What Made Me Busy Recently? Christmas Preparation, Shopping, and Wrapping Gifts

23 December 2024

It's been more than a week since I last posted here because I've been busy with my online work and offline daily life. I thought working from home would give me more time to rest, but it's the opposite of what I expected. The consequence is that I can't commit to this platform daily, which I've been doing for years. I miss doing a lot of things like traveling and exploring hidden gems.

Sometimes, I thought of going overseas again as I might be able to do all I wanted there. But when thinking about leaving, my mother would always insist I stay, which I couldn't resist. This has been the path I've been struggling to keep my pace as I wanted to follow a different one. Maybe I just need to keep going as I might get used to it, or I don't know, maybe not. I'll just follow the flow of life for now.

Anyway, another thing that made me busy recently was the Christmas preparation. Since this will be my first Christmas with my family after years of working abroad, I have become excited about it. Actually, I look forward to the New Year celebration more than Christmas. As for me, Christmas is for kids and gift-giving. Meanwhile, New Year is for family and a feast of celebration.

I was in the city again with my family the other day. After they had done some important things, I went to the city to follow them as I planned to buy stuff necessary for Christmas and New Year celebrations. We won't be cooking much at Christmas, just in the New Year.

The shopping was a bit surprising to me. Inflation has always surprised me since I got back home. I regretted not buying a month ago when stuff wasn't affected yet by the Christmas season inflation. I've only bought ingredients for cooking, but I have already spent almost Php5,000.

Meat, bread, veggies, fruits, and Christmas gifts aren't even included yet. I remember a decade ago, that amount was already enough to buy food for both Christmas and New Year.

The next day, I went to the town with my sister and niece and bought candies and food for the kids for Christmas. It's been our yearly tradition to give any food to random kids who are visiting our house and asking for Christmas presents. In other countries, this is similar to the trick and treat that children do on Halloween.

That face of seeing lots of sweets, lol.

I was a kid as well, and I experienced going from house to house to ask for Christmas presents. Neighbors would then give us candies, biscuits, junk food, or anything else, sometimes money. I was always excited for Christmas because my bag would be full of junkies and foodies. So, even without any gifts from our Godfathers and Godmothers, we received gifts from neighbors. Now, I got a huge bag full of goodies for kids this Christmas. They would definitely love these.

Here came the packing of gifts, which was my favorite part of the preparation. I pre-ordered things online for my niblings, siblings, and other family members. Gladly, they arrived a week before Christmas, so we were able to wrap them beforehand, and they are displayed underneath our Christmas tree. While doing so, I kept thinking about the gifts I received from my family these past years, there were none, lol. But they always have gifts from me every Christmas.

Seeing them happy and free of illnesses is all I wanted. However, I can't deny the fact that I missed those early years when my parents always had a present for me on Christmas day. Who doesn't like to receive a gift, anyway? But things are different now. Those who are earning are now the ones who are supposed to give gifts, lol.

One more night, and it will be Christmas here. Unfortunately, at midnight, I will be at my desk working until early morning. So, I will spend the day sleeping in my bed. That's my life now, and those were things that made me busy recently. How's yours?

Thanks for your time.

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