IS Christmas shopping essential? Hmmm. There’s no law that says, Give or else. Hey, no pressure.
And if you’re buying a book for a non-bookworm, carbs for a carnivore, a Bible for a non-Christian, ribeyes for a vegan, or a cat for a piggy collector, Christmas shopping may morph into a non-essential.
The perfect present is one’s presence, that is, if the recipient loves the giver’s presence. If he doesn’t, that present may also morph into a non-essential.
This year has been particularly stressful, I have no more energy to choose the perfect gifts for family and friends. I tried to do some Christmas shopping at a downtown mall but upon seeing the long and winding line at a store’s cashier counter, I backed out even before I could start, and went home.
This is the first ever Christmas that I can’t ask my sis Joan for advice on the gifts to buy, especially the T-shirts, blouses, and clothes, and their sizes. At least last year I could still send photos of the items to her.
But now, I’d look at a T-shirt and wonder if the color is okay, if its design is cool, if it’s the right size. I did ask the recipients about their sizes, but it was my sis who could look at a T-shirt or blouse and know that it’s perfect for the recipient without asking him or her about sizes.
She was also the one who planned the family’s OOTD for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
The Christmas tree was up and twinkling by September, with her buying more Christmas decors at S&R. The house had the aroma of cinnamon and baked goodies, and I was the happiest taste-tester of her new recipes. Every space downstairs was filled with boxes of baked goodies waiting to be delivered.
That was then.
And this is now, with me asking, Are Christmas parties essential?
One of my gym groups has had three Christmas parties so far, and we’re planning a fourth one as a year-ender. So, yes, they’re essential.
Spontaneous Christmas lunches are also essential. These have become a hard habit to break at the gym after the group exercises. For example, on Saturday, a gym friend had to wait longer for her sundo who was still in downtown Cagayan de Oro. With all the traffic from there to the uptown gym, we figured the sundo would arrive at about 1 pm. Since it was still 11 am, my first thought was, Let’s have lunch!
Eating out is always a struggle for me, thanks—or no thanks—to the carnivore diet which, by the way, is not only about meat but also includes the cooking oil the resto uses, the sauce’s ingredients, if the meat has breeding, er, breading. My best bet is ordering grilled meat and clear soup.
But how to avoid the crispy pata, humba, adobo, kare-kare, battered chicken, sweet and sour pork, shrimps with scrambled eggs? And the—hush—desserts? That’s the question.
My eyes begin to twinkle like a Christmas tree each time I see halo-halo on the resto’s menu. Tsk tsk. And if the halo-halo is not available, those same eyes would begin to twinkle for the other dessert items on the menu.
And if there’s cheesecake, good luck na lang to me.
