Racing to the 24th

I did my Christmas shopping quite late this year. Compared to last year, I did not spend as much time scouring shops for gifts for family and friends; mainly, I guess, because I already knew what to get for each.

Traffic was a headache today. I mean, it's usually heavy Fridays, but the jams I found myself in earlier this evening were horrendous. Lines in front of ATMs were eyesore-long. The mall I went to was thronged by on-the-go shoppers.

Looks like most of us were--and still are--caught in the holiday rush.

How's your Christmas rush going?

And if I could sing myself a merry little tune

...I'd be fine.

It was the saddest thing. As I and a friend were walking in the mall just last week, my mind's eye captured the sights and sounds of the holiday cheer--the glitter, the carols, the laughter, the reds, the yellows, the greens--and I thought, all these will be gone before we know it. I looked around and saw lights disappearing into the air, saw the dying smiles on folks' faces.

I shook myself out of it.

Brr. It's been awfully cold, lately.

Under the Blanket

I'm down with a cold. Again. I only get sick once a year, so coming down with this very bad cold barely a month after I recovered from the previous one--which was worse, I must say--is a little disconcerting. Or, baffling, at the most.

I think I'd be able to come up with a host of possible reasons, though, namely, that:

a) the past week's flurry of activities finally got to my immune system;
b) I am vitamin C-deficient;
c) I'm sleep-deprived;
d) it's my body telling me to take more rest;
e) the December breeze--aka "the herald of depression and all things numbing"--is whipping us, folks of the warm land; or
e) I'm simply getting old.

The last one makes the most sense. LOL.

Or not.

???

Maybe it's all of the above.

Bottom line: being sick sucks big-time!
Ugh.

Sign of the times: Countdown

People in the office have begun the countdown to Christmas.

I've been, like, "what? So soon?"

Quite a number of friends are celebrating their birthdays this month. Happy Burp-day to: Sheila, Fenina, CJ, Mae, Wema, Emillie, Ribbon, Steve, Tatat, Gino, and Sweet.
=)

This Post is For Wowoo

...who, knowing how addicted I am to coffee, gave me this nice little Starbucks mug for Christmas.


:)

Christmas Eve

The mass was to start at 10 pm and we were at the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral by 9:30 but apparently, we weren't early enough. We were lucky to get just 2 seats, directly behind the choir. Their singing was magnificent, by the way. I heard they'd bagged championship trophies in two international chorale competitions. I forgot to get their group's name, though, pity.

Kim slept for 3 quarters of the mass so by the time it ended, I had stiff neck and aching limbs as he was sitting--nay, make that sprawled up in my arms and lap. It didn't help that it was extremely warm inside the church and that Archbisop Legazpi's homily was 5 pages long (kiddin', am not entirely sure how many pages there were of it).

Some pictures after the mass:


Christmas is for children-- even the grown ones.
;p

The Kim and I.

Obviously, Kim liked Mommy-La's gift.

This is a stolen shot. Jackie, becoming increasingly camera-shy, escaped from the general hubbub where Uncle Otom was taking a video of the goings-on and went to a corner to open her gifts.

Daddy-Lo and Kim (who is in no way camera-shy).

Happy New Year, all!
;p

Kids these days

...are all about gadgets.

When I was small, gifts of books usually sufficed to make me deliriously happy.

This Christmas, Jackie and Kim knew exactly what they wanted. Apparently, their Game Boys (is that how you pluralize it?) have long since become outdated and the PS2 is simply not enough.

So they had to have these:


During the Christmas break in Naga, this was a normal sight:

(my other brother not in photo--was over at the desktop playing online games during this shoot).

Thank goodness I'm with the "in" crowd:

lol

On a side note, let me plug about the best pan de sal ever in the entire world:
these yummy ones from Naga's Atlantic Bakery:

My mom made sure to buy lots. She knew I was hankering for it.
;p

Happy Christmas to all!

I refuse to let this day pass without wishing the world a merry Christmas.

For 8 days now, I have been silently (at times, loudly) berating myself for being stupid enough to forget my cam and phone cables. I've taken loads and loads of pictures, each set with a corresponding blog entry in mind. And then I'd be cursing (myself) under my breath each time I log in and realize, oh yeah, I. can't. upload. the. pictures.

Anyway. I will upload them. I will, I will, I will, soon, soon, soon.

But that is obviously something that will not take the "merry" away from my Christmas. Each holiday season I spend with my family will always be a gift that I'll be opening everyday for the rest of the year, the memories enough to see me through til the next one. Thank God for Family, thank God for the love they bring.

I will leave Naga with a suitcase full of happiness.

I'll be unpacking everyday and know that I won't run out of something to keep me strong, reasons to look forward to tomorrow and the next day, and so on.

I pray that your holidays be filled with love and smiles.

From this little corner of the earth, merry Christmas to the rest of the world.

To complete my Christmas list:

I've been into statement/over-sized rings lately and have been fortunate to have co-workers and friends who've been indulging me in this whim by giving me rings this Christmas.

Khyco gave me this fab, very bling-y over-sized ring whose stones absolutely arrest people's eyes; Rowell gave me one with a ruby-red butterfly which looks super pretty on my complexion; Migs gave me a gorgeous and very vintage-y one with a deep red, oval stone in a delicately pronged brass setting (a replacement for the Vintage cameo ring which was my favorite and which I lost, hu-hu).

On a side note, I'd like to thank Val and EJ for the very pretty bracelets; and thank you, Rent, for giving me that funky Aldo neck piece. See, my friends know what makes me tick!

From the start, though, I had always really, really wanted to get an over-sized torquoise ring, something like any of these:




images from nextag.com.

All, together now, let's sing the last lines of Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby":

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring.
I don't mean on the phone,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Home for Christmas

This is my second night here in Naga. It's wonderful to be home, there's such a warm, fuzzy feeling to it. Everything else seems far, far away and once in a while, we do need to be far away from things, to be safe from the anxieties that stalk us, to be out of sight when reality rears its ugly head much more often than we would like it to.



Home should be a haven and that is exactly what my parents' house is, for me.



I feel like a lady going out to lunch with girlfriends. One way, they say, that women can keep their sanity.

Sign of the times: Christmas Tree

Sign of the Times: Fruit Cake

Cartoon from this site.

3 more cups of coffee to go...

...and I'll be getting my Starbucks 2009 planner!

It'll be the red one for me.

Yoohooey! I can't wait!

Thanks to the very supportive people who helped me fill up the card--Rowell, EJ, Migs, and JM. First thing I'll do once I get the planner will be to write down your names on the first page!
;p

SANTA BABY (by Eartha Kitt)

This song always gives me the laughs.



Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me.
been an awful good girl,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa baby, a 54 convertible too, light blue.
I'll wait up for you dear,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Think of all the fun I've missed,
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed,
Next year I could be just as good,
If you'll check off my Christmas list,

Santa baby, I wanna yacht,
And really that's not a lot,
Been an angel all year,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa honey, there's one thing I really do need, the deed
To a platinum mine,
Santa honey, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex, and checks.
Sign your 'X' on the line,
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight.

Come and trim my Christmas tree,
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's,
I really do believe in you,
Let's see if you believe in me,

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring.
I don't mean on the phone,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight,
Hurry down the chimney tonight,
Hurry, tonight.

graphic from Clipart.com.

Sign of the times: the Christmas blues

And what do you know, the holidays are around the corner, once more.

This will be my fourth Christmas with HSBC. The big tree, with its silver and blue trimmings, is up again, and is a beautiful sight to behold; the papier mache Santa Claus once more standing beside it, smiling like some benevolent father. Pity I couldn't take a picture of it--our company is so big on security that snapping away in any part of the office premises is in no way allowed. Well, I could get sneaky and... oh, but I'm a good girl. Hope Santa checks off my very long Christmas wish list.



The wind's got a pretty chilly bite to it--was it like this last year, and the year before? I never could remember. I'm down with a bad cold--have been so the past few days. It seems that Christmas is the season to get sick. Lauded to be a time for merry-making, it is, ironically, also the part of the year where some--if not most--people find themselves at their saddest.

Don't the blinding display of lights and the bright, cheery colors blot out the ugliness, the squalor surrounding us? Do the Christmas carols remind us so strongly of childhood and the fact that we are now adults trying our best to fend for ourselves as best we can?

Yesterday, a colleague of mine was looking particularly glum and I, unable to stand people around me being sad, approached him. "Christmas blues?" He nodded. "Thanks for giving a name to it," he said. And I was, like, oops, maybe that wasn't it, maybe I had brought on more gloom. Oh, well, anyway, during the conversation that followed, I inadvertently jumbled up one of my sentences, which brought on a wide grin from him. It felt nice to have made someone brighten up, considering how cynical people of my generation have become; the contagious holiday blues being one sure sign. If only I could play Santa and spread cheer to those who most need it. If only I weren't so prone to gloom myself. lol

Oh, but I'm looking forward to my nine-day-long Christmas Leave! I'm packing up the kids for a visit to Naga and I know--I just know--that this Christmas will be just as grand as the one we had last year.

I can't wait to go home.

Picture from this site.