Spending Christmas With The Family

Ah, that was a lovely Christmas lunch. And we almost forgot to take pictures except  for the group shot  and the food on the dining table before we had our lunch. Since Nissa’s family didn’t spend the night here, we have to open our gifts early.

Nate was a little impatient and he kept asking “Are you done eating Nonna? Can I open my gifts now?”. He was a little disappointed though when he didn’t receive more toys but clothes and cash gifts instead. He knows cash goes directly to his ITF savings account. I told him when he got his birthday gift last month that I won’t give him toys this Christmas. Right after, everyone got busy but we were so noisy around the dining table except for Nate who was busy watching cartoons, Obet sleeping and Kevin on his cellphone. Mom had that indulgent smile and was curious about what we were doing.  They prepared puto bungbong, some more orders of Dream Cake and we also ordered two boxes of pizza for snacks. Such a joyous family gathering.

Aside from her other gifts, Nissa gave me a Samsung phone with a 16 megapixel camera. I have to buy one more SIM card and a load.  I tried it with one of our potted blooms and the picture looked so sharp although the light was a little low because of the rain yesterday.

Mom and I  attended the midnight mass on television  after our Noche Buena  and  was officiated by Fr. Jerry Orbos, one of the best SVD priests around. Last February he met an accident and he questioned God’s wisdom. Why him? It was then that they found out about the stage 2 lung cancer.  He  has undergone surgery, been on chemotherapy. He is a little thin now but the zest for living and sharing His words are still there. He emphasized how faith could work wonders when you have nothing more to cling to except God’s mercy.  He talked about the importance of family. When everyone has given up on you, your family will still be there by your side. He talked about health, one thing that we should not ignore is our health. Trust in His goodness,  He would not let us be burdened by loads we can’t carry. I was touched by the prayers he shared in front of the image of the Holy Family.

We slept around 1:30 am and looked forward to today. Oops, I know this would be my  last post for Christmas this year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

 

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Merry Christmas

And before the day starts, I  want to greet you all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!  And Christmas clock says it is 18 hours, 53 minutes.

Thank you for another year of journeying with me.

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Still Counting

It’s a wet, wet Sunday morning.  It’s been raining since I woke and it looks like it’s gonna rain come Christmas day. A bed weather indeed.

It is the fourth Sunday of Advent.  So what season comes next after Advent? You’re right, it’s Christmas.

Last night I attended the 8th Simbang Gabi and it is also an anticipated mass for today. I was praying the rosary before the evening mass when my bracelet rosary chain broke and the swarovski stones were scattered on the floor. The elasticized chain gave up on me  after so many years of continued use.  I normally wear it when I go out.  Good thing I still have four more rosary bracelets made of different materials and were gifts from close friends.  I make rosaries as gifts but I also receive several ones from friends as pasalubong  (souvenirs) from abroad  mostly from Vatican, Siena, Spain and from the Holy Land.  I even have a  ring rosary sent by a friend from Italy.

I went out for a while to buy some fruits from the village store. Local fruits are more expensive than the imported ones, the latter mostly from China.  Mangoes, papaya, melons,  pomelo –  they have it all there.  Pears and apples are plenty so with imported oranges.

And the Christmas clock says, it’s one day, fourteen hours to go before Christmas 🙂

 

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The Fred Factor

Have you heard of this?  Have you read it? The cover says how passion in your work and life can turn the ordinary into extraordinary.

Last night when Josef came home from work, he gave  me this book called The Fred Factor. He told me, it is not his Christmas gift  but just thought I would appreciate having a copy  of my own. Not much into reading self-help books nowadays but this seem to be a good one.

“People doing good work feel good & people doing exceptional work feel, exceptional. Accomplishments contributes greatly to satisfaction.” 

“You are the spark that sets others on fire when you initiate.”

“The only thing better than an acknowledgement is action.”

These are just some of the lovely quotes from the book. I wish I could read this before the year ends. Could I ever be a Fred?

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It’s Getting Near

Remembering Christmas past.

This would be the first time that we won’t be complete on the 24th which is Christmas Eve. Josef still has to report to  work on the 24th but it is a special holiday here.  Nissa, Obet and Nate are coming over though but they won’t spend the night here because Christmas day happens to be Tuesday and they will spend  it with my son-in-law’s family. The following day is a regular work day.

In the past we would be busy preparing for Noche Buena  right after the evening mass and wait for 12 am  (Christmas day) to partake of the food on the table and open the gifts afterwards. We would always sleep late and wake up early again to attend Christmas Day mass.

I was looking at some of the photos I uploaded at  Photobucket and found  some Christmas photos.

We didn’t put up this Christmas tree this year because we have Oreo now.  He would play with anything he could reach and those Christmas balls would be added attraction to him. It’s a seven-foot tree. I don’t miss it much though because it is a little hard to dismantle it afterwards and clean all those decor before returning them back to their boxes. It is always exciting of course to put up a tree. Sadly,  we have never experienced having a real tree because we simply don’t have them here.  Even stores except for S & R and probably Landers now don’t sell real pines.  Next year, I’d like to decorate a small  one that would fit a side table.

And I’m in a quandary to take out or even display the gifts for the family this early. Oreo might play with them too. He played with my indoor plants last night 😦

This morning, I went to the wet market to buy some fresh ingredients for my pasta. I was thrilled when two of my sukis gave me a pretty small utility bag and a big bottle of patis (fish sauce). Such generous gestures. I receive gifts from them both every year.

Christmas clock says it’s two days, fifteen hours to go before Christmas.

 

 

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Quiet Musings

Remembering the image of our front garden years ago when we still had those Koi fish swimming in our small pond. They are all gone now and the Pandakaki, Fukien Tea plants and Gold Dust plants have grown. The carabao grass had become a little sparse.  I have replaced some of my plants with new ones.

I miss my Koi. I miss their  golden bodies  swimming back and forth and the sound of flowing water made them seem to dance.

Sometimes, you long for the quiet moments – moments of reflection, moments of contemplation, moments that you love remembering time and again.

And the Christmas clock says, it’s three days, 11 hours to go before Christmas 🙂

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Four More Days

The Christmas clock says it is only 4 days and 15 hours to go before Christmas as I write this.

Looking forward to Christmas Eve too when we will again  attend the Christmas Eve mass before we prepare something for Noche Buena.  I am planning to cook some more  recipes in advance so I won’t be so busy when the time comes. Would just want to celebrate the time with the family. Just made two kilos of embutido a few days ago and they are now kept in the freezer. You only need to reheat/steam  them again before eating.

I was looking at my earlier  posts on Facebook’s Memories on this same day until last year. They have also made a video on how 2018 went based on earlier postings. I found this photo I took of our Christmas tree years before.

I used to make these memes via my Canon Ixus camera but now my camera is gone and I haven’t replaced it yet.

And this too:

When I think of the years I’ve written about life, the beauty of it and all its angst, I sometimes wonder where I am coming from. The beauty of life, we celebrate it. We smile at those memories that come and go leaving us breathless at times. We embrace the life the way we should, anticipating another lovely day to celebrate. Yes, life is a celebration.

This paragraph is an excerpt from one of my earlier posts here at WordPress but I could no longer remember its title.  Senior moments, really!

After gardening  yesterday and an early scheduled  washing today, it is time to relax and just enjoy the Christmas music I am listening to from YouTube. Yes, I just love the Pentatonix.  I love this best, the Little Drummer Boy.  Oh but I love them all. Enjoy the music.

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Morning At The Garden

I wonder how many calories I burned doing three hours of gardening this morning.  Yes, I started early around 6 am and stopped by  almost 9 am with only a cup of coffee to go and the company of our “makulit” dog Noki.  I am not done yet trimming the carabao grass.  And I have to cut  some dried leaves of my prayer plants.

A passive pursuit but a good morning exercise….gardening, that is. Anyway, I want to see the garden at its best this coming Christmas. My Bougainvillea blooms are doing a crazy dance in the morning breeze. I just love those clustered pink flowers. Once it starts flowering, it does not stop. It is a perennial plant and just right for our sunny weather.  Our neighbor gave me some cuttings of cherries. I wonder if they will grow in our climate here. I’ll just try to grow them first in pots.

It was cloudy early this morning so it was a perfect time to spend in the garden. Took some shots a while ago.

My Bougainvillea

My Bougainvillea is located outside at the corner of our lot and it makes a good view of our grotto.

 

Prayer plants

I am proud of my two shrubs of  burgundy okra. The photo I took before was a little blurry so I took two more shots. I am letting the earlier fruits to mature before I harvest them for planting.

 

It’s flowering at the moment.

 

Crossandra

These Crossandra blooms are growing everywhere in the garden. I wonder if it has any other color aside from orange.

 

 

 

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Our Very Own Is Miss Universe 2018

Oh yes, I was jumping with joy when her name was announced. Catriona Gray, our own Miss Philippines won the Miss Universe crown for 2018. When she was included in the top five and they were given their own set of questions, I was sure she would bring home the crown. There were 94 countries  who participated.

I don’t normally watch local beauty pageants but since this is a Miss Universe competition, I braved two hours of being glued to the television.  Even before the Miss Universe pageant was held this morning, there were already positive feedback on Catriona Gray. She was even the best in the Swimsuit competition. She was really a standout from the start. The way she carried herself, the way she answered those questions,  the beauty, the charm, the lovely smile, grace and intelligence rolled into one. She is truly a bright beam and contrast to the dismal happenings and situations here in our country.

AP Photo – Miss Universe 2018

In her answer to the final question, Catriona said her experience working in the slums of Tondo, Manila taught her to see the beauty of children.

“I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila and the life there is very poor, sad and I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty in it, to look in the beauty of the children and be grateful. And I will bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. And if I could teach people to be grateful, we can have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster and children will have smiles  on their faces”, she said.

This is the fourth crown the Philippines has won for Miss Universe. Back in December 20, 2015, Pia Wurtzbach, another Filipina beauty won for Miss Universe 2015.  Before that, Gloria Diaz won the title in 1969 followed by Margarita Moran in 1973. Magaganda talaga ang mga Filipina.

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Loud And Clear

And when the world is still and quiet,

You hear the song clearly in your head.

And it whispers PEACE.

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