Blessed I Am

Here's the low down about parenting and Christmas. Apart from losing your identity as a person and becoming "So-and-so's Mummy / Daddy", at Christmas time, you also lose your gifts as they go on to your child instead.

And while there are piles of gifts under the tree awaiting the return of Lydia and Luke to open, I cannot say this year that I was not as blessed as they are. And here's what Mummy got for the year from Santa:

1. A book entitled A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This one caught me and everyone else a bit by surprise. 1) It's an author that I nor my circle of friends read. 2) It's a story set in Afghanistan. We turned the book cover inside out, reading each of the reviews written on it but hell, it puzzled us enough to open another bottle of wine. Anyways, having Wiki-ed it, I am not really surprised at the choosing of it. It may not be a Bill Bryson, but it is definitely a book right up my alley in terms of plot and characters. And yes, I would totally enjoy reading it for sure!
   
   
2. 2 t-shirts, one with Captain Yahoo on it and another with a green frog. This one is another one that set me back a little. But that was until I remembered that one-half of the gift givers gave me a gift last year that was his way of saying Break Out of Your Box. So yeah, while I may never own another piece of clothing similar to it, I would wear these 2 on the days when I need that extra boost to break out. And maybe when I run a too-long a delay to doing the laundry. *grin*
   
   
3. Jamie Oliver's latest cook book called Jamie at Home. This one, needless to say is from my Executive Chef Adam and he's a doll for getting it for me. Yes - he knows I'm a Jamie girl and not a Gordon girl. And you know what, I think he's a Jamie boy at heart, having worked with the chap for a spell. Most certainly, this will be one gift where the benefits would be enjoyed by those that I feed.
   
   And there is one more gift that I would like to write about tonight. As the saying goes - save the best for last, my latest toy is one that came completely by surprise.
   
   
4. Sony Walkman MP3 Player in PINK!
   
   As I close off the list with music coming from it, I am part embarrassed by it (not cos of the colour) and part awed with it. Embarrassed for what started out as a casual remark in a passing conversation about wanting an iPod for Christmas, which lead to reply remark of my gift being bought and wrapped already, I still finally got a darn MP3 player that's not from one of em rip-off brands. Awed because person who gave this to me thinks me worth the while to go out and get another gift, similar to what I had expressed want of.

And so, while there is more, much more to Christmas than the material nature of the gifts we receive, I am glad that all these people who are a very big part of my life, thought enough of me to have some meaning to what they all wanted me to have.

I may not possess riches untold... I may not have gotten a Tiffany jewelry or a sports car.. But tonight, I know I am rich in ways that many others search all their lives for. I am loved. And that is the most precious gift one could ever ask for.

I once wrote that I envied my former colleague Alwyn for being blessed enough to have a line under the picture of his missus and him on his blog. But tonight, I think I am in a standing good enough to use that line myself here..

Amor, Ergo Sum
I Am Loved, Therefore I Am

And the emotion that those lil words has inspired in me, has more or less saved me from taking a wrong step that I could so easily have stride towards.

So yes... therefore, I am.