Franz Marie Cruz’s Diary

my mom has superpowers. she knows, she smells, she does. 

last monday, i tried to wipe a chemical stain on the dashboard of her car with acetone, thinking it was a universal solvent. (hey, it’s what i use when i need to unglue my fingers from Supaglue.) and well it wasn’t ( a universal solvent, i mean).  3 days later, she opened that car and asked me why it smelled of acetone?!?! 

there was also this time when i borrowed her car for a day and she asked me when i got back where i went and why i used so much gas. i only drove to manila, had no ther side trips.  The next day, I borrowed her car again and ang bilin nya before i left was "wag masyadong malakas ang aircon".  And then i remembered, I turned the aircon up the day before. 

i don’t think i can hide anything from her. i once burned a small part of a carpet in our room in manila with the iron.  I tried to hid the burnt part under the bed.   she discovered it the following day.

what are her other superpowers? she makes crosstitch projects (we have 3 framed at home, she stopped when she had to wear glasses for presbyopia), sews curtains, table runners, pillowcases, makes beanbags, reupholsters some of the furniture here at home, does a bit of electrical work, drives like she’s always in a car chase, does the grocery twice a week, runs all sort of errands for my dad, me and my 2 brothers, delivers babies, holds her clinic 5 days a week, attends to 3 hospital regularly, goes on duties,  designed my prom dresses in HS, did my HE projects and attended my math contests when i was in gradeschool, took the board exams with 2 young kids….and i swear the list goes on.

it’s now down to 27 days before the boards. hurray!  can’t wait to get it over and done with.  because hopefully come aug 21 i’d have read everything and be ready to take the exams.  the next 4 weeks, i expect, will be tougher, more tense, and more nerve wracking  for us.  these exams and the long, painful preparation for it are a test for our sanity as well.  freak, i just hope i (we) pass. 

sometimes i wish the days are longer or that there are more days in a week. 

sometimes i also wish there were 2 of me.

or i have a spare brain.

all these, para lang i could get more mileage with my review.

i got my copy of the latest harry potter book on the day of its release. i was planning to save it after the boards.  dun sa mga araw while awaiting for the results to come out.  but, i’m weak. i’m now two-thirds through the book.  i finish 1 chapter every night before i go to bed.  buti nalang, i don’t find it as exciting as the previous 2 books that i could still put book 6 down. 

natuwa naman ako. i met my HS friends for coffee last night.  they’re like genies.  you just have to rub the lamp and *poof* they’re there, in this case, text lang sila a couple of hours before and they come.

oh by the way, why are they closing the whole length of commonwealth to traffic tomorrow for the SONA?!?!  (they never did that before, although dati, commonwealth was converted to a big expanse of parking lot due to the traffic) syempre, mejo panic ako.  it’s like cutting me off from the rest of the world.  liliit ang mundo ko to coffee beanery, read and brew and my house.  and it’s a monday, i got to study, holiday or not.

ow, i’m just babbling here, writing nonsense, procastinating. would it be wiser if i go?

Everything is more expensive these days: from the 1 order of rice at mini-stop to the spaghetti al pesto at chef d’angelo to the 1 pack of clean and clear oil control film.  Sheesh.  "Ang mahal," these words just escape from my mouth everytime I purchase something.  And so I need to pass the boards, so I can finally and hopefully join the employed (and underpaid) population.

Cedula.  I got my cedula 2 weeks ago. I needed it for my application to PRC and PGH.  It brought back memories of a certain incident back in highschool.  Even back in HS, I love watching movies and J and I would watch a lot.  We’d even try to get in those R18 movies by giving false birth years.  And most of the times, we did get in, except anyway for 1 movie.  The ticket person sold us tickets but when we tried to get in the moviehouse, the person at the gate asked us for our age and birthdays.  Syempre, we tried to deceive him, but he was much stricter than the others and asked us to show our cedulas as proofs.  I was incredulous, my outburst went like "what?!!uso pa ba ang cedula ngayon?" thinking anyway, that when Bonifacio (was it he? i forget my history) tore the cedulas in Spanish time, that was the last time cedulas were existent.  J was embarrassed by my outburst, naivity, er, or stupidity.  Needless to say, we didn’t get in the movie. 

Inspired by another friendster’s most recent entry in his blog, I too have come up with a list of "nakakataba ng puso", moments that made me feel good, and quoting him "a list that made me smile, goosebumps, proud, happy.. :)" (thanks paul for the idea)

…. giving an impressive and memorable audition.

…. buying that great pair of shoes or that pants that fit very well or that one of a kind, cute top for a very very reasonable price.

…. writing the best thesis.

….receiving "very good" remarks, or the like, from my seniors

…. bonding or establishing an exceptional rapport with a patient or/and his/her family.

….getting a very sincere "thank you" from your patient or/and his/her family.

…. getting compliments like "blooming ka", "you’re so hot", "you look lovely" or "wow" from the opposite sex.

….. being fit enough to be able to run 2 rounds around the UP acad oval.

….. after a day at the beach and getting that sunkissed look.

….. after an afternoon at the spa.

….. GNOs or girls night out.

….. partying with friends at a condominium unit with booze bought from the store below and chill out music from the resident DJ’s section.

…..seeing your crush unexpectedly.

…..good food and the company of my relatives, cousins!

….. my lamierdas with my best cousin

….sleepovers! YEY!

….getting in a concert because of good PR.

….driving a manual transmission car (is that what u call it?) like it was an automatic.

…. the independence of driving.

…..finding long lost friends on the email/internet.

….. text messages with smileys.

….. mindoro sling.

…..bestfriends!

…..those gotham days.

…..breakfasts at pancake house.

…..the last few minutes of duties.

…. creating a great outfit by mixing and matching and getting compliments for it.

…..successfully delivering a baby.

…. IV insertions marathon on duty days.

…. realizing during a rotation that this was what i want to do. 

…..crushes!

…..christian bale is hot.

….getting 100 in videoke.

….red wine.

….surprise flowers.

….surprises.

…..learning my rank in class.

…..playing truth and truth with my blockmates.

….my mom, tita, friends trusting my good taste in clothes and accessories.

….out of town trips with my friends.

….winning the quiz bee in grade 6.

….full baths after a 24-hour duty.

….votes of confidence from my friends in the form of "feeling ko magiging kayo…" or "pag naging kayo…"  (aaahh, thanks k and m. that means a lot to me)

…..news that one of my bestfriends is with child!

….. drives and girl talks/bonding.

….knowing i’m a papa’s girl.

i suppose there are more. this is still a work in progress. for now, eto muna. my time is up.

it was an expensive BRP. it cost me 2 shoes and a top.  it burnt a big big hole, er crater, in my bank account.  eps shopping is bad. 

as much as i don’t like politics. GMA stated again that she isn’t resigning but she asked all her cabinet members to resign.  why did she do that? what was the motive behind that? her cabinet members are not the laman ng news these days, their characters are not being questioned. she is.   i used to have high hopes in GMA before.  i thought she was intelligent, qualified, sensible and clean.  but right now, all i can say is, wow, that woman IS really ambitious.  does the end always justify the means?  i don’t wanna know.

medical board exams schedule: august 21, 22, 28 and 29.  results are out in 3 days after the last day so that means around sept 1, my birthday.  oh fudge. make that 51x the pressure on passing the boards.  failing it is NOT an option.  magpapainom ako if i pass the boards mark my words. and all my good friends are invited, including you who’s reading this one right now. 

i’m already in a state of panic right now. made a new sched last night. i’m back to square one. rereading physio very slowly. trying to absorb every detail in the book. head hurt after only 100 pages.  and i’m not the type of student who panics for an exam. and now i am panicky 6 or 7 weeks before the boards. stressed out to the point ayoko na gumimik until after the boards.  no more lunch outs with friends, movies, aimless wondering sa malls now til aug 30. wondering why i agreed to watch beauty and beast on july 16. it will take up my precious time and energy.  oh to my friends who r in the same boat, ignore my present mental state.  wag kayo magpapadala sa akin.   and pray for me. 

i’ve been living a very healthy lifestyle. i get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, i’m usually in bed at 10 pm, i don’t skip breakfast anymore and eat 3 well balanced meals a day, i jog once or twice a week, i don’t party anymore, no alcohol either, i don’t smoke, i hear mass at least 2x a week, i spend most of my waking hours in the library - studying, and i’ve cut down my junkfood intake, partially because i’m always in the library and you cant eat there. it’s so straight and boring and healthy, ironic is it’s killing me. oh btw, the only substance of possible abuse i’ve been taking in lately is caffeine. i’ve been drinking them everyday as prophylaxis for after meals sleepiness.  ngayon, even the smell of coffee makes my heart beat faster. 

my only "gimiks" nowadays are lunch with my cousins, college friends, blockmates, or HS friends. i met up with some of my blockmates for lunch at napoli’s in tomas morato today.  i missed them and ang funny, we will never change.  i can imagine us 10 years down the road and we’ll still be talking about the same stuff and doing the same stuff. stalking for one. but i sure miss the days when we’d stalk various cuties and crushies. ahahaha. we were organized stalkers.  we’d text one another if we spot one of our targets in the wards, or anywhere in the hospital for that matter. may iba who would even cover for someone else so that that someone else can stalk her cutie.  diba, L and I?  bestfriends eh.  i used to have this orange scrub top which i considered my lucky top because i’d always see my target around if i was wearing it. and so, ako who doesn’t like repeating her clothes too much would wear that orange top once every week! stalking is a sports. kelangan ng teamwork and gameplan. and i’ve to say, it’s our block’s favorite sports, we’ve all helped each other.

watched war of the worlds last wednesday with my family at gateway. my youngest brother, who’s 19 year old, is finally coming to realize the advantages of going out/watching a movie with his family, er parents. first, he doesn’t have to spend his allowance for the movie, second, he gets to watch sa mga relatively good moviehouses and third, may free meal pa in a place i am sure he can’t afford with his allowance.

one hour into the movie, i wanted to just walk out. it was scary and i like scary movies.  dakota fanning was really convincing. ang galing nya talaga playing these kinds of roles.  plus i can’t imagine how that movie can have an acceptable ending where the lead characters don’t die at the end.  there was no way they can beat all those giant tripods. galing ng special effects. movie was great except for the last 2 minutes of the movie.    anyway, you have to see it to understand me.  and i challenge you to think of a better ending, syempre it still has to be hollywood style where the good defeats the evil.