The Christmas rush is through ...

Now let me get this straight. It's the middle of December and I haven't completed my gifts list yet? As far as I can recall, I was in the same 'dilemma' last year. Or, is it because the list keeps getting longer and longer each year? Oh well. At least that's good news. Having more friends is way better than seeing your list get shorter and shorter. Come to think of it, that was my approach in explaining to my boss the increase in budget request for giveaways this year.

Tina's hometown friends visited us yesterday, the lively gals who were with us in the last Divi Challenge. And they helped wrap the rest of the gifts! I didn't realize there's still a lot to wrap! Now this is more like it. It reminded me of the time in Baguio when I used to buy gifts, secretly stash them in the house, wrap them when nobody else is around, and put these under the tree. My brothers and sisters would also do this, and soon there'd be a stash of wrapped surprises for everyone. We would occasionally visit the tree, choose a gift in random, then squeeze and shake it, feeling and listening intently for anything that will reveal the slumbering contents. Our older sister has become so adept at this that it only takes a while for her to satisfactorily declare, "a shirt!", or "a toy made of plastic parts!", then move on to the next bit of treasure.

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When they were nearly done, they requested to go online and visit Unkyel Batjay's site which I showed them a couple of visits ago and they thoroughly enjoyed reading through most of the more recent posts. And soon enough they were giggling and laughing anew at the new posts. Unkyel Batjay truly deserves the Blogger of the Year award.

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This morning, my wife asked me, "When are you going to buy the rest of the gifts?" Which made both of my eyebrows shoot through the air. "Who else doesn't have a gift?" "Well, there's still ... the names came out of her mouth but I can't seem to hear them. I had one overpowering song play in my head: "Greeting cards have all been sent, the Christmas rush is through ..."

The rush isn't through for me yet. On a positive note, a longer list means more friends ... anybody out there to help us wrap the gifts?