It's almost Christmas...Santa where are you?

I am looking forward to seeing Santa slide down the chimney bearing Christmas gifts for me... ho!ho!ho!ho!

Once again, "it's the HOLIDAYS people!" (an2n3tte's intro) This is my 4th Christmas away from home and I am used to it. Aside from spending Christmas with loved ones, what I'm feeling sad about spending Christmas here is the idea of not receiving gifts from Santa which I usually love about in the Philippines. I grew up with the idea of Santa during Christmas. Back when I was innocent and cute, I remembered hanging socks by the living room window having in mind that Santa on his sleigh ride will drop by our house and give me some gifts. I used to do it every Christmas eve so I can wake up the next day happily receiving little presents like tarts, chocolates, polvoron, etcetera that would fit in the socks. (I would usually use my dad's socks so I get more presents ...hehehe) Even during highschool, I and my siblings still did the same thing expecting that the next day we get cash from Santa! We still did this to continue the idea of Santa for my younger siblings. It was like keeping a secret to appease the kids innocence and fantasy. That was an awesome experience. My parents were creative enough to inspire us with little surprises.

I also missed how my Uncle Atong would give us surprises during Christmas. During Christmas, he would call all of us (his nieces and nephews) to gather around the Christmas tree. (I also love the themed Christmas tree!) To receive our Christmas gifts, we had to render a song number, do a dance number, recite a poem or give a comedy skit. I remembered singing some Christmas songs I learned from school. My favorites were "Come on Ring Those Bells" and "Christmas Shine!" Merry Christmas Uncle Atong... Hope you enjoy this Christmas Season!

Food...food...food...One food which everyone loves is my Lola Rexie's Endolsao aka Hamonada! I missed how I would disturb my grandma while she prepares food. I would go around the kitchen and check how they prepare the food. Aside from the very delicious endolsao, I really missed the leche flan and "lodo" (dinuguan - I call it lodo which means mud).

Singing...singing...singing! We just love to have fun during Christmas. I also missed watching Christmas cantata.

Spending Christmas was really a very nice experience while I was growing up. I am very thankful for all the experiences I had as a kid. As I reminisce all of it, it made me realize the beauty of not just spending Christmas but keeping it in our hearts!

Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year to all of us!

:)