My Christmas break countdown ’till school opens in 2009 has started ticking. It’s the 22nd - just 3 days before the much-awaited celebration of Kuya Jess’ birth. I am both looking forward to the 25th and at the same time very anxious because this is the last Christmas break that I will be having until God knows when. As I mentioned in my previous post, next year, I will be spending my Christmas - or perhaps - New Year - caring for the sick and dying as a medical clerk. As preparation for our impending doom journey to the real hospital world, we will have a one-on-one session with a preceptor who will observe us while we do our history and PE on a patient starting next year. Although this isn’t exactly my first time to do this, what bothers me a lot is that we will be totally on our own this time unlike during our SGD patient encounter sessions wherein our preceptors supervise and correct us while we do our thing. What makes things a lot worse is perhaps the fact that we are clueless until the day of our one-on-one session on what kind of patients we will be having. In the past at least, we have an idea on what type of cases we will be encountering for the day. Say, Mondays are Pedia SGD days so we expect to see a kid entering the room, but for the one-on-one sessions, the patient who will walk in can either be an adult or a sick kid or even perhaps a pregnant woman. To make the very long explanation shorter, we’re supposed to know our maneuvers by heart - whether it be for a pregnant woman, for a Neuro patient who just had a stroke or for a week-old neonate being brought for a well-baby checkup. We’re supposed to do this only once and we’re divided into batches who will do the one-on-one preceptorship every Tuesday starting January. Sadly, I’m one of the very lucky students from the first batch. I’m already contemplating on ordering my epitaph since I’ll be dead for sure on January 6. So my dear friends, please pray for my impending death nerve-wracking one-on-one with Preceptor #6. More than anyone else, it is I who need your prayers badly on that day.

———————–
I ain’t an equestrienne but perhaps you need some horse supplies.

My laptop’s having problems again. After having been soldered thrice, my laptop’s plug socket is not working as perfectly as it should be again. I’m so sick and tired of it. I cannot bring my laptop anywhere anymore. It has to stay in one place - untouched - so that I could work. I hate this. I’m looking forward to buying a new laptop soon but I don’t have enough moolah to finance my selfishness. Aside from an energy efficient laptop, a new DSLR and a cameraphone also top my list. Sometimes, I hate being a student because it makes me really dependent on my parents for my finances and at this age, it’s quite embarrassing already, but most of the time, it’s such a joy to be a student especially if there’s suspension of classes or school breaks like during the Holidays and summer. But soon, things will be different for me as I finally grace the halls of the hospital and run errands for all my seniors.

I wonder if I’m really that capable already to be working in a hospital. Almost three years after I entered medical school, I sometimes doubt if the knowledge I’ve gathered is enough to at least let me finish clerkship. But as my seniors always remind us, it’s never enough - at least - in this field that we have chosen. Such toxicity. Tsk.

I’ve been waking up extra early in the past couple of days to hear “Simbang Gabi” or “Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Roosters)”. It’s a Filipino Christmas tradition of hearing mass for nine mornings before Christmas in preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Originally, Misa de Gallo is held before sunrise but most Catholic churches now hold anticipated masses at 8 or 9 pm to make it more convenient to churchgoers. I’ve never been a fan of waking up extra early to hear mass but I was enticed to join my friends in hearing early dawn masses this Christmas like I’ve been doing so in the last two mornings - until today. Sadly, I missed the dawn mass. I forgot to put my phone on alarm mode when I went to bed last night. When I woke up it was already past 5 am. I feel sad not because my wish won’t be granted anymore since I missed a mass (it’s common belief that if you complete all 9 mornings, a wish will come true) but more so because I feel like I’ve let myself and Kuya Jess down. Anyway, I guess I’m not really destined to finish all nine morning masses for 2008. (And truthfully, I’ve never even completed one) Perhaps, next year? I hope so. So for those who are still able to wake up extra early in the next six days to hear mass, I wish you luck. Bring emergency lights if you can. You’ll never know when you’re gonna need it.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Bee’s sick and I’m worried because I can’t be with him to look after him. I called him up earlier this evening and he sounded really bad over the phone. He was complaining of sore throat last night on YM and this afternoon, he developed fever. Now, he’s having chills. I heard how a lot of people are getting sick these days. The change in weather is taking its toll in a lot of people’s weakened immune systems especially those who are working in call centers and are on night duty. The downpour in the past few days also doesn’t help. Stagnant water promotes breeding of mosquitoes. Xienah, in fact, was recently in the hospital for Dengue Fever. If I were her, I’d be extra careful around mosquitoes since it’ll probably be a lot worse the next time she’ll have Dengue. Lucky for me, I seem to be spared from getting sick. But my track record over the past Christmases isn’t really good and I feel like I’d get sick again this year on Christmas Day.

I haven’t done my Christmas shopping ‘coz I barely have time to get my butt to go shopping. Bee and I are supposed to go to Divisoria tomorrow to look for gift ideas like promotional pens to give away to friends. Looks like I’ll have to do the shopping alone - or perhaps, if I am lucky enough, I can drag my aunt to go with me tomorrow. I hope I can ‘coz I’m scared of going there alone. =(

I was supposed to make a review regarding a new product that I recently discovered and tried. It’s a “cold waxing kit” that goes by the name “No Hair Wax Kit” by JTomas Solutions. Actually, it’s not the same cold wax that waxing salons like LayBare use. Instead, it actually uses sugar to remove unwanted hair (hence, sugaring is the more appropriate term ). But since it’s 11:50 pm already and I’m already drowsy, I’d probably do that next time along with an acne treatment review. Oh well. I’ll sleep for now.