Last Friday, I inadvertently gave an inaccurate account of the previous year’s Christmas Eve Dinner. My bad. We DID have a family dinner together, but I honestly forgot about it. Was it so insignificant that it slipped my mind?
Or could it be with the last two years being in constant lockdown with the various Movement Control Orders (MCO), I lost track of time. I think the fact that it was just the two of us at the dinner sans both girls stuck in my mind more than anything else.
Or, in all honesty, I have become a tired and forgetful dinosaur more than ever!
This year, we are thankful that we can get together with the family after missing out on the Christmas Eve dinner last year. It was the pandemic that derailed everything-from travels to gatherings-throwing festive occasions into disarray, and both of us had a quiet two-person dinner at home instead without much camaraderie.
This year, the SOP’s have changed with most adults in the country, all of us included, being fully vaccinated. So it is great that we can gather to celebrate Christmas.
I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Be safe, stay safe, and be healthy.
M1 arrived safely after a long journey that took forever. But all’s good now. Several weeks ago, the government announced that people who are fully vaccinated and returning home to the country are allowed to home-quarantine. We decided to go with this option. Unlike when M2 returned in June, this option was not available.
So M1 gets to home-quarantine instead of being at a hotel. And as we have an extra room, the arrangement is perfect. At home with us but separate from us for the mandatory two-week quarantine duration.
We are just glad everything worked out well after all that initial travel anxiety and arrangement. Two weeks will pass by quickly, and before we know it, the quarantine is over! And when that time comes, we will have one big celebratory dinner together. I can’t wait!
Amid this pandemic and trying lockdown, there is good news to share. M1, our firstborn, passed her Masters Thesis Defense yesterday (our time), which is equivalent to the day before for her in the US. It is indeed a blessing to be proud parents again, and we are most thankful this arduous journey is now complete.
This time around, the achievement is more meaningful because she had to endure the lockdowns and work around the disruptions because of the pandemic. And she prevailed. Words pale to describe the relief and joy for all of us. Well done, for lack of a better word; we couldn’t be more proud of your accomplishment.
Mother Nature was good to us, for it didn’t rain on the big double celebration day. It was cloudy and did threaten to rain a little, but the hot weather held for us to have the outdoor barbecue as planned.
There was a constant stream of deliveries that morning. From my usual online shopping items to dessert cakes, more cakes and pastries, and the ultimate cake towards the evening, we were busy receiving all the deliveries. The fridge was almost bursting with all the delectable goodies, on top of all the barbecue food.
All sorts of mouth-watering yummies!The funniest 4-inch tall birthday cake!Our private garden birthday partyA colorful spread
It was a lovely garden dinner affair for the three of us. The birds left us alone, unlike our last barbecue for our Reunion Dinner. Even the mosquitoes did not disturb us. As our little one turned 20 that day, I guess we have to face the fact she is not so little anymore. Happy birthday M2, and many happy returns! Love you to the moon and back.
Now that M2 is back safely at home with us, we plan to have a double celebration party with a garden barbecue tomorrow. Firstly, to mark her return and secondly, to celebrate her birthday, which falls on Wednesday.
However, the skies and weather have other ideas to thwart our plans. It has been raining a lot, unusual during this time of the year. Even today, it rained this morning and looking very gloomy. And there is a forty percent chance of rain tomorrow as well.
How are we going to have a garden party with such unaccommodating weather? We’ll have to cross our fingers and hope Mother Nature will be kind for a lovely double celebration.
Last Saturday marks the 8th Anniversary of my blog! Wow. I am amazed that I have persevered for so long to keep this going. But all this achievement is unattainable if it wasn’t for the support of all my readers.
The blog has certainly evolved from a journal to share the antics of my girls and my travels. Along the way, I picked up new hobbies, the girls grew up and went off to college, and the travel escapades were lesser.
The travel non-escapades were more evident in the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken over the world and disrupted many things taken for granted.
Well, I certainly won’t take the things I do for granted and am thankful to every one of my readers as you follow me on my whimsical endeavors and daily musings. Happy Anniversary and happy writing to me!
It has been an eventful 2021 amidst the pandemic for festivals and occasions with so many restrictions and lockdowns. I will remember Mother’s Day 2021 for the wrong reasons.
It was a botched celebration last weekend. The sumptuous seafood dinner ordered from a Facebook promotion never arrived for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the MCO strict restrictions to cross districts. No delivery riders were willing to send the food over because of police roadblocks. Secondly, it was raining heavily and the timing to deliver. All went awry.
Then the flowers that were ordered online by the girls arrived two days after the auspicious day! Hahaha. With two fails, I think I will remember the occasion far better than all previous celebrations.
A lovely bouquet and a loving note
Well, the next day, we got a full refund for the botched dinner delivery. Plus, I had lovely flowers to look at the past few mornings! At least something positive from the occasion. Thank you, nonetheless, for the effort and love.
I thought it would be a quiet celebration to mark my birthday this year, having to stay put and all. But I was wrong! Hubby treated me to an early birthday dinner; then there was that golf game and luncheon with all the golf buddies.
The best part was the unexpected delivery. The girls surprised me with a dairy-free cake, or rather six slices of different flavors. Delivered a day early, they planned with hubby without my knowledge. A lovely but unexpected surprise indeed that made the birthday all the more special despite the circumstances.
Angieneering 
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