Tuesday, December 26, 2006

It's over.

It’s now 37 minutes past midnight here in Manila. December 26, 2006.

It’s official. Christmas is finally over. Gone. Kaput. The end.

The in-laws have left. And so did the pesky carolers. The rib eye steak, the waldorf salad and pasta carbonara are now a thing of the past along with the Fiesta ham and ube halaya (purple yam). By the time I’m writing this, all that’s left in the fridge are a half-empty bottle of Chiraz, some chocolate-chip cookies and Washington red apples. Thank God there’s no fruitcake.

And so it goes.

Another countdown begins. 364 days to go ‘till Christmas 2007. Time to shed off the extra calories gained and write the mandatory annual New Year’s resolutions. It’s also during this time that people begin pondering, “I wonder what’s waiting for me next year?” “Will I finally meet Mr. Right?” “Will I finally get my break?” “Can we survive?” “What to do with this damn fruitcake?” Questions that are often kept inside and are somehow, almost always, answered by well-wisher’s clichés. One friend even had the answer for everything with a single text message. It reads, “Merry Christmas! May you have a lot of food to eat, a prosperous career, a blooming love life, and a successful new year”. Well, almost everything except the fruitcake.

What lies ahead maybe uncertain, but it is with this uncertainty that life becomes a year-long challenge. Christmas may now be over, gone, along with the text barrage of well-wishers, friends and relatives spreading good tidings, Christmas trees, mistletoes and tinsels back into storage, but the prospect of waiting for 364 days before it’s here once again is proof that people have faith.

The faith that even if we don’t get what we want in the year 2007, even if Mr. Right doesn’t come along and job promotions doesn’t happen, even if we barely survived, there’s always 364 more days to look forward to. It’s human nature. We climb and fall. We leap. We hope. We wait.

For 364 days.

And so, to my friends and family and fellow bloggers, I hope you get what you want this Christmas and the coming New Year. In case you don’t, here’s a message from the bottom of my heart:

“Merry Christmas! May you have a lot of food to eat, a prosperous career, a blooming love life, and a successful new year!”

I still don’t have an answer to that fruitcake though.

8 comments:

DirkStar said...

I love fruitcakes...

They are usually awesome in the sack!

Yeah, baby!

I'm back and ready to be bad.

I got a digital camera!

Yeah, my wife rocks.

Merry Christmas, dude.

russkal said...

Dirk,

I see you got a new toy for Christmas. I got one too. A brand new ipod!

Yeah baby!

Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Everybody likes to eat fruit... Everybody likes to eat cake...

Judy said...

So many toys, so little time!

I love my "stuff," but I admire Pepper, a gal who purged her possessions for life on the road with her mother and a geriatric dog. That said, I am excited to have found a mic stand under the tree with my name on it... I have every other possession I could possibly need.

Now let's work on PEACE and the restoration of a healthy EARTH... People with good hearts who reach out to the world - like you - give me hope.

Nice blog piece, Russkal. Now pass me some of that fruitcake...

Cinderella said...

I wish the same for you!!! I love looking forward to a new year, you honestly have to be grateful to see a new day and to make it to another Christmas is a blessing in itself.

We still have New Years day to find love though, right? =P

It sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, do you have anymore of those Chocolate Chip cookies left? =)

Pepper said...

Merry Christmas (belated or early) and a successful New Year to you.

About that fruit cake. Every year I receive a fruit cake and it is the most delicious fruit cake. It is from a church group so there is no alcohol. I don't know the recipe, didn't ask for it because I can't cook but it is heavenly. (no pun intended)

Grab that 150 meme, I am curious to see what you will bold.

Rachel Schell said...

Its a little sad isn't it? That christmas is over. I always feel a little sad to see it go. I'm trying to figure out how to live everyday like its Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

russkal said...

Miss Piggy,

Why of course! And everybody likes Kermit too...

Wiz,

Congratulations on the mic stand! I had a personalized one before when I was still a vocalist of a rock band (those were the days).

I'm with you on peace and the restoration of mother nature, and I admire Pepper as well.

Thanks. And you can have my fruitcake...

Pepper,

Lucky you with your fruitcake! I, however, have been a victim of the typical traumatizing fruitcake experience almost every year. Y'know, the usual I-can't-eat-this-it's-not-edible-but-
nobody-wants-it experience.

Thanks for the go. I'm posting the meme now.

Rach,

It is sad. All the gifts, the merry-making, the well-wishers, the food, the carols, the guests. All gone in 24 hours.

But you're right. We should learn how to live everyday like Christmas and not just wait 340 plus days for it to happen. Good luck on your quest.

There's still New Year's day though.

And oh, I love what you did with that photo experiment. Wish I've the time to do one as well.

Cheers!