(I couldn’t take the barrage of bat sh*t any longer! 😱😱)
Warning ~ post contains foul language. Do not visualize (if you can help it)!
This house is huge, obviously built with parties and large family gatherings in mind. Unfortunately the owners haven’t shown interest in its upkeep since the family patriarch died a few years ago. So it continues to fall apart a little day by day.
Such a pity really because it is a beautiful house and I find its flaws rather charming. I would’ve been happy to stay because it afforded me so much space and quiet ❤
But since May obnoxious things have been happening 😮 😮
First the housekeepers come to me and say “ada hantu” (there’s a/are ghosts) in the house. Well, I’ve never seen/heard/felt one! (Not that I want to). But we were worried that the housekeepers might stop coming because of this since Indonesians are generally still very superstitious.
And then there are the rats and their liberal ‘droppings’ all over the place. It wasn’t like that always, something must’ve happened in May because that’s when they all decided to abandon all decency and just sh%! all over the place! Literally. Like for instance, right there in front of the door to remind you to “have a nice day” 😫😫
And then the body count started to climb. I couldn’t keep up. It became all too frequent for my daughter to cry out exasperatedly “ugh! why must there always be a dead cockroach in/on/at ….”.
And those pesky bats! Good Lord – I’d be out on the verandah after dinner contemplating the heavens when “whoosh!” Batman and Robin would fly so near to me that I can feel the air from their wings on my cheeks and I can literally smell them. 😰 Such brazenness!
And every morning a generous offering of droppings right there on my favorite reflection place. Do they like me so much or what?! 😰
Sometimes they’d come in and my husband would be so frustrated chasing them out that he’d lock us all in the bedroom while Robin would lie (or hang) in wait somewhere inside the house to (this is my guess) scare the living daylights out of the poor, unsuspecting housekeepers the following day 😱😱
Such creepy fun to be had in this “haunted house”.
But alas the party must stop at some point.
So this weekend we are moving.
I’ll see you on the other side then! 😀 Have a great weekend y’all! ❤
With your answers, please remember we are in the SYW world and which may not always match our reality.
What is your favorite go to beverage? Water, coffee, tea, coke, soda (non-alcoholic)
Water. Especially with Indonesia’s hot climate where a glass of cool water can taste like heaven 🙂
Coffee is my absolute favorite ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Right now though I’m enjoying fruit flavored teas because I’m trying to curb my insomnia.
Can you change a car tire?
No. 😐 😑
Are you a listener or talker?
Hmmm … It really depends on the topic. If it’s not particularly interesting then I find that I tire rather quickly of either talking or listening about it. Fortunately, the opposite is also true! 🙂
Would you rather have no internet or no cell phone?
No cell phone. Life is just more peaceful that way 🙂 I mean, I need a cell phone of course. But in a perfect world it can only make outgoing calls and cannot receive any incoming XD XD Text messages and emails are okay as I want the luxury to respond in my own time.
Plus, the internet is like my lifeline to the rest of the world. And it’s detrimental to whatever social life I have at the moment XD
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week ~
Last week I decided to lay off on my morning magic elixir (brewed coffee) for an indefinite span of time because I noticed my insomnia was getting worse. This wasn’t an easy decision because I LOVE coffee! 😧 😧 My mornings are just not the same 😢 😢
However. I have been sleeping much much better now. I can actually feel sleepiness settling down on me around bedtime, and I’ve stopped waking up sporadically throughout the night. I’ve started dreaming again and I’m waking up before my alarm sounds ❤ 😀
(Do not take this to mean I will never drink coffee again though. Nuh-uh! 😒 😒 I just have to come up with a “schedule” of sorts to balance things).
~ and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Some online purchases 🙂 I need coconut oil for my oil pulling and hair care, some beans for learning how to make chilli and additional yarn for a sweater I’m knitting.
I also plan to try making Indian chapati bread 🙂 Looks easy enough and the husband is enthusiastic about it 🙂
I’ve been deliciously busy last week, just plunged the depths of my interests and curiosities in the face of my “boredom” problem which is now but a pathetic & cowering shadow dragging its feet towards the gates of oblivion.
My! How dramatic. XD XD
Today, I chose to close May with a list of things that make me happy. And I have to thank the radiant Lindsay over at the always insightful Letters to Dutch for happiness-tagging me 🙂 🙂
I was so excited when I got the tag because, who doesn’t want to make a list of things that make you happy?! I mean, that has got to be the single most simple, thoughtful, cost-free and happiness-inducing act you can do for yourself, yes? 😀
I was also happy because I really want to share with you a personal story. Something I did when I first started out in the corporate world, in a big city full of strangers, that was telling of the attitude towards happiness I’d soon come to embrace.
Ready? 🙂
OK!
The Story
It was a huge job in a huge city away from home. I was new, I still had no friends and, Valentine’s day was coming up. I don’t know why but all the single ladies in that office made such a big deal out of it. Talking loudly about their guesses and fantasies about how their boyfriends would surprise them, fancy dinners, gifts, etc. I’d hear them and swallow saliva because I already felt so lonely and uprooted, and now I’d have to be pitied for not having romantic liaisons too???
Que barbaridad! 😠 😠
My agony grew as Valentine’s day drew nearer.
But then a miracle happened. 🌟 💫 ✨
On that Valentine’s day I walked away with the hugest, most impressively arranged (and probably the most expensive) bouquet of veeery pretty flowers.
And I lived happily ever after was beset with inquiries from curious (nosy) ladies for days after! XD XD
How did that happen?
Well, I bought myself that bouquet and told everybody it came from a “secret admirer”. End of agony. XD XD
And that was perhaps the first time I realized that happiness is something you engineer for yourself.
Granted, my example is petty and simplistic. But I know now that happiness doesn’t have to be complicated or profound.
This phrase “happiness is something you engineer for yourself” is not mine by the way. I came across it reading blogs on WP and the blog author was an engineer (not surprisingly). I can no longer recall who this person was, but I thank him and give him credit for something so simple yet profound. Note the use of the word “engineer”, because indeed, happiness does not fall out of the sky and most of the time, circumstances do not cooperate.
Shine anyway! 🌟 💫 ✨
There are SO many things that make me happy – from the obvious (my family) to the mundane (that mug of coffee in the morning) and anything in between (looking up at a magnificent moon in the evening). For this post however, I have to narrow it down to 5 and, off the top of my head, these are:
⭐ Exercise ⭐
The fountain of youth! I cannot do without exercise now that I’ve gotten used to it and have fallen in love with it. My body and mind crave it. It makes me feel grateful for being healthy and capable, and I am dosed with feel good hormones for the rest of the day. Truly, exercise gets me out of any funk I might be feeling at any moment.
⭐ Music ⭐
Mainstream top 40. Lounge. House. Spa. Meditation. Acoustic. Medieval. Instrumental. Beach… I’ve been blasting The Black Eyed Peas on my speakers lately and then shift to Medieval when I’m reading my medieval mysteries. I listen to House when I’m doing yoga. It’s crazy but it works for me. Music makes me happy! ❤ ❤
As a gift to you, here’s the song that’s predicted to be the happiness theme song for 2016 🙂
⭐ Kindness/Generosity ⭐
The two are synonymous, I believe. An act of kindness gives my feet wings and even just seeing it or reading about it being done by others warms my heart. That’s why I watch the Ellen Degeneres show whenever I can because those surprises she doles out to unsuspecting people, they just make me want to swim from the chandelier (in a good way). LOL! XD XD
In my ‘confined’ state I am unable to do Random-Acts-Of-Kindness (RAOKs) directly, so I’ve taken to doing this via the games I play. I’m currently obsessed with Seeker’s Notes: Hidden Mystery and I take great delight in helping my “friends” complete collections by gifting them with special items I have in surplus. The harder the item is to come by or build, the more excited I am to gift it 🙂 ❤
I’ve thought of knitting/crocheting for charity too but, I really prefer doing an act of kindness in person. It just gives the most satisfaction ❤ ❤ ❤
⭐ Crocheting/Knitting ⭐
I am project oriented and I relish having a practical end-product at the end of my efforts. And if I can accomplish this with the least amount of equipment, then that’s just purrr-fect!
That is why crochet -and just very recently- knitting, appeals so much to me. The whole process is just so juicy! From choosing the project, the materials, the recipient and finally the making of the product itself. Yes, crochet and knitting definitely float my boat! 😀 😀
⭐ Choosing to be a SAHM ⭐
I love it! Little to no stress. The luxury of time to take care of your family and yourself. I even love the luxury of “boredom” that comes with it because I can cure that with something that nourishes my soul, mind or body. It’s just the perfect setting to be so deliciously self-focused.
~ oOo ~
And now it’s time for me to choose 5 others for this happiness tag 🙂 👏 👏
One of the earliest blogger friends I made here on WP, I call her Karla (but I don’t really know for sure!) who takes the prettiest pictures and blogs over at My Messy World.
And … I just realized I’m gonna choose 6 instead because I have these 2 new blogging friends I just can’t leave out 🙂 ❤
Yanti of New Lives and Opat of Handsy Craftsy. These lovely ladies are from Indonesia and they do not know (until now!) that they made me very happy when they responded to my meltdown post by inquiring about where I live in Indonesia and offering to be contacted if I ever should visit Jakarta ❤ ❤ ❤ (There’s just NO reason for me to sulk now, is there?) I’m just blessed like that 😀 😀
OK, that’s me.
But what about YOU? What makes YOU happy? Let me know in the comments section so I get more ideas for my happy-list 😁😊💞
Dearest friends, welcome back into my living room ❤ If you want, I have some leftover Mother’s Day cake in the fridge, just let me know 🙂 I’m brewing coffee I bought from Melbourne too so, we should all be set.
(Cold drinks are in the fridge, feel free to help yourself you know you’re very welcome to do so!) ❤
This is a gratitude post for all your kind support, encouragement and ❤ to my meltdown post. Every single one of your comments has lifted me up that I am walking around with swag and lightness 😀 😀
I do still intend to explore my ‘boredom’ further in upcoming posts. Right now though I feel a huge ‘thank you‘ is in order for reminding me that boredom happens, and that it is not a problem but rather a cosmic prodding. It is not a condition, it’s an opportunity.
THANK YOU! ❤ ❤ ❤
To acknowledge your kindness, I went out on a dinner date with my daughter 🙂 Just the two of us, without my husband to translate.
Let me explain how this is a victory & celebration of sorts:
The lay-out of this city necessitates a car of your own. My husband took ours to work so I had to choose public transport by way of a city bus or a taxi. We preferred a taxi because city buses have certain routes I am not familiar with and I suspect nobody would understand a word coming out of my mouth. Taxi drivers would at least have some basic English under their belts.
We still had to walk to someplace I was only half sure would have taxis. Luckily the sun was not as fierce anymore and we found a few available taxis right away.
My daughter was worried about communicating and being understood. But I was cocky my pidgin Indonesian would suffice. And it did (somehow!) – I even managed to make the taxi driver laugh so hard (twice!) I thought he was going to have an asthma attack! XD XD
At the restaurant I was able to order, and order the right items. (In my experience so far it’s almost never a straightforward, point-to-a menu-item affair. The waitress will always have something to say whether it be the dish’ or a main ingredient’s unavailability, or how we want our drink or something about something — and stated in Indonesian that’s so fast I loll my tongue out and just pretend I’m dead) In any case …
My daughter’s fears were assuaged ❤
I assure you I ate with such gusto! This was a huge bowl and I wiped it clean XD For extra attitude I dunked all the tongue-numbing green chili they gave into the soup so nobody can ever accuse me of not knowing how to celebrate small victories 😉 😉
Have you done something you truly want to do today?
Yes. I’ve finally found out the names of the 2 lovely cleaning ladies [that come to our house every day] by asking them myself! (In my pidgin Indonesian). They are Ibu Ingah and Ibu Supiati. “Ibu” means mother or madam in Indonesian.
Which reminds me of one funny incident when I was just a few days old here in Indonesia: One day coming home from a morning walk I hear a man behind me say “pagi,’bu” and felt myself blush. I did not know the meaning of the word “Ibu” at the time and honestly thought the man said “good morning, boo” and well … you know what that means! LOL!
Don’t worry, I’m wiser now.
I also used to think Indonesians were just so kewl because they ended most of their sentences with “yeah”. As in, “tungguh (wait), yeah?” At the time I did not know that “yes” was “iya” generally shortened to “ya” . XD XD
So really, I cannot stress enough how important it is to learn at least the basics of the foreign language you are going to immerse yourself in. Go ahead, you can go “duh!” on me now XD
Now where was I ….?
What can you help the world with?
I have no idea. And then simultaneously a lot of ideas that seem too trivial or grandiose upon closer examination 🙄
People (office mates) used to tell me they liked talking to me because I was such an encourager. They’d be in doubt about something and I’d help them feel better and more confident about themselves. So I guess I’ll start there. Yeah, why not?
If life was ‘just a bowl of cherries’… which fruit other than a cherry would you be..?
I’m not that fond of fruit really so this is a difficult question 🙄
I also think that the whole point of choosing the cherry to mean “life is pleasant” is because it’s easy to pop in your mouth. I mean, you don’t have to peel, slice or remove anything before being able to eat it. It even comes with a handy stem, usually. And cherries are sweet and they have that beautiful color too. I’m over analyzing this, am I?
Can I still be a cherry, please? XD
Quotes List: At least three of your favorite quotes?
Ahhh, I’m also really not into quotes. But I can offer you a personal “template” instead.
Whenever I beat myself up in some way, like say I call myself “cranky” in my head and I want to stop that nasty voice I go “cranky is as cranky does” — and that is enough to remind me it’s not me (the person), it’s how I’m acting.And as such I can also change this right away.
It can be applied to anything too: “lazy is as lazy does”, “careless is as careless does”, “happy is as happy does”. It works for me every time 🙂
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week ~
I’m very grateful (and stoked!) that this post still keeps getting responses ❤ ❤ ❤
If you haven’t yet, please chime in!
~ and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Hello sexy sun drops! TGIF aaaannnd, it’s time to put ourselves in a “feel-good” mood once again 🙂
Originally, the title of this blog post would have been “3 things I do each morning to start the day on a positive note”. But I’m interested to hear about how YOU do it because I’m sure we can get a few wonderful tips from each other if not, get to know each other a bit more 🙂
I bet most of you have set up your mornings to give you the best headstart. But if not, consider this a good time to think about it.
K?
K!
So let me start with my own 3 –
Open balcony doors to let good chi in.
Our second floor living area is blessed with opposite doors that lead out unto balconies (see blog header for one of those). And the first thing I do every morning is to open both so I can let in the fresh Indonesian early-morning breeze.
Enjoy the moment for a few minutes.
I then step out unto the main balcony for a languid full-body stretch while deep-breathing in the fresh, cool air. I stay here for a while to take in the rustle of the leaves, the lush green of the trees and lawns, the birds, the beautiful blue sky and the quiet neighborhood.
Brew coffee to fill house with divine aroma.
Then I go down to brew a magic elixir. I get a kick out of thinking the rich aroma of brewed coffee is what the husband smells upon peeking his head out the bedroom door 🙂 It’s such a perk-me-up in its own right don’t you (fellow coffee lovers) think? 🙂
And those are my first 3 – it gets a bit hectic after that 🙂 But these moments are mine alone and they are a welcome prelude to the rest of the day.
Now it’s YOUR turn –
What are some of the things YOU do each morning to start your day right? Fire up my comments section with your welcome chatter 😀
What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?
This will definitely be cleaning toilets. And what I like most are tidying up or organizing and washing the dishes 🙂
(Did you notice the quick shift? That is so the image of a toilet does not haunt my thoughts. LOL!)
What was the last URL that you bookmarked?
InterUnet.com’s instructions on how to crochet a slouchy hat 🙂 That’s going to be an upcoming project.
Close your eyes. Listen to your body. What part of your body is seeking attention? What is it telling you?
I need to do my business in the toilet XD
It’s time to sweat some toxins out (dance exercises!)
Would you rather have a two-bedroom apartment in a big city of your choosing or a mansion in the country side in the state or country where you currently live?
Oh dear, I really want to be in a big city right now. I think I’ve had about enough of peace and quiet from this otherwise beautiful Indonesian ‘city’. I know the hectic pace of a metropolis can get to you, get you all anxious and stressed and all that, but too much quiet and zen (and not a lot of options) can be trying too 🙄
(I’ve already given all 3 rats in the house names (Hercules, Li’l Mix and Peewee) and I’ve gotten to the point of scolding them when I see them scurry away. I try to do it in Indonesian too as they likely don’t understand bahasa Inggris).
(Please beam me up now, Scotty!) XD
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week ~
I learned that my friend (who came to visit me a while ago) is extending her stay in Singapore so we’re planning for me to hop on over there and get excited over cacti & beads and other such stuff that only gurls get excited about XD
~ and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up.
We’re moving to another house.
Of Snailmail, Books & Vanities 