December Madness

Barely 9 days before Christmas yet my Christmas list is not complete. Who’s to blame? The Director and those behind all these activities. Yes! This is still in connection with the Palaro in December entry.

We thought our activities will end with the sports fest. We’re wrong. Aside from the basketball, volleyball, bowling and dart tourney, we still have two things to deal with – CHORAL and DANCE PRESENTATION. These will be presented during the Christmas Party. This two-contest event is another deviation from the Christmas celebration tradition wherein only one competition is being made.

Anyway, like what was emphasized in my previous post, the people here in the bureau will not just come up with good presentations. They will always come up with something grand that is “at par” with The Philippine Madrigal Singers for choral or a dance number that will give the Bayanihan Dance Troupe a run for their money. And we know what is needed to come up with that kind of presentation. You have to hire top-notch trainers and of course practice… practice… and more practice.

So here I am. With my precious time divided to dance practice, choral practice, office work and lots of personal errands. Damn!

Will I ever get to complete my Christmas List? I hope not after Christmas.

Palaro in December

When our new director assumed his position, bits and pieces of information about him were flying all around the corners of the office. One info that is very pleasant to my ear is his being sports minded.

Yay! Tournaments and other sports activities will be flourishing!

When October came, the director held a meeting with the chiefs of the different divisions. The result of the meeting was announced. THERE WILL BE A SPORTS FEST COMING THIS HOLIDAY.

What?! Sports fest this Christmas?!

We never had sports activities in December at the office ever since (or since the time I joined the bureau). That’s why the announcement was a surprise! But what can we (or was it I only?) do?!

Obey.

Later, all the employees were grouped into four groups, represented by Blue, Yellow, Red and Green. It follows that uniforms are necessary… so one shirt for every individual was allocated. But knowing these people here in the bureau, they won’t settle only with that.

Now, things are getting overboard. For me that is. Accordingly, one team has three sets of uniforms. Another team has complete jersey uniforms plus jogging pants. And another team with jacket as supplement.

OAness!

Zamboanga’s City Hall

Here are some views of one of Zamboanga’s Landmarks during yuletide season.

 

 

8-day Holiday

This year’s Christmas break is awesome!!! Imagine, we will be off from work for 8 days! Yeah! Eight loooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggg days! Hey wait. This is applicable only here in the Philippines, okay? So, for those not covered with this 8-long-day break… sorry folks!

Now I’m sure the gears in your head are working on how to spend it. Whatever your plans are, I’m sure you’ll need one very important thing to make this plan of yours possible. And that is money.

So this coming break, make sure you have enough cash on hand that is more or less sufficient to cover all the expenses that you will incur till the holidays are over. You might say ATMs are around the corner so why worry. Well if all people with ATM Card will have the same kind of thinking,  just imagine the long queue that this will bring. But if you are you willing to spend your time waiting for your turn for on this cash-dispenser machines  while the rest of the people with cash are having a great time then so be it.

Another scenario is if ATMs will run out of cash. Kawawa ka naman. You’ll go cash-less this holiday season. Gutom ang abutin mo! The parasites inside your tummys will starve.

What about those with Debit Cards and Credit Cards? You still have to prepare enough cash. Not all establishments accept these cards. And we cant discount the fact that the system might get into trouble due to the voluminous transactions that this swiping machines will have to deal with. Not relying too much on your debit cards and credit cards will also be good for you. At least you’ll avoid the impulse-buying syndrome or you wont over-spend your hard earned money.

Do your financial planning as early as now, ok? You dont want to get into trouble this holiday season, right? It’s supposed to be a period of merriment and fun! So dont spoil it just because of that!

What’s for Christmas?

I just realized something. Until now, barely 10 days before Christmas, I still didnt write anything about it yet. Do I have something to write about it? Hmmm… let me see.

Well if there’s something special about the coming Christmas, it’s celebrating it for for the first time with Ryx around. Last Christmas, he was still inside his Mama’s tummy. Now, he will get to experience it first hand! We usually spend Christmas in Dipolog and New Year in Isabela leaving our home here in Zamboanga uninhabited during those occasions. So we dont decorate our house much. A simple decor will do just so we’ll have christmas spirit. This year we went out of our way. We bought a Christmas Tree and decorated it with balls, bells and minature saxophones. We placed some Christmas lights too. The wreaths which we usually hang on our front windows are now covered with lights. Additional Parols were also purchased to complement the decors outside the house. We did all that for Ryx! After all, Christmas is for children.

Of course, our efforts were not left unnoticed. Ryx liked them so much. Ask him where’s the christmas tree and he’ll immediately stare at it grinning! Ask him where the lantern is and he will look up at the direction where the parols were hanging.

Now that we’re beginning to wrap our gifts for everyone, he is also fascinated with them. Maybe he was wondering why gifts are piling up underneath the christmas tree. We intentionally wrapped them with various shades of gift wrapper so they will be attractive. In deed, they are catching his attention. One time, he was able to reach a small one without our knowing. The gift was covered with drools when we noticed it. 😉

Oh, what about the Christmas Stockings where Santa Claus purportedly put his gifts? I guess as early as now, we will start with that tradition. He may not enjoy the thrills that go with it yet but next year… surely he will!