Roller Coaster...

Sort of...emotionally [and physically] that is. I guess it's just a mini roller coaster. Quite a few things going on right now that I don't even know where to start.

Anyway, I gotta start with something so let me start with the not so good thing first...

The little one has been nursing a nasty bug, well bugs actually. Thankfully it's not a flu bug but something close to it. It started with a sore throat like the last few times she's had it and then the fevers. Her temperature went as high as 103 at one point and it freaked me out. It went down fast though but it didn't go back to normal until after a couple of days. She started coughing right around the time her temperature went back to normal. But that's not the end of it because on Monday I noticed that her left eye was a little bit red. I thought it was just a bit irritated but I was wrong. She developed pink eye [sore eyes in the Philippines] or conjunctivitis. We went to her doctor right away and she was given some rather expensive eye drop which is an antibiotic. How expensive? It's almost a hundred bucks for a 3 ML bottle! Actually it's more than a hundred bucks if we didn't have insurance. I almost had a heart attack myself. In fairness, the medicine works wonders because it cleared her eyes right away. But since it's an antibiotic it has to be administered 7 days per her doctor's order. Right now she's doing a lot better. Her cough doesn't keep her [and me] up much at night anymore...and her eyes are clearing up great. At least this part is ALMOST over.

After her doctor's visit, it was my turn for mine. Let me just say it wasn't the best doctor's visit. Well, it's a doctor's visit so what do I expect, right? Aside from the torture of waiting, the visit itself took longer than usual. Ugh. Now another torture...waiting for results. Obviously this part is way from over and I'm trying very hard to keep it off my mind...which is not working because I'm writing about it now. Sigh...

Enough of the downers already...let's get on to the uppers this time. What could it be? A Birthday!~ Happy birthday to the Man of the House....our very own McGyver. ~ Yep, he just turned a year greyer/wiser/older and for that, we're thankful. Any year added to our age is something to be thankful about because it means another year given to us to enjoy what life has to offer. We had the usual 'birthday partay' with the 3 of us. We baked a cake, made some silly decors and prepared some presents. The result is this...

That's basically what's been going on with me. Inspite of all the not so good things that I've been dealing with recently, there's a lot more 'good things' I should be thankful for. I just have to start looking beyond that cloud and keep on counting my blessings because I've been blessed more than I can ever imagine...and for that I thank HIM up there.

Movie: The Movie....

Another one of Jimmy Kimmel's antics....

Edited to add: The video is not R-rated [except for some swear words that were bleeped out anyway]. I just have to add this because looking at the image on the video, it looks like it's a hard core R-movie. It's not.

Baby Blankets...

I am on the hunt for the best baby blanket right now because I just learned that another grandbaby will be coming soon. This will be my 4th grandbaby courtesy of my brother’s children. Since I am thousands of miles away from my family, I haven’t actually met any of the grand babies in person. I just see them in pictures and videos they sent me. I kind of feel sad and guilty at the same time so I try to make up for it by looking for the best baby products out there that I can send them either before or after the baby is born.

The parents to be are very young. I guess they couldn’t wait any longer so they decided to get married even if they don’t even have very stable jobs. Their parents have been helping them any way they can by buying them some affordable baby blankets as well as by asking family and friends for hand me downs baby clothes. I would give them some of our little one’s baby clothes if I still have them but I don’t since it’s been 10 years already since I had here. I gave them away a long time ago. I think I still have some crib blankets in a box around here but they’re not ideal for the climate back home so it will be useless to even send it to them. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some good deals on crib blankets that are more climate-appropriate. I better keep looking fast or time may run out. She’s a few months far along already so before we know, the baby will be here already. Exciting!

Whatta Day!

I'm too tired to even write about it. Let's just say I'd rather not have another day like this one. And now the waiting starts.....sigh!

glitter-graphics.com

Big Decisions

Contribution by Prince Raymond

I am an indecisive person, so when I have to make decisions I get very nervous. Even little things like deciding between DIRECTV Packages or what to get at dinner are difficult for me. So you can imagine, that when my boss offered me a promotion that meant I would have to move to the East Coast, I had no idea what to do. It was a good opportunity, but I wasn’t sure about moving that far away from all of my friends and family. I called my parents who thought I should definitely jump at the opportunity. They knew I had been working hard for a promotion and said I shouldn’t let fear affect my career. My friends also thought I should take the job. I was shocked that everyone in my life felt that I should take it and I was still undecided. In the end, I decided to take everyone’s advice, and I am glad I did. I need to start taking charge of my life and stop being so scared of everything. I can’t believe I almost passed up this great opportunity!

Crazy Whe-Duh!

We've been waking up to temperatures in the low 50s for a few days now only to see it climb up to nearly 80s early afternoon. How crazy is that? Not that crazy actually when you're living in our state. Oh well...

Besides the crazy whe-duh, nothing else is going crazy around here. It's crazy slow as far as work is concerned but that's about it. It was a holiday here yesterday ~ President's Day ~ but since I am a WAHM and the husband runs his own business, we don't really observe the holidays...unless we want to. As a matter of fact we even forget it's a holiday some days. It's only when the mail doesn't come that I sometimes realize it's indeed a holiday.

Anyhooo, this past weekend was relaxing. The husband was able to put some grass grass feeds/fertilizer around the yard in preparation for the spring season. Then we went biking around the neighborhood for about an hour and a half. That was fun. There were fewer glitches this time around [read: me goofing up on the 3-wheel bike = PATHETIC!]. I still feel a little sore from all that pedalling actually. I hope we can do that every weekend because it makes for a great family time without spending any money [especially on gas!!!] and it's a great form of exercise as well.

Sunday was another fun day. We originally went out to have the car washed and to walk around the mall. We did both. Then hubs decided to test drive a car he's thinking of 'maybe' getting. We stayed in the car lot while he did that. I thought we would only be there for an hour 'tops' but we stayed longer because he ended test driving 2 different vehicles. After the tests he spoke with the manager of course. In short we stayed longer than anticipated. By the time he's done, it's dinner time already. As soon as he got in our car my question to him was: "So where are you taking us to dinner?" To which he replied [with a smile]: "Where do you want to go, Honey? I'm sorry it took that long." Haha....I actually didn't mind. I knew he wanted to do that [test drive those cars] so it's fine with me. Anyway, we ended up going to Chili's. I wasn't that hungry so I just ordered some buffalo wings which I have been craving for a few days already. We got so full that we had to take the rest of the desserts and some of my wings home.

That's how our weekend went down. How was yours?

Cute!

Will the husband agree to be part of this kind of 'surprise'??? Totally...if only to see me cringe....hahaha....

Box Full of Love

...and fattening chocolates, of course! But who cares, right? It's that time of the year when billions of dollars are actually spent on chocolates. Why can't we be part of the stats, eh?

So we got another box from the one and only valentine we have...McGyver..aka Daddy....aka Husband. It sort of became a tradition...to the little one. It all started with these:


The 'tradition' started in 2007 which I blogged about here in 2008. From that time on, she would wait for her box of candies/chocolates from Dad. So even if Dad got her an advanced 'present' already she still kept talking about getting a heart-shaped box of chocolates. I didn't want to disappoint her so I prodded Dad [not much prodding needed actually] to get her a box of chocolates. He did and got her that fancy looking box of truffles.

Me? So far, I've been getting something from my valentino every year on Valentine's Day. I can remember some of them but not all of them. I guess the most memorable valentine's day was still the very first one we had as a couple, in 2002. It was a week day which meant he had to go to work early in the morning...6 AM I think. I was pregnant at that time with the little one. My routine back then was to go in the computer room to go online after I kiss him bye-bye. I did just that and when I turned the computer chair around...I saw this...

Actually, it was just the bear with a card. The flowers were delivered a little bit later during the day. I was pregnant and hormonal at that time so as soon as I saw the bear/card, I started balling. I called him still sobbing...LOL. He didn't know if he would laugh or not because of my reaction. That was 10 years ago and I can still vividly remember it. This year, I didn't cry. But one thing didn't change, he still didn't hand me his gift, he placed it on my side of the bed...while he was on the opposite side of the bed. I already knew what's in the box since I busted him days before. Still, the 'kilig' factor is still there just knowing he still cares to get me something on this day after all these years....even if I have to twist his arm to get me something....NOT! Well, maybe just a little...

I hope your Valentine's Day went well!

Valentine's Day Came Early

...in this household anyway.

My 'valentino' got me the Barbie doll house...toink! LOL...of course I'm kidding. He got me the wallet which was supposed to be a surprise. It was busted because I'm the one that does the money stuff around here [balancing the check book, etc] and something showed in the account that I didn't know about so I asked. He just said: SURPRISE! Haha! Anyway, he really wants me to get that wallet to match the purse he got me for Christmas...but I wouldn't budge so he waited for a 'reason'...in this case Valentine's Day and got it as present for me. That way I wouldn't say it's too expensive....I still did. That's one thing about my husband...he doesnt push me if I don't want to do something. He finds other ways....LOL. Still, I'm grateful for my present which is now comfortably nestled in the purse he got me for Christmas which I posted here.

The 'Barbie Doll House' is obviously the little one's. She got a Barbie doll last Christmas and she's been creating a makeshift house for her. She even came up with a 'black print' for a house for her and asked Dad to get her some woods to build the mini-house. We got the hint loud and clear. Being the Daddy's girl that she is...the Dad heard her LOUDER and got her the doll house. We gave it to her as a Valentine's Day present just because...toink! Barbie aka 'Minnie Me' also got a Vday present [aside from the house]....a playmate...KEN! Now everyone's happy. Ha! As for our gift for Dad...nada! Well, a card...which is what we normally get him anyway. Romantic me, eh?

P-I-E-R-C-E-D!

That's the little one having her ears pierced earlier today. FINALLY! She's been talking about it for months but was kinda' nervous about it. She's not scared of the act of piercing itself. She's worried about not being able to keep the piercings clean enough during the healing process. She finds the task of cleaning them 3x a day and rotating them regularly daunting so she's been putting it off for months now.

Today, she finally said she wanted to do it. We were out to buy ink & stamps and some artificial plants for the house. We had no idea where to go to get it done so we asked a lady in the jewelry section of the department store and she suggested Claire's ~ it's an accessory store mostly but they do ear piercing in the store as well. Fortunately it was just a few doors away from the department store itself. We walked over and that was it. There were a couple of girls ahead of her so she saw the process which made the experience a lot easier because the 2 girls didn't even flinch when their ears were pierced. They also assured the little one that it didn't hurt at all.

It was a great experience for her. This is her first major decision for herself. We intentionally didn't have her ears pierced when she was a baby because we wanted her to decide if she wants them pierced or not. It took her a while to finally make up her mind but she said she's glad she went for it today. Cool!

A New Twist to Hand Me Downs....

I'm used to hand me downs since I'm the fourth in a brood of 5 and I'm also the younger one of 2 sisters. So it's nothing new to me when I get used stuff ~ clothes, shoes, etc. This time around though the "hand me down" I'm talking about is not coming from my older siblings. Can you guess where they're coming [down?] from? Our little one!!!! Let me explain....

We got her a pair of boots a few months before winter. Eversince she was 7, she's been asking us to get her a pair so we did when we saw this cute pair at the store one time. She was excited of course. We thought they'd be perfect for the season... and they are. Except that she only wore them once because she didn't like the experience of wearing a little bit of heels. Her words were: I should have bought riding boots instead because they seem very comfortable. I agree. At least the riding boots will be used more than once because she wants to take riding lessons sometime in the next few months. Anyway, since we wear the same size of shoes now, the boots are now mine. Yep, we're putting a new twist to 'hand me downs' in this household. Good thing we didn't get pink ones with glitters and all. Can you imagine a 40+ year old woman strutting around in pink glittery boots? I can't!

Fighting Addiction

Fortunately, I don't have any kind of addiction that I need to fight. I also don't know many people who are fighting addiction. Personally anyway. I read about a lot of famous people who according to reports are addicted to something one way or another. Just recently Demi Moore was in the headlines because of her very public breakdown. If we can believe everything that we read in the news, she's only one of the many famous people who is fighting this demon. Many of them tend to ignore that they have the problem but a lot also come to a point when they realize it's time to come clean. Fortunately for these people places like methadone detox rehab treatment center is just within reach if and when they decide to seek the help. They can go through the process privately and with the help of qualified people in a place where their safety and privacy matter. That's one of the great things now as compared to years ago. Help is available almost everywhere. The only thing one need to do is to take that one step and ask for help....

Re-Scheduling

I admit it...I tend to re-schedule appointments every now and then. I have valid reasons for doing so and I do it at a reasonable time frame. I don't want to be an incovenience to other people much less a business that's why I re-schedule at least within the 24-hour frame that we're supposed to call in.

I have an appointment half an hour ago. I had to call to the business and asked why I haven't received any call about it and that their rep is late. I got a call and found out that there has been some problems with the schedule of the person involved so it's going to be an hour later than scheduled. It would have been okay if they called before I did but they didn't. What happens if I didn't call when I did? They will just show up and expect me to just go along with it? Or maybe they would just not show up? That's very unprofessional in my opinion. Quite frankly if I'm not already ready I would just say never mind.

Very frustrating to say the least.

Gardening & Composting...

One of my brothers back home is an avid gardener. He didn't use to be homebody much less a gardener and spent most of his younger years out with friends getting wasted but he did a complete turn around one day and just started using his energy tending to our backyard. He started with peanuts then added more fruits and vegetables in his garden. It is also this love of gardening that he discovered and started composting. Never has he used any chemicals in his garden so his produce are one hundred percent free of pesticides. I guess that's when he realized how beneficial composting would be in his hobby. On his last birthday, I asked him what he wanted and he said a composter because he wants to have one near each garden plot. He already has one that he made himself but just like a lot of homemade stuff, it's not as convenient as the ones in the market that are well designed. Our backyard is quite big so I understand why he wants more than one composter. So I started looking for the best composters out there to see which ones to get him. There are quite a few selections actually but I like the Spin Bin the best because of its size and it's perfect for my brothers garden. I wonder if they sell it there though...

Ironic?

In the news last week it was reported that jobless rate has hit a new low in 3 years. At the same time, it's also around that time when US created job at the fastest rate in 9 months. Can you say ironic? But if that's what the numbers show then what can we do, right? I don't know where the government or whatever sector is doing these surveys base their numbers but I personally wonder why some people can't find a job when there are jobs being advertised everywhere. It's true that one needs to qualify for a job and that some jobs have high qualifications but there must be something that can be done. For instance, I've come across several Veterinary Technician Jobs open when I was browsing through an online site. I am not qualified for that job myself but there must be someone out there who is. I think I saw about 10 openings in different places so it's not like it's in one state or something. Maybe some people who need a job have to look harder and must be willing to do some changes like maybe relocate or travel a bit farther. Sometimes we need to make sacrifices ~ small or big ~ in order to make things happen. This may be the best time to do that, don't you think?

SuperBowl REMATCH!

That's what this coming Superbowl XLVI is all about...a rematch of the Superbowl XLII between the NY Giants and the NE Patriots. Many believe that game in 2008 was one of the biggest upsets in football history. During that season the Patriots had an almost perfect record [18] and they only needed to win the Superbowl to make it perfect. Unfortunately, the Giants pulled one on them and they lost.

This season, the Patriots definitely had a better record than the Giants BUT that was obviously the case in 2008 as well. Of course the big question now is: Will history repeat itself? Or will the Patriots prove they can beat the Giants once and for all?

I'm not rooting for any team. Just like Ellen DeGeneres, both my teams weren't able to make it to the Superbowl [Saints & Packers...well, Colts as well but Peyton didn't play all season so...'nuff said]. I'm sure the husband will watch the game. I probably will just be popping in to see the half time show and the commercials. I get stressed out during the game even if I'm not rooting for anyone so I choose to sit it out. So there....

Any guess as to who is going to win this one???

Here's Wishing ALL to...

glitter-graphics.com

Hopefully it's going to be a nice weekend around here. The weather this week has been pretty good. It starts a bit chilly but it warms up quite a bit in the afternoon ~ in the 80s mostly. I overheard the the weather man mentioned we may have some rain during the weekend but I am hoping that won't happen.

An Early Book Lover

This is the little one when she was 3 years old. I proudly took a picture of her on the day she finished reading her 'real book'. Before this one she read other books but they're a lot thinner. This one was almost 200 pages that's why I just had to take a picture of her with the book. Just like a lot of other kids, she started showing interest in books because of the colorful pictures. Her love for reading probably started from that and partly because we made sure she actually tried to read the books we got her.

Fortunately, her love of books still continues up to this day. We got her a kindle so she now buys mostly kindle ebooks because of it. I still get her the regular books if it's not available in kindle yet. But for the most part, we use her kindle to purchase the books she wants to read. It's a bit cheaper and faster to get ~ as soon as you buy it ~ and we don't need extra space in the house to store them. I have to say Kindle is the way to go if you have a little one who likes to read as much as ours do.

Afraid of Heights

Sadly that seems to be the case with me sometimes. I am not deathly afraid of it though. I can go on high places but I just need some time to get used to it before I can actually look down. The part that I hate the most probably is the going up part especially if the stairs or ladders are not very sturdy. To prove my point, I can hardly climb on metal step stools without my knees shaking. Yes, it's that bad sometimes. I have to ask hubby to hold the poor step stool the first time I used it just to make sure there is some kind of a support system there...as if the 4 legs that the stool has aren't enough, eh? The bad thing is...I need one in order to reach for a lot of things in our cupboards! Ugh!

Anyway, this 'fear' of mine is not only when I'm ON the ladder. I also get scared whenever he or the little one gets on a ladder. I don't know why but I start feeling that sensation on my legs [like they're about to buckle] whenever I see him climbing on a ladder. It's kinda' pathetic actually because I'm talking about a 5-step or 8-step ladder here. It would probably be more acceptable if the ladder has 50 steps on it. Oh well...I guess we all have one silly fear, don't we? Or do we?

Walk the Dog!

No, not a real dog but a yo-yo. Well, a yo-yo being walked like a dog. Hmmm...confusing, eh> Let me explain.

Several years ago there was this contest on TV back home where contestants showed different tricks using an ordinary yo-yo and 'walk the dog' was probably one of the first trick they showed. It was very easy that even I could do it when I was younger [and still knew how to use a yo-yo]. Haha! Anyway, the little one got interested in yo-yos a few months ago. Since it's not a very expensive toy, Dad readily got her one the next day she mentioned she likes to learn how to use a it. I "thought" I still knew how to do 'walk the dog' so I told her I'll show her how to do it.

What do you know! Shame! Embarassment! Just a couple of words to describe how I felt when I failed to even hold the yo-yo up and down the string long enough to even do anything. What to do? I went to You Tube and searched for yo-yo tricks! Plenty came up of course. Videos of kids and adults alike showing their extra ordinary talent in using a yomega maverick yo-yo to show tricks I didn't even know can be done using this very simple toy. And I thought my 'walking the dog' trick was mind boggling! I guess not, eh? Good thing thing there are plenty of videos to divert her attention. She forgot [I think] that I was supposed to show her my mind boggling 'walk the dog' trick. Ha!

Fat Chefs Part Deux!

Last week, I posted about the Chef figurines we got for our kitchen overhead counter [or is it planter?]. I posted a picture of them here. I mentioned in the post that we have more of them on the counter by the sink but I didn't have a picture then. Now I do...& that's them! Three Fat Chefs staring right at me while I'm washing dishes, fruits, veggies & what nots. Aren' they cute? The one holding oranges should be holding a bread or something but we couldn't find fake bread so the oranges will do for now. The middle one is supposed to be holding a wine bottle. We don't drink wine so we looked for a decorative bottle that it can hold instead and voila! A silver bottle it is! The third one...no idea what should be on his baskets. But the little one decided to put the salt & pepper shakers in the back and the toothpick holder in front! Nice, eh?

That's our Chefs in the house! Can they cook? I have no idea...but they're certainly dressed like they could!

Puzzled

That's the simplest way to put it, I guess. It's about my nephew who finished 2 courses that not a a lot of people can do. Currently, he is a licensed medical doctor and holds a master's degree in special education. A few months ago he decided to take his specialization...or so I thought. I guess not because he decided against it after a couple of months only. As of lately, he has decided to work at a hospital near their home so he can stay with his family while working AND studying...again. Yes, he wants to study again. This time around he wants to take early childhood education. But how can he do that when he's working at the same time? Take it online. Online early childhood education degree is definitely the way to go for him since he can take it anytime in the comfort of home. I'm sure he will be able to pull it off just like when he was able to take medicine and his masters degree at the same time. My only question right now is: When is he going to stop going to school and just concentrate in putting what he actually finished already to use? I honestly think he should pause [at least from going to school] and take a deep breath and just start applying what he has learned. If after a year or two of that and he still has that need to go back to school then he should probably go back to school again. Right now...he should just STOP already!

Flooding

I grew up in a place where flooding is a regular occurence. We have a river at the back of our house, maybe a couple hundred meters away from our house itself, and it swells up everytime it rains hard. It's the reason why our old house was built on stilts. It's only in the recent years that my family [brothers] decided to have a ground floor in their houses. One of my brothers said that all the houses there now have a ground floor and a second floor with some having a third floor just because flooding is still a sad reality. As a matter of fact they just had probably the worst flood ever. It's the worst because unlike before water didn't subside as quickly so they had to use something like a WeGotPumps.com gusher pump to get rid of the water in a lot of the houses. Fortunately for my brothers, they didn't have to pump out the water because it went back in the river behind our house. The houses on the other side of the road weren't that lucky so they needed to use a gusher pump to do that for them. Luckily, our local government has the equipment to do so or they would have had flood water in their houses longer than they wanted.

This is a picture I *think* I saw in FB or was it Yahoo? I can't remember where I saw it...uh oh. Hubby liked it so I copied it.

What do you see FIRST when you look at it? Do you see the face first, maybe the boy or the houses?

Missing Out

One of my brothers turned the big 5-0 last weekend. He had a big party to celebrate and being thousands of miles of away, I of course missed it. It's life now so I have come to accept it already. The same is true with hubby. I think he and one of his brothers are the only ones in this state. Anyway, one of their nieces got married recently. We got an invite in the mail but we weren't able to make it. The wedding took place while they were trying to beat a deadline for a big job and there was no way we could have attended. The wedding became some kind of a family reunion because it was held when most of his siblings were available to meet up. The mother of the bride a.k.a. hubby's older sister sent us pictures taken by a philadelphia wedding photographer and it was obvious they all had a blast during the special occasion. We really wanted to be there but it wasn't possible at that time. We promised my sister in law we'll visit them as soon as time permits. When? That seems to be the question of day...year, maybe?

A Hobby?

I used to have one...but not anymore. LOL. Actually, I never really had 'real hobby'. I would do something for a while then move on to the next. I can't remember doing something long enough to call it a hobby. Hubby has some hobbies. He's not able to do it as much as he wants to because he's busy at work but if given a chance, I'm sure he will do that a lot. He has one weird 'hobby'[?] though...and he doesn't know I call it a hobby. Ha! He likes to browse online for properties...mostly in the Philippines. It's like his relaxation. He'd be watching TV laying down with his netbook on his chest surfing for properties. The properties he looks at are very similar to the southern shores real estate properties. He likes to look at properties that are in the country...wooded, forest like areas. Much like the Philippines. He really wants to retire there someday. I guess he's just trying to see what kind of houses/properties are available if and when that time comes, eh?

New Laptop

It may sound odd to some people but my brothers [2 of them actually] back home don't know how to use the computer. The older one just doesn't see the need for it so he won't be bothered by it. Not even by his kids who each has a laptop of their own. The younger one felt the same until recently. Thanks to his son who is 8 years old, my brother doesn't have a choice but to learn how to use one or he won't be able to monitor his son when he uses one. He recently got a new laptop and so far the only thing my brother knows how to do online is to download youtube videos. It's funny how excited he sounded when he realized he can actually watch our little one's videos online because of You Tube. He said that's all they did when they first got on it. He still has a long way to go since that's all [watching videos] he's been doing online but he'll get there. I just hope he's able to keep an eye on his son while he is online. I don't want that little boy coming across the not so good stuff online...especially not at that age.