and so it was.

christmas was alright. i think that about sums it up.

i spent the morning of my christmas eve with the pushparatnams over skype - they were all at my place after midnight mass for photos and presents. talking to them was bittersweet... but it was nice to still be a part of it. we even managed to camwhore! =P that evening i went over to dick and peggy's, and there was a nice big package waiting for me. i was so excited about opening it even though i knew most of what was inside... coconut candy, kaya, murukku, pineapple tarts... yumyum. as much as i loved the food, even better were the letters that my parents and anthea put in for me.

i think the two 10 sen coins have to be one of the best presents ever. =)

peggy and dick had their extended family over for dinner on christmas eve, which wasn't awkward but a teensy bit uncomfortable for me. i think it was mainly because i was putting the pushparatnams in their position, and although we welcome other people to join in our celebrations we (at least the cousins) prefer to have christmas all to ourselves... this time i was the outsider and i felt like i was intruding, so i spent some time in my room watching mindless tv so they could have some family time. i went for midnight mass with sean and his parents (midnight mass actually started at midnight lol, as "d'oh!" as it sounds. in malaysia it usually starts at about 10/10.30pm), which was pretty good, but i think mass in our badminton hall with plastic chairs and freezing air-conditioning beats it flat. i missed fr oc and fr simon. oh one upside was that i actually found something pretty to wear! i hadn't bought any new clothes for christmas this year, only sweatpants, a hoodie and a coat, all of which aren't midnight mass material. i was mixing and matching the stuff that i'd brought with me from my dorm to the house that i'd been living in so i could decide what to pack to dick and peggy's (see how much moving around and downsizing i have to do!), and i finally hit on using the gorgeous shawl i got from kolkata... and i was satisfied with the end effect. no pictures tho, because i brought my camera, but left the cord to charge it with in my dorm room lol. sorry! i mean it's me, i had to forget something right? =P

christmas day i made my first ever gingerbread house, which started off quite pretty but then kinda deteriorated as i ran out of ideas and rushed to get it done so we could go over to peggy's daughter's for dinner. but it doesn't look too bad la. =) dinner wasn't very eventful... when we got home i called mel and we finally had a nice (relatively) long chat, which we hadn't had in too long. that was probably the highlight of my christmas day, and was as much a christmas present to me as it was to her. =) then i watched some mindless tv... and fell asleep to the pitter patter of the rain.

and that, ladies and gentlemen, was my first christmas away from home.

kinda-sorta-maybe-semi-related, semi-random quote:
"did ever any man believe in horsemanship, and not in horses? or in flute-playing, and not in flute-players?"
- the apology of socrates, plato.

don't worry if you don't see any connections... i doubt anyone will.
just think about it.