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Showing posts from April, 2013

Visiting Family

I like to visit family as well as the other way around. Hubby's sister called us last night to let us know that her daughter and her family are coming down here for a visit. Unfortunately, this is a busy season for hubby's work. That means we won't be able to spend as much time as we want to with them. Hubby would love to take them around but since that's not possible right now they might just rent something like a limo service st pete fl to pick them up from the airport and to take them around on days we couldn't do it with them. Hubby's sister won't be joining them because of health reasons but we're hoping that if and when she comes down here for a visit, we will be able to take her around instead of letting her rent a car or a limo service to go around.

Phone Problems = Unexpected Day-Off

That about sums up my Friday. TGIF indeed, eh? I wasn't even aware there was something wrong with my phone this morning. Periodically I would check if my work phone has a dial tone by pressing the speaker phone. I did that this morning. What do you know...no dial tone. I checked to see if it's plugged and everything. It looks fine. I tried calling it using the other phone and it rang. Still there was no dial tone. I didn't worry much about it anymore since it seems to be receiving calls fine. Not so fast. I got my first call...I picked up. I couldn't hear the other end. That's when I decided to call the phone company. To make the long story short, I got an unexpected day off today. The phone lines are still on and off. At first it was only one line. Later in the day, the other one also started acting up...while I was on the phone with the husband. Every once in a while I check them and there are times when they're working. Right now, they're not. We were

Field Trips

I miss taking field trips! I used to go on regular field or educational trips with my students when I was still actively teaching . It's fun to go on field trips that's why I miss it. I was able to see different places that I probably wouldn't visit on my own. But it's not all fun. The planning stage usually took me months to finish. I had to make sure I chose places which are educational as well as interesting so the students would both learn and enjoy. Aside from looking for places, I also had to rent something similar to  charter bus phoenix to go to our destinations. Students enjoy riding on chartered buses on these trips because they get to bond as a class outside of the school premises. At present, I still go on 'field trips'...with my little one and the husband. It's very important for us to take her places since I homeschool her. I make sure that everytime we visit places, she learns something that she won't learn from books. It's still fu

Gloomy to Start Off the Week...

At least I don't have to water the plants. See, I'm trying to see the bright side of things even if it's not as bright here because Mr. Sun decided to take a nap. My Monday started off with a load of laundry in the washer. I loaded my first batch even before having breakfast because I wanted to start early. We were a bit busy over the weekend so my usual chores on the weekend were put on hold. Nothing too pressing that's why I was able to put them off until today. Our original plan this past weekend was to take another road trip to GA. The hubby wants to check out something there. He forgot that I had an appointment over the weekend that's why he made the plans to take that trip. We'd probably go this weekend or not...depends on the weather I guess. We're looking into some rainy days ahead and the coming weekend is no exception.  I, on the other hand, am hoping it's going to clear up so we can do some yard work this coming weekend instead of taking

Season Confusion

That's what we are having at the moment. It's supposed to be Spring now. Pleasant temperatures, maybe up to the mid to higher 70s as the hottest. Instead we started today with a humid low 70s with an expected high in the upper 80s. Hello? Isn't that like summer? I sure wish we own one of the miami waterfront homes  that I see in our local news here so all I have to do is step outside to get the cool breeze from the water. Maybe someday. I like warm weather as compared to the cold ones. This kind of weather is still fine with me. What I don't like is the drastic change. Why? Because it triggers my worst allergies. I can be fine one minute but the moment I step outside and that warm air hits me, then I'm doomed because it almost always brings on an allergy fit. Anyway, I can't really complain because we're actually having the better part of the bargain. I heard there are still some places in the country that are still dealing with snow. I just got off the ph

A Little Bit Taller...

Our "little one" celebrated another birthday a few days ago. As expected she was very excited days before the day itself. She had a reminder posted on our small chalkboard in the kitchen...as if we're going to forget about the birthday of our one and only, eh? Anyway, we had the usual cake/ice cream on the day itself. Then on the weekend, we went to the frozen yogurt store that she likes so much. That's basically how we celebrated her birthday. Regardless how we celebrate it, she's one happy birthday girl. That's just how she is. Happy go lucky and satisfied with whatever. When I asked her the day after her birthday if she feels any different now that she's a year older, she gave me an answer that I wish I can say when I'm asked how I feel whenever I celebrate a birthday. Yep, she said she feels "a little bit taller". Ha! And a little bit taller she is actually because in the picture that Dad took of us, she's taller than me now. I gues

Eating Healthy

Diabetes is in my family's genes. My maternal grandmother had it and so did my mother. I saw first hand the effects of diabetes to my mother's health so I know that it's something I should take seriously. My mother was stubborn. Even after losing most of her eyesight because of this sickness, she wouldn't give up eating most of her favorite foods. Sadly, her being stubborn didn't help her at all. Since I know that diabetes is hereditary, I took it upon myself to learn more about the disease and how I can avoid having it myself. Obviously, diet plays a big role so I've been trying to watch what I eat as much as possible. I know that low carb products are good since carbohydrates turn into sugar once it's in our body so we try to use those products as much as we can. For somebody like me who grew up eating carbohydrates all my life, it's quite hard to follow through. But I have to do what I have to do. It's a good thing there are a lot of low carb pro

Senseless

That's one of the many things that came to mind when I first heard about the Boston tragedy yesterday. I cannot and probably will never understand why someone would do that. Innocent people are the victims. Not some criminals. I was in some kind of a funk the last several days. I guess it's a result of being paranoid. Jumping to conclusions without any evidence. As a result, I almost dug a hole for myself just to mope. It's all MY DOING. No one knew what's going on in my head but me. Then yesterday's event 'woke' me up. Shook me. So now I'm trying to get out of the funk I got myself in. Realizing it's not just about me. A lot of other people are in a much worse situation than me. I can only pray that those affected by this senseless event will get the justice that they deserve. I'm not sure what this world has come to. What I know is it's getting to be a scary place to live in. Honestly, I am afraid not for myself anymore but for the futu

Cleaning House

err...blog, I mean. Chat Box...Gone! Yep, I decided to remove the chat box. It seems all that I see there are spam messages so I chose to just shut it... down I mean... since I have no control on what can be posted there. I have also been going through the links on my friends' list. I did this a few months back but due to time constraint, I couldn't go through the whole list. During that first attempt, I deleted some broken links...blogs that are no longer in existence. I'm not sure how far I've gone down the list so I have to start over again. As I was going down the links, I realized that aside from those blogs that no longer exist, there are also some blogs that are INACTIVE. Meaning...they haven't been updated for years. I came across a few that were last updated in 2008. Is it safe to say that those bloggers are no longer interested in those blogs and that I should 'probably' remove them from my list? I feel bad taking the links off my list but I

Down Memory Lane

Recently, one of my former dorm mates posted pictures of our dorm at its present state. I must stay that it still looks the same, especially the ladies dorm. The biggest renovation is the conversion of the old gymnasium into a transient hotel. But the chapel as well as my home for 5 years look exactly the same. I haven't been back there since I checked out permanently but I miss the place very much. It was indeed a home away from home for us who stayed there. The only thing that I didn't like when I was still living in that dorm [for 5 years] was the long walk I had to take everyday because there was no other way to get there unless you drive your own car or hire a taxi cab. It's about 4 blocks away from the main road so I had to trek that almost everyday come shine or rain or flood for that matter. The only thing that made the trek fun was passing by a small Catholic store along the way that sold a lot of religious things. I think I went in that store at least once a we

Retiring at 40

Is that even possible? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. And no, I'm not talking about myself because I'm already '35' and I don't think 5 years is enough to save up for retirement. Haha.....did I just have a typo somewhere in that statement???? LOL... Actually I saw this segment in a morning show earlier. It's about this 30-year old man who really has a plan to retire at the ripe age of 40. How is he going to do it? Well, he started doing it already. He's been saving up a storm and from the report, he already has about $100K. I didn't catch how long he saved that up. What I know is he has about 10 years to save enough to get him through the few several decades of his natural life. Right now, he's living with the bare necessities I think. He also doesn't have a family of his own and says that he's not planning in having kids. I only caught bits and pieces of the segment but I wish him luck. Everybody's free to plan for his or

Five Years

That's how long we've been living in this house. It's been good for the most part. But as we stay longer in it, we can't help but re-evaluate the choices we made when we were having the house built. Admittedly, we weren't able to have everything we wanted for this house  because of budget constraint. But one of the things we wish we chose to use is ICF or insulated concrete form. I'm not really sure if our builder offered the ICF in their custom houses but if not, we could have upgraded just like what we did with the other things like the double pane windows. Now that I've read some about it, I know that the ICF would have been a great way to cut energy cost in the long run since it can result to additional insulating energy efficiency. I noticed that our electric bills have been inching up as the years go by and I'm positive that insulation has a lot to do with it. As a matter of fact, my husband is thinking of putting more insulation around the hous

My Allergy Woes

STUFFY! That's me basically on a daily basis. My allergy medicine usually takes care of it but there are days when it's just not sufficient. One of those days is today...and yesterday...probably tomorrow as well. I thought at first that I may have caught the virus that the husband brought home from his trip. But I'm not that convinced that's the case anymore because I don't feel as if I have the virus. I have stuffy nose alright as well as a bit of a sore throat but that's about it. I don't feel ill at all...which is usually what happens whenever I'm about to get a cold. I however feel like I'm going to get a cough...which I hate more than the cold. I hate that it attacks at night when I'm supposed to be sleeping. Sometimes I don't even know I coughed throughout the night until I wake the next morning with a sore in my throat...and a comment from my husband that I was coughing. Weird but it happens to me. I've had allergies since I was

Project: Renovation

With the passing of both the hubby's step-grandparents, the house that they lived in during the last several years of their lives is now left to their son who is not at all interested in staying there for good. So when we were there last time, he mentioned that he may have some work done in the house then sell it and asked my husband's opinion on what to get fixed around the house that might increase its value. The house is an older house. The molding styles used are, uhmm, out of style for one. The walls are scratched and the carpeting needs either deep cleaning or replaced. After looking around the house, hub's told his uncle that the house needs a bunch of work done if he wants to put it in the market. He didn't say anything after that but the last we heard, he's still living in the house. He'd probably wait it out and see how staying there will pan out.

Not Again!

It looks like I may have fallen victim...yet again! I hope not. But by the way I'm feeling, I think I have. This time I caught it here in the house. Cold virus has found a new home in me. The man of the house nursed it for a week and now that he's almost okay, I may be the next one. I was afraid that would be the case because it's kinda' impossible to shield myself from it if one of my 2 housemates has it. I touch everything they touch. I try my hardest so I won't be the next victim but it's not enough. I'm taking the cold medicine ASAP and I'm hoping it will do the trick. I don't feel that 'yucky' yet. I just feel some burning sensation at the back of my throat at the moment. Maybe it's not even the cold virus. Maybe it's just severe allergy that's been acting up for the past several days. Oh well...whatever it is it's making me feel a wee bit out of it. Aside from that, things are doing okay around here. The weather is clo

Food, food and More Food

The husband was nursing a nasty cold last week. I guess he picked it up during his recent trip and brought it home to 'nurse'. But he's able to kick it out just in time for us to go and see a festival sponsored by Filipino associations around here. As expected there was Filipino food everywhere. To be honest, that's the main reason why I wanted to go there anyway. The place was packed with people as expected and the lines to the food stalls were long. I was able to try some noodles while hubby tried pork barbecue only. As usual, majority of the meat are so fatty that I balked in getting any even if I was drooling. I don't want to have a holter test done on one day so I try to avoid anything fatty especially the very obvious ones. The little one settled for an 'empanada' which she loves. All in all, the affair was a success judging from the people that were there yesterday. Hubby only had one complain, there was not much entertainment for men like him to enj

Whatta' Pain!

Pointing fingers...that's what most of these companies like to do. And that's the reason why what could possibly be a simple problem that needs a simple fix is blown out of proportion which in turn could cause us...the customers a lot of "pain". Not physical pain but some other kinds. My head hurts just thinking about it....hmmm...I guess it's physical pain after all. One thing is sure...it's not OUR fault. Unfortunately, that's also the problem with these companies, they don't like to admit the problem is on their end. They like the easy way out when a customer like me would call them to find out what the problem is. Not their fault! The first thing they would say is: I don't see any problem on our end. Did you call the other company? Ugh! This is the cycle that went on and on. For more of this story, please read here . I don't feel like typing it all over again because the aggravation keeps coming back whenever I think about it. Anyway, i