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.
Christmas in the Somebang Compound was very simple this year, but also very happy. Who can help being happy when there are kids around?
When I was little, we would sleep on the afternoon of the 24th so we could stay late for Christmas Eve. Papa used to dress up as Santa when it was time to hand us our gifts. There was a time that Lola dressed up as Santa too. Last night, it was my turn again to call out the names and hand over the gifts. No, I wasn’t wearing a Santa suit, but I was wearing a red shirt. Haha 🙂
The food table last night wasn’t as filled as Christmas 2007’s table was. But it was good food, and everyone had their fill. There were still some leftovers by the time the party was over.
The kids had a blast with the games we had all night long. As usual, I was game master, with help from cousin Ton. Apart from the games, they also enjoyed singing – even AJ was trying to hog one of the Magic Sing mics! 🙂
We brought down the TV from my parent’s room, and my brother also setup our stereo with the speakers, so we can have Magic Sing fun. Like in previous years, we spent hours singing along! As a Christmas gift to my parents, I gave dad funds to buy a chip for additional songs for the Magic Sing yesterday. They had been wanting to buy one soon after they got it, Christmas was a good time as any. It was perfectly timed because the songs that everyone wanted to sing were mostly found in that new chip. Although Adam (8) was quite disappointed that Evenascence’s Bring Me to Life was not on the list.
In reality, the cash donations for the prices wasn’t huge, I just had most of it changed to 5 peso coins so we could enjoy them longer. That was a great idea!
Near the end of the evening, I was complaining because I did not get anything – having been the one facilitating the games and not joining any. At that point we passed along a cup for everyone to chip in for a raffle. We put everyone’s names and one lucky person would take home the pot. The donations came in coins, so there wasn’t much, but it was the spirit that more important.
On the first draw, we found out that not everyone’s names were entered. Butchik would have one but we had to redo the whole thing. Guess who one eventually? I did! Hahaha. All 140 pesos of it was mine! Hehe.
The last draw was strictly for the 8 kids. The funds were from Esban’s dad, who had won 300 USD from a raffle at a Christmas party. We had been teasing him all night to give away 10% of his cash. He gave away only 300 pesos though, hehe. I added a few more to the pot so all the kids would have a price, rather than just three. 3 received 10 pesos each, 2 got 20 pesos each, and three more received 100 pesos each. Again, that doesn’t sound much, but it shouldn’t take much to keep everyone happy 🙂
It was a great family night that ended at 5am for me. I am going to miss this on New Year’s Eve.
Christmas is about the only season that I have Starbucks coffee on a regular basis. One reason is the Peppermint Mocha (hot and cold) that’s been my favorite, the other is to complete the stickers for their famous planners. I first used Starbucks planners in 2007. It was a bulky one, with a leather binder. It’s actually reusable. You can just tuck in a new notebook inside. I’m not sure why I didn’t decide to continue using it. It must be the volume of the thing. I loved the 2008 planner even more. The soft leather cover made it lighter. The pages were also just right.
This season, Starbucks discontinued Peppermint Mocha. That was really disappointing. In a way though, it was a perfect excuse NOT to get a Starbucks everyday 🙂 Another excuse: I don’t really find the 2009 planner all that attractive. It has a hard cover, in three colors: blue, red and black. None appealed to me. The pages looked a lot like this year’s though.
So I decided to just reuse the 2008 soft leather cover. I made new pages for it, using the digital scrapbooking supplies I’ve accumulated over the year. This one wouldn’t have fixed dates/days on the pages themselves. I find that I don’t write for each and everyday. So to save space, and ultimately on paper, I have dateless pages that I will just label on a daily basis.
I still haven’t figured how I’m actually going to print these out, back to back. I’m sure I’ll find a way though. I’ve designed a cover also. I have yet to make the month-view calendar. I also saw these cute date planners at the bookstore this morning, and I’m thinking of adding pages like that and making identical ones for two of my girlfriends. The idea is to set dates for various activities with someone and plot them throughout the year.
Here are the pages to my personalized Starbucks planner, still a work in progress:
I was so excited to test these out, I went to buy colored printer ink. I came home disappointed though because there was none on stock for my kind of printer. I’ll probably get one of those compatible inks instead, I’ll just have to get the exact cartridge number. Tomorrow, I’ll be putting together the other parts 🙂
Alfred’s family is hosting their annual reunion this New Year’s eve. It will be held in Bicol though, so there’s no chance of me being there. He did ask me to make their banner so I scrapped a layout using the Sunshine Girls original Winter Wonderland freebie from last year.
Most of the stuff I used are from Flergs, Ellie and Franziska Altman.
