GreenBucks

Winter Cafe, sa loob nga lang ng mall.

Ang snow? Peke.

Ang Winter Inn? Hindi pwede pasukin.

Ganyan talaga ang mga Pinoy, mahilig sa scenery na hango sa ibang bansa: snow, Santa, pine trees, sled at kung anu-ano pa. Understandable naman dahil wala ang mga ito dito.

Pero sa isang banda, hindi naman masama ang ating parol, Misa de gallo, puto bumbong at Panunuluyan.

Paulit-ulit nating naririnig at nakikita, masaya talaga ang Paskong Pinoy dahil pagpatak ng -ber months, umpisa na ng paghahanda para sa araw ng Pasko.

Katulad ng mga nagdaang taon, ang obserbasyon ay pahirap ng pahirap ang buhay at iyon ay narireflect sa pagdiriwang ng Pasko: mas konting pailaw, konting regalo, konting handa,  konting “bago”  na gamit at maabilidad na pagtitipid.

Pero kung tutuusin, secondary naman lahat ito, hindi ba? Dapat ang pokus natin ay ang kapanganakan ni Hesus na ating tagapagligtas.

Sabi nga ng isang kanta ng APO, “Kahit na anong mangyari, ang pag-ibig sana’y maghari, sapat nang si Hesus ang kasama mo, tuloy na tuloy pa rin ang Pasko”

Muling nagbabalik ang Litratong Pinoy.

Tamang-tama ang pagbabalik na ito, kasabay sa hudyat na tema ng pagpasok ng buwan ng Pasko. Alam naman natin na dito sa Pilipinas, napaka-espesyal ng Pasko.

Narito ang  isang hudyat sa aming tahanan na wala nang makapipigil pa sa pagdating ng Pasko:

Isang simpleng paper tree, gawa ng mga anak ko noong isang taon. Isa yan sa mga ginawa nilang tree ornaments.

Nawa ay maging maayos ang pagdating ng Pasko sa ating tahanan at puso. Tandaan, si Hesus ang dahilan kaya tayo meron nito.

Happy LP!

Christmas has come and gone but the memories are still fresh.

We posted about ways on how we could possibly spend a  Frugal Christmas without sacrificing quality.

We shared about Christmas traditions.

We shared our fondest memories of Christmas when we were younger.

So now the Weekly Question asks:

How was your Christmas?

My answer:

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Saturday was spent having sessions with my enrichment students from 8am till 5pm. Sunday was spent staying in except for mass during the early evening.

When my husband and children came to pick me up around 5pm, I was so hungry that we went directly to a restaurant and didn’t have time to go to church for the anticipated mass because it was a bit late for that.

We decided to go to Market! Market! so that I could get some books at the weekend book sale of a popular local bookstore chain.

I got a number of books to be given as gifts. Yes, bargain books as low as PhP20, like the earlier ones I got. Of course, this was in line with my keeping a frugal Christmas

Anyway, a night stroll at Bonifaco High Street and Serendra was a delight! We did have some problems with the parking though, everywhere was full. Course, that being a Saturday night.

There were so many colors to see at night. The place is huge with open spaces where children (and pets) can move about.

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I have already written a post for Weekly Question early today.

I don’t know why I didn’t publish it and I dilly-dallied and decided I will do so at night. Well, who would have thought there was a reason for this.

We went to hear mass in a different church today. The people were getting a bit finicky when it was already past 15 minutes when the mass hasn’t started yet. Well, it did finally.

The homily was about being happy, feeling happy, feeling joy during this Christmas season.

The priest gave a very short homily about this topic especially about spending Christmas amidst global crisis.

He asked pointed questions: Is Christmas about the gifts? food? happy parties?

He further discussed tragedies, both personal and universal in nature that occurred before and after this special day.

Before he ended his short homily, he asked this question that I am going to ask you too:

Are you happy?

My answer:

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