The Sixtieth Day of the Year

It's February 29, a day we only get to see every four years. An extra day we get by virtue of the fractional day's worth of the Earth's revolution around the sun, neatly slotting into place.

It is the sixtieth day of the year. And yet, it is non-existent in others. How can we miss a day and not lose anything? We've unquestioningly accepted this practice because it was based on scientific fact, and a long-held tradition.Why not add the slightly-less-than-a-minute equivalent to each day of the 365 days, so we get a regular count of days in a year. 365. No more, no less. Because it has been done one way for so long, it would be a right pain in the arse to change it now.

And that is human nature indeed. Sometimes the risk-benefit analysis gets skewed disproportionately towards a less-than-logical conclusion simply because of the chaos a change would create. Even physics supports this -- just look at the Law of Inertia, when an object tends to resist a change in its motion (or lack of it).

What am I getting at, really? I'm not quite sure myself. This could be an attempt at stream-of-consciousness writing, while I'm trying to make myself nod off to sleep. Or maybe I'm just in an introspective mood at the moment.

In the first sixty days of this year, what have I done? What have I experienced?

• Read sixteen books, eight of them on my Kindle. Yes, the bookworm in me is still going strong.
• Baked a chocolate-overload birthday cake for my eight-year old, six dozen cupcakes for her friends and classmates, a red velvet cake for Valentine's, an almost-flourless chocolate cake last weekend, dozens of cake pops, several trays' worth of mango-oatmeal cookies, tres leches cupcakes, and cream cheese cupcakes. Hmm, if I look at this list, I start to wonder how much flour and sugar and eggs I have used up so far...
• Had breakfast prepared for me by the Hubby last Valentine's, along with flowers and chocolates waiting for me at the office. I have to admit, I was really touched and impressed with the brekky, since Hubby is not a kitchen-dweller!
• Caved in and snagged some great buffet deals from one of the group buying sites. What can I say, I had to try it sometime!
• Went on a business trip abroad with the Hubby. Yes, both of us, at the same time this time around. It was usually one or the other for us. And although we did miss the kids terribly, it was an undeniably good break too.
• Spent more time with the little ones while they biked around our residential area, and strolled with them to the playground where all they wanted to do was to swing higher and higher, while the sun was shining oh so merrily.

These are just some of the things I am thankful for. For the sad and challenging times, I would like to think that there are lessons we have learned from them as well. Would that we could remember them readily in the future though, especially when inertia may tend to keep us in a lethargic phase and cause us to struggle against change, even for the better.

And so we come back to the point in this entry on this sixtieth day of the year: Thanks. I've realized that it is about giving thanks for all these experiences, and that we live on to see another day.

Last Day of Vacation Blues

Tomorrow, the 4th of January, will be our first day back in the office. As always, the break from the daily grind still does not seem enough. Nope, the two-week-off rest still feels a tad bit too short. I can already feel the stress level creeping up. Would that I could continue to block off the work mindset for a few more hours.

I can already foresee the hundreds of emails that have flooded my inbox during the holiday season. I can only hope that a lot of those are of the FYI nature. If wishes were horses...

A lunch out with the hubby and the little ones, a continuation of the House marathon, accompanying the kids on their biking session -- these mark the last day of our vacation.

Yes, our vacation might have felt short, but the days were spent with family. And that is what ultimately matters.

Eating Our Way Through the Holiday Season

Christmas season in the Philippines showcases the culinary talents of people, what with the ubiquitous family gatherings, "kita-kits" of barkadas, and gift-giving sessions. People on strict diets should not even think about setting foot inside a Filipino home during this time, as they are sure to be plied with copious amounts of food and drink -- woe to those who say Nay!

We of course keep with this tradition of happy eating. Some would even say, temporary (one hopes) gluttony. Although we took our vacation leave about a week or so before Christmas, we didn't really manage to escape the frenetic activity, we merely swapped work-places. Nonetheless, the stress level was a happier, more benign type.

So I took to the kitchen. And with the help of our angels and family members at home who wielded pans and syanses, managed to concoct these dishes for Christmas Eve:

pancit with pork leg and mushrooms

crispy fried chicken

tuna baked mac

halabos na hipon

tender pork ribs

buco salad

carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and Reese's-filled choco cupcakes

cupcakes with Reese's miniatures

For New Year's Eve, we had:

pork bola-bola

pancit topping

pancit

kare-kare

bagoong

sweet and sour fish fillet

fried chicken marinated in toyo and calamansi

pork rib

chocolate kiss surprise

chocolate kiss inside the tea cookie

red velvet cake -- my own version!

red velvet cake slice

peaches and cream

We're still burping!

No Agenda

I am still in the midst of my House marathon. And I've finished the anthology of travel stories I was reading, which I've now followed up with The Untold Story by Monica Ali -- an alternative take on what happened to Princess Diana after 1997.

An interesting premise, actually, albeit one that has "conspiracy theory" written all over it: what if the disappearance was not a real death, but merely a death of one's current life, to be able to resurface and begin anew? It's a "what could've been" that is disturbing and yet exhilarating at the same time. How could a mother choose to leave her children behind? And yet, given the strictures of her stifling life, how could she not grab this chance at freedom?

In the almost 2 weeks that we've been off work, this has been the first, engagement- and chore-free day I've had, with nothing more on my agenda than to eat, sleep, watch, read, and of course, play with the 2 little ones and Hubby. Not bad, huh?

Angel has now gotten her groove in riding her bike sans training wheels, all in the space of 2 days. When she really puts her mind to it, she does learn with amazing speed. And since little Sarah idolizes her older sister so much, she tries to keep up by biking as well.

 

Wish I could say the same with her willingness to learn her multiplication tables though. Oh well...

We -- Angel and I -- have also finished putting some Coca-Cola into our star-shaped ice cube tray (covered in Cling-wrap) to have "Coke-sicles". We're putting the cubes to freeze for about an hour or so, then put in some toothpicks and freeze some more till they're rock-solid.

Next on our agenda: to play Rush Hour -- we found this game at Hobbes & Landes in Greenbelt 5, which promises to chelenge one's strategic thinking skills in trying to manipulate vehicles on a grid, with the object of having one's car escape from the gridlock of rush hour traffic. Let's see if this helps Angel practice thinking several steps ahead...

Right now, lazing around is just pure bliss. And that deserves thanks.

Thankful for 2011

It's the first day of 2012. I am sitting in our bedroom watching season 6 of House. This afternoon I just finished watxching season 1 of Warehouse 13. Yes, I am spending the first day of the year having a DVD marathon, with small breaks in between spent reading The Best of Travel Writing 2011.

Self-indulgent, much?

Considering that I have spent the last couple of days with less than 6 hours sleep every night, and being cooped up in the kitchen whipping up dishes for Noche Buena and Media Noche (which, though tiring,m I enjoyed thoroghly anyway), all while going in and out of the grocery to pick up ingredients and snacks, not to mention the fact that we have 2 little kids who are not shy about trying to catch our attention every few minutes -- then the answer is a resounding No.

I do need this down-time. For a little while at least.

I've even let myself indulge in chips and soda, chocolates and baked goodies this holiday season. Time enough for dieting and hitting the jogging track once our vacation leave ends. Which would be in 2 days.

2011 was a mixed bag for me. My health issues culminating with my gall bladder removal tops the list of the troughs. Something good has come out of that though, which is that I am now healthier, fitter than before, after having lost 25 kilos (yes, kilos!), and this without any pills or injections, all due to a more sensible diet, coupled with the most basic exercise of all -- brisk walking, which has now progressed to jogging. I'm trying not to lose momentum, wouldn't want to regain those pounds!

Our Angel still continues to make us proud with her academic achievements and swimming prowess, while little Sarah charms us with her quick learning and winsome smile.

We have spent more time with our families in 2011, something that we ought to continue this year.

For all the gifts of health, family, friends, even work, I am thankful.

I am hoping that 2012, the Year of the Dragon (hurray for me!) will be even better.