Three French Hens

This song was playing in my head early this morning. Today is the third day of Christmas.

♫♫♪♫On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.♪♪♫♪

(Photo culled from the net)

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Those Moments

I know I said I am done with my last post for Christmas but I like to share some snippets of  some behind-the-scene moments  that we simply enjoyed.

Armed with the two empty boxes of Olay, Nate started singing some Christmas songs of old. We urged him to go and sing for mom and his tito Josef while Nissa and I were laughing so hard because Nate felt so hesitant to sing in front of them. All I heard clearly was “thank you, thank you, ang babait ninyo, thank you”. A typical line I always hear from street kids during Christmas. I laughed when he said “there is five thousand pesos there” referring to the 500-hundred peso bill that he got. He counted the new crisp twenties and he was happy. I remember last year I also gave him a big piggy bank and he said that it is almost full. I told him to make a habit of saving.

We had our snack around 4 pm and Nate finished two big slices of pizza. He said he loved Hawaiian flavors but I doubt if he really knows the difference. As long as it is pizza, everything is fine with him.  They waited for the dream cake to bake and brought home a tin together with two boxes of our native delicacy we call bibingka.

Obet and I were both craving for green mangoes  so we had one each. Loved it with sweet spicy bagoong.  A officemate gifted Josef with a jar of crunchy garlic in soybean oil. Perfect for dips with kalamansi and soy sauce.

It’s the second day of Christmas. ….♫♪two turtle doves and a partridge on a pear tree♪♪♫. Oh, I feel like singing.

Always strive to be happy. Joy comes when you are.

 

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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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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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They’re Counting Too?

I was not mistaken.

Yesterday, Sunday, most radio stations played Christmas  songs in the air. You know those old familiar tunes and lyrics that you have memorized through the years. And you’re happy. They remind  you  of  Christmas past and those cold nights and foggy mornings. Yes, sometimes you wake up to cold morning breeze touching your cheeks, And yes, you’ll surely enjoy that hot cup of coffee and pan de sal of course. I’d like to think pan de sal  is comfort food for most Filipinos. It is part of their breakfast along with tocino (Filipino cured meat and tastes like bacon.) or longganisa  (Filipino sausage). Pan de sal is a common bread roll which you can buy hot and fresh from the oven at any neighborhood corner.  Although the price hasn’t gone up yet  (it’s pegged at P2 pesos each), the size has visibly shrunk.  Yet you still enjoy waiting for that vendor in a bike selling them every morning.   You patiently wait for that “potpot” sound of  the pan de sal vendor.

Longganisa, my recipe.

Pan de sal

Tocino

I just smiled.

I smiled while watching the early morning show on television.  They had guests who sang Christmas carols and a chef who prepared those mouth-watering Christmas recipes and menus. I am thinking of shopping early for family’s Christmas gifts.  Hopefully by November, they are all wrapped under the tree.  Did I tell you that we usually put up our  Christmas tree and decorations by November?

My own Christmas countdown and it is only September 3.  The air lanes are busy just like me, anticipating a happy occasion no matter how hard life is.

 

 

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