extended weekend

i've been out so much lately, it's crazy. it all started last friday when me and the girls (katz, diana, stef and stel) went to embassy. we all got so drunk, thanks to stel's cousin jon who kept the drinks flowing in. it's a good thing that the music inside the vip room was r&b and we were able to dance to it. i got home at around 5am and i slept through my saturday class!

that night, yaku and then capone's were our bars of choice. yaku was pretty lame, and one of the part-owners even tried to hit on my firend iza. he even gallantly gave us a 10% discount on our bill. talk about cheap! capone's was laid back and just right. we drank shots of kamikaze which got us tipsy in no time. as usual, i went home at 5am, just as the night was slowly turning into day.

but apparently, our weekend didn't end there. last night we all headed to san mig, then side bar in el pueblo. katz said that starting the weekend on tuesday is really bad, but who cares? i got to meet a lot of new and inetresting people. too bad i had to go home early (around 2am) because i had to wake up at 6:30am for my preschool class! the weird thing is, i don't feel tired at all. i just love going out with my friends! we all can't wait for this weekend, which from the looks of it is pretty packed. i just hope we can restrain ourselves from going out before friday!

first day

school started last wednesday. it was my first day as "teacher karen". once the kids started coming in, the 2 hours went by quickly. it was my most exhilirating experience in a very long time. i just have the cutest kids in the whole world! i love giving them hugs and hearing the funniest things from them. but don't get me wrong. what i quickly realized is that teaching's not that easy at all...

in this team-building seminar we had a few weeks ago, our facilitator (who also happened to be an early childhood educator) told us how she hated the usual reactions of people when told that she is a preschool teacher. they often say things like "you must really love kids" or "that's such a fun job". although we do love children (a lot, actually) and it is fun, it doesn't stop there. the reason why it's fun is because we love what we're doing. loving it means sticking with it even when it becomes frustrating or stressful...just like any other profession.

i think that the only rule when it comes to work is to do something you really love. im still new at teaching and i still have so much to learn. but im sure that my passion for it will keep me through even through the most trying times. or at least, i hope it would.

work, pasalubong and dating

i've been very busy these past few days. school will start next week so all the teachers are preparing for the big day. i just finished the bulletin board for my class which is also called the "explorers". it's been very hard because as some of you may know, my handwriting is absolutely terrible! and drawing? forget it! i always have to rely on the computers for all the graphics and text that i need.

speaking of computers, guess who just got a 12-inch powerbook g4? moi! my parents felt so guilty for leaving me behind last weekend. you see, my whole family (even kylie) went for a little vacation, sort of a last hurrah before school starts for everyone. anyway, they bought me so much stuff, more than they bought for themselves. besides that, i got to spend a lot of time with chris. we did all the things that i wanted to do because he was trying to cheer me up. i guess it pays to be left behind once in a while.

anyway just like i said, me and chris had a really full weekend. to give you an idea, here is a rundown of all the things we did last saturday: we started it out by doing a winsor pilates workout, the video of which i got from the home tv shopping network. chris did it too because i was sad...hehe. then, we took a dip in our pool. after eating some lunch, we headed to power plant to watch madagascar. when the movie ended, we did some shopping, which is always fun. that night, we went to greenbelt and stayed there for 6 hours! we ate dinner in hue, had dessert in cafe breton, played with some board games in that hobby shop then stayed in red box for 3 hours. whew! i can't believe we did all that!

it's been a long time since we had a "date" like that. it reminded me and chris of our dating and "ligaw"days. it's actually fun to do something like that once in a while. like most long-term couples, we tend to take our alone time for granted. i guess in our case, seeing each other everyday is equated to quality time. we both realized this weekend how much we can really enjoy each other, not to mention how kilig it is to reminisce and do the things we did when we first started. it may not be as exciting when we first did it, but it's a lot more meaningful knowing that we got this far.

my passion

when i was about 6 years old, my mom enrolled me in ballet class. i guess she wanted to make a ballerina out of me like most mothers. i can just imagine the disappointment that she felt when the instructor told her that i often disrupted the class and that i wasn't really focused in dancing. needless to say, i never saw that dance studio again. a few years later, she enrolled me in a hip-hop class. i remember enjoying it, but i don't really remember being good at it. my mom and titas would always be amused when i danced because "matigas yung katawan ko".

come 5th grade, cheering and gymnastics were the in things to do. not wanting to be left out, i took gymnastics lessons. during that time, if you knew how to do a cartwheel, you're surely in the squad. and that started my 11-year stint as a cheerdancer. i have to admit that my academic years were characterized by my cheering life. like in grade 6, when we were the grade school champions or 4th year high school when we were part of the J & J cheering competition or 2nd year college when we totally sucked in the uaap nestle crunch thing. looking back, i don't regret making cheerdancing almost the center of my life.

sure, i was never in a winning team. the miriam pep squad lost in the J & J during my senior year. i especially took it hard because i was co-captain. the admu squad was literally a work in progress when i got in during freshman year in college. we didn't even have an official name because the babble wasn't ready to take us (girls) in their wing. when i was captain during 4th year, major changes have been made and we improved a whole lot. but it still wasn't enough to compete with the seasoned veterans like ust and up.

now, the miriam and ateneo squads are flourishing and are given more respect. they are reaping the rewards of all our hardwork and i have to admit that i am sometimes jealous of them. but nothing can take away everything that cheering has given to me. it made me know and express the real me. it brought me closer to my family and friends who always supported me. it gave me friends who i will forever cherish. but most of all, it gave me the courage and confidence that i still hold on to up to now.

i probably am the stereotypical cheerdancer- short skirts, annoying pompoms, maarte, loud, always perky and is more passionate about cheering than studying and excelling in school. but at least i am passionate about something. few people can say that about themselves. the rest spend their whole life looking for one. im just greatful that im part of the few lucky ones who don't have to look anymore.