Gracie and Me

Things are more manageable these days. My previous entry about our move to the new old house had apprehensions and tensions written all over it. Turns out that what we have been said about the situation that we were going into were mere opinions and interpretations of the real situation. For one, there is the issue about the housekeeper who, we were told was tamad and has no initiative. Ten days into the whole Sagasa experience, by far, I haven't had any complaints about her work ways. She forgets a thing or two, okay. But to say that she is tamad would be an overstatement, if not a half-truth. She wakes up at 5:00 am to wash the clothes, sweep the floor, prepare breakfast. What she does after I leave for work, I wouldn't know but as I see it, I go home to a habitable house and that for me is more than okay.

As usual, I did my usual investigative bonding to know her better over Sunday lunch. Here's 10 things I gathered from my interview:

1. she's the 5th of 6 children. all four older than her are all married. parents still living.
   
2. she's from cabatuan and graduated high school from cabatuan national high school.
   
3. a sibling lives near la paz. one married someone from cagayan valley. the youngest is still studying.
4. her boyfriend is working in a manokan in roxas.
5. she's been working here for three years now.
6. she was born on september. she's now 21 years old.
   
7. she usualy goes home during town fiesta and holidays like Christmas and New Year.
8. she's got no plans of marrying, yet.
9. she's got Sunday afternoons off.
10. she practically eats anything that is served on the table.

Boz has this peculiar expression everytime he sees her. Does he find her pretty or what? If things will go well, I think he will grow fond of her. Hope she does too. After all, Boz is likeable as he is.

She's not "the" ultimate housekeeper but she will do, as far as my needs are concerned. As to whether she will live up to my expectation is too soon to tell. But I'm pretty optimistic about it. *crossing my fingers*

The New Old House

This moving to the new old house thing is really telling me so much about myself. I am officially depressed right now. For one because I am frustrated about how the fact that the move is causing some emotional stress to everyone concerned.

For the nanny, it meant:

1. Being upset about sharing a room with the housekeeper who couldn’t make room for her stuff and couldn’t keep the cabinet closed;
2. Being physically challenged having to go up and down the stairs and all around the house as she go after Boz;
3. Disappointed from knowing that she has to fetch water from the well when doing her laundry;
4. Being unhappy about not watching her favorite shows on tv because the housekeeper hogs the remote;
5. Being glum about missing all the fun and excitement that the Mapa life offers; and
6. Being impatient about dealing with the two old spinsters who bug her about Boz – why is he crying, he might fall off the stairs, he might hurt himself, he might break something, etc.

For Miki, it meant:

1. Being burdened with the added responsibilities of looking after the two old spinsters and the financial load of the move;
2. Physical exhaustion from working on the electrical wirings in the room;
3. Disappointment with the fact that we won’t be able to enjoy unlimited internet access as we did in Mapa;
4. His patience being tried with his aunts’ STML (short-term memory loss) and their peculiar 9 o’clock habit (all doors locked, all lights off and noise off by 9 pm);
5. Sleeplessness during our first night and having a little scare after seeing his aunt peeping through our door at 3:00am and thinking that he was seeing a ghost;
6. Being subjected to a new routine: sleep as early as 9:30pm, waking up at 7:30am, breakfast by 8:00, be at work by 9:00;
7. Worrying about what to eat for breakfast;
8. Sleeping on a single-sized bed;
9. Contending with the heat given off by the walls; and
10. Longing for a good hot shower which we so enjoyed at Mapa.

For the housekeeper, it meant:

1. Adjusting to her new masters;
2. Being asked to do additional chores;
3. Being reprimanded for her ways; and
4. Having to share her room with another.

For me, it meant:

1. Physical exhaustion from cleaning the room, and putting things in place;
2. Mental exhaustion from thinking about what things to bring, move, transfer, locate, buy, throw, etc;
3. Worrying about availability of funds;
4. My patience being tried as I deal with a purportedly lazy housekeeper, who from my experience doesn’t like being asked to do things outside her routine, difficult to teach, has difficulty hearing, or perhaps she just choose not to hear;
5. Praying for more patience as I deal with Miki’s aunts’ STML (short-term memory loss) and their peculiar 9 o’clock habit (all doors locked, all lights off and noise off by 9 pm); and
6. Longing for the comfort stuff that the Mapa life has to offer – hot shower, prepared breakfast, tv morning til night… privacy.

It’s making us all unhappy about the whole set-up. But what can I say, change is always difficult. And it’s going to stay for a long, long time.