Winding Creek Circle

I’ve lost touch with my outside world - my best friends, my officemates, even acquaintances. It’s sad but all I ever text these days are the husband, the laundrywoman or my Mom (ack, signs of the times?). It seems I have become dependent too much on the internet to give me a social life that I’ve neglected my real life and real friends. Why dont they even know the word blogging and how e-mails and YM chats are the greatest inventions to replace letter writing and phone call (SMS text messages come close though).

While I was unpacking my boxes, I came across a small box (size of a ladies shoe box), in it there were letters from my best friends from grade school, high school and college. There were a dozen greeting cards from different people during my 15-18th birthday. I was taken back to memory lane. Grade school was more on Hallmark Greeting Cards and an occasional doodle. High school was melodramatic - looooong letters, around 5-10 pages more, every other day (even if we see each other every day). College was post-it notes in multi-colored pens. It was so nice.

If ever I do get to send a greeting card, Id be sure to get one from Greeting Cards Cafe. They a free personalized card which is going to printed and posted from Ireland and all I do is pay for postal shipping. Of course, Id still do it online. What do you think of me?

It made me itch to send a card to missed friends. I should do that sometime soon.
So I texted them instead

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The only downside in living in the province is you get to be acquainted with almost all kinds of bugs - the flying, the crawling, the ones that make noises, and the worse - the ones that bite. Our delicate skin, accustomed to airconditioning, is a favorite biting place. You should see my arms.

It is ironic that my lungs get fresh air while my skin needs to toughen up like a cow’s hide to be able to withstand the bugs at night. Otherwise, Id need to use a kulambo (mosquito net) soon.

Or maybe I need to a bed frame for our bed.
Other than that, I have developed courage and have been squashing spiders as big as my hand (I kid you not) without batting an eyelash.

I just open my mouth, scream and then close my eyes and try to hit the target.

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So with our new house move, we calculated our monthly budget and it seems we are really going to be saving more.

Food-wise, I think we will be cutting expenses down to 75%. Yes, that big. For one, we eat around 3 times a week at my parent’s house (either lunch or dinner). I cooked afritada (1/2 a kilo of chicken) and it’s two days and we still havent finished it. Our rice can last with only 2 “takals” (around 2 cups) with leftovers. It helps that Im also on a diet

We just are big on juices, biscuits and bread. Last Monday, I went grocery shopping and our menu and grocery items were just a thousand bucks! Such a relief - we would not need to avail of the payday loans Edil’s office gives to its employees - there are many who avail of it especially now that times are hard.

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Well, it is basically wants for now.

We need more furniture. I want to replace our dining set, order bed frames (switch from a king to a queen), get a new bed frame for Matthew’s bed. Get console tables. Lamps. Everything that you would want to beautify your home, basically.

We saw a made to order furniture store (who sells palo china, which are basically refurbished lumber made into nice stuff) and the quotes they gave us were staggeringly cheap. So cheap that I can even order two bed frames in a month with my just 20% of my sideline earnings. But we need to basically budget everything first. We can avail of the cash advance being offered at Edil’s office but that can be used in real cases of emergency (like one of us getting hospitalized or for the kid’s tuition fee).

I realized having your own turf really makes you a queen, I just wish I can have the money to make it like a comfortable mini-palace for us.

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Really.

I wish I can put into words the loneliness I feel everytime the night creeps in and Im the only adult in the house. Even during the day, I dont have a decent companion to talk my common interests too, save for the laundrywoman who is actually a doll and my parents - but there is a limit in things you would like to talk about.

It has been more pronounced with our internet-less house (I applied for relocation connection by the way today).

What can I say. I really miss the husband everyday.
It doesnt get easier, even with me having the kids all by myself all day.

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The life of an OFW - Overseas Filipino Worker. I know someone who left for the Land of Milk and Honey to be able to support her kids. She left three kids under ten to be able to work and feed and have money to let them go and earn a decent education. Such is the irony of life - leavings kids to be able to take care of them. I think most Filipinos see going abroad is their only chance to be able to live a better life as the country’s present status is looking entirely glum. Keeping the communication lines open for the family is a challenge. Thankfully, technology has made it easier for all of us - with e-mail, messengers and VOIP. There are those who prefer the old-fashioned route though: letters and phone calls. That is where phone cards come in. I remember the first thing I bought when I went to the US when I was 16 was a calling card. Call cards to Manila, when bought from a Filipino store, was cheaper. I could have done it online though. It is cheaper than buying it on a Filipino store and the lines are clearer. At GetMeCallingCards.com, it is cheap at 5.4¢ per minute.

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1. It is easier to pack boxes by the room. That way, you unpack easily. Unpack boxes in their designated rooms.

2. You realize how much useless clutter you have.

3. You realized which stuff you really need.

4. Moving houses lets you get rid of stuff. We moved houses twice in three months - and I still got rid of boxes and sold them which gave me enough to cover rent for both houses for two months.

5. I still have so much stuff though. Somehow, I need to give things away still.

6. It is better to invest on furniture and appliances than clothes and toys.

7. Do NOT have the internet connected while unpacking. Use it as a prize to get motivated to unpack all boxes first. (Im an internet junkie).

8. Always unpack and make sure you have a working kitchen once you move. You need to eat and feed your family.

9. Have lots of trash bags.

10. Keep moving boxes. You will never know when you would need it.

11. If you have kids, make sure the entertainment center - in my case, TV and DVD player with cartoon movies - is ready to use when they arrive. Or else you will never get anything done.

12. Hire help. If you can afford to. Help is cheap here so I hired :). Im not going to be superwoman and do all the unpacking and storing by myself.

13. Purge. Delete. Destroy. Give away. Sell. I practice the “If I havent used or touched it within the last three months, it needs to go.” Clutter is less, Im happier.

This is the first time Im joining TT

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I have always been blogging about our need for a vehicle and how hard it is these days to go anywhere without thinking how much gas we consume. Especially here in the province where anywhere is so far from each other - we really need to plan things when we go out so we can map out trek - we almost always plan errands and leisure trips in one go.

I have heard of chipping though. Performance Chips are used to be able to make more horsepower and get more mileage on your fuel use. That sounds too good to be true! They are specific to each car so you better start looking for yours! I saw mine at StreetBeatCustoms.com.

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