On A Wonderful Day Like Today

The Christmas tree is up early and the kids are excited to put up their socks for Santa. Here is Luigi's Christmas sock. This one is Zoe's Christmas sock. I wonder what Santa will bring the kids this year. Hmmm....

Christmas will be official over (in the Philippines) tomorrow with the Feast of the Sto. Nino. As far as I'm concerned, it went by like a breeze. I was so busy and so sick over the holidays to even stop and really feel "Christmas". But eventhough this was so, I am so grateful for the feast of the birth of Christ. It all reminded us that we owe our life to the one who created, saved and who continue to guide us. And so, with the end of the Yuletide season, we're going to pack all our Christmas things tomorrow and try to get on with life loving our Lord a little bit more each day.

It's already 2011 on this side of the world (big grin)! Thank you Lord for giving us so many blessings this past year. Please continue to guide us in the many years to come. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!

With Christmas just recently over, I gathered my kids' new Christmas toys in one big bag while thinking of where to store all these new loots. These were mostly toys given by godparents and thoughtful relatives and friends. For Zoe, her favorite toy now is the twist car that she received from her grandfather (I'll post the pictures after I transfer the files from the cellular phone). It's something like an Ezy Roller but it's made of plastic. She also got some personalized pillowcases from her aunties and a nap mat . Anyway, while carrying away the toys to the play room in the attic, one of the things that crossed my mind is how I, as a parent, can provide an example of the true spirit of Christmas amidst the many and almost unavoidable spirit of "consumerism" that tags itself along with Christmas. By that I don't want to mean we will get rid of the idea of receiving gifts altogether next Christmas. I just want to my kids to be more reflective about Chri...

When Zoe celebrated her 1st Christmas last 2006, we made sure that she had a nice picture taken. This was her picture (taken c/o Great Image): This year, it's Luigi's turn to wear the exact same outfit. We did a shoot for Luigi right before Christmas. We didn't exactly had the chance to bring him to a professional photographer so we made do with the camera of hunny's niece... I love it.

I almost forgot to post Zoe's pics taken during their Kindermusik Christmas Party. The kids were asked to come in Christmas colors... Obviously, Zoe had so much fun!

Make your way to Bethlehem, go up to the Child, rock him in your arms, say warm and tender things to him, press him close to your heart... I am not talking childish nonsense, I am speaking of love! And love is shown with deeds. In the intimacy of your soul, you can indeed hug him tight. (The Forge, 345) Have a merry Christmas to you and your whole family!

...with the President (and other VIPs). ...that's how our annual office Christmas party has always been. Boring? Well, not really. It's actually kinda enjoy to eat and party with our bosses once a year. :-) (My other less serious party here .)

Zoe woke up on Christmas morning and found a big box for her from Santa Claus. The card says - "To dear Zoe, From Santa!" "Dad, let's find out what's inside!" Eagerly waiting... "I wonder what's this pink thing..." It's a BIKE!!!! "Let me try it, let me try it!" "I'm giddy happy!" "Ain't it cute?" Off she goes! "Thank you Santa!"

Warning: This is a back post. We still had to go to work on December 24 so it was a mad rush to get home (took undertime from work) to arrive just in time for the 7:30 p.m. anticipated mass in our village chapel. When we got home, Zoe already had taken a bath and was dressing up already. We decided to make her wear her lavender gown (it was a Feast Day A anyway) - this one she last wore during my Dad's wedding last May. :-) She looked so cute that many people made comments on how she was dressed so nicely for the celebration. During the offertory, our family offered something special to be given to the priest. This was like a thanksgiving for the many blessings, both material and spiritual, which we have received for the past year. After mass, we took some more pictures and then put Zoe to sleep already. For the very first time, my Dad was not with us during Noche Buena (he was in Batangas). Anyway, we said our thanks, prayers and happy birthday's to Jesus before eating our No...

Have a blessed and fruitful Christmas everyone!

We headed to Tifanny's house last Saturday night for our annual ODP Christmas Party. It was a potluck party so we decided to bring grilled liempo for our dinner contribution. As usual, food was abundant and so were the chickahan and stories. We had a super fun night. While the boys drank away in Tif's garage, the ladies were in the living room talking about our past ODP experiences and struggles as bank officers (and as working moms too). In a way, I really learn a lot about the struggles and hardships of these friends of mine who are mostly assigned in the branches. I do not know a lot about bank operations --- I've been forever stuck in the Head Office (but doing their salary adjustments and profit sharing, hahaha). Here are some pictures! Thank you for all of those gifts you gave and for those MBTC bags! But where are the calendars and umbrella giveaways?!! LOL!>

We had our Christmas Party last Friday at Schwarzwalder in Makati Avenue. Belonging to the Executive Offices, we had with us the big bosses of our company so the party was short and tamed. :-) After the bigwigs left, we had some fun games and I won 500 pesos in the Hep-hep Hurray Game, hahaha!. Pwede na! Here are some pics: We will have another Christmas Party tomorrow exclusive to our department so I'm looking forward to that too.

The Bill Gates Song (to the tune of "The Christmas Song") Netscape roasting on an open fire, Apple begging on its knees, Photo popping up on Time magazine, Yes, Bill Gates dreams of days like these! Everybody knows he's never fully satisfied, Throws himself behind each task, World dominion is his company's goal. Well, hey, is that so much to ask? He knows the world is in his sway, We'll buy whatever software he might toss our way, We'll surf his Internet, watch his TV, He'll take us anywhere we ask him--for a fee. And so we're offering this simple prayer, To Bill and all his MS grunts: Since we all follow any standard you write, Make it good, please, Make it good, please, Make it good, please, just once! *** Happily Addicted to the Web (to the tune of "Winter Wonderland") Doorbell rings, I'm not list'nin', From my mouth, drool is glist'nin', I'm happy--although My boss let me go-- Happily addicted to the Web. All night...

Ready or not, Christmas is almost here. People are in a frenzy to finish their Christmas shopping. Sadly, for lack of ideas, some just resort to buying generic gifts which only end up in the basement cabinet, never to be used at all. As some will say, "it's the thought that counts." But in this instance, the thought was not deep or creative enough. So for those who want to make an impact or at least convey a sincere message of thanks or of appreciation, I suggest you give personalized holiday gifts which are not only useful but also fit your budget. These are the best gifts that you can give your boss, your colleagues, your officemates and the other people in the workplace. In my case, these are perfect gifts to give someone who is tech-savvy or someone who often uses the computer for work or for business. You can choose among personalized pens, business card drives, thumb drives and wooden USB flash drives. I, myself, would not mind receiving any of these wonderful stuf...

I never expected anything from my Hubby for Christmas maybe because I didn't really want anything for myself. Most of the time, I just wanted to buy stuff for him and for Zoe. Actually, it was okay already for me just being able buy a hard-bound copy of HP 7 (and not just an e-book) plus a bottle of Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil in Green Tea from Duty Free. Unlike when we were younger, we always dressed up in new-everything (clothes, shoes, accessories) every Misa de Gallo. But now that I had become a mom, I just decided to wear something that's not-so-new (but nice) during our Christmas mass. It was Zoe who was doning the "new-everything" get-up. I think motherhood really changes your priorities in life. Anyway, when we were preparing and dressing up in the room to go to Christmas Eve mass, my hubby unsuspectedly got my arm and put on it a gold bracelet. He said "tingnan ko nga kung kasya sa 'yo 'to". I was shocked! The bracelet was LOVELY! Real...

Pardon if I've been posting too many pics of our holiday celebrations. Over-exposed na mukha namin sa blog na 'to. Anyway, just a few more kwento. I'm posting about my happenings as much as possible in chronological order so that there's better drift. Pasensya na, this is more for personal consumption rather than for general public viewing. :-) Last December 30, 2007, the Eggheads aand their families flocked to Gracia's QC house for a pot-luck party. Why Eggheads? It's corny eh. I especially like referring to my "brainy" college friends (from UP Economics) as The Eggheads. Ya know, like when you have a barkada and you give a name to your barkada. The original eggheads were really just Jackie, Lala, Cherry, Gracia and me. We got to know each other at the line for the registration for blocks as freshmen. As some may be familiar, the lines in UP take FOREVER. So on one of those occasions where we registered for a subject, Lala (whose my friend way back fr...

Having slept past midnight after Noche Buena, the whole family awoke to the "Merry Christmas PO!" greetings of the different kids at our doorstep. Good thing we were able to prepare early. The previous day, we wrapped around 50 pieces of Christmas lootbags containing chocolates and candies of all sorts with a piece of dalandan all to be given away to the kids who knock at our doors. I also had exchanged from the bank bags of 5-peso and 1-peso coins for those na namamasko. At lunch time, my mother-in-law, SILs and pamangkins arrived. I prepared spaghetti, garden fresh salad, buco salad and crispy pata for lunch. Tapos they brought with them kare-kare, embutido, kaldereta, etc. etc. Super sarap. It really pays to have Kapampangan in-laws. Hehe. Right after my in-laws arrived, my own cousins and tito and tita naman ang dumating. Jiji brought embutido while Randy brought ice cream. Heto itsura namin -- talagang mukhang magkakamag-anak! We had exchange gifts pala after lunch. Next...

Hi! I'm back to the office today. Gosh, it feels good to have that much-needed vacation. Our Christmas holiday went great! I have so many things that I want to blog about but I have to work muna. Meanwhile, here's my list of "bloggable" kwentos: 1. Lunch with officemates at Dong Wan Korean resto 2. Migraine attacks during the peak of the Christmas rush (it's a struggle to be bothered by migraine on ordinary days what more kung Pasko) 3. My date with my Ate (trip to the Ayala museum and food adventure) 4. Malling at MOA with my family (Zoe's first time) 5. Zoe's First Haircut 6. Christmas Eve Mass and opening of Christmas gifts 7. Christmas Day Reunion with cousins and in-laws (busy, busy, busy) 8. Gian's 2nd Barney-themed Birthday Party Important Foodie Lesson Learned this Christmas: Always store the buko salad in the freezer and not just in the ref. Otherwise, you'll be throwing away your money on spoiled food. Haha! I always knew that because my ...

I can't promise that I can go online this coming holiday vacation coz I'll be very busy with family gatherings. I'll just leave you all guys with this: May all of you have a Blessed Christmas!