Organizing

I was too tired yesterday to do anything. I just watched the impeachment trial the whole afternoon and watered the plants. I planned to organize some of my stuff since the clutter has been terrible. I usually get that urge to clean up when I'm in between projects.

I woke up rested today and after a hefty lunch, I puttered around while watching (again) the impeachment trial. After boxing some stuff, I started sorting documents from envelopes I put them in. These included bills, receipts, medical reports. 

My main goal this week is to reduce the clutter around me. When it hits a certain level I'm not able to do anything else because I get overwhelmed. I found it useful to target specific areas and then do another area if I still have time. 

Since I finished two "areas" today, I can move on to the "fun projects". It feels like I cleared the "cache" and can pile things up again, hahaha. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Cooking, Some Gardening and Still Sorting

I had a busy day today, but I allotted some energy to cook pink pasta. It's been a few weeks since I last cooked, so thought it would be a good day to make something easy. 

It turned out a bit too orange though, haha, I think I used a bigger pack of tomato paste. Still delicious and filling nonetheless.

Here's how I usually make it -

Pink Pasta Recipe

I did some gardening too. Sweetie reported seeing some caterpillars on the gumamela. I guess the rain washed off the Neem oil I sprayed the other day. I also planted two stems of philodendron cuttings. After that I watered some plants with rice water which will help keep them healthy.

Sweetie helped with sorting today. He took care of the electronics boxes. I'm glad we finally found Daddy's old cameras. I asked him to keep it in a box first. I'll check it out eventually. The treasure I found today are a bunch of sea shells which I think we collected over the years. Some are probably Miggy's when we used to go to Pasacao. 

Time to rest now, tomorrow will be another busy day.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Saturday Around the House

I dedicated the day to small bits of housework. I watered the plants, played with the cats, did some cooking and chatted with a friend who likes cooking. It was pretty humid, so I retired back to my sewing table to write this post and watch some TV. I wanted to hang out outside more, but it was too humid, plus the air quality was bad (construction beside us did some welding). 

I'm journaling my daily activities to push myself to move around more. I checked the plants I re-potted and was happy to see the Heart of Jesus (caladium) improve a lot. Check out how much it has improved in 5 days. I transplanted it in a cactus mix soil and put it in an area with indirect sunlight. I think it grew a bit, noh?

I transferred the tiny leaves to a small pot

I'm also propagating some of my gumamela. The four pots I bought a year ago are still alive, but they've outgrown their pot. It will be hard to transplant them. I plan to trim them to make them healthier. I cut some stems and popped them in soil with perlite. I forgot to cover them to create humidity, so that's what I did today. Let's see if they grow some stems. What I hope to do in the future is graft the different colors to have a gumamela plant with different colors. (I've honestly never done any grafting. My Mom was good at it though). 

The bromeliad didn't look good, so I decided to remove the dead and yellowing leaves to give it a better chance to live.

The kittens were naughty today. It was drizzling just before I went out. It looks like they played in the rain. When they came to me they kept rubbing my leg and they were all wet! Haha. Naughty kittens! We're also trying to regulate their food because a lot of stray cats have been coming in since Grey disappeared. The strays probably caused the kittens to have cat flu! Sigh. 

I was going to do some ironing, but I've hit my limit. I know when not to push too hard. I don't want to get sick. I delegated the rest of the cooking duties to Miggy. All he needs to do anyway is let the marinade simmer and Sweetie will do the plating. I can iron tomorrow. Worse off, I'll squeeze myself in another pair of pants next week (haha). 

Happy weekend everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Preparing for a Party

The last two weeks have been nerve wracking. I had agreed to host a reunion of friends who I haven't seen since before the pandemic. We only finished the renovations in early June, so we were hard pressed for time to organize our home for a party. I realized I also didn't have enough plates and utensils and other essentials to properly host a party. It's also been years since I did any hosting. 

When I hosted parties before I used to do it in my childhood home since we had the space for it. My Mom, of course, took care of preparing everything. She's a pro at hosting parties. All I needed to do was invite and show up (and order food when needed). My experience at hosting in our own home is incomparable to my Mom's abilities. 

A week before our first housewarming/reunion event, I made a list of what was needed. Good thing it was a potluck party so I just ordered spaghetti and lumpia. I also had my friends list down what they would bring. I told them I didn't want us to end up having just dessert, haha. Of course, when hosting a party you also need a lot of other things. I thought I'd detail here what I listed for future reference:

• tables and chairs (we had to buy monobloc chairs since we don't have enough chairs at home)
• dining table needs: placemats, plates, utensils, drinking glasses, table napkin, toothpick, potholders
• food counter needs: serving dishes, serving utensils
• food and drinks: make sure to check for food restrictions
• decor
• Sharon needs: containers for takeaway
• an accessible toilet area
• directions and parking

Our home isn't in its best state yet. It's still pretty bare and we still have a lot of stuff that needs to be organized. We don't have decorations, so we've left our walls bare. I don't think it will be perfect, so we just bit the bullet and hosted a party for a small group of friends. It's been on my bucket list to invite friends over and I thought it's the best time to do it while I have some immunity for now. I can't possibly do it often, but I hope I'd get to see most of my loved ones before the year ends. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Complain When You Need To

I see a lot of posts of homeowners on Home Buddies who ask if their contractor did the right thing. Oftentimes it's about tile work, stairs, windows, roof, walls etc. Most of those who comment say the work is unacceptable and should be fixed. I guess people ask because most of us are first time homeowners. It is indeed rare to go through building a house more than once (unless you're very rich!). 

Our supposedly simple renovations dragged on. We were told that the work would finish in just two weeks. It's been two months now and it's supposed to finally finish today. Well, it was supposed to be finished in early May. We found a couple of issues with the work mostly because the last set of workers hurriedly finished their task. 

We waited a few weeks before we allowed them to come. We had to get well and have the house disinfected even though the virus likely came from their group. The good thing about our contractor is they do back jobs if there are issues. Oftentimes though we had to wait since they quickly move on to other projects. 

Looks fine, but there were issues with the drawer and floor. 

The project would have finished in two weeks if they provided materials on time and if they did the work properly the first time. There are many horror stories with bad contractors. We've so far stuck it out with this one since they do get the job done with supervision. I think that's required anyway for any work that you have done. Among all the work they did for us the best one is the plumbing and the garden work. It was outsourced to another company (haha). 

I know a lot of us tend not to complain when you have work done. I learned to give proper feedback and complain after working for an international company for 15 years, haha. I don't bottle things inside anymore especially when I pay for it. Demand the worth of your hard earned money. Just a few more tweaks and we should be done.

#BeKind #StaySafe

 

New Gate with Paw Prints

We finally got rid of the polycarbonate we've been using to divide the cat family areas. We had a gate installed last weekend. We chose to have the bottom part to be transparent to socialize the Brimsley family with Meredith. The kittens have grown and have been itching to explore the rest of the house. They have to be friends with Meredith so they could pass through to the other side. 

The work finished a bit late last Saturday. We were told that the paint was still wet. We inspected the gate just before we went to bed and funnily saw some paw prints on it already. Haha! It's probably Grogu's paw prints since he's the most adventurous one. Either his or Grey's since we saw him visit the kittens. 

Now that there is a gate, it would be easier for us to access the side garden. We'd be able to water the plants easily. I hope they're still okay since I haven't been able to go to the area because of the work being done. 

The heat today was terrible. Heat index was at 42'C. I think that's the first time it reached that number in our area. I could still feel the heat from the window even though I was in an air conditioned room all day. Whew! I hope we get some respite from the heat. Stay hydrated! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Summer Spruce Up

Our house used to be the newest on our street. Not anymore since our neighbors had their homes renovated after we moved in. The construction, the dust and the noise that comes with it have been challenging for us. Good thing our homeowners association has been very efficient and kind. They came to our rescue a couple of times already. 

It's been almost 2.5 years since we moved to our current home. Since we're having the flooring fixed in our family room, I thought it would be a good idea to do some improvements outdoors. Took the opportunity to have some things re-painted. I think it's been five years since the house was renovated, so it's about time to re-paint.  

We recently changed some outdoor lighting fixtures. It's smaller than the old one, so the gate post needed to be fixed. I found an old photo of my childhood home and the post lamp looks a lot like what we have just installed. Sweet! We like the new lamp better than the old box one. We kept the old one for future use (maybe for Mom's garden?). 

The cats had also scratched out part of our front wall, so we had that repaired too. What needs to be fixed though is our front lawn. The Bermuda grass is almost dead. Annoying weeds that have been hard to remove have taken over. The bamboo though is still very healthy, but hard to manage. I'll probably work on that later this year when it's cooler.

Since there's a heat wave, any outdoor work is only done early in the morning. Gary and Marvin move to indoor work by mid-morning to make sure they don't get heat exhaustion. We also remind them also to stay hydrated. My target is for them to gain 5 pounds by the time they finish the work (hehe).

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Doing Some Decorating

We took down most of our Christmas decors last week. The only one left standing is our ginormous Christmas tree. I originally wanted to remove it in February, but I told Sweetie I'm fine to take it down earlier. I have a bit more energy now and I want our home to look a bit more presentable. 

I spent a few hours last Thursday working on my succulents. Last time I cleaned them up was in August when Ate Rose gave me a couple of plants. Most of them survived and some had babies (pups). I guess I used the right soil mixture because I haven't had to do anything except water them every 7 to 10 days (depends on the weather). 

I've been wanting to add plants indoors, so that's what I've been working on in the garden. I started with the philodendron and I'm letting the cuttings adjust to it's new home. I'll soon bring it inside after we take down the Christmas tree. I re-potted some of the succulent pups into tiny pots so I could put them around the house (I'm still experimenting to see if they'll survive indoors). 

I completed the set of cute vases I had my eye on for awhile. The tiny pots fit the head perfectly. I wish though I had white tiny pots, but I'll do that next time if this batch survives and grows. I chose really small pups to give them room to grow in the tiny pot.

Placed them on the piano for now. They'll get some sun from there and I will hopefully remember to water them every so often (succulents are best left alone). I put the square vases on the piano too. I get the vases for PhP8 in Daiso and thought they'd be perfect for small succulents. I hope the succulents also grow. I'll move them eventually when I have a proper table for the sala. 

My aim for our home is to decorate sparingly. I just want to have carefully curated pieces that are important to us or something we like. I started with the succulents since they're a gift. I will take awhile before I reach what I have in mind for our home. It's going to be epic!

#BeKind #StaySafe

An Extraordinary Week

We've been puttering around our house a lot more lately. I got to spend a lot more time gardening and cooking last week. My endurance seems to be improving a bit because of pulmo rehab. I think I'm finally starting to enjoy retirement. There were days though that were not good and I missed my second pulmo rehab session. My Fitbit says though I moved much more this week than last week. 

Achievement unlocked!

Cooked four times in the last 7 days. I don't remember the last time I cooked more than once a week. I told my therapist that I'm usually only able to do one major activity a day. I'm usually too tired after and can't do anything else. If it's a major activity, the next day is normally set for rest. Well, I'm happy with the progress I've made. I really want to be able to prepare our meals, so I'm also studying new recipes. 

Gardening

I got to spend three days gardening last week. Spent two days working on reviving the orchids. Then another day organizing my plants. The kittens have been exploring the garden a lot more, so I had to move the veggies to the pocket garden. Sweetie and Miggy helped me since I had a lot of pots to move. 

Kaley Boo gave Birth!

Kaley grew a lot in the past two weeks. We knew she was due already last week since she had become more lethargic, hungrier and selosa. I posted a short video of her sleeping. She seemed really anxious though, so I felt she was about to give birth. I was right because she went MIA the next day and only came back 3 days after. We have no idea where her kittens are since she only visits us during the day. We think Kaley and the other two calico cats (Cheyenne and Sandra) live two houses away. Hopefully the kittens are okay.

Brimsley was pretty stressed out this week. We came home late twice and she didn't like it since her routine was disrupted. Ahh, the cat has been spoilt, haha. We're usually just around and rarely go out. She was so cross she refused to go to the vet! Only the kittens were able to go and get vaccinated. We'll stay home this week to make it up to her (haha). 

Hopefully things get much better! Just believe and pray!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Time to Review Targets!

Last January, I spent an entire week listing down what I wanted to do this year. Since it's already the second half of the year, I thought I'll spend some time this week to review the goals I listed for the year. Here's what I listed for home life -

1. Make it safe by getting all electrical, plumbing and structural issues fixed.

Done! Thanks to Architect Wansi and his team. Updates are on my Monday posts. 

2. Declutter and just keep what we need. I was really happy we were able to donate 14 boxes of stuff especially our pre-loved books. 

Halfway there. We can now actually see parts of the living room, haha. Scheduling part two of decluttering with our coach, Ally Canita, since we have set aside a number of boxes again for donation. 

3. Make the kitchen ready to cook and bake yummy stuff with Miggy. 

Just started cooking and baking again recently with Miggy! Made some cookies last week. I'm glad my oven is working properly and so far we've been able to experiment on other pasta recipes. 

Our now lived in kitchen. 

4. Have a proper living room where we can welcome friends and family. 

Far from it at the moment...

5. A "stable" dining table. We realized that the glass table isn't for us. We're selling it and hope to change it back to a smaller wooden table. 

We were not able to sell the table. Instead we changed the base of the table. Used the leftover fluted panels and it's now stable. Glad we did that because we were able to use it to entertain family. 

6. Maybe get some art that would fit our personalities. We have collected a lot of toys though, so maybe we won't need art. 

Decided not to get any art. Not for now at least. We'll focus on what we have first. The only thing we have placed is the framed art card a friend sent. It was perfect for my craft room powder room.

7. Make our garden more manageable. We'll likely change to turf grass since most of the grass died anyway. I want to have a section for veggies and ornamental plants. It's a bit challenging though, but doable.

This is one major item we've crossed out from our list! We have planted some seeds and hope we'll be able to harvest some veggies soon.  

8. Make the basement our family hub where we can enjoy working on our hobbies. We've so far designed it to be our "playroom" and I'm excited to work on the display cabinet. 

Yes, the basement has become our family room. The toys are now in the display cabinet. We just need to organize the room. One thing we still need to do is replace the flooring (huhu) since the tiles have been popping out (really bad work by the contractor who renovated the house). 

9. Use the maker room to produce things I love to make. Hope to be more productive this year. 

Yes! My maker (craft) room is more or less organized. I just need to finish sorting the rest of the stuff from the plastic boxes. I've also merged all my craft books together. It didn't fit my maker room anymore. It's just outside the door.

10. Fill the house with happy memories so it could be our true home.

This is what we've been focusing on since renovations finished. We've already gone on two family trips (Sipalay and Bohol!). And a big plus we've done is get our home blessed. 

Score: 7/10! 

Really made some headway on our home stuff because Sweetie and Miggy helped a lot to make things happen. Let's see if I get a good score for my other goals. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Condo Bedroom Renovation

It was our first time to own property when we bought our condo unit. Looking back, we should have probably spent a bit more to customize our unit before we moved in. We were in a rush to move at that time because we had to rid of our monthly lease since we had to pay for our mortgage. I was also scheduled to for heart surgery a few weeks after moving in. 

Start with mayhem and the mess is certainly going to grow. Life would have been easier if we had all the proper cabinets installed and furniture in place before we moved in. It was hard since we didn't have enough storage, so our home was perennially messy. 

Before and after emptying the room

No contractor wanted to work on our apartment until we removed all our possessions in the unit. That's why it took 10 years before we managed to get anything done. One of the most annoying issue in the bedroom was the closet. The cabinets had doors that would eat up so much space whenever it was opened. Another issue were the curtains. 

Property management required residents to use white curtains facing outward. It would also get warm, so to keep the heat out we doubled the curtains. We thought about having the windows tinted, but it's expensive. We then decided to change to blinds. It solved the issue of keeping the heat out. It also ate up less space especially in the bedrooms. 

Here's what we changed in the two bedrooms: 

Closet doors transformed into sliding doors 

Closets re-colored to dove gray 

Bedroom doors re-colored to white 

Accent wall added to make the bedroom more interesting 

Curtains changed to roller blinds Air-conditioning units are now properly framed 

Changed the flooring

Finally, upgraded the ceiling light

Home on Mondays: Make Our Home Beautiful, Safe and Organized

We've been in our still relatively new home for a year now. We thought everything would be organized by now. Our original target to finish cabinet installation was the second week of December. Uncovered a LOT of issues that involved our safety, so we had to prioritize making sure we don't get fried while asleep. I'm honestly still very antsy since the bedroom electricals haven't been fixed. The Megger test shows now that priority fixes are done, so at least that's keeping me less anxious. 

We decided to move to a house because we wanted more space to move around and do our passions. Also since our parents are super seniors we have to be ready for them. Mom though is insistent on staying in her house. Since I'm a bit better now, we've been able to resume having her once a week for mass and dinner. A lot of convincing required though to get her out of her house. 

Here are my home goals for this year:

1. Make it safe by getting all electrical, plumbing and structural issues fixed.
2. Declutter and just keep what we need. I was really happy we were able to donate 14 boxes of stuff especially our pre-loved books. 
3. Make the kitchen ready to cook and bake yummy stuff with Miggy. 
4. Have a proper living room where we can welcome friends and family. 
5. A "stable" dining room. We realized that the glass table isn't for us. We're selling it and hope to change it back to a smaller wooden table. 
6. Maybe get some art that would fit our personalities. We have collected a lot of toys though, so maybe we won't need art. 
7. Make our garden more manageable. We'll likely change to turf grass since most of the grass died anyway. I want to have a section for veggies and ornamental plants. It's a bit challenging though, but doable.
8. Make the basement our family hub where we can enjoy working on our hobbies. We've so far designed it to be our "playroom" and I'm excited to work on the display cabinet. 
9. Use the maker room to produce things I love to make. Hope to be more productive this year. 
10. Fill the house with happy memories so it could be our true home. 

#BeKind #StaySaffe

Home on Mondays: The Mess Before Christmas

Just a few more days before Christmas and our house isn't ready yet. We were hoping to finish the flooring and cabinetry last week. Roof flashing to be installed and some electrical work to be done this week. The gantt chart wasn't followed because of many moving parts. 

Our beautiful new flooring is currently hidden under carton boxes and film. The installers said it's best to cover while works are being done to prevent scratching. We hope to uncover it before Christmas and hope we'll be able to have a proper Christmas meal. 

Electrical works still being done to address the 5-paged electrical audit recommendation. The major adjustments will be made in January since there are items that are being fabricated. We haven't been able to cook since we need to understand the capacity of the current installation. At least the areas which failed the Megger test have been addressed. More tests to be made to ensure our safety. 

We'll probably spend Friday and Saturday doing some cleaning. Not sure if we can still get some help to do cleaning since the dust has been intense. We'll get to where we want our home to be in good time. What's important is we're together to celebrate Jesus' birthday. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Why We Bought a Renovated House

After living in 7 different homes in the past 12 years, we thought it was time to move to a permanent home. Our lifestyle also drastically changed from "always out" to "always home". We realized early on that we wanted to own our home. We took the plunge in 2012 when we invested in a condo unit. 

Watching house tours became our pasttime during the lockdown period. Being cooped up during the lockdown reconnected us to our home. We started new hobbies like gardening and baking. I was able to hone my sewing skills. 

When it became apparent that I needed to retire and go back home, we realized it would be safer for me if we lived in a house. Our condo property management office was really good at monitoring and helping those who got sick. I'm immuno-compromised, so we have to take more precaution. 

We discussed a lot about investing in a house as a family. We thought about finding a lot and building one from scratch. We considered buying an old house and renovating it. Building one or renovating requires a lot of energy. It would also put me under a lot of stress (something I have to avoid like the plague). That was when we considered buying a renovated house. 

In 2020, we saw a house that had a similar lay-out as my childhood house. I liked it a lot, but it was beyond our price range. We dropped the idea and just continued to view house tour videos. A year later I came across the house again. I researched more about it and found out the agent is a good friend. After a gazillion meetings, the house became ours after a few months. 

We moved in a few weeks after we got home. We're taking our time to fix it, but I think we really made the right decision to move. We were able to stay apart when the boys got sick (twice). After almost a year, we've just started having some proper cabinets installed. Hopefully we'll be done by Christmas. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Wellness Wednesdays: A Cat Adopted Us

There are a number of stray cats on our street. We normally encounter two cats prowling in our property, orange and gray cats. The gray cat used to just hang out in the garden or under my car. When I sold my car, it started to sleep in our laundry area. I used to see the orange one often, but I guess it found a new home. 

When we found out that the gray cat has been staying in our laundry area at night, we realized it has moved in permanently in our home, haha. We had 2 cans of cat food which I accidentally bought in Singapore. I was supposed to give it to a cat-parent friend, but his cat passed away. We decided to feed the cat. 

Grey the Cat. Photo by Sweetie.

Since we don't really have pet accessories, we learned new things from taking care of Grey. Apparently you're not supposed to use a deep bowl to feed cats. They don't like it when their whiskers hit stuff. We never had a pet cat, so I asked advise from a friend who rescues cats and dogs. 

I've not allowed to have pets, but Grey has provided us happiness as a family. We just figured out today that he's male. I think he was injured before because his tail looks like it was cut off (poor kitty). He still keeps his distance from us, but at least he doesn't run off anymore when he sees us. He just does a slow walk while staring at us, haha. 

One of his favorite places to hang out

The American Heart Association says that pets help with anxiety and stress. I was devastated when I couldn't accept the chihuahua JD was giving to me. My doctor said no and the boys said no too. It was the right decision since I need to focus on recovering. I wouldn't have been able to take care of it properly. 

Grey coming into our lives has been a good compromise. We've been able to provide it a safe place to stay and provide him some food (we're still figuring out how much food to give him). We're not able to pet him though, maybe that will come when the time is right (it will probably freak out my doctor). I'm happy already I'm able to say hello to him. I also feel safer that he's around because he'll be able to chase away rats and maybe even snakes. 

We'll see where this goes. Grey is welcome in our home as long as he wants to stay. Maybe in time he'll trust us and we can bring him to the vet to have his tail checked. <3

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Went to S&R After a Gazillion Years

It's been years since we last visited S&R. Got some stuff from it online, but it's just different being there in person. We finally had the chance to go today. We went early on a weekday to avoid the crowds. 

Since our last visit was a long time ago, we decided to check out each aisle. The first thing that greeted us were holiday decors. The TV section followed and a section of kitchen appliances. The coffee maker we've been eyeing for a few months now was available. We decided to just get it when the kitchen renovation is done. The next couple of sections were more home and living stuff. I did notice though that they don't have as much stuff as they used to have. 

I was excited to see what kind of gardening items they had, but there wasn't that many. After that we moved to the consumables section. Got some laundry and kitchen pantry items. We noticed though that all their stuff are "large". I remember S&R always had bigger items, but they used to have some smaller sized items. I guess they're focusing on those who buy in bulk. 

We were not able to complete our grocery list. Some of the consumable items were just too many for us and I don't want things to spoil. The options were also pretty limited (especially chocolates and orange juice!). We did mark some items we plan to get once we're done fixing our home. It's still fun visiting S&R, it was just a little sad that they have trimmed down their selections. 

Do you shop at S&R? Should we try visiting Landers? 

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Home on Mondays: De-cluttering Me

Growing up, the only times I fixed my room was during exam season. I only moved to my own room when I was a senior in high school. Yes, you read that right, I was about 15 when I finally slept in my own room. I slept in my parents room, on the floor, until I was kicked out haha. I didn't have my own room because I wasn't born yet when our house was built. 

I remember keeping my toys under the bed of my parents. When I learned to type I slept with the typewriter beside me. I was always scolded for having so much kalat, but I realize now why... I didn't really have my own space. When I get tired of stuff, my Mom would just store them. And that's probably why I never really learned how to be organized (I'm entirely different when it comes to data though). 

Sweetie's the complete opposite. He likes having things organized and eversince we got married he takes care of stowing away the groceries. He can't sleep until everything is in order. Well, that's also the reason why I have a maker room -- to hopefully contain my clutter. 

I've been watching videos on de-cluttering since we have to drastically reduce the stuff we merged from all the homes we lived in. We easily have at least 50 or so mugs (Sweetie said about hundred...). Most were gifts and freebies from events. At least two closets full of clothes for each of us (SG + PH). Pairs of shoes from two homes and too many bed linens. 

De-cluttering is a journey. I started in 2019 with the data I kept in CDs. It took my whole break to finish moving all the data. That helped reduce the space the CDs were taking up. After that I tried the Marie Kondo method, but it didn't work out for me. I've been watching this vlog for tips and tricks and this is what I learned so far:

1. Clearing out your closet - realistically you only wear a small percentage of the clothes you own. I stowed away my "business clothes" since I haven't worn any of them since 2020. I'm seriously thinking of just donating them since I have no need for it. I've already gotten rid of most of the clothes I left in Manila since none of them fit, haha. I think it'll take me years to have a minimalist wardrobe like Kallie.

2. Shoes - I had a bad habit of keeping old pairs of sneakers. It was what I wore to work everyday so I switched them around. I've reduced my pairs of shoes to about 15. I think I can still reduce it since I rarely go out anyway. 

3. Kitchen - it's been pretty easy to choose what to keep in the kitchen. Keep the newer one or the sturdier one. I still dunno what to do with the gazillion mugs we collected through the years. Also, better to have a place for everything in your kitchen. Keep a smaller pantry and buy only what you need.

4. Increase what you bring out instead of what you bringing in - you don't notice it, but you probably bring in more stuff in a week than what you bring out (usually trash). I've been disciplining myself with the things I buy because more often than not I probably have a stock of it somewhere. I almost bought 5 meters of quilt wadding today. Sweetie pointed out to me that he found 3 boxes of it in the blackhole closet*. 

5. "Clean as you go". Pick up clutter as you move around. A friend told me years ago it's useful to have a basket or box where you can put stuff you're not ready yet to put away. I have a bag where I put "home papers" to file. I have another bag for other stuff to put away. 

De-cluttering is a journey and it will probably take me years to fix everything haha. 

*A huge closet we have in our basement which we've been filling up with odd items since we got home. 

Home on Mondays: The Termites are Almost Gone

Two months ago a cabinet door in the kitchen came off when the contractor was checking something. The hinge wasn't attached to the wall anymore. They said it was likely termites. It was horrific to find out that our new home had termites! We immediately SOS'd the pest control company who's been servicing our childhood homes. They came immediately and said we got the most destructive kind. They started battling the termites just before we went to Bohol. 

The pest control company came several more times in the past two months to check the bait they left. A few weeks ago I discovered that another cabinet door was starting to be unhinged. Good thing the pest control company came a day after and told us that the termites relocated under the sink. They also taught us how to hear the termites while they're gathering food. Here's how they look and sound -

"Do not disturb them," was the one instruction the pest control company gave us. They told us to avoid pounding the area where they were feeding. I was concerned that they were under the sink, but they said it was okay to wash dishes there. They tied the cabinet door so we don't accidentally open it. Well, we reduced kitchen activity altogether so we don't disturb the pests. 

My childhood home is also free of the pests now. They told us there were three kinds when they started working on the house. What we learned is both old and new houses can be infested as long as there's an infestation around your home. We were told that the termites came from the dead tree across our house. They said that termites will look for food within 50 to 100 radius. Don't try to treat them on your own because they will easily move to another area within your home if disturbed. 

I'm glad we got a reliable pest company. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home in Mondays: Must-have First Aid Kit

I had a sad birthday. My boys did all they can to cheer me up yesterday. Surprise after surprise came. I was ecstatic about it, but deep down I just felt broken. 

The past few months have really been challenging health-wise. I have been able to do less and less activities and that really frustrates me a lot. I started to be able to do more activities again after we got back from Bohol, but COVID-19 hit our family. I probably had it too, but with less viral load. I fought it so I could take care of my boys. Then air quality went bad and things have been downhill.

The struggle is real and yesterday I finally gave in and cried. I felt so helpless and hopeless. Aside from feeling unwell the help I'm supposed to be getting hasn't come. I've also been feeling down because I haven't been able to see my Mom. 

Sweetie though reminded me that I should not worry too much. He reminded me how strong I am and told me how proud he was I was able to help edit a book for Mama Mary despite everything. That made me calm down because it reminded me what I should hold on to whenever I face challenges, my faith. 

The first aid kit for anything is your faith. You can add a prayer book or stampitas, a rosary, Holy Water and a medallion too. What's most important is your relationship with Papa God. 

Build your spiritual first aid kit because you need to have it anywhere you go. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Lakwatsera Fridays: Our Outside World Bubble

We're back to just staying home again. The boys decided that it is far too risky to go out since a lot of people are getting sick again. Our pulmo also advised to stay home. Well, we were able to enjoy running errands last summer. We usually did it on weekdays to avoid crowds. 

Here's a list of favorite places we'd visit on weekdays:

1. For grocery shopping - Makati Supermart in Alabang

2. For brunch - Cafe Breton Westgate branch (with matching Titas of Alabang gossiping about how big their houses are hahahaha)

3. For doughnuts - Krispy Kreme in ATC and there's a drive-thru in Magallanes

4. Takeaway lunch - Makati Supermart Coffeeshop (spaghetti FTW!), Dayrits in Magallanes, and AngryDobo in Westgate

5. Clothes shopping - Uniqlo Westgate branch (it's huge and there was just a handful of people when we went)

We've been meaning to explore and check out the Molito Lifestyle Center. It's been years since we visited that area and we heard there are new must visit places. We also noticed new strips opening up in the south. Well, we're back to just staying home for now. We haven't been able to visit Mom yet. One day at a time for now. 

#BeKind #StaySafe