Muffled Noise

I think only a hypocrite would say that gifts aren’t a big part of the joy of the Christmas season. I mean it may not be the actual gifts, but as the cliché goes, the thought that a person would go to the trouble of getting you a present. It’s nice symbolism, not to mention it’s FUN! So today I decided to post a picture of some of the stuff I got for Christmas. Thank you to those who gave these! *HUGS*

One cow plushie from mi brother and the colorful one from office admin, the Oxygen scarf and burger phone from Ali, Pucca coinbank from the office gift exchange (I was told there was edible underwear in the box, but I never saw it!), towel from mi dad, Lindt chocos from Jess, the cow shakers and the super awesome VS Tourmaline Ceramic hairdryer from my mumsie! Yes, I am spazzing over a hairdryer. What? I don’t like leaving the house or going to bed with wet hair.

What I forgot to include in the pic are — the Tweety pillow from my cousin, a new metal bible also from mi mom, the cute wooden Giraffe from Jaz, and the funny bean thingy from Maybelle. Also the box of brownies from HR, but my family ate it all up in just a couple of hours. I only had 2 or 3. Haha?

Well actually there’s one more gift that I’ll be getting myself, most likely by tomorrow. This is the big one, the fulfillment of a dream I’ve had for years. It will forever change my blogging, lifestyle, and will strike another one off my Wishlist! Gasp! What could it be?

Lastly, because I love it so much, another pic of the burger phone!

Pink penguin not included. This is the exact same kind of burger phone which I found and fell in love with on my first trip to Hong Kong! In case you’re wondering, I’m really using it as my home phone. Because I can. :]

Well, I’ve done it. I failed to put the final stamp on my 12 Days of Christmas series. So this is what I deserve, with the pun very much intended.

Believe me, I had big plans for my Christmas post. HUGE plans. Okay maybe not all that big, but they were plans alright. Okay so maybe I didn’t have plans, but I had a couple of ideas that crossed my mind. So anyway, I’m gonna try to save this post by saying that I hope you all had a very wonderful Christmas, and I hope this wasn’t just another holiday that you spent alone in front of your laptops/PCs. Yeah, what? What? Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!

Haha but kidding aside, if you’ve known me long enough you’ll know that Christmas to me is really special. Far beyond the popular concepts about the holiday, albeit important — the “magic”, the “Spirit of Christmas”, giving and sharing — as many of those text messages you received said, let’s not forget what Christmas is really about…

“Fear not then,” said the Angel,
“Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Savior
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan’s power and might.”
~
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
~
Light and life to all He brings
Risen with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

Those songs are hardly ever listened to, only played in the background year after year. While I am fully aware, as we all should be, that Jesus was in fact not born on December 25, that doesn’t make it any less reason to celebrate such a wonderful event — and any day is as good as ever. The history of mankind quite literally revolves around the birth of a carpenter’s son from a small town in a small nation. It may not mean much to many people, but the effects of that single birth, past present and future, are greater than any episode of any series man can ever come up with. More epic than any novel man can ever write. More glorious than the most rockingest song ever composed. More important than anything this world has to offer.

*Fssssspok!*

Cheers to that! Well anyways, to summarize how me and my family celebrated, here’s a quick rundown — food, videoke, Bruce playtime, food, gifts, massive cellphone beeping/ringing, internet, food, relatives, videoke, Play Doh (will post a follow-up on this one), videoke, Hallmark movies (maybe this one too), food, internet, Heroes (they haven’t seen season 3), food… and so on. I may have gotten the order wrong hahaha, and I’m sure there’s sleep, shower, barthroom break sprinkled around in that timeline.

And so, I’m offering this simple phrase… although it’s been said many times, many ways. I’ll say it again, even though I’m late. Merry Christmas, and I hope you had a great celebration, wherever and however you did. Here’s counting down to the New Year! Woot! :D

Yes, I did skip the 7th day, I didn’t have time! That’s reasonable right? I mean, I’ve never blogged once a day for even a week before. Anyway, before moving on to my series list, lemme tell you bout the reason I didn’t have time yesterday.

It was our company Christmas party yesterday, and I like to think it was a success! I’m relieved too, because I was afraid I’d forgotten to plan for something since it coincided with a project launch, so it was a very busy time for our team. Thanks to all the people who helped out, and for everyone who went with the Hollywood costumes theme! I really didn’t think that a lot of people would go to such lengths for their costumes, considering we only gave them a week’s notice (sorry, very busy). I mean look at Ernest!

Uncle Fester and Neo in the background. In case you’re curious, I went as Velma from Hairspray. I haven’t even seen the movie, but our team decided it was practical and fun enough for the party. Here’s me, with Zac Efron (JC, he says he had no choice but to play Link, haha!) —

Well, the dress was rushed and modified from an old dress we had lying around (didn’t really fit anyone) so the fit wasn’t perfect. Still, I liked it as a costume. :] And that’s colored gel on my hair, my hair was stiff as twigs after! Not exactly the perfect blonde look, but I didn’t want to wear a wig — because blah blah blah. Our team also won in the group game, woohoo! I’m disqualified though, I kinda wanted the prize!

I also won an award, for some strange reason (thanks guys!). Gasp. Really wanted those SM gift certificates inthe raffle though, could’ve got me some shoes with those!

Afterwards, we went of to Ernest’s place for some drinks, the infamous afterparty.

Btw, Raymond was there but I didn’t realize he wasn’t in the pic. Oops! Viewfinder was almost pure black, that lighting is almost purely from the camera flash. I had to leave at midnight (I wish I had my own ride, really) but I heard there was karaoke after. Too bad, would’ve wanted to join and take pics. :[ Anyway, thanks E! It was fun. Weird topics in the convo, but fun still haha!

Let me know when and where you upload pics, guys. :]

—

So now, onward we go, and we’re now on the 6th Day of Christmas — at least in my blog. I decided to post my agenda for these 6 days.

Day one.
Today, I rest. I’ll be working on a new (and hopefully more permanent) template for my blog. Taking Bruce out for a long walk in a bit, and gonna watch me some movies! Tack just finished downloading Whose Line is it Anyway S3, so might watch that too. Oh and finally gonna wrap my gifts. :]

Day two.
Going to church really early, and then heading off to Tagaytay with friends. Roadtrip! We’ll be back before dinner, thankfully Coco has a car big enough for all of us so no hassle at all! Been looking forward to this, I’ll take pics!

Day three.
Last day of the project launch, so we can all relax! I’m gonna wake up early and bake something to give to my officemates for Christmas. :]

Day four.
I’ll most likely take this day off and start my long vacation early. Plan to go see the Greenhills Christmas on Display, and maybe even buy a few things. Fun! :D

Day five.
Christmas eve, so I’m gonna help prepare the food. I can’t wait for the gift-giving part either! :D

Day six.
What do people even do on Christmas day? I mean, as far as I can remember, I’ve always only stayed in and slept! I wonder if that’s gonna change this year. Anyway, if I ever go out, it’s gonna be with family. Maybe we can take Bruce out to Baywalk? Err, is that place still even a good place to go to nowadays? Since they put up those food shacks… meh. We’ll see. :]

Welcome to my “12 Days of Christmas” series — where starting today until Christmas day, I’ll be posting random things that fall under the infamous countdown. On this 12th Day of Christmas, I’ve decided to post my 12-item wishlist, especially since everybody else has been posting their lists.

My 12 Wishes this Christmas

One. A trip somewhere nice and relaxing.
I think I’m getting this wish soon, me and some girl friends are planning to go to Tagaytay next weekend — dinner and spa at Sonya’s Garden. I want!

Two. A Nikon D60 DSLR.
Pictures are just so much better with DSLRs! I promised myself I’d get one soon… juuuust maybe not that soon.

Three. New shoes.
Because I’ve been depriving myself of Chucks for too long. It’s time to give in, Abby. I also want new girly shoes.

Four. A Nintendo Wii.
… because I’ve been depriving myself of this for too long. It’s time to give in, Abby, seriously.

Five. My own business.

I’m working on it! For now, it’s a secret. *rubs hands* Okay so maybe it won’t make it in time for Christmas, but who cares? Haha!

Six. Food — Pasta.
And lots of it.

Seven. Food — Cakes and pies, please.
Banoffee pie, apple pie, Dulce de Leche cake, chocolate mousse…

Eight. Colder weather.
Am I right?

Nine. Happiness for all the people around me.
Because quite frankly, they all seem like they need it (meaning of this statement may vary)

Ten. A fun company Christmas party.
We all need it.

Eleven. A good launch for our project this season!
Despite everything, I hope it turns out great!

Twelve. A meaningful Christmas for me this year.
Because meaningful Christmases are not automatic.

Here’s to the days ahead, and here’s hoping that I make it though this countdown! P.S. If you think I stopped posting pics at the end because I ran out of time, you’d be right! A thousand points to you. :D