NJDONA at the AtlantiC City

My friend and colleague Ed Ruiz was nominated and won the 2008 New Jersey Association Directors of Nursing Administration (NJADONA)LPN of the Year. We were given the opportunity to attend the exhibit, conference and awarding dinner at the Trump Mahal at Atlantic City, NJ. I was so thankful that Joey allowed me to go with my colleagues for an overnight stay at AC to attend the awards dinner as well as the following day's activities.



I went with our Director Rosanna Luna and Assistant Director and my good friend Jeannette Nunziata. Jeannette was at the wheel for 3 hrs but she said she didn't mind it so I gladly took the role of a good passenger. :) Travel was fast and uneventful. We arrived at around 4PM. Went to the different vendor's booth.



I will have to say that the vendors are all creative as they tried to decorate their booths according to theme "ExZOOberance in Nursing." Met lots of people, took a LOT of give aways and enjoyed my day out.

Went to the slot machines before dinner the dinner party. I actually won a couple of bucks at this point.

Then it was time to attend the awards dinner.
















After dinner, there was a party without pictures **wink** **wink** basically because everyone in our team were so happy to just relax and be among colleagues.

Went back to the slots after the party. Lost what I won and then some more. Oh well, I don't gamble all the time anyway.

Slept after I reached my gambling limit. I shared the room with Ate Rosanna. Considering it's my first night to be away from my family in a long time, I surprisingly slept well. Must be the 3 hrs trip + all the walking that we did.

Woke up and visited the booths some more. Ed and I drove back home and reached Bergen County at 4PM. So happy to see my kids and Joey. I got my energy back as soon as I was home. We went to make "pasyal" right away, but that's a subject for another post.

Happy Birthday Joey!

Late post of Joey's birthday celebration at Lake George, NY. Joey was sick the 3 days we were there :( but the kids really enjoyed the place this time around.
We had our usual brunch at Denny's! Shop for our supplies at Walmart.
We discovered a nearby Panera and a KFC that serves a mean rootbeer float.
And of course I shopped at the nearby outlet mall :D
See you next time, Lake George.

Tagged by Doths

1. Can you name one person who made you laugh last night? Janine (my daughter)
2. What were you doing at 0800? Preparing my kids' school meals
4. What happened to you in 2006? Got my driver's license
5. What was the last thing you said out loud? Put it on! (to Janine)
6. How many beverages did you have today? 2 cups of coffee and a glass of water
7. What color is your hairbrush? Beige
8. What was the last thing you paid for? snack at McDonald's
9. Where were you last night? At home, surfing the Internet
10. What color is your front door? Dirty white :-)
11. Where do you keep your change? In my wallet
12. What’s the weather like today? Cold with flurries
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Brownie Fudge
14. What excites you? Travelling
15. Do you want to cut your hair? Nope
16. Are you over the age of 25? Yes
17. Do you talk a lot? Depends on who I'm with
18. Do you watch the O.C.? Nope.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Steven D'Missagia
20. Do you make up your own words? Nah
21. Are you a jealous person? Yes
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Anna
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. *wala e*
25. What does the last text message you received say? Happy 2008!
26. Do you chew on your straw? No.
27. Do you have curly hair? No.
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Palisades Mall (if it's not too cold)
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? Selective amnesia hehehehe
30. What was the last thing you ate? Apple pie
31. Will you get married in the future? Renewal of vows for my 25th wedding anniversary ;)
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Don't watch movie that much.
33. Is there anyone you like right now? Yes.
34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last night.
35. Are you currently depressed? No.
36. Did you cry today? No.
37. Why did you answer and post this? Doths tagged me :)
38. 5 people you tag next? Anyone who reads this post is TAGGED!

Christmas Eve 2007

Thanksgiving Breakfast

The original plan was to wake up early and go to IHOP for Thanksgiving breakfast but I was so "tamad" because I feel cold this morning. So to make it up to them I decided to just make Thanksgiving brekky IHOP style. Cooked eggs, sausage links, pancakes, bacon and toasts. Hot chocolate for the kids and coffee for Joey and me. Said our Thanksgiving prayer. We have so many things to be thankful for this year and the past years. Foremost is our health and the children's happiness. They really like where they are right now and they enjoy school so much -- that's a lot to be thankful for.
Enjoy.


Jin, Juwan and Jaira enjoying the impromptu breakfast


Jin loving his pancakes and eggs


Jaira's turn

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Alipit Family

Our generous hosts were the Alipit Family again. It's our second Thanksgiving dinner at their home. Jin and Jaira were excited to go there because they can play the
piano and do crazy antics with Tito Jun and Tita Tess's blessing. Dinner was sumptuous as ever. Also present were their three binata's Vincent, Paul and Dave.
I'll just let the pictures do the talking.


Playing the piano and kulitan 101


Juwan, Jin, Kuya Dave and Janine sharing the feast


Vincent serving the turkey



With our generous friends Kuya Jun and Ate Tess


Kuya Jun and Janine

Black Friday

Black Friday, also known as the day after Thanksgiving, is a day that signals the official start of the holiday season shopping. Many malls and outlets offer a variety of gimmicks to lure customers to spend their hard-earned money. I, of course, was a willing victim. I braved the cold weather together with Verna (Arvin's wife) to go midnight shopping at the Woodbury Commons Premium Outlet in Spring Valley, NY. It was a good 24 miles drive but the adrenaline (and the prospect of having good bargains) kept me awake.

Arrived at the place at around 1115pm. I can't believe there were already lots a people in the area considering that the sales doesn't start until 12midnight. Not! Sales start as early as 1030pm in some stores. The lines of people wanting to buy something in Coach, AX and The North Face were so, so, long. No I didn't even bother to waste my time lining up.



Got really good bargains at Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Carter's and GAP.

Did I mention I got a cute bag at Lacoste? Happy Christmas to me.


The evening was so cold but I was prepared. There were lots of people but everybody were polite and lines were formed properly so there was no Divisoria-type chaos during our shopping spree. Don't get me wrong though. I thrive in the Divisoria-type chaos. It's my shopping mecca for the Christmas seasons I was in Pinas. Miss shopping with Sands and my sister, Malou.
Stopped shopping at around 430am, my body wants more but I'm concerned that Joey will have a fit because it's too late for me to drive back home.
And the madness began. It took me 1 hour just to navigate from my parking spot to the nearest exit, another hour from the exit to the highway and finally a 30-minute uninterrupted drive back home.

The verdict. Will I do it again? Brave the cold, the long lines and the traffic? Hmmmm...Yes, yes, yes. Black Friday at the Woodbury is my night. Thinking of making it a tradition to go there yearly. Hehehe.

Tuyo with Cherry on Top

It was a cold autumn morning. I'm craving for something to fill my grumbling stomach. I opened the ref and saw what I was looking for -- TUYO!!! Tuyo and champorado might have sent me to heaven but the 4 pieces of fried tuyo, 2 cups of cooked white rice with vinegar and fish sauce dipping on the side surely made me feel I'm in Cloud 9.

Game Time!

Juwan's into football this year. He joined the Peewee Team of the Northern Valley Eagles. At first I was really hesitant to allow him to join the team because he's too young to be on such an aggressive kind of sport but his enthusiasm for the sport won. Maybe playing too much football on Xbox translated to his wanting to experience the real sport.

During the summer season he has practice everyday. Joey will bring him to practice at 6pm and then me and the other kulits will watch an hour or so later. The practice itself is extensive. Judging by the way the team practices, you'll never think that the PeeWee level is instructional football level.

Now that school has started, Juwan's practice is every M-W-F and then games on the weekend. Joey has to take care of the three kids during the weekends because I still have to work. :( Juwan takes care of himself and all the equipment needs during games and practice. His being responsible was one of the benefits of him joining the team.
And his set of friends is more diverse now. :D

Their team has a 1-1 score card. They're up against Emerson this coming Saturday. Juwan is serious about the coming game because they lost last weekend against Hohokus. As always, we try our best to support him in all his endeavors. :)

Go Juwan!

Pics of Scrimmage against Westwood (Juwan's the kid with the brown shirt sticking out of the practice jersey :D ):









* Pics courtesy of Kathy Fable

School supplies galore

With the 3 kulits in tow, I drove to the nearest Target store in the area to buy Juwan and Jin's school supplies. I was surprised because where there used to be aisles lined up with school supplies, there were only a few boxes and a couple of shelves with supplies. I guess that signals school opening is pretty near. Juwan took care of his list while I helped Jin find the things he needed. I was having second thoughts in buying all the supplies in one store but I don't have the luxury of time to shop around so we tried to tick off as much items as we could. After and hour and a half of sorting through brands and prices, we pretty much had everything they needed except for a set of reinforcement rings. Juwan insists on finding the remaining items he needed but he has a 3 o'clock dental appointment so I had to convince him that I'll make time for it next week. Classes don't start until September 5 so we pretty much some time to complete the list.
Lunch was mac and cheese for the little kids, a latte and pizza for me and hotdog and smoothie for Juwan. After lunch we headed to Closter for Juwan's dental appointment.
Tonight Juwan will have football practice but it's a good thing Joey's driving him there because I badly needed sleep.