A day in the kitchen

My head is buzzing. Bzzzzzzzz. I've been whipping around the house today, cleaning, cooking, packing, doing laundry... The hubby and a friend are going to go to Sta. Rosa to work on the plumbing Friday and it could turn into a two-day job. That means he needs clothes and I'm sending clean sheets and towels, too. I've been cooking up a storm in order to send plenty of food so they don't have to stop and cook themselves. I think the oven was on for close to four hours as I roasted a chicken, made bread and then fixed a coffee cake.

You're probably wondering: why didn't she do more than one thing at a time? My stove, and therefore the oven, is tiny. What we'd call an apartment size stove in the U.S. Here it's the most common size.

That made me think that maybe you'd like to see photos of my house. Not that it's so different from a house in the U.S., just smaller in general. All tile floors, stucco walls, metal window and door frames... Hmmmm, can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Anyway, I went around today taking lots of pictures which I'll share on Sunday with Project 365.

A few things that are in the photos that wouldn't have been there a few days ago include some nightstands and a dresser (which I'm using as a sideboard in the dining room to hold napkins, tableclothes, games, etc.). I've shared our frustration at trying to find decent furniture at a reasonable price and that we'd about come to the conclusion that the hubby just needed to build everything.

Our neighbor, who doesn't actually live next door but owns the house, has decided to rent it and needed to clear out all the furniture still left there. So we were able to buy a few things we'd been looking for, like the nightstands. We also scored a small, very old but functioning washer to take to Sta. Rosa. Yay!!!!

AND perhaps most importantly: a used-but-in-very-good-condition mattress set for Sta. Rosa. Yes we have beds, but the mattresses are pitiful. As much as we love going to Sta. Rosa, a few days out there and we can barely walk because the mattresses are so uncomfortable.

This purchase is noteworthy not only because we're looking forward to having a decent bed to sleep in ourselves, but all future guests will (of course) be granted the right to use the comfy bed ☺ Eventually we hope to replace all the mattresses. Since we do foresee occasions when there will be a full house.

Last night it was SO nice to be able to set my glass of water on the nightstand right by my bed and not have to get up to get a drink when I woke up thirsty (which I do every.single.night). And to have the box of tissues handy since yes, I am still congested.

But I sort of forgot the nightstand was there in the middle of the night and couldn't figure out why I couldn't just knock the extra pillow off the bed like I usually do ☺ It's a miracle I didn't knock the glass of water over in the process.

Now that we have nightstands, we can start looking for little lamps to put on them so we can read in bed without having to use the blinding overhead light.

Little by little we are getting settled.

During Spanish class today my tutor had me give a tour of the house, explaining not only what was in each room but the story behind the objects. Like the fact that we brought the two chairs we use in the living room from the U.S. Or that the tables in there were handmade by the hubby's brother many years ago. I added a few words to my vocabulary and had fun showing my tutor our "new" furniture items.

There was a lot of shifting of furniture yesterday to make room for the new stuff. Like any project, there was an order to the process. Had to move the desk from the guest room into the dining room so that we could put the small bookshelf from our bedroom in there, leaving room for the nightstands in our room.

It meant my house got cleaned ☺

Which made it possible for me to take those photos today because otherwise I would not have been so brave. I'm not a terrible housekeeper, but we generally live in the midst of some amount of clutter.

Did you know that the word for cobwebs is telaraña?

We might have one or forty seven. Remember I told you I learned some new vocabulary words? The house wasn't as clean as I thought.

I think that's enough honesty for one day.

So what are you doing this weekend? Anything exciting planned? Or are you just looking forward to a quiet, relaxing couple of days?