I might be too -- (a) busy (b) stressed (c) fatigued -- by Christmas Eve that I won't be able to go online and greet you guys and gals. It's shaping to be a rough week going into the *hay* short Christmas break with work still aplenty and personal errands a-coming.
Elvie is on the graveyard shift so it's going to be a bit complex come Christmas Eve as we also plan to attend the Christmas Eve service at Cosmopolitan Church on the 24th. Here's a breakdown so far of what'll happen:
Dec 23
- 8:30am - 5:30pm: I'll be going to work. Though I'm expecting a shortened period at the Desk, we won't go home early because by ...
- 8:00pm: bring Elvie to the office for her Friday shift which will run until the morning of the 24th
- around 8:15pm: head to Merville, Parañaque to bring my in-laws to my other sister-in-law's house where they (my in-laws) will be spending Christmas
- around 9pm: head off to San Pedro, Laguna
Dec 24
- around 2pm: leave from Laguna for the Christmas Eve service but along the way by
- around 3pm: detour to Pasig to fetch Mark, my wife's nephew and pick-up Christmas carrot cakes for Laguna and our good neighbors in Makati
- around 4:30pm: arrive in Makati and fetch Elvie (where she will have rested and slept after coming from her night shift) and arrive at Cosmo by ...
- 5:30pm: attend the Christmas Eve service
- 7:30pm: estimated time that we'll be on our way back to San Pedro, Laguna
I've not taken into consideration traffic conditions but I'm crossing my fingers that traffic will be lighter by that time, expecting most holiday-rushers to have already gained a head-start on me. Otherwise, I'll need to ready myself to face the chaos of the streets then.
We expect to stay just at Laguna the entire day of Christmas but will probably visit some friends somewhere nearby. Then on the 26th we'll be off to Parañaque for my mother-in-law's birthday celebration. I'll be doing driving duties, I'm sure but since my brother-in-law is also in town, we might sharing duties at the steering wheel (26th is a work day but I've already filed a leave for that).
The 26th is also the day my sister, Wheng, comes home for her annual vacation so from Parañaque we'll be fetching her from the airport in the evening, I believe. Not yet final but that's going into the schedule as well.
The 26th is also the day my sister, Wheng, comes home for her annual vacation so from Parañaque we'll be fetching her from the airport in the evening, I believe. Not yet final but that's going into the schedule as well.
Hope your holiday season's just as swell, folks. Enjoy your Christmas!
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First time I've tasted Del Monte Fit 'n Right Pine-Orange and the first gulp kinda tasted like, guess what --- Yakult. Well, that's what I got but the succeeding gulps finally brought out the pineapple-orange flavor.
And oh yeah, my favorite Del Monte Fit 'n Right flavor, pineapple, also tastes funny, in a good way. When I drink that concoction, the last bits of a gulp always tastes like sampaloc or tamarind :P
Yeah, something must be wrong with my taste buds.
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Got myself a Christmas gift over lunch today -- Beyond the Shadows, Book 3 of Brent Week's Night Angel Trilogy.
While I am still reading The Solaris Book of New Fantasy, I might just set aside that book in favor of this newly-purchased read which is the culminating volume of the adventures of Kylar Stern and the colorful characters in Weeks' fantasy world.
I just had this hunch right before lunch that I'll find something interesting at Fully Booked - Glorietta. So, I headed off to Landmark, paid some bills, ate lunch and proceeded to Fully Booked. I was surprised to see this lone volume of Beyond the Shadow resting in the SF & F rack, priced nicely at Php 315, that I immediately got hold of it.
Now, I've got two books to hold off any urge to read Feast of Crows.
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You know what'll make a great Christmas gift to a bibliophile like myself? A gift certificate to a bookstore.
I've been to Fully Booked - Greenbelt several times the past two weeks looking for small gift items for Ikai's various exchange gifts and aside from books, I've seen hundreds of little stuff that'll make great Christmas gifts to bookish folks.
What am I talking about? Well, aside from books of their liking, bookish folks will never tire of receiving bookmarks, pens, pencils, erasers, page clips, book clips, book-holders, book sleeves (to protect your precious UK edition books), book cases, and the handy book-light.
But a bookstore certificate will probably be the best gift option. At least you'll be empowering the bibliophile in that manner and will ease you of worry that the book or bookmark or pen you buy might not be to the liking of your monito or monita.
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I am proud of my daughter, Ikai. Not only is she able to read simple sentences already but she understands them.
When we were reviewing for her Language and Reading exams last week, one of the exercises was to read simple sentences and phrases consisting of 3-4 letter words that squeezed in the letters "e" and "i" in the middle.
So, I jotted off meaningless phrases such as "red hen in the net" and "the big pig in the pit" and "the tin pin in the bin". To my surprise, after Ikai read those absurd phrases she proceeded to ask me what I meant by those? Apparently, she got the meaning of phrases such as "ten red hen in the pit" or "a big bed of pins" and wanted to understand what I was trying to say in those ridiculously-constructed word mash-ups.
I guess, it's now time to introduce to her simple books for her to read on her own :)
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Stay safe this holiday season, folks!
