This BLOGGER is

I'll be 'BUCK' ASAP!

S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L....

The past few days had been a bit stressful for me. I'm not sure what got into me but I decided to apply for a job that I am not sure I'm 'really' qualified for. Well, I actually do that quite often. It's just this one got back to me a day after I sent in my resume. I'm not desperate to find a job but it would great if I find one that can fit in my schedule. Yes, it's another work-at-home job and IF I get this one, it will open up some really great opportunities for me in the future.

So why am I stressed out? I was scheduled to have a 'telephonic test' yesterday [Monday] morning. I was told about the test on Thursday so I pretty much started getting anxious right there and then. I've been sleep deprived since then. It's been ages since I've had an interview/test like this one so you can just imagine how I've been the past few days. I just didn't feel I knew enough to go through the test but I had to. How else would I know what it's about? Talk about being a bag of nerves walking around. Yep, that would be me!

Monday came and the guy who was supposed to call me didn't call. He got mixed up with the time and day. So we re-schedule it for this afternoon. Guess what? He called me early in the morning today because he thought it was the agreed upon time. He asked if I wanted to do it then. I said 'no way'. I was psyched up that the test will be in the afternoon. Anyway, he called me a few minutes earlier than schedule. I did the test and now the waiting game for the result begins! Ugh! I think I did okay but not great. Whether I get the job or not, I'm glad I gave it a try. I learned quite a lot during the process so much so that I am now looking into getting into this field because I found out it's something in demand.

What Pretty Flower!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have this plant that had one flower not too long ago but we missed it because we didn't know it had a flower. A few days after the first flower fell off, we saw 3 small buds coming out. We watched the buds every single day, afraid we may miss them again. When I peeked out the window after dinner last night, I saw that one of the flowers was about to open up. We went to check on it at around 10 PM last night and voila, 2 of the 3 were opened already. We woke up the little one so she could see it as well.

This is the flower we saw....


It's pretty, isn't it?

When we woke up this morning, the little one and I went out once again to look at them and take some more pics. Here's how it looked like early this morning. It's still in full bloom.


Here they are right now.


Can you guess what kind of flower it is? It only blooms at night and it pretty much closes up during the day. I don't think these 2 will open up again BUT we still have this one to wait for...


Any guesses??? It's a cactus!

Man! I Feel Like a Woman!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the little one's earlier video. I think this she was 3 years old on this one as well. Enjoy!

My 'Greens'

Recognize the plants? These are the only 'vegetable' plants I have planted. Yep, they're sweet potato plants. I actually didn't have any plans of planting any veggies yet since we need to have some kind of a fence put up first or our 'pets' [rabbits, squirrels, armadillo to name a few] will have a feast...but when I saw the sweet potatoes I had in the fruit basket sprouting some leaves already, I couldn't help but stick them in the pots and let them flourish. Mind you, I am not interested in the sweet potatoes. It's the leaves I've been watching like a hawk...LOL...

That picture was taken last week. I would post another picture but I'm afraid they won't look very pretty because they're almost, um...'bald'. My bad...I meant 'my lunch'!

Advertising Tactics...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am seriously backlogged when it comes to my blogs. This one is luckier than my other 2 because I at least visit it everyday. I also update it at least once a week. The other 2? Not quite. So what gives? Well, I can come up with numerous excuses but it all comes down to me not having the energy [and the time on some days] to maintain all 3 blogs. I’m trying. And this is one of those days that I am [trying] hence for the update.

So what have I been up to lately? Some work came in the past couple of days so I got a little busy. I have also been applying for some ‘potential jobs’. I just hate sitting around knowing I can be more productive. This is also the reason why I volunteered to look for a cpa advertising specialist for the husband's small business. Their business needs some serious boosting aka advertising. They’ve been super slow lately that they’ve been starting to worry about their little company. They’re still surviving but not good enough. Who wants a business that’s ‘just surviving’, anyway, right? I know the hubby is getting a bit antsy to get some work in so he’s been busy finding ways to get it. Their competition already used online advertising spend that they’re cutting their labor cost by 30%! Yep, 30%. Outrageous, eh? But they have to do what they have to do to get the work.

Online advertising is the best way to go now because it’s a lot cheaper than the other means of advertising and it reaches people from all over the world. That’s what hubby’s business needs… ads that can reach across the world. Unlike their competition, hubby’s company cannot slash their prices much anymore because their prices are the lowest already. What they need is a place like that link building company uk that can help drum up business in the world wide web. If they can find a way so that their company's name come up first in search engines, then there is a big chance that they will get the job more than their competitors. Hopefully, with the help of a link building company, work will come pouring in the weeks to come. Hopefully…

Lazy Weekend...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's what I had. As always, the weather was c-r-a-z-y! It was raining in the morning while the sun was out in full force. It took us by surprise because there was no warning whatsoever. I didn't have much to do so I just lazed around the house and surfed on the net. I also watched lot of those mystery/crime reality TV shows where DNA testing, profiling and such are featured. I've been sort of addicted to these kind of TV shows lately that I can sit all day just watching them. It's amazing how far we've come as far as solving heinous crimes is concerned. Of all the advancement, I think DNA testing is probably one of the most useful today. I wonder what else will come up 10 years down the road. Hopefully, cold cases where DNA testing can't be of use will be solved then.

Anyway, we're on a brand new week now. As usual, I am hoping for a productive one. It's been a very slow couple of weeks so far so I want to get busy this week...with work if possible.

Hers & Mine...

Our guitars. The pink one is mine...LOL. Nah, it's the little one's of course. Dad got it for her just last Tuesday while he got mine last....December....of 2001. I rarely play it but that may change now that the little one has her own. We haven't gotten anywhere yet but we're working on it. She definitely likes to strum it a lot. I am not that good in tuning the strings [lack of experience I guess] but I was able to 'somehow' tune it...I think. I only know the basic chords but enough to get her started I hope. Again, wish us luck. Oh, the husband bought a harmonica. He said it's for him. I don't know about that since the little one is also liking that one. Hmmmm....

Should I?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because of the current economic situation, I have been thinking more and more lately about going back to school. I am not actually thrilled about it but it may just be one move I can take to better my chances of finding some really good jobs [alright, better ones] down the road. I guess this is also the result of my having a lot of 'idle' time due to work being slow.

I am considering taking an MBA online for several reasons. My first reason is the most obvious one...my inability to drive so it has to be done online. It will be kind of hard for the husband if he has to work AND be my shuttle bus on the days I have to go to class. Secondly, I am leaning more into taking an MBA course because I want to help the husband with his business. He doesn't have a business degree and he's not willing to go back to school so I'm thinking of doing it.

After surfing the web for some potential online schools, I may have found the one I want to get on with: The University of Scranton. Aside from having their MBA program AACSB accredited, it only takes 2 years to finish the whole course and everything can be done online. Yep, it's 100%. And since I have a lot of free time on my hands right now, I'm confident I'll be able to earn the degree in that short amount of time...and maybe, just maybe I can be half as rich as the richest man in India who earned his MBA degree from The University of Scranton. Now, isn't that something? So yeah, maybe I should give this a try, eh?

Foods for Thoughts ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have not been blogging much lately. I'm 'trying' to spend less time in front of the computer and more time doing some things I used to do like reading the books I bought eons ago and playing my guitar. I've had it for 8 years but I've only played it maybe 8 times. The Dad got the little one a guitar yesterday so I'm going to teach her some basic chords to get her started. Wish us luck!!!

In the meantime, here are some 'foods for thoughts' I lifted from the email Joke of the Day sends me daily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Some "Uh Oh" Moments from You Tube...

Heavy Downpour...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rain, thunders, lightnings. That's what woke me up early this morning. It was already raining hard when hubby left for work. I went back to bed just to be awaken by loud thunders and scary lightnings. I peeked out the window in front and saw the flooded dirt road. The heavy rain already slowed down so the water on the road is also slowly receding. I expected the little one to come running in our bedroom but she slept through it all.

That's how my Thursday started. And it seems that's how the next few days will start as well...plenty of rain, thunders and lightnings because our local weather people are forecasting that for the next few days. I wonder if the weather is a lot better in the Outer Banks in the Carolinas. The husband has been telling me for ages that he wants to take us there because it's gorgeous. He went with his friends a year before we got together and he fell in love with the place. Maybe we can visit the Outer Banks this summer to get away from the unpredictable summer weather we've been having here. I'm telling you...I'm about to go nuts just waiting for see the kind of weather we're going to have for the day. It's crazy!

Smart Cars....

This is the smart that one day we may all be driving. It's tiny..but it's smart, eh? For someone like me who hasn't tried driving a regular car yet, I may just like this itty bitty car. It looks easy to drive because it looks like a toy car. Ha!

But have you heard that the more expensive cars like the Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. are also being made into Smart Cars? Well, if you haven't heard about that, today maybe your lucky day. Here are the first pictures of these cars made into Smart cars....

Smerrari

Smamborghini

Smorvette

Smorsche

Pitch Black!

That's where we were for a couple of hours last night. The little one was already tucked in bed while the husband was watching TV and I was in the bathroom when we heard a loud pop followed by darkness...as in total darkness. Power outage. The only warning was the pop. Not much of a warning if you ask me. There was no rain or thunders or lightnings. As expected, the first sound I heard soon after the lights went out was: MOMMY!!!!

It took the power company people a couple of hours to get here and fix the problem. All the while, the little one was trying really hard to go to sleep which of course was a futile attempt. She pretended to be asleep and made no noise in her bedroom. It was only when the Dad checked on her after the power was restored did we find out she was actually awake. She gave Dad her sweetest smile and waved...then went to sleep.

I can't help but think about power outages in the Philippines that I was used to. When something like that would happen, we would just grab a candle, or a flashlight then head out to cool down while waiting for the power to come back on...sometimes for as long as 4 hours. Here it's totally different when that happens. It's like the world stops turning. Standstill. Everything is useless because everything is plugged into the wall. I can't help but shiver when I think of what's going to happen if, God forbids, we actually experience a day or two of now power....

Raining Cats & Dogs...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That describes exactly what's happening here right now. Our flower beds in front are already flooded and our trees are finally thriving after days of sagging due to the hot weather here in the sunshine state. I really don't care about the rain since I am home most of the time. It's the thunders and the lightnings I don't like. I have to turn off my computer when that happens and because the electricity is on and off. I can't finish some works I need to do online updating my high school batch's blog. They held a general assembly recently in preparation for the big silver jubilee and I have some videos and pictures I need to upload already. Hayy...

Speaking of which, my high school batch's silver jubilee is fast approaching. I still don't know if I will be able to make it but the husband has been searching for ticket prices without my knowledge. All the while I thought he's been searching for Florida vacations packages because the little one wants to go to Sea World and the other places around here that we haven't been to. So imagine my surprise when he called me yesterday asking for the date of the silver jubilee. He said he may have found some really affordable tickets for the 3 of us that MAY allow us to visit my relatives & friends later this year and attend this much anticipated reunion as well.

I'm not holding my breath on that of course but I'm glad he's been considering it although I will be the first one to say no if the trip will be out of our budget. We just can't splurge on certain things right now. The economy is too unstable to gamble on that.

Insurance..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Car insurance. Home owner insurance. Health insurance. These are only 3 of the "must-have" insurance around here. Needless to say they take a big chunk of one's monthly earning. We have no choice because if we don't have these 3, then there is always that possibility that we may lose more money if something like an accident happens.

I just got the biggest jolt a few days ago when we got this mail from our local hospital here charging us thousands of dollars for a scan I had there about a month a go. They're saying that our health insurance hasn't gotten back to them so they are charging us the full bill. We already contacted our insurance about it and it seems to be a miscommunication between them and the hospital. We still don't know how it's all going to work out but now I know how much it would cost someone a test like that if one doesn't have a health insurance. It's outrageous to say the least.

Another insurance that I think is really important to have is a disability insurance. Even if we don't want it, accidents happen that can result to one's inability to work. God forbids it happens to my husband but I'm sure glad there is such a thing as disability insurance to fall back on in case something like that happens.

Interesting....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I came across this just now. I thought it'd be interesting to take it so I did. Here's my result...aha!

You Couldn't and Wouldn't Cheat on Someone

Cheating is totally out of the question for you. There's no way you'd do it. You take commitment very seriously. You would never go back on your word. And as far as cheaters go, you don't want anything to do with them. You believe that people should be trustworthy in all aspects of their lives. Simple as that.

Could You Cheat on Someone?

Big "Tummy-tum-tum"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not talking about my 'tummy tum-tum'...although it's probably a fitting description as well. Tee heee...That's what the little one just called her belly. She just finished her dinner and her belly is poking out. It kinda' looks funny so we had a good laugh about it. I finally gave in and made spaghetti which happens to be her favorite food of all time.The irony is...I don't like spaghetti...never had, and probably never will. That's probably why I don't make it often.

So what am I having for dinner then? I made me some mung beans soup which I will be eating with rice and spam! I planted some sweet potatoes in pots about 2 weeks ago and the leaves are out already and I am so tempted to pluck the leaves out and put them in my soup for dinner. I held back of course but it won't be long before I can do that and when that happens, I'll be feasting on them. I probably need fat burner if I want to shed some poundage.Ugh! I may not be eating cakes and brownies but with all the carbohydrates I'm ingesting, I don't think I'll ever succeed in losing weight. Help!

He Really Was...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... a great performer. So much has been said about him, his life and his death...today, he was laid to rest. The memorial for him was 2 hours long but I only caught a glimpse of it.

Anyway, I came across this You Tube video of him performing one of his hits "Billie Jean". It's a one man show but it definitely showed that he was indeed one of the greatest performers of all time.

Blue Skies...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But guess what? It's been raining on and off since this morning. The little one even made a comment 'The sky is blue but it's raining!'. She noticed this while she's waiting for this lady who rides her horse quite frequently to pass by our house. Yep, we have neighbors who ride horses around here instead of walking their dogs. Anyway, this lady sometimes takes the road behind our house but a lot of times, she takes the one in front of our house so the little one gets a real good look of her riding the horse. There are at least 2 properties near here that are up for sale and they have horse stables in them with lots of horses. It's always a treat for the little one to pass by those places and seeing all the horses they have. She's been asking us when she can ride a horse.

The Dad wants her to take horseback riding lessons [amongst other things] but we're still trying to find a place where she can do that...and when. Obviously I can't take her since I don't drive yet so Dad has to find a schedule that fits his so he can drive us. I also need to find where to find breeches as well as the other accessories needed for horseback riding. I am hoping to find something really affordable since I'm pretty sure she'll be needing a lot of paraphernalia if she gets into this horseback riding hobby. I wonder if we can afford a horse though...

Once Again...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're on diet! That's what the husband says anyway. So now I'm not 'allowed' to bake cakes, muffins and brownies. Ugh! We're also trying to cut on buying sweets...which we don't buy much anyway. Double ughs! I honestly don't think we should go 'on a diet' because we don't eat a lot of junks in the first place. I think what we need to do is to be more active around here. I personally need to do that anyway. I know my metabolism is much slower now compared to like 10 years ago. Well, that and the fact that I no longer go up and down stairs or walk back and forth like I did when I was still teaching definitely don't help in my quest to lose some of my unwanted [and unsightly] extra poundage. Maybe I should start looking at some of the best diet pills available out there if this latest attempt of ours to get in shape will be unsuccessful. I wonder if I should get on that thing [aka 'treadmill] in our bedroom and just start walking away going nowhere. Hmm...that's how I think our so-called diet will go anyway...nowhere!

Back to Normal...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep, after that short 'busyness' with work, I am now back to normal... sitting and waiting for work to be released.Right now, I'm doing what I do best [I think]...household chores like laundry. I would love to go out and pull weeds in the backyard but it's almost in 90s here so no can do for now, maybe later in the day when it gets a wee bit cooler.

While waiting for my laundry to be done I decided to hunt the net for some sales that are going on. I just do an 'internet window shopping' then drool over on the stuff I see online like this heart jewelry I stumbled upon.

Isn't it lovely? I do have a few heart jewelry that the husband gave me on some occasions but I really like this one. Maybe I can throw some hints the husband's way what I want for our wedding anniversary next month. Hmmmmm.....

So Cute~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can you DO this??????????????????????????

It's Better Late

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...than never! Isn't that how the saying goes? So..."Happy 4th of July" to those who are on this side of the planet. I didn't have the chance to post my Independence greeting here yesterday so I'm doing it a day late! I hope you had a great one!

I've been quite busy the past few days that's why I wasn't able to post here. Work was released, last week. I've been trying to do as much as I could because work has been so sporadic the past few months. I even had to go to bed late, much later than my usual bedtime. I'm afraid I may have to use hubby's acne medication because I can feel some breakouts on my face as a result of my staying up late. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to catch up on some much needed sleep as work has ran out already.

We didn't do anything special yesterday. We watched some fireworks that the neighbor put up at around 9 PM. The little one had a blast watching in our front yard, in her jammies already with ear muffs to boot. I think the fireworks lasted for about an hour. I honestly don't see why some people will 'burn money' just like that...but that's just me. Maybe they have a lot to burn, eh?

Surprise!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got this one from a friend's email. Read on....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was shocked, confused, bewildered

As I entered Heaven's door,

Not by the beauty of it all,

Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven

Who made me sputter and gasp--

The thieves, the liars, the sinners,

The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade

Who swiped my lunch money! twice.

Next to him was my old neighbor

Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought

Was rotting away in hell,

Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,

Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, ‘What's the deal?'

I would love to hear Your take.

How'd all these sinners get up here?

God must've made a mistake.

And why's everyone so quiet,

So somber - give me a clue.'

"Hush, child," He said, "they're all in shock.

No one thought they'd be seeing you."

JUDGE NOT.

Remember...

Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian

any more than standing in your garage makes you a car…

Every saint has a PAST...

Every sinner has a FUTURE!

Don't trust yourself more than your limited sufficiency.

Don't trust God less than his all-sufficiency.

Another Rainy Week

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been raining since this weekend. It's not a steady pour though. It's the kind that comes and goes throughout the day. It still keeps the ground very wet so we've been spared from watering our newly planted trees which is good because the big guy here has been suffering from back pains since the weekend.

Usually the rain is accompanied by thunders and lightning which sometimes result to power outage for a split second. Yep that quick but enough to mess up our internet connection and most of our appliances. I hate that when it happens. I have to reset everything and make sure the clocks are n-sync. Needless to say I can't do a lot of what I need to do on the computer.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish my tasks as well as my 'assignment' from hubby. He asked me to look online for faucets like Danze faucets we can buy to replace the ones in the old house. His brother's friend is coming down in a few weeks to take a look at the house and we want to upgrade some stuff which can hopefully help in the 'saleability' of the house. There's a lot of upgrades the old house needs but we' re only doing what we can afford. I should probably send the links to hubby before the next power outage happens.