another year…

before this year ends, i’m still trying to debate with myself on whether i had great year or not. as i looked back of the things that happened to me this year, the only thing that stands out are my two vacations. why my vacations only? i guess i am more happier when i’m not stressed out and the fact that i’m with families and friends.

vacation # 1: trip to orlando, florida in august – this was the first (and i mean first) time that the whole family went on a family vacation. had a bit of a problem in the end due to hurricane irene hitting the nyc area but all in all, we all had fun. the kids enjoyed it. wanted to do it again next year – which i do hope happens.

vacation # 2: trip back to the philippines in october – okay, this is not my first time going back home. the only difference this time is that i actually traveled – either with my cousin and her family who is also visiting from england or with my bestfriend. i visited places that i only read during my younger years. went to davao, cebu, boracay, bohol, batangas, and went on a side tour to singapore - all of that in three weeks. yes, it sounds very tiring but to be honest, it wasn’t that bad since i enjoyed every single trip.

so based on these two events that happened this year, i think i had a good year. whatcha think??

oh I hope they like it...

it's12:13 am right now, December 25th. I would normally be in bed right now sleeping waiting for the morning to come so that all of us can open our gifts. But one of my nephew wanted to open his gift exactly at midnight.

I would not normally agree to this arrangement but he basically wanted to open one gift....the one coming from me. I for one was not confident enough to admit if he or any of his cousins would like their gifts from me. Kids nowadays are very picky when it comes to toys. They either want an iPad, iPhone, laptop, or something really expensive. And I am talking about kids here, not teenagers. I can't imagine what would they want when they are actually teenagers....I don't even want to think about it.

Back to my story. So as soon as the clock hits midnight, my nephew went to the Christmas tree and looked for his gift. He thought I took it and hide it at first but then he found in between two gifts. He opened the gift and when he saw what I bought for him, he smiled and said to me, I knew it. I believe I saw a smile somewhere. Then he went upstairs to get ready for bed.

One down, four more kids (2 nieces and 2 nephews) more to go. I just hope that they like what I bought***. If not, I told them to give it to me and I would play with it.

***just a side note as to why I am so concerned. About 2-3 years ago, instead of buying toys for the kids, I gave them clothes. I figured their parents would buy them toys so i would be the practical one. Oh what a big mistake it was. You should have seen the reaction on their faces. Pure disappointment. Lesson learned from that point on.