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I don't think I have that much relatives, not as much as my high school classmate has (she had this thick book that had her family tree listed in it and used it to know if you were her long-lost cousin). I think we're relatively a small clan. Look up my last name in the directory and you'll just see less than a handful of listings with my last name. (Note: they are all my relatives!). I was also spotted by a long-lost relative in the US through Friendster and we're still verifying if we are indeed long-lost cousins or something. (Strange though that when you query for my last name in Google my blog doesn't show up! Hmmm...).

I remember growing up in a household with a lot of extended family. I didn't just have my Ate and my Kuya, I had a slew of Titos and Titas living with us and my cousin Tina was only returned to her parents when she was a baby when I was born. My Ate's husband said in the past relatives would actually exchange babies. He said one of his Dad's brothers wanted to raise him. My only reaction was, "But babies aren't puppies to be passed on around!" Anyway, thank God I was never lent or borrowed.

Our house seems a bit empty now. Well, normally for 11 months in a year, but during Christmas we're more than fully booked. You'd actually see the floor lined up with my nephews and nieces. I remember one Christmas when both my Ate and Kuya's family stayed here, our house felt like a kindergarden. Children running around. The older set rushing about. Breakfast-lunch and dinner was always like a party.

I cannot imagine how my Mom and Dad managed to build our house. My Mom said they loaned it when she was still working for PNB. It took them 15 years to pay and full payment coincided on their 25th wedding anniversary. If you ask me, I wouldn't know where to start, much less know where Mortgage Loan Processing begins. And, I definitely do not want a big house. Just imagining all the cleaning I'd have to do gives me the hives (kidding).

I've never lived anywhere else. Give or take a few weeks in Bicol, a few weeks in exile at my favorite Tito's home, living in hotels the past couple of years... I have no idea if I'll ever move, live anywhere, be uprooted or whatever. Or I might be one of those people who'd live in the same place forever, but at least I could say I don't live a boring life. If I stay in the same home forever, well then that means I'd really be our parish' historian. LOL. I wouldn't mind.

I am curious though how it feels to move. The most I've done is move from the upper level of our house to the basement and that took me a month. Care to tell your story?

*Photo - that's not our house though... that photo was taken somewhere Bali last Christmas. Can you spot my twin niece?