Christmas.

I think by now people would like to believe that I will be all "Bah, Humbug!" this Christmas.

Well, that is partly true.

The previous blog post sort of explains why this Christmas won't be as ...enjoyable. But I love Christmas. At least I used to. Now it all just seems so commercialized and my love for Christmas has been fading each day.

When I was little, I used to hang out near our small Christmas tree at night and just bask in the glow of its lights. I also did inventory of my presents to see who got more and if i'll be getting clothes[LOL]. And even though I never got to spend any of it [but I knew my parents did spend it on me and my siblings for more important stuff], I did always get a little bit of money too.

One fond Christmas memory was this one gift given to us by Uncle. He always had a pretty creative way of wrapping our presents. This particular gift that he gave us one Xmas was pretty big. We were really wondering what it was. it was the size of a TV but it wasn't a TV as it wasn't heavy. When Christmas Eve came, it was the first thing we opened. To our surprise, the more we opened the present..the more it got smaller. From that one big box it whittled down to a small box no bigger than a wallet! At the time, my Uncle, Mom, Dad and Granma were watching and laughing on how we looked so confused. The gift was a game cartridge for our Family Computer. We weren't disappointed it wasn't a big gift. We actually had fun trying to figure it out and trying to open all the boxes.

One of the best Christmas gifts I got was a Dragonball Z action figure of Goku from my Dad. The DragonBall Z toys were just recently showing up in toy stores and the cartoons was being aired for the first time at the time. And even though Goku wasn't my favorite character, Goku was still hard to find since most kids AND parents only knew Goku at the time so he was a bit hard to find. So that meant my Dad really went toy hunting [something I got from him; something I do now] to be able to get me Goku. I still have him in a toy chest somewhere albeit missing his accessories.

Anyhoo.

Despite the good memories, Christmas nowadays isn't the same. Times have changed not only the people but the celebration itself.

Fewer and fewer families have been celebrating their noche buena complete as most jobs today [BPO's, etc.] make their employees work on Christmas but for a valid reason...more or less. You were one of the lucky ones if you managed to even get off days on one of the holidays [either Christmas or New year] and you were REALLY lucky if you managed to get off days on both.

Sure the 13th month pay and Xmas Bonuses are a VERY BIG plus when you're an employee but...it would've been nice if I managed to spend the past few christmases with loved ones. But I was lucky enough that even when I did had to work on Christmas day, I spent it with great and fun officemates/friends at the time. And sure Xmas Eve is important but people tend to forget that Christmas is a whole day and its a whole day to spend with people they love.

But as I mentioned, Christmas isn't as fun nowadays. Then again, when you know you'll be spending it by yourself...then I guess it won't be that fun at all.

The last fun Christmas I had was last years. My sister came home from Singapore, my Granma came over from Manila and my older bro and I didn't have work so we were more or less complete. With good food and good company, it was the best Christmas I've had in years.

This year...well, it's been a rough road getting here. There have been bright spots and I am very thankful for those bright spots and the people involved in it. But at the end of the day, as I lie in bed, I bury my face in my hands and let out a sigh. It has been really tiring.

Christmas this year won't have Noche Buena but I did get gifts [prolly the only gifts i'll get]. My sister will be coming home from Singapore and she will be celebrating Christmas at my Aunt's house in Bataan along with my Granma. I opted to stay at home and watch over the house and our dogs. My older bro will also be staying behind as he has work.

More or less, I will be spending Christmas online. Either watching some shows or just browsing. Taking sips from that bottle of Jack Daniels that i'll be buying soon.

Yay.

Christmas.