Daddy's Noche Buena

My Dad was active in the Knights of Columbus. He was the founding Grand Knight in our parish. I got to spend a lot of time with the "knights" (mostly our neighbors) because I'd tag along with my Dad whenever they had activities. One of those activities was the Sunday morning walkathons. I would be on my BMX bike while my Titos would walk. Sadly my Dad and most of my titos are in heaven now. 

That time me and my choir friends tagged along the K of C summer outing.

Daddy was very passionate about helping. One of the projects he had was helping the innocent go free from prison. We had several of those ship in a bottle as gifts from prisoners. He also gave free consultation as a lawyer. My Mom said she'd be surprised about receiving chickens when they were newly married. One of the most memorable projects Daddy initiated was the "Share a family" activity. 

Instead of just giving donations he organized a noche buena day with families from the developing area. They matched a member K of C family with the developing area family. Daddy thought that would be more enriching than just giving donations. This allowed two very different families to get to know each other while eating a meal prepared by the K of C family. It was indeed an enriching experience and we did it several times. Afaik, the K of C in our parish has been continuing the tradition, probably suspended for now due to the pandemic. 

Our outreach has been limited, mainly because my energy has been affected by my illness. It gives me so much joy to provide merienda for the crew who comes in to fix our home. I got them some mamon and softdrinks yesterday and their huge smiles made me happy. I wish I could go the extra mile and really prepare them a feast, but hope they appreciate the food delivery I've been getting for them. Simple joys :)

Merry Christmas everyone and happy birthday Baby Jesus! 

#Home51 #NewG195 #Xmas1 #StayHome #BeKind  

Christmas Preps

My heart is heavy seeing our kababayans in Visayas and Mindanao still having a hard time after #OdettePH. I have been focusing my time more on organizing our home than preparing for Christmas. I finally pushed myself to set up the tree last Saturday when our contractor sent a base to replace the missing tree stand. Sweetie and Miggy put the lights on the tree, but I'm still finding the strength to decorate. (Please see below where you can send help).

Our target for this week is to prepare for Christmas lunch with our parents. We hope our dining table will be delivered (it's delayed for two weeks now). The boys have been doing all the heavy lifting while I figure out where to keep stuff. It's hard to merge homes. I'm also setting aside pre-loved items which may be useful for other homes. 

The rain yesterday helped me move around more. I apparently function better at a certain temperature. I overdid it and felt unwell by early evening hehe. Today's it's 31'C (feels like 36'C) and I'm melting so I'll adjust and do planning on my computer for now. That's the problem when you have heart disease, you're prone to be affected by weather. That's the reason why my former director wanted to put me in a bubble, LOL. 

Anyway, what's important is for us to prepare to celebrate Papa Jesus' birthday with our parents. I pray that the situation of our brothers and sisters in VisMin would improve soon. If you can help, you can send it through the following:

#Home47 #NewG199 #Xmas5 #StayHome #BeKind  

Hello Ber Months, Day 1 of the Christmas Season!

Oh wow it's already the ber months! Today marks the first day of the Christmas season in the Philippines. I wonder if they've started to play holiday songs on the radio and in malls. It wasn't always like this. We used to start celebrating only in November. My Mom would normally set November 30 as the day we set-up the tree since it's a holiday. I don't know when  it was declared that the Christmas season starts when the ber months come. 

I think celebrating Christmas for 100 days is a good idea. It always feels like your daily grind changes, since there's something to look forward to. I remember in my previous jobs we'd start preparing for the Christmas party towards the end of November. I was also usually part of the holiday party committee. It was always a busy time where you try to see all of your friends before the deluge of family reunions. 

I must admit in the past few years I've been so busy. We didn't even set-up a tree in 2019. I made up for it last year and set-up our decorations early. It was a good thing I did because my health went downhill by mid-December. It was really hard for our family to be miles part last year, but we managed. We're all looking forward to be complete this Christmas. Family is everything. 

I haven't really planned what we'll do for Christmas. I expect movement would still be very restricted. We also have to continue following all measures to keep safe. We'll probably just have a nice family meal at home, exchange gifts and I hope I'd be able to send some personally baked cupcakes to family and friends. Let's all hope for a happier and safer Christmas this year!

Merry Christmas!

CB///*Yr2/143 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/166 #NewG304 #Home62 #StayHome #BeKind