Caroleen’s Treasures

I do not know why I feel I wanted to clean the whole house. It was like I am going somewhere for a vacation and I do not want to see any clutter when I return. When we did the laundry yesterday, I feel the same way too. I wanted to empty the laundry basket and have fresh and clean clothes to bring on our trip. Although I know that we aren’t making the trip to my hometown anymore, I still feel we are going somewhere.

I have been making some cleaning-up project since Monday. I already washed the windows, dusted shelves and tables, waxed the floor, rearranged the bedroom, totally cleaned and sorted out the stuffs on Ella’s desk and the laundry just dried up. But there’s more to do around this small house. Read more… »

 We had power interruption last night an hour before midnight. I sent a message to my co-coder about it and I had no choice but to sleep. At 2ish I was awaken by a text message from Inah asking me to get online if we had the power back. We did had the power back so I sat infront of my pc, just before I signed in she called. They surely needed back up. Finally I was off from work when Crislyn logged in for her shift at 10 in the morning.

We had a cold weather, drizzling the whole day. I hate this when I am trying to stay awake for the night shift but I am off from work so I have all the time to snuggle under the covers. That is what i was imagining, but hey we had to go to the market. Today is market day here but since God washed the world today, I don’t want to get around the market that much. With all the muddy pavement and everything is wet….we decided to do some grocery shopping instead at the “biggest” grocery store here.

While I and Donald are waiting for the cashier to ring all the items, Ella asked me if she could buy “projects”. I told her she has still crayons and papers at home, I didn’t know she went to the school supplies and toy section and put in her basket a toy telephone, a pack of oslo paper, one pen and a notebook. I told her she cannot buy all those and she should return others and just pick one. She went back and put everything in its place and goes to the toy alley. I remembered she didn’t got a tea set on her birthday so I told her she can have it instead of the telephone. She was so thrilled to get tea and cooking set as she was asking for it since the world began ;)) She actually has some pieces left from the tea sets we bought before but she was having trouble looking at them in different sizes and colors. The kettle is smaller than the cups, the plastic piece of chicken is bigger than the plates and the stove is a lot smaller than the pots and pans. It was all mixed up from different sets she has since she was 2.

When we went to the city for my check up, she stayed with her Tita Crislyn in their house on the second day of my check up. While Crislyn was busily coding, Ella asked her to get the pot, pan, plates and other dishes. Ella said she will play cooking thing and that she will use the real stuffs because she forgot to buy her the tea and cooking set she had promised. Since Crislyn worked, she has no time to go shopping. She just laughed upon hearing what the little girl has said. Same here, I like to buy her those toys but I was thinking about getting them when we ge to the city. When we finally went to the city, we totally forgot about it! So I can say she had waited patiently for 5 long months and she deserves it. I let her pay it in the counter and she was over the moon when the lady puts it in the bag, like she was holding her breath while she was waiting. Afraid that I might change my mind. :grins: Gotta go, have to check on Outer Banks.

Not much going on today. After Ella was sent to school, Donald went back home and headed back a little later to pick her up after class and they went to market together. We need to go to the market everyday for food as we do not have fridge. Donald was complaining yesterday that he won’t ever go to market again. It was my first time to hear him say that. The reason? No one will give him a ride home. I was saying that to him, that I loathe going to the market ‘cos I have to walk far just to get a ride to the market, and would wait until my eyes went all white before I can get a ride back home. He never believed me and was accusing me of making up reasons not to go there myself. And now he knows how it is to stand there and being rejected by those stupid drivers who chooses passengers. I often pay double so I can just get home. Now, he knows. And hey, karma bites

So today, I gave him a list of what I needed him to buy. I need cocoa butter for Ella’s insect bites. Some are fresh but the healed ones can be applied with cocoa butter to lighten the scars. When they came home, Ella had a 12oz plustic cup of chocolate shake with marshmallows in her hand. I asked her what is it, instead of answering my question she said in most defensive way, “Mommy, I never asked to buy this…but Daddy asked me if I wanted it and I just said YES….” She was so pleased that she and her Daddy went to market, as that is the only place here that she goes once in a while and she loved the bonding moment.

We had sauteed mushrooms for lunch which Donald lovingly prepared He was telling Ella that this was his favorite ‘cos Mamang Eling prepares this for him always and he loved the way Mamang cooks it. He asked me the the other day to cook mushrooms for him and so I did. Now he wanted to try it himself and he got it perfectly. He is a good cook and love his cooking so much! Hope he will read this so he will be over the moon and would forever do the cooking. But trust me on this, he is really a good cook. I just loved his chicken soup, adobo, afritada and everything else. I was just pissed off last Sunday when I was about to cook lunch and he interrupted me saying he will cook rice first, so I just left the eggplants in the sink, went back to do my task here. I was dreaming and craving of grilled eggplants for days, so I bought short but plump eggplants that could fit in our charcoal stove. I lost track of time and he called for lunch, eggplants were served…not grilled but boiled! I could not do anything about it, the damage has been done and it is Father’s Day by the way. So today, he bought a bunch of eggplants and said he will make up for the lost eggplants. So for dinner, we had grilled eggplants in fish paste with tomatoes and eggplant omelet. Yumyum!

While I was working in my pc, something bit me on my foot. I ignored it thinking it was just a mosquito. Then it bit me again the second time, and it was soooo itchy and it’s it stung. I caught it and I sqeezed it to death. I don’t care if it has babies waiting for her at home because I think it is the same kind of insect that bits Ella. She has plenty of bites all over her body and she scrathes it all the time. I have to put alcohol to cool it and ease the itch then apply on some ointment for isnect bites which I think doesn’t work best for such kinds of bites. What Ella needs is Caladryl to ease the itch. So what else can I do but put on some cocoa butter on the scars to lighten it.

Ella begged to play with her doll house and other toys. I put it on the second room before her birthday ’cos we need more space for the visitors. Now she finally get her way on it. I put a mat on the floor and she played almost all afternoon. She was holding her Power Puff toy, and I overheard her say to her toy, “Oh…be careful…wear your ”shit” belt…”. I am sorry for the french but hey, we laughed to our hearts content and when we are done with the belly exercise, I called her in the room and said it was not a “shit belt” but a seat belt.

Not much of going on today. I am still not feeling well…got a headache added to the neck and back pains Ella went about marching around the house, played alone and sneaked out from the front door to play with the kids but was called in everytime. I told her she is not allowed to play with them today. Most of her toys are broken or were stolen by the kids and that upsets me so much. Everyday I hear one squeeling about the other stealing Ella’s toy and everyday too, I am seeing broken toys! This is not good at all and I am making Ella understand that we should not let them play anymore with her toys. Last week I sorted her toys, the barbies and good ones are put in the crate and should not be carried outside for their play. I put the odd toys in one smaller crate for them to play with…hoping that everything will be taken cared of and that everything will be turned in after their play….but see, neither of this was done…so I am declaring Martial Law here. No more toys outside and they are not allowed to play either inside the house. This will not take long since I wanted the kids to play too….but I want them to learn from it

I was still enjoying my internet up to this moment! No more long walks to the market to check mails on the internet cafe. It was just a relief from the stiff neck and the foul smell of the cafe. Some ar smoking inside and the others are just so selfish turning high the volume while they play….I suppose it should be airconditioned and that each has to have a headset. My neck hurts too. On the first cafe I went I was looking up for the monitor while the other cafe, I was stooping down. Then there’s this keypad that is soooo hard to press…as if it wasn’t been used for decades. The worst thing is it has no letter F! But anyway, I am still grateful that there’s internet cafe here in town.

Today, we woke up early. I checked mails first then went around the little rooms to organize stuffs while Donald went outside uprooting weeds again and Ella played with her new friends. I don’t know why I only accomplished to sort two crates of odd toys of Ella. These were from our old little house so she’s very much happy to see those again after two months of staying with my sister Crislyn’s parents-in-law. I put the toys that cold be played with other kids while the toys which were given to Ella as a gift or that of value has to be saved. So I let the kids play with the other toys. I am not being selfish, but last Saturday Ella cried because her bike’s seat was broken. The boy much taller and bigger than her kept on riding it, the next thing I heard was it broke. So I was just being careful of Ella’s toys since we can’t afford to buy for now.

So the kids went playing on the shed beside the house where we gather on Sunday School. Donald was on the side near them while I was in the front yard planting ornamental plants we have brought from Davao. As expected, a little boy broke a toy and Ella was just calmly saying to Donald that her toy was broken. When I went near to see if I can do something about it, she ran to the house crying. She was saying “My toy is dead! My toy is dead!!!” Instead of symphatizing with her, I broke into laughter. Her toy was really dead….Poor girl. I told her that it was just a toy and that’s why Mommy kept her special toys inside the house.

Oh by the way, the best thing living in the province is your neighbor knocks at your door with a bowl of “binignit” (it’s like a porridge with sticky rice, banana, sweet potatoes, sago - looks like tapioca, coconut milk and sugar). This is the place I like!

Ella played until midnight. She had Carrot dressed in baby clothes that I have saved for her sister (if God will bless us with another bouncing baby girl) That’s what Ella wanted, a baby girl. I asked her what if it was a boy, she answered “Eh di palitan natin…” ( Let us exchange it) What?!! Was it a dress that you can exchange if it doesn’t fit? LOL My sister was teasing her that we will wait for the mall’s midnight sale so we can buy her a baby sister for a 50% OFF and she pouts saying she don’t want one that is bought. She wants one that is made. Well, with the rice shortage right now, we can’t afford to have another baby yet. We should be settled first with a home and food and with basic needs. I want her to send to a good school and not be deprived of her needs. In short, the truck should come soon.

Speaking of the truck…I hope next time we will be told that it will come, it will. We need really need to move and get settled in Agusan before June comes so we can have still time to find a school for Ella. We are told last time that the church can offer little amount for our help with the church work. And the rice too, which I can tell now that it would be a great help since the rice price increased drastically. We have actually accepted the work before even without the cash allowance, but with this offer we are more than grateful and who would resist such a blessing? So there would be a house where we would live, rice and allowance. While Donald will be off for church works everyday, I will be left at home. Good that I have this blog to keep me busy and at the same time earn. Being approved by PPP and PayU2Blog is such a blessing. And writing essay for Academi-Research too! I can have dollars and in time, we can get through with our struggle with finances right now.

I was infront of my pc when Ella went beside me and said “Tingnan ko nga mata mo Mommy. O, may dugo na….may mga crack na….’di ka kasi natutulog.” (Let me see your eyes Mommy. See there’s blood, there’s some cracks…it’s because you are not sleeping). The CRACK thing pertains to my blood shot eyes. It just made me laugh how she looked so worried about the CRACKS on my eyes. As if she’s seing cracks on eggs. LOL

I was almost done with the book I am reading. We had a power black out at 3 in the afternoon. Good thing about it was I had waxed the floor, arranged the boxes and crates that we are going to bring when the truck comes. My sister Crislyn finally had time to shape up their room too.

Ella just played around with the girls as usual. It was much longer today. I am thinking about giving the two girls stuffed toys before we leave. There are toys from our store that hadn’t been sold which I am planning to give to the kids in Agusan. Ella doesn’t play with stuffed toys that much, might as well give them to children who don’t have toys. They are 11 and 9, much older than Ella but I know they will be very happy to have one.