Slipcover. Because. I. have. cats. They destroy couches. Enough said.

I wasn’t productive today at work because I was too busy putting things in their proper places in my house.

And I assembled this side table. I should have bought another one because when you can’t have a coffee table, side tables are needed so your guests can put their drinks somewhere nearby.

Underneath this side table will be one of the covered cat litter boxes I just bought again from Lazada. A desk fan will stay on top of this table. Because I don’t have floor space for a stand fan.

All my books fit on my floating shelves. Didn’t realize that the shelves were very deep. It accommodated all the books in my book case here in the apartment plus the ones in my room. And I’ve got more room to spare.

Yes, those are flower vases that I just put temporarily there. I have fake flowers that I just washed that I will bring over this Thursday or next week.

However, I need to rethink that plan. I. Have. Cats.

I tried rearranging the TV area but it makes the entire area smaller.

We didn’t get to use these much in the apartment because it’s too cumbersome to get them out of the boxes under the dingy cabinet under the counter.

I have a small house but I have a lot of storage. It would encourage me to buy more stuff 🤦🏻‍♀️

The girls’ custom-made loftbeds were finally assembled today as well.

They have enough space for drawers and a narrow closet for hanging clothes.

I’m so tired. After doing all these, I drove back to QC and arrived home at 9:47 pm. 🫠 It was too hot today to be doing anything.

I don’t have the energy to sort through my electronics crap. I may just shove them inside a plastic bag and be done with it. I’m so tired.

I now acknowledge that I have too many books. This is my last (6th) box of books.

The beds will be picked up by Transportify tomorrow to bring to a studio that my househelp will be living in with her boyfriend in Project 8, also in QC. I will be giving away so many things to help them start a new life together.

I am slowly dismantling my life I built here. It’s…I don’t know why I feel a bit sad. I knew this is just a transition house and I knew I won’t be staying here that long but it’s still a bit melancholic.

Meanwhile, we discovered another bunch of stuff that at the back of my mind I knew would appear. It’s the ex’s stuff stored in the closet under the stairs. Why it’s there, I don’t know. These are medical books, a book in his native language/script, books about how to get rich, and some souvenirs from Mexico.

I am no longer nice. I have no intention of going through the trouble of contacting him to send these back, even if one of the items include the jacket of his high school diploma. But I also don’t intend to keep these to be reminded of him, like having these souvenirs framed. Strong negative feelings are enough reminders.

My initial plan is to have a bonfire in my yard and drink wine with my friends to exorcise whatever evil ghost he has left in these stuff.

But then it hurts the bibliophile in me. So I will just drop these off to UP College of Medicine’s library and help some struggling med students.

Speaking of academe, I just found out that a newly discovered species of bristletail living in the rainforest in my hometown is named after my mom. The scientists submitted their findings to a systematic biology journal and named it after her. It’s so cool to be immortalized via a scientific name or via an asteroid or planet name. 😊

The species was named after Dr. xxx, an Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines, and a Professor Emeritus of xxx. In naming the species, the authors recognized the contributions of Dr. xxx in education and research in the field of ecology, particularly soil microbial ecology, and environmental science.

—The museum of natural history of my university

The reason why my neighbor in Unit D left after 19 years is because of termites. She said she wouldn’t have moved if not for the termites; she liked the location and it was convenient. However, my wayward landlady doesn’t maintain her rentals well. She always cheats her way into “repairs” and other landlordy duties.

So after my former neighbor left, it seems like the termites shifted to my closet that is just against the wall I share with Unit D.

I collected these Sweet Dreams pocketbooks that have been out of print for decades by scouring second-hand bookshops. I intended to pass these down to my girls because these are the type of books that high school girls read. If not for these books, I wouldn’t have been a writer today. Seriously. I became a voracious reader because of these pocketbooks.

And now the termites ate most of them 😭 They’re very hard to find now. I want my girls to start their romance book journey with these since the kind of young adult fiction I encounter these days encourage unhealthy relationships and wrong self-esteem lessons. Case in point: Twilight series. 🤮 Aside from the bad writing, the premise was all wrong and the dynamics—it was really unhealthy. I barely got through book 1. I read it out of curiosity because a lot of girls got hooked on it at the time Book 1 came out. But in the end I trashed it. It was pure garbage.

So now I have to search far and wide again to rebuild my Sweet Dreams collection and guide my girls with the choice of reading materials. They already graduated from Percy Jackson and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series so I think they’re ready for this. They refused the classics like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. It’s ok, I’m patient. They will get there.

While I mourned the demise of my Sweet Dreams collection, I packed my other books like the fantasy ones, business books, journalism books and everything else in between.

I still have to pack my latest acquisitions that are on my wall shelves in my room. So far I have carted off four boxes to my car. I still have two more here in my room 🤭 Forgive me for being such a bookworm.

My dream of having a home library may no longer happen but at least I have enough cupboards to store them.

And if I still run out of bookshelves, I can always install over-the-door shelves. Art and books are going to compete for wall space in my house.

I had to cook all the food I had been harboring in my fridge within the next 10 days so when I defrost it, I won’t have to worry about which food items I must keep in a cooler while being transported. One of the best ways to empty your fridge is cooking hotpot.

And yes, my dining table looks different now. I planed it manually to remove the bumps. I just bought a manual planer from Ace Hardware and did it as I remembered how my father did wood planing. Then I applied “oak” wallpaper that I bought from Lazada.

I also bought a surface protector from Lazada since my dining table gets a lot of use and abuse. It now matches my cabinets.

So after lunch, my girls and I went to a craft store/hobby center in Marikina where they sell high-quality yarns of all kinds.

They bought yarns that Twin I will use to knit and Twin A to crochet to make scarves and beanies for my older sister. She travels to more temperate zones than I do. This will occupy my kids for four months since 7th Grade in their new school won’t start until August.

Marikina is nice in some parts, not the downtown though, which has super narrow roads—a characteristic of old towns.

After this, we went straight to Ikea to buy new cutlery, dinner and kitchenware, Trones shoe cabinet (to be drilled outside my front door), a glass side table, and art/photo frames. I will bring all these to our tiny house on Tuesday where I will work the whole day.

I plan to bring books and other small items. I must also buy a huge bottle of liquid floor polisher and wood furniture polisher (for my bedroom floor) because I had hired my mom’s cleaner to prep my place before we move in on the 16th.

I had put some paintings in frames that I will give away to my TV reporter friend who really liked the flowers and the sunset in UP Diliman. A housewarming gift since they have just renovated their condo. I have the original photo of the sunset so recreating the painting won’t be a problem.

This last one is tough. My mom didn’t like it but my manager did. She was torn between this and the forest painting but in the end she took the latter. My APAC boss got the freehand yellow flowers.

Tomorrow I must finish the curtains for the girls’ bedroom because I plan to have the curtains up when we move in.

I don’t know what’s with Metro Pacific but they sent me this tub of artisanal ice cream from Carmen’s Best with this flavor: HE’S NOT WORTH IT!

Hahaha! These people know me well to give me this witty joke. 🤣 I was in my house in the south when this arrived in my apartment yesterday. Twin A said they’re going to save this particular tub for me because it was meant for me. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I haven’t touched it yet but will soon because for some strange reason memories came flooding back. Old feelings of hurt and anger came surfacing again.

Maybe because my co-worker video-called me last night and we talked for an hour, which caused her to be late for a townhall meeting of their division scheduled at 11:30 pm. She hasn’t quit that f*cker guy of hers, who is just using her while he keeps a long-distance relationship with somebody who may arrive in HK by October. By then my friend will be ditched.

I told her to stop justifying him. She doesn’t deserve to be a gap filler.

I remember being in the same position, a stop-gap measure until someone better comes along. I loved that somebody with my whole being, someone who hasn’t even been mine. He was still hung up on the ex, lying his way throughout the entire time he was with me. I wasn’t a part of his life, I was kept in the shadows. I was nobody. I wasn’t important.

And yet I justified him. Everything about him, his behavior, his existence. Even if I was nothing to him.

Yes, the ice cream was right. He is not worth it.

My small couches fit perfectly. The size of my current TV is just right.

I’m so happy that it looks like a home, not just an empty shell of a house.

I later brought the lighter couch to my room because the fan is there and I need to be nearer my modem-router. After work, I brought it back to the TV area because I want my empty house to look nicer in my absence.

Meanwhile, my stairs need to be filled with cement and then tiled (with outdoor, brick-like tiles). Tomorrow the railings will be painted metallic black.

My laundry area will be finished by the end of the month. When we move in by the 16th, I hope the trusses or the roof will be up by then.

When I sent these photos to my sis in law, she said she felt teary-eyed because she’s happy for me, for what I have achieved so far with my house, with my career, and with my girls.

If she only knew the kind of hell I’ve been through the past three years, she would be crying right now.

I’m proud of myself, too. 😭 I’ve come so far.