oops, my neurosis is showing...

As you might know from here, I've been enjoying my new grown-up's coloring book. But I have to admit that when I started out, it kind of tested my decision-making skills.

After coloring in one part, so many thoughts flooded my head: Which color do I use next? Which warm color do I put beside this cool color? Should I pair it with its complementary color or not? 

With all these decisions, coloring a page took a while. Until I started a ROYGBV color scheme...

Coloring rainbow-style made it easier to choose which color to use next! So I've been obsessed with it.

Gee, I wonder when I'm ever going to finish this non-ROYGBV page now...

Oops, my neurosis is showing again.

Photos are my own and from here.

Click here for the of-dots-&-things version of this post. Click here for previous posts from the Oops, My Neurosis Is Showing... series.

my Monica-closet house

My house is not the unbelievable, disastrous mess you see as the "before" in the show Clean House. But just like Monica (see more of my Friends obsession here), I've got a closet... okay, a corner... fine! corners and drawers... that are shamefully piled high with category-less clutter.

Now that I have time on my hands (see related post here), I've been cleaning out those closets, corners & drawers that have accumulated clutter since we moved in 8 years ago. Am far from done but so far, I've unearthed 2 VHS players, 3 telephones, 3 vacuum cleaners - all in the storage cabinets under the stairs.

I also found my Advantix rolls, so organized in their special box. 

This, together with film negatives and "developed" photos, are now in the box of photos here.

I also found these casette tapes... 

I have always been an OST lover. Do you remember Ally McBeal and Reality Bites? The Apo & Michael V ones are my hubby's. No one has owned up to owning the Randy Santiago tape though. Amazing how we still have a brand new tape (which has a price tag at the back of P47, just in case you wanted to know).

The Basia CD isn't even mine! Borrowed it from my friend S in college and turns out, I never returned it! Eeep! 

Notice the masking tape label on the Workshy CD? That was for our wedding - to guide the music guy on which tracks to play and when. How primitive huh? The hubby and I scrambled to put these labels on our CDs the day before our wedding! When wedding coordinators and digitally-organized-playlists didn't exist yet.

I also found stacks & stacks of Isabella's childhood books and VHS tapes. After taking out those that can be handed down to Noah and my nieces, I gathered everything up for donation to the Philippine Toy Library. I have to admit I was teary-eyed the day I said goodbye to my baby girl's books & Veggie Tales movies. But the idea that they would now make other children happy felt pretty good.

So far, this de-cluttering has been a dusty yet delightful trip down memory lane. :)

Photos are my own and from here.

Click here for the ofdotsnthings version of this post. Click here for another ancient thing about my wedding. 

Philippine Toy Library is a group of volunteer-friends who provide the experience of play to Filipino children living in cramped, congested areas. PTL transforms idle spaces in barangays/schools/parishes into fun & educational playrooms to keep kids off the streets. Drop-off point for donations is near Ateneo, behind Kenny Rogers, at 56 Esteban Abada Street Loyola Heights, QC (zip code is 1108 in case you want to send them a box of toys just like a friend of mine from Singapore recently did). So go and de-clutter your homes, donate to PTL & bring joy to more Filipino kids.

Isabella: then & now

I was quite captivated by this series of photos. Later, I realized that I was drawn to them because they perfectly depict how Isabella is these days.

She tends to shy away from the camera.

She keeps to a little nook in the room, so quiet, you wouldn't even notice she's there...

... reading either downloaded fanfic or, like last night, The Mark of Athena.

Pretty ironic because I remember how she used to love the camera, how she would gamely pose...

... always animated & gregarious - certainly not quiet...

... and hardly ever alone. She was so sociable and desired company so much, I don't remember her ever engaging in solitary play as a child.

Truly, 15-year-old Isabella is remarkably different from her 6-year-old self. One thing that has not changed however, is her love for company. Yes, my once-chatterbox now tends to read quietly in her little nook, but it's a nook in my room. We may not be doing the same thing together like we used to, but I am perfectly happy doing our own thing - me, blogging or watching a DVD and her, reading, but both of us - in the same room. I love this...

... especially when she glances my way every once in a while.

Photos from acupofjo.

Click here for a previous post on how I get my now quiet teen to bring back the chatterbox in her.

a waiter's view

 

How do you treat your waiter? My mom taught me to always say thank you to the people who wait on me at restaurants. When they refill my water, I say 'thank you'. When they hand me the salt, pepper, Splenda or spoon I asked for, I say 'thank you'. But I realized I hardly ever look up at them. My eyes are glued to the menu when I order (I might as well hand them a card with my order written on it like in the photo). Or glued to my glass, my food or the person I'm eating with when I thank the waiter for refilling my water.

 

So a couple of years ago, when my friend B told me about this book she was reading about how waiters are always overlooked, I felt really bad. B talked about how people never look waiters in the eye, how people tend to look past them - like they were invisible. I found this really sad. Especially since I was guilty of it. I realized then that the thank-you's I was so proud of were empty if I didn't so much as looked at the person I was thanking!

 

Since then, I've made an effort to look waiters in the eye. When I thank them, I make it a point to also make eye contact and smile at them. I am determined to make them feel they're people and not machines, to give them some human contact in the course of their workday. I am hoping that by doing this, waiters will no longer feel invisible and overlooked because no one deserves to feel that way.

 

So please, look your waiter in the eye. Smile at them. We can do this. One waiter at a time.

 

Photo from garancedore.

 

Click here for a previous post on how to talk to little girls.

random Friends reminders

My previous post on the anti-theft lunchbag here reminded me of Ross and the episode where someone stole his sandwich despite his warning limerick. It's what brought him to the deep end and led to his sabbatical. "My sandwich?! My sandwich?! MY SANDWICH?!!!"

Yes, random objects remind me of my favorite TV show, Friends. This throw reminds me of the throw that Rachel used to cover herself when she walked out of the bathroom naked and Chandler was in their apartment. 

The one on the show was less colorful, but they're both crocheted and allowed Chandler to say, "That's a relatively open weave and I can still see your... nippular area." Eep, too bad for Rachel.

The many funky rings in this picture remind me of Phoebe and how she had to take all of her rings off when Mike proposed to her.

This dollhouse reminds me of the one Monica inherited, that didn't go well with Phoebe's toys - especially the giant dog statue.

And remember how Phoebe & Rachel were in a Literature class and because Rachel didn't bother to read Jane Eyre, Phoebe got her to compare Jane Eyre with Robocop in front of the whole class.

Finally, these chairs remind me of Chandler and Joey's lazy-boys (Rosita was the name of the one who died).

I wonder if the chairs in this picture are also facing the 'Stevie the TV' of this house. :)  

Photos from annnniegirl, lushlee and pinkwallpaper.

Click here for previous posts that show how addicted I am to Friends.

a little something for our country

I won't pretend to be the most nationalistic Filipino. I'm not (though I did get teary-eyed during the National Anthem of one of Isabella's school programs after getting back from linving in Singapore for work). Like most of you, I recognize both the good and the bad about the Philippines.

But today, on the anniversary of Philippine independence, let's all do a little something for our country. Whether it be to go on a Philippine History Tour like Carlos Celdran's Intramuros one (which I found to be very enlightening as it was a very different point of view from what I learned in school. I also discovered from his tour that the ceiling details of the San Agustin Church is painted, not sculpted.)...

Or schedule a trip to local sights you haven't been to. It's sad that a whole year later, my Lakbayan score from here is still a C. I haven't added any new places to my online map that charts how much of the Philippines I've visited. To think, I got my HKIA Frequent Visitor card this year. Shameful!

Or add to the viral itsmorefuninthephilippine photos and hashtags to promote Philippine tourism. Did you know that BBDO, the brilliant advertising agency that developed the campaign only developed those three ads in their website here? The photos here, here and others you may have seen were all created and shared by regular Filipinos!

Or watch a Pinoy movie or TV show (I hear GMA News TV has brought a lot of substance to Philippine TV). Or listen to OPM music. Or buy from the many Pinoy entrepreneurs these days. Or read Before Ever After, Filipina Samantha Sotto's internationally-released novel or Pugad Baboy, which is now on its 23rd compilation. Or laugh out loud at Pinoy humor.

Or even just eat Pinoy streetfood like fishballs... the cleanest of which, I believe, are in UP because they go beyond a 'no double-dipping' rule with a tiny paper tray and squeeze-type-bottles as sauce-holders (so double-dipping is not even possible).

Or teach your child a new Filipino word. I think I'm going to teach Noah the word "kalayaan" today.

Let's all do a little something for our country today.

Photos from here, here and my facebook friend D's wall.

oops, my neurosis is showing...

I've heard of a few people who don't start reading a book unless they know they will like the end of the novel. They peek at the last few pages to see how the story ends.

I am the exact opposite. I cannot know how a book ends and still keep on reading it. In fact, when I had just started reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I saw a shirt that read "Dumbledore dies on page 596 (I just saved you 4 hours and $30)" and that spoiler ruined it for me. I stopped reading Book 6 and couldn't even bring myself to read Book 7.

Sigh. Is my neurosis showing again?

Photo from annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Oops, My Neurosis Is Showing series.