Welcome 2007!!!

God has blessed me with so much this 2006. I would like to share with you my Top Ten blessings:

• To ride a Go Kart (finally after X years of waiting)
• Kutakinabalo Trip with MBA friends
• Basti (my new nephew)
• Weddings & engagements of dear friends
• Digicam (a simpler model than the one in the pic)
• Fake lashes (which gave me lots of memories during my appendectomy at Med City)
• Growth of my kids ministry
• New friendships
• A 1-bedroom condo (which I just started paying)
• A new heart song and a happy feet (God gave me more joy than I could ever imagine)

Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Let’s look forward to a more fruitful and joyful 2007!

The Story of the Fake Lashes

I didn’t know that my “not-so-good” lash curler could bring me to such level of adventure in beauty terms. As we prepared for my roommate’s wedding last October 22, 2006, I accidentally trimmed my lashes with that old lash curler.

With the prodding of my officemates, I entered the parlor and had those fake lashes attached. Just one final note, those lashes were too heavy that I had a hard time sleeping.

Vacation at Medical City

Other people would have dreaded a time spent in the hospital or to undergo a surgery for that matter. But for me, I sort of had a “vacation” last October 24 to October 28,2006 at the New Medical City.

That Wednesday morning was fine, doing my usual work plus some arranging of music for our ‘70s dance presentation. Just before lunchtime, I had this pain on the right side of my stomach. I still had the power to finish lunch while crying and laughing out my pain. After an hour, my officemates brought me to the clinic. After another hour, our company surgeon advised to take out my appendix.

I was sent to Medical City through an ambulance (my 2nd time huh?) and had all the tests done by 6PM. My surgery took place from 9PM to 10PM and came out of the recovery room by 2AM the next day.

Why was it a vacation then?

Well I had so much laughter, many dear friends who came to visit, baskets of flowers and fruits, had unlimited TV viewing and was able to rest. What made it more fun was those fake lashes which I got the day before my operation (refer to the Why the Lashes article?). As such, below are my unforgettable moments:

TOP FIVE UNFORGETTABLE HOSPITAL MOMENTS

5th Everyone who visited me had these comments, “Uy bakit ka naka-make up?”, “Kanino ka naman nagpa-make up?”, “Naka mascara ka ba?”

4th On the 2nd night, Elline soundly sleeping, Nurse doing her regular checkup of bloodpressure and temperature.Nurse wakes up Elline

Nurse: Ma’am ang cute naman ng pilikmata nyo, parang manika

Elline (half awake): Fake yan miss

Nurse: Alam ko po (sabay ngiti)

3rd Elline in a wheelchair at the clinic (upon learning of the needed appendectomy), phone rings
Elline (Talking to an officemate) : Yeah, I’ll be fine, I have my roommates and friends naman kahit wala yung parents ko dito (naiiyak na)

Karen (officemate) : O wag kang umiyak, nalalaglag na yung isang batch ng lashes mo (sabay kuha sa fake lashes from my cheeks, nalaglag nga!)

2nd Elline in the operating room and just had a shot of anesthesia. The anesthesiologist asked me to count up to 10. Before I started counting, the doctor commented “ang ganda ng lashes mo!”, I answered “fake po yan eh”, then nawalan na ako ng consciousness

1st Elline being brought to RM 1403 at 2AM, Gehpot and Isang (roommates waitingfor me).
Isang: Gehpot, pakiabot ng cotton and toner ni Elline, linisin ko lang yung face nya

Isang (after cleaning my face): Gehpot, may baby oil ba tayo dyan?

Gehpot: Ha, wala eh, para saan?

Isang: Tanggalin ko lang yung mascara ni Elline

Gehpot and I (with the fresh wound) were laughing kasi may idea si Gehpot na fake yung lashes ko. Hay, buti I was still conscious kundi natanggal yung lashes ko ng wala sa oras hehehe

To wrap up, I came to realize that God loves me so much. Although my family was not around to take care of me, He sent me lots of friends (from different seasons of my life) to take care of me. God is good!