heeeeeeelllllllllllllll yes.

i woke up after one of the best night's sleep EVER.

for starters, i am 20 today. 2 - 0. and i loooOOOve it.

i wasnt expecting much, celebration-wise. afterall, i had an 8am class, break, work at 2, then night lab from 6:30 - 10:30. but little surprises throughout the day just made it awesome. jaison and shari bought me breakfast. then we went to talk to brooks - that prof. is one of THE coolest out there - and look over our exams. i found an error in his grading and now everyone gets an extra point in bio. =D my good deed for the day. (plus with that extra point my 89% gets bumped up!)

so i chilled out in my secret lounge. and a few other people showed up. and we watched comedy central for a good 2 hours. while i tried to finish my chem lab report. haha ... numerous emails and friendster messages with birthday greetings. even some unexpected i-remembered-your-birthday(!) from a few who i havent heard from in a while. baskwill said its weird how im already 20 when it doesnt seem too long ago that i was in his geometry class. geometry. wow. i was like 15 then. my mom was like, see, time DOES fly, huh?

at work, i was super surprised. some friends at work ordered pizzas for me and my kids. so we had a little surprise party. then michelle's class came in all smiling, hiding something behind their backs. it turns out they all made birthday cards for me and came over in this huge line to had it over with a big hug from each one. i almost started to cry. one by one as my kids were getting picked up, a parent would come by to give me a gift. i ended up with a whole bunch of roses, cards, chocolates, and some other stuff from my kids and their parents. i thought it was really sweet.

apparently, this is what i look like nowadays:


so after work, i still had to go to class. and everything went smoothly but we didnt get out till 9:45. by the time i got home, i was just super overwhelmed thinking about how the day had already been more than what i expected. i realized that i hadnt even seen my family the entire day. i walked in and there was a huge bouquet of more roses and a balloons sitting on the table. my mom was at work, and everyone else was eating chinese take out. big birthday hugs and kisses all around. i cried reading letters from my parents and the funny cards from joy and cj. a phone call with the better half to recap. a perfect way to end the day.

being here, away from all my closest friends and guamanian-familia, i didnt think there would be people who cared so much about me to make a big deal about my birthday. today just proved to me that i lead a blessed life, no matter where i am. its at a point where when i sit back and reflect on life, im moved to tears because in one way or another, i always feel so undeserving - like, why am I so lucky? just a few weeks ago, i was going through the scariest, most life-changing crisis of my life up to that point. and in the end, things went my way. and it sucks because its only in those times when i am most thankful. but i understand now that being appreciative shouldnt happen only when its convenient. i want to be a better person. i want to be more thankful. that is what i wanted for my birthday. that is what i want for the rest of my life.

i got the chance to see my mom the next morning to kiss and thank her for the flowers/balloon/letter and she said that wasnt it. shes getting me a laptop this weekend and we're going shopping again - im excited about spending the Coach gift card my dad got! they showed me a whole buncha baby pictures that i had never seen before. i ended up skipping my first class to spend breakfast with my parents. it felt like i havent seen them ages but it is nice being able to share times like that now.

i hope you all are having a great week thus far! i missed ash wednesday coz of school and work . Gung Hay Fat Choy! (heheh, my kids think that holiday is awesome. its funny how intrigued they are by their little dancing dragons they made in class) and yet ANOTHER anniversary with my baybeh (yeah, we've pretty much lost track!) THANKS to everyone for the sweetest birthday greetings!!!!! you dont know how much they mean!!

love you and miss you all!

ludacris - get back i was up last night getting ready to memorize some functional groups when i told joy to put on a song that i could get crunk to, haha. so while one of her pirated/personalized (haha) cd's was playing in the background of my study session, i realized why i was just getting annoyed. i hear the same songs all day coz my kids at work constantly sing "get back, get back, you dont know me like that" i am floored everyday by some of the things that come out of my 5-6 years olds' mouths. but then again, im not surprised. kids are getting smarter every year - one of the reasons why i love, love, LOVE the line of work i am getting myself into. some look at that pessimistically, but i think that when the negative media is replaced with positive, useful information, being able to influence a child earlier in life will lead to an education that is overall, more effective and productive.

did anyone watch phil the groundhog and his prediction this year? i thought he was cute. but another 6 weeks of winter does suck. who brought the cold back to south florida anyways? i had to bundle up AGAIN this week. i am sooo over this weather.



another weekend is already here. ive found myself blogging a lot lately because its been my only other outlet (amidst the unending vectors, calculations, variables, and not-so-fun stoichiometry). id almost forgotten how therapeutic writing was. even more so, how therapeutic it is being here.

me and michelle are sick. im pretty sure we caught it from one of our students. our classes spend so much time together and the kids are constantly holding our hands, im surprised that we're the only ones coming up with this cold. i woke up at 3am the other night because i couldnt breath through my nostrils and my head was throbbing. on the way home from work, i stopped by albertsons for some NyQuil. i ended up leaving with a $50-cart full of medicines, soup, juice, fruits, tea, and OATMEAL! haha ... im hoping this doesnt get any worse. i cant afford to miss any school or work.

another stressful week. one more exam on monday and then nothing to worry about for the next two and a half (if all goes as planned). michelle and i are to go look for some valentines goodies. we have some big fat paychecks coming in tomorrow (paydays!). and very well-earned/deserved, btw - i dont know what it is, but our kindergarteners have been DIFFICULT this entire week. even the "good" kids were being bad. i felt really bad because i sent my first child to the office.

im slowly overcoming all the recent crappiness. baskwill says that the bad times arent entirely bad since they help you appreciate the good times. some definite good things to look forward to this weekend:

+ get to see my mom (for like first time this week)!!
+ some R&R at the salon with my momma
+ hollywood nails with joy
+ valentines shopping for my AE boyfriend =D
+ W-2 form came in. getting the taxes done and calculating my return will be sweeeeeeet.
+ if i was a rich girl ... na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
+ colin ferrel is in town. lets hope we "bump" into him ;)
+ closer and closer to the BIG 2-0! =D

well ladies and gents. im about to crash. i think the NyQuil is kicking in. have a great weekend!! love you and miss you all.