Fresh from the mail box!

We got two nice surprises from our mail box this week!

The first one is a package from Ford's cousin Marjorie who lives in California. She sent us a belated Merry Christmas card and a Ralph Lauren onesie for Nathan. Hurray!

I love receiving thoughtful gifts! Thank you so much, Marjo! Our little boy will be wearing your gift soon!

The other is a "no-occasion" card from my girl friend (barkada) Michelle. Haha, she wasn't able to send me the Christmas card that I "demanded" from her last September kaya alam ko pambawi ito! I am surprised though because it arrived fast. She only mailed it last January 26 (Philippine time). Well I guess post offices are not busy nowadays!

Thanks a lot, Mitch!

It's a happy week for our mail box! Sana may magpadala uli soon! Hahaha! =)

Four cards

We only received four Christmas cards this year. They are from Mels, Raxie, Ate June, and a client of Ford's firm.

I know that it's not good to expect but I was really wishing we'd receive a bit more. When you're living in a faraway winter wonderland, a greeting card is the only tangible gift that you can receive from your loved ones.

This is another reason why I am already discouraged to send cards. Maybe people really are not into cards anymore. Perhaps they don't appreciate it as much as I do. Mailing cards is probably just a waste of time, energy, and money.

I don't know what will my feelings be next year. Let's see.

Christmas Cards 2014

I am so fond of all those personalized greeting cards. Mahilig talaga sako sa anything personalized eh. That is why when I finally had a child, ang sabi ko sa sarili ko: "Yehey, makakapagpa-print nako ng Christmas cards!" Uso kasi yun dito sa North America.

But since I just gave birth last November 13, I ran out of time for it. In the first place, Nathan was too young for a studio photo shoot. We had to send the cards on the last week of November kasi para umabot sa Pilipinas. Winter na rin kaya mahirap siyang ilabas. Also, I had a c-section so imposible rin talaga na makalabas ako agad. So I decided na ako na lang ang kukuha ng picture then I'll have it printed.

Nathan was only 12 days old when we took this picture on November 25, 2014. He was not in the mood obviously. We had him wear the Christmas onesie that was given by Ate Celina. We were surprised kasi halos maliit na sa kanya. Newborn ang size kasi.

At 12 days, the little boy still wasn't smiling much. After hundreds of shots, I gave up (and I was still in so much pain that time). I just settled for this one.

I asked Pod to have it printed at Costco. Twenty-five copies at $0.29 each.

I was just disappointed because the red border was cut in printing.

I bought a pack of cards at Walmart. It's so cheap, 40 pieces for only $6! It's not that 'grand,' but nice enough (with matching glitters!). It's also light weight so minimal lang ang postage fee.

I taped the picture inside the card. Thankfully, sakto ang size.

Writing on the cards was a struggle. I couldn't sit straight yet then. But I had to do what I had to do. I wrote very short and generic messages.

The fun part though was writing this...

Yehey, tatlo na kami!

By the way, I sent a different card for our parents - Mamoosh and Daddy Jaime/Mama Elsie. I bought these cards in 2013 pa at Dollarama haha!

We were able to mail the second batch of cards nga pala a week before Christmas. We sent a total of 23 cards, I think.

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I really enjoyed sending the cards. Especially when we started receiving sweet messages of thanks from the receivers.

But sadly, only 8 among the 23 acknowledged that they received their respective cards. Honestly, I am already discouraged in sending cards next year. Baka sa Facebook na lang ako babati hehe.

Christmas Eve 2014

I will always remember Christmas 2014. Unang pasko ng aming little boy at unang pasko rin namin sa aming munting Casa Blanco. Some friends were inviting us to spend Christmas eve in their home but we declined. Ford and I both believe that 'noche buenas' must be spent at home. Kailangan din naming magsimula ng mga bagong holiday traditions para sa maliit naming pamilya.

As usual, may pasok si Ford kahit December 24 na. Hence, after office pa niya kami nag-start mag-prepare. I was still so "useless" then kasi talagang masakit pa ang opera ko. I wanted sana a Christmas eve that's full of "gimik" and trimmings but I had so many physical limitations (plus I have an uber demanding new baby) so next year na lang. We just had to make do with what we have, I told myself.

We dressed our 6-week old Nathan with this simple Santa outfit that I found at Walmart for $5. He looked so adorable on it, do you agree?

Medyo mainit nga lang. Poor Chicklet! But mommy just wanted a good souvenir picture for your first Christmas, anak.

Aside from eating, we actually had nothing else to do that night except to take a lot of pictures...

We only had a few gifts under our tree. Para lang sa mga anak ng mga naging kaibigan namin dito.

For our handa, we just had steak (our favorite!) and ready-to-cook lasagna and chicken wings. Plus side dishes -- mixed vegetables, corn, and french fries. Yan ang resulta kapag parehas kayong mag-asawa na hindi marunong magluto haha!

We welcomed Christmas while eating.

Nathan woke up in the middle of our meal so the poor daddy had to attend to him. Poor Pod!

More selfies after eating!

I actually felt so happy that night. I looked so pretty and blooming daw sabi ng Facebook and Instagram friends ko haha! Plus I was really thin!

After so many attempts of having a nice family photo, I settled for this na lang. Mahirap pa kasing picturan si Nathan. And it was difficult kung walang kumukuha ng picture sa inyo. Kung saan-saan lang namin pinapatong ang iPhone kaloka!

I love our Santa hats. I bought them last December 2013 pa sa Hudson's Bay (City Centre Mall).

Sorry na lang sa boys ko kasi wala silang gifts to open that night. Hindi pa namin binilhan ng gift si Nathan kasi hindi pa rin naman niya maaappreciate. Wala rin akong gift kay dear husband kasi wala naman akong sariling pera haha!

But look at what Ford gave me!

A shopping trolley! I never expected it, honestly! A few days before Christmas, he kept on telling me that he's got a BIG gift for me. Tinatamad na raw siyang balutin. I was so clueless kasi hindi naman daw gamit sa bahay. Ito pala yun haha!

The rationale for this gift is that kailangan ko daw ito para makapag-shopping ako on my own sa Boxing Day. I was telling him kasi na gustung-gusto kong magshopping pero ayaw ko silang kasama si Nathan (kawawa kasi ang baby saka loner-shopper talaga ako). Ang problema, I am not allowed to carry heavy things yet kasi nga na-CS ako. Haha, my husband really is a problem-solver! And the best part was, he gave me a go-signal to buy whatever I want! Yebaah!

I knew that I will have nothing to open on Christmas eve so talagang inilaan ko ang Christmas cards from my two friends Raxie and Mels. 

Ahhh, it was a simple yet fun night. What could be more lovelier than spending a special occasion with your family. Hmm, "family." I like the sound of that.

We all went to bed past 2:00 am.

Christmas card from Mels

A couple of weeks ago, I asked (or rather, demanded) my girl friends to send me a Christmas card. You see, those girls are the only persons who give me gifts for Christmas (haha!) and now that I live faraway from them, I miss our yearly gift-giving activity. So for the meantime, sabi ko kung pwede card na lang muna. They happily obliged.

Atty. Mel's card came in the mail yesterday (December 5) and I was surprised kasi ang aga. Wala pa nga akong Christmas tree kaloka! But I was very happy. Ang sarap makatanggap ng something from your friends and from Pinas! It's like receiving a piece of home.

But another thing actually surprised me. When I looked at the envelope, there is no stamp or any postal mark in. As in malinis. There's just a handwritten "85" on the upper right portion of the envelope which I assume is the postal fee. So parang personal na nilagay lang ito sa mail box namin at hindi dumaan sa postal office. Paano kaya itong nakarating dito??? Ni walang date stamp ha.

Too bad, I was hoping pa naman to receive nice Philippine stamps na Christmas theme (may nakita ako nun sa internet eh). And I am sure you will agree that those stamps and marks give a mailed letter its distinct character. That makes a written card much more special. Importante rin kasi ang date stamps for documentation, di ba?

Oh well, I am still expecting two cards from Pinas so sana naman may stamp at mga tatak na.

Ooops by the way, I still didn't open the card. Kapag malapit na ang pasko na lang at may Christmas tree na kami para mas feel na feel ko.

Thanks so much, pare ko! Mwah!

First batch sent!

We finally were able to send the first batch of our Christmas greeting cards last November 29. This first batch will be going to the Philippines, Malaysia, and UAE- hence, we had to send them "early." But I kinda doubt kung aabot pa sa pasko. I remember that we sent cards last year on November 26 and some didn't make it on time (including Mamoosh's). But inasmuch as I wanted to send them earlier for this year, my CS operation hindered me to do so (lol!). I had to wait for a few more days bago ko napilit ang sarili ko na sulatan ang cards.

The 'red' one is for my Mamoosh. :)

I wasn't able to write "proper" personalized Christmas messages anymore. Again, I didn't have the energy (and able mind and body) to do so. Next year na lang.

But I am kinda discouraged in sending Christmas cards anymore. For this first batch alone, Pod already paid $43+ for postage. For a jobless person like me (haha!), that's quite a lot of money already. Yeah, call me stingy, but I can't blame many people for choosing electronic greeting cards na lang instead of snail mail. Not all recipients are appreciative of traditional cards din naman kasi.

We'll be sending the second batch of cards to our relatives here in North America. It'll only take a week for those cards to reach their addresses so we'll wait for a few more days before we mail them. Unlike last year, sana mapadala talaga namin ang second batch haha.

I'll show you how our card this year looks like after Christmas!

Christmas Cards 2013

And now that Christmas is over, I can finally show you the Christmas cards I sent to some family and friends this year.

I have to admit that I am feeling so much guilt right now. You see, I wasn't able the second batch of cards because of some personal circumstances that I cannot disclose here. We were supposed to send cards to our family in the US around second week of December pero hindi ko na nagawa. Tsk, I am so sorry. I promise to really make it up next year. I'll start preparing as early as October na talaga.

Anyway, I had a hard time choosing for the "right" Christmas card this year. I ended up choosing this design kasi this is the first time I've seen and experienced snow. Para memorable. We bought a pack of these cards at Michaels (my new favorite store).

In buying cards, I learned that you only need to choose those regular-sized ones. Para hindi overweight and you won't be charged extra. Ok lang sana kung isa lang ang papadalhan, pero kung marami it would be too costly. As I have mentioned in my previous post, around Php80.00 na pala ang pagpapadala ng card sa Pinas (and other countries). It's not cheap if you'd be sending 10 or 20 or 30 card. Mabigat din sa bulsa.

I am happy na nakarating before Christmas ang mga cards.

If I remember correctly, my cousin Jennifer who's in UAE received their card first. She gratefully posted this on my FB timeline.

Then it was Raxie's turn to receive.

My cousins also posted these on Instagram. Haha, nakakatuwa naman!

Then my friend Lalin...

As for the rest of my friends, I have no idea if they already received theirs. I haven't heard from them eh. I really wish they did!

I really enjoyed sending out cards (hindi ko nga lang nakumpleto). This will be a yearly thing na I hope. In this day and age of online social networking, I know that many people will still appreciate a traditional card with personalized handwritten greeting.

From Edmonton with love

When you're a new immigrant, even the most mundane thing like sending a mail can result to some feelings of insecurity. Ahhhmm, paano nga ba uli maghulog ng sulat sa post office?

I've lived in the Philippines for 34 years and I, of course, have mastered the art of living there. Here, I'm like a child... I need to be socialized in every aspect of Canadian/ Edmontonian culture.

Anyway, Christmas is fast approaching so I decided to rekindle my love of sending greeting cards. Ford and I are so far far away from our family and friends so we really wanted to keep in touch. Sa panahon ngayon ng email,  Facebook at Instagram, I know many of our loved ones will still appreciate a tangible Christmas card.

It's still November but Ford reminded me to finish the ones we'll be sending to the Philippines, UAE, and Malaysia. Hay, medyo late na nga yata ang cards namin. Sana umabot sa Pasko.

Canada Post Offices are conveniently located in malls and pharmacies all over the city. For local mailing, you can buy stamps and just drop your letters at designated drop off areas.

There's a post office in West Edmonton Mall and we went there after Pod's work. I loved the idea that you can send mails up until 9pm. Sa Pilipinas kasi hanggang 5pm lang.

The post office shares a stall with a mini store. It's complete with any mailing paraphernalia that you might need - envelopes, boxes, pens, tapes, etc.

Edmonton postcards are also available there.

An elderly woman man the office. Isa pa ito sa gusto ko sa Canada, pwede kang magtrabaho kahit na ano pa ang edad mo basta kaya mo.

After receiving Pod's payment, the lady gave us the "Air Mail" stickers. Then the stamps. Self-service mode, sulat mo - dikit mo!

I enjoyed putting in the stickers and stamps onto the envelopes. Sana may ganung career, tagadikit lang.

I also noticed na stickers ang stamps nila. Hindi na kailangang dilaan para dumikit hehe!

The first batch of the Christmas cards we're sending.

From Edmonton with love!

We sent ten cards for this batch. I realized though that sending snail mail nowadays is no longer cheap. Or cheapskate lang talaga ako?

A stamp for each international mail costs $1.85 + 5% tax = $1.94 or around Php80.00. Whew!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that all these letters will land in the hands of their respective intended recipients before the year ends. I have no problem with the efficiency of Canada Post, sa Philpost ako diskumpiyado.