I Like...

I LIKE...

Saturdays, because I don’t have to work and I can continue to snuggle in bed… alone.

Listening to Delilah on the radio, with her soothing voice and sappy love songs

Dog-eared books, reminders of many hours spent dreaming about other worlds

Watching AlDub fall in love. Trying to hide my wide grin. I believe that this loveteam earned the word "kilig" a place in the Oxford dictionary

A Jigzone puzzle with 247-piece triangles to completely empty the mind. No cares in the world except to click and click.

Old couples walking hand-in-hand. It's nice to know that there is a "forever".

Big veins on the patient’s arms, back when I was still at the bedside.

Old photographs of family and friends, especially when I'm homesick. Then I miss them so much more.

Boomer waiting by the window. Unconditional love.

Walking in the rain with friends as we double up in laughter. Certified Pluviophile here.

Double rainbows, double pots of gold.

Bob Ross and Norman Rockwell, geniuses and psychotherapists

The cover picture on my book, when I was young and somewhat pretty.

Challenging myself, out of my comfort zone.

Writing. Leaving a legacy of my thoughts.

Knowing that I have options, that I have so much more to offer.

A Bucket Full of Thanks

The end of the year calls for self-reflection. It’s time to check my two buckets.

My Bucket of Thanks for 2014 reminds me of how lucky I am. With God’s loving mercy, I have triumphed over the challenges in my life. All I have to do is to reach inside the simple little bucket of blessings. Some of those blessings were unexpected gifts from above; some dreams came true due to hard work and sometimes luck. In this last day of 2014, my bucket of thanks gives me hope for the future.

Thank you to my family for your unconditional love. Thank you for my mom, my sister Bheng, my brothers and their wives, my nieces and nephew, and my extended family. I was not able to come home to the family reunion when my sister Bheng went home to the Philippines last July 2014. I lived vicariously in nostalgic remembrance at all the pictures of my mom, brothers and their families, my aunts and cousins with their Hawaiian-themed reunion.

Thank you for my son Jordan for making me a proud mom. He had spared me from any major drama as a teenager. This year, he graduated from college with a double degree and cumlaude honors. He finally entered the work world at Rockefeller University. He is my own little Bill Nye, my own research scientist, but definitely handsomer and funnier.

Thank you that our dog Boomer can resume waiting by the window for our return home. He gave us a bit of a scare when he went missing overnight, lured by an open backyard gate. Thank you for the good Samaritan who dropped him off at a shelter.

Thank you for the privilege to witness the Centennial celebration of the Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo). The magnificence and grandeur of the church was manifested for all to see. The INC had established magnificent houses of worship in more than 100 countries all over the world.

Thank you for the chance to start on a new journey as a student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Educational Leadership program. The trip to Colorado was the start for the 2-year challenge. I am thankful that I have a wonderful cohort of friends to share the pains and joys before we don our fancy robes.


Thank you for my friends, far and near. They make me laugh and make me feel special. I have been blessed with special friends who helped me with the difficult times. I can only give back by paying their kindness forward.


Thank you for my work that keeps me busy and keeps me thinking of new ways to educate. I am much more energized with learning everyday. Thank God for the little reminders from the head hunters that I have so much more to offer. Sometimes, even the most self-assured needs validation for a job well-done, even if there is no urgency to jump ship in the near future (yet).

Thank you to those who have read my book "Nursing Vignettes" . It is a labor of love, a “someday dream-come true”. I love how some friends tease me about the almost-love stories in my book. I wonder why my male friends seem to take special interest with Dr. L and the soda we shared. I have a feeling that there is a great market out there for men who love romances.

My Bucket-to-do list for 2015 is for my ‘someday dreams”. There are still many places to go to, people to see, experiences to savor, and goals to achieve. It is a dynamic list of dreams, of exciting endless possibilities. Some dreams are recycled to motivate me to persevere against all odds. As we look forward to 2015, I resolve to appreciate the blessings that come my way.



Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
- (Charles Dickens, English novelist, 1812-1870)

The Survivor and the Rocker in Me

Excuse me, Marie Osmond. I'm not country but I'm more rock and roll. The Soft rock and roll, still with the head banging and the fist thumping, but no acid hard rock. More Journey and Eagle than Metallica and Kiss. There's actually more spice (and probably repressed rebellion) in me than what you'd expect.

Hey, I'm not always in the mood for Easy Listening; there's always a time and a mood for those melancholic melodies of the Carpenters and Aiza Seguerra.

But sometimes the mood calls for angst-relieving, blood-pumping, hey-what-are-you-looking-at, middle-finger-alternative and stress-reducing songs that are perfect entertainment for a solo drive with my Pilot along the highway. With no one to remind me that I'm out-of-tune.

I love rocking survival songs by women singers. I'm more Kelly Clarkson than soft bubble gum pop Taylor Swift. More Pink than Katie Perry.

Long after the tears had dried, long after the pain had gone, long after I have uncurled myself from a fetal position of feeling sorry for myself, I realize that I am much stronger because I have survived against all odds.

I am a survivor! And if I may say so, I rock!

Somewhere over the rainbow, there's an elf with an armful of my newest Nursing Vignettes book and my friends and co-workers are planning more book-signing events.

Beyond the dark clouds, there are thirty shades of the silver lining.

Behind the curtain, there's my son belting out "Amore" and "L-O-V-E" to a roomful of people who laughed good-naturedly when I blurted out "He's my son."

And at the end of the day, there is hope.



STRONGER- Kelly Clarkson





ROLLING IN THE DEEP- Adele





SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE- Kelly Clarkson- she's just fabulous!! All those angst!





FIGHTER- Christina Aguilera





SO WHAT?- Pink





I WILL SURVIVE- original by Gloria Gaynor, but like this version by Charice which she performed at the 8th Annual Woman's Day Red Dress Award in New York in Feb. 2011.





But there is another song that needs to be included. Lee Ann Womack is a country singer who crossed over to pop with this beautiful song. With the song in full blast, it can also be a rock song.

I HOPE YOU DANCE

FIRST BOOK

I am so happy to announce that my FIRST BOOK is now available for purchase. Please share among your friends. This is not just for nursing or for Filipinos. This is for all of you with dreams in their hearts. This is my lifelong dream, finally realized.



http://www.amazon.com/Nursing-Vignettes-Jocelyn-Cerrudo-Sese/dp/1477614362/ref=sr_1_66?ie=UTF8&qid=1343996451&sr=8-66&keywords=tatay+jobo+elizes

Excerpt from my Introduction:

In 1980, as I lit the candle at my pinning ceremony, my heart was brimming with excitement for the future. In my imagination lived a nurse whose hands touched lives and whose compassion made a difference.

Nursing in America is a delightful journey into independence and self-fulfillment. As a young nurse living thousands of miles away from family, life was filled with challenges to both my personal and professional lives. Like countless other Filipino nurses working abroad, I have carved my own little niche in my chosen profession.

More than ever, I realize how fortunate I am to belong to a service profession that is most definitely and infinitesimally life-affirming and emotionally rewarding.

My life is enriched with the fascinating vignettes that gave meaning to the long hours and hard work.

I have lived my mother's dreams, which had become mine as well.

Here is my other dream, a book that chronicles some of those stories that make me proud to be a nurse. This is my journey as a Filipino nurse in America. But my stories of life as an ER nurse reflect what any other nurse had gone through.

We only need to believe in ourselves.

Dream some more.

Have faith.

Update: 8/11/2012

Yes, we've been #1 for several days now on the Amazon Hot New Releases chart.