christmas celebrations and gift-giving

christmas for the past n years has been celebrated in the arco household for the marasigan clan. during christmas eve, we hear mass together, eat noche buena and have our exchange gift. the whole clan, together with the household and sometimes with friends, are included.

when i started working, i also started to buy gifts for everyone --- my immediate family, my titos, titas, cousins, and eventually for my brother-in-law and pamangkins. it's a tradition by itself. and every year, although i get stressed out thinking and trying to find my gifts, i more or less get something for everyone.

so here's my list this year:
- necklaces from india for my sisters
- silk scarves from india for my mom and my titas
- aftershave for my titos
- banana peel flip-flops for kuya reggie, kuya ronald, kuya jay and paolo (cousins)
- bangles from india for ate bea, ate venisse and via
- a journal from karton, still for bea
- a friendship bracelet activity kit, still for ate venisse and via
- optimus prime and megatron toys for franco
- cinderella baby for sofia
- perfume from bench for yaya cel (my "baby" in our kris kringle)
- and and ipod touch for kuya aljo (together with ate karla and ate faye)

the ipod touch is a christmas-new year-birthday gift altogether with kuya aljo. i was supposed to get a phone from smart for my retention plan when i saw that they also offered an ipod touch. we still had to shell out some money but it seemed to be a good deal. during the last couple of days leading to christmas, aljo was asking if i was getting the itouch. he said he wanted me to get it so he can borrow it from me (since i recently got my ipod). so that's how we thought of giving him the itouch for christmas.

we were supposed to buy a pair of rubber gloves and give that as our fake gift. but we were not able to get the itouch that day. second option was to give a gift certificate with the "congratulations! you won an ipod touch!". we were bent on doing that until i saw the free pencils from banana peel. i bundled the pencils and wrote on the outside, "dear aljo, merry christmas! you are entitled to..." i had one pencil in the middle reading "one ipod touch. love, ate inah, ate karla, ate faye and mom". i even asked aljo to bind the pencils together before i wrote on them.

come gift-giving time, i gave him the wrapped pencils. he laughingly said he knew what was inside. and then he proceeded to read the message. i told him to check what was in the middle pencil. when he did, he said "ito na ang pinakamahal na pencil sa buong mundo".



it was really a fun night. we even had champagne to cheer the great year we had and to welcome the new one ahead.

merry christmas everyone!