faux-ductive weekend

so last weekend it was all rain and what not and definitely a perfect day to sleep in but for some reason i woke up early.

and even weirder was the fact that i felt compelled to take on a project. like organizing my closet. will wonders never cease.

it wasn't exactly the world's most organized closet. in fact it was far from it. and while i knew where everything was, it was horrible. so i took everything out.

when everything was piled onto my bed, i wiped down that closet, tried to figure out what would go in here, and put everything back.

it took a while - i was busy catching up on my internet reading and doing the laundry and exchanging text messages with my friends - but eventually, it got fixed.

put a rack inside so that i don't hang my cardigans.

and, viola, good job. an organized closet. *pats self on back*

then again, who am i kidding, my room's a horrible mess.

and i've got the other side of my closet to tacklet yet.
maybe tomorrow?

or maybe not.

p.s. here's a little something from my past which i've kept till now -- a calendar inside my closet where i list the day's outfit. something that prevents me from doing something i'm bound to do: wear my favorite outfits over and over and over again!

Uh-oh!

After two trips to Cabanatuan (one of which was unplanned) and two trips to Cebu (one of which was also unplanned), my house which I had so carefully cajoled into respectable status, had returned into its natural state: chaos.

In the interest of documenting things, I even took pictures. Yep, I have a tendency to overshare.

{accessories in disarray!}

{i'm admin for lingkod alabang,

doesn't give me an excuse to dump stuff in my living room though}


{the dining room table has become the catch-all for my things when i get home}



{so much for using my desk}

Now, make no mistake, there’s no way that I’m even remotely proud of the situation. On the contrary, I’m thinking that if I post the pictures online, I will be able to cajole myself into cleanliness. You got that right – I posted icky, messy pictures of my home to make sure that within a week (or two – I’ve got a lecture I have to prepare for!) I will be able to present a clean and sparkling house for your viewing!

Ready? Get set … GO!

where's the hidden mickey?

in my bathroom apparently.

as i was brushing my teeth yesterday morning, something walked across my foot. it was to heavy to either be a cockroach or a lizard so it was with extreme dread that i turned my head over to the side because i knew what i would see.

a mouse.

and if there's one thing i hate more than frogs, its mice. and rats. ew. ew. ew.

needless to say, i screamed my head off, which wasn't really helpful there being no other living soul inside my house (except mickey, i suppose). the thing scampered inside the bathroom and i scampered to my bedroom where i cowered as i got dressed. i then locked the door to the room and left the bathroom door open. to my (deranged and zombified) mind, the mouse could go anywhere -- like the living room, or the dining room, or the kitchen, or the laundry room (the room formerly known as the maid's room) as long as it would leave the bathroom and stay out of my room.

my officemates said, hey, why don't you get a mouse trap, but i didn't want to go do that cause, well, that would mean i'd have to clean it up after it gets stuck to the mouse trap. and i'd have to see it. and while i'm as "cowboy" and as boyish as they come, mouse clean up isn't one thing i can do very well. my plan of action was to pray, wish for that stray cat to come back to my house, and for the mouse to meet an untimely death one of these days, preferably outside.

however, no matter how strongly i believed in the power of prayer, i knew i would have to take precautions upon entering the house. so, i grabbed my foil (that sword you use when you fence) which was stuck inside the umbrella stand near the front door, and poked the stuff that could be mickey's hiding place inside my bathroom -- the trash can, the basket with the cleaning supplies, behind the pail, and the basket with the toiletries. and when the coast was clear, i resolutely closed the door and prayed mickey was out playing somewhere i'd never set my eyes on.

(i think he's inside the laundry/maid's room now. i heard a bit of scampering in there when i got my laundry -- and yes, i screamed once more and shut the door even more resolutely than i did the bathroom door. he's probably feasting on the bazillions of law school readings i didn't have the heart to throw out previously which, one of these days, i'll get rid of in the interest of making the room less mickey friendly. one of these days, mickey, you too shall die!!!)

in the wake of mickey's invasion, i cleaned my bathroom like i had never cleaned it before, removing every bit of hidden space that mickey might fight enjoyable in the future. it was way past my bedtime when i finally stumbled out of the (sparkling) bathroom. but i don't care. there's no hidden mickey in my tiny sanctuaryand there's no way i'm going to allow him entry ever again.

laundry room, you are next. (of course, with foil in hand still. not like i could stab mickey with it -- or that i'd even want to -- but it helps to feel armed when it comes to these things. forget the fact that i may be a thousand times bigger than mickey. i've got fear on my side, and that's always the best way to lose a battle. even a battle with a mouse.)

heto ako, basang-basa sa ulan

and so began my weekend. i was wet, i was soaked to the bones, and i was frozen cold. and all i could do was to sing in my head, over and over again, the aegis song.

gah. so much for global warming, la nina, and crazy climates.

i got home late on friday, with the lingkod anniversary prayer meeting and fellowship after that. still, that did not stop me from attacking the lamp inside my room and spray painting in a flat white in the middle of my living/dining areas. yes, i know i should've done it outside, and yes, a sleep-deprived person won't exactly be the best person to do a full coverage in the middle of the night and yet those things did not deter me from doing my own little DIY project. i liked how it turned out, like, not love. it was okay, and let's just say that now, i'll be more confident in tweaking things up.

saturday, i woke up with the grim determination to fix my closet. why, i don't really know, but i started by hauling everything out of the two small closets in my bedroom and dumping everything on my bed. i didn't finish this job until sunday evening (i dumped everything in laundry baskets when i went to sleep saturday night) but the entire exercise made me realize that even after removing clothes i haven't really thought of in a while, and moving a whole lot of other clothes, jackets, and my suits to the master bedroom (where i used to put all my other clothes since they wouldn't fit in my bedroom closet anymore), i still have a sizable amount of clothes to wear. this just means one thing -- i shouldn't really go shopping for clothes for the next couple of months, or at least until i lose the weight i'm slowly but surely shedding off.

since my house has been "lingkod central" recently, my new AG had our meeting at home last saturday. i set the table which, oddly, impressed shy enough for her to say that she now loves my house. i'm really getting the hang of being a hostess ... and i'm loving it. i'm slowly accumulating serving stuff i like -- last weekend i bought several bowls since it turned out that the set i've been using at home has only four bowls -- enough for the members of my immediate family only! i really ought to make a trip to dapitan soon -- i want more bowls, and spoon rests, and other fancy shmancy party stuff. the two-tiered plate thing i previously got is sooooo useful, as well as the cake tray which, for some reason, has never held an actual cake yet (it has held brownies, a toffee nut loaf, and muffins, but not cake.) i've realized that the trick is to clean up immediately after the guests leave, or at least put everything back in its place, even if you mean to do the washing the morning after. it really keeps the clutter at bay, and i love it!

on a happy note, i've finally figured out why the swan (or is it goose?) neck faucet in the dirty kitchen hasn't been working properly. with my handy wrench, i dismantled the thing and learned that a lot of pipe shavings (from when they cut the pvc pipe i guess) and dirt (from who knows where) got stuck inside. once i cleaned the inside parts of the faucet, it began working fabulously well and so, no more need to do my bulk load of dishes outside! well, of course i still need to get the kitchen light working (hahaha) but for the meantime, a lamp (that used to be in the desk inside the master's bedroom) is doing quite a great job.

i'm thinking of really getting the laundry room (hehe) clean by this week -- maybe i can start tonight? it still has some of my readings from law school, as well as a whole lot of stuff. i'm thinking that if i didn't read them when i was being graded on what i learned from them, it's highly unlikely that i'll be reading them now, right?

so that was my weekend. how was yours?

a belated very merry christmas to my five readers :)

belated merry christmas everyone!

the entire week has been hectic and stressful. as some of you know, i had scheduled the plumber to come in last sunday and again on the 23rd to complete the minor repairs i wanted in my bathroom, the kitchen, and the dirty kitchen. i had thought they were minor, except that there's still stuff to be done and the list just keeps growing. i guess that's the stressful part about house ownership (or in my case, house sitting for parents who don't seem to want to sell the house but have no plans of coming back to manila). i had a major tiff with the first plumber whose only goal was to get the better of me, so i changed plumbers mid-job. the second guy was so much better - i guess he didn't have much of a choice since he works where i work too and you don't crap where you work, right? - but it turns out he was a carpenter who just knows about plumbing so that's a bit of a bummer too. still, he did a great job (at least to my limited plumbing knowledge) and he was so agreeable that i want to contract him to do more repairs around the house. well, more repairs as soon as i find the money to pay him with.

anyway, the repairs that absolutely needed to be done were completed by the 23rd, just in time for the party. funny cause while i usually hate latecomers, i wanted all of them to come late on the 23rd since i got home from a mad rush to ruins/sm/bring home theo at around 8 p.m. already and i still had to wash the dishes and cutlery we were going to use, clean the bathroom of debris, and wrap some gifts. anyway, the party started at midnight -- yes, we're a late bunch -- and ended at 5 a.m. and it was everything i hoped it would be. lots of laughter, lots of food, lots of good cheer. i'm blessed to be surrounded by amazing people, and i just can't help but be thankful that i've got these people to call my friends.

the 24th meant cleaning up after the party (a chore i don't mind now that i have lots of water, thanks to maynilad!), wrapping up more presents, and going home to my dad's family in cabanatuan. our christmas fare was lovely, except that the lady who made paella made something more akin to biko instead, which was a huge disappointment! and yesterday, we all went to bahay ni san jose, a place my tuloy thursday friends and i visited for KAP 10 which, by some miracle, turned out to be a place where my lola and aunt have been doing their own mini outreach for years. it was especially touching that the kids still remembered me, notwithstanding the very brief moment i shared with them. i just hope that i'll be able to do more for them in the future. they're sooo special, and they deserve so much more.

the plans for the next couple of days are up in the air. funny how i've always wanted to spend time away from my home during the holidays, staying either in nueva ecija or quezon city, but recently, i just want to hole up in my house. maybe it's cause my bathroom sink's finally back on the wall, or maybe cause i now have running water. maybe it's cause of the book my mom and dad sent (book 13 of the wheel of time!!!) or maybe cause my car aircon's broken. a lot of maybes.

but if there's one thing that's for sure, it's that i'm having the most wonderful holiday season ever.

watch your back, martha, i'm out to get you.

not. hahaha.

but seriously, yesterday's demand to finish a VA decision draft and a pleading due tomorrow notwithstanding, i still managed to sneak a thirty-minute trip to ace hardware and the home section of SM department store to get stuff for my house. and, a little more than P500 pesos later, i came out of the mall (with the guards almost forcing me to leave) triumphant and ready to attack my home improvement tasks once more.

see, i got so many good things for my P500:

• extra toilet seat cover (for less than P60) in case the new one gets dirty and ugly
• two small pillows (for P79.75 each) for the two wonderful chairs from my kiddie sala set (my version of vintage, mwahaha)
• kitchen wall clock (for P129.75) because not only are the number of the old wall clock not visible, it was also not working anymore
• extra universal adaptor (for P40, on sale), cause you never know when you'll need one, and i've learned to hate transferring from one appliance to another
• 3M commando (for P169.75) for those wayward plugs and cords, and to make sure that the lamp's switch isn't somewhere where i can't find it
• replacement feet for the ironing board (for P29.75)

am i just finding yet another reason to spend? i don't think so. i guess after my mom's visit (where i saw the house through another person's eyes) coupled with numerous home improvement blogs that i've been reading has woken up my sleeping (or was it more like dead) Martha genes and has converted me into this person who has found a revived passion for her home.

now, i do understand that buying a couple of rubber feet for the ironing board and finding a way to manage the cords at home does not make me a martha. but, come on, don't you think that the fact that i've found lovely spots for my crafts basket (oh yes, i have one!) and the fact that i've invited people over for dinner the other week without pressure from them (which is usually the case, hahaha) means only one thing: that i've gone a long, long way from the girl who has instructed her friends not to enter her home at all.

good job, martha, este, rosa.

i am looking forward to yet another trip to dapitan arcade where, unlike the previous trip, i have a working list of stuff i'll need for the revamped home. i'm also keeping my fingers crossed that one day, my brother will empty out the room he previously occupied so i can make use of it, but that's going to be next to impossible (the secret, rosa, the secret!!!) still, it doesn't matter. i've so many tiny (and cool) projects in my head that by the time i can afford a bathroom re-tiling, a house re-painting, a kisame repair, and re-piping, i'd be ready for visitors to drop by the house on any given day, my mother included.

Undomestic Goddess*

Me, I’m not a domestic diva. In fact, while I am proud of the fact that I am able to do my own laundry, ironing, and wall-drilling, I am ashamed to say that my house cleaning skills are next to nil. Forget my true-blue Montessori education (where they actually teach you how to sweep the floor and fold clothes properly, among other things) – I have always lived by the philosophy that entropy – the state of disorder – is the most stable state.

For some reason though, ever since I started reading Holly over at Decor8, I’ve been addicted to home blogs. I’ve almost gone through all of Benita’s posts at Chez Larsson, and through the tweet of someone I follow, I’ve stumbled about the youngster’s Young House Love. And, after almost a month of reading these blogs, some latent gene must’ve kicked in and converted me into someone who actually wanted to do something for her home.

Innocently enough, it started with a desire to clean out two desk tops – there’s a desk in my room which had become a catch-all of anything and everything, and a desk in the living room which, surprise surprise, had become a catch-all of, again surprise, anything and everything. It was – to plagiarize the Cobra Starship song - a hot mess. Since I needed to do major overtime at home (something I’ve been doing since my mom left) I figured, I needed a place where I could park my laptops (Ben, the old one, which has MS Office applications, and Bimby, the new one, which is significantly faster).

So, while watching one of my favorite shows over at Discovery Home and Health, I removed all the debris on the desk in my room and started cleaning up. And while I was doing that, I though, why not my side table too? Then I had some stuff that I had to move to the top of my shoe cabinet so I started working on that too. Before I knew it, it was 3 am and I had started on a number of places all over my house. But, my room’s desk was more or less organized (with the drawers lined with lovely paper!!!), my side table was clear, and my head was brimming with ideas.

Having slept at 3 am you’d think I’d crash the following day but for some reason I woke up at around 7 … and raring to go. I tried to stick to my nature and stay in bed a bit longer but my mind just won’t let me sleep. Before long, I had started organizing once more while attacking the laundry and the piles and piles of leaves dumped by Typhoon Basyang.

It’s 10:23 in the evening now, and how I wish I can say that I’m sleeping with a clean house. But, my house is big (and horribly disorganized and un-clean) enough that even the most motivated girl – who has a crazy work-week ahead of her – will be forced to stop sooner or later. In my case, sometime around 4 pm, my feet felt crazy painful that I had no choice but to take a rest by plopping onto my bed. I am proud to say though that the desk which used to be in the living room is back in my mom’s room and is polished and organized with Bimby happily resting on top, the room in my desk is uber clean and organized (drawers included!!!), my side table is not only gleaming but has sufficient space in its drawers to accommodate my reading materials and what-nots, and a whole lot of things have found places where I wouldn’t trip on them should I wake up disoriented in the middle of the night.

What can I say, I was al woman possessed and if no one exorcises me soon, I might just finally create a home that my mom will be proud of .

And, oh, did I tell you that my kitchen towels are freshly laundered?


*with apologies to Sophie Kinsella’s book of the same title. Incidentally, I just discovered that my copy is missing.