Last night the traffic was so heavy in our usual route that I had to drive an extra 20 km to take another route. It took me 2 hrs and 45 minutes before we reached our apartment.

So today I did all the DIY stuff that I left hanging. Stupid me, that made me exhausted today.

I refreshed the white paint on the wall where my living room windows are. I also finally changed the curtain rod brackets downstairs and was able to hang the Christmas curtains that I bought from Shopee one night I wasn’t able to sleep. I’m afraid I overdid the Christmas thing.

But I think it looks better at night, less overpowering.

And I did not stop there. I added curtain rod brackets in my room because my annoying cats keep on climbing the curtains and they’re not exactly light.

Since I felt so energetic today, I proceeded to sand my closets because the paint is peeling and Kimichi kept scratching the corner so it was worn.

I chose Boysen Skyblue for my closets. There was something off with the Tiffany blue that came with the apartment when we moved in so I decided to go for a lighter shade of blue.

I didn’t paint the upper cabinets yet because I was so tired and I looked like a Smurf because I was already blue all over. And my paint was the quick-dry type so it was sticky, smelly, and hard to even out. At least I was able to fill out with wood filler the scratches that Kimichi made and I was able to cover it with paint. Now I’m getting high with the smell.

As I was letting the paint dry, I grilled marinated chicken outside while my kids and our househelp, Ate C, lighted candles for our departed loved ones. Today is Dia de Todos los Santos (All Saints’ Day) and tomorrow is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) but in recent years Filipinos started visiting the grave of loved ones on 1 November instead of 2 November. Traditionally the holidays are 31 Oct-2 Nov but was truncated this year to only the 1 Nov. Dia de los Muertos is more known to be a Mexican holiday but most Spanish and Portugese colonies have their own way of commemorating the dead. In the Philippines, it’s more subdued compared to the Mexican one. When I was a kid, some people spend the night of the 31st in cemeteries to hang out in their family mausoleum or tombs until Nov 1 and have some kind of family reunion there. Filipino Chinese families light joss sticks and offer food and flowers. In our family we just clean the tombs, offer flowers, light candles and say our prayers. We stay until the candles have died out.

This is the third straight year we just have lighted candles in front of our house. In 2018, the traffic was so bad that I just opted to stay at home. Last year and this year, obviously, we had to stay home because of Covid-19 restrictions. My mom is already contented that I brought her last week a huge pot of mums and the purple hydrangea for my father’s niche at the columbarium near my mom’s house.

Since I’m making the most of my stay here in this apartment, I will be filling up the walls with crafts and art. Next time that will go home to my mom’s house, I’ll be taking my old drawings with me and put them in frames and hang them in my room. I bought some frames from Photoline in SM that were on sale last week.

J left his drawing on my refrigerator door and when we broke up, I shoved it in my closet and let it stay there almost 11 months. I decided to take it out again and put it in one of the frames I bought. He drew this scene from Istanbul when he was demonstrating to the girls how to use their color markers.

I had hung his drawing in the place where his workstation was. He may not be a nice person, but for old times’ sake this is how I am choosing to remember him: a traveler. I am just one stop.

Soon this room will be filled by my old drawings/paintings and cross-stitch projects. And probably new ones too. His drawing will just be one of the many that I will have on my walls.