Spring cleaning

As you probably noticed within seconds after the fact, I deleted all my stories from The News and transferred them over to my second blog, http://mariagalluccistorytime.blogspot.com/

Don't act like you aren't excited to stalk me twice.

Anyway, I just figured now that I'm writing part-time the blogosphere was getting a bit cluttered. I know that sometimes you want hardcore facts about culture in Mexico City, and other times you just want to hear the smooth, easy breeze of my literary voice. So now you can have both in two easy-to-take doses!

Today's terror included another set of tremors as a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit Puebla, about 90 miles southeast of D.F. I wasn't that scared this time because I knew what was happening, and because I wasn't alone. In fact, I was with three middle-schoolers who are competing in an upcoming national spelling bee. We hosted the interview in a conference room at The News, and in the middle of the round-table talk everything just got really, really wobbly. Fortunately adults were also present (I don't consider myself an adult) so they maintained the calm in the room. It was kinda funny to hear our reactions on my recorder as I played back the interviews to transcribe this evening. The weirdest part for me about tremors is the aftershock...it feels as if the ground is still trembling and the chair is still moving on its own even for a few minutes after everything real has stopped. Eeeerie.

But back to the topic of spring cleaning, tomorrow I'm starting to shift my things into the master bedroom! Drew has set off on his post-university vacations before he returns home to England, and now that I work 50+ wonderful hours a week, I don't need to pay centavos for the glorified closet.

First, I must buy curtains for the floor-length window that takes up most of one of the walls. Drew suffered through a few months without any, leaving him exposed to frequent peeping through my small square window. I'm contemplating painting a wall, but that seems more like fantasy than real ambition. I also plan to buy a bunch of 5-peso Virgen de Guadalupe candles which, though intended for altar purposes, add a nice little touch of purple, yellow, green or blue translucent plastic wherever they go. I've been wanting to buy houseplants for a while, and after writing the plant story I feel as though the time has come to purchase a nice Draceana or Piña Anona.

I decided to feel crafty by starting to save all the glass jars in our house, for storing beans or rice or creating toothbrush and hairband holders. I like to think that the Mason jar look has a certain hipster, eco-friendly appeal instead of tacky and possibly homeless. Maybe I'll steal some stickers from the preschool and give them a nice sparkly makeover.