Good Night, Sweet Dreams

Not unfamiliar words to any of us, I'm certain.

The first few months on this job found me surprisingly not needing that much sleep at night anymore. You see, when I was a little girl, I was a notorious sleep addict. Not narcoleptic -- I just loved sleeping. As long as I would find myself sitting still or standing still for more than a minute, I would nod off. At night, my mom would always refer to my slumber as "the sleep of the dead". World War III could be happening right outside my window and still I'd be sound asleep. And sleeping was genuinely what I loved doing best as a child.

Which is why since hitting my 30s, I've been getting frustrated sometimes when I can no longer just stay asleep even on those precious weekend mornings when I knew I had the luxury of just sleeping in.

This past week though, probably owing to the fact that for the past 2 months I've been running on only 5-6 hours of sleep every night, my body's starting to catch up. I've been falling dead asleep lately as early as 11pm -- which is considerably extremely early for me. (I normally go to bed by 1 or 2am). And my sleep lately has been so wonderfully deep, that I wake up feeling more refreshed than I've been for the past few months.

I haven't done anything different, but I am thankful for the great sleep.

So while we're on the topic, here are some tips from the experts on giving yourself a truly good night with sweet dreams:

1. Make sure your bedroom is at a comfortable room temperature. Not too hot. Not too cold. If you sleep with the airconditioning unit on, there's a way to regulate the temperature and make sure it doesn't get too cold. There are new technologies now -- timers that you can attach to the plug of your aircon which you can program to turn on and off your aircon at regular intervals every night.

2. Try to stay in your bedroom (and on your bed) only to sleep. See, our bodies get conditioned to certain rituals. The more activities you do in the bedroom, the more confused your body becomes even when it's already bedtime. By limiting activities in bed to those related to sleep, you condition your body only to sleep (among other things anyway) when you're in bed.
3. Warm milk before bed. Or soothing natural tea. The toxins in these beverages help unleash some kind of chemical that helps people like us sleep better.

4. Unwind before bed. Free your mind. Watch TV. Play a game. Read a book. A magazine. Listen to music. Even if it means giving up a few more precious minutes before going to sleep. At our old(er) age, quality sleep is far more important than quantity of sleep.

5. Lights off! Mosquitoes off! Noises off! And pee immediately before you sleep. Of course this sounds like a piece of crap but seriously now -- some people forget that the basics towards being able to relax and get a good night's sleep is in taking care of the basics that won't bother you for the rest of the night and will make sure you get straight sleep. Of course peeing is a basic - we've known this since we were little toddlers in diapers. Lights off -- very important because darkness sends signals to the brain to shut down (why do we at some point fall asleep or get sleepy in a dark theater?). And did you know -- when the lights are off, the mosquitoes come out. As for the noise -- well, airtight windows help to keep the sounds of the night life away from your bedroom.

Sunset Views

Stormy nights and thunderstorms are back, and so are beautifully-colored skies (which I was told long ago is usually the result of pollution blending with the atmosphere to produce breathtaking sights). Lends credence to the saying "what looks good is bad for you."

But I'm not one to dwell on the empty cup (most of the time anyway), and the sky two nights ago really was wonderful and awesome.

This was the view on our balcony two nights ago after a raging thunderstorm mid-afternoon.

The Games that Children Play

Sometime last week, after a long day at work and in a burst of utter insanity, my teammates and I on the spur-of-the-moment (while waiting for the slow elevators at GT Tower) started reliving our childhood days, and ended up playing some of the games we used to play way back when our biggest problem was "mom isn't allowing me to drink Coke before bedtime" or "my little sister broke my favorite doll".

Right there, in the middle of the 34th floor hallway, we played "Bahay Kubo" and "Patintero".

It was a sight to behold - 5 grownups with respectable jobs (all within Middle Management level to boot) in a large multinational Advertising Agency -- acting like children at 10 in the evening in the office hallway.

It goes without saying that we didn't last beyond 15 minutes -- by then, we had gotten breathless (panting and catching our breath, mind you -- not breathless in the way kids are breathless from excitement), exhausted but extremely happy.

Looking back, I recall how great it felt to let go and let loose for a few minutes -- not in the drunken stupor sense of the word; but in the innocent, uninhibited and wholesome letting go way that children do. The novelty in literally acting like a child seemed to have momentarily cleared the cobwebs in my head, reminding me of how important it is to take a step away from the mundane task of surviving every day -- at least every once in a while.

I guess more than just escaping from the real world, the real therapy of momentary regression lies in the reminder that life has its good days. That happy memories will always be there to somehow dull the agitation, the pain, the sadness, the anger, frustration and insecurity -- all these things that adult life nowadays seems to be so riddled with.

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I know how impossible it is to actually bring yourself to do this in the middle of a bad day. I can just imagine how much chaos the world would be in if at some random point, a bunch of adults (not much different from my teammates and I) got up and out of their cubicles and indulged in a game of agawan-base.

So I guess for now, wouldn't it suffice just to take a trip down memory lane and remember the games we used to play when we were children? Games that made us laugh, giggle and cry all at the same time.

I remember the games I used to play with my childhood friends...

Our physical, running (or jumping) games -- ... there was Chinese garter (and the in-out-step garter version). And then there was Touch Ball. Taguan. Touch-Taya. And the modified version of Touch-Taya, Melting Candle. I also distinctly remember something we called "Mother, may I cross the River?"

Of course, as in any girls' school, we had the less active Jackstones and Chinese Jackstones (which we called mi-pau). Very highly reliant on skill however!

The monkey bars, slides and swings did not go to waste however. We'd spend many a-Recess or Lunch Break getting soiled and muddied on the school playground.

And on days where the playground stuff were used by other kids (usually the bullies...), we'd contend ourselves with running towards the playground's bahay-kubo. In there, so many things could happen. If we were in the mood, it would be a game of make-believe. Bahay-bahayan (with me always playing the bunso owing to my very small size). Sometimes, we'd just spend some time with our make-believe friends Amy, Susie and Tessie. (I don't know of any girl in my generation who does not know the handworks to that rhyme!) And still sometimes, we'd frighten each other half to death with outrageous ghost stories.

I'm sure if I rack my brain, I can come up with so much more.

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What about you?

What games did you used to play when you were a child?

What games would you pass on to your own child?

Dreaming of a Better Home

A little past six months has passed since the day I decided to theme this blog and use it to chronicle learnings about managing (and beautifying) a household.

So far, it's been a fun, albeit pressure-filled ride thinking up of new things to post about and share. Especially since these days, I spend about 90% of my waking hours in the office, instead of back home -- it is a challenge to write about something that I don't get to think much about anymore.

Nonetheless, home is home, and still remains to be my refuge from the big, bad world.

Incidentally, this month also marks our 7th month in our new apartment. When we moved in, I made it my personal goal to fix up and beautify our house to something that transcends mere functionality.

Sadly, prematurely leaving my previous job and then taking on this new demanding one pretty much robbed me off time to carefully plan for and push through with my plans for our home.

So right now, our new apartment doesn't look too different from how our previous apartment looked. Especially our very bare living room, which has essentially been reduced to a stockroom where we dump all our stuff.

While we have a cozy bedroom (at least that one has some semblance of comfort beyond functionality), 70% of our home is just -- well, practical but extremely boring and far from being comfortable.

But I still continue to hope that our workload normalizes and stays normalized; and our midyear bonus is released; and I'll have time to process our housing loan -- when all that comes to be, my next personal project is home improvement.

I dream of the day when I can come home, smell fresh Eucalytpus in the air, toss off my shoes from our cozy living room sofa, plop down on the sofa beside Jude, lazily watch television (which is incidentally standing on my custom-made TV stand-storage area-decorative furniture), reach for the wine glass that Jude is giving me, and then just lounging all evening in our beautiful, comfortable living room -- never wanting to leave, but also longing to retire to the cozy, cool bedroom as we look down and behold the glorious city with all its twinkling lights from our balcony...

Toxic Toxins and C-Lium Fibre

Lately, I've become an advocate of a brand called C-lium Fibre.

Maybe it's reaching 30, maybe it's a greater consciousness and appreciation for good health and long life --- but I've finally come to see the big deal behind C-lium Fibre.


Jude actually discovered this some years ago and tried to get me to drink it. The sachet form however leaves much to be desired for those who are sensitive to unusual food/drink textures. The sachet form when mixed with water closely resembles gelatin, only it has mushy clumps of gelatin -- which unfortunately is the part I couldn't (and still can't) stomach.

But lately they've come up with the capsule format, which I can live with.

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What is C-Lium Fibre?

"C-Lium ® Fibre from 100% psyllium husks is considered the Rolls Royce of fibers and often called the Mother of all Herbs.

"C-Lium ® Fibre will eliminate constipation, regulate the bowel movement, clean the colon and intestine from impacted wastes and toxins, and is a natural fat absorber. Positive results can be expected within seven days, from regular and daily intake of one tablespoon per day. As C-Lium ® Fibre regulates the digestive system and provides general well being, whole hosts of benefits will be experienced. These includes lowering of LDL “bad” cholesterol, removes triglycerides, acts as blood sugar control for diabetics, reduces wind and gas, helps ease acidity “pang asim sa sikmura” and also controls diarrhea. C-Lium ® Fibre is gluten free and is a non-irritant bulk laxative that does not make you run to the toilet like other laxatives. As C-Lium ® Fibre is 100% natural and organic is has no side-effects."

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We all know that fiber is essential to the body, but I wager few people actually really know the extent of its value.

I am of the belief that fiber could actually be one of the more important answers to maintaining overall good health. Because it rids the body of harmful toxins (on all important counts -- from waste product, cholesterol, salt, sugar levels, etc.), I would say this pretty much promotes general overall well-being.

As for me and Jude, C-Lium Fiber gives us permission to indulge every now and then on the sinful food we so love. Indulge in chicharon, crispy pata, chicken skin or even Pizza Hut's oily, greasy pizza --- just dunk it all up later on with a healthy, abundant dose of fiber.

The same way that I've never believed in diets to lose weight, I also don't believe in complete abstinence from sinful food!!! Why deny yourself the pleasure of great food when prevention doesn't just come in the form of self-denial after all?

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For more information on C-Lium Fibre, visit this link.