Welcome the new year like the Japanese.
The Japanese prepare for the coming year by cleaning their houses and offices from top to bottom. This is a way for them to inform Toshigami (the new year god) that their place have been purified and is ready to receive his blessings.
I am cleaning our house now. "Toshigami, I am ready for your blessings."
Sources: Wikipedia and Blue Lotus
This is my favorite gift box so far. All that yummy goodness without the guilt.
Second place goes to the basket containing SPAM that will last us a year.
Oooooh...Temptation!
What's was in your favorite gift basket this year?
(C, I know it's a horrible picture. I'll change it later.)
"Mr. G, bring me to the hospital! It's time!"
They just opened a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital in Taiwan. (See more pictures here.)
How cool is that?!
Note to Mr. G: The baby need not be made in Taiwan. I just want him to be delivered there.
I got a copy of GoodHousekeeping's "The Maid Manual" by Tisha C. Bautista last week. 
As advertised, it's truly "your ultimate guide to finding, training, and keeping your household help."
Part 1: Finding Help
Part 2: Training your Staff
Part 3: Keeping your Staff
Bonus:
Template for Household Staff Bio Data
Household Staff Interview and Assessment Form
Cheat Sheets for Cleaning the House
Sample Weekly and Daily Schedule for the Household Staff
Laundry Labels
Easy Recipes (my favorite!)
"Part 3: Keeping Your Staff" was most helpful for me. It has tips on how to motivate household staff and an explanation of standard employee benefits.
As to the other parts -- cleaning tips, weekly and daily schedules, and interview notes -- I already have them in my own household manual, thanks to Mrs. Frannie Daez.
For only P195, "The Maid Manual" will be a valuable addition to your household management library. (Click here for my other housekeeping reference materials.)
After some thorough research and investigation (See this and this), my quest for the perfect sandwich wrapper has ended. It's CLOTH and REUSABLE PLASTIC CONTAINER for me.
That being said, I present you with a cool way to wrap your sandwich with cloth -- FUROSHIKI STYLE.
Click here for the tutorial.
As I don't want my sandwich to be crushed inside my bag, I'm planning on buying this cute Rubbermaid TakeAlongs Sandwich container.
Weird? It's like putting a LV bag inside a plastic bag. LOL! Oh, well...
Note: This is not a paid post. I'm not endorsing Rubbermaid.
Ibyang: "I use aluminum foil. It keeps the sandwich fresh and easy to fold. I even write a little reminder on it for the husband sometimes."
Pros:
Reshma: "I use a cloth napkin to wrap my sandwiches in...they stay soft and fresh..more environment friendly too!"Pros:
Laura: Ziploc bags for me!Pros:
Homemom3: "Plastic bags here or those sandwich boxes (plastic). I hate wrapping in paper as it always stuck. That jelly can get tricky."Pros:
Mai: "I don't like using throwaway stuff for Pogiji's baon na sandwiches because they become garbage after, kawawa the environment! What I do is I put his sandwiches in LockLock containers (although the most recent LockLock containers are not made in Japan na -- made in China na...ack!) or Biokip (made in Korea naman) to maintain their freshness. The containers are not as cheap as sandwich wraps but in the long run, they are since they are reusable. And they don't harm the environment too! Wax paper gives sandwiches an aftertaste that I don't like."
Environment-Friendly Choice: Airtight Stainless Steel Food ContainerPros:
My choice: Cloth Napkin AND Plastic ContainerI'd wrap the sandwich in a cloth napkin then put it inside a reusable airtight plastic container. I think I'm now mature enough not to lose my lunch box.
Paper or Plastic
While we need air to live, our sandwiches do not. Air accelerates food degradation so keeping air out of the wrapper or container will help your sandwich stay fresh longer.
Tissue Paper: This is the wrapper of my youth. ("Scottie, strong even when wet." -- Was it Scottie?) The sandwich is usually wrapped with orangey-checkered tissue paper then placed inside a white sandwich bag.
I do not recommend using tissue paper. By recess time, my sandwich was already soggy and the tissue sticks to the bread. Taking it off was like peeling out a super sticky price tag, you don't get it all out. I know how tissue tastes like.
Wax Paper: This is what C's sandwiches are wrapped with. Her mom makes her a sandwich in the morning so she'll have something to eat for lunch. But does she eat it during lunch time? Of course not! She has it for dinner. Thanks to the wax paper, her sandwich is still fresh after more than 8 hours.
Wax papers are definitely better than tissue papers. However, as Teacher J knows, folding it can be quite a challenge.
Plastic Wrap: This is the wrapper of the pros. Most canteens and cafeterias wrap their sandwiches with plastic wrap. We don't know long those sandwiches have been on the display counter but they're still pretty fresh after we buy them so they must be doing something right.
Plastic wraps provide a sealed environment for the sandwich, keeping it fresh longer. Also, it's clear so you don't have to open the wrapper to know what's inside. "Ham nga!"
Click the link for a guide on effective sandwich wrapping -- How to Wrap a Sandwich.
How do you wrap your sandwiches?
I’ve been tagged with the Bookworm Meme by Maria of "Writings of Maria". Thanks, Maria! You just gave me a reason to share with everyone this wonderful book.
Here’s how this meme works:
MY BOOKWORM MEMEFor a "married" male to engage in out-of-pair heterosexual sex, his EPC partner must in turn be (1) seduce, (2) coerced, (3) a willing co-participant, or (4) an active initiator. ... We'll find that all patterns occur, in animals as well as human beings.
I bought this book after watching Penn and Teller's show, Bullshit! The episode's topic was "The Business of Love". Several experts on love were interviewed, including authors of my favorite books, "The Rules" and "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus".
The only book featured in the show that I haven't read was "The Myth of Monogamy". I had to get my own copy immediately! For a household manager like me, it is important that I am kept abreast of research on home topics such as Romance and (In)Fidelity.
It was a funny and informative read. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"Unattractive males guard their mates more closely."
(The uglier the guy, the more more jealous he'll be.)
"Males who remained monogamous when they apparently had the opportunity to attract a second or third female were those mated to unusually aggressive females. (This aggression, incidentally, was directed toward the potentially home-wrecking females, not toward the male.)"
(I'll be watching "No Retreat... No Surrender... Si Kumander" for a few tips.)
"In territorial species, a female generally chooses a male based on the quality of his territory. ... By getting a resource rich male, a female also gets the best genes. But this need not always be true. If a male who is genetically subpar ends up with a high-quality piece of real estate, he may also end up with a female who looks elsewhere when it comes to a sexual partner."
(Gold-diggers are bad news. "You've got to love me for what I am, for simply being me...")
It must be noted that Dr. Barash and Dr. Lipton were talking about the mating habits of birds and not humans. I never knew birds live an exciting life.
Despite all the examples of infidelity in the animal kingdom presented by the authors, they ended the book with a positive note."By establishing a durable, long-term relationship with someone who not only cares, but also shares an expanding history, who understands one's strengths, weaknesses joys and despairs, the successful monogamist assures himself and herself a companion for life, long after the children (if any) have grown, when work is no longer an option, when even sex may be mostly a memory, at just the time when two devoted people can keep track of the doctor appointments, change each other's senior diapers, and sit together, watching the sunset."
Sigh... *googly eyes*
I wonder where my husband is right now. Time for some mate-guarding.
Interview of First Lady Laura Bush by Jay Leno
MRS. BUSH: This was back in 1977 when we married, he was thinking about running for Congress, which he did, in our home district in the Panhandle of Texas. So I said, you'll have to promise me I'll never have to give a political speech. And he said, oh, no, of course, you'll never have to. So much for political promises. (Laughter.)
But also, I have to admit, I promised I'd jog with him, too. And I never did.
JAY LENO: You never did?
MRS. BUSH: No. (Laughter.)
JAY LENO: Well, okay, so that works. One cancels out the other.
I promised my husband that I will ALWAYS eat breakfast with him. I was able to consistently do this the first few weeks of our marriage. I was even the one preparing breakfast! However, as time went by, I began slipping to the point that my husband would sometimes say goodbye to me while I'm still in bed. So much for promises!Immediately after my eye surgery, I could not let water drip down my eyes so I had my to tilt my head back when I shampoo my hair. This position plus the fact that I can now see clearly even without my glasses allowed me to notice these little rust spots in our shower enclosure.
Yikes!
This is a job for the Vinegar-Baking Soda Duo.
Click here for the instructions. Early detection and prevention is important. Don't wait for the rust to eat into the chrome. Nip it in the bud.
TADA! No more rust spots.
The formula works really well with chrome. My next project will be to clean this rusty chrome hamper.
Wish me luck!
THE PROTOTYPE
THE BROWN PAPER BAGS
Finally, a use for my alphabet craft punch set.
NO TV?! NO COMPUTER?! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!
After my Lasik surgery last Tuesday, I had to say goodbye to blogging for awhile. Although I still plurked using my phone, I could not blog hop nor update my posts.
I never realized how addicted I am to plurking and blog-hopping until last week. Forced to find other things to do, I was able to accomplish a lot of tasks at home. I went shopping too!
Banished Coffee Stains
Using my Magic Formula (Baking Soda and Vinegar) and a small green scour pad, I was able to remove the coffee stains from all the cups in our cupboard.
What you need:
* Baking Soda
* Pure White Vinegar
* Scour Pad
Instructions:
1. Mix baking soda and white vinegar. (go for pasty consistency)
2. Dip the scour pad in the baking soda and vinegar mix.
3. Gently scrub the stain.
Speed Shopped
MM dragged me to this private shoes and bags sale in Corinthian Gardens. We were in and out of the place in less than 30 minutes. She bought shoes and I bought a bag.
Assembled Car Safety Kits
Inspired by Martha Stewart, I decided to put together my own Car Safety Kit. Do you have an emergency car kit?
Tata! I need to rest my eyes now.
Sick and tired of reminding family members to take their vitamins?
Try this!
Slide in your Vitamin Schedule in a small acrylic menu holder (P35/$0.70 in National Bookstore ).
Place everything in a tray and serve during meal time.
You can go a step further by making a schedule for each family member.
I've been sick the whole week and I left my readers with a post on death. I'm so sorry.
Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I want to share with you the new craze in our household -- ORGANIC FOODS.
We are starting with breakfast. We still eat junk food and order from Jollibee but it's a big step from the greasy bacon, ham and spam we eat every morning.
P.S. Mai da Paypay, our switch to organic is partly your fault. LOL!
P.P.S. More posts on this when I get better.
Talks on Death
Me: If I die first, I don't want any fanfare. Just cremate me. It's cheaper. (Kuripot hanggang kamatayan.)Remember the Terri Schiavo case? She suffered severe brain damage and was only kept alive by a feeding tube. Claiming that it was her wish not be be kept on life support if there's no hope for improvement, Terri's husband petitioned the court for the removal of the tube. This petition was vehemently opposed by Terri's parents and the case dragged on for around 7 years.
Husband: Me too. I want to be cremated immediately. No viewing. No wake.
Me: What if your family wants a wake?
Husband: Tell them I don't want one.
Me: What?! That will be difficult given the circumstances.
Husband: Just tell them.
Me: Bah! You're dead anyway. I'll do what they want.
My babies wish you all a Happy Halloween.
Click the photo for a bigger and cuter image.
I was informed this morning that our Condominium Trick or Treat was moved from tomorrow to today.
TODAY!
I was immediately off to the grocery. 
I veered away from candies and chocolates this year. I sure hope these cupcakes and cookies are safe.
Ate S, M, and I turned regular red sando bags into Halloweenie loot bags.
BOO!
My dogs are now all dressed up in their costumes and ready to party. TATA!
More pictures to follow later.
We're having party spaghetti and chicken lollipops today.
For whatever reason, my godson MUST have one. I don't get it. They are just inverted tumblers.
It's only P550. (The same item is $9.99, without shipping cost, from Amazon.)
Note: This is not a paid post. I am not endorsing Speed Stacks. I have no idea what kids do with these tumblers. I am just trying to be a good ninang (godparent).
Photo of Cup Anatomy from www.speedstacks.com.
My Garage Sale Tips
1. Prepare early. Two weeks before the sale, I went through every cabinet in our apartment looking for stuff I can sell. I then sorted the items and carefully packed them in boxes. Come Sunday morning, the day of the garage sale, I was relaxed and in a happy mood.
That's Jody's table being swarmed by shoppers. She was selling her kid's Crocs for only P150.
2. Let go. True to my hoarder genes, I started reclaiming stuff from the box a few days before the sale. I'm still stuck with this big server plate shaped like a fish. It comes with 6 matching fishy mini-plates.
Letting go does not end with the firm decision to sell the item. It extends to pricing. I was selling my tops (blouses, button-down shirts, t-shirts) for P25/$0.50 each. I used to just give away my clothes so I had no problem selling them at a very low price. However, when one woman started to show interest in my K & Company blouse, I started having second thoughts about selling it. I wore that blouse only once, during my husband's birthday. Why was I selling it?!?!? My heart was pounding! I wanted to snatch it out of her hands. I was tempted to answer P500/$10 (I was selling my Crockpot for P400/$8.00) when she asked for the price. Aaargh! In the end, she got it for P25 but she had to stay and listen to the history of the blouse and a reminder to love and cherish it for the rest of her life.
3. Think out of the box. The sale started at 10 AM. By 11 AM, most of my stuff were already sold. I was getting bored and so I decided to sell the remaining items in bulk -- P200/$4 for one box of clothes and P100/$2 for one box of magazines. 15 minutes later, still no takers.
A woman selling crabs approached my table. Since I haven't sold a thing in the past 15 minutes (an eternity on a hot and humid day), I was in no mood to buy anything. Good thing Mrs. Crabs was in the mood to shop. She was interested in my shoe racks and offered to pay for it in crabs. SOLD! I offered to give her the rest of my inventory in exchange for another bag of crabs. SOLD! She left with 7 shoe racks and a box of clothes (she didn't want the magazines) and I with around 3 kilos of crabs. Everybody happy.
I remembered to take pictures of the crabs only after we finished eating.
I was back home by 11:40 AM.
Note: I joined the garage sale Ting organized in Mabini Hall, Quezon Memorial Circle. Thanks, Ting and Cesca!
What will I write in my Moleskine notebook?
Recipes and Tips. I will write down recipes from the magazines I read in beauty salons, my doctor's and dentist's waiting areas, and restaurants. (Corny?)
My niece copied this French Toast recipe from her teeny-bopper magazine into my Moleskine planner.
[This post is my official entry to Toni's Moleskine Giveaway Contest. Thanks to Wifely Steps and Avalon.ph.]
I've been tagged by Amy (http://artsyfartsyfooladi.blogspot.com).
Here are 7 facts about Mrs. G that are probably not known to many.
1. I heart HELLO KITTY.
2. I am a closet fag hag. (Hi, JJ!)
3. I can eat a whole doughnut in two bites. (Hi, MM!)
4. I make party spaghetti whenever I feel like it (which is sometimes as often as 2x a week). My party spaghetti is cooked with banana ketchup and cocktail hotdogs.
5. I am a natural-born detective (a.k.a. snoop, stalker).
6. My favorite color is pink.
7. I like staying at home. (No, I don't get bored.)
I now tag http://www.maidapaypay.com/ and http://baglove.blogspot.com/.
When I was growing up, my parents kept our emergency medication (paracetamol, antihistamine, loperamide, etc.) in a small Tupperware container. Everything was dumped inside. Our medicine wonder-box was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
My husband, on the other hand, is very organized in this area. Good thing he brought with him his own medicine box when we got married.
Here's are some handy tips on organizing your own medicine box.
1. Spread it. Take it all out of its container and see what medicines you currently have.
2. Sort it. Remember the Sesame Street song, "Which of these things go together... which of these things do not..."? Sort it in a manner that makes sense to you.
3. Check it. Check for expiration dates. If there is none and you have no idea how old it is, toss it out. It's not worth the risk.
4. Store it. Decide on a container. We use a crafts box to keep the medicines neatly sorted. Some keep theirs in small envelopes inside an index card box
5. Label it. Label every medicine with it's corresponding expiration date. If it comes in a blister pack and you're planning on cutting it up, make sure you note down the expiration date first. I made the mistake of cutting before checking and I ended up piecing it all together like a jigsaw puzzle just to see the date.
6. Hide it. Keep away from reach of children. Hide it in a cool, dry, and preferably dark place. It should be accessible to you but not your children. But don't even think of keeping it in your bathroom. Storing medication in a humid bacteria-infested place is not a good idea. Remember, aerosol effect.
Thank you to The Work From Home Mother.
Thank you to Tina of Everything But The Kitchen Sink.
My favorite blogs now are:
Kitchen Cow
Market Manila
Wifely Steps
Misterhubs
The Trojan Bore
I'm too shy to tell them that I like their blog. I just hope they see this.
WARDROBE INVENTORY: WEEK 6
JEANS
The Lucky Shopping Manual suggests the following:
MUST HAVES...
1 Pair to wear with heels
1 Pair to wear with flats
1 Weekend Pair you can wreck
ADD...
1 White Jeans
1 Another Favorite Pair
1 Cords (Corduroys)
1 Fun Jeans
To help you with your inventory, here is a guide to the perfect pair of jeans from Real Simple -- The Best Jeans for Every Body Type.
I don't have a pair for wearing with heels. I also don't have cords.
I have --
Holiday Tasks for the Week (19 to 25 October):
1. Check your lists and relax.
2. Decorate your home for Halloween.
3. Buy or make your Halloween costumes.
3. Prepare your Halloween candies/loot bags.
Note: I'm following the holiday planning schedule of Cynthia Townley Ewer. Check out her website -- Organized Christmas.
GADZOOKS! Someone didn't colorfast his gi!
Last night, my husband's pristine white gi was stained by his jiu jitsu sparring partner who wore a red non-colorfast gi. How irresponsible!
(The Tide "lagot kayo sa asawa ko" commercial comes to mind now.)Dear Mr. Red Gi,
HOW TO COLORFAST CLOTHES
Please print out this post and give it to whomever is in charge of your laundry.
Mrs. G
Ingredients:
4 liters cold water
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup salt
I was finally able to throw away the capless and barely writing pens in our pen holder. I went to the bookstore and replaced them with P5.00 retractable pens. It looks a lot neater now.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Computation: P5.00 x 10 pens = P50.00
We had quite a scare yesterday when HV taught us this simple test to check if there's lead in make-up.
MM tested her Maybelline foundation first. It turned black. Aaack! She tested her favorite Cinema Secrets foundation next. It turned black too! She was distraught. (I know she left her bulky wallet that day to lighten her load so why did she have 2 foundations with her? Beauty before comfort.)The handy home test for lead in lipstick touted in the email is bogus. Certain metals, including gold, may leave a dark streak when scratched on various surfaces, but this is an artifact of the metals themselves, not an indicator of a chemical reaction with lead or any other substance.To All: Can you help me confirm this? Please do the test on your foundations and tell me what happens. If it's true that gold will generally leave a dark streak when scratched, then ALL foundations, regardless of brand, should turn black. Read More...
Hey, Mommies!
Have you ever felt guilty for --
WARDROBE INVENTORY: WEEK 5
SWEATERS
The Lucky Shopping Manual suggests the following:
MUST HAVES...
2 Fitted Pullovers for Work
2 Cardigans
1 Black Turtleneck
2 Weekend Sweaters
ADD...
1 Evening Sweater
1 Vintage Sweater
More Weekend Sweaters
MY WARDROBE
I have too many sweaters! Good thing I did this inventory because I almost shopped for more in Zara yesterday.
Fold Marks -- I've noticed that my sweaters are developing fold marks because of long-term non-use. I need to find a better way to fold and store them.
Holiday Tasks for the Week (12 to 18 October):
1. Prepare Gifts for Shipping
2. Shop! Shop! Shop!
3. Start Decorating Your Home
4. Halloween
Note: I'm following the holiday planning schedule of Cynthia Townley Ewer. Check out her website -- Organized Christmas.
GELATINOUS MUTANT COCONUT
What's in a macapuno? MarketMan has the answer. Check it here.
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