more peeks at settling in

I have fully moved in with my parents and only visit the old place to transport things. I do the transporting by stages in order to manage the cleaning and fixing and arranging, especially of the tons of books that have to be re-organized into various shelves.

I gave priority to fixing my workspace/writing nook because a project is due to begin by end of next week and I really want to get seriously started on the research work for this year's NaNoWriMo. I have also decided to make my workspace more of a writing nook than a day-job workspace. Hence my "work" shelf actually has more of the happy stuff (my library of journals, writing books, notebooks) than the day-job stuff.

I also discovered that having no windows (my corner is literally a corner and under the stairs and walled in by a shelf) somehow helped me work better because I am less sensitive to the passing of the day and thus feel less resentful of feeling that I spent most hours just working on the day-job. The light is constant as if it is always early evening and I often pretend I am a hardworking detective on a mystery crime case working overtime (yes, it has a bit of that feel). Much better than enduring the daylight change from morning to late afternoon and realizing that I have been in the same spot doing the same thing.

A whole new theme and flavor for my writing nook/ work space.

in progress

a very rare selfie, and only because I want to show off the owl print that is now in my writing nook

Today's focus will be the bedroom. I hope to make progress in it well enough to be able to show nice photos. Then next on the list is the bathroom which is now much bigger and also shared with my sister. There is an unbelievable amount of possessions to sort through, combine, de-clutter.

Finding the right balance of co-existence in shared spaces is a very big deal and in that matter I count myself pretty lucky that I get along with my sister. She lives on rigid, almost obsessive but enviable well-orchestrated schedules while I fare better with a flexible day that leaves much space for maneuvering and flowing in any direction. I am more impulsive and indulgent. I am also worse at getting lists ticked off.

my odd sister. queen of calendars, schedule master.

settling in slowly

DIY house moving is very exhausting and very slow. On the other hand it does not cost any money. Except perhaps for the food and beverage treats I allow myself as comfort and reward.

What did cost me money was fixing the new place especially since I have to integrate myself into an existing household instead of simply setting up a new place for myself. There were repairs and upgrades and renovations. There were color palettes to consider. There is now a roommate to consult with constantly.

Hello (Sort of) New Place...

Renovated the living room. Still in progress.

Renovated the dining room. Still in progress.

waiting for the rainbow

My mom was hospitalized for three days because of some bacteria that made her immune system go on full war, leaving her weak and sick with fever, nausea, and a very severe migraine. She was allowed to go home last Saturday but was given a host of medications that she will need to take for a month. She will also have follow-through check-ups with the doctors.

She is still not feeling well and her recovery seems to be going very slow. My dad, sister, and I have been busy making things as comfortable and conducive to recovery as best as we could. All our routines and 16-hour plans have been thrown out the window for the moment.

Since I live independently, I manage to slip in some level of normalcy to my routines but not wholly. I was also struck by fever the day after we took my mom home from the hospital. The fever was light but it kept going on and off so I am on a paracetamol schedule until today.  When I woke up this morning I could sense the fever trying to creep in. It could be exhaustion from the past week (especially since I also had a major client presentation last Friday), and it could also be the stress of paying the hospital bills. (The bills definitely took a big painful bite out of my savings.)

There is always a silver lining to every dark cloud. I strongly believe that. Even if at the moment the silver lining is almost invisible. The rainbow shows up after a heavy rain. The sun will always rise after the darkest hour.

Hopefully, the rainbow will have a pot of gold somewhere.

creative roots : my cousin's artwork

I might have mentioned in previous posts that I come from a creative family. I have shown samples of my mother's drawing and watercolor skills. I have also shared my sister's own unique art of monsters (a piece that I used to decorate my home).

Today I would like to share my cousin Jennie's art. She specializes in painting and she complains she can't draw people. But she paints really beautiful nature scenes.

rediscovering our hometown

When I was a child, I have always secretly regretted the fact that my family did not come from a provincial hometown. By that I meant a hometown situated in a farming or fishing village where the long days of summer are spent in idyllic abandon amidst the abundance of nature. Places that are not in the country's capital region. Places that you have to take long bus rides or plane rides to get to. Places near flowing rivers or shining seas or oceans of coconut trees.

My family, especially from my mother's side whom I am closest to, are natives of Pasig. It has been , in fact, a prominent family in the old days and it even boasted of the first and only photography studio in the early 1900s.

But the town of Pasig grew and developed fast and eventually became a city. Despite this though, the heart of the city somehow retains that old-world feel. The old church, now leveled up as a cathedral, remains at the key center, right across the town plaza, and along the same street that leads straight to the municipal hall and public market (where my sister and I get our hoard of crafting materials). There are a few commercial buildings but instead of transforming the place, the place transformed them into acquiring that vintage-y patina that made them look older than they actually are.

I have long come to terms with not having a field of gold or a sparkling sea to call my hometown. Now I savor the quaintness of my hometown and enjoy regular visits. A few days ago I went with my sister to visit my grandma and to meet up with my aunt to have a couple of dresses to be repaired.

Those two dresses are for some fixing. One needs a longer inner lining and the other needs to be fit for my size -- it's too large.

My grandma, as always, has her house primed for summer, complete with sunflower-trimmed windows with sunny curtains.

And my grandma, as always, insisted on cooking lunch for us even if it means opening a can of corned beef and saute-ing it in her own special way with garlic, onions, tomatoes, and potatoes.

When it was time for grandma's afternoon nap, my sister and I said our goodbyes and went with our cousin and her daughter to a nearby cafe. It's called Ingen Cafe and it's actually an internet shop with a cafe. But unlike other local internet cafes, this one is the real deal when it comes to being true to its name. There's a cake display and a whole range of hot and cold coffee concoctions.

Outside the window you can just make out the structure of the old houses from the 70s era. Many of those kinds of houses are still standing and in use, with shops on the first floor and homes on the second floor. The cafe itself is small but very cozy and relatively quiet.

A cold caramel drink sans coffee for my niece. 

A cup of freshly brewed for myself, my sister, and my cousin 

My lovely niece and her lovely cupcake

We had a good hour or two of happy conversation and I was particularly glad to have our cousin with us to relax and break away from the usual daily routine of home.

From the cafe we braved the scorching summer heat and walked to the town plaza, beside which the town museum was open to the public. It used to be the public library but we found out on that day that the library has long been moved to another part of town. We went inside and took a tour of historical Pasig.

We passed by the church and went inside the garden where we used to pick out the tiny santan flowers and suck the nectar while our parents heard Sunday mass.

The santan flower shrubs are gone and instead there is this ancient bell display, a mini park with benches, and lots of stray cats being fed by a nice lady.

We found the new library and it has been much improved with airconditioning, bigger desks, better lighting, cleaner shelves, and better organization. However I noted that it could use a lot more books. Especially new books. Many of those in the shelves go way back to the 70s but not much beyond 2000. But I did find a lot of interesting titles no longer in print or available in bookstores that could be useful sources for my various (personal) researches. I could already see myself spending some days there with a notebook, a pen, and a laptop.

My sister and I requested for library ID applications and when we return we'll definitely be staying longer.

From the library we found ourselves still reluctant to go home so we ended up eating halo-halo in a nearby Chowking to battle the summer heat.

Halo-halo is a local dessert made of crushed ice, lots of milk, some sugar and a medley mix of sweetened fruits, jelly, tapioca pearls, ube jam, custard, and a scoop of cream

We finally headed for home at around 4PM. I stayed in my parents' house until dinner and went home after the traffic rush hour. As I was leaving the old balut vendor was passing by and I bought everyone in the house a balut (and two for me). That old man has been making the rounds of the village every night and he is bent and old and clearly should be retired but is probably going to starve if he stops working. So every time he passes by my sister and I buy when we can and we always give him a little extra change to keep. He is almost deaf but his voice is big and strong when he calls out "Baluuuuuut!" and he is ready to smile at everyone. That night we are happy to have helped him out.

Balut : a local delicacy of duck eggs cooked a special way. It is a challenge to eat because when opened you see a tiny duck embryo surrounded by the yellow yolk (you eat both, dipped lightly in salt). The trick is not to look and not to think. Just chew and swallow. This food is believed to be full of vitamins and can help improve strength and stamina. Newly-weds, especially the males,  are often teased to eat as much balut as they can before they go off on their honeymoon.

Thus concludes a very happy day (which was last Thursday) full of little surprises and lots of joys and adventures.

:)

creative roots : my mother's art

My mother comes from a family of seven children, supported by two working parents. She is the third daughter. Her family was basically lower middle class, which meant not everyone could be sent to college. Most of her sisters learned dressmaking, the youngest became a professional dancer. Her own mother, my grandmother, had a beauty salon and a gift shop where my mom helped out. Her father, my grandfather, was a painter who also worked as an illustrator in an advertising office.

My mom had a dream of being an artist. A painter, to be exact. She applied for a long-distance course at Famous Artists Schools in Connecticut.

She actually passed the screening exam and got a good grade.

Here are some pages from the Talent Test displaying her natural skills.

Unfortunately though, my grandparents could not afford the tuition fee. My mom went to a regular college taking up a regular course in accountancy (I think) but she never finished. She became instead as my grandma's right hand at home, in charge of most of the housekeeping and cooking, until she married when she was 24 years old.

I will be featuring the pieces she had done in those early years of her life and for starters here are some self-portraits she had made:

I'd love to be able to draw even half as well as these!

post-birthday post

That was probably the calmest birthday ever, filled with quiet happiness and serene joy. I celebrated it in the simplest way. I started the day with no expectations.

Instead I focused on gratitude --- for being alive, for being healthy, for having my family close by, for having kept a handful of friends who equal the worth of a thousand, for having a home of my own, for having enough to live by, for being continuously inspired, for being always helped at the exact moment of need, for all the clues and way-signs placed along the path of my creative journey, and for all the other beautiful things, both big and small, that make this life just a little bit easier and happier.

At around 1AM of February 14, before going to bed, I opened my grandma's gift which turned out to be a boxful of dolls for using in my creative crafts. She knew I've been wanting these ever since I saw her use the dolls for her own projects.

I woke up hours later with a light and cheerful heart. And for the first time I actually took time and care to dress up (in previous years I was fussy about being fussy about my birthday)-- and wore a heart-shaped ring and my heart-designed shoes, and a bright pink mini-dress.

There were a few snags, like my baking oven suddenly breaking down so I was not able to make my family-famous old-fashioned strawberry pie. After a moment I thought, maybe today what I am meant to do is to receive. I have been thinking so much of what I could give and share with others on my birthday that I was probably unconsciously fussing about it. Maybe I was supposed to just sit back and let things unfold without me always trying to have my input.

The plan was to visit my grandma so she could give her birthday blessing. She prepared a simple lunch of home-cooked adobo and my cousin Jennie also showed up with delicious spicy sausage pasta. Lunch was heartwarming and stomach-filling! And unlike a real party where I had to entertain and socialize, we all settled into our own little corners in my grandma's house to do our own thing. My sister, cousin Jennie, and I found our coffee corner in the kitchen while my Grandma crafted and my mom played with our niece and my aunt washed the dishes.

grandma with her great-granddaughter

my mom with my niece

mine are the ones with heart. the big and small matching pairs belong to my cousin Jennie and her daughter Jaine -- yes, she hand-designed them too. it runs in the family.

One of the things I have stopped expecting are surprise (especially wrapped) gifts -- and suddenly they were there!

these had two pairs of pretty shorts and a beautifully patterned shower curtain that perfectly matched my home

this is a brand-new LP from a friend who knew i had a stash of vintage ones that are all old and scratchy

and this may strike you as funny but i LOVE these shoes from our very own shop so my mom decided to buy it from the shop and give it to me so that i get to have it and also make money from it :D

We got home at around 4PM and I wanted a nap. My sister and I planned to step out during the evening to grab some dessert.

While relaxing at home, someone dropped by unexpectedly with:

Three Red Long-Stemmed Roses! Believe it or not, the first ever three red roses in my entire life. (No, I am not counting the roses I received from my high school students when I was a high school teacher.)

The roses came with a big scrapbook kit. Did you notice that my gifts are beginning to have a theme of being creativity-inspired?

I had dinner at my parents' home during which we shared leftovers from my kitchen and theirs, and then my sister and I stepped out for dessert and coffee. We ran into a lot of dating couples and women with huge bouquets in their arms but I was ever so happy to be finally beyond getting envious or jealous.

We stayed out until almost midnight, and then I was home. My birthday was filled with simple joys and surprises, and I didn't have to spend anything. No rushing, no fussing, no wishful thinking, no expectations.

Hello, New Year of My Life.