A day of voting and holiday decorating

Because Nerie had happily retired to the province to be with her grandkids, this was the first time in many years that I had to supervise the setting up of the Christmas tree. Good thing my ‘team’ of three assistants had the better part of a national voting holiday to finish this fun but tiring annual ritual. Now that our tree is up, I’m brimming with more holiday spirit and readier than ever for the most wonderful time of the year.

Monday, Oct. 30, was the first time I voted in the Barangay Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, better known as the BSKE. I deliberately made an effort to go and cast my ballot because those who do not vote in two consecutive elections are automatically disenfranchised. This means that such individuals will be barred from voting unless they register again with COMELEC, which is such a hassle.

The whole process took me less than 10 minutes, from the time I got down from the car, voted, and returned to the car. My voting precinct was the University of Asia and Pacific parking lot, which was spacious and airy. It was also organized, and the staffers were very helpful. It also helped that days before the election, I logged on to the COMELEC website’s precinct finder to look for my name, thus saving lots of time and effort.

Truth be told, I did not know any of the candidates vying for barangay captain and kagawads in our area. Fortunately, there was a list of candidates in the voting folder to help. It would have been more helpful, though, if there was a photo of the candidate next to his/her name to help the voter decide. All I knew was that our barangay captain was running unopposed, so that solved my dilemma.

As for the seven kagawads, since I did not know any of the 11 candidates, I voted mostly for the females because I believe that women are more hardworking, prudent, honest and meticulous compared to men. To me, such qualities are a must for barangay officials because not only do they yield so much power, they are also responsible for the quality of life in every barangay. According to Mons Romulo, barangay San Antonio — my barangay — is the richest barangay in Pasig City and the barangay captain’s budget is even bigger than that of our congressman, Roman Romulo!

After voting, wanting to take advantage of the holiday while still being productive, I was excited to get home to start decorating my Christmas tree. In past years, I heavily relied on Nerie, my trusted kasambahay who was with me for nearly two decades. Nerie, however, decided to retire last August so she could spend time with her apos in the province. (I told her though that she can come back any time if she gets tired of provincial life.) Because I am a working, single mom, Nerie was godsend who practically ran my household for nearly 20 years. She paid my bills, ran errands for me, and prepared delicious meals for me and my two children.  

An excellent cook, one of Nerie’s signature dishes is chicken relleno with chicken gizzard and liver gravy, and it’s the favorite of one of my best friends, May Ann Casal Soriano. Every Christmas season, May Ann will ask me to “request” Nerie to cook it. Another specialty dish that my mom loves is Nerie’s unrivaled fried lumpia with bangus, Chinese mushrooms, wansuy and sotanghon noodles. Its dipping sauce is a delicious blend of Thai patis, some water, sugar, sili and wansuy.

Nerie also has very good organizational skills and knows how to pack and store items properly. To top it off, she was the expert at putting up our Christmas tree and lights. When I got home after voting and saw my two helpers and driver struggling to install the Christmas lights the way I wanted them done, I suddenly missed Nerie again.

The most difficult and annoying part of the tree-decorating for me is adding the Christmas lights. This is the middle step that follows the assembling of the tree and what comes before the final touch of adding the ornaments. Placing the lights needs patience and nimble fingers to twist and position them. And as I’ve said many times before, I highly recommend LED lights for your trees. Although they are much more expensive, they are safer and last much longer. I’ve had mine for at least five years and they’re all still working. My rule of thumb is to use at least 100 lights for every foot of your Christmas tree to ensure it is well-lit. As much as possible, wrap the lights around the branches so the wires are not exposed.

After installing the lights, we started adding the ornaments. Our living room was littered with giant plastic bins containing all our Christmas ornaments, which are segregated by color. This just makes it easier for me to choose which décor I want to use. We began by placing the biggest ornaments to cover the gaps in the tree then added the smallest ornaments last.

To help put us in a more festive mood, we listened to Christmas carols from the albums of the Ray Conniff singers, who were the favorites of my late dad. We also delayed the trimming until it was nighttime so we could see the full effect with the lights on.

Because Nerie had happily retired to the province to be with her grandkids, this was the first time in many years that I had to supervise the setting up of the Christmas tree. Good thing my “team” of three assistants had the better part of a national voting holiday to finish this fun but tiring annual ritual. Now that our tree is up, I’m brimming with more holiday spirit and readier than ever for the most wonderful time of the year.