8.11.2002
 
Hello-moto. ::insert annoying mobile chime::

I feel completely drained and tired at the moment, thank you all very much. Spent much of the day -- well, from when I regained complete consciousness (about 2:00pm) to about 11:00pm -- cleaning house. Why? Sis' old friend from our times in AZ (note: she currently lives in Michigan) is visiting for a weekend. Next weekend.

(side note: So when I woke up I was wondering what the hell was on the tv at the moment. Sis was watching this Disney tv movie with that girl from the Parent Trap remake. Not completely awake yet, I went into the kitchen to see if there's anything remotely edible. My grandma left for 'Frisco at 5:00am that morning so the stove isn't getting the action it normally gets.

Anyways, apparently my dad took grandma's absence as license to cook. And cook he did. Anything edible, no. The vienna sausages were dripping with oil (ew) and the fried egg had a nice attractive dark spot in the center of each. Oh, and that too was dripping with grease.)

Naturally, sis is the most eager to break out the dusters and vacuums and get to work. I reasoned that, since I had absolutely nothing else to do that day, I'd help. Hey, it keeps me active.

Plus, I've had an urge to go mad and polish many things in the house. I'm beginning to think that Pledge put some sort of addictive drug in their lemon polishers because the scent is uber-fantastic. Of course, ten pieces of furniture later the windows had to be opened unless I were to pass out from the fumes. Albeit the nice-smelling fumes.

Re-arranged the room a bit. A very small bit. Mainly moving around the DVD's so that they aren't scattered so haphazardly ontop of the TV. Removed several shite works of ceramic mess that I did freshman year (really, there's only one piece that came out beautifully and one tea set that would've been perfect if the glaze was clean and if I actually attached the spout on so that it wouldn't leak liquid like a soap opera) and some odd bits of... stuff... that my grandma found aesthetically "decorative."

We contemplated moving the hideous doll "cabinet," but the damned thing was far too heavy. Not to mention that we'd have to compensate further by moving the lamp over to the vacant area and that would just compromise the overall balance the room somehow obtained. So the uglyness stayed.

Anyways, there was much gratuitous dusting. I mourned the loss of my favorite duster (and sadly enough I do have one) (hey! it's not everyday you get a duster that can fit into almost every single small crevice!) and instead used a damp and dry rag combo a la Mr. Myagi from the Karate Kid movies.

Polish was added on liberally on the many pieces of wood lying about. While mid-TV-polishing I realized that all the damned thing was was putting a bit of oil onto wood to let it shine. A shrug and then I'm back to work.

Taking out each and every single CD from the massive rack we have downstairs is not fun. Not fun at all.

Much gratuitous vacuuming. We had to repair spots of the pleather couches with duct tape (and thankfully they're all the bottom of the cushions and nowhere noticeable) and used "leather furniture polish" to... erm, polish the leather. Sis even used it on the swirly chair I'm in... and it's a whee bit sticky. Not really though.

At some point we took a slight break for dinner (ready-made shrimp tempura made by dad along with 'shit'ake mushroom eggrolls (salvaged from my short stint as a vegetarian) and rice) and the fumes finally got to me and gave me a headache-major. Took a total of 4 Advil and my vitamins.

Mid post-dinner cleaning the headache struck back with a vengence. I opted to crash on the couches in the living room to nap off the aching, and ended up letting sis to all of the vacuuming for the family room. Dammit, and I'm the big vacuuming expert too! She really did a mediocre job; the track lines made by the vacuum weren't straight, angled evenly and/or properly, and conformed too much to the surrounding furniture. At least she remembered to vacuum the carpet underneath the rug as well as the piece of Cashemere.

After much cleaning, I found myself wanting a brownie or two to do the work. For those who don't know, they're lil brown faeries that do the housework for people at night a la the story about the Poor Shoemaker. And no, they aren't house elves. I wouldn't want one of those ugly buggers in my house.

Sis went upstairs after watching a bit more tv, meanwhile I was busy in the kitchen making food. Needless to say that the tempura tasted like cardboard so I had an irking for nice cuisine. The menu for tonight: herb roasted potatoes with a penne in a balsamic vinegar and herb olive oil vinegarette.

But to conserve money on gas (and I didn't want to bother with all of the oven stuff I'd end up doing) I did much of the cooking in the microwave. Thankfully there was an "Adventures in Microwave Cooking" book lying around somewhere. Then again, this same book had the chicken recipe grandma used that almost gave the family food poisoning. Then again, I wasn't touching any poultry.

So, made my food using very little kitchen-ware (which is good come dish-washing time) while listening to the Discovery Health channel program about feet. When all was nice and cooked, guess what I did?

Why, filipino thing to do, of course. I got small pieces of tupperware for each dish (the potatoes, the herb olive oil (which had the left-over herbs from the potatoes), the tomato-onion balsamic vinegar, and the penne) with a promise to touch em tomorrow for breakfast.

And I'm now convinced of two things. First, the oven really doesn't like me and enjoys in changing temperatures at drastic times. Second, I'm rambling on much too much for this very early morning hour.

Oh, and expect a nice, Dave McKean-esque new layout sometime soon. And yes, Karen, you'll be approving of it. Again.

Adieu, mon ami.

. . . . . posted:||2:38 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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