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!