Today is a sad day...

My dad passed away 25 years ago today. He was a tall, slender man with glasses. We share the same smile. He valued his family the most and made us his number one priority. He never missed any opportunity to teach us something new.

He loved my mother and respected her a great deal. He was a good man, a loving husband, great dad, loved co-worker and neighbor.

An aortic aneurism took him away from us way too early.

Today I am feeling blue.

On top of that, I have learnt that a very dear friend of mine is hospitalized. He will have to go through a set of surgeries due to clogged arteries and veins. He is only 60. I am hoping that he will recover. I spoke to his wife and later to him today. He sounds good but, I know he is scared as we all are.

I need something to uplift my mood today and think positive. So, I will work on learning some Tai Chi moves and use the treadmill. I am not going to make or get any comfort food. No pasta, no chocolate!

Guess who is Santa's wife? Well, you could never guess...

As a family we made a decision that we no longer want to give gifts for special occassions since, it is such a hassle and everybody has everything that they want so, gifts are totally unnecessary. I do not agree with this but I went with the majority's vote. I like receiving and giving gifts.

So, last year I decided that I wanted to buy gifts for the children of our security guards, gardener, secretary and our office boy for the New Year.

We are not Christian so, we do not celebrate Christmas but somehow Santa or rather "Noel Baba" (Father Noel) in our case brings gifts to the children for the New Year on 31st of January. Many people reject and frown upon this idea and do not even celebrate the New Year thinking that it is a Christian thing but I disagree. Besides, I love Christmas and all the festivities.

We even decorate a tree at our office.

Anyway, I bought gifts for all the children during my lunch break and coming back to the office put the gift for the 4 year old son of our secretary under the tree him without seeing it. He was at the office that day because the nanny was sick.

I then pretended that I was talking to Noel Baba on the phone and asked his mother if there was a little boy named let's say Jim around here and when she confirmed that it was her son, I said: Yes Noel Baba, he is here at the office right now. A gift for him under the tree? Yes, yes sure, I will tell him. Thank You! Bye!"

I told the little guy that Noel Baba left a gift for him under our office tree. Since he has a 9 year old brother, he was not very sure if there actually was a Noel Baba. I pulled up a picture of an American friend of mine posted on Facebook. He had dressed as Santa one year for a charity organization. I told him, Noel baba was my special friend. Well, I am serious, I am his mother's boss so, I must be telling the truth right? He totally bought it! :)

Our secretary told me today that he was talking to his cousin over the weekend about Noel Baba and the little girl her age was completely rejecting the idea that there was such a person. Our secretary heard her son saying to his cousin: "No! You are so wrong. There is Aunt T'Pol at my mother's work and she is Noel Baba's wife. She showed me his picture!"

He got his facts a bit jumbled but I got such a kick out of the story that I am still smiling as I type this.

How do you stop giving gifts?

I have a rather small family. Including my sister's in-laws, we are a family of 10. Not all of us exchange gifts either but gift giving has become a hassle during the last few years.

When I travel to the US, I buy gifts for everyone but when it comes to Birthdays and the New Year, it is mom, sis, BIL and I who exchange gifts. Truth be told, none of us need anything. This year, I bought a watch for my sis which she did not need and took mom to Italy for their respective birthdays and will be giving a gold coin to my BIL. Gold coins are a popular gift/investment in this country.

My mom gives gold coins to all of us but I think she is tired of doing even that.

My sister is pretty terrible in gift giving. Last year she gave me a silver ring which I never wore because, it is really not my kind of ring and this year she gave me another silver ring which had a problem so that she needed to return to the store and I did not receive the replacement yet. She is trying but, buying gifts is not her thing. Some people are like that so, I am not criticizing her. My dad was a great gift buyer and so am I. Mom and sis? Not so much.

Mom recently declared that we should stop giving gifts. To celebrate birthdays, we will only go out to dinner and be done with it.

I am fine with this decision. I am sure when I go to the US, I will buy gifts for everyone but, that is my thing. I never expect anything in return. Whenever I am shopping, I come across things that they would like or need and I get them. I do not go out of my way for gift shopping. So, this works for me.

I am so happy that after this last gold coin gift, I will be done with this. Yay!

I also belong to a group of friends that play Secret Santa for the New Year. I think, everyone dreads picking a gift for me because I am overweight. It is next to impossible for them to find a clothing item. Even I have trouble finding clothes so I cannot blame them. I keep getting real nice, good quality shawls and scarves each year. This year I must tell them in advance that I do not need anything in black or gray. Shades of blue and green or a rich burgundy are all welcome :)