Before the highly-anticipated Christmas break...

I was able to meet up with some of my LB friends. It was very timely because I miss them na and I had a naudlot Christmas party mood that time. Lifesavers!

(L-R) Ja, Marvin, Melai, Yen, Me, and Deejay (Riel, Ja's bf took this pic :D)

Santa moment

We all have our Santa Claus-related moments. Most of them include the usual hanging of socks, making wish lists, promising to be a good boy/girl, and trying to stay up until 12 midnight to meet and personally thank Santa for his gifts. But for me, my most memorable Santa Claus-related moment is when I learned that he's fake.

I was six years old (I'm guessing here) when I realized that it's my parents who put all the gifts underneath the Christmas tree and the candies and money (mostly coins) inside my socks. The day before Christmas, my mother took me with her to shop for some items we needed for Noche Buena. She grabbed some candies and put them in the cart together with the other groceries.

When my sister and I woke up at midnight to check out our gifts, I realized that the candies in my socks were the same candies my mother got from the shopping center! I was confused but excited (because of the gifts) so I didn't ask my mother about it. I thought maybe Santa bought the same candies and put it in my socks. He shops, right?

A couple of Christmases after that, I remembered the incident and confronted my parents about Santa's true identity. Knowing that they could no longer fool me (because I'm smart, you know. hehe), they confessed that yes, Santa is just a Christmas figure.

I didn't hate them for that and it wasn't a traumatic Christmas experience for me (unlike to other children) because from the very beginning, I was quite suspicious about this guy in the red suit. I mean, none of my friends had seen him so no biggie for me.

But Santa Claus is still my favorite Christmas icon (next to Baby Jesus. Yihee!) And I'll still tell my kids about him. Merry Christmas, everyone :)

Pampalipas Oras

Category:	Books
Genre:	Biographies & Memoirs
Author:	James Frey

James Frey talks about his six-week experience inside a drug rehabilitation center in
Minnesota. He was 23 years old when he learned that he could die if he'd use another illegal drugs or drink another liquor (that's how fucked up his body was).

Even though The Smoking Gun and Oprah Winfrey questioned the truthfulness of some of the accounts written in the book, I still love it because Frey emphasizes that being a drug addict and getting better are a choice (except, of course, if you were drugged w/o your knowledge).

Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Thomas Hardy

The book is considered a great classic of English literature but I didn't like the story. Tess Durbeyfield was sent by her father to the house of the d'Urbervilles to claim keenship. The history of the Durbeyfield-d'Urberville was really a bit twisted so they all believed it was true. When Tess got there, her life became miserable in the hands of Alec d'Urberville who sperminated her.

Tess somehow have moved on with her life (her baby died, by the way) and met a good man named Angel Clare but he left her when he learned about her past (so he's not-so-good after all).

Basta ang dami pang nangyari na feeling ko na-violate si Tess!

Category:	Books
Genre:	Teens
Author:	Tanuja Desai Hidier

This is a must read for teenage girls who are currently at the awkward stage of their lives (puberty) or/and confused about their cultures.

Indian-American heroine Dimple Lala learns how to bring two cultures together without losing herself in the process.

(kakakilig yung lovelife niya dito. hehe)

Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Goldberry Long

"Juniper Tree Burning hates her name. It represents all she despises: her hippie mother, Faith; her restless father, Ray; her helpless baby brother, Sunny Boy Blue; and the raw poverty of her New Mexican childhood. She escapes them all to become Jennie, a fierce, intelligent woman with a rage so powerful even her seemingly perfect new husband cannot get close. Then one night the police call -- Sunny has leaped off a Seattle ferry. Jennie takes her only friend and flees New Mexico, retracing her brother's final steps, and the path traveled by generations of her family. It is only by facing her history that Jennie is able to come to terms with her rage, her grief, her guilt at Sunny's death, and her greatest challenge -- accepting love."

-- readinggroupguides.com

(tinatamad na akong magsulat.haha)

Of birthdays and deaths

So I just celebrated my birthday two weekends ago. I was really planning to have a decent birthday celebration with my family and friends but the universe just didn't conspire. I should've Secreted it, no?

Well, the mood escaped me na rin even before November 23 because two of my friends passed away.

More than two weeks ago, Potchi, our nine-year old dog died because (according to my mother) he fell into an uncovered drainage outside our subdivision. The most painful part is knowing the he suffered before he died. We speculate that he didn't see the open drainage because of his poor eyesight. At 9, he didn't have a perfect vision anymore. (We saw him bumped into the tiny pole in the backyard more than once.)

When he fell, I think he panicked and had a seizure attack. When he's nervous (like during New Year's eve--he's scared of firecrackers/fireworks or anything that explode), we'd find him on the floor with stiffed muscles. Even though we'd take him to the vet for his regular shots, he'd still have those attacks.

I wasn't home when it happened and when he was buried. I think it's better that way because I know I couldn't let go of it easily. Sometimes I just imagine that he's not dead; that he's just sleeping outside with Xena, Clay, and Shortie...

Then, the night before my birthday, I received a phone call from a grade school classmate informing that our grade 6 homeroom adviser passed away. She suffered from cancer for years. It was really saddening because after our second reunion, my classmates and I were planning to visit her...but that's too late now.

And then gimmicks were canceled left and right. So there..not really a super fun month.