d like to leave you with one photo though:

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Photo was taken on Monday, as Zune and I were at the backseat of my brother’s car en route to the vet.  I didn’t want to hold him on my lap (as I usually do on car rides) because he still has poo particles on his hind side and I didn’t want them going on to kuya’s seats either.  So he had to get used to sitting on the floor.  He didn’t seem to mind though but you could see he was ready to jump out of the car when the door finally opened.  He was thrilled to jump back in too when we found out the vet was out on a house call.  

I remember a similar photo of our previous dog iPod.  That feisty dude, on the other hand, would still bark at whatever he sees through the window. So unlike my sweet little Zune here.

Congrats Bestfriend!

After weeks of cancelling and rescheduling, I finally got to meet up with my bestfriend on Sunday.  We met up, sat down for a snack, and then we stayed there for the next 4 hours.  It was nice catching up, and even more exciting to hear the good news.  She’s getting married next year! 🙂

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Preparations are already full swing and I’ll try to help her as much as I could though, for the life of me, I have no idea about these things!

Anyway, we talked about things we’re up to and things we look forward to. It was so nice to feel grounded again; that’s what seeing her does to me.  She’s always a breath of sunshine, you know?  I guess because we’ve known each other so long, and were inseparable when our lives were so much simpler. 

We had spent the afternoon at this place called Secret Recipe at the Atrium in Megamall.  We had no idea what they served, but the cakes on the display just convinced me to step in.  Here’s the cake we shared (to be honest though, I ate most of it!):

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See all those alternating layers of chocolate cake and mousse filling? Yummy, I tell you!  And we were so fascinated about the smooth thin layer of chocolate that coats the cake.  Ahhh this cake sparked a conversation on baking too. 🙂  We also talked about my new interest in photography, and my blogs!

But the most important news of the day?  Of course, it’s about her wedding in a little less than a year’s time.  Her fiance is currently working abroad (in Dubai, where her mom also works) and he hasn’t sent over the ring because he wants to give it to her personally (makes sense).  So she’s preparing for the wedding all by herself! Good thing she has a wedding coordinator friend who’s helping her.  And myself? Well, I’ll help in any way I can. Like I said, I have no idea about these things!

Oh well, I just hope we don’t wait another six months before we get together like this.  I’ve missed having girlfriends around all the time. I miss being a friend to a friend, you know what I mean? 

Bingo!

On tonight’s (Monday night, I mean) episode  of ABS-CBN’s Kalye, Atom Araullo featured Bingo and it’s seeming role in society.

It reminded me of Bingo nights here at home.  I know, gambling isn’t supposed to be good, but… Haha 🙂

At first I didn’t want to join in and spend my money but it looked so much fun so I eventually got hooked too.  Besides, how much do we bet? Probably nothing more than five pesos per game.  More than the Bingo itself, and how you’d never know when you’d win, it was the chatter that I liked most about those nights.  Sometimes my grandma would sit with us and join in, most nights Auntie Leesah would be there too.  We each had our favorite set of cards that we’d use night after night.  

Aside from my cousins, there’d be women from across the creek too who come over just to Bingo.

I don’t think any one of us actually play because we believed we’d win big.  Mostly, we just looked forward to getting enough to pay for a snack, or everyone’s snack.  I had winning streaks, and losing ones.  But those are not what I remember most about Bingo nights.  It was the stories each one brought to the table, and the laughter everyone shared in.  Those were long nights too. Nights when you’d find yourself fast asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. 

These probably happened around the year we played Bingo for Christmas.  That was for free of course, but there were real prizes.  People donated prizes, including my mom.  It was so much fun. I think it was Auntie Leesah who won the grand prize, and Lola too. 

We should have regular Bingo nights again, not as often as we used to (which was every night), but a monthly or quarterly thing.  I’m not sure if my cousins would be up for it, but if we can organize it maybe they would be interested.

Not so good at Weight Watching

When March started, I made a cute little notebook that I hoped would get me on track with losing weight.  For the most part, I was doing well in staying within the recommended daily points for Weight Watchers.  But in the last week and a half – I just stopped tracking my points, and stopped caring about what I eat.  That is not good.

I know this failure in the system is entirely my fault.  It started with me being too lazy to prepare a meal plan.  

But it’s not too late, and I am not giving up.  My weight has been up and down all my life (but it’s mostly up, I must admit), and for once I want that to change.  

Last night, just before heading home, we stopped for dinner at Kenny Roger’s Megamall.  I made an adult choice and ordered Roast Chicken Salad.  It was great, I loved the dressing it came with, and the freshness of the lettuce.  I didn’t snap a photo though because I was disappointed at the service.  By the time I got my order, Alfred was already finished with his meal and it was 30 minutes after we ordered!

I was so disappointed because I was already thinking about how much I liked that branch. It was big and the seating was good for groups/families who dine together.  It felt so clean. And I liked the blown up photos of the food on the walls. And the colors!  But then the service sucked. Ugh.

I told Alfred that I could live on salad, if only it gets handed to me already prepared, haha. 🙂  I used to bring salad to work, I should do that again…

I swear, if I can’t stick to a healthy diet that I can work with, I’d probably be better off just reaching for the best diet pill and pop ’em like candy.  But I can do this the better way. Right?

Must see two doctors

Don’t you just hate it when you’ve imagined what you’re day’s gonna be like, and then the day passes without it happening that way?

I was supposed to be in a meeting again today, the second meeting in preparation to the youth camp we’re having this weekend.  I had to skip that because I needed to take Zune to the vet this morning.  He had diarrhea all weekend, you see, and we just want to make sure he’s okay.  But when we got to the vet’s it was closed; the doctor was on a house call. 

After lunch, I was supposed to see my own doctor to follow up on my case.  I don’t think this one’s going to happen today though – I may not have enough time left in the afternoon.  I fell asleep you see. 

From the time we got back from the vet’s at around 1130am, until my brother got home from shopping at 230pm, I did nothing but sleep. Okay, I also tried to blog and I did successfully install McAfee on my PC.  But I was suddenly sleepy, which is a surprise because I had a long sleep last night.  I tried having ice cream to keep me awake, but it was of no help.  So… instead of heading to my doctor at 1pm so I could still have enough time to take Zune to the vet again, I’d have to choose one task.  So we’re going to see Zune’s doctor and maybe not mine.  

I haven’t even had lunch yet. Ugh.

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