I am celebrating Christmas, but instead of asking for gifts, I am asking my friends and relatives to donate money to My Charity Water Campaign. My aim is to raise $5,000 by January 1. I know it is a lofty goal, I probably won't reach it, but I believe it's worth a try. Watch this video to know why I'm giving up Christmas: $20 provides for clean water for a person for his entire lifetime. Imagine that. Just $20 to give another person a chance of having a healthy, dignified life. I hope you can support me on this one. Every dollar counts. You can donate through this LINK. Or you can help out by posting on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, and other sites about my campaign. The link to my Charity: Water Campaign is at http://mycharitywater.org/giftcleanwaterforChristmas. Merry Christmas! :) This is a belated Blog Action Day post. ;-)
Category: life
Before and After
That was me (with blockmate Benj Pasaporte) grudgingly doing field work at San Pablo, Laguna's Seven Lakes. I weighed around 160 pounds with a waistline of 38. LULS! This is me now... Well, PicLyf's camera is a bit deceitful, I have chubbier cheeks and a bigger tummy than what the photo shows. Anyway, I am currently around 135 lbs (or more, I really don't know) with waistline down to just 30. Before I took steroids, I was 130 lbs with waistline 28. Point is... a lot of things have changed since 2003. And it's not just the looks. I am much more confident and happier where I am. Being a science major and the potential for a career in science was exciting to me. I had been training for it for around 9 years before I shifted gears, went home to Davao, studied Education, shifted gears yet again... and is now a writer. Online and offline. Even as a kid, I had wanted to be a writer. But life happened. I went to a science high school. Took up a course that excited me. I'm glad those things happened. But I'm happier I am where I am right now. Doing…
Pagbabago
Most people know me as the Diyosa Blogger, a multi-tasker, a professional blogger, as a lifestyle columnist, a writer, the girl who's up for anything anytime of the day, a poker player, the loud girl whom you should never anger, the girl who makes guys cry, kaladkarin, palaban, scary. I am known by a lot of things for a lot of different reasons, and those are mostly true. WERE mostly true. This was who I was... Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com. While I was not exactly the wildest party girl in town or the most adventurous person in the world, I had a crazy life. I lived alone, woke up around 11 am every day, went out to work online at coffee shops, attended events, went out on most nights, worked online at home, and slept at 5 am. I had multiple jobs, hang out with different groups of friends, had vices, and dated a number of guys. That was then. Now, this is where I live... Lookie, they're strapping me in... I don't actually live in an actual bubble now, but it seems like I am. For two reasons: I have to protect myself from the world…
Great Day
Just had a great day! By any other standards, it was a normal hectic day. And that's what made it so great. I was hospitalized for a week, and it almost a week since I was discharged but not allowed to go out. And while I didn't go out today, it is the first time in a long time that I felt normal. The day started out with breakfast of pancakes. Yummy! And some meds. Meh! Then, I dove right into work. I accomplished tasks for WordCamp Ph 2010, Avatar Media, and Davao Bloggers. I also made scripts and coordinated for Davao Poker TV. Plus, I published and publicized some blog posts and started working on article submissions. I started most of these before lunch. WHOA! My relatives were here for lunch. We ate sinigang, kaldereta, and balbacua. Plus fruits, ice cream, and chocolates for dessert. Extra yummy and fun. With my nephews playing and running amok in the background, I went right back to my chores, tasks, and articles. I had to wear a face mask because there were too many people around. It was quite hard to breathe but I was able to work efficiently, nonetheless. Plus, I…
Sun Life StartUp
With the It's Time Advocacy, Sun Life Financial hopes to create better awareness among Filipinos regarding the need and benefits of having an insurance plan. There are only about 11 - 14% of Filipinos who are insured. And this already includes those insured by SSS and GSIS. 90% of Filipinos retire with little or no savings at all. Recognizing the need to have more Filipinos insured, Sun Life Financial is offering a new insurance policy product that caters to Filipinos who have regular wages and would like to have a life insurance policy. Sun StartUp costs as low as PhP384 per month for a minimum coverage of PhP200,000. It has a coverage of 10 years. The earlier you sign up for it, the lower it will cost you. And this policy does not require you to undergo tests and fill up voluminous forms. You can also include and pay for add-on benefits such as coverage for accidents. Sun StartUp also gives you options to pay monthly, quarterly, and so forth so those with staggered or irregular earnings can also avail of this policy. I think this is a policy that bloggers or online professionals like me can avail of. And…
Dengue and Then Some
Last Thursday, icky rashes showed up on my legs so I had a blood test which showed I had a low platelet count. The normal count is around 150. Mine was only 50. I was admitted in the hospital for dengue. I didn't even have fever or other symptoms. Only a low platelet count, rashes, and bruises. I was the only dengue patient there who was perky. My Mommy noted I was even wearing mini skirt, make up, and dangling earrings when I was admitted. And some of the nurses seemed surprised that I was functioning well despite my very low platelet count which went as low as 8. After 5 IV insertions, eight units of platelet concentrate transfused, around 20 blood tests, several glasses of tawa tawa herbal tea, doses of antibiotics and antihistamine, and liters of water, my platelet count refused to go up. With that, my Doctor, also my cousin, decided to refer me to a hematologist (specializes in blood and blood diseases). The hematologist recommended I get a bone marrow aspiration (BMA). OUCHIE! My imagination was full of painful bone marrow extraction scenes from Grey's Anatomy, House, and Scrubs. And for the first time in a…