christmas traditions

last night:

after dropping off the last of my prezzies and hurrying home, my brood of eight sat down for, well, a chowdown.

it was quite a spread. i mean, there were only eight of us. and two were children under 8. unfortunately, vegetarian self had only my penne pesto to gorge on. oh well. now, after said "chowdown", we buckled down for some dvd-viewing. in the spirit of the holidays, my older brother popped in "jeepers creepers 2". there's nothing like seeing a freak of nature killing teens on christmas eve.

after said "feel-good" movie, we opened christmas prezzies. kids squealed (have to admit, i did a bit of squealing myself - i got a barbie case! yay!). we ate some more cake. we finally obliged carolers. and after all the christmas uproar, we settled in for a night of restless, arteries-working-overtime kind of sleep.

this morning:

woke up to kids (some godsons, goddaughters and complete strangers) going from house to house, cajoling errant godfathers, godmothers and complete strangers into showering them with some last-minute christmas giveaways (i.e. cash). but, you see, it's been an extra-tight year. so we hand out measly (albeit oh-so-crisp) 50-peso bills to those we are somehow related to and cookies to those we've never set eyes on before. i have to say, some were not that happy.

in conclusion:

nothing quite like christmas in the philippines. the only time, perhaps, when you can get something for absolutely nothing. that something, however, may turn out to be a simple chocolate cookie that is, sadly enough, nearing expiration.

merry christmas everyone.