Almost...

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... a golden girl that is. Not me but my sister-in-law who celebrated her 49th birthday yesterday. I called her last night and that's when she told me that she's that age already. I wasn't aware that she's almost 50. She's been a like real sister to me because she's been my sister in law since I was in first year high school. I always find it easy to talk to her because she's level headed and does not sugar coat things. A lot of people actually don't like her because of that. Not me. I'd rather have someone who's upfront with me than someone who likes to skirt around the issues.

Anyway, while talking to her last night she mentioned that they are currently in the process of buying a property in a subdivision near their place. It's a well established subdivision already so she suggested that maybe we should buy as well. The prices of properties are very tempting but the husband and I would rather invest in bullion than real estate at this time since it's rather stable compared with real estate. I mentioned this to my sister in law which actaully made her curious about bullion herself. She and my brother don't know much about investing so any information they can get about good investments is always welcome. Hopefully they'll get the chance to read more about this and go from there.

A Prediction....

I hope my prediction is accurate!

It's been a busy Thursday for me which is good. I've been having so many slow days around here so a busy day is a very much welcome change. I wasn't even able to talk to the hubby when he called at lunch time because I so busy. I called him as soon as I finished what I was doing and he asked me if I was working all that time. I said yes...his reply and I quote:"Woo hoo....I'm taking the rest of the day off." Silly goofball. Of course he was only joking. He doesn't take days off unless it's necessary.

Watching & Waiting...

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Last Tuesday when we went to the laboratory for my routine blood test, I was surprised to find out that the place has gone digital. The place has improved a lot since my last visit a few months ago. The first obvious change was the big screen TV in the lobby the patients will see upon entering the facility. I guess the place has direct tv for lobby to make sure that patients who are waiting don’t get bored while waiting for their name to be called. There are also different computer screens strategically placed around the facility where names are listed so we now see how many patients are in front of us. The little one was fascinated with the new hi-tech environment in that place. If before she was fidgeting while waiting for our turn, this time around she wasn’t. She was watching my name as it went up the list that she got really excited when she saw my name on top. I thought she was going to twirl around the place…LOL.

Since I started going to the doctor regularly, I have come to realize that sometimes the waiting period is actually worse than the check-up or the blood work itself. The check-up and blood work usually last only for a few minutes but the waiting sometimes takes hours. I must say then that putting direct tv for hospitals lobbyis a brilliant idea. The waiting becomes less stressful and less painful. It still takes hours sometimes to wait but it seems a lot shorter when there is something to keep the patients busy. Those business places where waiting is the norm should visit http://www.dishbusiness.com/index.shtml to see if their business could use the service. I’m sure their clients will appreciate it.

Best Wishes...

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...to a good friend of mine who got married over the weekend. I would have loved to be present on her special day but it's just not possible. Events like this one make me wish sometimes that I am not 12 thousand miles from where I grew up but my life is now here and I have no regrets. I am not the only in our group of friends who wasn't able to make to her big day because a couple of our friends are also now residing overseas with their own respective families. We're all glad that this friend of ours finally found someone she can spend her life with. She and her husband are now away on their honeymoon and we're all crossing our fingers that it won't be long before she starts looking for the best prenatal vitamin out there. When I last talked to her she said she couldn't wait to have a baby. I'm hoping it will come easy to her and her husband. A few of our friends who decided to have baby a bit late in life had a tough time conceiving. We all advised her that it's probably better if she and her husband starts a family sooner than later. I'm glad she listened and I can only hope they get lucky on their attempt...fingers crossed!

A Bracelet

This is what the little one came up with 2 days ago. She calls it a 'religious bracelet'. She took a few of the ties [wire covered in plastic] which came in a box of sandwich bag and tied them together to come up with my latest 'bling'. She's on the artistic said and it still amazes when she comes up with stuff like this one. It's nothing extra-ordinary but I'm still proud...I'm her Mom that's why. One thing I'm sure of...she didn't take after me when it comes to her arts. I see ties like the ones she used, I put them away...that's my art. I just wish her creativity stays with her and not be put aside once she learns more about the outside world.

Lawsuit Advertisements

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I've been living here in this part of the world for almost 10 years. You would think that after that long, I would be used to the way things are done in this country. Somehow I am but not really. Confusing, eh? One of the things that will always puzzle me are the kinds of TV show they air here. They're very much different to the shows I was used to watch back home...and I'm not talking about soap operas. We have those back in my homeland. I'm talking about talk shows where 'real' people air their dirty laundry for everybody to watch. Why would one want to do that is beyond me.

Another thing that I see on TV here which I've never seen back home are the advertisements about lawsuits. I don't remember seeing even a single commercial about lawsuits back then. So it was kind of odd for me to see say an Accutane Lawsuit being advertised on TV. I mean I appreciate the fact that people who got sick because of certain products like Accutane can actually get some kind of restitution but it's just unknown to me that's why I'm taken aback everytime I see such advertisement. I'm used to them already. If justice can be served through this kind of advertising, then so be it. I'm just hoping I won't have to be part of one myself in the future.

LOL

I got these pictures from an email I received this morning. They're cute and funny so I thought I'd share some of them here....

...and this last one, I can relate completely



That's exactly how I've been feeling since yesterday. I still have not gotten that precious good night sleep but I'll try again tonight. Who knows I may be successful this time around, eh?

Hardworker

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That's my husband in my eyes. Everytime he does something, he gives it his 100% if possible, more. Right now his motivation is of course the little one. But he also enjoys his job [for the most part anyway] so sometimes it does not feel like work...or so he says. Since starting a small business, he's been working long hours. His pay stays the same whether he works the regular 8 hours or the gruelling 16 hours a day on some days. He has big dreams for the company he started. It hasn't been easy because they started the business when the economy was just starting to crumble.

Now that the economy is at its worst, their business is still standing and that's all because of the blood and sweat put into making it survive. As soon as the economy recovers, they have some plans to have their own place. Right now they are renting a space. A few years down the road, building their own shop will be in the plan. They've been looking at different steel buildings both online and offline hoping to either buy one or have one built specifically for them. It's all plans right now. But with faith, hardwork and patience, that plan will materialize before our eyes. And I would love to be there when it happens.

Early Start

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We've been up since 6 this morning. I went in for some blood work which my doctor ordered a few months ago. I should have gone a month or so ago but I wasn't able to because of...of....can't even remember why I wasn't able to go. Anyway, we decided to go first thing in the morning since it's easier to travel early in the morning because there is not much traffic. We made it there just a few minutes after it opened but the place was almost packed already. There were people in all shapes and sizes as always. Sadly, a lot of them could use one of those weight loss programs we see being advertised everywhere. I'm not being judgemental, just being realistic. I probably don't need such program...for now but if I don't start taking care of my body, eating right and exercising regularly, there is a strong possibility that I will in the future. Aside from that, my chances of developing diabetes are quite high because it's in my genes. Sigh.

So here I am with a sore arm early in the morning. I can already see the bruise developing on it. At least the lady that drew my blood today did it right on her first try unlike the last 2 times I was there where I got poked on both arms. What an experience that was....

Finally...

Goodluck to me! I'm a wee bit sleepy already so I'm keeping my 'eyes' crossed they'll stay closed for the rest of the night.

Playing Online

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Just as I was expecting [see post below], I am wide awake now that it’s bed time. I don’t know why but this is always happening to me. So here I am blogging while watching some TV. Hopefully, I’ll be sleepy in no time, which I doubt of course. The hubby is watching the Monday Night Football in the bedroom. Normally, I’d watch it with him but not this time. I get so ‘into the game’ that instead of making me sleepy [like it does to the husband], it keeps me awake. It’s like caffeine for me. I wonder if playing some puzzle games online will do the trick. Maybe it will. But then again, maybe it will just keep me more awake since these games somehow stimulate the brain, right?

Anyway, I used to do a lot of these game puzzles online. They are quite enjoyable especially for someone like me who does not go out often. It’s a good way to pass time and exercise the brain at the same time. I even joined an online contest for it and won at one point. They sent me the prize which was a gift certificate for an online store but I never got the chance to use it because if I use the certificate, I would have ended spending much more than the amount on the certificate so I passed. Anyway, another online game I used to play a few years ago are driving games because the husband thought it would help me to learn how to…ummm…drive. Did it? Help, I mean? No really. I still don’t know how to drive up until now. But it was fun playing those games as well.

I wonder if playing dress up games will help me dress better? Maybe not...based on my track record I seem to learn better if I learn something 'hands-on'. I'm sure though that the little will enjoy playing the dress up games if I let her know about it. My only problem is how to make sure she does not play all the time.

Just a Typical Monday....

Not doing much is not helping either. I still have about an hour before I can think whether I should sleep already or not. Even then, it will still be too early to actually sleep. The problem is when it's time to sleep, then I'm no longer sleepy...and I stay awake for hours before I finally snooze. Ugh!

Typical Monday indeed, eh? I am hoping I won't have a hard time falling asleep tonight. I'm having a dull headache right now so I had to take some tylenol. We have the Tylenol PM but that stuff does not work for me. I tried taking it before with no luck. Hubby said I should take more pills but I just wouldn't. I want to fall asleep without taking anything.

Dream On....

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What do you know…it’s another Monday? It has to happen before Friday happens so I’ll take it. Anyway, it’s not a very busy Monday for me. We’re still waiting for work to be released so I’m spending my time doing 2 things. Checking some textbook publishers’ website and looking at: http://www.horizonmyrtlebeach.com. I must say the latter is a lot more exciting to do. Ha! I’ve been ‘daydreaming’ about going on a vacation one of these days. If before I was daydreaming to visit my native land, this time that is not the case. First, it’s not feasible this year so why waste my time planning for something we can’t do…yet. I now ‘moved on’. LOL! Yep, a vacation even if it’s just in our own backyard will work for us now. As long we take some kind of a get-away before this year is over, I’ll be a happy camper.

How I wish we’re now relaxing in a Myrtle Beach Hotel pool drinking some iced cold beverage but that may have to wait. Why? Well, the answer to the ‘when’ will again depend on the hubby’s work schedule. There is some good news and bad news on that. Good news…they just got another set of job which means more for them. The bad news…they have a deadline to meet which means we have to either schedule our trip around the deadline or wait until the project is done. Ayayay! For now, I’ll keep on looking for all the Myrtle Beach best hotels so if and when my wish of a get-away happens, I’ll be ready with everything I need to plan a nice long [well, even if just a short] vacation with my little family. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Relax...

... and it's almost over! Before we know it we will be welcoming another weekend again....as well as another month....and another quarter! Wow! It's almost the last quarter of the year.

The little one is already excited about the upcoming Halloween. She already told us what she wants to be. It's nothing extra-ordinary so we don't need to order something custom made like last year when we had to order a bat wing for her costume. I actually asked her if she can just use the same costume this year. Her answer..."Where's the fun in that? Halloween is fun because you can be a different character every year." Oh well...at least I tried...

Home Decorating

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The first house I owned, I had decided that I was going to make every room look different. I wanted different colored walls and each room to have a theme or design of it's own. When I decided to do the guest bathroom, which was also my daughters bathroom, I used my DIRECTTV internet bundle to look for bathroom ideas. I wanted to make sure also, what kind of paint to use and which was the best paint to apply in a bathroom. After making my decision on the brand of paint, I decided to do a fish theme in the room. I painted the walls a sea green and blue. Along the top of the wall, next to the ceiling, I painted a darker blue. I then added fish stencils along on this border in different colors. It took an entire day to stencil all the the sea creatures along the border. There were starfish, sea horses, different fish shapes, sea shells and sea plants. But, it looked great. I added other details to the bathroom, such as a matching shower curtain, light switch cover, outlet covers and I added other sea pictures onto the walls. Plus I bought all matching towels and bath accessories.

Guest post written by my buddy Aldo Mays

Weekend...

...is almost over but here's wishing you're having a....

It's been an uneventful weekend for us. We stayed home unlike last weekend when we spent most of it shopping for some bed linens and bathroom stuff. The hubby is spending this weekend doing some yard work because will be really busy again in the coming weeks so he's doing what needs done now just in case he has to work on the weekends.

Me...I'm just chilling out. I spoke with my boss last week and she mentioned that we're about to get busy again in the coming days. This is the part of my being a WAHM that I don't like....unpredictability when it comes to work. But we need to take the good with the bad. I think every job out there comes with it, right?

Cutting Back

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Friday! Yay! Since it's Friday, it's also grocery day. I haven't made a list yet but from the looks of it, I will have one long list. The white board we write on is full so it's going to be one expensive grocery shopping trip. Sigh. Our grocery bill eats about half [more or less] of our income. We've switched stores to see which one will save us the most but so far they're all ranking up there. Meaning...they're all expensive. I guess my next step is to see which of the items we buy almost on a weekly basis needs to be eliminated or at least cut back on. If ever we need to eliminate something in our regular shopping list, it would have to be the drinking water.

When we were at the old house, we never bought bottled water. All we used for drinking water came from our faucet. We put a water filter on it and it worked just fine. I'm going to ask hubby to look for a water filter supplier as soon as possible so we can stop buying the expensive bottled water. The only reason we started buying water was because of the little one. We didn't want to take any chance on her getting sick because of the water so we thought bottled water would be our best option. It's been 2 years since we moved and I think it's time to try using a water filter and see if that will work for us. It will definitely save us a bunch if it works.

Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows - Part 1

It's showing this November but I may not be able to watch it in the big screen. The little one may not be allowed in the theater so we'll just wait for it when it comes out in DVD. Still, I'm very excited to see the trailer. The only thing is...the second part is not showing until Summer 2011 [I think]. By then, I'm hoping this one will be out in DVD already.

Eating Healthy...errr?

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For the past several days, I’ve been feeling bloated...again. Yeah, it’s something I’ve lived through pretty much my entire life. On top of that, I’m also feeling a little bit heavier lately. I wonder if my over-eating the past few days has something to do with it. I blame it on the smoked fish I got from the store a few weeks ago. Ugh! I really have to start thinking about eating healthy. As it is, my stomach is already sensitive and my eating habits is not helping at all. What can I say...it has to be changed ASAP. Along with the change I am also interested in trying some new natural supplements. At the moment I am taking multi-vitamin and cranberry pills daily. The cranberry is for my urinary tract because I’m prone to UTI.

There are a bunch of other natural supplements out there so I’m having a hard time choosing which ones I should try first. I wish I can try them all but I don’t think I can afford all of them. Since my main problem seems to be my stomach [well, my digestive system in general], I’m quite interested in trying the Oregano Oil supplement. Some of the advantages of this natural supplement are:

- Rich content of vitamins and minerals.
- Promotes digestive health.
- Promotes properties as an anti-microbial.

Aside from the oregano oil, I’m also reading about Bio D-Mulsion also known as ‘sunshine in a bottle’. Eversince I became a WAHM [Work-At-Home-Mom], I never get enough sunshine. Majority of the time, I’m cooped up inside the house. The only time I get some sunshine on the weekdays is when I go out to get the mail. That's it. During the weekends, I try to stay out more. Still, I don’t think I’m getting sufficient Vitamin D so taking this supplement may be a good idea for me as well. I haven’t quite decided yet which supplements I’d like to try but I’ll keep on looking and hopefully, I’ll be able to find something to suit my needs.

Make-Over Over the Weekend...

I've been planning in getting some new bed sheets. The ones we have served their purpose already so it's time to replace them. I told the husband yesterday that I wanted to go to the store to look for sheets. I originally thought of doing it online but I find it hard to decide because I have no idea how good the material is unless I feel it. So after breakfast we were off to the store. We ended up in JCPenney. We spent about an hour just browsing...then the shopping started. My original plan of just getting bedsheets stayed just that...a plan. Why? Because we ended up doing the whole she-bang! We got bed sheets & then some. Quilts, bed skirts, shams, and some big square pillows. When we were done shopping we have a cart full of bedroom stuff for our bedroom as well as for the little one's.

So what happened? I forgot that my hubby does not look at the "small picture". He always looks at the "bigger picture". How so? If I ask him to get me a pair of shorts, he'd come home with a pair of shorts with a shirt [and blazer sometimes], belt, sandals and whatever will go with the outfit. It's just the way he shops I guess.

Today, we were supposed to go and get a shorwer curtain. We've been having a hard time finding one that fits our shower perfectly so we did an online search this morning. We found the size we wanted online and it's available in their store near here. I decided not to go since I have to do some cleaning around the house so I sent the little one with him and off they went. It took them about 3 hours to get back home. I was already wondering what's taking them long when I heard the door clicked open. What do you know....he came in with 4 big bags of stuff with the little one behind him holding ANOTHER pink pillow! And her's the kicker...the shower curtain he bought is accompanied by towels, floor rug, bathroom accessories [toothbrush holder, soap dish, etc], valance for the shower, etc.

So in a span of 24 hours, we have an 'almost' brand new bathroom and 'almost' brand new bed...and he's not done yet. LOL....Maybe tomorrow I'd send him to get me a pair of earrings. Maybe he'd come home with a necklace, bracelet, anklet, a watch and some other pieces of jewelry. Hmmm...now that's an idea...

Ironic

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Growing up, I was really thin. Not only once did I think I was probably malnourished or something. People around me, specifically my father's older sister blamed my long hair for my being thin. Yep, my poor hair was being accused as the culprit for my inability to gain weight. How come? Well, according to my aunt my hair is eating all the nutrients that should go to my body so she was bugging my father to have my hair cut. The funny thing was she had a daughter who was my age and had real short hair and she was even thinner than I was. We just ignored my aunt since she's obviously miniformed.

My father though was worried about my frail frame while I was growing up. He would ask his doctor friends for advice on what kind of weight gain supplement would be good for me to take. There was a time that one doctor prescribed me with some tablets but I had a bad reaction to it so I stopped taking it. After that experience, my father stopped seeking doctor's advice. He just made sure I was eating right and on time. Everytime I would gain a pound or two, my father would be ecstatic. But that's the most I'd gain. I think my father wanted to see me with a little bit of fat but it never happened. If he were alive today, he would be jumping for joy because I'm way above his 'dream weight' for me. The irony is....now I want to lose weight...and I just can't seem to do that.

Bangs

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The little one's hair has never been cut except for one occasion when she was about 3. She cut a bit of her hair while I was busy doing something in the kitchen. Fortunately, it wasn't obvious so we didn't have to do any damage control. I still have that hair in a ziplock bag tucked in somewhere. Anyway, lately she's been starting to talk about possibly having a hair cut. We're still thinking about it but if ever we decide to go through with it, it won't be anything drastic. Maybe just a little trim so her hair stays healthy.

Anyway, when I came out of the computer room to get something from the kitchen and I was surprised to see her hair a bit messy by the forehead. I asked her what she's doing and she said she's trying to see if she'd look good with bangs! She didn't cut it or anything but I just thought she looked funny. I told her she can have bangs if she wants to but not yet. She has these little pimples on her forehead and having hair on there might irritate them which may result to some serious acne. Ugh! I can't believe we're already dealing with her having some skin issues. I guess I have to visit bestacnetreatment.net and read more about acne so I would know what to do just in case she starts having break-outs.

Finally...

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A good night sleep. I've been breaking my bedtime routine for a few days that it took me a couple of nights to be able to sleep soundly. I'm just like a baby, eh? I just find it hard to get back into the groove once I start breaking my sleeping pattern. But I'm glad I was able to finally sleep well.

It's Thursday once again...and you know what that means. It's almost the weekend. Tee hee. Like they say...we work for the weekend! That's just the way it is I guess. Even if I'm a WAHM I still wait for it. You wouldn't think I would since I'm home 24/7 anyway but I do.

This weekend I have to finish cleaning up the other flower bed. I was only able to clean up one of them last weekend because it got way too hot for me to stay out. I think I got my headaches from staying out for a few hours in that heat. It's just that the flower bed I was working on was in direct sunlight so the sun was shining on me throughout the time I was out there. Anyway, the other on is on a better location. It's not directly under the sun until after lunch so I'll be okay as long as I do the work in the morning.

Right now, I'm still busy checking different websites looking for some materials for the little one's schooling. I have to make sure it's done before the week is over so I better get off her for now. Enjoy your Thursday!

Bingeing...

...on these. That's basically what I'm doing for the past few days. We went to the Philippine store on Sunday and I wasn't able to help myself and grabbed 2 boxes of these choco crunchies. I don't know why I like them a lot. I don't remember buying them as much when I was still in the Philippines. I guess that's part of being away from mother land, eh? If only these crunchies are natural fat burners, I would be back to my old weight in probably a week. I'm not kidding. The problem is they do just the opposite. Instead of burning off fat, I think they're feeding my fats. And now that I have my desk, I can keep them in one of the drawers. Talk about easy reach. At least before I had to walk to the kitchen to get them. Now all I have to do is pull the drawer open and voila...ugh!

Anyway, I'll try not to go back to the Philippine store soon. At least I do that, I won't be tempted to get the sinful treats that have my names on them. Sigh...

Going Back to School

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It's my youngest brother's birthday today. Since I can't greet him [or any of my loved ones] in person, I make it a point to call him on his birthday. I usually call him very early in the morning [his time] because he works the graveyard shift and he's normally on the road going home from his job at around 6 AM. It's been a while since I spoke with him. I think the last time was on Skype when I spoke saw and spoke with almost all of my siblings and their families back home. My younger brother and I are probably the closest among the 5 siblings since we grew up together. He knows that if he needs something he can always call me. I remember taking him shopping every pay day when I was still working in the Philippines. I even remember buying gifts for his girlfriends. So it wasn't a surprise when I was the first one he told that he wants to go back to school.

After high school, he decided to take up an associate degree since it only takes 2 years to graduate. He finished 2 associate degrees but none of them has been put to use. Right now, he's working at a hotel and for him to get promotions, he needs to finish a degree related to his job. I told him I will research degrees that are relevant to his line of work. That's what I did and I will be letting him know what I found out. He knows it will take a while to finish a degree especially now that he's working but he's bent on pursuing one. All I can do is support him and be there in case he needs any kind of help. I'm just proud he's doing it considering his age.

Almost Midnight

I should have gone to bed an hour ago but I got busy with stuff I needed to finish. I am hoping I won't suffer the consequence in the coming days - allergy attacks con sinus headache. My usual allergy medicine - Benadryl for Sever Allergy & Sinus Headache - has been pulled out from shelves and I have no idea why. The pharmacist at Target said it's part of a recall but when I tried to search for recalled meds, the one I use is not part of the recall. According to their website, my medicine will be available in March of 2011. Sigh... I guess I need to find a replacement until then.

Jelly-Roll

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Before I was married, my biggest concern regarding my body was my inability to gain weight no matter how much I ate. I always felt like I was malnourished because I was barely 100 pounds during those years. The weighing scale never tipped over the 100 mark until after I was pregnant. I also didn't gain much weight while I was pregnant so as soon as I gave birth, I was almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Almost because I never really went back to being under 100 pounds. I was happy with my weight of over 100. The thing I wasn't happy about was where that extra poundage was coming from...my belly.

In the first year or two after I gave birth, I could still blame my pregnancy for my 'jelly-roll'. Sadly, I can no longer use that excuse now since it's been almost 9 years since I had a baby. If only I know of a way on how to lose stomach fat fast then I wouldn't have this problem, eh? But truth be told, I have not really tried to actually do something about it. I have not done any dieting nor have I tried to stick to any kind of regimen to help me lose the unsightly jelly-rolls. I guess it's about time that I should start getting serious about getting rid of my spare tire.

Changes

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Everyday I see little changes in the little one that remind me that she's growing fast. Just recently, some little pimples have been sprouting in her forehead. I guess her hormones are starting to wreak havoc in her body. It won't be long before I have to find ways on how to get rid of blackheadss as well as pimples. It seems she has oily face which makes it easy for dirt to get stuck on her face more. We've been telling her to make sure she washes her face well and more often to make sure it's always clean...but she's not that conscious yet of her skin so she has to be reminded to do that regularly. I didn't have a lot of problems with blackheads myself until I was in college and I can only hope she'll be like me.

Anyway, time indeed flies. It seems it was only yesterday when she I gave birth to her. Now she's all grown up and about to go through a stage I'm not looking forward to...adolescence. I can only hope she'll be like me and be a good girl...LOL.

Passed with Flying Colors

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I homeschool the little one. Right now, that's the best choice for her. Down the road, we may enroll her to a regular school but that still remains to be seen. Anyway, per the state's law, all homeschooled kids still have to undergo testing and/or evaluation at the end of the school year just like those that go to regular schools. Yesterday, we went to her annual evaluation and she passed it with flying colors. Yay! Her vocabulary is that of a seventh grade half-way through year.

Aside from that, the evaluator said that she's way above her grade level in all aspects/subjects so we need to find more challenging materials for her in order to keep her from getting bored. As it is right now, we're using grades 3 - 6 books, as well as 4 - 8 books. Mommy [aka teacher] is currently busy checking out the different resources available online so we can order the needed materials - books, kits, etc. I am hoping I'll be able to find what I need ASAP so as not to waste time. The thing is there's literally hundreds of places to choose from so it's harder than I thought. Hopefully I'll be able to accomplish what I need to before the week ends. Goodluch to me, eh?

Searching

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I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that everything today is expensive. And this is true in all cases...from small items like basic necessities to big ticket items like appliances and furniture. Every Friday, I am dreading to see the receipt for the groceries because it's always more than what I expect it to be. The high prices of everything is one reason why the husband and I are holding off in purchasing some things that we need. They are not 'immediate' needs so holding off for now may be our best bet. There are times though that I can't help but wonder if prices will ever go down.

Anyway, sooner or later we will have to get those things. I just have to find where we can find things like cheap life insurance. Well, not really cheap but something within our price range. As it is now, we don't have it yet. Hopefully, we'll be able to get one before the year ends so I can check if off our list already. For now, I will continue searching until I find one.

Dropping by to Say...

I have been sitting here in front of the computer and I just can't seem to gather my thoughts to come up with something to blog about. I guess that's the result of taking a nap. I haven't done that in months. I guess I shocked my body in doing so. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight even if I napped for a couple of hours.

Reality Shows

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Everytime I turn on the TV, it seems that's all I see being shown. I don't think there is a single channel on TV now that does not have a reality TV show. I personally don't care much about them. But I particularly avoid the 'Real Housewives' shows. How many are there now? About 10 different versions? It seems people will also do anything, as in ANYTHING, to get into these shows. Case in point - the White House party crashers. As it turned out, that was a stunt pulled to make noise for a new 'real housewives' show. Ugh!

With that being said, there are still some reality tv shows out there that are worth watching. Worth watching because they are somehow educational like "How It's Made". It's a show that explains how some things or products are made. One time we caught an episode that showed how a gold bullion become a gold bullion. I kinda' had an idea how they become into bullions but it's intersting to see it actually happening. If not for that show, I probably wouldn't have the chance to see how a gold bullion is made. That particular episode was very interesting to the little one because she's fascinated with gold as early as now. Yep, she's growing to be a typical woman who likes anything shiny.

Anyway, I just wish TV producers come up with more shows that are somewhat educational. I honestly don't see how those other reality shows become so popular that they come back on air season after season. Ugh!

Feeling Better

For now, anyway. I wasn't really sick, it's just my allergy con sinus problems giving me a hard time. So far today, I don't feel the sinus pain anymore.

I'm having a slow day today. Work has slowed quite a bit in the last 2 weeks. The boss has no idea why and we're all on the waiting mode again. We didn't expect the slow down because we were told we will be busy for months non-stop. But we can't really do anything much but to wait. In the meaintime, our boss has been emailing us with a bunch of reminders. I don't blame her. Some co-workers try to maximize their earning capacity by doing a mediocre job [read: sloppy, below par]. As a result, the boss has to do a lot of correcting at the end line so as not to jeopardize all of our jobs.

Anyway, I have some tasks to finish both online and offline so I'm still not completely idle. I better go back to what needs to be done while I still have time. As always...

My Friday Nights

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Everybody seems to work for the weekend. I eagerly anticipate Friday nights because it is the day that I go to the movies. It's a standing date with me, my wife, and a bucket of popcorn. We try to find one new movie a week that we are interested in and off we go. It got to the point where the people there know us by name, and they usually reserve tickets for us even if something is sold out.

My favorite type of movies are science fiction movies. My wife likes the romances. Since we get to go so often, we will often let the other person pick the movie and we feel great about almost all of them. Sometimes there will be a week where no movie that we are interested in seeing comes out. This is usually ok because their are frequently great weeks where 2-3 movies that we want to see come out. I think my friends probably consider us movie addicts. They all know where I'll be on Friday night and not to bug me. I realized one day that everyone knows my house is empty every Friday night. It was then that we decided to set our home alarm new york prior to going to the movies. It makes us feel more safe about our lifestyle.

I love the movies and my wife, and date night has never been better!

Written by Sherri Hicks

Mid-week

It's a slow day that's why I'm asking if it's Wednesday still. I've been in and out of the home office because I get bored sitting in front of my computer so I try to do some chores in between 'boredom'....tee hee...

Nothing much is happening here except for some personal physical pain...LOL. I've been getting some not so fun sinus headache lately and I just hate it...especially if it wakes me up in the middle of the night. My regular allergy medicine is unavailable in all the stores we went to last weekend and it's driving me bananas. One pharmacist said it was recalled so they only have the store brand but I couldn't find anything online about that specific medicine being recalled.

I'm feeling a lot better today. I hope it won't bug me much tonight as well....

To Switch or Not to Switch...

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Last month, I almost forgot to pay our electric bill. I pay it online and we usually get the notification via email 3 weeks before the due date. I got real busy with work that I didn’t think about it until after 2 days the due date. It’s only the first it happened but I don’t want it to happen again so I decided to put a reminder that will pop up everytime I turn on my computer. That way, I’ll be able to remember when something is due. While making the reminder calendar last night, it hit me that it’s the 7th of September already today. Really? It’s the ‘ber’ months already? The ‘ber’ months was something we used to look forward to when we were kids. To us it signals the start of the countdown for the holiday season. This is not case to me anymore since there’s a few other big events here before that but I still remember fondly how we’d wait for these months as kids.

Anyway, September is the month that our contract with our cable provider expires. Now we can switch providers without paying some termination fees. I’m still undecided whether we’d switch or not. Just in case, I’ve bookmarked localtv-satellite.com so if we need to find another provider, I don’t have to look far. We’ve tried basically all of the providers around here both cable and satellite from Direct TV so we know how their services are. It's only a matter of choosing the best plan that suits our needs are at a cheaper rate. Truth be told, I really don’t have any preference myself. My husband feels the same way too. Actually, he plans in not subscribing to any because we rarely watch anyway. Most of the time when we’re home, we’re either working on the computer or just resting. The little one is content with her DVDs so there’s very little need for a TV right now.

After mulling about it for a couple of weeks, we decided to just keep the subscription. For one, football season is almost here. Although the husband only watches his team play most of the time, there are a couple of teams I like to follow just for fun. We’re still undecided though if we should keep our present provider or start looking at LocalTV-Satellite for more options. It seems our dilemma is never ending, eh? Hopefully, we can come up with a decision sooner than later because I don’t like being undecided for a long time.

Labor Day Weekend Ordeal

My lazy weekend turned into an aggravating one. Thanks much to the pesky virus that don't seem to take any day-off. It's very frustrating to say the least. This time around, the virus was from some place masked as an anti-virus software pretending to 'protect' your computer from a so-called virus. Grrrr.....

Good thing my computer geek was off work so he was able to do something about it. The virus was able to block almost all of the virus/malware/spyware scanners I have on my computer so he coudln't run the tests except with my computer on Safe Mode. After almost a day of tinkering with it, I now have my computer back. I'm scared silly to open any website thinking that a virus is waiting for me on the site.

I missed some work and I spent the day worrying I won't be able to get my files back instead of having a lazy & relaxed weekend as I originally planned...but I'm glad I have my computer back. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with this again...which I doubt, of course.

Essay Writing

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When I was about to start college, I already knew what I wanted to take for a degree – Education. It wasn’t hard because my mother was a teacher so it was more like an influence than anything else. Fortunately, the school where I got my scholarship from has a very good Education department. The only problem I had back then was what to major in. There were only a few options…English, Math, Chemistry or Earth Science. I wasn’t that interested majoring in Science so I was left with Math and English. I chose the former – Math. To me majoring in English meant a lot of writing. I can write but I have a hard time organizing my thoughts that writing a Five-Paragraph Essay turns into an ordeal for me. I thought that if I chose Math then I wouldn’t have to do deal with a bunch literary stuff like poems & poetry as well as never ending essays. Boy was I ever wrong. Yes, I didn’t have to write as much as my classmates majoring in English did but I had my share of essays & compositions. It was a challenge but I managed to pull through.

I thought that was the end of my love-hate relationship with writing. Of course that’s not quite the case because after 3 years of graduating from college [and in-between my teaching job] I decided to go back to school and take up a Master’s degree in Education. This time, I was well aware that I would be needing essay guidance in almost every step of the way if I want to graduate to earn the Master’s degree. Every single subject I had to take required some form of writing one way or another that it gave me sleepless nights. Mind you, this was in the early 90s so I didn’t have the internet to help in researching. I did it the old-fashioned way so to speak. I was at the library every chance I got especially at the time I had to write an Expository Essay for my thesis proposal. My thesis proposal was approved but it took a lot of hard work for me to even get to that point.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to write my thesis. I had a job offer that was too good to pass up so I decided to take some time off from graduate school. I filed a leave of absence and was planning in going back after a year or so to write [& defend] my thesis but that didn’t materialize. Life had other plans for me so I’m now left with an incomplete Master’s degree. Maybe one of these days I can go back to school and take another course or even another master’s degree. This time around, I know help is available if and when I need it when it comes to writing essays…MasterPapers.com!

It's Almost Here!

And it's going to be a long weekend for us here because it's Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 6. Woot! As usual, no plans set during the weekend. We'll take it one day at a time. Work is still slow so I may just have one of those lazy weekends where all I do is just sit around and do nothing but...pig out!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Hurricane Season Peak?

Hubby told me that the peak season for hurricanes is this month. From the way the hurricanes are making their way here, I'd say he's right on the mark.

June is the start of the hurricane season. Up until late August, we only had 3 named storms. A couple of weeks ago, storm #4, Danielle was spotted. She's now gone. But right now, we're watching 3 of them, I think. And that's in a span of a few weeks. The worst so far, Earl, is nowt cruising along the coast. It's not expected to hit Florida but it's still scary watching 3 [sometimes 4] hurricanes on the news. Some tourists in the NC outer banks already ditched their plan of staying there in the fear that it will have a great impact to the banks.

We are not feeling the effect of any of these hurricanes right now. I'm praying we won't have to in the coming days and weeks. But being in a state known to be prone to hurricanes, I can't help but be nervous during this so-called hurricane season.

Btw, the picture is that of Hurricane Andrew which devastated some parts of Florida in 1992.

Daydreamin'...

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...of a much needed vacation!

It’s funny how the concept of vacation has changed for me throughout the year. Until a few years ago, my so-called vacation was always synonymous with summer vacation. It was usually spent back home in the province where I grew up and spending time my elderly parents. After they passed, I actually didn’t know how to spend my 2 months off from teaching. Good thing that didn’t last because I suddenly found myself married and living across the world.

Today, vacation to me means going to Walmart. LOL. Just kidding. Actually, that’s partly true because I, we, haven’t been in a real vacation for years now so everytime we go out of the house, it;s like going on a vacation. Ha!. Hubby and I are talking about taking one as soon as we can because we are both burned out with the daily grind. An overseas trip is not feasible right now so we’re looking at some places within the country. An Outer Banks vacation is definitely in the list since North (and South) Carolina is one state he wants to take me and the little one. Actually, he wants to MOVE in that state. Since that’s not going to happen anytime soon, we’d settle for a weeklong vacation and stay in one of these babies…

It’s a vacation house by Carolina Designs and has all the amenities that a family like us can enjoy. The house has everything

from game rooms to hot tub...

to an indoor swimming pool which will probably become the little one's hang out....

And if we get bored playing chilling inside the house we can always take those 'long walks' in the beach. Yeah???