Saturday, April 10, 2010:
John decided that he didn't want to be "beaten by a girl" and went skydiving! Isn't he cute? He's terrified of heights, but he went anyway so he could reclaim his metaphorical testicles back from me. I was mercilessly calling him a "girl" for not going when I went. (I'm mean, I know.) Skydiving was an experience that I wanted to share with him though, you know? After two weeks of enduring my taunts, he finally said "f*ck it" and went with his cousins. Challenging John's manhood works like a charm, I tell you. Just as I suspected, he loved it and we're going together next time.
Mission accomplished. :)
While John was off being "extreme" with his cousins, I spent my Saturday at UCSF's Mission Center. It was my first day of school and I got a taste of my first 8 hours of sex educator training! I. LOVE. IT. Being in SFSI's Sex Educator program is seriously a dream come true. I heard about the course in the Human Sexuality class I took I was nineteen. I've wanted to do it (no pun intended) ever since and it's so surreal to finally be here.
One more goal crossed off my "bucket list".
Even though I loved every moment of my first day of training, as always I was being a shy-ass and kept mostly to myself. It takes a while for me to get comfortable around new people. Ha, I'm so not a cool kid! It's not that I'm anti-social or snobby (though it can appear that way at first), it's really because I'm painfully self-conscious. I always always ALWAYS feel like I don't fit in.
So, I stay quiet to spare myself the potential embarrassment.
My classmates and trainers are amazing! They all come from so many different walks of life and educational backgrounds that it makes me feel highly unqualified to be their "peer". I'm surrounded by college professors, sex workers, public health majors, therapists, and health educators.
Dude, I'm just an M.A. and a Mom.
Plus, they all speak so articulately that it makes me feel like a total dumb ass when I listen to them talk. I understand what they're saying, but I just don't feel "smart enough" to respond. AND to top it off I'm convinced that I'm the most "vanilla" person in that room. My life (personal and sex) seems so boring.
I'm seriously fucking impressed and utterly self-conscious at the same time.
Nevertheless as it turned out, sex ed training is not at all the perversion that outsiders might believe it to be. Even though I'm kind of infamous for having my mind in the gutter most of the time, I don't think I'm a pervert just because I'm interested in sex. I prefer to be called a "sex geek" instead. :) I heard that term for the first time on Saturday and it describes people like me perfectly. There is nothing wrong with being geeky when it comes to sex. We all do it, but people just don't talk about it. I have no qualms about "sexy things" (my 26th birthday celebration was at a strip club for godsakes!) and it was mentally stimulating to be with other "sex positive" people.
I didn't have FOUR LITTLE LIONS because I'm frigid. ;-)
Even though I'm admittedly learning about things like fisting, anal, BDSM and the latter, I'm ALSO learning valuable life skills. Communication is HUGE in this training program. In order to be good sex educator you have to be an effective communicator and listener. Sexuality is difficult for most people to openly discuss so there is a lot emphasis on interpersonal communication in our training. All of this training has actually helped me win a few arguments with John. Oh, and I've learned some nifty new bedroom tricks too. Bottom line, I'm really enjoying SFSI's program. :)
I was exhausted from my first 8 hours of training, but I was ecstatic that I would be able to unwind at the Alicia Keys concert later that night. John got me floor seats so I was super excited. Now that I've had the "floor seat experience" I'm convinced that getting floor seats was both a good and bad idea.
The good? I'm now positively convinced that floor seats are ONLY WAY TO GO for any concert that we attend from now on. This was our 2nd Alicia Keys concert and I enjoyed this one a LOT more. I could feel the music pounding through my body and that my friends, is fucking awesome. The crowd's energy is different too. When you're that close to the stage you live in the moment. I found myself completely engulfed in the performance. And I think some other people did too.In fact, a couple got so horny from Robin Thicke's "Sex Therapy" that they got kicked out for practically having sex right there in their seats. John said he saw her boobs.
The bad? If we don't score floor seats in the future I'm going to compare everything to "the time we got floor seats". The concert was phenomenal. Naturally, I cried like a baby for every "Ethan song" that A. Keys sang. It MOVES ME to hear and feel music/lyrics that are so deeply personal to me. Words can't even describe how much fun I had that night.
I took that as a sign and sent a text to help "keep a child alive" for Ethan. :)
Saturday, April 17, 2010:
The following Saturday 4/17 was equally eventful thanks to the Hemophilia Walk. :) Our chapter's inaugural walk was a success and I'm so glad that I got involved. I'm happy to report that Team Lucky Factor Seven was offically the top fundraising team! We had the largest "family group" which led me to believe that it was playfully intimidating to some of the other teams there. Our team stopped to take a picture when a drug company's team member tried to hype up his crowd by yelling his team's as they passed us. After the team stopped cheering, John playfull responded with "Yeah, but we still made the most money though."
Lol...then everyone in our team everyone cheered. So. Bad. ;-)
Team Lucky Factor Seven had a total of 267 donors and raised a little over $11,000 since February. All of this success in memory of Ethan and in support in Niki. :)
BIG thank you to our team members (you rocked it!), donors, walkers, virtual walkers, and everyone else who showed their support for our team that weekend in some way, shape, or form. I saw tons of Facebook status updates and tweets showing support for our team. One of John's cousins even wore her team shirt while she was in Vegas even though she couldn't participate in the walk. The day was gorgeous and HOT as HELL, but despite the heat I think our team had a lot of fun.
There were also lots of freebies (food, ice cream, water, promotional items) and you know us Filipinos don't complain when it comes to getting free stuff. Lol. ;-)
I'm already looking forward to next year's walk. And I hope that even more people will get involved. John and I were thrilled that our friends and family finally got a taste of what it feels like to be a part of Niki's community. Living with a bleeding disorder isn't always about sickness and stress. There are times when it can be positive too and our little bleeder is surrounded by a wonderful "extended family". She has lots of role models to help guide her through the journey that lay ahead.
I had some awesome pics of the individuals on our team, but I didn't want to post 'em for all the internet to see without asking for permission. So, if you want 'em, message me. :)
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Niki's Ninang had this lion made for her.
After the walk we went to celebrate our success with Ethan at Holy Cross. Of course, I took all of the freebies and decorated his headstone with it. We even had his own shirt and medal just like the rest of the cubs. 
Later that night I landed myself in the ER. It's the same asthma/anaphylaxis that has landed me in the ICU on a ventilator numerous times before. My symptoms are quick and strong and by the time I got to the ER my oxygen saturation was at 80%. I didn't even know it was possible to stay conscious with 02 that low!!! Luckily, my longtime friend is a nurse in the ER and she knows my health history well. (She's been there for most of my ER trips whether I got there by car or ambulance. She was even on the night Ethan went to the ER.) So, she completely took over my care and made sure the docs were on top of their shit. They gave me magnesium, benadryl, prednisone, and all sorts of other crap that I can't remember because the benadryl and epinephrine had me completely loopy and groggy at the same time. Poor John, he was totally stressed.
Early in our relationship he would show his panic during my ER visits, but with time and experience he's learned that keeping his cool keeps me grounded. Nevertheless, I always know it's bad whenever I see John slowly blowing out air with his hands on top of his head. Actually, I *almost* got admitted, but after staying for nearly 2 shift changes in the ER, they finally had me stable enough to go home.
I guess John got used to documenting ER visits 'cause I don't even remember taking these pictures.
When the meds wore off and I finally came to, I had all sorts of nifty new apps installed in my phone. So, I guess that was a plus. Another plus? John was super nice to me for the next few days because I was sick. I'm happy to report that I'm doing much better now. There's more to this story so keep checking back. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this Tale of Two Saturdays. :)
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