Knee Deep

 The other day, tropical storm Pedring came and hit a major part of Metro Manila and Luzon. 

  

Earlier in the day, TV stations all over warned all that Pedring was signal number 3, and classes were cancelled. When I asked our chief resident regarding our schedule, she confirmed it. Our scheduled didactics classes were likewise postponed.

 

 Wind speeds were...strong. :-) Judging from how this steel cable chain attached to the crane flew about...

 

...and how this coconut tree's leaves were all bent, you'll get a pretty good idea that it was a strong wind. (Actually, one of the interns I went on-duty with said that another condo building nearby (facing the bay) was pretty much totalled because of the wind.) 

 

Voluminous amounts of rainfall was also observed. Taft Avenue was also flooded (waist-high, i heard), and so there was understandably a lot of traffic. 

I suppose everyone was in a scramble to get home after work and school was cancelled.  

Traffic. not a pretty sight. Imagine a jam like that, with knee-deep water.

 And so I took this picture of people walking in the water...

saying to myself..."Dang, it must be tough to walk around in the floodwaters...I'm glad I'm not going down there today."


And guess what happens?


 A few minutes later, my work cellphone rings... "Atep, I'm sorry, but Bien got stranded in his car in the middle of the street somewhere, you'll have to go on-duty in his place."


Rats. It seems I spoke too soon.

And so, ladies and gentlemen... presenting, the state of affairs at "ground level". :-) haha.

Of course I had to take a picture of the waters before wading in them. It's a "story", after all. :-) 

Ok, so I went on-duty during the big storm. And had a single involuntary admission. 


No biggie. :-)


Oh, and one of my coresidents brought her cute little kids to work, and I ended up hanging out with them and babysitting ( yet another one of those episodes where an ipad is totally handy. :-)(


All good... :-)


Love, 


S.

Video: Maria Mena

I like Maria Mena. And I like this diary-like song's lyrics.

The Supervisor

This afternoon, I found myself sitting in at my friend and co-resident’s supervision session.

She asked me to accompany her to my supervisor, because she felt that she needed additional input and help for her grand rounds. I had been through the grand rounds preparation mill two weeks ago, and I have to admit that it wasn’t a very pleasant experience. You just wanted to prepare as best as you can, have it all out of the way, and then hope for the best.

 I’d already done mine two weeks ago, and I said to Chamie that my supervisor, who we fondly call as “J Lo” (yes, as in the Jennifer Lopez J Lo, because her name is somewhat similar.) was really cool, and very helpful (and yes, I was lucky to have her as my supervisor.).

But first, let us define what “supervision” is. :-)   Supervision, in Psychiatry is when a training resident presents a case along with management and progress notes to  a consultant, who corrects it, and offers his/her input, critiquing the management… 

Where I am training at, we are given 2 supervisors every semester, and this supervisor I have, Dr. J Lo just happens to be one of my favorites. She is really good with what she does. She’s written articles, organized groups and done a lot of advocacies on women’s rights. She’s a Trauma specialist, one of the best in the country.

(Why, on the morning of my grand rounds, another one of the consultants approached her and said, “Hey, did you know, you were on the front page of the paper today…”. (And she just smiled, seemingly treating it as if it were a commonplace occurrence.)

I remembered supervision with her as a really good learning experience. It would usually take like, an hour up to three to four. The longest I had was 4 hours…! Still, I have to say, that she really gave me good handles on my case, discussing the possible things I might be asked on, and recommending this and that, but of course, she never really badgered me on anything. Not even close.

 

It was my issue, and first episode psychosis was what I was really passionate about, so she helped me with that.

The input and expertise that a young resident like me can get from these sessions (and not just from her, but from other experts in their field as well,  is priceless… ) Sometimes, I can’t believe how lucky I am.  All my life, I’ve always wanted to learn from people who were experts in their field, and I always loved to listen to people who were passionate about their life’s work.  Now, I’m finally in Psychiatry, and I feel like every moment, every situation is an avenue for learning. I almost feel sponge-like, soaking up everything I need to learn…

 

I’m very thankful for everything, everyday, actually. Every new situation is an opportunity to learn.

-----

For this afternoon’s session, however, I was a mere spectator, occasionally asking a few questions during Chamie’s case presentation (I couldn’t help myself! :-)) to my supervisor, and thoroughly enjoying myself (even if I wasn’t the one who was directly involved). And then I turn my head and see this engraved plate with her name on it, put on a stand, which read…

 

“Nobel Peace Prize Nominee for the Philippines”.

And my mouth dropped open…

-----

wow.

-----

Love,

S.

Video: Say What you Want

I love this song.


Oh, the 90's, gotta love the era.... :-) 


I'm reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" on my pad these days. So 90's. (I vividly remember the music videos.:-) ).


love, 


S.

Reading period

Love affair with my ipad. September 24,2011.

 Hotel Intercon, Makati. Photo By: Chamie

Today, I initially planned on staying home and nursing my allergies. Somehow, before the day ended, I wound up going with Chamie on her supervision for grand rounds in Makati. 

(It's her "tough time"...good thing I've already done mine.)

And yes, I think i'm in love with my iPad. Got my "light reading" and textbooks in it too. (Oh, and did I mention I'm currently learning French from a phonetic phrasebook? Yessiree...that i am. )

*sigh*

Love, 

S.

Curlicues

Where I currently live right now has a balcony that lets me see a good part of the city. Down below, I can see people, going about their daily lives, walking up and down the street where I live in, oblivious to the fact that someone was watching over them, while they meandered along their, well, literally little, lives. Ever since Manila had the ordinance that discouraged smoking in public places, I assumed that people would resort to their little balconies such as mine for some “quiet time”, flicking their ashes down, unbeknownst to the little ant-sized denizens of the city.

I know I did. (Or at least, I tried to.) I don’t smoke, but I can. There was one time when I bought myself a 10-stick pack of Marlboro Lights just to see… for the next two weeks, I’d smoke a stick a night, looking for that “calming”/”de-stressing” effect that’s supposedly gotten from smoking… Inhaling the smoke, blowing it out, waiting for that “nicotine high”.

I actually never got any... :-p

To be perfectly honest, all I got was a bitter, nutty taste in the mouth, a painful burning in throat, and to make matters worse, diarrhea. This was actually true, when my friend Antoine took me out for Indian food (and afterwards coffee and smokes) some years ago. I swore it off after that, because it ended up so bad, I had food coming out of both ends of me.

eew.

For the longest time, I’ve equated smoking with pain and loss, it seems. Significant men in my life are smokers, or have been at some point or another.

My father, used to be a heavy smoker, he always claimed that smoking helped him think, and helped him concentrate, especially when he  was making his plans (he’s an engineer). He did it in semi-secret, though. He didn’t want my auntie, his older sister, to know, because it was a sensitive issue and she was always concerned about his health. Well, in my 14 year-old sense of idealism, I decided to tell on him so that he would stop. Well, he got mad, and gave me the cold shoulder for a week, or so (but it seemed much longer for me.).

My grandfather, who I love dearly (and still miss terribly), had emphysema for most of his 70’s to 80’s (he died at 83). He was a “stress’ smoker when he was in his college to middle age, probably from all the stress of raising a brood of eight, and from working many jobs. Well, when he got really sick, we took turns at the ICU. It was painful for me, because I had seen him in pain. He had become reduced to a mere shell of a man in his last days, and whenever his face would contort in pain from all the procedures they did on him, it tore at my heart.

And a boy…who I gave my heart away to, and would probably never see again, he was a smoker too. The curlicues of smoke that gave him an air of enigmatic mystery have been burned in my memory, an ephemeral testament to the pain and hurt that a secret, unrequited love could only sow in a foolish girl’s heart.

There was a time I’d puff on a stick when I was “upset”,  inhaling deeply, to get that feeling of relief, which I never ended up with anyway. Still, the act of inhaling became an act of frustration, something that was done because words would not be able to articulate one’s pain…

-----

 But there’s none of that now.

Smoking has never been pleasurable for me.  Also, my vanity requires that I keep my lips in the same “crimson” color that they are, that my teeth remain unstained and intact, that my skin goes without a wrinkle before its due. Or that my hands not have that sticky smoky smell…

Of course, you’ve been told of the health risks and have seen the problems that it can lead to, but this is just my take on the whole smoking thing for now.

-----------

My father doesn’t smoke anymore, by the way. He’s stopped since last year, ever since he got diagnosed with DM. He is on maintenance meds and is on an absolute health kick, so I couldn’t be happier.

love,

S. 

"Hi Love"

 

On my way to the main building, I always pass by this old, discarded safe with the words “Hi Love” written on it in black marker.

“Hello Love, how are you?”

:-)

 

(it was probably written by some patient's watcher who had nothing to do...) ;-)

Love, 

S. 

Promise at 5 months

My little cousin, J Miguel, asked me if this was my baby. So nope, I said she wasn't but that I loved him and he was my kinapanggaan little cousin anyway. :-)

Promise, my co-resident's baby, was in the callroom again, sprinkling baby charm. :-) I just simply think she's adorable, and has such cute cute little fingers...among other things. 

Ooh, she can do "Align" today! :-)

haha, i was beside myself with gigil!

love, 

S.  

Emo

“I was walking off into the sunset (or, at least I pretended to be) with a friend of mine from Medical School who I had a bit of a secret crush on then. We had lagged behind our other friends, and he suddenly asked me, “Why are you in Psych, when you know that your patients will never get well?”. In the middle of discreetly getting a whiff of his expensive cologne, I stopped short, and did a double take. Why, indeed?

Six days later, I got a chance to know why, and prove Jerry wrong. He came to me in the form of a patient who was “emo”, and looked the part.  

My case for grand rounds was one of first-episode psychosis, a condition, which, if managed carefully, could get the patient back in remission and/or even better that what he was in his premorbid state. My contention was that young people, who have the rest of their lives ahead of them, should be treated at the first signs of psychosis so that they won’t have to fall down the ugly downward spiral which is mental illness.

First episode psychosis is a hot topic for research in Psychiatry, as the main thrust right now is for primary prevention. Prodromes, the beginnings to mental illness, are actively being studied in order for mental health specialists to know which factors put the patient at risk, and find out what they can do. My patient for grand rounds was a talented, good-looking boy who had a lot of potential…I thought it was a personal challenge for me to do whatever I could to make sure he could “bounce back”.

There are studies that show that psychosis that isn’t treated within 6 months will have a correspondingly poorer prognosis than if they were treated earlier. And by poorer prognosis, I mean that they will just worse and worse…

It’s prevention at the level we are capable of as of this time… be aggressive, and then treat right away. Research has shown that atypical antipsychotics and cognitive behavioral therapy if given within 6 months of onset of symptoms has been shown to have high rates of remission.

It paid off though, and I felt a personal triumph, even though I acknowledge the fact that it wasn’t through my efforts and management alone…his family,other residents, the nurses, the occupational therapists worked with the patient while he was admitted, as well as afterwards.   

It was a lot of work, but the fulfillment I felt when I saw him improve so much from the confused, psychotic state that he was in when I first saw him to the almost “normal” young man who was able to crack jokes and even mentalize just 6 months after. 

------

Ok, so I admit it was a corny introduction to my presentation… the friend I mentioned above is a Surgery Resident in another hospital. Surgery, being the very concrete specialty that it is, is very, very different from Psychiatry, with all its symbolism and ambiguity. He probably wouldn’t understand why we in Psychiatry feel so strongly about people’s mental health like we do. But of course, I didn’t ask any more. :-)

-----

Grand rounds went ok… and I passed.  

My supervisor handled things really well, although, I wish that there had been more consultants in attendance, as I really wanted to present my case (which wasn't a diagnostic dilemma at all.) and contention, but that's pushing it.

Oh, and my father arrived (he just flew in from the province) in the middle of my discussion, and he even got to see some of the Q&A parts (which I got to answer, of course. ahem ahem.)…

(He said I had the tendency to talk too fast. Haha.)

------

Which was pretty weird, because the night before, I was paralyzed with anxiety. I wanted “psychotherapy”, and a listening ear…but there was no one who was up to it, at like, one in the morning, except for course, the night owl, JC. 

Someone gave me advice that went something like, “Drink a glass of warm milk, and sleep early.”

And I was like, “WTF, I’m going bonkers here..!!”, not seeing the rationale behind the milk.

But then, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was a changed person.

-----

Haha.. Milk.

Who would’ve thunk?

----

Oh, and guess what my coresidents are calling me nowadays?

“O.L.B.” actually.

(One Lucky Bitch, because of how smoothly MY grand rounds went.)

Love,

S.

Thought bubble..

Assume = ass of u and me.

Video: Only Girl

I like this song a lot. :-)

   "...Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart..."

:-) 

Love, 

S. 

Only Girl (in The World) lyrics
Songwriters: Eriksen, Mikkel; Hermansen, Tor Erik; Johnson, (Undetermined); Wilhelm, Sandy Julien;

La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la
La, la, la, la

I want you to love me like I'm a hot guy
Keep thinkin' of me, doin' what you like
So boy, forget about the world
'Cause it's gon' be me and you tonight
I wanna make your bed for ya
Then I'ma make you swallow your pride

Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart
Only girl in the world like I'm the only one that's in command

'Cause I'm the only one who understands
How to make you feel like a man
Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart, only one

Want you to take me like a thief in the night
Hold me like a pillow, make me feel right
Baby, I'll tell you all my secrets that I'm keepin'
You can come inside
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/r/rihanna-lyrics/only-girl-(in-the-world)-lyrics.html ]
And when you enter, you ain't leavin'
Be my prisoner for the night

Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart
Only girl in the world like I'm the only one that's in command

'Cause I'm the only one who understands
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart, only one

Take me for a ride
Oh baby, take me high
Let me make you first
Oh, make it last all night

Take me for a ride
Oh baby, take me high
Let me make you first
Make it last all night

Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart
Only girl in the world like I'm the only one that's in command

'Cause I'm the only one who understands
How to make you feel like a man
Only girl in the world, girl in the world
Only girl in the world, girl in the world

Seriously...

Getting my draft back, I get these notes from my consultant (In red):

"His relationship with his second girlfriend, Janine, started during freshman year in college, but was short-lived, as he was not serious about her." (What do you mean by not SERIOUS?)

  

(Me to myself:Hmm... What DOES that word mean?  Pretty ambiguous language. does that mean he likes/cares about her, or is intimate with her, but that's it? Or was he just "playing around"? 

Come to think of it, I have no concept of the word. 

(She really wants me to define myself, define every meaning of everything I say...)

-----  

Oh, and this is gold. She asked the patient to define what "emo" meant. and with such a serious face. :-p

--

Anyway... :-S 

(enough with the multiple-reality writing.)

love, 

S. 

 

Pre-Grand Rounds

A friend of mine took this picture of me waiting for the elevators earlier tonight.

She told me I looked really skinny in it.

I wasn't pleased. Being this skinny meant I wasn't eating right, and I wasn't getting enough sleep.  And lately, I've been feeling like I've been under this burden of...not knowing. I'm doing a paper on first episode psychosis and presenting...how bad can it be?

It's all going to happen on Friday, and normally I like it when I do the work with the looming deadline,  but for the life of me, I can't seem to get much pep. I've done the first part, and submitted it, and now I have to do the harder second part, which should be done by Tuesday.

I feel so pressured...I don't even know what to do with myself. I just don't want to survive, i want to do better than I expect, Mental Health IS my big advocacy, after all.

:-( I'm doing this for a higher purpose, but sometimes I just keep forgetting the original zeal that I had, because I keep getting waylaid. Sometimes I have doubts, and I fear I will freeze up...and then talk a hundred miles a minute (which I usually do when I'm nervous).

(Personal problems, or little what nots in my personal life, little papers I have to write, little things I have to take care of will have to be put on hold. For the next few days, nothing should be of higher importance. :-( )

--------

Hey, a nice thing happened to me at work yesterday... I think I made my patient's home life better from now on because a little family tweaking I did. :-) Oh, and some other work-related thing happened to that I feel like patting myself in the back for. Two families will hopefully have better ways to deal with their respective "situations" from now on. That's good enough for me. :-)

-------

I went to Mass today by myself...my friend Loreen and her family were at the Physician's Oath-taking ceremonies, and although she invited me, I had to beg off. I had a lot of work to do. So I pretty much had the afternoon to myself. Work work work was on my mind. and then other things.

The homily was about forgiveness. Forgiving those who hurt us. The priest, funnily enough, used pop culture and incorporated the "3 Unforgivable Curses" in Harry Potter and I was like, "LOL. Say what?"

ok, so it was Cruciatus, Aveda Kedavra, and Imperio. Imperio made someone go against his or her will, Cruciatus tortured someone and Aveda Kedavra caused instant death...which was why it was so unforgivable.

So anyway, mostly, he tallked about forgiveness in light of the 9/11 bombing that happened 10 years ago, and how we should learn to forgive people... The sooner we forgive people, the sooner can healing start.

Maybe...but it takes time, either way. Forgive yes, but the hurt won't disappear overnight. We usually should be given the chance to wallow in it for a little while until we get so fed up with wallowing in it that we tend to not wallow anymore. Heart breaks included. It'll take some time to just feel sorry for yourself thinking that you're such a loser no one wants you on their team, if I do say so metaphorical. I suppose it is necessary for one to go around feeling Olats so that one knows what not to do the next time things like that happen.

(And yes, I am speaking in metaphors and similes, because like my patient's own life stories, I can't divulge too much of mine. Suffice to say, though, we all have our weaknesses, and on some days, metaphors and similes may be the only thing that stand between total catharsis AND total embarrassment.)

I rest my case...

Good night, and happy Sunday!

Love,

S.

Family Meeting pictures

 

That's my cousin Bong, and his son (my nephew) Miko.

 And that's me and my cousin Kuya Bong, 45. 

 with Tin and Miko

It's the Miaco eyes thing, I suppose. I've always wondered if we were Japanese, and then Kuya tells me that  he had officemates from Japan who say, Yes, there are many Miaco's there. 

Mystery solved. I'm not Chinese, I'm sort of Japanese-ish, then. :-)

ok ok, back to work.

Love, 

S. 

Coffee troubles

The effects of caffeine can be felt most strongly 6 hours after ingestion…which is when the caffeine is at its highest levels in the bloodstream.

 

I read that back when I was medical school. And I read some more of it here.

 

But my point is, I’m having a hard time sleeping now, because earlier tonight, when I was at this Singaporean coffee place, I had a couple of cups of brewed coffee one after the other. Don’t get me wrong, I like the taste and everything of coffee, but I only usually just drink one cup a day…and that’s usually in the morning.

 

And I don’t like this state of being awake, but not being able to think clearly. I hate working late at night…I’m a morning person, and this whacked up sleeping schedule is totally driving me bonkers.

 

It’s a perpetual state of awake “blankness”. I tried to doze off earlier on the couch but to no avail. I think I only got me a 20 minute “power nap” for my troubles.

 

Clarity of mind from coffee? So not true. For me, at least. And not tonight.

 

(Grand rounds anxiety? You bet. I’m actually scared. I need someone to make it all go away. and pronto.)

 

 

~ S.

Molo Balls

Now I understand the concept of food as stress-relief…

 

After pulling all-nighters for quite a number of nights already, I was starting to feel drained and, well…ugly. So after work, when my friend Loreen wanted to go get herself duty shoes, I tagged along. After she found the shoes she wanted, I had her pick the place to eat. We ended up on the second floor, where, I suggested Japanese (Sashimi is my favorite.), but she wanted soup, so we settled for the Bacolod Chicken Inasal place that was close by.

 

When we looked at the menu, we couldn’t help but squeal with glee (to some extent). It was Ilonggo food!!

 

“Hey, they have molo balls…” she said.

 

“Wow!” I said, “I want that.”

 

And so we had the chicken, and the molo balls, and other stuff besides.

 

I love Molo balls. Basically, they’re just dumplings in soup, but I especially remember them because when I was in Medical school, we had that more times a week for breakfast that anything else. Our housekeeper, Manang Josephine had a way of cooking them that I can’t forget. They’d be spicy, just a tad salty, but swimming in oil. Oh, and there’d be shallots and garlic floating too.  Kind of like this…

 

 

hehe. I figured it was not that healthy, but… hey, I loved the stuff.  Oh, and back in medical school in Iloilo, we only had time for quick breakfasts, so before school, we’d just put them in bowls and cups and then eat up quickly before walking out to school which was a few blocks away.

 

The first spoonful of soup reminded me of, well, home. (Iloilo was home for 4 years.)

 

Loreen, on the other hand ordered a platter. She said the appetizer on it (eggplant something) reminded her of the hospital we did clerkship in.

 

 

Now I suppose we will be heading to this place for comfort food from time to time.

 

Oh, and here was another surprise…the had button mushrooms! Come to think of it, they’re not usually food for dinner, but then I just like them for the taste (and yes, I was really hungry that time). They’re not very, well, tasty, but I just like the feeling of biting into them, feeling their waterlogged juices flow out and mix pleasantly with the garlic and oil. basta!

 

 

 

And then afterwards, I slept. and then everything was all better again. lol.

 

(I don’t usually eat when I’m stressed. I just sleep it off, or write or something. Molo balls will be another option next time. )

 

Good morning.

 

Love,

 

S.

Video: “Let It Be”

 

 

I like Let it Be by the Beatles. “There will be an answer…Let it Be…”

My favorite Beatles song, and I think it always calms me down whenever things don’t go well. :-)

(It reminds me of home, or the feeling of home, at least...)

Love,

S.

P.s. this gospel version from Across the Universe is also something else…  

Photo: Never Let Me Go

"Never let me go". August 5, 2011. Binondo, Manila. Photo by S.

Sitting across this couple in the jeepney, and seeing them all "entangled", the only thought that was in my mind was Kazuo Ishiguro's book (although it's of a different theme altogether), "Never Let Me Go." (Hold fast, one of you just might get away.) <-- PDA's are fine, and I have no problems with other people doing it. But currently,I'm ambivalent about what I feel about it, if that were me.

And I'm like, holy cow. now I'm a cynic.

(tsk tsk..)

Love,

S.

Family Meeting

…that the old name of Kyoto, Japan, used to be Miaco?

That’s something I usually say during conversations (or in parties)…well, once or twice, but not every time. Anyway, I met up with my cousin and nephew yesterday at MOA. It was my first time to meet them, after just talking to them on facebook. But hey, like with any other thing that is near and dear to your heart, family will always be family. We hit it off like we had known each other for years.

<a href="http://whyatep.multiply.com/photos/album/26/september_5_2011#4"><img border="0" src="http://multiply.com/mu/whyatep/image/1/photos/26/500x500/4/IMG-7259.JPG?et=wzgm1aB5zKfIFZlQfUozmg&nmid=482703970"></a>

Kuya Bong, 45 , and my nephew Miko, 21. And yes, they look like my father and Uncle. I think it’s the Japanese eyes thing…it runs in the family.

<a href="http://whyatep.multiply.com/photos/album/26/september_5_2011#5"><img border="0" src="http://multiply.com/mu/whyatep/image/1/photos/26/500x500/5/IMG-7265.JPG?et=x%2BLIjs8MnW%2C7xhWwvIY45w&nmid=482703970"></a>

We hit it off. LOL…as my cousin said, like my father, he was “the life of the party”. <—Actually, my pop is a little more reserved, but he does make people laugh.

<a href="http://whyatep.multiply.com/photos/album/26/september_5_2011#6"><img border="0" src="http://multiply.com/mu/whyatep/image/1/photos/26/500x500/6/IMG-7278.JPG?et=5tWKWsRzhuRfMgSaQooHwQ&nmid=482703970"></a>

Miko had Pigeon at Mr. Poon’s, where we had dinner, when they brought me home. “What does it taste like, Man, chicken?” Miko: No, Duck.

Same difference.

love,

S.

Photo: A regular rainy morning

Rainy Mornings in Manila. (August 2011. 6AM. Manila.)

Update

1. I went out with someone, and we watched Zombadings, Patayin sa Sindak si Remington. Inspite of myself, I had a great time…Zombadings was a fun surprise…the lead actor was pretty good. For a while there, I really thought he was gay, and then afterwards, I knew he was not. for sure. Or was he?

(yes, he was THAT good.)

2. I like eating out.
3. My grand rounds patient is doing well. I hope therapy goes well for him. he’s in his early 20’s and has a long way to go. one life saved from a lifetime of mental illness is worth the labor. :- )
4. I’ve always gotten food this week. Now my fridge is stuffed, and my friend was like,“Whoa, you have a lot of food…”
5. I have a lot of work to do tonight. But I’m still here.
6. I’ve got 2 pieces I want to post. and a blog rounds topic coming up. My apologies for the delay!

Love,

S.

Note to self

1. i need a mouse, a blue tooth keyboard, a protective case for my ipad, a new ink cartridge and speakers.
2. tickets to see All-4-One and Color Me Badd on the 7th
3. i need to do research for my...research paper.
4. i need to stop listening to Tina Turner's "Missing You", especially in the part where it goes, "In you world...I have no meaning..." (It's a stress-relief song that I hop around my condo unit to when i feel like I need to de-stress.)
5. I want to get a haircut like Anne Hathaway's in that French period part of the movie "One Day".

Love,

S.