Coffee Break 1.33

My husband and I, on the way to work, usually spend the time praying and talking. But in going home from the office, my husband sometimes plays something from his iPod Video. We (more of I) would sing along with the music or watch different concerts: JLo, Josh Groban, Beyonce, Kenny Loggins, etc. etc.

The other day he played a concert I was not familiar with: Crosby, Stills and Nash (and Young). Syempre oldies na 'to so hindi ko alam. Pero I was surprised that I did know at least one song by this group pala. It's the perfect song (Our House) for my blog (House Everything). I know the song coz my Tito Norby would play this over and over again on the piano when I was young (I wonder how Tito Norby is now). Anyway, here are the lyrics. I just want to share it.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Our House Lyrics

I'll light the fire

You put the flowers in the vase

That you bought today

Staring at the fire

For hours and hours

While I listen to you

Play your love songs

All night long for me

Only for me

Come to me now

And rest your head for just five minutes

Everything is good

Such a cozy room

The windows are illuminated

By the sunshine through them

Fiery gems for you

Only for you

Our house is a very, very fine house

With two cats in the yard

Life used to be so hard

Now everything is easy

'Cause of you

And our la,la,la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la.....

Our house is a very, very fine house

With two cats in the yard

Life used to be so hard

Now everything is easy

'Cause of you

I'll light the fire

And you place the flowers in the jar

That you bought today

:-)

My Husband, the Cook

Here's one of the reasons why I'm glad I married him....

HE CAN COOK!

He made this delicious Shanghai rice last weekend. I was so full after the meal that I could barely stand up. LOL.

Fill In

Thank you Jhona for this tag! I really enjoyed it.

Players: ALPHA / YEN / MICH /JHONA / VINA / YOUR BLOG WHERE YOU POSTED THIS

My roommate and I once: Talked all night about boys, work and Personal Loans.
Never in my life have I: tried bungee-jumping (is my spelling correct?)
High school was: fun and memorable
When I’m nervous: my heart beats so fast
My hair: is long and thick
When I was 5: I had a classmate who died of heart complications. I still remember how we contributed for his funeral since his parents didn't have much money. Unsecured Personal Loans were not known to many back then. Now loans can be availed of quickly and at very good rates.
When I turn my head left: I can see my black office bag.
Ugrh!I should be: starting on my Shanghai project now
By this time next year: We probably should have baby #2 already. That's why I am already looking for possible loan facilities at Accommodative Financial Solutions since I already foresee the big cost of my next caesarean operation. But before that, I guess I have to get pregnant first. LOL.
My favorite aunt is: in Illinois (hello Tita Josie!)
I have a hard time understanding: Shakespeare, though I love his works
You know I like you if: I make an effort to know you better.
My ideal breakfast is: fried rice and jumbo hotdogs.
If you visit my home town: You'll have a breath of fresh air.
If you spend the night at my house: I'll let you sleep in the extra room.
The animal I would like to see flying besides birds: Elephants?
I shouldn’t have been: spending too much.
Last night I: was awake till late since Zoe is sick.
A better name for me would be: I like my name as it is.
I’ve been told I look like: Mylene Dizon? Maybe when I was younger.
If I could have any car, it would be: a BMW.

Passing this tag to Ai and Jenny!

Baby Steps, Baby Steps...

If I were to list my major weakness, it would probably be procrastination.

I guess I have a tendency to put off or delay work because I set impossibly high standards. Knowing that the task simply cannot be done, I then attempt to ignore the work or put if off indefinitely. They I justify my inability to act by self-accusation - 'I'm a lazy bum' only locks me deeper into my pattern of procrastination.

The only answer is really just to force myself by act of will and put on blinders concerning other possible projects and take two baby steps. If baby steps don't get me started, then I'll try again tomorrow.

Start Your Own Business - Avail of a Business Loan

I was watching TV the other day and came across a program which featured this year's major franchising event to happen this September. This called my attention since we have been thinking of business possibilities to augment our current family income. The plan is to avail of a Business Loan to facilitate the initial stages of the business. Anyway, in the event, there will be an exhibit of the available franchises. They will showcase their new and promising brands from the food, retail and service industries. For the benefit of the public, they are making available the information about the different products, services, systems and technologies for those on the lookout for business opportunities, particularly for small to medium enterprises. Indeed, this is very good news for aspiring entrepreneurs! This is also an opportunity to have a face to face meeting with the franchisers themselves and learn a lot from their own experiences.

I will definitely tell my husband about this event and also about our initial plans to available Business Loans online. My husband won't believe how easy it these days to get Unsecured Business Loans. Approval is fast and the rates are so competitively low. All we need to do is to click on their website for more information.

LVs and My Husband

On the way home last night, I was conversing with my husband about the series of mails in n@w about LVs. I told him that the thread on LVs never seems to end and just won't die. He said, "Di nga ba, ang tagal-tagal na nilang pinag-uusapan na hindi pa patay si LVs (ELVIS). Everywhere in the world, not only in Graceland, there are still people who say that he is still alive." HAHAHAHA!

I love my husband! :-P

P.S. Hey, it's not as if my hubby is eng-eng or clue-less about LVs. He's just trying to be funny. On the side, I think he's intentionally trying to change the topic also to avoid being 'trapped' into buying me one. Haha. Don't worry hun, I'm okay with what I have now. :-)

Missing the Pool

Hunny and I were talking the other day about going out of town for the weekend. A few years back, we wouldn't have to think twice about it because almost automatically we would be heading straight to my sister-in-law's nice farm house in Batangas. Their two-storey house there includes a nice shaded swimming pool with the view of fascinating Taal Lake. We've had great times there just spending time with the rest of the family, enjoying the water and eating the fresh catch from the nearby lake. Not only do we get to spend quality time with family, we also get to relax and unwind too. However, since our brother-in-law passed away suddenly two years ago, the family had to give up the house and transfer back to the city. It would be impractical for them to be staying in a nice big house when there's only my sister-in-law and niece living there. It's such a sad thing. Now, nobody lives in that house anymore which means that we can't go there any time we wish to. In fact, the whole property is already up for sale. They just need to maintain the swimming pool and get a regular Pool Cleaning service for it to be still saleable in the market.

This got us thinking that when we do get to save a lot in the future, we would buy ourselves a similar type of vacation house so that any time we want to relax and unwind, we would have our own private house with a pool in the countryside.

Isn't It Amazing...

Isn't it amazing how quickly things can be done if we make up our mind to do them? I discovered that the 15 minute slots take care of several things in a row. If anybody had told me when I started to really deep clean our house what could be done in 5 minutes, I would have thought they were daffy.

Many times, we let things get bigger in our mind than they really are. We think, Oh, I can't start on that now. It'd take too long. And then when we get to it, we find it wasn't the monster we thought. It has made keeping the house in order and organized so much easier. I'd have never started if I hadn't have tried the timer. After that it was so easy just to keep going.

Now, some deep down hard cleaning jobs do take longer. We all know that. Like washing down the walls or shampooing the carpet, big jobs take longer but we know that, so we schedule them for when we know we will have the time to finish once we start.

Having the 15-minute limit way has kept many people on the road to recovery.

(Adapted from Smart Organizing by Sandro Felton)

Getting Ready to Move

Today, Monday, is a holiday. After going to early morning mass with hubby and Zoe, my uncle gave us a surprise visit and invited us to join them to visit my other cousin who is preparing to leave for the U.S. this September. He told us that my cousin if sort of getting rid of some stuff from their house, like some plastic wares, garden decor and curtain rods, and we may probably be interested to buy some of it. And so we agreed and headed off in no time to my cousin's house with my daughter Zoe in tow.

When we got there, we found the house looking half-empty. Many of the usual stuff which we were familiar with were already put away and placed in boxes. My cousin has been packing most of their stuff and getting ready to move already. She is leaving soon and wants to make sure that the stuff which will not be so useful be either sold or given away. But the house still looks good even if nobody lives there anymore. It still has those doors and windows decorated with wrought iron and beautiful marbled floors.

Anyway, going back to the things that were being put away, the first thing I fancied were their window blinds and curtain rods. You see, I've been considering getting something similar for our family room. I want to convert that whole room into a playroom for Zoe with work table for myself. That room has a three paneled window which needs some window treatment. Actually, those windows are the main highlight of the room since the other side of the room is an open area overlooking the living room. But I guess those curtain rods and window blinds of my aunt won't fit our family room since there were custom-made for their windows. The good thing is at least I got an idea on what to do with our family room windows. I'll just browse through wroughtironhaven.com for more ideas and products.

How Was Your Weekend?

Hi everyone! Vacation's over and it's back to work for most of us. I've got a ton of work today so just want to drop in first over here and then come back only maybe later this evening.

See you guys around. Thanks for visiting my site! Take care y'all!

You Deserve A Dream Bathroom

Every homeowner deserves to have a great bathroom but one that does not necessarily break the bank. Yes, building or renovating your bathroom into a place that you are actually comfortable and efficient need not cost as much as you imagined.

In my trips abroad and in regularly watching TV, I always found myself dreaming of living in a house with a wonderful set of bathroom fixtures that are elegant and expensive-looking. Thus, when my parents announced some years ago that we demolishing our 30-year old bungalow and building a bigger house with provisions for 4 bathrooms, I was ecstatic and giddy with excitement. We have always dreamed of having a toilet and bath for each bedroom in the house with the master's bedroom having its own installed water heater and a luxurious bathtub!

At the beginning of our renovation, we looked up on designs online and found incredible styles and deals at Fairmont designs. I also helped out my parents choose the color palette and layout for every bathroom plus the brands of the fixtures. It was my parent's decision to leave the design and choosing our the bathroom fixtures to us and not to the contractor because the contractor's tendency is just to buy the regular and low-quality fixtures in order to save them cost. So at the very start, we made it clear that we shall deduct the cost of furniture and fixtures from the overall contract and shoulder the cost ourselves.

As the work on the house progressed, we kept on researching online and making several trips to the home improvement stores checking out the prices of the different major fixtures which we will need. Our list includes shopping for nice and timeless blanco sinks, durable shower heads, faucets with knobs for either hot and cold water, lavatories for the smaller bathrooms, toto toilets with matching bidet, a water heater and a big bathtub. The installation of the fixtures was mainly DIY by my Dad except for the installation of the pressurized water heater and the bathtub which needed the expertise of a licensed electrician and a great plumber. For everything else, my Dad was able enough to do the job.

After a few months of construction, our house was finally finished. The bathrooms were definitely an attraction for our visitors during the house warming party. We got a lot of wow's and raves from our family and friends who literally toured every niche and nook of the house. But you know what's the best thing about all of these, it's not the praise you get from other people but really the comfort and enjoyment you experience by actually using the bathroom. It's great and I can actually stay there for hours and hours if I only had the time.

Delayed Post - John and Yoko

Together with my boss and two other officemates, we trooped to Greenbelt 5 one time to dine at John and Yoko. It was my officemate's treat for her officer promotion. (Thanks Sha!)

Anyway, it was my first time to eat there. I had high expectations since my boss was raving about the place.

I found out that this resto has a cosmopolitan Japanese style. The place is quite dim and eclectic but comfy. Just make sure you arrive early for lunch since the place is not so big and gets packed during lunch!

The food is alright (though I'm really more of the traditional-Japanese food lover). Make sure you ask for their free hot tea coz they said it was good! The price is relatively cheap too (our bill totaled to around 1,800 for 4 people). Not bad, right?

The verdict - will definitely go back there - with the husband in tow the next time. :-)

Ideas, Anyone?

Long weekends seem to be the perfect opportunity for families to bond together. It's a time to be with the kids and get that much needed rest. Every parent would like to bring their kids to places and experience new things, right? However, the common challenge now is to do all of these things without breaking the bank.

With this coming long weekend, I want to make sure that we take advantage of the 'free' time to spend more time with Zoe and Hubby. I typed in my search in RankNoodle.com and initially got several ideas. Actually, I'm thinking of going out of town but I'm really trying not to spend so much money now because there are still other priorities now. So I made another Search and found the several other ideas on how to enjoy family on a budget. Boy, did I get so many creative ideas! Really, making use of a good Search Engine is indeed been very helpful.

Now let me just gather my ideas now and I'm sure we're headed for a great weekend!

I Want A New Camera!

Zoe has been learning to pose infront of the camera lately. Too bad I still haven't bought for myself a new camera since my 'old' one got lost in Australia.

So during the times I couldn't borrow my husband's camera, Zoe and I tinker with my Nokia N73 ME.

Sorry for the blurry pics but I love Zoe's facial expressions here.

I hope to be able to purchase a new camera online soon using my paypal money! (Still couldn't decide what model to buy and how to ship it here.)

Last Day Before the Long Weekend

I'm really looking forward to the long weekend! I've been working so hard and I definitely need to recharge and get some rest.

Anyway, before the long weekend begins tomorrow, there's still another long day at work today. I have to finish so many things! There's just too much paper work to be done and I'm so lagging behind schedule. I just had my lunch and in awhile will be off again for another meeting with the HR Department to discuss the never ending issues regarding our Expatriates.

Our meeting this afternoon will focus on the relocation and housing allowance. You see, relocating to a foreign country definitely not a breeze. Since the assignment will be on a long term basis, oftentimes, the company has to get the services of a Moving company to transfer the things of the employee from his originating country to his new country of assignment. Even if you say that the person should only bring the essentials, it's still so hard not get Moving Companies to do that task for you. Plus since our Expatriates will all be coming mainly from Manila to another country, International movers will be assigned to ship his stuff to the country where he will be assigned for at least two years.

New Breakfast Essentials

I'm starting on my diet this week. LOL.

Part of the plan is to avoid eating rice in the morning (as I've been doing for years) and exchange it for these equally yummy morning treats!

Pan de sal instead of rice:



Creamy egg spread instead of viand:



Yum-yum!

To Travel Again or Not?

I've been busy browsing thru promo rates in the site of Cebu Pacific the whole morning. I'm thinking if I can still sneak in another out of the country trip with hubby this year for our second honeymoon.

The problem is that my vacation leaves for the year have all been used up already and I don't know if my boss will allow to go on another leave soon. But I really want to go! I just can't seem to push the confirmation button! What do I do?!

Job Opening

My officemate has just been transfered to another department and we are currently on a look out for candidates for the vacated position. As a requirement, we are looking for a graduate of any business or accounting course from a reputable university, preferably female. Previous working experience is not necessary.

In its regular hiring procedure, our company always gives priority to the integrity of its new employees. Since we are in the banking industry, honesty and trust are the main foundations of the business. Thus, our usual hiring process includes a Background Check of the person to be hired. It is very important that the person does not have any negative findings based on the Criminal Check done by the company. By conducting a Criminal Background Check, the company somehow ensures the integrity and credibility of the persons to be hired. I remember that during my time when I was hired and was under probationary status, there were some investigators who even went to place near our residence to ask about my reputation and that of my family. Being my first time to be employed, I was surprised to hear about this kind of investigation being done on me. Thinking about it, I guess, it really is very essential part of the hiring process of the the company.

Is Your Computer Clean?

I found this interesting article about cleaning your computer. True, we always try to clean up and organize our computer files but often neglect wiping and cleaning our computer. Tsk. Tsk.

So how do you properly clean your computer? Read all about it below. Original article is here.

How to Clean Your Computer and Why It's Important

By Michael Toth
published Jul 24, 2008

Most of you probably spend hours organizing your computer's files and folders, but never even think to clean your computer's hardware. This is a big mistake and can lead to serious problems later on. This article explains both how to clean your computer properly and why it's such an important task.

Why You Should Clean Your Computer

Everybody has antivirus and firewall programs to prevent the loss of data that would occur if a virus were to take over. However, very few of you likely protect against the hardware failure resulting from neglecting to clean your computer. If you don't clean your computer regularly, dust will begin to accumulate on the interior hardware. Not only can this cause serious damage to your hard drive, motherboard, and disc drives, it can also lead to overheating, lowering the performance of your RAM. When your computer overheats, it not only causes frustrating restarts, but also leads to permanent hardware damage. This can seriously lower the life of your hard drive, potentially resulting in a large loss of data. Furthermore, when you don't clean your computer dust accumulates on your interior fans, which can lead to costly replacements. Now that you know all the reasons why to clean your computer, it's time to learn how to clean it properly.

How to Clean Your Computer Properly

Learning to clean your computer properly is very important, as cleaning incorrectly can easily cause damage to your hardware.

Gathering Necessary Materials to Clean Your Computer

The first thing you need in order to clean your computer is a vacuum. You should either use a handheld vacuum or one with a hose or extended nozzle, as these allow the easiest access into the tight spaces. Second, you should purchase a can of air. This is a pressurized spray that helps you to easily remove dust from your hardware without direct contact. Finally, you will also need several paper towels to clean your computer.

How to Clean Your Computer Properly

Before you start to clean your computer, you will need to open the case. There are usually a few screws either on the side or on the back of the case, allowing for easy access to the inside. After you've removed the screws, you can begin to clean your computer.

You should start by vacuuming any loose dust that has accumulated at the bottom or on any of the hardware. After you've vacuumed any loose dust, you should use the canned air to blow any remaining dust from the wires and hardware, vacuuming it before it settles. Finally, you should use the paper towels to carefully wipe the wires, sides, and bottom until they are completely free of dust.

How Often Should You Clean Your Computer?

Determining how often to clean your computer depends on several factors. If your case were placed on the floor, you would need to clean your computer more often than if it were in a drawer or on a desk. If you had any pets whose hair could get into the computer, you would also need to clean more often. You should check regularly to see whether it's time to clean your computer. Be sure to clean your computer at the very least twice per year for ideal performance.

Looking For Apartment Rates

As part of my job as a Compensation and Benefits Officer in the bank, I have been trying to prepare a proposal, in coordination with some people, on the housing allowance of our Expatriates to be assigned all over the world where our bank offices are found. Since we initially could only rely on the inputs given to us by the different Country Managers of each of the branches, I have using the useful tools in roomster.net to be able to survey the current rental rates for rooms and apartments in key cities abroad. It's been a great help to my job and I'm glad I encountered this on the net.

Shampoo and Soap Tag

Thanks Vannie for this tag!

::start copy::

Some Rules:
1. You can include in the post a picture of your favorite soap or the soap you are currently using.
2. Please post this in the blog which you will add in the "blogs that joined." You can add unlimitted number of blogs as long as this tag is posted there.
3. Please link back to the person who tagged you and pass this tag to many of your friends.
4. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.
5. Remember to come back here at DANCING IN MIDLIFE TUNE (pls. don’t change this link) and leave the exact post url so I can add you to the master list as this is one way to help increase our rankings and improve our Technorati Authority. :)
6. Tag as many friends as you can.

BLOGS THAT JOINED: Dancing in Midlife Tune - Aeirins Collections - BiznHoney - Kidd Designs - On A Wonderful Day Like Today - House Everything - YOUR BLOG

Soap Questions:
1. Favorite Soap: Dove
2. Facial Soap: She Uemura Oil Cleanser
3. Body Soap: Dove or Safeguard
4. Intimate Soap: Lactacyd
5. Laundy Soap: Tide
6. Undies Soap: Perla
7. Baby Soap: Johnson's
8. Favorite Shampoo: Pantene
9. Favorite Conditoner: Pantene
10. Baby Shampoo: Johnson's

::End Copy::

School Work

To be honest, I've always loved school. Maybe it was because of the big influence of my parents who are both educators. My father was a school principal for a long time in an all-boys school. After that, he became a college professor. Now, he is a full-time writer who offers writing service for a publisher. My mom was also a true-blue English and Science teacher who taught since she was 20 years old until the year she died at 58 years old.

As a child of teachers, you might think that it was easy for me since my parents assisted me with my school work. On the contrary, my sister and I actually had to exert extra effort to study, asking for help only when we could no longer understand the lessons in school. Our parents encouraged us to discover the joy of learning and not allowing us to be spoon-fed. Of course, we could have taken an easier way and buy essay when we had to submit a difficult paper. Obtaining a custom writing service can now be so easy with the advent of the internet and electronic mail. However, during that time, we had to do our own research, type our own papers, do our own assignments, make time to practice our math problems and make sure we are ready to recite in class the next day. It was the harder route to getting those medals at the end of the school year but it was all worth it. Plus it made our parents very proud.

Bedroom Tips

photocredit: http://www.idealhomemagazine.co.uk/

Haha! Catchy title ain't? Got you there. Seriously, just want to share some tips for your bedroom. :-)

1. As you jump out of bed, immediately make your bed. It helps avoid the temptation of going back to bed. If you're married, set a rule that between you and your husband, the last one out should make the bed. Remember, because the bed is the largest piece of furniture in the room, a messy bed is like casting a bad shadow over your bedroom. On the contrary, a neat bed illumines the whole room plus the whole house! The fact that you cared enough to fix your bed sets off a good tone for the day.

2. Keep a dish or tray for your everyday jewelry. In our case, we have glass ring holder which can hold our wedding rings (and my engagement ring) and other jewerly which we wear the whole day and take off at night, i.e. necklace with my medal scapular, earrings, bracelets, etc. Of course, for other jewelry, make sure you have a jewelry box that stored securely somewhere in the room or in the safe! Just make sure that they are not tangled together.



3. Rotate your mattress regularly so it will wear evenly and last longer.

4. Use only a few set of sheets which you can alternately use at least every two weeks. This saves on having to store so many linens in the closet.

Hope this helps!

6 Layers

Tagged by Jenny. Thanks sis!

::START::

RULES:
1. Add your blog/s to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. It’s okey if you only post this questions in one blog as long as you answer them.
2. Get back to Me {YEN} and I’ll add your blogs to the master’s list HERE! Note that you are not ALLOWED to change the link of the here.
3. Copy from Start to End.
4. Tag as many friends online you know. But you don’t need to be tag in order to join.

Copy this Participants List:
Me and Mine Creative in Me For the LOVE of Food Little Peanut Pea in a Pod It’s Where the HEART Is Around the World SugarMagnolias I Am Mommy All About The Memories Enchanted Play Just My Scrap Whats Up Simply Me Kitchen Deelite A Mothers Horizon In Depth A Life in Bloom Because Life is a Blessing Digiscraptology Joys iN life Life is What we Make it Photo Blog Dancing in Midlife Tune The Callalily Space Jenny and Belle / SAHMdom and Beyond / On A Wonderful Day Like Today / House Everything

LAYER ONE:

Name: Vina
Birth date: May 13
Birthplace: Manila, Philippines
Current Location: Makati, Philippines
Eye Color: Black
Hair Color: Black
Righty or Lefty: Lefty!

LAYER TWO:
Your heritage: Pinoy
The shoes you wore today: Black High-heeled Slingbacks
Your weakness: worry-wart
Your fears: death
Your perfect pizza: Manager's Choice
Goal you’d like to achieve in life: to be a saint

LAYER THREE:
Your most overused phrase on AIM: duh
Your first waking thoughts: Thank you God for another day
Your best physical feature: eyes
Your most missed memory: Family dinners with my parents and sister

LAYER FOUR:
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald’s or Burger King: McDonald's
Single or group dates: single
Adidas or Nike: Nike definitely
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Nestea
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee

LAYER FIVE
A famous person, dead or alive, would you interview: Pope John Paul II
Movie can you watch and say the lines along with the actors: Do Barney movies count?
Name two of your passions in life : home-making and singing! :0)
Least favorite time of day: morning rush hour

LAYER SIX
Use hairspray or gel: None
Your favorite meal: spaghetti!
Color is the inside of your head when you close your eyes: orange
Listen to classical music: Yeah, I love it
Ever said LOL in real life without thinking about it: Yup I think so

::END::

Passing this tag to Jhona and Pat!

Identity Protection from Lifelock.com

Have you sometimes wondered why you often get junk and spam mail in your email inbox? Do you sometimes receive unwanted emails and phone calls from unfamiliar people offering you different products and even loan facilities from banks which you don't even transact with? How come they seem to have more information about you that you would like them to have? How come they sometimes know all your credit information? Don't you find that a bit scary?

As valuable as your honor, your identity is something that you always have to protect for it would always be attached to your life, your family, your properties and even your money. That is why everyone should be extra careful to safeguard their transactions wherever they go, be it online or what. Especially in this age of the internet and ecommerce, you may never know to whom your identity and personal information may be passed on to. In some cases, these valuable information may land in the wrong hands and they may be able to use it to defraud you or hack your personal accounts.

This is where identity protection from lifelock.com comes in. The guarantee that lifelock gives is very important. So if your interested, you can take advantage of getting the lifelock promotion code and you may even get a discount from your subscription.

Letting Go

It's funny that when you hold garage sales, you seem to get that feeling of "attachment" to your things especially when your expensive clothes and shoes which you used to own and love are being taken away by the neighbor's helpers and drivers at only 10-50 pesos each. Yikes! As if you still want to hold on to that shirt or that blouse, thinking that maybe you are still able to wear it again someday. It's crazy....

However, I think that is only the initial feeling. When you enjoy yourself selling your goods, earn some money and see the manang labandera return to your garage sale the next day already wearing your clothes, then, it's definitely worth it. :-)

Dressing Up Your Windows

One of the important elements of home interior design is the way you dress up your windows. In our case, our living room and dining room windows play a big part in the design of our house. We have big French windows for both rooms. Since our home is facing the east, we wake up to rays and light of the morning sun. It's great actually and energy-saving. However, towards mid-morning, the direct light that hits our windows can make the temperature hot inside the house. Thus, we just had to put on good curtains or blinds to deflect the heat.

Actually, I have been looking at Bali Blinds for our living room and dining room windows. I heard that they can best for control the light and, in effect, also the heat that enters the room. These will be perfect for the purpose.

For the bedroom, which is at the back of the house, facing the opposite side or towards the direction of the sunset, the heat can be terribly bad during mid-afternoons. Although there are several trees at our backyard, I think putting up nice Hunter Douglas Blinds can be a good alternative to protect the room from the scouring heat. We can also buy some Bali Cellular Shades for the more homey look.

What do you think?

Half Way Thru the Long Weekend

Well, it's Aug. 17 and we're already past half-way thru the long weekend. It's just been too busy around here to really be able to sleep more and rest more. Among other things, my mother in law has not been well and had to be confined in the cardiovascular unit in UST hospital. We're really praying very hard for her quick recovery. Help on prayers pls!

We also have an ongoing rummage sale at home till Monday. My two friends and I merged our goods together. All those shoes, bags and clothes which we used to drool over and use are now being let go and put away for a good cause. :-) Pics to follow!

Card Games with Friends

My friends and I had just finished our second day of our rummage sale at home for our neighborhood friends. So far it has been a success. The sister and brother of my friend brought more stuff to sell. These include old toys, bags, clothes and other knick-knacks. My friend's sister even brought several packs of brand new playing cards which she wanted to sell at a very, very low price. When one of our customers saw the playing cards, he offered to sell it to his friends. I heard that he has a regular group who likes to play poker every weekend nights as a past time. They have been on this regular thing for years already but never seem to get bored with the games or with each other more especially if their poker games mean good food and drinks. In fact, each one of them has already been much-improved in their poker strategy because of playing for such a long time.

Anyway, he got around 5 decks of cards to show to his friends and was able to sell it all. Wow! It looks like these men are really card game fanatics. And so I told him that he can actually play online poker on the other days that they don't meet. You'll never know, this might be a way for him to outsmart everybody in the game.

Oody's Night

As I have blogged here, I was craving for Phat Thai and Bagoong Rice (with some maasim na green mangoes on the side!) last Friday so I asked my hubby to have dinner with me in Greenbelt 3 at Oody's Restaurant.

Here are our orders:

Bagoong Rice (mukhang kulang for 2 people at first but found out that it's just right):

Phad Thai Noodles (yummy but contained everything that's bad for my uric acid level harhar):

Chicken Pandan (I was surprised to find this in the appetizer section of the menu coz it's already viand for me):

Grilled pork with Asparagus (don't know what's it called in Thai but it's masarap):

For dessert, we just filled ourselves with the view of MARC NELSON (in the white shirt) and ROVILSON FERNANDEZ (partly hidden) plus another guy who were seated right infront of us!!!! How sweet is that?! Haha! Ang gagwapo! LOL.

Lastly, here's MR. & MRS. BUSOG of Oody's Greenbelt (hehehe):

Love it!

GPS Navigation Anyone?

As we have seen in futuristic shows on TV or in the movies, they have characters who use powerful units that are yet to be invented. These movie and TV producers can really be creative! For example, they can make robots which transform into jets or vice versa. There are camera devices hidden in clothing and accessories. There also talking cars which move even without a driver and the one that sorts of talks to the driver and gives him direction. And speaking of talking cars, this is now more or less a reality today with a GPS navigation system.

Because of recent technological advancement, it is now possible these days to get road directions and also locate vehicles across the country. With a GPS Insight vehicle tracking system, companies and offices can now more easily locate their vehicles and track them. As a result of this innovative system which costs from only $1.50 to $2.00 per day per vehicle, any company can now save a significant amount on fuel and logistics costs.

And maybe you're thinking this is so hard to install and use. Then think again. This piece of innovation is so easy to install that anybody can install it himself. And as you use it, you can readily refer to the GPS Insight support wiki for customers. All you need to do is to access their website. You can also find recent updates and product innovations and ideas from the Blog for GPS vehicle tracking found this their site.

So if you know of companies and industries which you think needs this kind of state of the art technology, you can easily refer them to GPS Insight and they are more than willing to arrange for a product demonstration. And even by just browsing through their website, you can view countless product demos and you literally make you want to purchase a unit now.

What's also good about this company is that they also offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the service. And if you place your order today and pay through your credit card, they can readily send you the product and ship it the same day with no time to lose. And if you bulk buy for a certain amount, the company may even offer you a lease option for their units. And if you are looking for a specific function for the GPS navigation system, there is a way to incorporate some enhancements to your package. All you need to do is to inform them of your needs and specifications. It's a easy as that. I think that's great!

Flower Arrangement Tutorial

Fresh flowers never fails brightens up a home. That's why I always make it a point to buy fresh flowers for the house.

Here's the flower arrangement we have in the dining table for this week:

This flower arrangement consists of some orchids and some stems of green plant (c/o our garden). Plus I got some green stones (bought from Divi) to accentuate the bottom part of the vase. The arrangement is just simple coz I still don't know how create complicated styles. Haha. That's why I think I need to learn more about flower arrangement!

Anyway, in case you're interested to join me and learn more about flower arrangement, Home Matters will be conducting a flower arrangement session for ladies soon. Here are the details:

Sat., August 23, 2008
3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Amorsolo East, Rockwell
Makati City
Fee: P 400 (for materials and snacks)

You're invited!

Money-Related Tips

During hard times like these days, even middle class families are sometimes having problems managing their finances and keeping up to date with their regular bills and payables. There will always be rising college tuition fees, gasoline prices, amortization costs and many other expenses in the future. Even with a regular job, it still is a matter of good money management (and organizations skills too) to be able to hurdle all these challenges in life.

Here are some financial-related and organization tips that I can share with you:

1. Keep all financial-related papers (budget, bills, current living expenses, bank statements, credit card information, savings and debt, insurance, etc.) on the top drawer so that it's easy to get.

2. On check balancing, try to do it the day the checks come in so that it takes a few minutes and you don't have to sweat on checks. Better yet, maximize the potential of your online banking facility to monitor your current accounts.

3. Make sure you properly file all papers regarding big purchases, warranties, instructional manuals to help you avoid paying for unnecessary costs of repairs.

4. If you are someone who is in urgent need of fast cash for emergency or unexpected situations, then I suggest you can easily apply online for a Payday Advance. Rather than walking in to just any money lender just around the corner, wait for long lines and pay exorbitant interest rates, I guess this is your better option. The loan facility is quite easy to acquire. You can apply from any where you are, be it your home or in the office. It offers State Licensed Cash Advances.

5. If you are the traditional type, you can start a budget notebook where you can list down every single purchase you make for the day. Then towards the end of the week, you will realize the things you had used your money for and then make resolutions to improve your expense attitude.

Weekly Round-up

Here's my week's round-up for my house-related projects:

1. Weeded out old clothes, shoes and bags for my rummage sale next week.

2. Checked out ref inventory for the menu next week -- still have enough supplies!

3. Cooked chicken and mushroom spaghetti (with the help of Ate Nilda).

4. Bought 3 magazines for some updates on housekeeping.

5. Pulled out my Filipino recipe book and housekeeping management book from the bodega (will read it again and I hope it helps!)

6. Changed Zoe's crib mattresses.

7. Bought some household supplies from SM Hypermart.

8. Pulled out some plastic wrap supplies from the storage - I plan to wrap my new books with plastic soon!

9. Bought a book about having your 2nd pregnancy (wow, only in preparation lang naman).

10. Arranged the pantry (found out the we still have 2 months supply of coffee and creamer!!!)

Random Conversations

I was riding the car the other night with my husband and we were shuffling and playing songs from his new iPod Video (it was so enjoyable!). Anyway, since the trip back home was quite a long one with the traffic and all, we just talked a lot and sang to the music.

Among other things, we discussed some trivia related to his iPod playlist. Oh boy, my husband knows a lot of trivia and I'm quite impressed. He knows different stories about the singers and the songs. For example, we talked about the many famous artists and songwriters who had experienced Drug Treatment at least once in their lifetime. Lately in the news, there had been many talks about Amy Winehouse getting entering a Drug Rehab Center before and then recently getting sick. And then since the song from the OST of Music and Lyrics came playing, my husband pointed out to me too that even the stars of that movie namely Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant were also in the celebrity headlines before regarding their going into Drug Rehab. Even our favorite James Taylor and the Beatles allegedly had their own battles with drugs in their younger days. And so, I thought to myself, would the masters of classical music be drug-addicted too if there were to live a hundred years after their time? I hope not. :-)

I Hate These Chores

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This meme is pretty simple.
Here are the rules:
1.) List down the household chores you hate and why. Do you think you can survive without helpers and nannies?
2.) Copy the image.
3.) Tag as many girlfriends you want, the daddies and hubbies can also join.
4.) Add your blog’s link in the domesticated divas linky love. You can add all your blogs.
5.) Leave ME a comment and I’ll add you up in the masterlist.

DOMESTICATED DIVAS: Living the Healthy Life / Sripe&Yellow / Vanity Kit / Mind Bubbles / Something Purple / Em’s Detour / Me,Myself+2 / Kidd Designs / FunFierceFabulous / Ozzy’s Mom / Insights from the Grocery Cart / Living A’ La Mode / God’s Best Gift / MommyAllehs Up-Close And Personal / My Precious Niche / Just Me.. Eds / Eds Mommy Life / Aggie Shoots Aggie Scraps / All Kinds of Me Stuff / The Salad Caper / Winding Creek Circle / InkBabyStudios / Joys in Life / Me and Mine / Little Peanut / Creative in Me/ Pea in a Pod / Sugarmagnolias / Notable Bistro / Around the World / I am Mommy / All About The Memories / Enchanted Play / In Depth / A Housewife’s Journal / Life Together Starts / As We Face Forever / My Happy Place /Iam Dzoi / Suburban Sass / To the Moon and Back / Raising Sandy / Walk on Red / All Things Me / Because Life Is Fun / Feels Like Home / Growing up with Bea / My life… my own piece of heaven / Around the World / Hobbies and Such / My life in this Wonderful World /My Online World / / My Virtual Closet / My Views On My So Called Life / The Real Deal The Real Me / Changing Lanes/ Pit Stop/ Around the World / The Fountain Of Happiness / The Joy Of Life Forever / Love Is / Phtographic Memories / My life in this Wonderful World /My Online World / Me and Mine / Little Peanut / Creative in Me/ Pea in a Pod / Sugarmagnolias / Notable Bistro / Around the World / My Colorful World / In This Game of Life / My Family is my Life / Shopaholic Ties The Knot / My Wonderful Life / On A Wonderful Day Like Today / House Everything / YOUR BLOG HERE
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Honestly, I think every chore is worth loving however hard since it's a service for our family (look at the title and aim of my blog!). But if you ask me the chores that I am having a hard time doing, it would probably be ironing because I find this chore very tedious. That is why I have all the respect in the world toward our "Ate" in the house (Ate Nilda). She has been there for the past so many years to help us around the house, doing most of the cooking and the ironing for the whole family. Thank you, Ate Nilds.

Thanks too to Pat and Jhona for sending me this tag.
:-)

Rummaging

I spent almost the whole afternoon at home yesterday just rummaging through the closets in my old 'dalaga' room looking for stuff that I can let go of already. You see, my friend agreed to hold a garage sale with me next week. Apparently, she is also letting go of a lot of stuff and things she has accumulated through the years. We both thought the extra money and extra space would benefit us. Besides, it's a better way to spend the afternoon and even better than getting a fast payday loan to bridge for our current rising expenses.

The result? I collected 2 big suitcases filled with my old clothes, a bunch on clothes hanging on an extra rack, about 10 pairs or more of old shoes (my feet grew by 2 inches after giving birth) and a big box full of bags and other stuff. And take note, these are just my stuff from my former room. Hahaha. I still have a another stack of clothes in my current closet and some stuff from Zoe and hubby.

I also found some boxes which we packed during our house construction a few years back that were never opened since. I guess things became so busy for us with my mom's passing away and my getting married, giving birth and everything. Imagine, it's just now that I got to open all of it. Lo and behold, I didn't realize that there were still lots of important documents and reference books pala that were just stacked there in the living room of our smaller house at the back. Anyway, at least it's already opened and sorted. The next step now is to find cabinets where we can put all those books and paper files. Ha! I'm beginning to foresee my former room (now Yaya Cat's room) looking like a library soon for I sorted out around 300 different books from the boxes. Oh dear. What should I do??!!!

Protection For Your Family

I have a personal friend who had recently built a new and bigger house for her family in the suburbs. Since she had very small children whom she often leaves with a caregiver during the day while she goes to the business district to work, she and her husband thought of installing a 4 camera home surveillance system on the critical places in their house. Their house is very big and made up of 4 levels, thus, it is a must for them that they make sure that wherever they are, their kids are always treated well and the household help and driver are all doing their respective jobs properly while they are away.

In this day and age, it is a must to get the proper security and protection for your home and family. Especially for parents who are obliged to work in their offices and cannot always be present to monitor the happenings at home at all times, Sun Security has come up with wonderful products that can address our need for round-the-clock security. They are an innovative company that offers consumers world-wide various security products which include surveillance cameras for the office as well as for the home. Their products are ingenious, very popular and very easy to install. By using their 4 camera security systems, you can monitor from your very own PC the activities in the various parts of your home. Good thing about this, you feel at ease and have peace of mind.

Laundry Tips

photocredit: http://www.kidsdeserveart.com/

To be totally honest, I never liked washing clothes much less ironing them. But here are some tips on doing the laundry and I hope it helps!

1. Separate colors and whites into different laundry loads.

2. Separate chlorine-bleachable light and white clothes from those that cannot be bleached if you intend to add chlorine bleach to the wash.

3. Most wash loads do quite well in cold or warm water but heavy soils on cottons respond better to a hot-water wash.

4. Separate very dirty clothes that should be pre-soaked or washed in hot water from lightly soiled or temperature sensitive items.

5. Separate sweatshirts, new towels and products made from chenille yarn which tend to generate lint from permanent press clothes and corduroys which attract lint.

6. As you sort wash loads, remember to empty pockets and close zippers to prevent snagging.

7. To keep socks from getting lost, place them at the bottom of the washing machine tub or wash them in a mesh bag.

8. Do not overload your dryer. Better yet, air-dry to conserve on electricity costs.

(adapted from "How To Clean Practically Anything" book).

Happily Ever After or Not?

I just finished talking to a good friend who is in need of Marriage Family Counseling. She got married the same year as I did and now, sad to say, she and her husband are having problems but she is still hoping and praying that all will be resolved. That is why is was asking me to refer to her a Marriage Counselor to whom they can both go to seek advice.

Before getting married, you need to keep both eyes open and then after getting married, both eyes closed. I think this is one of the many secrets on How to Save your Marriage. You have to know the person you are about to marry very well. You need to assess if the character of this person gets along with your character and that it passes your standards of how a good husband or wife should be. Remember, you can not any more change the other person. Once you are married, you are married forever. All you have to do is to accept the person as he or she is. That person is already your better-half. You need to be understanding and learn to love the person unconditionally. Until you learn to do so, then you may not live happily ever after.

Clothes-Handling Plan

Whhaaa! This is the current state of my closet (hides face). My bad! I really got to clean this up. My husband's space is much much organized so I should be ashamed. Plus look~ my cabinet rod is close to falling off!

Here's the master plan:

1. Weed non-clothing out of closet.
2. Weed out old and underused clothes.
3. Distribute off-season wear and outerwear to appropriate places.
4. Execute spruce-up projects.
5. Distribute clothes into drawers or closets.
6. Organize drawers by access.
7. Organize hanging clothes by clothing types.
8. Add new closet space if necessary.
9. Organize accessories.
10. Cull clothes twice a year at the change of seasons.

Got Pets?

Do you have a pet? In our house, we have a pet dog. She's named Kikay and she's a cross-breed of Japanese spitz and Maltese. She's an adorable little dog and we've had her for about four years now.

Actually, I think it helps for kids to own pets. Kikay, in particular, is Francis' pet. We got him a pet in order for him to learn how to take responsibility for others. He needs to make sure that she is well-fed, regularly allowed to run around the plaza as her exercise, and regularly bathed and given natural flea control to avoid getting dog fleas. So far, Francis has made sure that Kikay has been a fun, clean and flea-free dog. So far, so good.

Went to the Grocery and Bought These...

Yeah, got myself a pair of black flats from the grocery!!!

After visiting my Mom this morning, we headed to the nearby grocery for a quick stop.

The plan was just to buy some veggies, fish and pork for the weekly menu ~~~ only to be able to shop for shoes! Hahaha. Been looking for nice black and comfy flat shoes that should fit my big feet perfectly ~~ have already been to Glorietta, Serendra, Eastwood, Landmark, Robinson's and Greenhills but to no avail. It's either the sizes are alanganin or there's no available size at all. So, who would have thought I'll be able to grab these in SM Hypermart in Taytay! And it's on sale at 50% off. :-)

I'm a Diva!

Thanks Kathycot!

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The button is a Flair created by Litzie!

Rule:
1. Post the button in your blog.
2. Please link back the person that gave the button to you.
3. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.
4. You need to pass the button to at least 4 people that you think are also divas in any way.
5. Come back here and leave your post url so you can be added to the master list and help increase our rankings.
6. Please add to the list below a reason why you love being online all the time.

Online Divas:
1. All Merging in the Path of My Life
2. My Big Picture
3. Walk on Red with Me
4. Supah MaMa Wannabe
5. The Stories of a Now SAHM
6. When Mom Speaks
7. Kathycot Cooking With a Twist
8. On A Wonderful Day Like Today
9. House Everything

Reasons why I am an Online Diva:
1. Litzie - It helps me pass time when I’m at work and don’t have any patient to attend to.
2. Kathycot - Because it serves as my past time plus it gives me moolah for my kapricho's
3. Vina - I love being online because I get to "meet" new friends and learn new things.

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Snag this everyone!

Starting Anew

My husband and I went out on a gimmick last Saturday night. Actually it was a going-away / farewell party at Gerry's Grill for one of his good friends in the office who decided to resign from work. During the party, I asked the wife of guy who resigned about their plans for the future. She confided to me that they are just going to put up a business while waiting for their immigration papers to be approved by the Australian embassy. Good for them for they availed of a Small Business Loan to start their business. And since the business that they are thinking of is definitely a good idea, it's not going to be hard for them to pay their Small Business Financing.

Wish my husband and I will also have to courage someday to build our own business like this couple. Meantime, I would need to research and plan out our business possibilities and the different Small Business Loans that we can take advantage of.

Jazz Up Your Crocs

I found this great buy in SM Department Store while I was waiting for a friend in Mall of Asia last Tuesday. Got to buy 2 packs of jibbitz at 50 pesos a pack (5 pcs per pack). What I did was to mix it up with my other original jibbitz which we really got from Crocs. :-P O di ba nakatipid!

Zoe loves it! As if her shoes now gives her magical powers! She's so active!