'Tis The Season

"Tis the season to be jolly, fah-la-la-la-lah, la-la-la-lah!"

I could't help singing a Christmas carol especially whenever the holidays are fast approaching. I get caught up in the hullabaloo that signals the start of this wonderful time each year~ gift giving, attending mini Christmas parties, rush-shopping, planning & preparing Noche Buena, opening gifts and even last-minute house cleaning (but I didn't do this last one, you'll see why).

Yes, I confess I am guilty of these season-induced activities. I did try, but I wasn't able to buy gifts in advance. I still did some last-minute grocery shopping. But believe me, nothing beats the adrenaline rush you'd experience trying to search for the goods on your grocery list and praying at the same time that they're not yet sold out and the most nerve-racking is finding the shortest queue at the supermarket! This year, these are just the half of it. The more tension-filled half came when I had to rush home and made sure we were all packed coz we still had to go to Malabon at a cousin's house where we agreed to spend Christmas Eve. At 6pm, no taxi would accept this long drive from Makati! My sister's face was a picture of desperation-&-anger-combined-but-trying-so-hard-not-to-verbalize-it (imagine that). And I, the guilty sister, was trying so hard to appease her by alternately hailing taxis and calling MGE office for any taxi nearby willing to take us to Malabon. At last, Rolly got us a taxi and we finally reached our destination.

We brought spaghetti, a loaf of bread, fruit salad, a box of brownies and the gifts for the 3 kids- my niece Mariz (3) and her 2nd cousins, siblings Adrian (8) & Leeann (2). My cousin Ching2 prepared pancit bihon, grilled liempo and fried chicken. We had a sumptuous dinner and the bingeing continued until the clock struck midnight.

Merry Christmas!

Flashback

September 2005...(nothing much happened)

Okay, I was up to my neck with work. This month marked the end of the 3rd quarter and that can only mean I had to finish my quota. And I did! Thank God.

October 2005...(nothing much happened, either)

Oh well, I did get the cash bonus for the work I did in 3rd quarter. Where did I spend it? See next entry.

November 2005

In the first 2 weeks of this month, I had to finish some work and made sure that everything at work was going smoothly (no queries left unanswered, no issues left undiscussed and no compulsory online courses left untaken). That was because I was going on a 2-week vacation in the Provinces of Iloilo (my hometown) and Capiz (the boyfriend's hometown)! This was a long delayed plan of ours. We've planned to do this together since 2003, then 2004 but both were cancelled. This year, it was supposed to be in October, in time for my friend Teray's wedding (& reception) in Boracay. However, it got postponed as most of her siblings were out of the country. It could have been our first time to step on the white sands of Boracay!

So we decided to push through with the vacation even if there was no wedding to attend. Only, Boracay was no longer included in our itinerary. Anyhow, we had a fun and memorable vacation spending time with his family, my relatives & close friends.

December 2005

We came back to Manila on 30-Nov and I was already feeling the onset of a fever. I was supposed to come back to work the next day but I was still with fever & dry cough (which lasted around 2 weeks! My, my, my...I thought I won't recover from it but thank God, I did.

As for my Christmas & New Year celebrations, I'll save that for my next post. ;)

I'm Back

I guess the title says it all!

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. I didn't expect anybody would notice but a few did. One even suggested I delete this totally (thanks for your concern Gail, hehehe)! But I would not do that of course. I've invested so much time, effort and emotions in this blog than I have even imagined that it has a special place in my heart.

This is just a teaser (if I may call it that), just so my (ahem, avid) readers will not feel abandoned in the blog-reading world. I'll fill you all in on what has taken place in the last 3 months. I hope you come back to read them!