Aside from being busy with all the holiday activities, our laptop decided to conk out during the long holiday break. Our company closed from Dec 19 to Jan 4 and I intended to blog every single day but the pc had other plans. Grr!
Anyways, for the benefit of those very few who are interested (hehe) here are the highlights of our long break.
The days leading to Christmas were filled with shopping trips to the mall-scouting for last minute gifts for friends, doing the grocery and buying things for the house. Since the little one was getting a thousand dollar "gift" from the Australian govt, we also got busy letting him choose toys and a few clothes.
Dec 24, we had dinner at my cousin's place with a few Filipino friends then we all went to hear midnight mass together. Unlike in the Philippines where going to church on Christmas eve meant braving all the dangerous firecrackers in the streets, we had a very quiet walk to church and we celebrated a very solemn mass. I was pleased that the church was full despite having two earlier masses before midnight. After the mass, we went back to my cousin's house to eat some more then headed back home to open our own gifts. Vince said he got the best present ever. He even slept with his huge Speedracer car! hehe I, on the other hand got a very nice gift from A, a set of bling-blings I have been wanting to buy. Nakonsensya naman ako kasi t-shirt lang ang gift for him hehe
Dec 25- Despite sleeping only 4 hours, A and I had to wake up early to prepare for our Christmas lunch and housewarming. We were so tired but we had a fun time in the kitchen kaya siguro masarap ang naging handa namin. Our friends stayed until 10pm, we had videoke marathon, played cards, exchanged gifts and had a few drinks (sila lang kasi bawal sa buntis).
Dec 26 was Boxing Day and even with my bulging tummy, we went with my cousin and friend to get a few good bargains. Bad but I braved the heavy crowds. Kala ko nga mapapa-anak ako sa haba ng pila eh! haha
Dec 27- This was a special day as A and I hosted our mini-college reunion at home. Two of our college professors who are already based here made the event extra special. We enjoyed listening to their stories about raising their kids here and they gave out good advice. They are returning to the Phillipines in a couple of years to retire.
Dec 28- Our college professor invited us to have lunch at their house. Her husband, also a professor at our school, cooked kalderetang kambing and papait, yummy! They even prepared halo-halo for us! Iba talaga ang hospitality ng pinoy.
On New Year's eve, we slept over at my cousins house. There was a magnificent fireworks display at Darling Harbour but with my condition and with a bunch of kids, we decided to watch it on tv instead. Hirap na kasi madami daw lasing and the fireworks is at midnight pa. Bawal din sa buntis ang magpuyat.
On new year's day, we again had lunch at my cousin's place with our pinoy friends and did another round of kris kringle.
That about sums up our holidays. This was very different from the past Christmases we had since we got married. This year, we knew for certain that we'd just be at home and not shuttle between camps and our parents' homes. Although it's sad that we are not spending it with our families in Pinas, we were happy to be together, the three of us plus the coming baby. I guess A summed it up very well in the card he gave me to go with the gift " Thank you for the new beginning."
And that's exactly the same words I whispered to God when the clock struck 12 on Jan 1.
1 comment:
I'm really glad that you are back Tuttie :-) Read your updates and you were one busy lady -- kahit buntis! See you around!
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