feramirez.com

I resisted signing up for an account in Facebook for a long time.  I thought I didn’t need another social networking site when I can hardly keep up with the only other one I have.  My daughters kept urging me to join FB, but I didn’t want to go sooo public with who I am and what I do and even with how I look.

Then it occurred to me to search for a friend I wanted to see in the US (the only one who came to mind at the time).  First I Googled him.  Then, among the search results was his Facebook account!  Off I went, and like a chain, I began discovering mutual friends and friends of friends…until I started connecting with schoolmates of over forty years ago and knowing where they are.

The nostalgia bug hit me and, like a frenzied weirdo, I searched for other names and they kept coming.

Now, I am getting ready for reunions and homecomings, and the pleasure of  being remembered just makes me feel good!

Thank you, Facebook.

This idea of a dream coming true can be stressful.  This I am discovering.  I am a super- procrastinator when it comes to acting on my plans.  I know what to do, I think about doing it, but somehow I find it terribly difficult to put into action everything I ought to do.  It must be a disease!  Ugh!

Then cousin Linda is taking me to Davao to introduce her to some cousins there!  Wonderful idea (the tickets are actually ready)…but this trip subtracts from the zillions of loose ends I have to bring and tie together!

If there are things I ought not forget, these are:  my pens, my notebooks, my food supplements and painkillers and motion sickness antidotes.

I have spent much time reviewing the do’s and don’t's of travel to the US, what to expect at the port of entry, what I should have with me when I face the Immigration Officer, even what to and what not to wear!  I fret over whether I can get to the airport early enough to choose a seat near the exit where there’s enough leg room because my feet swell from prolonged upright position.  I fret over how often I will pee, even planning not to drink too much water.  I fret over how far my acid reflux will take me, so that I have to have candies and crackers in my handbag…if I can find a quart of zip-lock plastic to contain my liquids and gels…if I can wear my underwire bra because this will register loudly when I pass the metal detector at the airport…if I can ever learn to operate my daughter’s digital camera…the list is endless!

Will I ever get over the prep jitters?  I even worry that I can’t smoke in my cousin’s home because she hates smoke! 

OMG…please let all the pieces fall into place before departure!…oh, yes… I have to pay the bills in advance!