Superbly Late After-New-Year Post

I am fat.

Okay, that just slipped out. Or not. LOL.

I'm supposed to be talking about our New Year's Celebration in this post. Which, if I may say, is the best so far that we've had. We went to Manila Zoo to indulge my little nephew's fascination over anything non-human. Yes, it literally makes his day to see a cow, a horse, a tiger, a pig, a cat, or a dog. Tell me about children's quirks.

But it was a fun activity, albeit the fact that Manila Zoo wasn't just teeming with animals but with people, too. Seriously, you'd have to crane your head over lots of other heads first before you see what's behind the cages.

Kheeno, my nephew, went particularly fond of the sole elephant in the zoo. Maybe because it was huge and it was the animal he got closest to (in view, I mean). He also loved the horses and the different species of birds in their cages. Well, he loved everything I guess. To think he had to climb and attach himself mightily onto the cages and fences just to stare at all the animals. He also enjoyed the playground items, where many other kids took a shrieking obsession of. He got my brother to climb with him and went through the slides again and again, a huge consequence for being his father.

What made everything fun, I think, was the fact that we got to realize just how much our little child had become closer to us, considering he only ever saw us on weekends. It was also heartwarming to hear him call us dearly--like 'Wowo' for my father and 'La' for my mother (he couldn't pronounce differing syllables yet)--and recognize between me and my little sister (which is a difficult feat even for my young cousins).

In the end, it did not matter if my parents decided to do away with firecrackers and sparklers for the New Year's Eve’ traditional firecracking welcome. It did not matter that we lost the family tradition of reunion-type of get-togethers every January 1st. What only mattered was that we still had each other to celebrate with and a new child to make the event happier.

So we’re done with the story. But let's tackle that slip-up of mine.

Oh yes, I'm fat. Or just heavier than my old weight. I now know how to literally not fit in your jeans. No pun, I've been wearing the same size of jeans for the last 8 years and now, or since Christmas Shopping 2010, I had to go a size larger. My shirts and blouses also went a notch higher in the size department.

How can that not happen when all these time (for the last three months), I only had eating and sleeping to do aside from watching movies, reading e-books, and nursing a TV-addiction. I used to do the laundry manually, as in take the soaped clothes from the washing machine and rinse them with your hands. But Mother got an automatic washing machine, as in put everything into the tub and let the machine do the rest. That's about the only exercise I get aside from sweeping and wiping the floor and now it's gone.

I'm not justifying the weight gain, nor do I feel bad about it. To hell with thin-is-good philosophy. I just want to acknowledge, finally, that simple fact.

So yeah, I'm fat and I had the best New Year's Day last Saturday. How I managed both of those thoughts into one sentence, don’t ask.