I'm leaving on a jetplane but, unlike what the song says, I know when I'll be back again. I fly on the 8th this month and return on the 3rd of January.

This is my nth vacation since I started work in Saudi. This is also the saddest,the busiest and hopefully, the most joyful.

My mother is still sick. She has gone out of the hospital now but when I last spoke to her, her medicines are still giving her constant dizziness. Her doctor has already lowered the dosages. I told her maybe she needs to stop taking those medicines (for heart ailment, for her weakening bones and lungs, etc), but she said she's afraid that her condition will worsen if she doesn't take them. She's getting old now. Although her will remains strong, her body's frail now and slowly weakening. I'm certain one of my future vacations will be the last time that I'd see her. (I pray not this time, Lord, and the next and the next...).

I will be extremely busy at home this vacation. Since my sister lost her job, she's been constantly in charge at home -- budgeting, doing errands, taking care of her two daughters and two elders and a husband. She wasn't used to that. She worked for 15 years and was used to being a 'career woman'. Although she has acclimatized with her new 'home career' (as I kiddingly tell her), I know deep inside that she's suffering and would gladly wanted to find a job soon. During this leave, I'd be taking from her some of her menial obligations -- cleaning the house, marketing and, yes, cooking. (My sister's a registered Dietician and she always tells us that a dietician doesn't necessarily mean she's a good cook. Because, honestly, she isn't).

Finally, I need to assist my father whose penchance is building (his) houses. He is neither an architect nor an engineer, but he's the one who supervised the building of our house in Angono, our for-rent house in Mandaluyong and now his 'bahay-kubo' in his small farm land. (His third house, the 'bahay kubo', is not a simple bahay kubo at all. He has architectural plans made for it! I don't know where he thinks we'll get the money to build the house but I always tell my sister: Don't contradict an old man's claim or you'll end up in a bigger fight).

My father was a factory supervisor all his life and even after his retirement (some fifteen years ago!), he still wants to perform a lot of supervision. The two previous houses he built have that similar problem: leaking rooftops. My father said: it's his workers' faults. Again: old man's claim, big fight, shut up.

We ended up losing our tenant because of that leak. In this my Christmas vacation, my sister and I will have to find new workers to fix that rooftop. We can't re-roof of course but an engineer friend told me to re-apply a waterproof paint over the cemented roof. Sounds costly and scary!