What a busy month it has been. I just wish I could clone myself many times over to do some of my pending projects. Today being Sunday was spent at home relaxing though. I even had my afternoon nap. We attended the Sunday Mass at 10:00AM, then Dad bought some wood purlins as preparation for tomorrow’s work on the roofing. Yep, it will be another busy week ahead. Dad is really busy nowadays since we’re preparing our house for the coming of my other siblings for the holidays. The other day we were at Robinsons but seeing him sleepy, we decided to go home and let him rest instead of staying up late at the mall for the midnight sale. Well, at least he did some window shopping at Handyman for some of his favorite tools and work holding equipment.
Gift-giving this Christmas? I don’t know about that. The more I think about it, the more I feel… sad. 
I know people usually give gifts during holidays but with all my pending projects and the fewer ventures I have nowadays, I need a financial miracle to get me through the coming holidays. I don’t even know if I can fulfill my own shopping list for some gift-giving to family and friends, and that includes my godchildren. Yup, I really am low on budget nowadays.
If you just tell your family and friends that your gift to them will be just your ardent love, your honesty, your fervent prayers for their good health and happiness, your loyal presence and faithfulness, your immeasurable friendship, etcetera…, would they be happy and contented with that? 
*ninang is Filipino word for godmother
Kids nowadays are getting to be fashionable. No thanks to the TV and popular kiddie characters such as Barbie, Bratz , Looney Tunes and other kiddie merchandise. My little cousin even creates her own fashion statement. One time she went to church insisting on wearing an overcoat even if the weather was hot that day. Oh well, parents you better watch out for those kiddie commercials since they influence a lot of what’s on your kiddo’s mind. Peer pressure is also a big influence. Yesterday at the mall, I saw a group of teens in skimpy shorts, dangling earrings and flipflops romping around. (more…)
How do parents bring up some touchy or important topics to their kids? The thought of this brings me back to summer camps, such as our community’s youth camp in Cebu where the delegates stayed overnight in a resort. This kind of activity is an attraction to the youth and is a good way for retreats and recollections since they can enjoy the outdoors and being with nature and not feel that bored or feel like they are being lectured. This is a hint for the parents: if you want to tell your kiddos something really important without sounding so authoritative… you can let their defenses down by taking them out in an adventure. It’s one of those bonding activities between parents and kids.
Music lovers and band members, here’s a site that could be your chance to be finally recognized not just locally but worldwide as well. WorldSings.com is a unique social networking site for music lovers. Those who are band members can post music videos of their original songs, and community members get to vote for their favorites. The recognition doesn’t stop there. The Top 20 songs will be part of an annual competition, a Worldsings Live concert to be held at Las Vegas with USD1,000,000 as cash prize. Members also get a chance to win prizes. WorldSings is the Global Home for Music and Friends, a community of members and artists with social networking features such as blogs, bulletins, photos, videos, events, polls, and more. The concept behind WorldSings is global peace through music. It’s a way for members to share their music and gain friends in the process. For bands and artists who are just starting out in their music career, being a member of WorldSings can be a stepping stone to future success.
I’ve just done watching Episode 10 of Heroes Season 3 and it’s getting to be really interesting. The main focus on this episode is the eclipse which had a diminishing effect on those who had their special powers. With the heroes no longer possessing any of their special abilities (Nathan can’t fly, Sylar aka Gabriel can’t move things with his hands, Claire can’t self-heal, etc.), it’s now a challenge for them to go on with their respective mission and how to handle the situation they’re stuck with.
The episode got me into thinking about the normal abilities humans possess. Each of us have our talents and abilities, though we’re not superheroes but we can do more than what we think we can, if only we are more focused and confident, and know how to unleash our inner power and strength. The important thing is to connect to God’s infinite power by faith and prayer and then miracles happen.
Anyway, I’m guessing the eclipse effect is just temporary and once it’s over the heroes’ powers would return to them or could even be stronger. Hmmm…let’s see about that on the next episode.
Ours is a family of geniuses, well not really the Einstein type, but we’re a genius-looking brood. Okay, let me explain. All of us in the family wear eyeglasses. Yup! No 20/20 vision for us. Thankfully, I have my contact lenses so I am not wearing some uncomfortable eyeglasses nowadays. Nearsightedness runs in our family genes, but other factors such as not caring much for the eyes could be part of what contributed to our myopic vision. We’ve all heard our parents admonish us not to go near the monitor when watching TV or not to read without proper lighting or to eat carrots to have healthy and sharp eyes.
Regarding watching TV very close to the screen, it’s best to explain to kids so they will be aware of its harmful effects to the eyes and not sit or stand right next to the screen. With little C being fond of watching Barney nowadays, we just put the center table next to the tv stand so she can’t go near the screen. Another reason why we put an “obstacle” in front of the TV is to prevent her from accessing the front panel of the DVD player. I really wonder why kids love going near the screen? Tsk…if only they understand that watching close to the TV is harmful to their vision.
Yup, recently I’ve been sleeping late so I could focus more on my work. You see during the day, there are many distractions and personally I prefer working with none of those so I can focus and get the job done faster.
Working late and sleeping late…this is how I compensate with the lost time spent for daytime unrelated work activities. I’m just thankful that I have no problems with sleeping and I can easily drift to dreamland as soon as I hit the sack. No need of luxurious fluffy sheets set in sturdy metal bed frames, just my simple comfortable bed would do.
Regarding work distractions, it’s best to just be patient and discerning about them. Life offers surprises and we need to be more flexible with whatever it throws at our desk each day.
Sometimes I would be curious about diet pills and what their ingredients are that would result to weight loss or affect a person’s appetite. For instance, one such fat burner is Ephadrasil hardcore which is an appetite suppressant mood enhancing pill.
The ingredients contain fat burning stimulants which are not good for those who are easily affected with caffeine since stimulants usually cause the jitters. Those sensitive to caffeine and other stimulants can try other diet pills then. For those who think they can do fine with stimulants, and would like to take Ephedrasil Hardcore as their fat burner, it’s still best to be cautious and take the minimum dosage at the start.
If so, please include me in your list please! I would be happy to receive some Amazon books for Christmas. Just kidding… but who doesn’t like to receive gifts this Christmas especially the kids? I recently chatted with a friend and he said kids are getting too demanding nowadays, they actually tell you what they want. Gone are the days when kids are contented with whatever simple gifts you give them. Nowadays, they are straightforward with what they feel and like for the coming holiday season.
With just few weeks to go before the big day, I still have not made my gift list. The truth is, I really am low in finances these days. I am actually thinking of just making some handmade gifts instead of buying them, but I need to be creative about that and it also takes so much time to do arts and crafts, and unfortunately I don’t have a lot of extra hours these days. Sigh…I am excited about Christmas but I just wish the gift-giving aspect is not such a big deal.
I just received something interesting in my email inbox. It was a forwarded article sent to one of the yahoogroups I’ve been subscribed to. I don’t usually read forwarded articles, since most of them are chain messages anyway, but this one got my attention. I don’t know how effective or true this method is? As a summary, the article, as written by a Chinese Professor Irene Liu, proposed blood letting as an unconventional yet effective method for saving somebody who suffers from stroke.
When stroke strikes, the capillaries in the brain will gradually burst.
When a stroke occurs, stay calm. No matter where the victim is, do not move him/her. Because, if moved, the capillaries will burst. Help the victim to sit up where he/she is to prevent him/her from falling over again and then the blood letting can begin. If you have in your home an injection syringe that would be the best. Otherwise, a sewing needle or a straight pin will do. 1. Place the needle/pin over fire to sterilize it and then use it to prick the tip of all 10 fingers. 2. There are no specific acupuncture points, just prick about an mm from the fingernail. 3. Prick till blood comes out. 4. If blood does not start to drip, then squeeze with your fingers. 5. When all 10 digits are bleeding, wait a few minutes then the victim will regain consciousness. 6. If the victim’s mouth is crooked, then pull on his ears until they are red. 7. Then prick each earlobe twice until two drops of blood comes from each earlobe. After a few minutes the victim should regain consciousness. Wait till the victim regains his normal state without any abnormal symptoms then take him to the hospital. Otherwise, if he was taken in the ambulance in a hurry to the hospital, the bumpy trip will cause all the capillaries in his brain to burst.
I wonder how other doctors think about the blood letting method? Is blood letting a way of releasing the pressure that causes the bursting of the capillaries in the brain that leads to a stroke?
Yeah… I really do. I miss learning from my passive business mentors Robert Kiyosaki on financial freedom and Stephen Covey on personal and time management. I miss reading spiritual insights from Mother Teresa especially about service and love for God and others especially the poor. I miss learning more writing tips from The Pen Commandments such as being considerate about your readers. I miss reading my copy of Get in Great Shape in 21 Days, which doesn’t discuss diet pills but diet tips, beauty regimen and prescribed exercise sets. I miss my personal library collection of books where I get one and place on my bedside table, ready to be read before sleeping time. I also miss jotting down what I have learned, and making personal notes about new insights I’ve realized from these books. Sigh. Something really needs to be done with the way things are these days.
After a series of birthdays in the family this week, I could feel myself gaining weight again. Every morning while thinking about what to eat for breakfast, I would have happily chosen just two slices of bread and hot chocolate, but with all the leftovers in the refrigerator, you just can’t say no to food that has to be eaten so it wouldn’t get spoiled. Just looking at that big billboard advertising one of those top rated diet pills sometimes make me think about trying them but I would still stick to losing weight the natural way with exercise and proper diet.
It may not be that noticeable, but something’s new with my iGoogle page. Aside from getting familiar with the Oscar de la Renta theme which I’ve been using for a long time now, I noticed that there are now curved frames for each widget, and on the left side is a Home tab which is actually a list of the widgets being used. I tried to delete the Home tab since I’m not using it anyway and it just takes up space, but to my horror, all my widgets were also deleted. Good thing, there’s an undo option which I immediately clicked. Whew! There are some new iGoogle widgets that can be added but I will have a look at them when I have the time. Recently, I added the Google Trends widget to keep myself updated about hot searches in Google during the day.
Our family didn’t really expect something good to happen for us this coming holiday season – all of us will be here! It’s such a rare occasion for our family to be together since my brothers and sisters are based in other parts of the globe and usually their schedules for coming here don’t always synchronize with each other. The youngest in the family was already here for a vacation earlier this year, so we didn’t expect her to be back again for another vacation since that would require more financial resources, but God is so good, and He always provides. We’re looking forward for a fun yet simple family reunion soon.
Windows XP is my working environment in my ECS Desknote. This is where I store all the photos of my travels in different places and countries. I got this weird experience regarding Windows XP when the screen suddenly turned blue or what others call the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. There’s nothing that I could do, but power off the computer.
The computer started to run the scandisks and check disk automatically which I have experienced normally before. The horrible thing followed when after the error checks it restarted on its own and run the error checks again. Things ended up in blue screen again and after which it restarted again with all the error checks. Oh, it was a vicious cycle. It seemed nothing can stop this madness. I got tired of it though and rested my Desknote.
The bad news was little did I know that the hard disk had some physical errors. All my data were lost due to that automatic scandisk and checkdisk thing which works only for broken file system, but not for physical disk errors. I should have known earlier and maybe I still could have retrieved my data. All the photos of my travels are gone. I was reminded of the song from Marie Digby - Unfold (2008) “Stupid for You”. This is one of those crazy data loss horror stories to remember by. Sometimes we seem to get stupid with these techie things.
Check out Sumo Backup’s blog where they feature data loss horror stories to amuse you or simply make you say, “awww…that was bad!” You can also contribute your own story, that is if you ever had your data lost before – how did it happen and what was your reaction? Tell us all about it! You’re welcome to send in your video to Sumo Backup, more details about the submission can be read in their blog (http://blog.sumobackup.com).
Yup it sure is! We will be having another party in the evening and we really need some help with the food preparation. Unfortunately, the people we’ve been expecting to help us just can’t come, so it’s just me and mom – from chopping the veggies and ingredients, to cooking, preparing the plates, etc. I’ll be posting the food pics soon. For now, it’s work work work at the kitchen! Ciao!
People have different inclinations, and their choices in books, movies, recreation, hobbies, occupation, games, to mention some, can be anything from nice to nasty, good to bad, active to passive, interesting to boring…what else? But who can say whether it’s one or the other? Like in the choice of games; naturally the female opts for the girlie stuff, ever since a baby, the toys are dolls, miniature houses and furniture, frilly dresses, or the like. The male, since boyhood, goes for toy guns, cars, or highly active and challenging activities. Some also dabbles on drinking, gambling, or womanizing?
But the sober and sensible ones just while away their extra time on games which may be online for those who are technically inclined. But many also go for table games like table tennis, poker, or plain card games. There is an interesting site I’ve come across which has many choices of poker tables, blackjack tables, roulette tables, and all kinds of other accessories for such related games. There are even slot machines? Oh, of course these are not my type of games, but I’m sure for those who are inclined they are beautiful and they could be proud owners of these furniture and accessories.
Businesses with car fleets used by their employees, mostly handling the product sales, need this aspect of the business to be managed efficiently, for the good both of the employer and the employee. The business owner may opt for the assistance of experts on this particular concern of a reimbursement program, such as car allowance for these employees.
Cost control is a main consideration for businesses, but not to sacrifice employee morale and satisfaction. What good would be cost control if many employees would just leave the company for their side is not well taken cared of. Employee retention and productivity are therefore not to be brushed aside, but should be part of the objectives of a good program. Customized reports should be easily accessed and generated for quick use of the client company.
It’s good to know that there are companies offering vehicle reimbursement programs to businessmen with mobile employees. This would help both the business and the owner a lot, not to mention the car-driving employee himself. For employees who are always on the go, being on a car allowance program lets them focus more on getting more clients and producing better sales results than being concerned with transportation worries.
My baby niece Caity is growing up really fast! Last night, Dad, Mom and I, we were crowding over the webcam watching her walk back and forth in their living room. It’s good that my sis made a website for her at happycaity.com which chronicles her daily growth – her first steps, her climbing up and down the bed, eating her favorite fruits, sitting in her favorite chair while babbling or those animated clips showing her reading books. She’s such a lovable and happy baby, always curious to learn about new things. I bet she will be happy to ride on those kids wagons when she grows up! The family is also praying for them to be here with us this Christmas, God willing.
Photo credits: happycaity.com
One of the things I miss these days are those moments spent in the kitchen when I’m measuring flour, sugar or cocoa on cups, or spooning butter or mixing some ingredients on a bowl. Sigh. Baking is one of my simple pleasures especially when the sweet aroma of baked goodies fills up the house or seeing the look of contentment on your dad’s face as he bites into freshly baked bread. Next month there will be about three birthdays to celebrate in the family, and I promise I’ll be baking the yummiest dark moist chocolate cake ever.
