On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me… 5 gold rings!!!
The Mayans had us duped. It’s already the 21st of December but the world is still spinning, the sun is still shining, and — as far as I’ve observed — zombies have not yet taken over the world.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m grateful for that.
And really, I am just so grateful for these five gold rings:
- I am grateful for my family. It’s hard being away from them on December. My parents will celebrate their wedding anniversary this month. My brother will celebrate his birthday a few days after that, too. And don’t forget the Noche Buenas and the Media Noches by the open fire — can someone Skype me up when the Christmas program starts? Okay? I am grateful because I shall be seeing my family again soon and I’ll get to drive them around and I’ll probably be filling their bellies up with lots of teh tarik and nasi lemak. And durian cendol. Mom won’t rest unless she’ll get a taste of that durian cendol.
- I am grateful for my adoptive family in Malaysia. So what if we’re scattered around different parts of Asia and North America and wherever right now. Let’s watch ICE Age 4 and sing out the “We are family!” theme song together! Movie + food trip marathon starts on Sunday. Bring a crazy hat.
- I am grateful because I have a stable job. I can pay my bills (which are currently at a minimum), I can pay my monthly rent (which, oops, isn’t really at a minimum), and I can have some good laughs with my officemates while I’m at it. I am learning the ropes of independent living. (Define independent. I don’t even have a decent jar of sugar at my house. Which reminds me. I’ll have to stock up on that. Soon.)
- I am grateful for the Internet. All hail the Internet! Thank You, Lord, for gTalk, for YM, for FB Chats, and for Pidgin which links all my accounts together, letting me connect with everyone using just one desktop application. Thank You, Lord, for email, for social media, and for just letting us all have the means to keep in touch. Thank You for Skype, thank You for IDD calls, for — gosh. I can only imagine how it must have been like living during the time when the only means of connection between loved ones were telegrams and postal mails. I’m not sure if I could have survived back then. I would have probably died. Or I’d have stayed at home and not made friends with anyone who was likely to go far, far away.
- And finally, I am grateful — as previously mentioned — for the fact that the world is still spinning. Some good friends have yet to tie the knot. Some good friends have yet to give birth and cuddle their little bundles of joy. And the gospel has yet to be preached to the end of the earth. Methinks we still need a little bit of time for that.
Well, here’s to everything that we are all grateful for. Christmas is just around the corner. Enjoy your time with your loved ones. And — like a good friend told me once (or maybe a couple of times) — enjoy life. :)
scribbles and stories 
yes, I also thank God for the internet, so that I can still be ‘together’ with family members (like Mari) who are away.
Mhhhmm. ^_^