Year End Odds & Ends

Well here it is – the real Yuletide!  The “‘ber-months” just can’t compete with the last week of December

Hope all readers have (or had) a most Merry Christmas.  Mine was just fine.  Counting them all, it was my sixth Christmas here in Pasuquin.  It’s quite a treat in this locale as the town fiesta is held between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.  So, the celebration is in dead earnest for seven days.

With this final week of December and all of its merriment comes a little time to reflect on what has transpired over the past year.  Here then, dear readers, is a little “year in review” for you to enjoy.

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies

The year started out with four young puppies that our female dog “Babe” delivered in time for Thanksgiving 2011.  My how those pups grew in the remaining months of 2011, and continued to grow through the year.  We took our pick of the litter, named him “Wally” and kept him.  The other three pups were given away to friends.  Sad to say, one didn’t survive very long.  It was hit by a speeding car and killed almost instantly.  The others are doing fine.  They’re still growing, too!

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

Tax season started out early – late January – and continued on into April.  A few articles on taxes were written and published, and a considerable number of tax returns were prepared, filed or extended.  With changes to the tax code, things were a bit “hairy” in getting returns out.  All went well, though some long, long nights had my fingers working the keyboard and calculator.  Come to think about it, now is not a bad time to start getting organized with regard to your taxes.

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch

An infection of the big toe.  Yeow!  My last trip – and I do mean LAST – to the foot spa for treating my feet to a good soaking and a complimentary pedicure resulted in the infection.  From personal experience, the only thing more painful is an episode of the gout.  It seems that the infected toe had an ingrown toenail.  Work on that ingrown nail by the pedicurist felt like a root canal without anesthetics.  I repeat:  Yeow!  Plenty of antibiotics and keeping the foot clean and elevated took care of the problem.  The antibiotics, however, caused another problem.  They killed off the helpful bacteria in my digestive tract.  Had to replace those little friends, and did so as quickly as I could with “Yakult” drink.  After a couple of days, all appeared to be back to normal.

Fly, Fly … You Get The Picture

The annual trip to the United States occurred right around Mothers’ Day this past year.  It was pretty uneventful.  Only a total of 18 hours flight time, coupled with about 8 hours of layover time.  All baggage arrived with us and made it through customs without any problems.  The bags were chock full again on this trip.  Plenty of gifts to go around to family and friends alike.  It’s a good thing that airlines charge by the bag and not by the pound!  While baket ko (asawa ko) my wife says that we are going home for the summer, I like to think of it as just a vacation away from home in the Philippines.

Vacation Time

You could call it vacation time.  It would be better labeled as Rest and Recuperation time this year.  Oh, we had our annual physicals and dental check-ups, as is routine whenever we return to the States.  This time, however, things were a little different.  I won’t go into detail as it is a bit personal.  Let’s just say that I was down for a couple of months, then recuperating and back to normal in a couple more.  It’s not what you expect on a trip to the USA, but I guess things happen.  Some readers noted that I was missing from LiP for those many months.  Yes, I was missing.  I just couldn’t get any articles out of my brain-bucket that didn’t sound like a medical journal.  All rested up and ready to go, I did get to enjoy a trip or two to Pensacola, FL and visits with long-time FilAm friends there.  I’ve since vowed that it’s time I start taking better care of myself!

Visitors and More

We had plenty to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving.  Our two sons and our daughter-in-law (son #2’s wife) came to the Philippines to visit with us.  They could only stay two and a half weeks, but boy did we pack the activities into those weeks.  Among the places we visited was Baguio – the Summertime Capital of the Philippines.  Spent a couple of days in, around and about that city.  Plenty to see and do, as a couple of articles revealed.  There were other trips, too.  Among them, we spent a day at the historic town of Vigan, Ilocos Sur.  The nineteenth century still exists there.  We also hit the beach in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte’s Blue Lagoon at the Hannah Resort and Convention Center.

Year End

That brings us to the present.  Still plenty on our social calendar.  This time of year is a most sociable period.  There are Christmas parties, weddings, debuts, and other gatherings scheduled on our “dance card.”  Hopefully we’ll make it through without need for much rest!