'Tis the season to be blogging

I'm back from my few weeks of hibernation -- lots of things have happened and lots of pics are begging to be posted! Christmas, as i expected, was a blur. Allan and I were shopping practically everyday trying to scratch out every person to give to on our list, and yet I just found out this morning that we still missed out on a few people (people who we won't be seeing in the next few weeks anyway). Gosh, there was just so much build up to the actual day itself than when Christmas family arrived, it ended also just like that. I really missed the days when we were kids when we didn't have to think about anything the whole Christmas season other than to write our wish lists to Santa, made sure they got "mailed" early to get to North Pole on time, and just wait for midnight of Christmas Eve to see if Santa would drop by. One thing I look forward to during the holiday season -- SLEEP. It's the only time in the whole 12 months of the year that I actually get to rest and not think about deadlines and clients following up on work.

Anyways, in the next few days I will be posting photos of events at work and at home, as well as kid updates, to prove that I have been busy and I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth which most of you might have concluded by now. Right now I will be posting photos of our recent My Left Hand office Xmas party which we celebrated with our team and their spouses / girlfriend. It was held at a popular Japanese resto here called Tempura where bowls of Sukiyaki, trays of Makis and Sushis, and baskets of Ebi Tempura overflowed. After a few games and a mini-raffle (where my friend Lita brought home a stand fan for her house -- lucky girl!), we moved to a bar called Cable Car and held a mini billiard tournament over glasses of margaritas and bottles of beers. It was a really fun evening because it was a match between couples, where the men got to show off their "Efren Bata Reyes" skills and women got to, uhm, do their best to not embarrass the men, hehe. I enjoyed this part of the night because billiards is one of my most favorite sports (or should I say, is the ONLY sport I am actually good at), and it gave me a chance to play after months of being pregnant. My staff Dan and his wife played a great game after competing against 3 pairs, and emerged as the billiard champs by 1am. Everyone had a fun time and gave them a chance to leave work worries behind and just chill with friends.

Everyone shows off the gifts they got after the exchange gift game

My Left Hand gang

Jennie and Rein in game mode

Kat aims and Emong cheers on

I "try" to make a difficult shot while my "competition" looks on

Not the evening's champs

Emil shows off his prize after guessing the number of colored candies in the clear mug