i feel lazy

i feel so lazy today...i have so many things to do but my adrenaline is nowhere to be found.

i guess this has something to do with the season...it always feels good to just bum around, stay at home and just do nothing at all.

there's a plan to go for-the-boys tonight...clean fun and lots of food, i'm not sure though if i could come because i have prior appointment before they set that one up.

tomorrow is our last day at the office...we're going out...food and coffee, for sure.

on thursday morning i am emceeing at a wedding ceremony...friday night i got invited to a Christmas musical presentation....and then saturday...after that it's the 24th...need i tell you what's happening then?

it's the holiday rush, and i am lazy to the bone.

christmas parties

now that december is almost halfway and the year is nearing its end, christmas parties are all over...there is not a weekend (and weekday too) that there is not a party happening...be it company parties, family parties, school parties, just-friends party, reunion parties and what have you.

i myself had two christmas parties i've already attended and a lot more to go to in the coming days...in fact starting tomorrow, thursday until saturday, my nights are full...they are happening in hotels, big restaurants, rented lawn, some open spaces, ballrooms.

i remember my younger days when our christmas parties were held inside classrooms...and when we would be a bigger group, we would just be shoved inside a cafeteria with lanterns hanging all over the place and a big "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" accordion-like cardboard pasted on the wall...those are hilarious times when you think about them now...everybody, i mean just about everybody would be wearing their nicest and newest clothes, bringing anything for exchange gifts...and then we would have spaghetti, sandwich (or nutri-bun, remember that?), hotdogs, fried chicken and anything everybody could bring.

now, as we have grown, parties have become more elaborated and more grand than it used to be...they are now being held inside big venues, auditoriums, tent cities, and almost everyplace where people could congregate...lechon is almost always an ingredient to big celebrations, wines are flowing, lobsters and seafood decorate the tables, chocolate cakes, pizzas, variety of pastas, these and more make for great food and happy people...prizes have become more expensive...home appliances like television sets, dvd players, washing machines, electric fans are given away...even latest gadgets --- latest cellphones, mp3 players, ipods, pda's and laptops flood the area as raffle prizes....from grocery items to cars...yes, some companies raffle away cars and hundreds of thousands of pesos in cash...parties have become a wishing-venue for people who have needs of anything from physical to material things.

but i am thankful that there are still people who do parties for relationship's sake and not so much for the material favor that they bring...i am content with just having to listen to friends tell stories of their lives and just while away the time in the company of people close to me...those who have influenced my thinking, my character, my attitude and my life in general...having food would be great, but it should neither limit us nor motivate us for such...barbeque, pancit bihon, leche flan or majablanca, and puto would definitely do...how about gifts?...well, they are not a requirement...and frankly i would be very glad to receive some...but in all honesty, the gift of friendship is one great gift one could give to another.

let christmas parties bring us joy and fun and gladness....but let the reason why we do christmas parties be the center of it all...that's Jesus.

what's special for you?

i received an email from my boss asking me to list down the two most special things for me about Christmas.

i thought about it for a while...i was tempted to say the birth of Jesus and His abounding love for us, but this we all know already, so i listed two more.

1. how families make this event a time to come together, literally and relationally. it always makes me feel good to just see people celebrate the season (not just dec25,but the whole month) with so much anticipation. the whole atmosphere of the Christmas season makes for a special feeling for me.

2. the long period of no-work and no-school because i get to spend a lot of time with my family. it is only during this time that we can really take off and just go anywhere we want on evenings without worrying about getting up very early the next day. but more than all of these favorable situations, it is really the time i get to spend with my family that makes it so special.

so there...how about you...want to think about the two most special things for you about Christmas?

of travels and triumphs...

i just got back from a supposedly 3-day convention in Caliraya Recreation Center in Laguna. i said "supposedly" because i was only there for two days...we were supposed to go back to Manila only today but we had to last night because there's another meeting happening today that necessitated our going home earlier...Caliraya is such a nice resort...i've gone there i think 4 times already...it's huge and has great amenities like water skiing and kayaking, coz there's a big man-made lake...it has two tennis courts, a basketball court, a swimming pool, kids playground, an earth-ball court, a horse-riding area, a pond where you can fish all you want as long as you pay the fish you catch, and many more...one thing about this convention though, was that the sessions are all cramped next to each other that we did not get enough time to just enjoy the facilities in the place...the sessions are all important but the program is too tight...i mean, what's the point of having the convention held in a place like Caliraya when you would not have the chance to enjoy the place...why pay for something you won't even have the chance to use...a hotel in Manila would have sufficed...but then, i don't have the right to complain...i didn't pay for the registration fee with my own money.

going home last night i suddenly remembered that i only needed one Starbucks sticker to complete my booklet for the most-coveted planner in the whole world...well, ok...in the Philippines, at least in Manila...so i went to Starbucks and went directly to the counter, proudly dangling my booklet in front of the barista...i smiled at her and told her i that i only needed one sticker and i will have my planner...after smiling back at me and taking my order she promptly got the leather-Starbucks-spiral-planner from the shelf and handed it to me...and as if receiving an award from a prestigious award-giving body, my hand reached out to my trophy, allowing a whisper to come out of my lips...Thank You...was all i could muster to say...after 21 cups of cofee....after so many caramel macchiatos, christmas blends, colombias, sumatras, peppermint mochas, tazo teas, toffee lattes, white chocolate mochas...now i have it in my hands...i barely heard the other barista calling out "one venti-pepermint-mocha for sir Rodel"...i love it when they call out the customer's name followed by the coffee ordered...but it was sweeter last night because i had my coffee in one hand and i had my planner in the other...."at last i got it", i told myself triumphantly as i walked back to my car.

i just love it when my plans come together...

early Christmas

our office just had our very early Christmas party last Friday, December 1st at GUMBO Restaurant in Mall of Asia...it has been my 7th annual Christmas party with Book of Hope, and I'm still counting...it was a blast...food was great and plenty...but as usual i did not get to eat a lot because i was the emcee for the evening...i have always been, i think, for as long as i can remember...not because i am good but because others would rather just enjoy the party instead of having to stand and talk almost the whole time...isn't that unfair?

after the party we watched the fireworks that the MOA is doing on Fridays and Saturdays...it lasted for about 20 minutes...and boy, did they do a good job...it was like New Year's Eve on the 1st of December... everybody, kids and adults included, enjoyed the elaborated fireworks...afterwards, the kids went ice-skating while the adults played cheerleaders.

it is always a joy to spend time with friends and co-workers outside the work environment...when everyone would just have fun and exchange great talks without having to think about the work and meetings everybody would attend to the next working day.

i love the people i work with...and i always feel that i belong...they're my second family.

on a side note...i'm off to Caliraya Rssort tomorrow for a three-day convention.