Monday Morning

It's the start of a new week. Monday morning and I have big plans - big, as in lofty. I've made a schedule for my NARM exam study preparation and I'm a little worried I won't do a very good job sticking to it but I'm going to try. I plan to spend 9 hours a week studying - 3, 3-hour sessions - so by 9 this morning I need to be hitting the books. I've always done better with a little structure so here's hoping it goes well this time around when I have a pretty big test to study for and truly can not afford, in all aspects, to fail and have to take again. So here we go...

As I mentioned before Andrey returned from Manila on Friday evening. He flew out just before another big storm blew through Luzon. Apparently flights later that night and the next morning had to be canceled. I'm happy he made it out of there. Unfortunately the storm did more damage and flooding in Manila and other areas that were hit in the last two storms. Thankfully there were few fatalities. I think they were a bit more prepared this time around and were able to evacuate people in certain areas. It's crazy that the Philippines has endured three, large storms in five weeks and we haven't experienced much of anything in here in Cebu. It makes it hard to imagine what going on there.

Andrey is home from work today due to the All Saints/All Souls holiday. It's pretty big around here, celebrated on November 1 and 2. Most Filipinos travel to their home provinces in order to visit the graves of late relatives with the rest of the family. The graves are washed or painted. Candles are lit to usher the spirits from purgatory to heaven and piles of leaves are burned so they smoke near the grave to keep bad spirits away. A meal is eaten and food is offered to the relative. If you ask me it's a very spiritually-dark holiday.

Yesterday we were reminded of just how big the occasion was. The streets felt empty. Traffic was very light. After church we went to the mall to run a few errands but it was closed! The whole mall! Wow. I had no idea. That's when you know it's a big holiday in the Philippines - when the mall is closed. It's almost unheard of.

I have a few random photos to share from the weekend (as you can see it was an exciting one!)

Time to defrost the freezer?? Got this done on Saturday. I clearly put it off for a long time... NEVER buy a non-frost-free ref. It didn't occur to me when we made this purchase (obviously).


Do you like my fur coat? Gerald loves to pick the least convenient place to relax. He is seriously right up against my neck and face. Nice.
Have a great week everyone!

War on Mice

For the past couple of months we have gone from never seeing any mice or mice poop, to seeing mice poop in increasing amounts all over our kitchen as well as half-eaten food, to seeing actual mice scurry away when we enter the kitchen. My scalp itches just thinking about it.

My scalp always itches when I think about rodents or roaches or maggots. And no, I don't have dandruff. I just feel like I want to barf when I think of these things, much less see them taking over my kitchen! So I bought some traps and strategically placed some peanut butter on them.

The result? Three mice in three days. I got photos of the last two. Oh so proud. First I hunted, then I killed. Oh and I forgot to mention that Gerald caught and ate one last week. Andrey and I were so proud of him! It's like all our wildest hopes and dreams for him were realized the day he ate that mouse. We just wished he would have done it a long time ago and would have been smart enough to catch the other three!

Oh don't think I don't see you! It's ON little buddy!

Ah ha! Gotcha! (insert evil laugh)

Oh the delight when I heard yet another loud snap in the pantry. I was giddy with excitement.

Gerald's hunt last week. Sorry the photo is blurry but you can see how Gerald has him trapped. I wasn't home but apparently Gerald played with the mouse for a while before he finally chomped him up for dinner. Crunch crunch crunch.

Cute photo of Gerald in my closet just to get the icky mice thoughts out of your head so it will stop itching - a bit of a cleanser for the mind.

And since I'm on the topic of Gerald... He was "castrated" this week. When I called to make the appointment with the vet I couldn't think of the word for getting a male cat fixed and didn't know what word was commonly used here so when the woman on the other end of the line asked for clarification I fumbled around unsuccessfully for the right word and said, "Uhh... Umm... I want to get his balls cut off!" "Ahhh, you want your cat castrated?" she said. "Yes. Yes. Castrated. Right. When can I bring him in?"

The surgery was a success and little Gerald was gingerly walking around for the first day at home. It was hilarious watching him stumble around as the anesthesia wore off. So entertaining. I even tried to get it on video and then I caught myself from being so ridiculous. Let this further confirm our readiness for children. This cat is getting way too much air time and attention. You should see how Andrey holds him like a baby and even bounces him in his arms. He's worse than I am!

Gardening Success! (so far...)

Ah, the garden. I have always dreamed of some day being successful in gardening, or at least trying my hand at it. I've always felt that as a nutritionist, it is ridiculous that I have such little knowledge about and experience with growing food. My very first attempts only began last year. Without initial success I gave up for a while but decided to try again a few months ago. Thanks to my mom stocking me up with some (non-expired!) seeds and some attempts to keep the slugs away, I am happy to report that my garden is thriving. I imagine this is strange for you all in the West as you are heading into Fall and Winter and I'm just getting tomatoes growing. Oh well, that's the benefit of getting to sweat year round. I have many more seeds I plan to plant as soon as the tomato harvest takes place and I have some more space. Next skill to learn: canning.

On a side note, I started knitting again and I've been really into baking these days, on top of the usual cooking I do for dinner almost every night. I had a realization the other day. I'm really domestic! I really, really enjoy being domestic. I love working with my hands and having something to show for it immediately or soon after. I've always been one for instant gratification. Lately there have been opportunities to cook/bake for friends and neighbors who are going through various tough times in life (cancer, miscarriage...) and I realize that cooking and baking is one of my love languages. I feel I can really love people when I cook or bake for them. I take joy in it. Andrey is a blessed man and he knows it. Here are some shots showing the gardening progress...

Our circular bed and the newly cleared bed now full of tomato plants

Close up of the circular bed with many transplanted tomato plants

The new bed is also full of tomato plants

The potted plants in the side-yard. Most of what you see are tomatoes (can you believe all of our tomato plants got started in that one large white pot?), plus there is a chili plant, some thriving basil, some not-so-thriving cilantro, and some gulay (or "guy" for short), a native green veggie that our helper planted

Chili plant. If you look close you'll find one, white chili ("sili" in Visayan). Next to it are a couple of sprouts I found in the compost. I think they might be watermelon.

More tomato plants - this pot's still a bit crowded

The basil (so fragrant!) and cilantro (go baby go! I want to make salsa.)

Where the tomatoes got their start. I've cleared out and transplanted all but a few so they'd have room to grow big. We just added the stakes today to keep them upright.

Bonus picture of Gerald. Enjoy those balls little buddy because you're getting castrated soon. If he only knew what was coming. When I said I believe in family planning, I meant I believe in family planning. There are too many orphaned kitties around here! I don't want to perpetuate the cycle.

Meet Gerald

It's becoming more and more obvious to me that we are ready for children...


Isn't he cute??

Gerald

We got a cat! His name is Gerald. Our camera is broken, so sadly I can not include a photo of his tiny body. He's a kitten. Not sure how old. He and three siblings appeared out of nowhere at the clinic about a month or so ago. Hilary was trying to find homes for them. She had the genius idea of bringing the kittens to the clinic Easter party yesterday. It was very effective. Andrey happened to be with me so we were able to make the decision on the spot. We have been tossing up the idea of getting a cat but not wanting to deal with finding someone to house sit every time we go out of town, which is often. With Hilary and her husband agreeing to take care of the cat each time we are away, we couldn't refuse.

Gerald is mostly white with a few grayish-black spots on his head and a grayish-black tail. He is very social and cuddly and has bad breath. He is very playful. His meow sounds more like a squawk. He is almost always purring, especially when he's curled up next to one of us. He's quite the happy-go-lucky cat. He's even litter trained. He's super cute! We've barely had him 24 hours and both of us are smitten.

He was initially given the name "Jerry" by those who have been taking care of him the past month. Yesterday we decided to Filipinize his name so we started calling him "Jer Jer." But then we were told that that means "sex" in Visaya. No wonder why the others were giggling when we called him that yesterday! We've since changed his name to Gerald, his formal name.