House Chores

Chores and me are not meant to be. I am not that good in an arranging things and keeping them at that so this is really something that I always struggle with. I can deal with people better than things. Truth of matter is my life is full of things. Well, back track on that. It's just hard to let go of things.

One thing hit me today is as I've been brainstorming how to de-clutter and arrange and keep at it, albeit slowly, because it has the problem-solving appeal.

My main task now is the freezer. I really love freezing but hate my freezer. It only has 2 shelves and I've tried to arrange my ziploc bags and whatnot time and again but maintaining it is never easy.  It's really frustrating when I want to buy a few more blocks of cheese and packs of ice cream but I can't coz I'm not sure if I have enough space. hahaha! I cannot plug into making my frozen burritos because of that.

Last week, I managed to experiment making space in the refrigerator area and it has helped a bit. It did cost a bit of extras to buy a few organizing containers but I think that is easier for me than buying a new fridge itself with all those nice drawers and shelves. (Yea, I'm preparing my case now if my husband starts to notice how much I'll be spending in Daiso.)

So onto my next task.

How do I arrange that freezer? Googled and found some hack of using magazine holders but I can't picture out how that will wok unless I use flat freezer containers which is not quite appealing to me. I'm all for flexibility of ziploc bags since they can folded when the contents had decreased or such.

L. First point:
A. What's typically in my freezer?
frozen fruits: tomatoes, strawberries, bananas, chokeberries, and maybe some blueberries?, persimmon juice

1. frozen vegetables: pre-sliced bell peppers, garlic, cucumbers, etc. , mashed sweet potatoes, leftover vegies fo vegie stock come colder days, 
2. meat/mock meat stuff: frozen mushrooms (pre-sliced, and stalks for stock) 
3. dairy: butter, mozzarella block, shredded,
4. frozen bread of all shapes and sizes
5. ice cream and ice cubes since it's summer now

B. How are they stored right now?

Most of these are stored in ziplocs, some in small containers.

The zipbags are again in transparent boxes that opens on top. There's some sort of category going like a box has the frozen fruits, etc.

II. What's the problem now?

• It's hard to get and put stuff back. 
• It's not easy to take out the boxes to open and get some stuff. 
• Not consistent labels. 

III. Possible solutions:

• system/organizer that makes it easy to sort and access each bag
• mini drawers, labels, 
• new set of zipbags to fit the drawers

IV. My course of action:

1. measure my whole freezer space, top and bottom
2. find those mini-drawers that takes up less space -- something that may be flat or tall enough to keep the bags vertical once frozen
3. label each bag on what is it, how much, and when.
4. find a pull out box that can hold irregular sized stuff like bread, etc.

There you are! I've got my plan of action out.
Oops! Before I forget, I must set a budget on how much it should cost me to get this plan in motion. Roughly 20k at Daiso or online soon!

Konmari and Capsule Wardrobe

I've decided to try the Konmari method of decluttering this month but it took me forever to get started and longer to get my head once I'm into it. Thus, the pile of clothes stayed there for how many nights.

After piling everything on the floor, I was at lost on how to actually to do it. Oh boy! I've managed to remove a few pieces which I can truly say "don't like" but I still got more "maybes" which I thought I would be happy to wear if the color or size changed. So for now, I have to put them somewhere else where I can still consider how to "fix" them up.

Then, I remembered this "capsule wardrobe" thing. The idea is good, moving to minimalism route but what I saw with most blogs means 33 or 37 pieces per SEASON! That will still total to more than 130. And some doesn't even include base stuff as they categorize other more activity-specific items. I have to rethink this a little bit more.

Ideally, I would love an all-season set just like how it can be possible if I live in the tropics. But sadly, that will be impossible. I have to be extra warm for winter but at the same time be mindful not pile up a lot of these thick stuff. I've bought a couple of pieces that made me doubt now if it was the right one. Buyer's remorse.

As much as I dnt want to think about those mistakes, I might as well take what I've learned from those buys. Never buy Uniqlo down because the fillers shed sooo much. My first down didnt shed that much within the first few months that I had it. This one, on the other hand, is a pain to wear next to anything dark and clingy textile. Ugh. My 40k should last for at least 3 winters. I can even stretch it for fall and spring as cold breaker and as layers during winter. 

I'm sure I still got a few more items that I wasn't that happy after using but let me just focus on the lessons I've learned about acquiring clothes and stuff.

Stick with my colors, and my shopping list. I have a shopping wish list that runs about twice a year, summer and winter. Fall and spring is pretty short here so I find it wiser to lump up fall with winter. As for spring, well, is there really one here? It's still cold for me until May so my fall and spring will pretty much be the same. I really don't mind the colors theme much as long as I am warm.

Learn to say no or let go. Growing up with limited budget (poor), I had always had hand-me-downs, and thrift shop clothes. Beggars can't be choosers. This is maybe why I had never developed my own "sense of style." I've never really cared much for clothes. I do remember a few items I really liked and was able to buy but these were few and between and I realized that shopping for style does not really come natural for me. My taste, or lack thereof, has led to a lot of buyer's remorse too often when I was in my teens. I always had to bring a friend with me to help me choose clothes when I actually had the money to buy one.

This has been my solution for a while but things change, I can't have stylish friend to drag all the time and shopping alone has become the norm for me. I have actually come to like it. I have to learn how not to commit the same mistakes again now that I'm older. This would mean doing my research.

Some realization came early like as much as I love the color yellow, it doesn't really look good on me. I've had this BH90210 over-sized yellow shirt back in my teens that I thought looked nice but not on me. Then there was this bright pink flower-patterned button-down top which doesn't really fit me and has wrong placement of buttons that it was just so annoying to wear later on. And I had to beg my mom to be able to buy that! Goodness!

This brings me to the current situation. I tend to get a few hand-me-downs because I am still on the slimmer side but I have to train myself to be able to remove things that just doesn't go with my theme because it just messes up stuff. One thing though is I still shop at thrift stores until early last year and still ended up with a few odd ones. What was I thinking? I knew I had to learn to say no and let go.

And finally, live with as little as possible and don't think about what other people would say as long as I am not hurting anyone. That's about it for now.

Let me go back to actually doing this clothes decluttering now. Another post for my plan!

Thankful: Looking on the Brighter Side

This is how much hair I usually find after I combed my hair in the morning everyday. My husband complains about it and it's also getting to me. BUT, I just have to remember to be thankful that even though I am losing hair like this everyday, I'm still thankful that my hair sill keeps on growing new ones and I am not losing this because of worse reasons like chemotherapy side-effects. Mine seem just regular hair loss. That I am and should be thankful for instead of complaining about how much hair I leave everywhere.

The Clipboard

Clipboard: a board with a clip at the top. (written on the clipboard plastic packaging that I bought recently) 

It used to hold together pieces of paper that you need to carry around, and provides firm base for writing.

It is just now that I have come to appreciate clipboards after my thirty something years of existence. The need came up whenever I had to write my meal, outfit, and lesson plans. It's also seem to be be useful for my Korean language studies.

I had to think, and write the meals and outfits plans while moving around. I can't just seem to finish them off in one sitting. I had to brainstorm all throughout the day and I need to carry the paper around and I need to have a base for writing. It just makes sense to actually use this one now.

I thought it's just for teachers, store clerks or secretaries to use before. I just can't imagine why and how it could be useful for me. Fast forward to thirty years and I am just beginning to understand how I can actually use this.

As for now, I got two which I use for my menu and outfit planner and my teaching LPs. I am quite considering to get another one for my studying plan. That will cost me another 1500 W tomorrow but I'll sleep on it tonight. I've already spent 17K+7K for P's and my school/office supplies this month so far. Sleep on it....:D

Baby Steps to Solve My Laundry Dilemmas 1

Ever since I bought the Kamaru sleeping bag, I had been worried how I will be washing it. The first time that I washed it was after P went camping in the tropical Philippines. It was not such a worry to just simply hand wash and hang dry the sleeping bag outdoors since there was plenty sunshine.

I had only hand-washed it once during winter when we moved here early this year. It wasn't that hard to dry it coz the air is dry during winter. I simply washed it in the tub at night and hung it there to drip dry overnight. Then, hung it out again on the laundry drier rack in the room the next day.

We have our new 10KG washing machine now that looks like it can handle such stuff so I took my risk in using it to wash the sleeping bag today. I had given up on searching online for the Kamaru washing instructions (done that before to no avail). I thought that a decent Philippine brand like that would have a decent after sales, even just a wash care instruction. But I was disappointed. The same thing goes with the comforter that we got ten years ago from a mall in the Ph. The only stuff I found to read was 50% polyester - 50% cotton, approximate size 88" x 92" and the item: comforter. A lot of other information were missing, and I did not even see  the brand! How crazy is that! I don't think the stuff was that cheap to go brandless. Even non-branded stuff has a company name but this one has none.

So going back to my first guinea pig in washing big stuff in my washing machine, the Kamaru sleeping bag seemed alright after a quick run in the machine. I let it run on quick cycle, and just a small amount of laundry powder since it's made of nylon and can easily be clean I think. It is now hanging on the drier rack, hopefully to dry before tonight. :D

The next on the list would be the brandless comforter and the disgustingly colored-orange Dalmatian-printed comforter. Which one will go first? I've no worry with the orange one coz it's made in Korea and they do wash their comforters in the machine all the time without much fuss. It's the other one that I stressed about without any drier balls to use and crossing my fingers that it will not clump and useful after the tumble. *Sigh...

Oh boy! Am I really living in my own world that just a little sleeping bed washing success made me write five paragraphs about it? Duh! (There might be a part two on how the others turn out. ^^)

11th Year Anniversary and a New Fridge (for the Next Decade?)

We are in our second brand new fridge in the eleven years of married life. We got our first fridge during our first year back in my home country.

We simply went to an appliance store, checked out what I liked, bought his brand of choice (LG) and had it delivered. We only used that one for a few months before we left for ROK. That fridge went through a lot of moving around until it we finally came back.

We were still able to use it for almost 7 years that we stayed in my hometown. The thing is it wasn't really in its top notch condition anymore. The water leaks whenever it is defrosted so I had to keep a close watch on the soda bottle that I put to catch and empty out when it's full or risk a flooding floor. 

When we first move to ROK, we just bought a second-hand fridge and it was cool for the three years of our stay. I'm sure it would have gone for another decade had we stayed on.

On our second move back here now, I really don't know why my hubby opted to buy a brand new one, albeit on the still on the cheaper end of the spectrum. I would have been happy with a second-hand one, from a leading brand. But here it is now, sitting, I should say, standing 6 inches taller than me that it makes me feel inferior in height. I would have preferred a just about my height, you know. This one is bigger that our previous one here, and definitely waayy bigger than what we bought as a newly married couple. Hubby says it's because we have a growing kid to think about. He'll have to eat a lot more food as he grows, etc. Come to think of it, I can still fit him inside this big fridge.

Hubby bought this online after we went and saw it at an appliance store. It was wayyy cheaper than to buy there outright. We merely check it out there to get the actual size and overall look of what's in the market for us. I was really so intimidated by the sizes of the latest fridge in market nowadays. I mean, what can one possibly put in those refrigerator without forgetting what you actually put inside. I can get lost inside those gigantic fridges.


I am more worried about the over-sized fridge and its accompanying bill, really. What I can possibly do now is just make the most of this one. Go freezer-cooking way to save on the produce costs since we live in a temperate country now. That is what I have to check on this time.

Off to my next task now.

7-8-9

Another date I can't resist.

If last year, I went for the 7-7 date, this year, I will go for the 7-8-9. Bro informed me to attend some seminar today and I jokingly suggested to have his gf join, which she gamely accepted. We spent quite some time together with P. It was quite cool, so to speak.

What's going on my mind now? I am actually sleepy and can't think very straight. Ah! My shining sink!

I have finally started "flying with my sink">. I've found this nice site a few weeks ago but I just didn't get on with it till I had my kitchen fixed last Tuesday. I was off to a better start with a newly fixed water taps, etc. I don't have any excuses anymore. So far, I'm on my second night now. Tuesday, after starting off with my sink, I also did the 1st room's bathroom. It was such a tremendous job. Both didn't have any big clean up for awhile. At the end of the day, I was barely able to get my sink cleaned up before tumbling into bed. I was really tired. But the feeling of accomplishment was really worth it. I am finally starting.

This week, I had also started back into my physical exercises. Ah, upon checking up on my calendar so far, I had started on the 1st of July. I kind of tried this around New Year but slacked off. My goal at that time was at least 3x a week. This time, I will try to do at least 30 mins, 4 or 5 times a week. I have yet to wake up more early too. So far, after hitting 10 AM wake up time a few weeks ago, I have tried to regain control and slowly worked my way back into 8:30, then 8, and finally 7:30 this morning. Bad thing though was I didn't jumpstart at that time today. SO far, things are looking up. Eeny weeny baby steps. Eyelids are really drooping...or dropping? Duh..too sleepy. Signing off for now.