steam-cleaners...

As I am posting here, I have a carpet steam-cleaner in my house and I should open some windows, I'm getting dizzy with the fume of carpet cleaning stuff. I'm also going to have to have my hearing checked as I have earphones on at full volume to drown out the noise. And I can still hear it. Oh, well.

What I'm very worried about is, I'm stuck in the kitchen. I have access to food, drink, internet and I should be good for a couple of hours here, and that's what the guy said, couple of hours and I should be able to walk in my clean carpet. BUT, what if it takes longer than a couple of hours. Then, I won't be able to smoke. =(

I just don't understand why the landlady decided to do this now, just when I have everything to where I want them. And the guy did say that he's gonna put everything back to where it was, except for the area rugs since it's probably not a good idea to put it down since it will still be damp.

I'm gonna have to rearrange everything again tomorrow.

I should be unpacking right now...

I'm too lazy to do it, anyways, i tell myself, i'm down to just these two boxes, right? RIGHT! How's the new house working out for me? It's OK! Can't wait when it gets a little bit warmer, oh yeah, it's been cold as heck lately, we actually got snow most of the week but not enough to have fun.

I have way too much stuff, I don't know how it happened. It's like this, every... single... time we move. I have to throw stuff away and then when it's time to move again, I'd be like, where did these all came from??? Then, I have to find a spot for them, where they would look good and all that ek-ek. And then, as I'm throwing suff away, I have to buy new stuff. Case in point, when we first got here, I have to:

got rid of

1. green couch - it was way too big, it won't even fit in the door
2. dresser - with it in the bedroom, there's no room for the bed

bought

1. living room suite - since my green couch won't fit
2. smaller dresser
3. armoire for M's clothes
4. dining room hutch - no cupboard space for the stemware
5. shelving - for linens & towels
6. futon - for guest bedroom

On our second move here:

got rid of

1. the chair that matches the green couch

bought

1. a smaller chair
2. a desk/bookshelf

On this move:

get rid of

1. M's daybed
2. green 2-seater that matches the green couch

buy

1. another chest of drawer (a tall skinny one - by the way, the dresser we got rid of on our first move here would be very useful now)
2. a tv stand - since on our second move, M's armoire became the tv armoire and now she needs it back since her room doesn't have a built-in closet, so right now her clothes are in the bedroom and in my closet)
3. a computer armoire - the old one is too big
4. a bookcase - since M has the desk/bookshelf now and Ms old bookshelf is too skinny and it looks funny in the living room

And that does not include having to change the curtains, there should be just a uniform size for windows, that way I don't have to keep changing curtains. e.g. Master bedroom: 1st house - 1 window, 2nd house - 1 very wide window, current house -2 windows.

This is getting really old. I'm going to pull my hair if we move again in this year. The only acceptable date of moving for me is May 2006 and not before that.

We're moving tomorrow...

I have never been late for anything in my entire life.

Well, maybe a couple of times, but really I'm always on time for whatever. Even when my alarm clock doesn't go off, I still manage to wake up in time to get ready and not be late. I want to say I'm good at time management but I think it's got more to do with me always aware of time. Kinda funny cause I don't have a watch, well, I have a watch, but I don't wear it.

G, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. He has no concept whatsoever of time. I mean, if I ask him, how long will it take, he would say an hour and I would double that and that's when he'd be done. Did I make sense? Neways.

I am clueless when it comes to distance. If you told me, that it's about 2 miles away, I would still not comprehend how far it is. G is good at that. It's about a hundred yards, he'd say and I'd look at how far it is and think, so that's a hundred yards and then forget about it.

So, if we're driving down the road and I see a sign and it says 30 miles to wherever, what I would do is look at the speedometer and calcute how much longer before we get there, and I would think, about 30 minutes.

That's why if you ask me where in England do I live, I would say it's about 2 hours Northeast of London (traffic considered). Whereas G would say, were about 80 miles northeast of London.

And speaking of northeast, I have no sense of direction whatsoever, the only reason why I know we're northeast of London is because G said so. But that's another post...

OK...

I've been sitting here for the past 15 minutes and nothing. I can't think of anything to write about. I'm at LAUNCHcast Radio, rating more artists and songs, I'm still not totally happy with what it plays for me. Although, this morning it has played SOS, Basia, Moby, PetShop Boys, and right now RHCP's Under the Bridge is on. One time!

Oh, yeah, yesterday was V day. I have a thing with this day, I don't like receiving anything for this, I'd rather get it on a different day, like a totally ordinary day. THAT is nice. Told G over the weekend not to get anything for yesterday and he said, sure, tell me now! I had to laugh. Last year, he did get me and M something, it was very last minute! He ended up getting flowers that we're almost dying and some chocolates. Don't get me wrong, I think the gesture was very sweet and I said so, and added, next year, don't worry about it.

So, yesterday, he came home and he did have something for us. Anklets. I told you not to get anything, and he replied, I told you, too late. I've had this since last month. Oh well, I shouldn't complain.

(This is a song cold Plush -- And I feel that time's a wasted gold) I'm off editing My Station now!

It feels like it was a very long weekend yet it seems like it went by really fast. We had M's party last Saturday and that went well. She had fun. I had, too.

Movies seen over the weekend: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Wicker Park & Ocean's Eleven, no, not Twelve, Eleven. I'm still torn of what I think of Sky Captain, if it was cool because it really did look like an old movie or was it lame cause it looked too much like an old movie. G thinks it was cool.

Wicker Park, I'm a sucker for happily-ever-after movies. I like to believe that the boy will get the girl in the end. It was based on a french movie, I should try and find the original movie. Now, for the not so great things about the movie: it started out SO wrong in all levels, I lost interest. I must find the french movie L'Appartement.

Yesterday, as I was driving to the grocery store, a song came on the radio. I haven't heard this song since back in the 80's.

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you

Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Hahaha! So, there I was singing to this song.

never gonna give, never gonna give,

Oh, man! I'm so LAME! Anyway, what's going on is BBC 1 is playing old songs celabrating 25 years of the Brit Awards. Wait, I thought Rick Astley was Australian. I guess, he's not. Why did I think he was Australian?

Got sidetracked again...

There was this guy in my Thermodynamics class way back in college. He said he knew a little bit of graphology and he wants to analyze my handwriting. He asked me to write my name.

I don't know why I'm remembering this now but there was one thing that he said that struck me as very true about. It was about my "O". That my O is not round it was more like an oval, and that signifies I'm not an open person. That it's not typical of me to strike a conversation with a total stranger and that even around people that I do know, it takes me a while to open up to them and that there's not a lot of people that I let in.

It is true up to now. You might even call me a snob. Here's a scenario. When I go to pick up M at the bus stop, so I'm waiting there and slowly the other moms and dads arrives and we exchanges our Hi's or good afternoon and that's it for me. I don't add things like, "it's cold today, huh?" or other small talk. I just don't see the point. Honestly, I really don't care. But, they all do it. So, they talk about the weather, what the baby has been up to today, or the dog, or the cat.

Maybe, I am anti-social. But, it's really hard for me to pretend to care about your cat when I don't care much for cats.

Over the weekend as G was cleaning the cars, I listened to my CDs.

Down memory lane. It's probably the same for a lot of people, songs triggers a memory, a person, a day.

Fugee's Killing Me Softly = Vegas (it was at it's peak of it's success when we drove to Vegas and I kid you not, they played that song about 20 times, one time, two times...)

Phil Collin's In the Air Tonight = crush back in college (MWF, 5-6 PM, Psychology class, that's when he and his friends would drive off and this song would be blaring in their car radios.)

Cranberries' Linger = this girl that I hate (ha ha ha, it does remind me of her and I hate her even more for that cause I REALLY liked that song. She came up to me and said, "Oh, you like that song, too. blah blah blah." So, I started hating it, instead.)

New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle = Willie, dedicated to his ultimate crush, my bestfriend. When I hear this song I have visions of the Intramuros Wall or Up-up as we call it.

These songs are just random, I probably have at least one thing associated with a song I know. At this very moment, Stone Temple Pilot's Plush is playing in LAUNCHcast Radio, what does this remind me of, school field trip to Baguio, a classmate brought his guitar and he was pretty good and he played this one while I sang to it.

just a quick post...

Movies seen over the weekend: I, Robot and Collateral. I didn't want to watch these movies but since our video rental place has a very limited selection and I just have to have my movie-fix for the week, i rented it. The verdict: I didn't like it. Period. No need to elaborate.

I thought I'd wake up this morning and I'll be sore all over.

Surprisingly, I'm not. M went to a birthday party yesterday and it was a bowling party. So, instead of just hanging around the alley, G suggested that we should bowl, too. So, we got a lane and bowled.

In my entire life, this would be my 2nd bowl. It was fun. G tried to teach me the form and everything but everytime I try and do it, I just mess it up. And so, I said, Look, I will never be a pro-bowler, so just let me be. Neways, I'm having fun. And, that's the point. Right? How did I do? I was OK, I think. I got a strike and a couple of spares.

I am not physically active. The most active thing that I do, is vacuuming. Even when I was younger, I didn't have a sport that I participated in. If billiards is considered a sport, then I have one.

This summer, though, I'm planning to sign me and M up for golf classes. That would be nice. G offered to teach me and I declined. Everytime he'd try to teach me something we end up fighting. I don't know maybe it's the way he teaches or it's just the way he is. He can be pretty annoying, sometimes. Or maybe, it's me. I don't know.

We are a family of sleep-talkers.

It's so bad that you can actually hold a conversation with us when we're sleeping. This happened way back, I was taking a nap, my mom & some cousins were in the room and were talking when I asked "What's the limit of the sky?" My mom taken aback, "Huh!" I repeated the question, "What's the limit of the sky!" getting annoyed now. My mom realized then that I was talking in my sleep and simply replied, "Nothing! The sky has no limits." Somehow, I was irritated with this answer, "Never mind! Where's the bathroom." Mom said something like, "Open the door, it's the second door to your right." And I got up and went to the bathroom and did my business, all in my sleep.

G says that I sometimes speak in Tagalog or Bisaya in my sleep and that he would go, "What? In English?" and I would reply, "I said, blah blah blah blah blah."

G, on the other hand, when he talks in his sleep his usually dreaming about work or working in a car, so sometimes I'd ask him to clarify, and as he is explaining it to me, he'd wake up, look around and see me laughing silently and he'd get really upset and say, "Leave me alone!" and then he goes back to sleep.

For M, she could be laughing, giggling, crying, whining, or fighting with somebody. I think she dreams about recess, all the time.

But, last night, I woke up to me and M having a conversation. I can't remember how it went or what it was about, it was something like, I asked her to do something, and then she asked what that something was, and I explained it to her and then I woke up and she was saying, "Oh! Ok." She was sound asleep.

The land rover passed MOT!!!

G bought it about 6 months ago with the intent of fixing it up (no, not restore). I was worried that it's gonna be one of his projects wherein he abandons it later on, but he proved me wrong. He worked on it every chance that he gets. I worked on it, too but not a whole lot.

So, 1500 quid and however many man-hours later, it's now officially road-worthy! Now, we're gonna sell my car. *sobs, just a little bit* It's a good car, but I have some issues with it. Like, it's very loud (it's a V6), it doesnt have AC and radio, and lastly, the lights aren't that bright. I will miss it, though. I like how the car drives and it can go really fast.

From now on, I'll be driving the truck. I'm thinking of getting rid of the Raider's stickers but I know G won't let me. Oh, well!

I should start packing, but...

We'll be moving AGAIN! This will be our third move in this country alone and we haven't even been here 2 years. Totally not our fault. The first house that we lived in here was in town in one of those terraced houses (like a townhouse), we liked that area but the landlord decided to sell the house and so off we go.

The current house were living in is really nice. It's in a small village, so small that we don't have a pub. The only "public" building in this village is the church which is not currently in use as it is being restored. But we have the lakes, never mind that it's man-made, the footpaths and the fields. It's really calm and peaceful here and we're gonna miss it. But, the landlord is selling this house and so off we go.

The house we found is in another small village, a little bit bigger than this one, it has a pub and some other things. We haven't explored it yet. It's situated in the outskirts of the village. It's a big property, I think it used to be an estate of some sort. It has a couple of other families living there. The house itself used to be a barn and has been converted, so we're told. Don't think big red barn, it's more like a garage really.

I was telling G, if we go back in the days, maybe this used to be a rich man's property and the house that we're living in is the chauffer's apartment. It would make sense since it is connected to the garage and it has 4 bays. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, watch Audrey Hepburn's Sabrina.

It's a 2-bedroom house, we'll be downsizing a lot on this move, but it also has 2 bathroom and the bedrooms are bigger. It has an open-plan living areas, which I like. But the thing that sold this house to me was the playground and the tennis court.

I should start packing...

I'm constantly at battle with my weight. It started back in 3rd year HS, after a 4-month stay in Manila (I blame those midnight runs to the sari-sari store, snacking on chippy & coke - maybe I should sue coke!). I did the fruit diet, eating nothing but fruits. The first 3 days, eat only pineapple, it's suppose to clean your system and then when you have reached your goal (mine back then was 5 pounds), slowly introduce other foods back into your diet.

In 2nd year college, I took those fiber tablets. For the life of me, I can't remember what it's called. I did my sit ups at night, crunches wasn't in then. I've always been lower-body heavy, meaning my thighs are thunderous and my hips are as wide as a ship, so my line of thinking then is to taper my waistline. Later on in my college life, I didn't care.

When I first moved to US, I did cycling in the morning and those video workouts. I was deathly afraid of gaining weight like what happens to most of us pinoys in the US. And then I lived alone, 2nd time in my life that I didn't care about my weight. I had no choice. I didn't know how to cook then and eating alone is just ...

I joined the US Air Force and when I got done with the boot camp I was in my IDEAL size. Maybe I should do it again? NAH!

Then, the pregnancy. I didn't gain the weight during pregnancy, it was after that I did. That was 6 years ago. I must have lost 75 pounds, collectively all these years and unfortunately, I must have gained the same amount. I'm yoyo-ing.

And so here I am, at that stage again! This time I blame Davao! I came home and my pants won't fit. Sure, if I suck my tummy in and not exhale for the rest of the day, they fit. Long story short, I'm doing the detox thing again and probably healthy choice diet and I don't know what else.

Wish me luck!