These Days

Book # 17 for 2015 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo . I was intrigued by this book since it started appearing on many blogs/IGs that I follow. Most reviews were really positive but some thought Kondo's tidying methods were extreme, with 'ceremonies' unlike other tidying practices. I am interested in anything that can help put the house in order (better order?) so I had to check this out for myself. Thank you, local library! The first thing is that Kondo recommends doing a one-time big-time tidying process of the whole house according to a certain order - clothes, books...momorabilia. The main criteria for keeping or getting rid of stuff is the question "Does it spark joy?" This necessitates handling each object and determining how it makes one feel. So it's a long process but it also allows one to confront all the reasons behind keeping things we don't need or like. Is it attachment to the past or fear of the future? Kondo ci...

Rich and I like watching documentaries on Netflix. Here are a few recent ones we seen that I highly recommend. Patterns of Evidence - Exodus This documentary investigates the events from the Exodus. Did it really happen? Is there proof for Jacob and the Israelites in Egypt, their slavery and the downfall of Egypt? It covers ancient archeology, expert interviews and historical investigation. This is a compelling documentary very well-researched and presented in an objective manner. Pump This is about modern society's dependency on oil, how it got that way and what some governments, organizations and individuals are doing to challenge this. Brazil was cited as an example because they developed their ethanol industry and can run their country without oil. Individuals can also help by exercising their right to choose. Most cars can take alternative, cleaner fuel with a simple software change. This documentary is eye-opening. The True Cost The True Cost is about the clothi...

Daniela turned 5 months old almost 2 weeks ago! We've started giving her solids because we observed that she's hungrier with just milk. And she's seems interested in food especially when we're at the dinner table. So far, she's tried bananas, squash, peas and apple. She makes a funny 'mukasim' face with the apples.=) We have also started supplementing with formula milk because I only pump once a day in the office and it's not enough for her daily needs. When I'm at home, she's breastfed. I hope we can keep this up for many more months. She is gaining strength in her legs and can already lift her butt up. We find her sleeping in this position sometimes. I think it will not be long before she starts crawling. We also see better hand-eye coordination. She grabs at whatever is interesting infront of her. And that includes putting these things in her mouth. She can cry really loud now, especially if she wants attention. She's a ver...

The Huffington Post had this article yesterday entitled 12 Illustrations That Are All Too Real For Introverts . Of course I had to check it out. Introvert Doodles is the comic series by Maureen Wilson  and I can relate to most of them. After reading Quiet, these cartoons made it more evident that introverts have common experiences that I tend to believe are unique just because I don't see it in others. So this reinforces that the challenges and struggles and joys and idiosyncrasies are real and shared by others. Plus they're funny.  I looked through all of the past doodles and the ones here are all too true for me. =) Praning sa email. I don't just read the sent emails. I even recall them sometimes just to make sure. Thank you, Gmail, for the 30-second window. Or pretend to be sleepy... This is why Rich does most of the calling in our house.=) This season, rarely alone but never lonely.

High Museum of Art http://www.high.org/ 1280 Peachtree Street, N.E. Atlanta, GA 30309 We visited the High Museum of Art yesterday, September 26. It was Museum Day and we got 2 free tickets from the Smithsonian website. There were many other participating museums in Atlanta but we chose this one because they have a special exhibit of Mo Willems' art. We love his Elephant and Piggie books! Art overload! We love museums. Ela seemed to like it, too. She was calm and happy the whole time.=) This dish was particularly interesting. There was a short line to get infront of it because it amplifies sound and those kaleidoscope-like reflections are so much fun. There were more of this museum that we were not able to take pictures of, like the old European paintings and sculptures, because my camera's battery ran out. We got there before 3PM and they were open only until 5PM because of an event. We had a lot of viewing to squeeze into two...

Last Saturday, we had a get-together at Mavic's house with a few business travelers from Manila. It was potluck and we prepared chicken adobo. It's always fun to be around Filipino friends, especially over food, videoke, kwentuhan, inuman (not me) and... gym equipment! I didn't realize it was already late so we had to leave the party at 11PM. Sa uulitin! 80s themed videoke session Gym time at the basement Titas

I got a new sewing machine today! This was ordered on Friday night and delivered today, thanks to Nang Lani's Amazon Prime. It feels like my birthday.=) I didn't realize how much I've missed sewing until I unboxed this. I was so excited to start hemming pants, repairing tears or do some projects but unfortunately the threads I ordered will be delivered tomorrow... So one more day until I can test drive my new toy. Projects coming soon! Huge box Here it is!