Over the holidays

i was extremely overworked. no joke. it got to a point (twice in fact) that by the time marlon came to pick me up for lunch or to go home, i was close to tears. it was also compounded by the fact that i was sick most of the week. the worst thing is that the work doesn't seem to end no matter how much you do and how fast. i have five pieces to edit just sitting in this laptop, waiting for me. will probably have to take home some more work over the upcoming long weekend.

harrassed me having tea with marlon at seattle's best

i got stark raving mad at and extremely fed up with someone at work. (who doesn't know it.) i'm so fed up with this person that i'm not going to sit on my ass about it this time, perhaps even at risk to my own standing at the office.

my boss resigned. not my new immediate boss, but the editor-in-chief of the EBU. this was a totally unexpected blow and really got everyone down. when the email announcement from the president of our unit went out, you could see everyone in the big room just sitting in front of their pcs, totally shocked. i was surprised with how affected i was (am), considering that i've known him briefly compared to most people. but really, surajit is an amazing boss. and it is hard for me to imagine sticking it out or doing well without having a leader like him. (especially not when you consider his temporary [i hope] pinch-hitter.)

i was late to simbanggabi at gesu and lost my voice.

am getting fat again.

you get the picture. my work week leading up to the holidays was a complete and total piece of sh*t. i don't think i ever had a pre-christmas week like this one. and let's hope i never, ever will again.

Let the good times begin

on the other hand, the wonderful thing is that the holidays kind of pressure you to scrounge for some real gems among all the hassle. ever get that feeling? "it's christmas, it can't possibly be this crappy." does that make sense? and so my horrible week had its perks.

finding out about my possibly-family. i know next to nothing about my indian side. i tried to write dima (my paternal grandmother) about family history before but she didn't give much details. so, i am not quite sure whether surajit was just pulling my leg or we really could be (very distantly) related.

his mother was a dutt and dima is a dutta, both bengalis from calcutta or kolkata or whatever the hell they call it now. apparently both last names trace back to the same roots (the duttas), but one branch of the family dropped the a to become more anglicized about two centuries ago. surajit says there is actually a book about the dutts/duttas since they are a very prominent intellectual and christian family in calcutta. according to him, they are also known for being extremely lazy. now i know where my sister and i get it from. anyway, i think he's serious because now surajit calls me cousin. i started calling him mama which means uncle.

surajit to me: "now you know where your fat gene comes from"

surajit's effervescent wife anjali, who loves sampaguita ("i have no idea what she's saying, but as soon as i heard her i knew it was a rebel singing!"), and len at the EBU party

hanging out at bel field with marlon. i have always, always wanted to do this with someone. and now i have marlon. we stayed for bibingka and churros after our simbanggabi mass and the acs concert, sitting in the middle of bel field with the cold december breeze and the lighted acacias. it was absolute heaven.

finally, blessed rest. have lived the past few days in my pajamas, subsisting mostly on chocolate. mmmm.

lunch with eena. a.k.a. my high school friend who's now a flight attendant with emirates. this is the first time i've seen her since she junked her interior design board exams and flew off to pursue her dream exactly one year ago. i'm so proud of this girl. she's so not the "coffee-or-tea"-sweet-smile type but she's totally thriving. a fellow reformed commitment-phobe, she's got a sweet swiss-german boyfriend who actually bought me a birthday present (a very funky polished-wood cuff from nairobi. nairobi!!!). it was superfun hearing her bitchy stories about nasty passengers and finding out that the purser is actually not the most useless person on the aircraft (which is what i always thought, hehe).

christmas day at home. was nice and quiet, which is how i like it. fun too, with all the usual favorites--queso de bola (microwaved for me), coke on ice, nanay going through her gifts and not waiting her turn, pictures by the tree, and lots of little trinkets that are not much monetarily, but are just fun to unwrap.

i got some really good presents this year. some of my faves: a stress ball from lynnie (we soooo need it); a four-piece bedsheet set from marlon's mom, which exactly matches the pink of my bedroom wall (!!!!!!!!); a beaded, indian-inspired candleholder from mimoy and loi (again, goes with my room--am so inspired to fix it up over new year's weekend); spa set from my sister (most kikay elements: a supersoft brush for facial scrubs and tiny makeup brushes); a black bag (can never have too many) from my sister again; elderflower eyegel, fantasia's debut album and a sniffle-inducing portrait from marlon. and the piece de resistance...

the sony ericsson k700i from marlon. i love this phone, i love it love it love it!!!!!!

all the pictures in this post were taken with this phone. aren't they great? (for a phone, i mean). it has a fantastic camera, not to mention an mp3 player, 40+MB memory, fm tuner, bluetooth, and all sorts of doodads i am still finding out about. my boyfriend has turned me into such a boy. my last few presents from him have been gadgets. plus we're getting a 5.2MP digital camera from our taiwan bureau in january.

christmas with marlon. having marlon home for two whole weeks has been wonderful. celebrating our first christmas together has been nothing short of magical for me. (he was in singapore, too poor to come home, last christmas.)

my mid-workday lunches with him kept me sane, and ending the day with him was always something to look forward to despite the exhaustion.

my sweetie. *sigh*

we had a great christmas day dinner at the mandarin's christmas buffet. great food and great ambience--very cozy and private since you never see more than two or three tables around you. we bumped into mark escaler (every comm major's favorite genius/lustpuppy, which i hope his wife didn't overhear me telling marlon), which was such a pleasant surprise. my boyfriend dutifully tried to muster up some jealousy, which was cute. oh and i gave marlon my present, which was a "guerilla recording" of me singing some art songs etc etc and gideon playing the piano.

at the mandarin christmas buffet

my wrapping masterpiece

capping off the evening at the bel air III park (marlon desperately trying to reclaim his childhood); this after driving around makati cbd to look at the lights

yesterday i spent the afternoon and evening at marlon's house watching dvds (harold and kumar go to white castle, super size me and labyrinth). we had dinner with his family who have been so incredibly sweet to me in the one year that marlon and i have been together. i met his other brother val (the one who doesn't live with them anymore) and was fed oodles and oodles of yummy food. we played fight club on PS2 and cuddled and generally were mushy together. the kind of simple thing that keeps us going.

so yeah, i still have to work but it's all good. the worst of the hassle is over, the man i love is home and i'm optimistic about the new year. so, dear reader, i hope this christmas was a happy and bright one for you, and that you were highly instrumental in making it that way for yourself.

merry christmas!