12 Days of Christmas: Day 2 - The Elves

December 23 began like all days. Work occupied most of our morning, as we were bent on finishing some of our edits before the holiday vacation. Len brought Becky's walnut brownies for breakfast... and for inspiration, hoping we'd speed up our editing with some sweet fix. http://www.culinarysherpas.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/brownies-close-up.jpg

By 10:30, Lynnie and others decided to have lunch in our usual celebratory haunt, Green Tomato, in Philamlife. I tagged along. There wasn't the usual crowd, as most Makati employees were probably on leave already, and there weren't the usual "us" as some officemates have decided to eat in the pantry on take-out food. It was Marco's and Monch's last lunch with us before they go on vacation as Monch was leaving for Bicol that night and Marco for Nueva Ecija early the next day. We usually go to Philamlife for lunch for birthdays and send-offs, but this was just a break.

On our way back, I met Joy (Cabrillos). Haha, my IT colleagues are coming back from the dead. I told her about meeting Lils and Richard the day before. She told me about the Cyberpress party and asked me why we didn't attend. I told her we weren't invited. She said Red probably didn't know all of the contact numbers. (Yeah right! I thought journalists are good in getting information...) Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise to see Joy. She's still plump, and I still feel she should start slimming down, but she looked good and happy. So, being "healthy" probably fits her. Hehe. Sean, her adopted son, is now 9 years old and even if she's not married, I think Sean is giving her the happiness she deserves. Good for her.

With Lynnie in the helm, the Elves had a coffee assembly at the new Starbucks in Paseo. We call ourselves the Elves since we started this group of office-based friendship back in 2004. This merits yet another blog, but let me just say that the Elves' thrust is to save Christmas from the malls. Which means, we are not encouraging material gifts -- although we are not stopping anybody from giving material gifts if they can afford -- but priceless gifts that warm the soul are welcome: a touch, an advice, a refreshing break from work. Many of us have moved on to other companies or workplaces or have been relocated to other offices of Global Sources but once a year, during Christmas, we try to get together and we call that the Elf Convention.

This night, we decided that coffee, some leftover brownies from Len, and update stories will be enough to warm us. Melanie and Rose -- now working in other companies -- were able to spend some time with us. Emper was in Baguio with her family. Jambi arrived from HK on the 20th but he left for Negros, his hometown on Monday, so he couldn't be with us. Most of the stories that night were about funny experiences and the Christmas parties of the different offices we now work for. But later, the exchange turned to the characters of Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo and Florante and Laura. And we all went home with the assignment to read Florante and Laura again till the next "Elf Convention". I hope I'll find a Florante and Laura book soon because I think the next convention will be in January, that soon.

Rech, Melanie and I parted ways in the underpass at the corner of McDonald's. If there's one thing I appreciate about working for Global Sources, it's meeting the Elves and having them as friends.