Christmas 2004 part 4

I was on board Christmas Eve. I was also on board Christmas Day. Considering everything these were easy days. What made them hard was that I would have preferred to be at home for the Noche Buena feast held after before midnight of Christmas Eve. Also traditionally, we have a prayer of Thanksgiving prior to partaking of the meal. This year the table motif was "Green Christmas." That was Adora's idea. She masterminds the food during family celebrations, parties and other gatherings. There was vegetable salad (with choice of dressing, the tomatoes were on a separate plate from the rest of the vegetables, and with more than ample lettuce), buko pandan salad, pica-pica, (quartered) tuna sandwiches, hotdog and marshmallow on sticks, and, of course, ham and edam cheese. (I don't remember the brand but it was not the traditional dry, flaky, semi-hard edam cheese ball, but moist and soft. I am not complaining; on the contrary, it has always been my opinion that I have never met a cheese I did not like.)

After the feast the family members exchange gifts and then open these amid a lot of merry making, laughter and picture taking. During the past several years, there have been absent family members because they have to be at work during Christmas Eve. Last year I was able to beg off work, at least during the first part of the shift, and was allowed to login at 5:00 in the morning. I was then present during for the Noche Buena. This year, because of lousy schedules, I had to be at work, and so I had to leave the house before 10:00pm.

The pictures were taken with Jonas's Canon digital camera. I was not able to get the model number. With 3.2 megapixels, it has more than enough resolution for 4x6 prints. The picture quality is not bad, not bad at all.

As usual, pictures were taken while the gifts were being given. And then also afterwards while these were being opened (and, at times, worn immediately). The kids danced until 3:00, and almost everyone present were still awake at 4:00 in the morning.

Just for the curious, as is usually the case, I don't think there was any alcoholic beverage that night. Not that we would say no to wee bit of a drink, it's just that there wasn't any.

--andoy
28 December 2004