happy easter everyone!

while the holy week vacation has allowed me to shelf all my pending tasks and concentrate on my two favorite tasks - eating and sleeping - it has likewise brought on an emotional roller coaster that i wish to never go through again.

so, with two examinations down and one more to go, a couple of requirements more in law school and a whole lot of praying that i don't flunk commercial law review, and after turning that boyfriend into an ex, here i am, refreshed for what april has to bring.

i promise myself no angst.
i promise myself no stupid haircuts which would just make things worse.
i promise myself no stupid text messages sent in the middle of the night after crying my heart out.
i promise myself no pigging out.
i promise myself never to go to work looking something like the cat dragged in.

as one sorority has posted all over law school, grace under pressure.

and i will be grace under pressure. who knows? after all, i am so positively sure that THAT hunky cute bedimpled waiter at friday's was definitely checking me out. ;)

it is what i wish will be my last finals week in law school.

i've got three exams scheduled. however, on top of that, i've a whole lot more of little things to finish for law school. requirements which i've unfortunately put off until the very last minute.

funny how i've got my graduation shoes ready but i haven't even made sure i'm going to graduate. heck, i even missed the toga fitting.

and so, in the interest of being part of the up college of law's graduating batch of 2005, this is rosa, signing off.

for the meantime.

(i will, however, accept emails wishing me luck and happiness, food deliveries to keep my tummy from rumbling, text messages to keep me awake and graduation presents to prod me to do well this finals week.)

my favorite kule essay begins with the line "flowers, after they've been picked, are dead things." while i agree with the line, that doesn't stop them from being the best thing to receive on any given day.

especially if you receive them at 5:45 in the morning, before heading off to work.

especially if you just found them on the hood of your car.

especially if you received them from a not-so-secret admirer who just wanted to make you smile very early in the morning.

thank you, thank you, thank you. that was the absolute best surprise.

lightning round

too lazy to write a proper post, here's a lightning round for the day:

prayers for din's hubby, quito, on his operation today.

pat finally came through with a week-and-a-half delayed birthday cake. cake was yummy (this mango thing from conti's which has to be stored in the freezer). major problems still rocking our boat. crying though, during what would hopefully be my last set of finals ever, is not an option. our problems, big and small, would have to take a back seat first to THE most important thing in my life right now: finishing law school.

finally getting to spend some time with two very important people - my emperor's club friends (you know who you are). wednesday, don't be late. i hate waiting.

school visits will end soon, and so will the need to be at work at 5:30 in the morning. thank god for small miracles.

i've a five inch pile of papers waiting to be checked. why why why did i give out so many requirements?

i have now officially switched teams - sacramento kings - if only because of mike bibby. move over, sir charles. someone else has captured my heart.

real friends - old and new - i realized over the last couple of days, will conspire to make up for whatever your significant other missed out. and so, the days following my birthday, i got a whole lot of special little favors, courtesy of amazing people.

the day after my birthday, an old friend waited until my class ended and took me to dinner and spent two hours with me, just chatting. it was extra special cause i didn't know he had something early the day after (and he didn't even bother telling me). he just knew i had a lousy birthday, and he wanted to make up for it.

on friday, gary took me to merienda/dinner. the steak dinner didn't push through but we got baked oysters and roast pork, and an hour and a half worth of laughs, and insults, and me saying yes to everything he said, cause according to him, as long as i'm eating food he's paying for, i gotta be agreeable, and so i was. i'm kind that way.

on monday, corina got a me a balloon, just cause she knew i've been wanting balloons.

and on tuesday, veevee made it a point to come to work, spend almost ten hours with me (lunch-desert-work-get load-get reimbursement-work-drive to up-attend labor arbitration-dinner-wait for cab for what seemed like forever) to catch up on a whole lot of stuff.

hurrah for birthdays, and hurrah for special people who make it all the more special.

(and screw a particular boyfriend who in spite of the many apologies he's made over neglecting my birthday has not made any effort to make up for it yet. it's been a week already dude. you're on thin ice now. VERY THIN ICE. yes, i know, i am evil that way)

incidentally, and totally off-topic, i was so busy that i neglected to write about amazing aunt/ninang who left for the states for a little more than two weeks and came home with two pairs of shoes, a bag with matching cosmetic case and cellphone case, a shirt, make-up, and various perfume samples. thank you, thank you, thank you. that was the biggest surprise yet.

thank you all for the birthday greetings. i wasn't able to reply to your text messages, no thanks to sun cellular and my probably insignificant boycott as of the moment, but rest assured i got your messages, and that they made me smile, and that you all contributed to my little bubble of happiness that day.

which wasn't much to begin with. screw boyfriends who neglect to buy you even one tiny balloon on your birthday. i kid you not. he was there but there was nothing, nothing, nothing, not even a tiny cake with a flickering candle, not even a card with a hastily scrawled birthday message, not even a stupid gym outfit. and i thought that was bad. needless to say, i am terribly disappointed.

but, i've always been good at bouncing back, especially when good friends - like gary - promise to feed you steak. and when a sweet brother mails (snail mail!) you a sweet card so that you've something to open on your birthday.

a couple of years ago, after a good friend and i had awful birthdays, we decided to celebrate our birthdays sometime in august. we got barbecue and kiddie spaghetti, ice cream and a birthday cake with candles. we got each other presents and we took pictures. birthdays on the day itself are overrated. birthdays are what you make of it. and so last night, i celebrated my birthday again with a good friend - a much better celebration than i had on the day itself - and tonight i probably will do it again with another good friend. after all, no amount of disappointment can ever put someone who simply loves birthdays down, right?

moving on ...

it's a been a year since my best friend passed away. i've lost touch with his family, probably the memories are just more painful when shared with people who have loved him as much as you do. over the weekend, i've finally mustered up the courage to delete the last of his messages to me, the ones where he says goodbye and take care and that he'll be fine. i didn't have the guts to read all 23 of them again, probably cause if i did, i'd lose the courage to delete them and carry the burden of being the last person he spoke to for another year.

however, even after having done all that, you realize that "letting go" is a stupid phrase, cause you realize you never really do.

happy birthday, chris martin!

happy birthday, heather mccomb!

happy birthday, dr. seuss!

happy birthday, mikhail gorbachev!

happy birthday, lou reed!

happy birthday, jon bon jovi!

happy birthday, freddie prinze jr.!

happy birthday, sharon stone!

happy birthday, billy crystal!

happy birthday, kurt russell!

happy birthday, bruce willis!

happy birthday, karen carpenter!

but best of all, happy birthday to me.

i am sick.

not sick in the sense of sick and tired but sick in the sense that i'm feverish. my nose is runny, my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton, and i alternately feel warm and cold.

stupid me, however, was forced to go to work today. i had an early thing at work and i didn't have any means of contacting anyone. the payphone in the dorm was dead, and my two cellular phones, one postpaid and one pre-paid, were both dead. screw sun cellular, i swear.

anyway, if i don't reply to your messages, it's not you.

it's me, my fever, and my never-ending struggle with sun cellular.