sunday, bloody sunday

it's been a while since i blogged from my bed. ever since i got the desk in my room organized, i've been pretty disciplined about sitting on a chair, at my desk, whenever i'd use jackson wagner (uhm, that's the name of my laptop, yes, i'm not embarrassed that it has a name!). but things are, unfortunately, crazy at home last night. after yesterday's "choose your own adventure" activity which ann and i organized, we all hied off to my house for a late dinner + movie. it was soooooo fun cause we turned my living/dining areas into a movie theater with the lcd projector + screen. and we had ice cream and cake and popcorn and everything else in between so it was all decadent and fun.

so, as you can imagine, even with the slight clean-up after the activity (which involved throwing everything inside garbage bags), the house needs a major do-over: mop the floors, polish table tops, return furniture to their proper places. i've gotten started on some of the things, already - the throw pillows on the couch are in their proper places already - but it's just tooooo hot right now to contemplate on doing more.

right outside my window, three men are going at it with my - as one of them aptly described it - masukal garden (if you could still call it that). i gave them free reign to just hack everything off (there's too much going on inside the house as it is ... i can't be bothered with outside stuff anymore) and to take everything they can sell (wait -- don't take my jeans off the clothesline!!!). i'm praying that after cutting off giant mango branches overhanging my property, taking away all the bushes that are -- for lack of a better word -- scary already, and cleaning my roof, that i'll have less problems in the next couple of days.

of course, i'd much rather be at the magarbo sale right now, perusing clothes inside an airconditioned room, but i have to do this. this - house cleaning, ordering men to fix the outside of my house, budgeting the imaginary quarterly bonus i received to pay for everything i need to get done this weekend (and then some. that's how "imaginary" it is -- mauubos siya in one weekend to pay for the workers, the truck that'll haul the branches away, and my lunch) -- is apparently what being an adult means, and while i understand it, i don't exactly cherish it.

sigh, thank goodness for dinner with kit's girlfriend to look forward to. dinner = free, and in my book, that's a great way to cap off sunday, bloody sunday.

*p.s. of course a mass should be included in the mix, it being a holy day of obligation. yesterday, the last pit stop of the urban adventure was anticipated mass in bf and going to mass with the lingkod brothers and sisters is one of the best ways to spend time with God.

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?

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.

getting ready for mother

a long, long time ago, i used to live in a pristine house. that's how homes are like when you have an OC mother like mine.

and then she permanently left for the US and left the house to me and my brother. and then my brother left and the house was left to me.

then, that's where the problem began. because while *i believe* i have a lot of good qualities, like being able to drill the curtains myself, i am not exactly a house cleaning diva. as a matter of fact, if there was some way i could get someone to do all my cleaning requirements for the rest of my life, and have that person disappear when i don't need her anymore, i'd probably gladly fork over my shoe budget.

i am, however, blessed with friends who love to clean. last year, theo - bless his kind soul - volunteered to get all of my cleaning needs done. he dragged over his best friend floro to help him, and after a couple of sessions (plus one with kuya efren's yaya ising), my house was ready for a party.

so we had a faux housewarming to surprise a friend on his birthday

and another one to celebrate christmas and theo's arrival

however, while my house would *somehow* be ready for parties, inevitably, it would return to its normal state of entropy (incidentally, one thing i learned from high school physics is that entropy, the state of disorder, happens to be the most stable state.) translation: i would once more need professional help to get the house in order.

my mom's arriving on friday and i am in a HUGE panic as to how to get everything ready for her arrival. of course i am crazy worried about how to make everything comfortable, how to entertain her while she's here, how to make sure she doesn't regret taking her vacation here. but, most of all, my biggest worry is how she'll react once she realizes her pristine house is no more.