EZ Pass Trivia

EZ Pass Trivia: when you go through toll booths and see a "GO TOLL UNPAID" message, it means that your EZ Pass device is no longer working - probably out of batteries - and needs to be replaced. Toll still gets charged to my account anyway because my license plates are registered. 

Patio roof

 On 12/6/2021, I happened to look out our bedroom window and saw these.

 

We have just had a very strong rainstorm recently and that uncovered the problem that we had in the patio roof. The edges, apparently, had been rotting for some time. 

We reached out to our roofer, Flex Construction, and were able to quickly schedule a repair. 

Work included:

- removal of the old shingles

- repair of around 3 ft of plywood on the edge of the roof

- ice shield on the roof

- install 30 year shingles on the roof

- removal of debris 

  

Total cost: $3000 

Also paid extra $100 to clean gutters - Flex flushed out all our gutters.  

*note - We asked Flex to check out our house roof and he found and repaired missing shingles on our roof and also said that our roof is generally still in good shape. We should be able to get another year out of it. (Hopefully, more -- my wishful thinking).

Sad

Lost another friend from my BBS days today.

Was just literally exchanging messages with him yesterday and he's gone now. Heart attack daw.

RIP, A.

Dishwasher

Last weekend was the busiest we've had in a long time. We accomplished so much, our muscles are still protesting right now. 

The first project we tackled was the dishwasher. The old dishwasher, the Miele, has been broken for months and the husband finally decided on what replacement model he wants. 

The husband fell in love with the Bosch 500 series because it had a 3rd rack and the auto-vent feature which, I think, means that when it is done with the cycle, it will open the door automatically to vent out the steam. 

We also didn't bother looking for an integrated dishwasher since this model was available in a stainless steel finish and will match our other appliances. We did take off the cabinet panel from the old dishwasher and saved it in case we may have some use for it again in the future. 

This was purchased from Home Depot and with this, we also got a universal dishwasher installation kit and a Bosch drain pipe extension kit. HD tried to sell me an electrical outlet but I declined because I was 100% sure that there was already a wall outlet for the dishwasher. We did have to buy an extra elbow compression fitting for the hot water supply.

We were hit with a challenge early on in the process. Before starting anything, I suggested to the husband that we push the dishwasher in and see how it fits so that we can adjust the feet to the level we want.

Oops. That's when we find out that it does not fit. There is enough clearance between the granite counter top and the floor, but there is this piece of cabinetry / trim that is blocking the appliance.

Yes, we lowered everything. Yes, we tried tilting the dishwasher so that we can push that metal back under the trim but the appliance top sort of curves upwards towards the middle and that will get stuck too.

Husband and I spent the next 10-20 minutes sitting on the floor, just staring at the dishwasher and contemplating what we can do next. We were also alternating between laughing hard and trying not to cry. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. At some point, I swear, I was going to suggest we just leave it in the middle of the kitchen. 

Husband then tried to pry out that piece of trim. It was nailed and glued securely on both ends and also has another 1" x 1/2" piece of wood backing and support it from the back. 

At this point, I suggested getting a multi tool. I went to our neighborhood Harbor Freight store and got a Chicago Electric Oscillating Multi tool kit for $22.97 (clearance price). We were able to cut off that piece of offending wood. Soon, we were back in business.

The rest of the install went smoothly.

Husband did later check the dimensions of other dishwashers and the obvious size choices have to do with the width - 24" or 18". He randomly picked different brands and all required the same clearance as the Bosch so technically, we could've bought any brand and still hit the same problem. 

That wood trim was really something we had to remove.

And yes, that is the protective sticker, we haven't removed it yet. 

September 2021 Artwork

 The robots along the side are from I Know It.

"Look, Mom, I finished a math worksheet, I earned a stamp!"

(Note that he also made the worksheet himself).

This has a Good Boy --- Naughty chart at the bottom. 

... supposed to be a boxing ring. I think the photo is upside-down.

4th Full Bathroom

Ever since we moved into our BHC home, we've always wanted to get our 4th BR bath gutted and remodeled but as it turns out 8 years later, we've grown more practical and so we decided to just have the fixtures updated. 

We made a wishlist of what we wanted done, since are skipping the entire remodel and the list we came down to was:

- replace toilet - we went with a recommendation from friend E's plumber for a toilet that flushes really well. Keeping our fingers crossed that this one is good and doesn't get blocked. That awful bluish-green shade is also so dated and hurts my eyes.

- replace bathroom vanity, countertop and faucet

- replace shower head with a wider head and one that comes with a hose

We got a few quotes from different contractors.

M, the rude one who would've cut out pipes in the wrong spot unnecessarily if I hadn't insisted he check again, quoted $500, labor only

THC, was at $1500, labor only. Too expensive.

Jeff, our handyman since our condo days, quoted $550. 

We decided to go with Jeff and I will mention that we also decided to just keep the existing countertop and vanity as they're a special compact size and was expensive to replace. 

And as with most of our projects, we forgot to take good "before" shots so this is all I have. (sometimes, I feel so relieved that we do not depend on social media for our livelihood... we'd starve!). 

I took this "in progress" shot when Jeff stepped out quickly to his truck to get some supplies and I remembered that we didn't have any "before" photos. At this time, he's done all the replacements and only had the cleanup left. 

Total cost:

- Water Pik Shower Head - ~$40 (Costco)

- Sink faucet - ~$54 (Home Depot)

- Toilet, tank & seat - $396 (Wallington Plumbing Supply)

- Labor - $450 (Jeff)

- LED lights for the bathroom mirror (vanity) and the ceiling light / exhaust

When all was done, hubby asked, "What do you want to do about the bathroom lights ?" I had no plans, I honestly didn't even notice that the bulbs in the bathroom were still warm yellow lights. I thought we'd replaced all the bulbs in the whole house but these were obviously left untouched since we never use this bathroom anyway. 

Husband did find LED daylight bulbs (candelabra and regular socket) in our stockpile and they made a lot of difference. The bathroom looks so much brighter and bigger. 

         

Step Aerobics

Last week, my brother told me about how he's taken up zumba recently and is trying hard to make it a daily thing. he hasn't been attending in-person classes but just picks up videos from YouTube and follows them at home. 

It's really long overdue but I got the realization that I should start exercising and moving before it's too late. I've probably used my treadmill a dozen times in total since I bought it in Jan 2016. If it weren't for Swe-cha using it (almost) daily, it would still be gathering dust in our family room. 

Now, so far as cardio exercises go, Zumba doesn't work for me. I tried it before and could not follow the simplest moves. I cannot keep up. Thought a bit more and decided to go back to step aerobics. After all, I was a (self-proclaimed) Step Aerobics machine in my day. 

I got myself a good deal on a Step platform, circuit size, from Amazon. Ambitious and full of self-confidence, I made sure to get the basic platform with 2 sets of risers. 

The step was delivered last night and I used it for the first time today. 

My original plan was to exercise in my home office and watch the video from my laptop - I do have space now since we moved the daybed to Swe-cha's room upstairs - but I decided to go to the living room instead so I'd have more space and could play the video on the 60" screen. 

I found it difficult to navigate and search for YouTube videos from the Smart TV using a regular remote and when a 25 minute step aerobic workout video for beginners finally popped up on my search, I decided to go with that - I wasn't too happy about it at first because I was looking for an hour-long exercise since the classes I used to attend in Manila were an hour long. 

Self-confidence made me use 1 set of risers. I told myself, "sisiw lang ito, beginner eh". I actually considered using 2 sets of risers but held myself back because it's been 20+ years, after all, since I last did this. 

Barely 5 minutes into the class and just doing basic steps, I can feel my thigh muscles complaining. If I had the breath to spare, I would be laughing at my earlier bravado but I couldn't because I was too busy trying to stay alive. 

I took off the risers and that allowed me to scrape by and finish the 25 minute exercise. I picked a 10 minute cool-down video with stretches and could barely finish it. 

Now, as I write this post, I tried to get up to get a drink of water and found my legs wobbly. I am just going to ask Swe-cha to bring me water. 

I learned 2 lessons today...

1. we need to exercise regularly

2. huwag mayabang

Krispy Kreme

R&B are going to take Swe-cha swimming today so I woke up extra early to go pick up some Krispy Kreme donuts for them to snack on.

I was 3rd in line at KK, the first was a family who has a big order ($100+). The guy next in line (in front of me) would look at me and his watch and say, "it's been half an hour!". As it turns out, it took the family a while to complete their order because there were a lot of them - it wasn't that they were undecided, there were just many of them so it took a while to consolidate. Afterwards, the same cashier who punched in their order was also the only one who would assemble their donuts and drinks. 

By the time customer #2 got in front, he complained, "hey, you need more help around here" and KK staff responds and says, "we're hiring! you should apply". It wasn't the answer that he was looking for, obviously, and customer had a few more things to say.

Thankfully there were no other customers behind me so when it was my turn, I felt comfortable enough to ask for suggestions on how I should buy my donuts (half-dozen, dozen, by the piece) because I didn't really want to buy too much but I did also want to get a better deal. I was pleasantly surprised when the cashier took his time punching in different combinations of orders and then giving me a suggestion. I thanked him for making that effort and told him I appreciated his time. Next thing I know, he was saying "I'm not going to charge you for the NY cheesecake donut because you're nice". 

Thank you, KK staff. You're nice too :)

Price Quote

Remember the plumber who gave me attitude last time ?

So he quoted us $500 labor for the bathroom refurbishment project.

Separately, we had someone drop by last Friday, THC, to take a look and give us a quote. We were quoted $900 for the same scope.

... somehow, I am realizing that I am not as sensitive to getting attitude as I thought ;)

Plumber MK

We had a plumber come in yesterday to snake out our kitchen sink. It was draining really slow for a few days. Baking Soda, Vinegar and hot water didn't work. Neither did Drano.

On the phone, plumber MK quotes us $95 to snake a kitchen drain. Thought that was reasonable (seems like everybody charges around that amount anyway) and asked him to come.

MK comes, looks at the sink, fills it with water and sees that it isn't draining.

He goes down to the basement, picks out a drain pipe, screws open a cover (arrow A in the image) and inserts a snake upwards. While all this was happening, I go back to work and leave the husband with MK. 

Later, I come out from a meeting and husband calls out to me saying it's a bigger issue than we thought. 

MK says that he ran his snake upwards towards the sink at least 20-30 feet and it only seems like 15-20 feet and it's clear. The issue is in the drain pipe  leading outwards and he's going to have to cut our pipes (arrow B in the image). It will be costly.

"Are you sure ?" I ask.

MK says he's been doing this for a long time, he knows what he's doing. I asked what it was that could've clogged it, he says it was probably years of grease buildup. It happens.

I was going to ask another question when MK abruptly cuts me off, starts walking up and signals to my husband to follow him. He says to husband "you understand me, right ? you know what I'm talking about ?"  

The attitude / tone was that he didn't want to talk to me who didn't know about these things. I let it go.

In the kitchen, I then asked if it could be the garbage disposal ? Did they check ? can he check the sink first before cutting up pipes ? 

He reluctantly then opened the drain behind the garbage disposal, inserted the snake, and almost immediately, found the blockage and cleared it. 

Blockage cleared and no pipes were cut. He charged us $115 because he had to snake twice. I didn't argue anymore even though to me, it made more sense to start snaking CLOSER to where you're seeing the drainage issues, right ? 

Later, MK would tell us that garbage disposals make things more difficult because he has to work around them and there isn't a lot of space. 

...

The silver lining in all this is that while MK was cleaning up, I followed up with the husband to check if he mentioned the Bathroom#4 project  that we were looking to do for Swe-cha's room. 

Husband: No, ayoko sa kanya 

Me: Why ?

Husband: Kasi sinungitan ka niya eh. 

*kilig*. 

Anyway, we did ask him to give an estimate anyway just so we'd have a ballpark idea. 

Scope of work:

- replace toilet and tank

- replace bathroom vanity, keep existing countertop, replace sink faucet

- replace shower fixture

We were quoted $500 for labor costs, not including materials. 

Prayer Plants

My prayer plants are coming along nicely. 

*knocks on wood*

I purchased these 2 from Amazon last 10/2020. I wish I had taken photos then but they were tiny and came in 3" pots. They've since grown a lot of new leaves.  

I've been looking forward to propagating it and planting it beside the main plant to make it look bushier. I also want to share new plants with friend, K.  I just have to wait for a suitable node which I can cut off. 

House Wash

 

Today was a busy day. 

While the Zong Zi (Ma Chang) are inside the house and cooking, the husband is outside cleaning the side wall where algae (and mold ? ) seem to have taken root. 

We used a product called Mold Armor house wash, connected it to a regular garden hose and then sprayed it on the wall. After 10 minutes, husband rinsed it off again and we're left with a nice, clean, white wall.

Ma Chang (Zong Zi)

   
 

Playroom aka Swe-cha's Bedroom 2

 ... continuing the playroom project (Part 1 here).

Let me start this post by saying that the 1 thing that the husband does not like about the Kallax shelves is that there is no backing. You can put something in from the front, push it and have it fall through to the other side. 

And for the longest time, he was obsessing about this. On and off. So this weekend, I nudged him to go to Home Depot to pick up some boards and got them cut to size. I did get a frantic call while he was in HomeDepot, complaining about the prices "They're very expensive!" (he was looking at plywood that cost $14.xx per sheet) and I responded with a "How much did you expect to pay for them ?"

I asked him to look around some more and he did find some pressure-treated backing boards for $11.xx each. Home depot put all 3 sheets one on top of each other and made 2 cuts (they all needed to be cut the same size anyway), we didn't get charged extra for the cut. 

The husband also did want to screw these boards on initially but I reminded him that the kallax panels (and probably most Ikea stuff) are essentially hollow, the screws wouldn't have anything to hold on to anyway and they'd just fall off. 

Husband agreed and thought to use heavy duty mounting tapes to stick them on the back. 

All in all, I'd be happier if the backing boards were painted white, but I didn't really want to make the effort any more. Neither did the husband. 

Toy-sorting still in progress and will continue to be a work-in-progress for at least a few more weeks or months. Meanwhile, we did find all the pieces to 2 toys - a wooden Melissa & Doug stacking toy set and an Alex wooden string-a-farm toy - and gave both sets to B&R. 

Tigey Reading

 This afternoon, I found Tigey reading Flat Stanley near the window.

and later, I found him in a different spot.

Kwento

A classmate from HS has been reaching out to me on / off for a few years now.

The first time I heard from him, after HS, was on Friendster. He reached out, we caught up with each other. Turns out that he started suffering from a disease in his early 20s, he didn't get diagnosed until years later and by then, the disease had take its toll and affected his speech. His speech his difficult to understand now. At that time, he needed money, I felt sympathy for him and told him I was going to send him money but as it turns out, he would get upset with me when I told him I needed to ask around to see what my options were for sending money.

The gist was that he wanted his money right away and I couldn't send it right away, I have never sent money back to the Philippines ever and had to ask friends how, he didn't believe me. He accused me of lying. I got upset. My husband got upset. We cut off ties with him. 

Many years later, Facebook had replaced Friendster. Same guy reached out, I started talking to him again. He still needed money but never really asked me for money directly. Just a lot of messages asking me how we were and if you ask him how he's doing, he will say things like :

"Still the same, I'm useless. I have no money and I am useless to society."

"I am so down. I need 500"

"I am so useless, I cannot do anything, I want to die. I need 1000."

At different points in time, different friends (or combinations) would sympathize with his plight and help out. A friend offered him an internship in his company. It didn't last long, the feedback was "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". This guy, he says, only wants to do what he wants to do. He's not willing to be trained, he's not willing to follow instructions. He's not willing to do anything other than what he wants to do 

Fast forward to today.

He reaches out with a "how are you", I say we are doing well and I ask him how he is and he says "his life is useless. he has no money. He needs 500." Immediately, the following thoughts enter my head:

(1) he asks for so little! P500 is like $10, we spend much more than this when we get our milk tea.

(2) I know it's a scam. He asks for P500 - P1000 because there is no plan to repay. He's asking for a gift, not a loan, and P500-1000 is chump change to some people compared to a heftier P5000.

Anyway, ... I ask, "what for ? what will 500 do ?

Him: "Paluwagan"

"Paluwagan ? So it's not a one-time need then ? from what I know of paluwagan, it's really a group of people who get together to contribute to a common fund to pool their money. so how many 500s do you have to contribute ?"

Him: "This is different."

I didn't ask him to elaborate anymore.

Then, remembering an ad I saw recently for a recruitment for virtual assistants, I looked for that and sent it to him. He checks it out and says "this is more like a call center"

I told him it probably was, but I look at it as more of a manpower agency who supplies remote workers for those in need. They have jobs that require cameras & voice calls, they have jobs that do not. If he needed P500, he can probably get a job done and earn at least that much.

and his response ? 

"My skill is in editing" and he sends me a video of an amateur group doing a comedy skit. It wasn't a good sample of a skillful job. Panget, in short. The quality was blurry, the sound was off, I couldn't even understand the lines. 

and I tell him, that's good if you have a skill. But that's not earning you anything. If you need money, then you need to find a different line of work that pays, at least until your chosen field takes off. 

his final response was "I'm waiting for the other guys". 

Okay. 

Ayaw niya magtrabaho.  

I told him, "I thought you needed money and had none and so I gave you a lead. I thought that working for money and earning it yourself is better than asking for handouts. In any case, if  you'd rather wait, then that means the need isn't critical. That's good to hear. "

At least, I don't have to feel guilty for not helping him out.

Edit:

Today, 5/27, HS classmate posted this Facebook Story. 

In all fairness, he doesn't give any sob stories, he doesn't make up any illnesses, he doesn't make up any hardships other than not having money. He's honest about still living with his parents so you know he eats his meals and has a roof over his head. He just doesn't have cash. 

When asked why he needs cash, he'll say he needs it for an investment or a business opportunity. He doesn't promise any payments and I doubt if anyone even expects anything. 

A friend, RT, told me that he gave him 1k last month. He sent the money to this guy's GCash and the acknowledgement was "Natanggap ko na", not even a thank you. The following day, HS classmate tried to get another P1k from him and he refused. HS classmate then tried to get P500, RT refused too. HS Classmate insisted it's for an investment this time and he can pay it back after 2 weeks, RT then pointed out "kunin mo na lang yung P500 sa pinadala kong P1k sa iyo kahapon.", HS Classmate responded "Ay sus!". 

Hahaha!

Playroom aka Swe-cha's Bedroom

This season's project is setting up the playroom aka Swe-cha's bedroom. 

We've actually gotten a late start because we started talking about this October / November last year and were targeting to buy the shelves by December but I changed my mind about the shelves and here we are.

I am happy with my choice though. We had planned on setting up a row of Billy bookshelves (Ikea) along one wall, I changed my mind and we ordered a row of Kallax shelves instead. I like the the kallax have a bigger depth and would be more stable, even without the wall clamps - we did set them up horizontally so they sit low (no plans on putting heavy stuff on the upper shelves). 

We've been cleaning and sorting the last few weekends, it has not been easy because since we moved in 8 yrs ago, this room has become a dumping ground of anything and everything unused that didn't fit in the basement.  I.e. plenty of unopened moving boxes and plastic crates of miscellaneous stuff that still need to be sorted.

It also was a playroom and we pretty much left it up to Swe-cha and toys are just strewn all over the floor, as if the Tazmanian devil has just been there. 

So far, we've down the following:

- clean up the right side of the room, sort loose items into 3 bins: trash, keep, donate. Anything boxed just gets piled up on the left side for sorting later on.

- When cleared, we sealed with 2 attic doors (storage areas) with insulation film to prevent heat / cold from coming through. 

- Assemble 3 Kallax (Ikea) shelves

- Start sorting toys into individual container bins. 

We've only just started sorting and we have yet to uncover the tip of the iceberg. Let's see how this goes. Swe-cha keeps bugging us to install his bed and we said "September" just to get him to stop nagging. I do hope we get to it before September. 

His bed will be installed last, after everything has has been put into order.

Neighborhood kids

There're 2 new neighborhood kids who have been coming to our street, riding A bike. Yes, "A" bike. Singular. One would be riding and the other running on the side, they'd take turns on the bike. We see them when I'm out with Swe-cha in the early evenings, Swe-cha playing with his Razor scooter, trike or bike and I would just be sitting in our driveway.

This week, they each came with bikes. The older one said that they had just gotten his bike earlier that day and he pointed to Swe-cha's bike bell and asked where I got it. I asked why and he says that he wants to get one for his bike. I told him "ebay".  That night, I rummaged through my stash and found my last one , I gave the bell to him yesterday, he was so happy and quickly rushed home to install it,.. he came back a few minutes later, happily ringing the bell.

At some point, they'd gone back home and Swe-cha and I started drawing on our driveway with chalk. When the kids come back, the younger one pointed to the drawings and asked a question I couldn't understand. Older brother translated, 5 yr old was asking if we had chalk. I said yes, I asked Swe-cha to get one from and Swe-cha came back with a blue chalk. I gave it to the boy, he smiled and carefully put it in his pocket. I was a bit surprised because I expected him to draw but it's okay. he probably wanted to bring it home. 

As for the 14 yr old, his eyes were very wide as he asked "How many chalks do you have ?" I responded, "a few" but I didn't get the context of his question until the husband explained to me that he was probably wondering why the drawings on the driveway were in orange and I gave him a blue chalk, that would mean we had at least 2 colors. Husband pointed out that they probably didn't have chalk or probably didn't have all colors. I would later find out that they have at least 1 sister and 5 brothers. A box of chalk would go really fast in a family that size. In contrast, Swe-cha is an only child and pretty much has everything.  This also puts into context the amazement that the 5 year old had when he pointed out that Swe-cha had a Razor Scooter AND a bike AND a tricycle ? WOOOOWWWW!

I looked for and did find more sidewalk chalk, setting this aside for the kids tonight.

Triple Action Weed & Feed

 

The husband finally applied the Scotts Triple action turf builder to our lawn. 

Bought this variant this year based on a neighbor's recommendation. Hoping to get fewer weeds this time.

Mazda CX-5

Bit the bullet and finally took that trip to Mazda for a test drive yesterday. We liked the drive and came home with a CX-5. 

I have to admit that the color we got - Deep Blue Mica - wasn't my first choice but I am liking it more and more and in fact, after having had it overnight, I cannot imagine having it in another color. This is good.

The husband still has to go back to the dealership today to sign the power of attorney for the trade in (the Tribeca we traded in was under the husband's name).

Reminder for our future selves, if we get into a similar situation again: need to have power of attorney when trading in someone else's vehicle and they are not around. We went through the same difficulties when the husband traded my car to purchase his car but we've forgotten about this requirement and as it turns out, when we called to ask what we needed to bring, no one thought of this either. We asked about requirements again after we'd done the test drive (husband, Swe-cha and I) because husband and Swe-cha were leaving for home and I'm staying to complete the paperwork and we were told we were good. 

It wasn't until around 10 minutes after the husband had left when the guy comes back and says "oh, finance says we do need your husband to sign a POA". 

"Too late, he left already."

"Can he come back later ?"

"Did you see how our kid was ? He was already teary-eyed. Being here for 3 hrs was really his limit and now that he's home, there's no dragging that kid out again. Not today. We went through this a few years ago when my husband traded in my car for his, I never stepped foot in the dealership. i don't remember how but they made it happen."

"Sorry about this, don't worry about this. We'll make this happen." 

... and so they did.

P.s. Husband says that this situation shouldn't happen in the future because my car is now in my name and his car is in his name and when either one needs to be replaced, the one trading it in is also the same person who owns it. 

Frustration

The definition of FRUSTRATION:

It's what one feels when you wake up in the morning to discover that just after taking out the recycling the night before, someone in the household had consumed a can of soda and finished up the last sheets in a box of Kleenex facial tissues and left said empty box on the dining table and empty can of soda in the sink. 

Yes, hindi nilabas. 

Thankfully, one of the things I've learned in life (and 14 years of marriage) is that this isn't a big deal. I just raise an eyebrow and perhaps, shake my head, but nothing more than that. 

Leaf blower

So we've had our leaf blower for almost as long as we've lived in this home and while we haven't really ever used it for what it was originally meant for - blowing leaves - we've used it for lots of other things.

When we were setting up the master bedroom, the husband used it to blow dust off from the baseboard heaters.

When we were cleaning up the garage last year, we used it to blow (aka "sweep") dust / dirt off of the garage floor.

And yesterday, the husband suggested I use it to clean the Tribeca's interior.

It's interested how much dirt is still left, even after you've already run a vacuum cleaner over everything. At some point, I pointed that leaf blower towards the hinge of the rear seat console table (for drinks) and poof, lots of fries came out. I wouldn't be surprised if there were enough to fill that happy-meal-sized fries container. 

While we were at it, the husband finished his work day and came out to clean out his WRX's interior as well. When he was done, he ran the leaf blower over the exterior of the cars. The cars still need to be washed but at least there were no more petals / leaves sticking to them. 

Grapes & Laundry

Swe-cha has been doing his own laundry for the 2nd week now. Still supervising him with how much soap to put in and the dryer settings, but so far so good.

Meanwhile, he's also been washing his own grapes now before he eats them. Today, he rinsed his grapes and asked for salt (we soak it in salt water), he asked:

Sean: "how long do I soak it for ?"

I told him 10 minutes and he took a timer and set it for 10 minutes.

Was pleasantly surprised that he asked. I expected him to not say anything and just wait for me to give him the signal.

Ant

 Last night, I was laying in bed on my stomach, watching my drama on the tablet.

Swe-cha, meanwhile, was sort of laying on top of me and kept fiddling with my ponytail, moving it back and forth. 

Curious, I asked him what he was doing with my hair.

Swe-cha: "What to do when there is an ant on your mother's shirt ?"

Haha.  So that was it.

I asked him to catch it and squish it but he refused. He eventually got a tissue and swiped at it.

Eating milestones

So tonight, I made fried shrimp and Swe-cha paid me the ultimate compliment.

First, as I was cutting up his shrimp and scooping rice / shrimp onto the spoon for him (note: he only started eating rice recently so he's still not used to eating by himself), he points me to my chair and says, "Mom, sit there, I will eat by myself".  

I watched him finish the food on his plate all by himself. Afterwards, he asked, "can I have more rice and shrimp please ?" Both daddy and I had to eat less shrimp,... but it's okay :) Buti na rin, nagsaing ako. We still had leftover rice from earlier and my initial plan was pagkasyahin na lang, thankfully I had second thoughts.

It took us a little bit longer but we're getting there. 

The Stepdaughters

 

I picked up this pinoy-drama recently and I'm almost at the end (ep 177 out of 178). 

It started out interesting and I wanted to watch it to see how the story would develop. I probably enjoyed till episode 50 and then after that, the next 100+ episodes are just different variations of the bad guys making up scheme after scheme while the good guys fall for it over and over again. 

I watched most of the episodes at 1.5x = 1.75x speed because I just wanted to get it over with. This was just too long. 

If they had kept this at 70 episodes, I would've been happy but as it is, I just feel tired... and thankful that it's all over. 

Ang galing ko rin na tyinaga ko. 

House Plants

Here's an update of how my houseplants are doing...

These are my spider plants - I had purchased 9 baby plants off ebay and received 3 different colors (green, variegated with the white stripe in the middle and variegated with the green stripe in the middle). 2 out of the 9 survived but there are plenty of babies. 

I've actually gifted spider plants to friends and neighbors and most of them are thriving. 

Red Prayer Plant (Maranta) is 1 of 2 that I purchased off of Amazon last October 2020, these have grown bigger from the 3" pots and has had a few new shoots grow since receiving them. 

Top shelf left are Wandering Jews cuttings that I received a few days ago. They're still being rooted in water, I hope they do root and survive.

2nd shelf left is a plant from office friend T, a gift she gave me last year and to the left is a lone Snake Plant  survivor from an eBay purchase last August 2020. Interestingly enough, Snake Plants are described by Google as "hard to kill", I've successfully decimated several without really trying.

3rd shelf (lower) is the 2nd of out the 2 Red Prayer plants from Amazon and in the blue pot are 3 aloe plants from eBay, August 2020. Another aloe plant from the same batch is in a separate pot (bottom shelf).

4th shelf (2nd from the bottom) has a Batik plant and a Hypoestes 3" pots purchased from Home depot March 2020. 

Yellow pot has a Fittonia (nerve plant), also a 3" pot Home Depot purchase from October 2020. This one has grown a bit bigger

Bottom shelf has a succulent from officemate T, this isn't looking too good. The bigger white pot is a 4th aloe from the same batch as the ones in the blue pot. This is bigger. 

This plant in the yellow pot is a Lotus Fortune Plant which seemed to have lost its shape. When I got it some 5+ years ago, all the leaves were at the top and formed the shape of a lotus similar to this photo (black background, this photo is taken from the internet). 

Toilet Parts

I was today years old when I learned that the inside of a toilet tank lid has a list of the replacement parts and part numbers for your toilet.

So for a few weeks, if not months, one toilet in the bathroom has been leaking water into the bowl and this causes it to flush a few more times every day when not in use. 

I tried looking at the parts inside and knew that the flapper needed to be replaced but couldn't figure out what part to buy. I've replaced flappers in my old condo before and I've always just bought universal replacements but the one in my tank doesn't look "universal" at all. It wasn't until recently that I got annoyed enough at all the waste that I actually sat down to do research. 

Leaking toilet is the common bathroom, these photos are from the master bath which I also replaced because the flapper also looked like it was melting.
 

President's Day

I'm sitting in my home office and happened to overhear my son in his virtual class. They're talking about President's day and this reminds me of the time, long ago, when Swe-cha first learned about George, the first president. 

Swe-cha: The first President of the United States is George.

Me: George what ?

Swe-cha: George!

Me: George Washing...  (giving him a hint...)

Swe-cha: ... the dishes ? 

Resolution

Organized our groceries  (food pantry) in our basement yesterday and had to throw out a lot of expired goods. Boxes and boxes of expired snacks and goods.  Sayang, if I had kept better track of them, I could've given them away before they expired. 

I should have a better way of keeping track of supplies AND not buy too much. I'm not one to make new year's resolutions (or not much anyway)... but if I have to make one, I will make it a goal to have less, if not 0, waste from now on. 

Super sayang talaga.