I thought that with the number of non-working holidays declared in December, I would have time to lounge around and catch up on my reading and writing pile. December did come by in a whirlwind, filled with frantic days finishing things up at work, catching up on commitments (and raket hehe) and looking for gifts.
I should know by now that the holiday season meant two things: family and friends, despite the busyness the end of the year brings.
Gabriel and I celebrated our second anniversary weekend on the same month. No fuss, no frills - just a fun movie (Rogue One!), lots of food, running errands and getting over the Christmas preparation madness. We also celebrated Miguel's birthday and my parents' wedding anniversary that weekend.
Of course, December will not be complete without the yearly get-together with my high school barkada. Gellie came back from Japan after three years, bringing with her her husband. It kinda took a while for us to concede that one of us is now married and will be having a kid in a few months. A baby! Can you imagine? I can't, at first. But when we got together again after those three long years, it all felt just natural. Niraj is a pretty cool guy, too, who get along with us really well. He married Gellie; he's got loads of kakulitan in him, too, of course.
Gellie and Niraj were here for just two weeks. Before they left again for Japan, we met three times - for our year-end exchange gift and dinner, for dinner and videoke, and for a day trip to a clubhouse pool and spa. We did not notice it that time, but I realized that in that one week, we made it a point to squeeze in time to meet. We found holes in our schedules to make sure we could join the meet-ups. [Hello sa hard-to-get namin na friends na itago na lang natin sa codename na C at R. CR. :))]
Just the other night, Gabriel and I talked about how fortunate I am to still be friends with the guys I grew up with. How even though we barely manage to find time to meet often, it feels like we were together just yesterday. How ruthless we still are on teasing and bullying (heh) one another. How natural it is to discuss our dreams and fears and plans, and know that we got each other's backs. How easy it is to take off our #adulting facade and just be the hyperactive high schoolers we once were again for a little while.
So yes, even if I did not manage to coop up in December (which I was really looking forward to), I wouldn't have my holiday break any other way.
