where the moon shines

*If you arrived here expecting ::where the moon shines::, you have been redirected to my Blogger blog temporarily. My site is experiencing server issues and my host, unfortunately, is out for the holidays.

After taking a shower this morning, I went ahead and tried to use mom’s hair dryer and see if drying my hair would prevent it from curling up and have more of a finished, salon look. 

I had no intentions to go out this morning, in fact, I just donned another sun dress (also read nightgown ) after showering. I just wanted to time how long blow drying my short hair would take, so I know what to expect if I were to do it before work. So scrap that idea. It won’t really do anything different. 

Well hello there! I had my http://verabear.net redirect to this blog for the time being. My Wordpress site is down due to a database error on the server side. And since I found out that my hosting service is on holidays until the 5th, I figured I’d post here or at Bravejournal, and redirect my site’s hits here too.

I wonder how the kids are going to be celebrating tonight? Ton’s around to facilitate the games anyway. Hay, no more all night videoke singing from me. At least they’ll be relieved I’m not around to hog the mics all night long. Haha

I don’t know if this will actually take off or how much time and effort I’m going to be able to pour into this, but I’m venturing into doing blog makeovers. My repertoire is limited for now, but I’ll work on it

Check out this post.

On an entirely unrelated topic…

Back in the day (sounds like I’m refering to a long time ago don’t it?) I used to stay up in the wee hours of Sunday/Monday morning and watch episodes of the three CSIs (las vegas, miami, and new york). Sometimes I’d get to watch Chuck too. Since the move to the new team, and thereafter the change to weekdays off, I’ve been sleeping off most of my rest days. I’ve also been out shopping a lot instead. Hehe.

I was able to see an episode of CSI Miami the other day though. It must have been old because Speed was still around. Anyway, I used to just pass over DVD sets of CSI  previous seasons when I see those at video stores thinking that CSI episodes are for one-time viewing only. I mean, once you see it, there’s not much point in watching the episodes again. I’ve since changed my mind, I think. I wouldn’t mind getting the boxed sets.

The day after Christmas, I had my hair done. I am now sporting a very short hair-do. (I wanted to post before and after pictures, but hadn’t found any decent ones yet, hence the delay of this post…)

So on Shorts Day at work in the evening of the 26th, I came in sporting a new short ‘do, rather than wearing shorts! We have wacky days at work on crazy occasions and during this holiday week, we’ve had Santa Day, Shorts Day, Jersey Day, and Headgear Day, among others.

Back to hair. Last time I had cut mine really short was around February 2007, just before I transitioned from being trainer to team manager. I had short hair for some time before that, and loved the fact that I didn’t have to worry about what to do with it constantly.

This time around, the cut seems to encourage my wavy hair to curl at the ends! I am happy with the cut, but a bit frustrated too that I may still have to use the straightening iron or blow dry my hair for it to look better (read: like the way it did from the salon). I really don’t want to have to resort to doing that because the main reason I got a cut was to avoid having to style my hair before leaving for work. I’d rather take the 15 minutes to sleep, than to bother about my hair

Anyhoo, it is said that women change their hairstyles when stressed, or when they want to have (or there is) something new in their life. Having haircuts are usually associated with breakups. In my case, yes I am kind of stressing out these days, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with the change. I just had time to look at my hair, and feel it, and thought that I’m better off without too much of it.

But do you agree with that idea though? Where could it have come  from?

I guess there’s a sense of freedom in having your hair cut really short after wearing long tresses. And don’t you agree that having a cropped ‘do sort of emboldens you? Somehow it helps add a spring to your step. Haha As for me, there aren’t any major changes on the horizon in the next month. I mean, I’ve just had change, remember? Oh, and god knows how long it will take me to fully sink in with this one before the next big change comes along.

If Christmas Eve was always spent with the Somebangs, then Christmas Day was for the Ocampo side of our family.  In at least two years though, this being the third, I’ve been passing off the one hour road trip to San Fernando, Pampanga, where my Aunt’s family hosts the annual gathering.

Yesterday, it was only Mom and Dad who took the trip. I really had no excuse to skip this year, having the night off work too. But I had asked Alfred if he wanted to come, and he wasn’t up to it. Of course, had I known that he was only coming over by dinner time, then I would probably have gone along with my parents. Or maybe not.

With my paternal cousins also having kids now, gatherings should be noisy and fun and filled with kiddie activities. My kind of thing, you know? But they’re different. I guess it’s just because I don’t ever spend any time with them, and I am not as close with them as I am with my cousins on my mother’s side…

Mom brought with her the puppy pockets and some small stuff to give away as prizes. I don’t think they ever got down to playing any games though. Esban would probably go ballistic when he finds out that Ma gave away those cuties. He was really looking forward to getting them for himself!

BUT, I do not mean to compare the Christmases I spend with our two families. To do so would be rude. I’m just really trying to psychoanalyze myself: why do I keep skipping Christmas Day when I should really be throwing myself to it?

In a way, I don’t think I know how to treat my nieces and nephews. I don’t know them, so I’m not sure how to make them happy. I guess I’m not sure if they’d dig the same kind of stuff I had my nieces and nephews here do at our parties. But that’s not the kids’ problem, right? It’s mine. It’s not their fault they don’t know me. I’ve been hiding out!

When we were kids, Christmas Day meant a short trip to Caloocan City, to the family home along Maypajo. It’s the home of my grandmother’s family and her younger sister and brother (who both never got married) still live there until now. Of course Lola Binyang (Virginia) would be there, and my dad’s sisters’ families would be too. Sometimes, my lola’s other brother’s and sister’s families would drop by too.

I always remember just waking up already on the couch at Pajo. I easily had motion sickness as a kid, so I always either slept through any trip, or else I’d throw up all the way. The house at Maypajo is an interesting home. My dad used to tell us stories of him hiding under the silong reading comics that his dad didn’t want him reading. Too bad they had to fill the silong, because that area always became flooded. I kind of regret not getting to know the history of the house, you know? Now, it probably looks completely different from how I remember it. Tio Rizal had the place renovated a few years back.

I would also look forward to my grandmother’s gifts. And then there were the crisp bills that would come from the others. The Somebangs don’t give out money and even when Papa and Lola started to, that only happened when we were all grown up and I guess my grandparents didn’t know what to get each of us. Also, the kids never received money as gifts, they always got toys or clothes, or even shoes! So anyway, having that contrast, I’d look forward to the crisp twenties, fifties, or even hundreds, that would come from my other lolo’s, lola’s, aunts and uncles. When Mom and Dad got home last night, I was surprised that Kuya and I still had one red envelope each! Thanks Tita Baby and Tito Ver!

There was also a time when there were really no plans for Christmas Day, and so we would just go to my Lola’s house at Sangandaan. This would have happened when all us kids were grown up, and none had kids of their own yet. Then when the eldest grandchild Winnie got married, we’d have Christmas lunch at their home too.

Eventually, after grandma died, we became more organized at Christmas. I guess it was one reason to be sure that the family got together though the matriarch had already gone home. I’m not sure if we’ve ever hosted a Christmas, but I’m sure Tito Boy did when they were still here at their Santa Ana home.  Then Christmas Days were spent in Pampanga, hosted by Tita Baby and her family. They’ve got a nice garden and a backyard, ample space for everyone. We’d be there for lunch, and stay until late afternoon. There’d be more than enough food for everybody.

Now, I kind of feel bad about not going yesterday. How else would I know what to get the kids for Christmas next year if I spend ZERO time with them?

Maybe next year I’d see more of my Ocampo family. Fingers crossed.