family, life and relationship

Jesus Loves Me!

2011-03-25T01:00:00.003-04:00

My 4-year old son made this song one of his favorites. What a blessing! I'm proud of you son and yes! jesus really loves you and I love you too!

Say Cheesy!

2011-03-12T20:31:00.006-05:00

After having argument, how can you break the silence without getting another flare-up? One important tip for men, we’re the ones who always has fault when it comes to women’s narrow-minded thinking, so just ride on! The choice is yours, if you continue to oppose, expect to hold the stress the whole day long, but if you just go with the flow, you’ll never know what prize you could get in bedtime, that is if you know what I mean =). It will ended up you saying sorry to her anyways just to make everything all right.

You could try some cheesy punchlines with the serious intros like as follows:
"Aren’t you getting tired?... because you’ve been running through my mind all day long."
"Do you have a map? because i can get so lost in those eyes of yours."

Any sweet things to say to your girlfriend or wife that can turn her anger to laughter should be your objective. Always remember, you two are partners and not competitors. Women are supposed to be loved as always!

Use this, “Don't worry about it. Nothing that you've ever done before counts. The only thing that matters is that we're together.” It worked for me. Cheese!

What does Uniform mean?

2011-03-10T01:49:00.003-05:00

My wife is really a good keeper of all her nursing scrubs. If I were to recall, we bought all of it five years ago. Though there are cheap scrubs but I can say that it can last for centuries. I made a nickname for her, I call her “always” because she’s wearing the same scrubs over and over again in the two hospitals she had worked and same goes in the current one. I noticed that even other staffs in their hospital, like the cleaning lady or the clerks use scrubs. The reason why patients sometimes got confused of who the real nurses are . I told her to suggest to her manager to have a distinctive nursing uniform instead. I believe that’s a good protocol not only for the hospital where she’s working but to all medical facilities in general. Uniform should create organization and not confusion.

Music is just around the corner

2011-03-10T01:30:00.001-05:00

I have a bet in American Idol, she’s Thia Megia, she once joined in America’s Got Talent too when she was 14. I wish I can also watch her perform live. Top 13, though not a good number but considered a luck for the contestants. I was thinking that these contestants have lots of friends, loved ones, colleagues, acquaintances, schoolmates or even neighbors. No wonder if American idols Tickets will always be sold out.

Talking about music, have you heard Avril Lavigne’s Knocking on Heaven’s door? Someone said that she went to a studio to record this song so she could sell it and make money out of it. She used the cash to pay medical bills for poor kids in war-torn third world countries. Such a big heart from a young lady. So if you’re thinking of watching a concert, consider buying Avril Lavigne Tickets, you’ll never know, you might be also contributing to whatever outreach project she has in mind. She deserves it.

One of my wife’s favorites, not only because they have the same date of birth but also because of being a world-known artist is Yanni. Man, he’s so talented, he’s a self-taught pianist, keyboardist, and composer. If you’re looking for Instrumental, New Age, and contemporary classical, he got it all. I think securing Yanni Tickets for both of us is a good surprise treat for my wife.

Also, I’m considering two more great artists of all time, but I can just afford one, if you are to choose to buy between Jimmy Buffett Tickets and Barry Manilow Tickets which are you going to choose? Both of them do pop and soft rock that my wife and I really love. Please help us decide.

Spring has almost Sprung

2011-03-08T03:06:00.001-05:00

Spring is coming, it’s evident in trees and how bright the dusk is. My favorite season of all! I should start fixing my backyard like what has been started by my friend as his spring project, patio furniture cleaning in Austin. I’m planning to paint the whole fence surrounding my backyard but looking at that old dirty wood fence with a lot of spider webs and mud stains, I believe I will consider his advice of getting the professional’s help in pressure power washing in Austin. This will make my work easier and faster without the hassle of dealing with spiders.

My budget will just be enough for the outside project, when it comes to the inside of the house my wife always suggests not hiring anyone to save extra money for the utility bills. Even if she doesn’t trust my capability in cleaning the house as she desires, spotless clean, she doesn’t have any choice but to accept my ignorance in cleaning and organizing things, I didn’t go to housekeeping school anyways. She reiterates her instruction for me to watch videos in the internet about do it yourself carpet cleaning when she saw me getting the shampoo for the carpet. I’ll make my TO-DO list so I can manage my time well and make sure to give you updates of what my house will look like after these projects I have in mind.

A Fun Outing!

2011-02-24T01:44:00.001-05:00

Guest post written by Larry Benson

This weekend, my wife and I go a chance to spend some time outside together. We ran some errands like going to the grocery store and purchasing a new pair of MiracleEar hearing aids. However, we also strolled through the park and went down by the water, too...sure, it was a little chilly, but we were bundled up in preparation! It was just really good to be able to get some fresh air and spend some quality time away from the television and away from our new computers.

While we were out, we ran into another retired couple from the other side of town. We ended up talking it up and before you know, we invited them for coffee. While we have a good number of friends in NYC, we donÕt have a whole lot of retired friends to relate to. I suppose most people move out of the hectic city for their retirement. In any case, itÕs always a real pleasure to catch up with this particular couple because they have so much in common with us!

Who doesn't love cars?

2011-02-16T14:17:00.003-05:00

Hitting two birds in one stone as they may say, like being cool in two ways; one by saving earth and two, by driving a hot car at the same time. I’ve heard of this latest Lexus GS 450h that uses turbodiesel which classified it as one of the modern cars nowadays. As I looked at it, turbodiesel offers higher specific power outputs, lower emissions levels, improved efficiency and higher refinement levels. I know there will be something that’s going to come out better than hybrids. This sounds to me saving money because of its low maintenance features.

But if you have a growing family as I do, getting more space in a car is definitely one in your wish list. I’m considering SUV’s and found this mitsubishi outlander. Most SUV’s has big space at the back but some has no real additional seating even just for little kids. For me its back is not really for people but more of a storage space. The outlander, however gives a small third row seat in back, suitable enough for my toddler. I believe this is more “roomy” than other SUVs I saw.

Talking about cars, have you seen the 2011 Super Bowl Audi commercial? That was funny, especially the Kenny G part. Here they prove that Audi was the only getaway from Luxury Prison. Telling people to get out of the traditional mind set of luxury cars. Old luxury is already boring. Look at the new Audi and see how luxury has progressed. As well as the 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe which is really an eye-catcher. Check it out.

Selecting the right car for you is easy when you know what you like and what you need most .

My 4-year old can beat me in Tic Tac Toe

2011-01-07T22:30:00.003-05:00

Kind'a embarassing but true, my son can beat me in tic tac toe. I don't mind how people will react into my defeat, it's my son anyways. :)

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-30T12:10:00.001-05:00

DIY Project

2010-12-22T00:02:00.004-05:00

Sixty-five percent of our flooring is covered with carpet. People may not notice but there are spots of stains caused by milk spills and colored ink markers. This is not new when you have a toddler at home. I tried some stain remover chemicals but still portion of it shows. All I know in cleaning carpet is vacuuming but this won’t help in getting rid of the nasty stains. I think I may need to attend carpet cleaning training in austin to get my desired neatness. I also heard of steam carpet cleaning machine, austin that can be rented but I’m not sure yet if it will cost me big money and one more thing, I’m not patient in reading instruction manuals. I’m hoping that you may suggest something for this “do it yourself carpet cleaning” project of mine.

The Joy of the Internet

2010-12-13T12:05:00.001-05:00

Guest post written by Ben Farley

It's amazing the kinds of things you can find online. It's funny, just the other day I think I ended up going to every site imaginable. I started out at www.homeproimprovement.com because I wanted to do a bit of electronic window-shopping for a new rennovation project my husband and I have going on at the house, and from there I ended up finding my favorite clothing store online (which just happened to be having a huge holiday sale) so I bought a few things there. Then, I thought--hey, I'm sure a ton of other sites have sales going on just for the holiday! I mean Black Friday is over and everything, but this is still crunch time for most retailers. So then I got to perusing and ended up finding almost all of my Christmas presents for the family online! I saved sooo much money, too, with all the free shipping offers and coupons.

Quite frankly, I'm just amazed that it's only early December and I already have the majority of my shopping done. It keeps getting better!

Comfortable and Cheap

2010-12-11T17:40:00.002-05:00

Now that my wife is on her 6th months, her nursing scrubs are becoming uncomfortable on her since the baby is getting bigger as expected . Though, we easily found new under garments for her that will suit on pregnant women but finding scrubs that can make her move freely is hard. I don't know where to buy cheap scrubs since we prefer those because she will just use them for not more than 3 months. Her other uniforms are still good but you'll never know, once you've started shopping you'll always find something even better. Anyways, the more important thing for now is to get the ones that will make her comfortable because as I believe, a happy mommy is a happy baby.

Going Black Friday Shopping With My Husband

2010-11-27T20:07:00.002-05:00

The Author of this post is Jefferson Maldonado

Usually my husband hates shopping but there is one particular day of the year even he will get up bright and early, sometimes in the middle of the night, load up in the car with me and hit up all the stores and that is on Black Friday.

We started going shopping together on Black Friday a few years ago when I begged him to go with me promising him lunch at his favorite restaurant as a bit of a bribe. Ever since then he has become hooked. We each have our own favorite stores that we like to check out. I prefer stores like Target, Sears, JC Penney's or Walmart while he likes stores such as Best Buy or Game Stop. While our tastes in shopping may be different it has become a fun tradition we really enjoy doing together.

This year we plan on starting out really early. We plan to get up at 3 a.m., set our home security alarm (Home Alarm Systems pricing), and then hit all our favorite stores. We get to shop for kids this year too since his sister moved to town with her three kids so we plan to see what sort of deals ToysRUs has as well. It will be fun getting to shop for kids for once!

I joked with my husband on Thanksgiving that maybe in a few years we will be shopping for our own kids on Black Friday. He just smiled.

The Basketball Game That Never Happened

2010-11-21T02:40:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the post from Kirk Wood

I had an interesting experience the other night. The night began like any other night prior playing in my basketball league. I ate dinner at home, set my home security alarm from www.securitychoice.com/home-security-and-safety-facts.html, got in my car and listened to music, and arrived at the gym expecting to play a great game. But that night was different. The other team didn’t show up. At first, the guys on our team were not happy about this. But we came up with a solution, which was to play 31. This is a longer version of 21. It’s every man for themselves. Each basket counts as two points and three-pointers are obviously three points. Once you make a basket, you shoot three foul shots. If you make all three foul shots, you have the ball again. You have to end exactly on 31. Otherwise, you go back to 15. And to make it even more interesting, we made it so that you had to hit a three-pointer at the end. Otherwise, you went back to 15. The game was a lot of fun. Dare I say it, but it was even more fun than playing in a league game. At an extremely high risk of sounding corny and cliché, we had lemons and turned it into lemonade. That is how the saying goes, right? Regardless of how the saying goes, it was pretty cool to turn a negative into a positive. Uh-oh … is that another cliché?

My Best Friend, Sandy

2010-11-19T22:41:00.001-05:00

Guest post from: Bruno Smith
During the course of my life, it has always been rather hard to make a friend, never mind a best friend. However, I did manage to find someone that fits that mold a great number of years ago.

We met when I was in high school and she was in middle school. She was the sister of somebody I knew at school, and for some reason we hit it off better than I did with her older sister. At first, she was a little slow to consider me somebody she wanted to talk to all the time; in fact, she was actually a little hostile, and gave me a few choice words whenever she saw me. Eventually, however, you were unable to tell that there had ever been any tension between us.

We have a lot in common. We enjoy going to local renaissance festivals and wearing costumes for the occasion - it actually makes things more fun when you feel like you are truly a part of that world. We like to go shopping, or even spend an evening at home, watching movies. I do not know what I would do if she was no longer in my life.

Before I make the hour or so long drive to visit her these days, I always make sure to set the home security alarm (ADT home security offers). We do not get to see each other as much as we used to, but I like to think that we will always be close.

Young Men's Soccer In Seattle

2010-11-19T22:35:00.002-05:00

Author: Jonathan Suarez

An ambitious MBA by day and a rough and tumble soccer player by night, I am very glad I made the choice to move to Seattle from the South for several reasons. The reason that comes through, time and time again, is the vast array of opportunity here for men's pickup soccer and organized soccer. I mainly participate in one league, though I have popped in and out of an ongoing league at the University of Washington. The league I have spent many an evening in is designed for "Young Professionals". The league is gender mixed and sometimes features former Division I stars who have either had an injury or have elected to pursue other professions. Needless to say the competition has been very high. I decided to invest the majority of my liquid assets in a business venture that is starting to turn a profit, therefore I live in a rougher part of Seattle than I'd like to. I always set my ADT home security alarm before I go every evening to soccer. The best part about Seattle has been the social connections that I have made through "Young Professionals" soccer. In fact, the business venture is one I came upon through a match a little over a year ago. It has come to my awareness that the leagues for older adults and for young children are booming and that there are several semi-professional teams in the surrounding region. If you're looking for some great soccer, come to rainy Seattle!

Picking Up an Old Hobby

2010-11-11T16:49:00.001-05:00

Guest post written by Hank Livingston

The other day I treated myself to a visit at the local Guitar Center in town. From the moment I walked in, I was like a kid in a candy store. I noticed many young kids trying out a variety of electric guitars and banging out rough melodies that rattled my Miracle Ear hearing aids. They reminded me of when I was their age and how I would go try out some of the instruments that I couldn’t have played back at home. My recent visit reminded me of when I was their skill level and learning about the world of music.

When I come to Guitar Center, I also check out the acoustic guitar room and play the twelve string guitars. I always loved the full and rich sounds that they produce, and I always enjoy getting my hand on one. After my visit, I determined that I wanted to pick up music again. Throughout my life, an instrument has always given me joy, and now that I’m retired, I want to spend more of my time recreating that joy.

2010-11-07T00:54:00.002-04:00

Watch the ship carefully... You'll hear the people screaming if you turn your speaker's volume up. Look how the ship vanished.

New House, New Furniture

2010-11-06T18:08:00.002-04:00

Thanks for the post, Lucius Gaines

There is about two more weeks until our house is finished being built. That means it's time for furniture shopping! My husband and I try to do the inexpensive, good quality search at Walmart and Sears, but we can never find anything. So we usually end up heading over to Nebraska Furniture Mart for all our furniture. We really like their huge selection and endless brand names. And best of all, it's modestly priced. When we bought our daughter's nursery furniture, we only spent about $1300 for her crib, armoire and dresser. We liked Baby's R Us' selection, but they were so overpriced it hurt our eyeballs to look at the tags.

Clearly, I'm pretty excited about going furniture shopping. I think we're going to be buying a new dining room set, bedroom furniture for the master bedroom, and a sectional couch for the living room. I've seen some sectionals that are like a recliner and massage chair in one. I can only imagine coming home from shopping, sitting on my vibrating, massaging recliner chair and watching some satalite tv.

Anyway, I think I already know which dining room table I want. I'm not sure of the brand, but I've seen it around Nebraska Furniture Mart before. It's all black, except the centerpiece of the table is cracked glass. It looks awesome. And very, very modern. Which is what I think we're going for in the new house.

The Gift

2010-11-04T23:03:00.002-04:00

Ten more days before my wife’s birthday. I don’t know what to give her. Lately, I’m seeing her spending a lot of time giving herself some beauty treats like putting lotion, fixing her nails, doing her eyebrows and more. Though some of it is really included on her regular hygienic routine but I still appreciate it, I know she always wanted to look good in my eyes. Well, she’ll always be the most beautiful woman for me even if she’s just in her simple looks.

This made me think of giving her some makeup products like lipstick or lipgloss to enhance the softness and appeal of her luscious lips. I don’t have any idea of what shade she wanted and I don’t want to ask her. I want it to be a surprise. I asked some of my lady friends and one of them suggested for me to try getting a lip lacquer instead. Waaahh..!! I didn’t know that even just a simple lipstick will be so complicated when you open it up with ladies. I’m still thinking of my other options. Do you have any suggestions?

To tile or Not to Tile

2010-10-28T23:35:00.004-04:00

Whenever we go to our local hardware stores, we always see to it that we visit and check the tiles section. We have plan of putting backsplash in our kitchen counters to add color and character. As of now, we still don’t see in stores the one we really like. We’re looking for tiles that are contemporary in its styles and designs to match our appliances and furniture. We resorted on searching for it online and we found the one that we really liked, see the picture below:

This is so cool! We’re excited to see it in our own kitchen. The online store also gave other varieties to choose from, so personalizing our house is very possible. Glass is what we preferred but we are also open for other options as long as it will look extraordinary. Once we’re finish in our kitchen, our next project will be the bathrooms, we have 5 full baths in the house so I believe we need to work hard first to earn the right budget for all 5. Our bathroom tiles are kind of traditional though it’s an upgrade but still didn’t qualify our taste. I’ve seen bathrooms made of subway tiles and they’re really great! Very modern and sophisticated. I always see home improvement expensive but still worthy especially when you take pride of the house you’re starting to build as your home.

Down in the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-28T22:46:00.002-04:00

Guest post written by Alex Leider

My wife and I had the best time last weekend. We're trying to get into the spirit of the season, what's with it getting colder and the leaves turning and all. Well, we were just sitting around though last Saturday when we saw a commercial come up for a new pumpkin patch in our area. We decided on a whim to check it out so we could get a few pumpkins for the house, a few for carving, and one for cooking! (Edna makes the best pumpkin pies.)

We got to chatting with the guy that worked there, he had a really interesting story. Apparently, he'd inherited the patch through his family, and was running it for the time being. He looked so familiar, almost like someone I'd gone to school with in the past. I wish I had gotten his name! All I remember is that he was wearing Miracle-Ear hearing aids at the time. Oh well. It sure was a great day at the patch, though.

Getting Good Deal in Car Insurance

2010-10-20T23:09:00.002-04:00

Time is so fast. I can still remember 6 months ago I sent my payment to my car insurance company and now I received my renewal package. Though they gave me lesser premium for the next term I still want to shop for better deals. There’s a lot to choose from. This time I prefer local insurance company. I asked my friends of their insurance, went online and called some agents to compare and get the best buy.

I gave the same coverage I wanted but still they offered different premiums. Some are really expensive maybe because of the integrity they already established in their names, but some which are not well known are good enough for me. I got my car insurance from the latter group, I’m really looking for a cheap one but with good standing from their claimants. I think that’s more important; easy transaction, same coverage and reasonable price. One of our friends referred this one and told us about his good customer service experience in processing his claims. I believe it's because of being not a well known insurance company, they only have fewer clients and this means more time and attention will be provided for me in times of claims. Still, I’m praying never to have a chance of getting any claims from them.

I want The Office to be MY office!

2010-09-28T03:47:00.001-04:00

Written by my friend Lino Brown

My favorite comedy on TV right now is The Office. Michael, as the clueless branch manager, is the pivotal character in the show. His antics and carefree management style often create total chaos within the branch. I also would not be able to live without Jim and Pam streaming through my satellite I ordered at www.direct.TV every Thursday. After years of watching them struggle to come together as a couple, my patience has finally paid off, they just got married and had a baby. Of course the Angela and Dwight story line has been a constant source of humor over the last few seasons. This past year the show took a twist with the disbanding of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and the takeover of a printer company owned by a southern woman with a large personality and she is played by none other than the talented actress Kathy Bates. I am sad to hear that Michael's character will be done on the show at the end of the Spring season due to Steve Carell leaving the show. I truly hope that the remaining characters will be able to carry the show and fill the large void that will certainly remain after his departure.

Bridezillas

2010-09-16T01:52:00.001-04:00

The Author of this post is Velma Baird

One of biggest guilty pleasures on television is the show Bridezillas. I could have never imagined that there were women who actually behaved like this when planning their wedding. At times I have almost felt guilty watching the show and laughing at the craziness that they exhibit, but I always continue to watch. Each bride comes with her own set of drama and issues. Each season seems to bring with it louder, angrier and bossier brides than the season before. Between the meltdowns, fights and evil glares that these brides provide, I cant ever look away from the screen.

My satellite tv from direc4u.com is often tuned into Bridezillas, especially on days when I can just sit around and watch tv for hours. Luckily, the show is often broadcast as a marathon and I can truly spend my day watching women overreact and lash out at everyone around them. It is always interesting to see how bridesmaids, family members and especially grooms handle difficult brides. One of the most shocking episodes I ever watched centered on a bride who left her groom by himself at rehearsal over his mother being ten minutes late. In the end, almost every wedding ends with the bride and groom spending a great evening at their reception and still somehow having friends around to celebrate with.

Am I the Only One Who Still Goes to the Movies?

2010-09-03T03:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Erasmo Cortez

I remember when I was a little kid every time I went to the movie theater there was always a line, my Mom and I would have to almost fight for seats that didn't make our neck hurt or require up to climb over eight people's laps in order to go the bathroom and sometimes (God forbid) the movie would even be sold out! These things never happen to me anymore. Now, I have to sneak snack in my purse in order not to pay $20 for a small box of candy, set my Adt security company home alarm before I leave the house, to ensure I can actually enjoy the movie without worrying the entire time and when I get there, nine out of ten times it just end's up being me and my boyfriend in the theater, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if we want to smooch or any of that without offending anyone. To be honest with you though, this really takes away from the whole experience for me! Before it was an adventure, now I feel like I might as well wait for the rental. This deters me from going to the movies at much as I once did, so now I only go to see the movies I cannot wait for instead of just going for something to do on weekends.

Modern Technology makes life easier

2010-08-27T13:10:00.003-04:00

Wouldn't be cool if you can access your home computer from your office computer or vice versa? Or say as far as from one country to another country. People may don’t know but it’s possible. The convenience of file access, troubleshooting and configurations of computers and software from one place to another is actually happening. Remote Management or Access is what you can best describe it. This is with the help of Remote PC Access Software and of course, internet connection. Security will not even be an issue since these kinds of software provide up to 256-bit encryption making your computer files safe and only accessible to the one authorized to work with it, like your technician or co-worker. Can you imagine how much it will save time, energy and effort for both you and the other people involved in your business? Even technicians love it! They can still brainstorm and troubleshoot together in the convenience of their own different locations to work on one remote computer with the help of some collaborative tools that comes with the software. New technology rocks! You better update yourself for what new today maybe obsolete by tomorrow. That’s how fast it is!

This is the job for cook top cleaner

2010-08-26T02:52:00.003-04:00

Our home improvement project – kitchen segment doesn’t end with nice furniture and accessories but also the sleekness of the appliances. Being organized and clean are all it takes to make the kitchen look gorgeous and elegant. My rule of thumb when it comes to kitchen, “where you get it, there you’ll return it”. It really helps a lot and it makes cleaning easier. Every time I cook and had our meals, I always make sure that everything will be cleaned up asap, from the counters and tables to the pots, pans, dishes and ranges. The thing that encourages me a lot to do this task fast is by thinking that someone might give us a surprise visit any minute and I don’t want to be apologetic by the messy scene in our house. Cleaning agents are my partner in doing this seemingly never ending chore in the kitchen. For the toughest grease on my cook top range, I use my trusted cook top cleaner. It doesn’t just cut the grease and make it clean but also polishes the surface for a shiny finish. If yours are glass or ceramic, you better find the one that has protection feature. I can say that the cook top range is one of my biggest challenges in the kitchen especially when I forget to clean it right after I used it. But no worries because my cook top cleaner will surely do its job. A little wipe here, a little sweep there and voila! our kitchen will look like unused and fresh again, ready for all family and friends to come and visit.

Online conversations with old friends

2010-08-26T01:49:00.002-04:00

Guest post written by RJ Benson

Since most of us retired and we had a lot more time to spend on the Internet, a bunch of me and my high school friends will chat online. A lot of times we’ll just e-mail each other but a few of us have started using Skype to call and video chat each other. It’s a lot of fun and the easiest option because we live in different cities across the country.

One time I was Skypeing with one of my friends she mentioned that she had just gone to miracle ear Charlotte and got fitted with some hearing aids. I told her that I thought that sounded like a good idea and had been considering booking an appointment to do the same thing at miracle ear HOUSTON. That inspired me to get off my tail and actually do it, so I did.

About a week later I talked to another one of our friends who was on the football team with me and he said that he had just bought a hearing aid in PA where he lives.

I thought that it was funny that even though we live separately now, we still have the same mindset and are going through a lot of the same things.

Home improvement

2010-08-19T18:02:00.012-04:00

We've been trying to furnish our house but due to limited budget, it will be a neverending project for us. We need to prioritize other important things that's why all other furnitures are in our pending list... sigh.. Here are some of the pictures.. We're still planning to add more wall arts, change some accessories, lamps, rug for the dinette set, maybe a palm tree too, backsplash, and a curio.. you may not be familiar with a curio just find it from the pics below.. You may click on each pic for a larger view. And once it is in the larger view, another click to zoom it for a full screen view.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

CURIO - hoping to be added soon right beside the pantry cabinet... again this is our first choice but if not available will get a different one and hopefully with a lesser price.

What is pick up artist?

2010-08-11T10:55:00.004-04:00

– This is an individual who has skills in meeting, attracting or seducing women. A person who can help men improve their romantic abilities with women using self-help and an understanding of social psychology. Whoa! I think men with problems in getting even just a single date should definitely need the help of the pick up artist. I believe these people exactly knew even the right and best way of how to text a girl because seriously, some men are being dumped just because of a dumb text. Women are not just into men’s looks but they also see if men are into books. I mean, man.. I.Q. and sense of humor, sometimes that's all it takes.

One wrong move, one shameful night.

Sell Your House

2010-08-11T10:15:00.003-04:00

Just three steps in getting help to sell your house:

1> click this link
2> enter your zip code
3> submit

The Wedding Planner is my favorite chick flick

2010-08-04T12:17:00.002-04:00

Post contributed by Toni Jensen

My boyfriend bought me some DVD's for my birthday and I noticed one of them was the Wedding Planner. I always wanted to see this movie and never made time.

I made some popcorn for us as he popped it into the DVD player so we could watch this chick flick on satellite tv! It was so funny and romantic at the same time. It was about a lonely wedding planner, played by Jennifer Lopez, that unknowingly falls for her client's fiance, played by Matthew Mcconnaughey. It got even funnier when Jennifer's self proclaimed fiance comes into the picture! He was a cutie! Midway through the movie, Jennifer decides that they should be professional about everything and she assured him she was only around to plan the wedding for him and his fiancee and nothing more would ever happen.

There were some definite funny moments in this movie and in the end, he decided he didn't want to marry his fiance. She didn't want to marry him either! He went looking for Jennifer before she went and married the self proclaimed fiance because he realized he loved her. He finds her where they first realized they had feelings for each other and you know the rest. I really love this film. My boyfriend said it's one of the funnier chick flicks he has seen on free satellite tv in California in awhile too. I recommend you see it at least once!

My heart’s in Philly

2010-07-27T20:27:00.002-04:00

Guest post written by Rick Stalls

They say people will move mountains for love. Well, I just moved all my stuff, which still happens to be quite a big step.

My girlfriend’s job moved her from our Philly home to rural West Virginia. It sounded like a nightmare at first, but once I went with her to the town to look around it seemed really nice and decided that I would move with her, after all.

Before the move, I used my wildblue in PA to remind all of the editors at the publications to which I regularly contribute as a freelance writer that I was moving but would still be available for remote work. I write a lot about the local music scene but there are also musicians in West Virginia too that I’ve been writing about since the move.

When we moved out here we settled on using satelite internet West VA, which has been great for keeping up with my editors and getting feedback from them about my new subjects.

This sure isn’t Philly, but I can get used to the nonexistent traffic here.

Finding the Love From the Gloves

2010-07-24T14:15:00.005-04:00

I’ve been trying to salvage the green in the front yard. Weeds and dried grass are noticeable. I tried using fertilizers, weed killers and grass seeds. I also set the water sprinklers to be on twice a day considering how hot it is during mid day. I bought a lot of things from the hardware store that will make everybody think I’m genuinely serious of what I’m doing. There, I got hedge scissors, water hose, a couple of trowels, pairs of gloves, boots, grass trimmer, blower, lawn mower and fertilizer spreader. I’m not good in gardening and all these equipments seems new to me. I know it because when I use each one of them, it is either I made an operation mistake or used it in its not supposed function.

The worse are getting my hands pricked and feeling the weeds sap when I pulled and wrestle with those annoying weeds. I realized right there and then why the gloves I bought were on sale. That clearly explains its unbelievable price. Why did I fall on that again? I hate it when I thought that I got a good bargain and saved money then little I know that it comes with a big compromise – the quality. What a waste! Now I need to get a new one but this time I’ve learned my lesson, no more cheap gloves but instead a real work gloves. I wonder if electrical gloves will work better in gardening. I may have more funny stories to tell in this experience. I’ll give you updates of what this green project of mine will look like soon.

A Day Out at the Hotel Chelsea NYC

2010-07-21T11:26:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Erasmo Cortez

Me and my friend went to Manhattan for the first time since moving to New York state and found it very easy to get around on the famous subway system, saving a mint on taxi fares. We spent the whole day whisking about looking at places and things to explore that you rarely find on a scheduled tour. We left about 9 AM, packed up the cameras, and set the home alarm system for the day. I also recently put up an adt sign in front of the house so that people are warned about our security system.
I must say the trip we made to the Hotel Chelsea was our favorite hot spot of the day. You can take a tour of the hotel for $40 that comes with a guide to tell about all the unbelievable stories that happened in this eerie place. Room 100, where Sid Vicious allegedly stabbed his girlfriend, is no longer there fully in tack. However, the bathroom is still in place and we went to the sink where Nancy Spungon died beneath. The tour also includes the chance to meet some of the writers who are currently living in the Hotel Chelsea, and most of them loved to come out and talk to us and answer questions.

There are loads of places to eat near the Hotel Chelsea, but I recommend you walk about a mile down 8th Street to the New Yorker Hotel (Turn right on 8th and 23rd). The hotel's Tick Tock Diner is a cool 1950's style joint with good food, fair prices, and the subway is nearby to get out of town.

There are Plenty More Fish in the Sea

2010-07-20T01:50:00.004-04:00

In the group of men, whenever there’s someone being dumped by a girl, you will hear this saying as a console for his broken heart, “There's as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it” or in more simple words, “there are plenty more fish in the sea”. I’m lucky that I never heard my friends saying this on me. To others, this is very hard to understand and oftentimes I will give a tease instead of explanation, “Are seas so deep for you to grasp?” Now, you can take this literally without getting any more confusion, and that is through the site, “Sea of Love”. It best describes the word ‘sea’ in that traditional saying. This is very applicable not only to those who are rejected by some girls but to every person who are still searching for their perfect partner.

I saw how cool the format used. Sea of Love is like a very nice getaway from the burning heat of the sun. I really like the theme. All graphics and terms used are related to things you can see under the sea. So if you’re ready to dive in and swim, this is for you. Time to fish that perfect match you’ve been longing for. Patience in this kind of fishing is not necessary. Good Luck!

What's in the car?

2010-07-15T14:21:00.007-04:00

When I was a kid, I saw one of my brother’s posters in his room, it was a picture of a car with label “Porsche”. I thought it wasn’t real because it has an unusual look of a car for me but I definitely admired it and said to myself, I will get one someday. Seeing the video below made me think that I fast outgrew that dream. There are a lot of models that came out that I missed. But man, I think it will only live in a dream because the latest that they introduced for 2010 doesn’t fit anywhere in my budget. To give you an idea the porsche panamera price ranges from about $90,000 to $135,000. But who knows? I’m still young and if other people can afford it, why can’t I? But I won’t force myself if it’s not really meant for me. Anyways there are also other cars that can definitely go by my standards. Actually, there’s one which I believe a little cheaper than Porsche but also with unique design and features. Check this out – the Fisker Karma. I believe they are designed in California and rumors say that it will be build in Finland. Another great competition for Porsche. The Fisker Karma price is around $80,000 and up but I’m not really sure though. Just make sure to hold your chin up while looking at the pictures.

F I S K E R K A R M A (below)

Some people are just lucky, they don’t even need to earn just to get a car. I’ve seen this happened from one of the singing competitions here in US when the final 2 contestants both got brand new Ford Fiesta. What a gift! They got it all, the talent, fame and now cars. I think that the runner up of that competition is still a winner partying with her new Fiesta.

For now, I have to be reasonable and need to wake up from my Porsche dream. I have to face the reality that as of the moment the only tangible are among the non-luxury sedans. To give you an example, mitsubishi evolution price for 2010 models is from $27,190 - $40,990. Now, that is reachable for me. They offered sports sedans that racers will love. Whatever car you have, make the most out of it anyways the real function of it is the one that really matters – as transportation.

Curb Appeal

2010-07-12T14:25:00.006-04:00

We always focus beautifying the inside of the house that we sometimes neglect the very first thing people will see and notice – our front yard. Having seen some of our neighbor’s neglected front yard made us think of another home improvement project, and that is to create a very enticing curb appeal. Aside from plants and grasses, we’re thinking of replacing the light fixtures and adding new mail box. This will make a big difference since our neighbors almost use same style of residential mail boxes
.

Getting new planters, shutters and nice shade of paints are all in the list. Window box planters can also make uncover our windows emptiness. I’m trying to search more curbside décor in the net and I know most of them offer both mailboxes and décor which will make it easier for us. Check these styles I got from the net and tell me what you think.

Kitchen Mix & Match

2010-07-12T13:43:00.006-04:00

Designing a house is not our domain. We always look at magazines, TV shows and internet for tips and ideas. We started experimenting in our kitchen to see if it will work but still it didn’t satisfy us getting the appeal we really wanted it to have. So we’re on trial and error game again. There’s one spot in the kitchen that is an empty space that I don’t know how to fill in. Till we thought of an idea that a wine rack or bar can definitely make that spot functional. We searched the net and found few that can be in our list. One is from jk adams. We like their Hanging Wooden Slat Stemware Racks that will look good for our set of wine glasses.

Some accessories will also make the kitchen inviting and I’m thinking of getting one from jk adams spice rack collection. I like the touch of wood with the sense of having an organization for our spices’ small bottles. Its style works for me, saving more space in our counter.

If you also check jk adams cutting boards, you may think of using it as a décor instead of its original function since they have details that will really make you feel not using the top side of it but instead its bottom. It will be good to hang it in the counter. It’s really enjoyable to give your own touch in your kitchen, makes it more personal and with your very own taste and likes.

Dneero is back!

2010-03-31T23:20:00.002-04:00

It's been so long before I get a new conversation, but now it's back with the new cool homepage. check it out!

No Pain, No Gain.

2010-03-11T14:08:00.004-05:00

People are so busy that they don’t give much time for their personal lives. There are lots of websites offering people matching compatibilities to find an individual a perfect partner. Could you believe that? Everything can be ordered from the internet nowadays! I’m not against with it but my point is everyone can tell good things about themselves in their profiles. It’s easy to create a good image by just a click of a button. I’m still in favor of knowing the person naturally and with much awareness of her family background, of her roots. I know that some of you out there will react and say that using these matching websites will be the first step to know one person, but in my defense, different kinds of people are out there, good or bad, descent or psychos. It’s all up to you people if you want to try the risk. But for sure, if you, and I’m hoping not, for a thousand chances, matched to a psycho, that psycho knows how to do his thing. I’m thinking that in your very first date, you might regret it for life or even worse might worth your life. Like the ones I watched from movies, scary isn’t it?

I’m not good in giving advices but there are also lots of resources you can find in the internet. Some that tells on how to meet women or men in traditional and nicer ways. You can dig into other people’s own opinions. There are some professionals, like a pickup artist who are really experienced in this kind of dating thing that can really help you to do your first step. It’s all up to your judgment if their techniques or strategies work for you. All I can say is this: Good luck! Be careful in choosing the right person for you. If you can spend a lot of time in studying and structuring the right profession for yourself, find much and more time and effort in looking for the right person because that person will be your lifetime partner that will help you build both of your dreams and your own family. Do your research, make your pros and cons chart and consider your friends' or family's guts. Love is not everything, it’s just one ingredient in a relationship. If ever you find that perfect match, never let go of it for you know that you really worked hard to build a good foundation for it and confident that nothing can easily destroy and break it. As they say, No pain, no gain. No guts, no glory.

First Time Visit to the Dentist

2010-03-05T23:28:00.003-05:00

I had to show him lots of video of kids going to the dentist the night before his appointment to prepare him and get acquainted with the dental clinic, dentist, procedure and instruments.. hoping to get a happy visit for the very first time. It was a success..

I don't care whether the hygieneist and the dentist were not comfortable in me videotaping them, I just told them that this is an important event to my son's life for this is one of his first time experiences that needs to be documented. They even have a sign saying that 3 years old patients should not be accompanied inside the procedure room.. just pretended that I wasn't able to read it, .. hehe.. Clarence did a great job in his teeth x-ray, he cooperated in all 6 x-ray done in his mouth. He finds it fun seeing pictures of his teeth xray in the monitor. I'm proud of him, unfortunately I wasn't able to taped it because he had to sit on my lap. He really loves the dental clinic, he told me that he wants to go back there.

Cars, cars and more cars

2010-02-25T18:36:00.004-05:00

My brother always say that having a pickup truck may be necessary if you own a house because most of the time you’ll find it useful in furnishing your house. I found out that it is true. Sometimes you’ll think of a home improvement project that will require you buying big stuffs that won’t definitely fit in an ordinary 4 -door vehicle. And the fact that you have to consider the store’s delivery and shipping charges, I’d certainly agree with him. I saw a lot of homeowners that owns a truck as their secondary vehicle and this always make me think of what my brother told me about it. Some people chose to get a stylish car like jaguar xj –one of my favorites just to show off instead of getting a truck. I can't blame them jaguar is a real head turner, I, myself can't help stop looking at it when I spotted one on the road. But what people don’t know is that most truck manufacturers nowadays don’t want to be left behind in terms of style. Some are so neat that people would also desire in owning one. Like the gmc sierra especially when you get the one in black, I totally love it, functional and yet stylish too. King of the road is one thing I can think of when riding in these kinds.

I teased my brother, what the heck I need a truck for when you already have one that I can borrow. He just laughed and said, “it’s good thing that you’re younger than me”. He has two vehicles, one truck and one luxury car which cost him a lot of money in the maintenance and fuel. He’s thinking to trade in the luxury car because he finds the truck more useful than it. I showed him two choices which I know both economical and efficient in terms of price and performance. One is the subaru impreza and the other is nissan cube. He said that he’ll consider reviewing their ratings and specifications first and look for a dealer when he’s ready. Well, I hope he can make up his mind as soon as possible because possessing a luxury car is really expensive. For now, I have to borrow his truck first since I’m still in the process of furnishing our newly purchased house. I’ll just help him back in other ways I know. For I go with the saying, blood is thicker than water. That’s what brothers are for, right big bro? I love you bro!

Real Estate Stimulus - It’s still not too late

2010-02-24T00:09:00.005-05:00

When we’re in Maryland friends kept on urging us to buy a house to avail of the first time homebuyer tax credit which is part of the Real Estate Stimulus package. We stick to our principle that we’ll not get a house unless we really like the location. We wanted to settle in a place where we know we could stay forever and raise our kids in the best environment we envisioned. We let that opportunity goes until we decided to move in California where we really look forward to live, close to my brother and not much of snow. So blessed, we really felt like we did the right decision when we heard that the first time homebuyer tax credit has been extended. We knew from the very start that it’s the perfect time to buy a house since the price went really down due to economic condition. We also wanted to have our own house instead of renting, at least now we know that every penny we’re spending for our shelter goes to our own property and not to any apartment owner. We can do whatever we like in our house without thinking of disturbing other people like what we experienced in our previous apartments. Who knew that we can have the best of both worlds by just sticking to our principle. We got the escrow closed before 2009 ends and now we’re enjoying the home that we meticulously chose for our family and also waiting for the federal tax credit of $8000 for being a first time homebuyer and the real plus is the fact that we really loved the location.

I learned from this video that not only us, the buyers, benefited from this purchase but the economy as well, how cool is that! That’s really something, a real win-win solution for both the government and its people. We were able to help without even knowing it. Good news to those first time homebuyer couple who filed jointly in their income tax who have large annual income because the income limit has increased from $150,000 to $225,000 if they purchase their home after November 6, 2009. You will know more from this video.

Always follow your guts!

Car is a necessity not a luxury

2010-01-16T00:50:00.002-05:00

Since we moved here I didn’t get a chance to check on my car’s condition, I felt guilty knowing how helpful she is to us and yet I’m not giving some of my time and care she deserves. One time when I was driving home, I saw the maintenance minder popped up in my dashboard. So unexpected that really concerned me a lot. Then I recalled the last time I brought her to the dealer for maintenance has been a while. Good thing that one of our friends knows how to fix it. I found out that the oil went down to 15% and I needed to do oil change immediately. We went to buy oil and filter and proceed in getting it done before it leads to a more major problem. We drained it and I got to see that the oil was already dark, like black. We used one quart of oil just to clean and wash away the old dark oil from my tank, I don’t care if I used the whole quart, my objective is to see my oil back to its clear color, which is closely yellow like the cooking oil. I don’t want to end up giving my car a tune up, you know. This one is my treat for her.

I have a Honda Civic 2008 and I love it. I also like old car models like Acura Integra but I’m afraid that it could cost me much in repairs and maintenance since it’s old. Vintage cars are also head turners nowadays but it’s also kind of pricey in terms of updating and finding its obsolete parts. Oh well, whatever car you have if you don’t appreciate what she can do for you and your family, Pretty sure that she will be taken for granted and before you knew it, you might ended up paying so much for the repair or even worse you might get into a serious accident that you might regret at the end. Win-win solution should always be considered, your car helps you, you give the credit back by maintaining it right. For me, car is as important as food I take each day, without it I'm like lifeless (if that's even a term).

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-24T01:08:00.003-05:00

My child can read part 2

2009-12-05T22:25:00.007-05:00

One thing my son misses from Maryland is his school’s playgroup. He started going to school in Maryland when he was 2 years old. We won’t forget how fun and full of learning it was (I know because I’m also inside the classroom every class). The ‘Infants and Toddlers’ and ‘ABC class’ that he was attending really helped him a lot to develop his confidence in mingling with other kids. Aside from him attending school, my wife and I are always assisting him to learn more in the best we can. My plan of finding him a new school here in California is in my priority list, but unfortunately, we moved here late September when all schools are closed for new registration and we need to wait for next year for him to be included. As of now, he’s attending Sunday school in New Life Christian Fellowship church; while we are in the service; all the kids are in a separate room for the Sunday class. I’m so happy about it because, this time, not only his academic skills are being developed but also his spiritual aspect. One night when we are praying, he includes Kuya Noy (their Sunday school teacher) and the other kids (his classmates) in his prayer.
“… and please take care of mommy, daddy and me… and Kuya Noy and other kids…”
I know that he’s in good hands with them because I saw it myself when I stayed in the classroom since Clarence doesn’t want me to go away from him in his first day. Plus the fact that Clarence said I love you to his teachers really shows how comfortable he is with them. Started with a prayer then all their story-telling and fun activities are about Jesus and children with good behavior.

We don’t want him to be deprived of the things he could learn from school, so we always find time at home to do some activities he used to do in school. There are story-telling, painting and now reading. We’re proud to say that his reading skills are taught by us, his parents. No other people made him learn to read but us. I’m planning to bring him in McKinley Library twice a week for they have a program for toddlers. Circle time or story-telling. I always believe that my son will do well someday and we will support him to the best we can. This is part 2 of my blog where I show the whole world how good he is. At the age of 2yr/11 mos. he can read 3 letter words and when he reached 3yrs/6mos. old he can read a full sentence. A bit struggle for some words but I know with a little more patience and with some fun-strategy learning, he will be able to read without any mistakes in no time. Please have time to watch the video below to see his progress.

My child can read part 1 can be accessed by clicking this link

Use Thy Gifts

2009-12-04T11:40:00.000-05:00

When I was still clouded with insecurities, low self-esteem and fear before, I always tell myself that I don’t have any talents nor I can do anything. I’m so shallow that when there are people doing small things which are different, I was easily amazed and felt jealous. I even blame my parents for being deprived of things other people gain from their riches, I was thinking then that if they only give me all the things I needed, I will be as good as those people I envied. –See how dull it is. I lived with these negative thoughts throughout my life but one very thing I kept on wondering was – in spite of all these obnoxity, I was still being taken cared of and blessed with a better life than others.

This was all answered when I started my curiosity about Jesus. I noticed that if you are interested in something, you’ll find a way to know it more and more. I started looking for answers and I believe God assisted me in the right way. I went to many Christian churches, and was able to join Couples for Christ.. –this started everything. My spiritual health began to nourish and little by little, took away my wrong thoughts about myself. God uses His people as instruments to make me a totally new person. I was grateful to what He has done for me. Even greater, He lead me the way to be closer to my brother here in California who encourages me more of my faith with Jesus. He put me in their church, New Life Christian Fellowship which made my understanding deeper with the weekly teaching of their Pastor and spiritual conversations with his family. I was able to realize things I don’t think I ever had before—and these are my gifts.

I learned that everybody has given a gift, big or small, unrecognized or obvious. These are all from God if we treasure and claim it. Gifts that are already within us ever since and the only thing we needed to do is to make it richer and pure. Make use of it in the right and best way we can. Thank God for thy gifts and offer them back to Him – for He is worthy of all of these. How?

As simple as this writing, I don’t even consider this as a gift before, but now I’m using this to reach other people as a form of thanksgiving and to serve Him in the littlest way I know. From now on my knowledge in computers will be shared to others according to what God has planned for it. My patience in teaching as what I worked before being Class Instructor can be used in trying to deliver what I know. Gifts of tongue, friendship, and love made my little ways into its biggest mission and that is – to serve our Almighty God.

If you know how to play guitar, use it – in fellowship;
If you are an athlete, use your power to reach your team mates and introduce God;
If you are a teacher, use it in spreading the word of God;
If you are a caregiver – read the Bible to your patient, show them goodness;
If you are good in photography – use it in showing the beauty God had created for us;
If you’re a simple worker – use it, give hope to others by helping your colleagues in getting out from the darkness;
If you’re a musician – use it in giving glory to the Lord;
If you’re a lawyer – use it to give the right justice for all who are in need;

A simple task you can give may create a big impact to others as what had happened to my life. Use thy gifts and share it with others.

It's About Time

2009-12-04T02:52:00.002-05:00

I just noticed that most of my friends and former college classmates chose to get married at this time of our age. Last year 3 of them had their wedding and this year 2 more. No one likes to be left behind. Probably, because at this stage, I believe that most of us reached stability in life and becomes more ready to face another life’s challenge. We’re not getting any younger. I supposed. Sadly, some of my friends are still looking and even worse, one of them hasn’t experienced to have a girlfriend in his entire life. He has other priorities than his own happiness. Love can wait, he reasoned out. But he can’t deny it because he’s longing to have a partner is somewhat getting into our conversation most of the time. There’s one time I teased him to look for a pickup artist and learn from that person. Well, he’s not that desperate he defended. He told me that he already has prospects and all he needed is to be noticed. I told him that it will all depend with the right pick up lines that he’s going to deliver, I guess. Sometimes, a simple “Hi!” or “How are you doing?” will do the trick. I also added these other lines and advised him to have the guts to say it when he gets a chance.

"Pardon me, is this seat taken?"
"Excuse me but have we met before?"
"I’m just new here can I ask you something?"

I admit to him that I’m not good with this but I can say that the important thing is to get the woman’s attention, and once he got it, he should know what to do next. He should also seek dating advice from our other friends who have lots of experience from girls, and when I say lots, I mean numerous of exes, which made them experts in these kinds of stuffs. All I can say to him now, is to be serious in finding the right girl for him and when he did find her, make sure that he’ll get to know her better and that she’ll be the one that will be with him for the rest of his life – For he deserves to be happy, and I wish him all the best!

Another Time-out story

2009-12-01T22:26:00.005-05:00

I was surprised when my son put his stuff snake in the corner and kept on saying "Stay there, Mr. snake!". That's what we're doing to him as his time-out when he's misbehaving. And when I asked him what Mr. Snake did to get a time-out like that, I laughed when I heard the reason..

"Daddy I put him in the corner because he's sticking out his tongue, that's not nice! diba? (right?)!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:46:00.004-05:00

It's another special day to celebrate, Thanksgiving. It's so special that should actually be done everyday. I would like to share my son's prayer that he's citing before meals maybe your children can use this as well, simple yet meaningful. Here how it goes:

" God is good
God is great
Bless the food
We're about to eat
Amen "

With a combination of his sweet smile makes the food so rich and blessed. He started this before he reach 3 years old and from there on, he was able to memorize it and get to know the real meaning of it. It's a good christian practice for our children to give thanks to the Lord. As what we all believe, It is right to give Him thanks and praise. "All that we have and all that we do, we give it back to you Oh lord, Jesus."

Know how the enemy works...

2009-11-24T11:00:00.002-05:00

For us to know how to deal with the enemies we should know how they work. This will enable us to defeat them strategically and effortlessly. This opponent’s plan is apparent whenever we do good things for our Lord Jesus.

Collection and Investment in One

2009-11-21T20:54:00.003-05:00

Have you ever considered having some collection items? When I was a kid I collected matchbox, a toy brand for miniature toy cars. I got them from gifts, trade-ins and personal purchase. I always proud just looking at them. How they accumulate so fast with different models making one unique from another was so fascinating to me before. But where are they now? Some of them were lost when we moved, some were given to my cousins and some more to my playmates. I thought that it was not a serious collection that I should continue because it doesn’t benefit me much aside from just giving my passion with those toys a chance to be fulfilled when I was a kid. It’s more of a hobby, I guess. Now that I’m mature enough to handle manhood, I think! I’m planning of something that will benefit me and at the same time I will also enjoy in a more sophisticated way. Someone suggested to me to collect coins, but this time, not the old-fashioned way of just putting them on display for everybody to see and being proud of it. If it’s possible, he urged, try putting it as an investment. That’s why I’m talking about not ordinary coins here but gold coins.

You know what I’m thinking? I’m kind of trying to make it more interesting by putting these coins in a chest, making it look like a real treasure, which it is! The sparkle of gold really attracts my eyes especially when they pile up in one place. But this is not the way how to deal with these. This just proves how immature still I am. The real questions are, what should I know first before I buy my first ounce of gold coin or bullion? When should I buy? As of the moment I don’t have a clear knowledge about this kind of business but it’s worth contemplating as one possible income source. Like everybody says, Gold is money.

Truly One Dream Vacation

2009-11-19T12:22:00.005-05:00

While I’m browsing my video files in my computer, I found the one when our good friend Connie brought us to “beach” somewhere in Maryland. I quoted the word because it’s not actually a natural beach but it’s man-made. The first time we went there we were so excited because I can say right there and then, on Clarence’s account, that it will be one of his first time experiences. I never brought him in a beach so I know that it will be a totally new surrounding for him. He only sees beach in cartoons from Ni-Hao Kailan and Dora’s sand castles episodes. He has an idea but he doesn’t know how it feels like to step on a real sandy beach. It was really beautiful, calming and breezy, you will not think that it’s man-made only when Connie told us that the water is not sea-salt but instead fresh water like from rivers or lakes. But Clarence enjoyed it a lot. It’s still his first time though, experiencing a man-made beach is quite a different thing that we can proudly put in his photo book. It’s a memorable experience for us with Connie and her family during the last days we had in Maryland. Now, we are still looking forward to bring Clarence to a natural beach for him to see the beauty and the wonder that nature brings. I found one in the internet where a complete vacation package awaits tourists and nature lovers to see, it is the Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Resorts.

Having a nice vacation and teaching Clarence to appreciate nature in one occasion will be great. Myrtle Beach Resorts offer hotels, golf courses, museums, parks and more which are all located near the breath taking shores that will really make you feel relaxed and think that you’re out at last from the busy moving world. This will fulfill our plan of showing Clarence the natural beach he is longing to see for the first time with a plus of experiencing other things that Beach Resorts Myrtle Beach can offer. I hope we can do this soon. As of the moment, enjoying Clarence videos are still worth our time-offs to relax and enjoy family togetherness.

Good news for First time Homebuyers

2009-11-05T22:13:00.002-05:00

First-time home buyer tax credit extension approved
November 5, 11:59 AMReal Estate News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

The first-time home buyer tax credit extension and expansion has won Congressional approval and is on its way to President Barack Obama.

He's expected to sign the measure as early as tomorrow.

The U.S. House of Representatives, this morning, voted 403 to 12 to pass the measure, following unanimous U.S. Senate approval yesterday.

The measure was passed as part of unemployment benefits extension legislation H.R. 3548.

The extension and expansion of the popular first-time home buyers tax credit gives both new and move-up buyers a tax incentive to buy a home until at least April 30, 2010, longer for military personnel.

The new tax credit extends the existing credit for first-time homebuyers, worth up to $8,000, and offers a new credit of up to $6,500 for some existing homeowners.

The reduced credit for existing homeowners is available to those who have been in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period.

The new rule also raises the qualifying income limits to $125,000 for single taxpayers and $225,000 for joint taxpayers, from the current $75,000 and $150,000.

The maximum allowed home purchase price is $800,000.

A home buyer must have a sale agreement in hand by April 30 and close escrow by June 30, 2010.

Military personnel, deployed overseas for a minimum of 90 days in 2008 or 2009, would have until April 30, 2011 to claim the tax credit.

That's all good news for the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors says as many as 400,000 resale transactions (1.2 million for both new and resale homes) were completed specifically because of the first-time home buyer tax credit, since it began, and that put a dent in the housing inventory.

Home sales also add property and sales tax revenues to the coffers of local governments as reduced inventory helps boost prices and home values.

Fortunately, the tax credit also has been available at a time when often have been below 5 percent.

Fortunately, the first-time home buyer tax credit's availability has coincided with mortgage rates often hanging below 5 percent, according to Jeff Howard, CEO of Erate.com.

As the Nov. 30 tax credit deadline neared, reports from the Commerce Department, revealed new home sales slipped 3.6 percent in September and were down 7.8 percent from September 2008.

Wholesale is a Big on sale

2009-10-31T21:05:00.000-04:00

When it comes to saving money I always make sure that I’m updated. I collect coupons, wait for the on-sale and seasonal promos and look for good deals in different stores. I also joined wholesale stores like Sam’s Club in Maryland. Even if there’s a membership fee, you will still find it cheap to buy products in packs or bundles. My reason, if you’re going to use a product more often anyway why won’t you buy plenty of it in much lesser or cheaper price when you have money to do it. I find it a good deal to buy bulk of baby diapers there when Clarence was just 11 months old. Even if Clarence used almost 5 diapers in a day, my stock of diapers will still be good until our next scheduled shopping.

When Clarence turned 2, I tried using training pants so it will be easy for him to go whenever necessary because that was the time I also teach him going to the potty on his own. Still, I used the same practice in stocking up of diapers and I can tell you that I did not waste a single one. Now that he’s more than 3, and potty trained, I continue using it and I found Huggies Pull-Ups good for him which he only wears during the night when he goes to bed. When you try to check our pantry and closets you will find packs and bundles of bathroom tissues, canned goods and snacks. Products that will count a year before it expires. I can say that I saved a lot in a wholesale store.

Another Day of Shopping

2009-10-28T09:53:00.006-04:00

Remember my article about Shopwiki, well my wife’s friend, Tina had read about it and wishing that she could shop also using the site. And when I asked, what’s preventing her to do so, she replied with annoyingly tone saying, “Hello???, I’m in Australia!!!”. Well I get back on her by saying… “Knock knock Tina, you’re just in Australia and not on Mars! Hehe”. I mean if she was able to read my article in the internet, she sure can try searching for Shopwiki too in her area. That’s the power of the internet. I asked her to get a pen and dictated to her the website’s address for Australia since I’m already in front of my computer. She’s so excited about it. I can’t blame her because she’s not that really good in computers, I know that! since her profession is not related in modern technology, (Tina, if you’re reading, please admit it, Lols!). I even told her that it’s also available in UK and France where some of her cousins live.

After they had a very looong talk, I asked my wife if she still has a plan to go out and buy an electric fan. Maybe you’re wondering why should we need one considering it’s almost winter. I know in Maryland, where we used to live, cold temp. starts on fall season but here in California we’re still getting 79° inside our apartment, turning on the air conditioner is a waste of money that’s why electric fan is in our TO BUY list. We went to Arden Mall, it’s so big and there’s a lot of stores. But we didn’t get any luck finding an electric fan, one of the store crews said that they only put out products based on the current season. I guess we’re going to check the Chinese outlet that my brother recommended us to go. My wife spotted a kid’s store and check for Clarence’s pants. I thought she will just look around but when she asked for the wallet, I refused. I told her that the “2 for $22” promo ($13.50 for 1) pants she’s holding is available in Shopwiki with a lesser price but same quality and style. Check this out.

This is just $4.98 each and you won’t be needing to get 2 pairs to save money. Instead of getting 2 of the same style, you can shop for another one. When we got home, I show her the site’s directory and she was overwhelmed with a lot of choices from different stores. I taught her how to sort it based on price and brand. Again, I know she felt lucky having me around hehe..

Animator vs. Animation

2009-10-23T22:19:00.004-04:00

How I wish I have the talent in making such programs like this. This really amazes me. Those who are familiar in computer stuffs will surely appreciate this. Kudos to the one who created this, my advice for you is give yourself a break, try to stay away from computers for some time. LoLs!

Where is she?

2009-10-22T16:05:00.005-04:00

I can't figure out where the girl went. Of all the challenges I tried to solve, this one left me hanging. Even if I did stare at her with all my concentration. I still can't get it. I think there's a clue in the sound but it's really hard to hear it right. Better to increase the volume of your speakers. Maybe you can help me with this mystery. Leave me a comment when you know the answer. Thanks.

Our Neighborhood

2009-10-18T19:03:00.005-04:00

Friends and relatives always ask us about our new place. I can’t describe it in words, fortunately, I found a video that will best describe the neighborhood where we moved in. The video will also show the Mercy General Hospital where my wife got her new job. The hospital is just beside our apartment. There’s also a park six blocks away from us. We just need to walk to that park whenever Clarence wishes to go there, check out the second video below. I took the video the day after having a heavy rain so it doesn't show the real beauty of the park which is supposedly clean and bloom with flowers. So far, most people we encountered are nice and friendly. How safe it is can be seen at night time, you can still see people in the park, jogging, feeding ducks and playing even at around 7 pm. The only disadvantage living in downtown is the noise of new building constructions and cars on the roadways but all in all, we are beginning to like Sacramento.

Fun Day with our Friends

2009-10-08T00:02:00.005-04:00

One thing we’ll surely missed in Maryland is our dear friends who made us understand that homesickness doesn’t exist in America. They were the ones who accepted us for who we are. They helped and supported us till our last day in Maryland. When we left them I felt the same way I did the day I separated from my family in the Philippines. Truly, they made a significant part in our lives. Friends, who we can count on and always there for us in times of fun or trouble. Our CFC Family made us grow in love – love for God and love for family. They inspired us to be in our best, as individuals and as children of God. They totally changed our lives for the better. God really works in mysterious ways. I knew from the very start that meeting the CFC organization was not an accident. They are instruments of God used to make our struggled lives straightened. I owe to them the happiness and the peace of mind me and my family are enjoying right now. For all of these, we take this opportunity to thank them for everything. Our CFC Household Family, Bro. Jun and Sis. Babes Sacay, Annette and her family, Connie and her Family who were there in the last days of our stay in Maryland.

The video clip below will show you how much fun to be with them. You may need to increase the volume because the original music background I used was not loud enough. (Music by Wayne Waltner – God, Family and Friends)

We miss you so much!!! God Bless you all!!! Continue bringing God's blessing to all!!!

Al, Lorie and Clarence

Looking for TV

2009-10-06T18:33:00.005-04:00

Ten days in California without TV! We’re planning to get one but we don’t know yet what brand and how big but definitely a LCD one. I want the one that can be connected to my computer without me buying an extra pc interface or converter. That’s the reason why we just subscribed for internet and phone service because we don’t have a TV yet for Direct TV. Whenever I visit my brother’s house, I always watch their recorded shows because they do have DVR and service from DirectTV too. It’s helpful because we don’t want to miss the news in the Philippines regarding the flood caused by Typhoon Ondoy (Tropical Storm Ketsana). For now, that’s one of the means we're using to know what’s happening in the Philippines.

My son already misses his favorite cartoons and shows. When we were in Maryland, I used to give him schedule for watching TV but only programs that have my approval, of course, educational and descent. So once we get a TV here, the next plan I’m thinking is to call Directv and inquire about their promos and special packages. I know they give good deals in a cheap price.

New place, new look!

2009-10-02T22:46:00.006-04:00

I didn’t expect moving to a different state will be that so difficult. We came all the way from Maryland and arrived here in California last week. We wish to bring everything we have, like our old stuffs; appliances, furniture, clothes and etc. but we just really couldn’t. The expense that we will be having for the shipping and packing will be more than the value of these stuffs. We just brought what we really needed and the others we sell and gave to our friends. Now, we are starting to settle down and little by little establishing again things we needed for this new beginning. We looked for bed, sofa and some utensils in our first day here, then we subscribed for internet and phone services. Now, we are looking for our new clothes to wear since most of our clothes were left to our friends in Maryland. We’re just new in this place that’s why the internet really helps us a lot. I searched and surfed till one of the net shops got my eyes’ attention. It is Shopwiki which gives a variety of choices for men’s clothing. One thing I liked about it is being organized, they will make it easy for you to shop for the particular clothing type you need. You can sort it by size, by season and by style. Like the one I found in their men’s outwear. Check this out.

Leather jacket is one in my priority list, since there’s no snow here in California, I can still use it for winter. Their styles really made me look for more options in their site plus tips and links that you can use as your own fashion resources. If you are looking for signature clothing, they also have men’s clothing designer page. There’s nothing you could ask for more. In stating this, I remember the time my nephew begged from his dad a stylish drawstring shorts which I found in shopwiki’s jeans section. I’m sure he will like this one.

I would also recommend to him to check the Surfing and bodyboarding section since he always complain that he’s getting bored with his old sports and kept on looking for more adventurous sports or hobby. Now that we’re here in California, I can be my nephew’s buddy in some of his manhood activities. Being close to my family is one of the factors why we chose to transfer here. I hope everything will be perfect in this new environment we chose to live. And I do hope that our new look will match this new place.

I Left My Heart in California

2009-08-27T09:12:00.008-04:00

I wasn’t able to update my blog for a long time for we’ve been busy in our vacation in California. We visited my brother’s family in Elk grove. Finally, after 5 years of being apart we’re so thrilled of being together once again. When we got there, we ignored the almost 8-hours flight that we’ve gone through. We talked overnight along with my sister-in-law and their two bright kids. My brother finally had the chance to meet my son face to face. I told Clarence that he is his legitimate uncle because my son usually refers all our male friends as his uncle. We really liked their place, especially when you see most of your “kababayan” (fellow Filipinos). It’s like you don’t feel you’re away from your hometown. We enjoyed once again eating Filipino food like sizzling sisig, crispy pata (pork hocks), daing na bangus (salted-dried milkfish), pancit (stir-fried noodles) and etc. They brought us in Seafood City where we saw all the food chains that are originated from Philippines like Jollibee, Red Ribbon and ChowKing. All staff and crews are Filipinos, they are everywhere. They are free to use our own language which I seldom hear from other people for years. It’s like a hang-out for Filipinos and if you see an American inside, you’ll think that he is the foreigner in his own land. Well, the American who goes there are actually either spouse of a Filipino or friend of a Filipino. My son really loved playing with his cousins and staying in their big house. Play parks are also everywhere with just less a mile away from each other.

In my other post, I talked about transferring to California and I believe going there for just a little visit made us decide to pursue this plan. We already did what is needed to do in our moving and I’ll tell you, it’s not as simple as that. We already established a home in the apartment here in Maryland. I mean furnitures, appliances, stock of canned goods, supplies and everything. But the very thing that we’ll surely miss is our friends. There are lots of things needed to consider in this kind of transition; application of new apartment in California, cancelling of accounts in our Internet Service Provider, job hunting, auto shipping and etc. We’re thinking to call Direct TV to learn if we can bring our old account with us. I know there’s also Direct TV in California because my brother is actually using their service. We enjoyed watching programs from it especially my brother has DVR which recorded everything we'd liked to watch while we are out of the house. I do hope that Direct Satellite TV has a moving and relocation program because I really loved their service. It will be easier for us to establish a new beginning if some of our old stuffs are with us.

We hope and pray that this decision is right for us. I believe my son will have a better future in the new environment he’ll be living in. Our deciding factor always ends about him. What’s best for our son is always our priority regardless if we already established a stable life in Maryland. Because we saw good schools in California, how safe it is and the support of the relatives around.

"Daddy gets silly!..."

2009-07-26T23:45:00.005-04:00

"Daddy gets silly! whuhuhu" this is exactly what Clarence told his mom.. hahaha.. I don't know what came into me but I found myself teasing my son so hard. It started when he didn’t listen to what I asked him to do. Whatever he acts, I mimic him until I annoyed him so much and began to cry... then my cruelty doesn’t end there, I still continue copying what he does, how he cries, how he stomps and worse giving exaggeration in it.. I ignore him saying “stop!” I was like a little maniac who kept on pissing him off, survival of the fittest, I said to myself.. haha.. we’re both screaming as I followed every pitch of his cry.. not minding the grumpy old man living upstairs. Then my wife woke up and gave us a fiery look as if she’s trying to tell me something that I should’ve known right from the very start. That’s her power, just one look, a strong hidden message hehe.. Oh well, that’s my signal to stop. My son hurriedly went towards her and surprisingly said that phrase. Surprised because I didn’t know how he will tell to her mom what I did… Usually, he’ll go to his mom crying, “Daddy got mad!” but today is different, he made his description of what had happened so funny. He just perceived it as silliness whereas I’m expecting him to say that “we had a fight”. For I know I got him real good. It’s not my intention to make him cry, it’s just that my son is really irresistibly cute for me that I wanted to tease him and have fun with him. I believe it’s better to get silly than to get mad. You know, child heart! Everyone has it.

Book's Cover

2009-07-23T07:16:00.011-04:00

I'll ask you to stare at the image above carefully, what can you see? Many of you will say that there's a point or black dot. That will be the very first response we’ll have in our minds. That’s what I answered before when somebody asked me about this. We only see what is obvious. We didn’t give enough attention to what is bigger and more evident in the picture --- and that is the clear and enormous WHITE, surrounding the black dot. Actually, if the black dot was not there, then we will now say, it’s empty or there's nothing in there. Just blank. Sadly, this kind of viewpoint lives among all of us. What we see first are the negatives, we often forget the beauty that lies beneath those. This is true in meeting people, we sometimes prejudge them on how they look, how they dressed, how they walk and others. I would like to present this thought in a video and you be the judge.

Susan Boyle

She's really amazing, isn't she? It's true what they say that you cannot judge a book by its cover. You have to know the person better first before you can say anything that really has sense about that person.

This is sometimes true which is happening right in our own homes. Our spouses will do their best in cleaning the whole house but instead of appreciation and compliment, they'll get criticism, whether the cleaning is not right, they wasted a lot of cleaning agent when they can just use little or there’s still a place in the house that is unclean. We didn't consider the hardship they've gone through, the sacrifices they gave just to clean up, they could be watching their favorite show or do shopping for themselves instead. We should be grateful of what they're doing especially when it's hardly done just to please us.

One busy child equals one happy dad.

2009-07-22T16:47:00.008-04:00

We went to Clarence’s playgroup today and it was held in PACT, a Kennedy Krieger institute that helps children with special needs. I didn’t anticipate that they will be involved in water play even if I already saw in the playgroup’s calendar the phrase “water play”. I thought we will just have a trip on some swimming pools and water kind of stuffs. Good thing, Like Dora and Diego, I always carry my backpack. I have his complete set of clothes that can be good for 3 days hehe.. towels, food, wipes and etc..

Clarence really enjoyed it, the fact that he’s allowed to play in the water as long as he wants and to do whatever he likes to do, is really a good treat for him. It’s really different when he’s with other kids, he can see how their creativity and courageousness set into play. There are kids who have no fear to get wet, tried high slides and climbed arched steel ladders. And there are some who squirted and sprayed water using the toys around them. No doubt, it’s another great and learning experience for him.

At home, letting him play in our patio with water hose, watering can, pail and dipper made him so busy that I can do some chores without any interruptions. Of course his safety is still considered, our patio is not slippery when wet and I can clearly see him from where I am. He loved playing with water. He’s very much free to do whatever he wants, I believe this will develop his cognitive skills. He’s trying to get answers from his curiosity, like the cause and effect theory. He’s there watering the veggie plants, the grass and the patio table and chairs while me in the computer, blogging hehe… Again, it’s a win-win solution for parents and child. You may also think of other ideas that can make your child busy. Other parents in Clarence’s playgroup shared to me that they bought set of locks, magnets, and others that are not toy-like items because as you’ll notice, kids are more attracted to those things that they’re prohibited to play than to their usual and kind of weary child toys. Here are some of the pictures I took for that event.

Each Day, Another Chapter!

2009-07-21T14:23:00.006-04:00

When I was not into CFC (Couples for Christ) yet, I don’t know how to start using the Bible. Some have told me things about it. One has said that people who are bringing the book are hypocrites because they are exposing it when they have a bag to keep it, another said to the one who carries it, “What’s the gimmick?” But most often I heard people saying that they got answers from it. I’m really confused why some people find it waste of time while others claim it as wisdom. Two people has attested to me that when they are in their lowest moments of their lives, they just get the bible, open it and in front of them is a scripture which lifts them up and resolves their confused minds. I can say that people who has lack in knowledge about the Bible has no right to say anything bad about it. Like, you cannot give criticism to a movie that you, yourself haven’t watched. I, myself is still discovering what it can offer to my life and I’m happy that I was accepted in CFC to make this process possible for me. I cannot say anything yet about the Bible because I don’t want to make mistakes on describing it, all I know is, there’s a purpose why in a very long time, it is still in existence. Having joined the Christian Life Program made me committed in their objectives and goals. Like a husband to my wife, or a father to my son, I have an obligation and interest to pursue. One of them is to read the Bible.

Many might want to try reading the Bible but the often question they have in minds is “How/Where should I start?” In the Bible Reading Guide that CFC provided me, they made it very simple and easy. It has a checklist like this:

Each day, one chapter. That’s really easy, if you can spend a lot of time doing junk in the internet, why don’t you try giving some minutes to do this. They asked us to do this for at least 15 minutes a day. They also recommended the following:

1. Say a short prayer before you start reading, asking for the Holy Spirit to enlighten you and for God’s Word to find a home in your heart.
2. Read the text through quickly. Then read it again, this time slowly and trying to understand more fully.
3. Meditate on what you have read, especially those portions that struck you.

When I opened Mark’s Gospel, It says in the introduction that it’s an ideal starting place for someone (like me) who knows little about Jesus. It’s style --—simple sentences, without complicated transitions or long speeches ----makes understanding easier. I realized it’s true, it made me wanting to read more when I started. It’s my 10th day today and I just read Chapter 10 a moment ago. Who can say that the old Bible we found under the pile of books in my Aunt’s house in the Philippines will be useful for me. Now I know why we were able to dig it up and brought here in US.

Let's Do the Safety Check!

2009-07-20T06:47:00.002-04:00

We already taught our son how to cross the road inside our apartment complex but we still can’t be sure of his safety from some reckless drivers. Yesterday when we sent Lorie to work, (we usually walk her to the train station and played in the park afterwards) we were walking slowly in the parking lot when suddenly a man started backing up his car when we were just a yard away from his rear. If Lorie didn’t shout which alarmed the driver, I don’t know what terrible could happen. We’re too big for the driver not to be seen at the back of his car. He just wave like he’s trying to apologize but he still continues driving as if it’s not a big deal. I’m waiting for him to get off the car and check if there’s something went wrong with us, but he didn’t. We were still shocked then and didn’t think of arguing or getting his plate number. All our concern has been brought to our son if he’s okay. We got so scared of thinking the horrible things that might have happened when the man continued backing up. As of now, we’re all okay. Thank God. I know He was there to protect us.

Whenever my son and I are outside I don’t let him get too far away from me, I’m always a meter away from him when walking in the sidewalk. I think I’m getting so paranoid, always thinking that someone might get him from me haha. I love my son so much, that’s why! And when we are about to cross the road, he knows the rule, I just need to say “Okay.. safety check!!!” and he will respond, “Stop! Look and Listen!!!” in a singing mode… He’s now looking on both sides making sure that it’s clear to cross, but sometimes, I still need to remind him. There’s one time, I forgot to do the routine because I can see from afar that it’s safe to cross, he cautioned me, “Daddy, Stoooppp! Stop! Look and Listen first!!!!” hahaha… followed up by saying “That’s dangewoouuss..!” Oh well, I said, “oh, I’m sorry, I forgot about our safety check!”. That’s just one instance, but now when we’re out I always make sure that we do this practice constantly. It’s like making him responsible in a fun and easy way he’ll like it. I believe everybody should have their own safety patrol anywhere and anytime.

Reading bedtime stories

2009-07-19T05:44:00.007-04:00

Every night my son asks me to read books for him. If he gets one book, he'll immediately tell me "That's not the last one, Huh?" meaning, he will get another one after I finished the first. I don't know if that is one of his delaying tactics in going to bed but all I know reading books is good for him. Sometimes I enjoyed it but other times, I don't. It's me to blame, I let him gets used to it because I somewhat feel guilty if I don't grant his request (of reading second book). When I know that he’s asking for a good option rather than playing. But the good thing is, he agreed to me when I say that the second book will be the last one. Sometimes, he’s outsmarted me by getting the thickest book he has in the shelf as his last book for the night hahaha.. If I’m so sleepy, I tried to skip pages but there he is to remind me that I missed a page, I think he memorized the pictures in each page hehe.. but according to what I read from kidshealth.org, here it is..

Why Should I Read to My Toddler?
Studies show that children with active exposure to language have social and educational advantages over their peers - and reading is one of the best exposures to language.

Sure enough because I can see that his developmental stage is getting advanced from his other playmates of the same age. One time, while I’m driving the car, and out of nowhere he tells me, “BUMPS Daddy!” I was surprised because it was written in a big orange warning sign posted on the side of the road which is under construction along the way. "Don't go to the bumps, daddy huh?!"

At the age of 3, he can read 3 letter words but I haven’t taught him of words with combination of consonants in it. I was really thrilled that when our story time came, I read him the two books he wanted without any complaints. I read him every single word not minding if he knows the words or if he understands it. I tried to explain some words but not all. I believe hearing the words even if he’s not fully listening will still help him. Pictures really help in giving the idea of the words I read. The last time we were out my wife asked me to go to Ross Store for us to get him a Christian story book which is indeed useful and also informative for his spiritual growth. I don’t advertise, but Ross has cheap books and educational toys too.

How to Say "No" to your child

2009-07-18T12:58:00.009-04:00

This post is in response to gab’s mom’s question from my last blog. As you all know, gab’s mom is also Clarence’s godmother and a good friend of mine. Here’s her question:

"i should start saying NO to him! i'm the mom, yeah? LOL

but wait, he's just 1 and 9 mos, should i let him win for now? ha ha ha! i just thought that he might be too young for a resounding NO! what do you think?"

My last post was on how to deal with your toddler when all you hear from him is “No”. Now, I’ll share with you how to say “No” to your child in other ways. It’s parent’s turn to say “No” in ways that (I believe) will be effective in the child’s development regardless of the age. Constantly saying “No” to your child causes it’s meaning to lose its sense. When your child always hears “No”, “Stop” or “Don’t” he’s most likely to become frustrated or afraid to try new things. He can’t build his confidence when you always think that he can’t be messy, risky or free. Though our objective is to protect our child, it’s still better that he will learn this (our objective) by himself---- on WHY we are resistant in his actions. Consider this example, when your child is about to reach the toilet water, of course, your first response is to say “No!” that’s fine (to say No at his first attempt) but it will be more effective when you support it with an explanation. Like “That’s dirty!” or “Yucky! It will make you sick!” So the next time he goes for the toilet again (which he will surely do), instead of “No”, you can just say “Dirty!”, “Yucky” with an exaggerated disgusted face expression. This will help your child understand WHY, and the toilet will be less attractive for him.

Another example is when your child asks for his toy during meal time, of course you will say No again. No, no and no!... That’s kind of irritating on him also, let’s put ourselves into their shoes, it’s like what we feel when our spouses tell the same thing on us in an argument. So here’s another way you can say No to your child the next time he asks for a toy during meal time. “Okay, son you can have/play your toy but it will be later after you finish your food” or "YES! yes, you'll have your toy once dinner is done". "Okay" and "Yes" are better in hearing for them but you can see there’s still a compromise. It’s a bargain that they will surely accept instead of NO (no toy) at all.

My last example is making yourself responsible as a grown-up. You want to protect your child but you are the one who’s sometimes making things dangerous for him. You don’t like to say No all the time so you have to do something on the things and place your child is wandering. Make his world a childproof environment and his toys safe for him. Like when your child tried to touch an electrical outlet, you’ll be there again to hysterically say “No!” but if you already put outlet plugs on it, there’s no reason for you to worry and your child will be free from hearing the No word constantly. If he kept on going to the kitchen or toilet, you can use toddler SAFETY gates or door knob locks. No one else could know what your child needs to be protected but YOU. Be proactive and Beat the Negative. Yes! It rhymes again.

The “No” Word!

2009-07-16T15:15:00.001-04:00

It seems that toddlers’ first learning words will not be a set if the word NO is not present. For them it’s a powerful word that can put things in the way they want it to be. I believe this is a normal behavior, a stage where things are hard for the parents to handle. You ask something that you’ll like him to do but instead he’ll just stare at you, shakes head or say “NO!” or even ‘better‘ he does the exact opposite of what he was told. 2 to 3 years old are like that as I observed from my own son and his playgroup mates. Some parents shared the same experience. I think this is the stage where our kids wanted to be in control. They want to do things their own way. We can’t blame them. They have their own opinions and ideas. We want them to be independent but we also like them to be mindful of the needs of others, to see danger, to think before they act and to say No in such acceptable ways. Because saying No is also important! For them, to stay away in trouble or bad things when they get older.

But for the meantime, we want of course, to make our kids not to be used in saying this (I could say) a bit negative word.  One thing I’ve learned from Janice Simons, one of Clarence's very patient teachers was not to give Clarence an option to say No if we want him to do something. Like, when we’re cleaning up his toys and we want to ask him to put his truck away, we will say, “Where do you want this truck, on the shelf or under your table?” In that way, he has no choice but to keep his truck in either place, and hearing the No word becomes lesser. Two acceptable choices that will also make him decide. In food, he sometimes dislike apple but his only second option is grapes. So I didn’t give him anything bad like cookies as another option. Another thing is when you are asking him to do something that he will resist to do, verbally or physically. Like when I ask him to get a diaper, naturally, he’ll say a really tough NO with a look of determination that’s like he’s not gonna break his final word NO. According to Ms. Peggi Kelly, he’s another strong-willed teacher, you should not give up by you yourself getting the diaper, but instead you’ll make sure that your child is getting the signal you’re passing on him. He should know that you are more determined to get your goal – the Diaper.. LOLs! I mean the idea of your child to follow what has been asked him to do. You should not ignore it by saying “oh well, I’ll get it myself just to make it simple!” which is a big mistake because it will just make a perception to your child that he can manipulate you by just saying No. –And that’s not making your life SIMPLE! Instead, you’ll tell your child that you will get the diaper together and you will help him in finding and pulling it from wherever it is kept. You’ll be surprised that he’ll do it…, with you just watching beside him. It’s a win-win-win game, you get your goal of making him follow you, prevents him in possible manipulating on you and you get the diaper. Say No to Stress, Say Yes to Success!! Hehe It rhymes.

Singing is Praying Twice

2009-07-14T13:46:00.012-04:00

Singing is praying. When one sings one prays twice - so said the great Saint Augustine. While singing in the front of the Lord, we are in touch with the deepest center of our heart. Whatever moves there, comes out before our Creator as a loving offering to Him. The emotions of joy, grief, anger and frustration pour out in the presence of the Lord in loving trust and total self-surrender.

Singing together is praying together - brothers and sisters in deep communion with each other in the overflowing love of God. Praising God in song draws down double graces too.

Singing right doesn't exclude off-tuned singers. It is when you sing with all your heart and soul as an offering to God Almighty. Before, I sing quietly in church because I know that I’m one of the off-tuned people who can’t raise a note. Funny because I do that just not to look stupid, but I realized it does made me look more stupid when there’s a crowd singing then there I am, showing how much shy to sing. It’s different now, if you know that you are singing as a family with the same objective, you’ll not feel any awkwardness. You can shout without anyone noticing you. I found myself singing so loud whenever we give worship and praises to the Lord. Why don’t you try these songs below. Don Moen is one of our favorites.

ADS

ACTS

2009-07-13T14:10:00.005-04:00

I didn't know before that there's a structure you can use in prayer. When I'm praying I just talk to Jesus with whatever words that's coming out from my mind, my heart and my mouth. Christian Life Program informed me about this structure. They pointed out that there's nothing wrong if you have a fixed prayer, or you don't have flowery words, the important thing is it's coming from the bottom of your heart. The structure will just give us a guide in our prayer. It's not a requirement to follow but rather just to help us to make our thoughts organized. At the end, you and your prayer will always be the best for you whatever structure you use as long as it's for the good of your household and your neighbors.

One structure for prayer is given by the acronym "ACTS", representing adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication (or intercession.) This is one order, where we start off focusing on who God is, and praising him for that. Others find a CATS pattern helpful, beginning by clearing out of the way the things that sadden God in our lives, before we can go onto praise him. Let's look briefly at each in turn :

Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfil the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer.

Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him. All of us have sinned. St John writes in his epistle "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I Jn 1:8,9)

Thanksgiving. From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift. Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings. In writing to Timothy, Paul makes it clear that we also need to be giving thanks for everyday, worldly things " I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." 1 Tim 2:1.

Supplication or Intercession. Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific.

Your Blog Makes Us Smile Award

2009-07-12T02:28:00.005-04:00

I felt so special when my friend Dulce gave me this award though I wasn't able to grab it right away. I don't know what to say or how to thank her in a very special way. For me, preparing a very good post entry for this must be done since she included me in her awardees even though there’s a lot of blogs that she can pick. I really appreciate it! Knowing that my blog can put a smile on my readers is totally rewarding in my part. I hope that I can continue touching people’s heart through this blog. And to my friend, Dulce I thank you so much. I’m inviting my readers to check on her blog too, she has a lot to share.

Now, It’s time for me to share this award to those I know who deserves to get it. These are the people who really put smile on my face whenever I drop by on their blogs. And the awardees are:

Sunny for his blog, filthy room

Zeb for his blog, a blog’s life

And Sherlie for her blog, sherliez

And of course Dulce’s blog,

Full Time Mom

which always makes me smile too.

Terrible Two's

2009-07-08T12:18:00.004-04:00

It's what you think that made things happen for you. if you were cautioned by people to wait till your child reaches the age of 2 because that’s when the child becomes a headache to parents, or so as they had called it Terrible Two’s, then the choice is really yours. It’s either you expect things to happen as what these people had set in your mind or you believe in to your own capacity as a parent. It’s better to expect good things than bad about our child. You are the only one who knows your child; other people can’t tell what your child really is capable of. I can say that those are the kinds of people who pretend they know everything. I’d rather set my mind that 2 year olds belong to Terrific Two’s than to what they harshly called it as Terrible. It is what you believe that make things possible. This is my son when he 'was' two years old...

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Finding Your Mr./Ms. Right

2009-07-07T14:53:00.003-04:00

5 Golden Rules for finding your life partner
by Rabbi Dov Heller, M.A.

A relationships coach lays out his 5 golden rules for evaluating the prospects of long-term marital success. When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50 percent, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Ms.Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: "We're in love." I believe this is the #1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love. Though this may sound not politically correct, there's a profound truth here.

Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come.

Let me say it again: You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone. You need a lot more. Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

QUESTION #1: Do we share a common life purpose?

Why is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone. What do you plan to do with each other all that time? Travel, eat and jog together? You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose.

Two things can happen in a marriage. You can grow together, or you can grow apart. 50 percent of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life bottom line-and marry someone who wants the same thing.

QUESTION #2: Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person?

This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship. Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust - i.e. trust that I won't get "punished" or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings. A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the
person you plan to marry.

QUESTION #3: Is he/she a mensch?

A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test? Here are some suggestions. Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis? Are they serious about improving themselves? A teacher of mine defines a good person as "someone who is always striving to be good and do the right thing."

So ask about your significant other: What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement. There are essentially two types of people in the world: People who are dedicated to personal growth and people who are dedicated to seeking comfort. Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION #4: How does he/she treat other people?

The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure.

Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed? To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as a waiters, bus boy, taxi driver, etc. How do they treat parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation? If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them
everything, you cannot expect that they'll have gratitude for you --who can't do nearly as much for them!

Do they gossip and speak badly about others? Someone who gossips cannot be someone who loves others. You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION #5: Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married?

Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to "improve" them after they're married. As a colleague of mine puts it, "You can probably expect someone to change after marriage ... for the worse!" If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating, to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues.

Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework.

I'm a Houseband

2009-07-06T02:19:00.003-04:00

Houseband. There's a big misconception on this term. Always used as a joke since it is depicted from the word Husband. Some used it to mock men who don’t work in the corporate world. Those who are just staying at home. Husbands who are taking care of the household chores and children. Well, that’s how the narrow-minded people think. Houseband has a deeper meaning. After hearing Pastor Joel Osteen said about this term, I can proudly say that I’m definitely a Houseband. Please have time to watch this video about commitment in marriage. I’m 100% sure you will be enlighten to the importance of your role in your spouse and child.

Pastor Joel Osteen on marriage, commitment, relationships, taking care of your family, raising your children, and other wise words.
Whether or not you're Christian, Joel Osteen's on-point with this.
10 minutes for the rest of your life.

Study

2009-07-05T23:26:00.012-04:00

I was asked of what from the 5 tools in my catholic Christian life, I haven't fully utilized. Here are the 5 tools; Prayer, Study, Service, Fellowship and Sacraments. I've told them that all has not been fully utilized; maybe I was able to give a portion in each but not in every aspect. I chose “Study” as what I believed I’m lacking out most. Study compromises of reading the Bible daily, spiritual reading through other means and knowing God through preaching and teachings. I told them my 3 reasons. First, I’m lazy, I’m a fan of the words convenience and easy. I’m so lazy that sometimes when I’m searching something from the internet, I used Google Video Search instead of the Google Web Search because I find it easier listening and watching video than reading. I’m so impatient in reading. Second is lack of interest. My mistake is to put the Bible near where our computer is, so when I’m looking at it from afar, the interest in surfing the net becomes more inviting than reading the Bible. It’s also funny that whenever my wife asks me to read even just 1 verse in each day instead of consuming most of my time in the computer, there’s a tendency in me to oppose it more. I told Lorie to wait for the time that I will open it because I like doing it. And third is I’m afraid. The Bible has profound words that I might misunderstood or misinterpreted. I’m afraid that I don’t have the wisdom to know it the right way.

The facilitator said that it’s how the devil works on us. He’s getting all the chances for us to break our faith. And our challenge is to know how to fight it. Actually, as an Algebra instructor before, I know that in every problem, there’s a solution, and finding the solution is knowing the root cause first and the available sources you can use. I know now the causes, and I strongly believe I can solve it easily. I already have the eagerness to learn, the only things I need are the motivation and interest. Since I like the internet more, I used it to read some verses from the Bible. If you’ll notice at the left side of my site, there’s a gadget of “Daily Bible Verse”. I can also go to Bible.com. One of my favorites is joelosteen.com. Before I do anything in my computer, I make sure that I read even just 1 verse and if I don’t understand, my wife is there for me and it will be a great discussion starter. The Holy Spirit will be the one who will work for us to understand it more. I don’t want to give the devil any opportunities to win his game. I’d rather choose God works than evil’s. I hope and pray that we’ll be able to fight all struggles that might come our way in taking the path we chose to live.

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Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-04T01:20:00.001-04:00

A little trivia. Have you ever wondered what's inscripted in the tablet that the Statue of Liberty is holding?

The Statue of Liberty tablet contains an inscription of a text or series of letters which is actually the date of the United States of America's day of Independence (the year being written in Roman numerals): JULY IV MDCCLXXVI or the July 4, 1776.

Like many other features of the Statue of Liberty, the stone tablet is open to various symbolism and the accompanying interpretations to each. For one, Statue of Liberty tablet is symbol of the importance of commemorating historical events that happen to each nation.

The reason for this is because the date of one of the most important historical events that happened to the United States was inscribed there. Generally, it is a belief that without acknowledging history, a nation can never successfully progress to new levels of enlightenment.

Clarence's Prayer

2009-06-30T16:30:00.006-04:00

I know this is kind'a late but i forgot to post a blog about Clarence 3rd birthday last April 18th. When I'm browsing his videos in my computer, I can't help noticing his cute little prayer before we cut his cake and I can't wait to share it with you all. It was a simple celebration but done with so much love and laughter. Some of our friends gave us a visit after his birthday since we cannot accomodate them on the exact date of Clarence's birthday because Lorie has to attend her night duty then, well that's the bit sad part of it. But the important thing is we know Clarence didn't ask for more than we could offer him. We would like him to get the idea of being happy on what he has. To live simple with contentment in his heart. I believe every child has that character, they are so innocent and shallow. Check out his cute little prayer.

(on 18th when clarence bday, his mom has to go to work, so we just had cake, on the 21st we were able to celebrate it with some friends.)

Run, Jump and Make Noise! But do not Sin...

2009-06-29T23:04:00.012-04:00

This is what our last speaker advised us to do when things seems going wrong and trying to put us back in our same old negative situation. Well, I think it worked. When I feel mad, I just kind of letting it go by going away first till I calm down. I chose to go to the duck pond near our place and feel the beauty of the nature that God has offered to us. In that way I can feel closer to God and share to Him my pains. After that I feel relieved and realized things I should’ve better known. It’s like an outlet for me in letting go of the stress that I shouldn’t be carrying. A good outlet since it makes my relationship to God stronger. And in these days, it’s better to lift your problems to God rather than to other people as I believed that there are just two whom you can trust; God and Yourself. Other people might listen and show that they care but you will never know if what you shared will be kept confidential, they can tell your life to anybody intentionally or not, either for a good reason or bad. The point here is to divert your attention to something else rather than committing a sin. Don’t let the devil win you and control your actions. If you were to choose what would it be? Peace of mind or guilt, Happiness or loneliness, Love or hatred? Run somewhere else, Jump as high as you can and make noise till it overpowers the chance of committing a sin. This is just my two cents. ;>

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Good News!

2009-06-28T03:18:00.014-04:00

Last night was not an ordinary night for me and my family because it was the night we believed God has prepared for us. It was a glorious celebration when we have been baptized once again as Catholics or should I say Christian Catholics, receiving divine gifts from God and the wisdom and knowledge from the Holy Spirit. Many might raise their eyebrows or do their prejudices and might consider us fools, I can’t blame them, they have their own opinions and beliefs but for us, it didn’t bother a thing since we are here to please no one but God. We are willing to be Fools if that will mean serving our Creator. We are all servants of the Lord. You know what? It felt really great, an indescribable feeling. The very first time I, myself can’t believe that it’s all happening to me. I think that’s why there is a name called Heaven when you really felt that you are talking with Jesus alone, one on one with extreme happiness. It’s very uplifting. Everything will stop but your heartbeat. You will see that the world is so little compared to the greatness of God. Being considered and accepted as one important human being not only in our group but in the whole world. I believed that I suddenly found my purpose. They made me enter in one silent room after a long meditation of prayers and praises, the 3 of our Christian leaders reassured to me that I have the power to talk with Jesus in my own will, my own prayer, my own belief and strength, and you know what, I did! While I’m doing it, with all their pray-over’s, I didn’t notice that so much tear drops are rolling down my cheeks, a moment I promised myself that will never happen, that I will have to cry. I didn’t feel any embarrassment or pride. All I know was I felt new and cleansed. This is what I’ve been longing for, a life that is free of guilt, has peace of mind and true happiness. And that all happened when I surrendered myself to Jesus.

Many might be asking, especially to those who really knew me, how did it happen? Well it happened when everything seems falling in their proper places, I did not exert much effort but it just happened right before our own eyes. Even before we got here in US, my wife and I have been looking for our place to be with God. We tried different Christian groups in the Philippines, each one is great but the problem still lied within us. We always find a reason not to maintain it. It’s like a roller coaster ride, one time, we will be there but most times we’re not. Here in US, it took us 2 years before we got to know that there’s a Christian Life Program pillared by Filipinos like us. Our constant problem of not being in the church every Sundays has been solved when we joined this program. Here how it goes. One Sunday, actually it’s an Easter Sunday, I told myself to attend the mass not at the usual church we go to but in Sacred Heart Jesus church with two goals in mind. First to have my catholic obligation be done and second to see the Sacred Heart private school I’m considering for my son’s preschool. As usual, I wasn’t able to finish the mass since Clarence is so impatient inside the church disturbing everybody by screaming and making lots of noises. I decided to go out and just pray a little. I felt a little guilt because I got really mad at my son and thought of making it up on him by going to the nearest play park. When we were in the park, someone asked me to which chapter I belong? I didn’t get it because I have no idea that there will be a group of people having an Easter celebration on that place and on that very instant. I believed God has proven His power once again by bringing us all together in one place and in one time. Everything has really a purpose; my son’s mischief that I thought was unreasonable was actually the way for us to be driven towards Him. The man who approached me introduced us to the group whom I’ve heard a lot of times before, it’s the Couples for Christ or CFC. I asked if they could still fit us in and they are very welcoming in accepting us to be a part of their group without any questions at all. The funny part is, the venue of our meetings are regularly held at Sacred Heart of Jesus church, I didn't need to look for it since I was able to searched for it before in finding a good school for Clarence. Last night was our 9th talk and done with baptism. Who can tell that a shy person like me, who can’t talk in front of many people, is now sharing my life experiences with God to other people in our every session. To God be the Glory! To Jesus we commit ourselves and everything in us.

An Artist in Each of Us

2009-06-27T00:32:00.012-04:00

I know that each of us has his own artist in ourself. Hidden or used, it will still stand out when needed. In our own special way we can express more of ourselves by making the little artist in us to work. I took this literally by doing a sketch of my son. I’m so addicted to him that made me spent time in drawing him on a piece of bond paper using a regular and cheap pencil that we got from a birthday give-aways. I don’t care if I really didn’t know how to draw but the thing is, I did it out of love. I want to get all the details in my son’s face; his eyes, his nose, his lips… I believe that I was able to draw him for I knew him very well even if my eyes are closed. I know the feel of his tiny lips because he always gives me kisses. I know how he smiles because we always play together. Whether the drawing is perfect or not, it doesn’t matter as long as the thought of having time in thinking, preparing and doing it for my son was there will be more than enough. The important thing is I enjoyed what I did and I’m proud of it, well, who would mind? I’m not a pro, I’m just a typical father who will give the littlest (if there is) talent I could give for my son. Being an artist is nature in all of us, whether it’s in music, poetry or painting. Why don’t you try being an artist for a moment and share it with your loved ones.

My child can read

2009-06-26T02:08:00.004-04:00

We started teaching Clarence to read 3 letter words since he already mastered how each letter of the alphabet sounds. I always put in videos every achievement he has for us to have our own record. Like in this video I intentionally indicated when we started teaching him to read and that was a month before his 3rd birthday. This will keep me on track with his growth development. I enjoy watching all his videos without asking myself how old he was during that time and when was the time he learned those things. At the age of 3 he can now read some of the 3 letter words we introduced to him. Though he’s still struggling on some but I think it’s because of me for being so impatient in teaching him on a regular basis, plus the fact that he sometimes doesn’t cooperate with me. I tried in as hard as I can to make our sessions a fun time for him but sometimes we are ending up either playing or fighting. I’m using some flash cards, cardboard word puzzles and the internet. This website really helps us a lot in making him interested in reading. Check this out > http://www.starfall.com (website recommended by Ms. Peggi Kelly, one of Clarence's wonderful playgroup teachers)

Michael Jackson dead at 50

2009-06-25T23:37:00.004-04:00

Michael Jackson had been planning to start a series of comeback concerts in London and had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months. Promoters of the shows said in March that he had passed a lengthy physical examination.

Dneero Survey

2009-06-18T23:57:00.001-04:00

Deadliest City in America

2009-06-04T18:49:00.007-04:00

Error by Detroit makes Baltimore No. 2 in murders

Revised 2008 total pushes Mich. city into top spot among large metro areas
By Justin Fenton | justin.fenton@baltsun.com
4:04 PM EDT, June 4, 2009

Detroit police have acknowledged an error in their 2008 homicide total submitted to the FBI, a change that pushes Baltimore down from the top spot for homicide rate among large U.S. cities.

Rod Liggons, a Detroit police spokesman, said the city in January reported 339 homicides to the state of Michigan, which submits figures to the federal government. But the number that the FBI distributed this week as part of its annual crime report was 306, a difference of more than 11 percent. Liggons told The Baltimore Sun that figure is wrong.

"Three-thirty-nine is our actual number," Liggons said.

The difference of 33 killings is just enough to push Detroit's homicide rate past Baltimore's to reclaim the No. 1 ranking among cities with a population of 500,000 or more people. Baltimore's rate is 36.9 killings per 100,000 people; Detroit's is now 37.4 per 100,000.

-- This is really scary knowing that we are living in the state where the no.2 deadliest city is located. We are really going to pursue our plan of transferring to a different state. Like what Clarence is always saying when he puts his seatbelt on "Safety First!!!"

Video Source > http://wjz.com/video/?id=28369@wjz.dayport.com

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Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-24T22:47:00.004-04:00

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action. --Wikipedia

In U.S. we remember those that have fought for our freedom ... we don't take freedom lightly, but sometimes we take those defenders of freedom for granted ... jeez, they were there, it's a job, do your thing, let me do my thing ... not quite that easy ... let's not forget that they also fought alongside our friends in many other nations to preserve a peacefully, free way of life for others, worldwide.

Dneero Surveys

2009-05-18T13:33:00.005-04:00

Spring has Sprung!

2009-05-17T14:43:00.010-04:00

We wanted Clarence to know more about spring so we decided to go to Home Depot and bought things for gardening. As usual, as the saying goes, hitting two birds with one stone, we got ourselves vegetable seeds and plants so we'll also benefit from his first 'planting' experience. I think my wife and I enjoyed it more than Clarence since it's been so long when we had our hands in dirt. We did not spend money in buying a trowel but instead we used Clarence's toy shovel :) In the Philippines, you can just get soil anywhere but here you need to buy specific soil/mix for your pots, digging around our premises might need some permits since we don't know what's under the ground. As one of Clarence's teachers advise, we can walk him outside the house to investigate things he can see during spring time like ants and bugs. Truly, he can now identify some insects and bugs by their actual sizes and appearances that he only seen in pictures before. This will help him develop his cognitive skills. When we are going to parks, he always telling me whatever he sees, like purple flowers, bee, ants, fly and the likes and it is important for me not to ignore him because that’s the time he’s learning to remember different things, and also to give immediate correction when what he’s saying is different from what he sees. I hope you find yourself something to enjoy this spring. Simple things could also be fun especially when you do it with your loved ones.

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Have you been summoned to be a jury? What do you think of it?

One 'Nursing' Mom

2009-05-10T10:41:00.006-04:00

Happy Nurse's Week to the best nurse we know...
and Happy Mother's Day too!!! We love you!!!

-Daddy and Clarence

Happy Mother's Day to my loving Nanay too.. I Love You 'Nay!!!

National Nurses Week

2009-05-09T13:38:00.005-04:00

To all the nurses esp. my wife,

National Nurses Week (May 6th - 12th) comes just once a year, but it's the job you perform every day that makes this time so important. You are the backbone of the nation's healthcare industry. Your skills, compassion and tireless commitment make an immeasurable impact on our communities – one patient at a time. Happy Nurses week!!!

You know You're a Nurse if...

•You believe every patient needs TLC: Thorazine, Lorazepam and Compazine.
•You know the phone numbers of every late night food delivery place in town by heart.
•You can only tell time with a 24 hour clock
•Every time you walk, you make a rattling noise because of all the scissors and clamps in your pockets.
•You can tell the pharmacist more about the medicines he is dispensing you than he can.
•You carry "spare" meds in your pocket rather than wait for pharmacy to deliver.
•You're uncomfortable in clothes that don't have elastic or drawstring waistbands, because you spend most of your waking hours in scrubs.
•You check the caller ID when the phone rings on your day off, in case it's someone from the hospital is trying to call to ask you to work.
•You've been telling stories in a restaurant and had someone at another table throw up.
•You notice that you use more four letter words now than before you became a nurse.
•Every time someone asks you for a pen, you can find at least three of them on you.
•You live by the motto, "To be right is only half the battle, to convince the physician is more difficult."
•Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.
•Drinking iced tea from a clean urinal is completely normal.
•Your bladder can expand to the same size as a Winnebago's water tank.
•When checking the level of orientation of a patient, you aren't sure of the answers yourself. (What day is it again?)
•Your favorite dream is the one where you leave a mess at a patient's bedside and tell a doctor to clean it up.
•Everyone, including complete strangers, tells you about each and every ache and pain they have.
•You want to put your foot through the TV screen every time you see a nurse on a soap opera doing nothing but talking on the phone and flirting with doctors.
•You can almost SEE the germs on doorknobs and telephones.
•You can watch the goriest movie and eat anything afterwards, even spaghetti with lots of tomato sauce.
•You find yourself checking out other customer's arm veins in grocery waiting lines. (Wow! I can get an 11g in that puppy!)
•your friends call you for medical advice. ( lloyd , avatarj@mindspring.com )
•you have the bladder capacity of five people
•you have your weekends off planned for a year in advance
•you believe that “ask-a-nurse” is an evil plot thought up by satan
•you think that caffeine should be available in IV form.
•you have ever had a patient control his seizures when offered some food.
•your feet are flatter and tougher than Fred Flintstone’s
•your immune system is so well developed that it has been known to attack squirrels in the back yard.
•the hems of your scrub pants are held in with 3-0 chromic or steristrips.
•your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down to eat
•you’ve ever had a patient with a nose-ring tell you “I’m afraid of shots.”
•your family members must have a fever of at least 105 or be missing a limb with active bleeding in order to receive your sympathy.

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I haven't checked Twitter yet, I don't know what to use anymore, I do have Friendster, MySpace and Multiply but the only one I can update is Friendster, Oh well, everybody's in the net!!! You can get anything online even your future partner could be available in just one click. LOL!

Spring break!

2009-04-23T08:44:00.001-04:00

We took advantage of the school’s spring break 2 weeks ago by going out to the mall, visiting some parks, playgrounds and even the duck pond or should I say goose pond near our place. I said to myself, wow! We don’t need to go far just to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the nature. Spring is the best season for me. This is where you’ll get to see cherry blossoms, trees in different colors that seem competing with each other of their extraordinary natural beauties. Grass is greener, animals are everywhere. I was able to see some deer passing by our backyard, there’s a rabbit and foxes too. Sometimes, geese, but they are scared to us. There’s one time, we saw a duck with her eggs near the Tennis court of our apartment complex. We’d like to see them closer so we decided to visit their hang-out, the duck pond. To show you how nice it was, here’s a video from our visit. At timestamp starting 8:14, you’ll see how funny Clarence chasing one of the geese.

Capturing the moments

2009-04-17T23:06:00.004-04:00

Time is so fast; my boy just turned three if I will to follow Philippine Time. He was born on April 18, 2006 at The Medical City in Pasig around 2am. I can still remember each moment we had in the hospital. It seemed like we’re waiting forever. I’m so afraid for the two of them that time; I want everything to be perfect. Most of my waiting time was spent inside the chapel trying to calm myself and praying for their safety. After almost 18 long hours of wait, our bundle of joy arrived but the first thing I said when they showed him to me was, “How’s my wife?” since I know my baby boy was already okay. I made a big sigh of relief when I confirmed that the two of them were both okay. Then the second challenge I faced was the hospital bill. LOL! We never missed capturing his growing up moments as days and months passed by. Most of my hard drives spaces in both desktop and laptop are filled with his pictures and videos. We even paid for some studio photo shoots because for us his younger years are a true treasure to keep. I compiled the two studio photo shots he had in a single video for us to compare and see the changes in him. One is when he was just 16 months old and the other is from last April 8, where there’s only 10 days to wait before his 3rd birthday. Both were taken at Time Capsule Studio in Arundel Mills Mall here in Maryland. The price is nothing compared to his adorably charming poses in each picture. The lady in the studio even gave us a deal of getting the 8 soft copies of his pictures in a cd for an additional of 50 dollars (the package only allows us to get 8 hardcopies out of 23 poses he had). Of course I did my bargain of getting everything instead, even the ones that she thinks not worth to be included since my son didn’t smile on some poses. I just said to her, “You know, if it is your kid, every angle is good”. She said okay, since in her eyes it’s like there’s no difference whether she will give up the unworthy poses or not. We got all his poses in a cd and stored also in our computers. If you have time, I’m proud to show to you his studio photo shoots. Check out the clip below.

capturing the moments - ezekiel

More or less

2009-04-10T08:21:00.005-04:00

Something "TRUE TO LIFE" to share with you this Holy Week. I got this from email and it did hit me straight to the heart. I had always complaints of what to cook or what to eat; sometimes I even not consume everything in my plate when I really don’t like it. I remember my family and friends used to tell me, “You’re lucky enough that you have something to eat, there are lots of people who are dying in hunger”. Whenever they say this, I’m giving them a silly response in saying, “Could you call all those hungry people and give this food that I can’t finish eating?” Oh, that changes when I saw this short film. It’s really true that I’m so blessed with things that sometimes I’m too blinded to appreciate. Why are there people who have more than enough and those that who have less? And you see those who need more are the ones who are closer to God.

This video is a property of cultureunplugged.com

Chicken a la Carte : Director: Ferdinand Dimadura | Genre: Drama | Produced In: 2005

Synopsis (cultureunplugged.com): This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who lives on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.

Sweet and Sour

2009-04-07T14:16:00.005-04:00

With four straight nights of work, I know Lorie is so tired and needs some time of rest. After having our breakfast, she still gave a little more of her time playing with us. I can see how hard this very sweet woman trying to manage everything just to balance her work and family time. So, when she went to our bed for a sleep, my son and I made sure that we won’t disturb her and that is by playing outside the bedroom. But I know she deserves more other than having a peaceful sleep, so I decided to prepare a dinner treat for her. This will make her want to always be on her rest days… hehe.. I think…

When was the last time you had a vacation?

2009-03-29T01:30:00.006-04:00

I’ve been thinking about this and yes it’s true that most of my friends are living in different parts of the world. Now, if I could only have enough money to use in visiting each one of them, I’ll be spending the rest of my life travelling the whole world. I surely miss them all. Each one of them has his own character but I certainly hope that they changed for better. Because sometimes, I’m hesitant to call or visit some of them knowing what their nature really is. There are some who instead of appreciating my visit will be too much in thinking about his unfinished works, and yet not minding that he’s becoming offensive. That’s why sometimes when I plan to visit someone in a different place; I will make sure that not a single minute of my time will be wasted. I’m going to have different agendas in that place and visiting a friend is just one of those. Exploring the place’ natural beauty and famous spots, buying souvenirs and taking pictures or video of me as for my own travel mark will all be on my list. I’d prefer staying in a hotel as much as possible than to a friend’s house, not that I don’t want to be with him the whole time of my visit but because of few reasons. First, I want to experience how the locals of that place serve tourists like me, or should I say, I want to be served in a more special way. Second, I have so many plans and I don’t want to be a burden to my friend, he has his own life and business too, you know. And third, I can do whatever I want if nobody’s around me, and that's for sure!

My next plan target is Tasmania, Australia. I’ve heard from a friend who is now living there for 2 years now that it’s a beautiful place not to mention its good-looking people. I’m dying to see their famous landmarks especially in Hobart, an extremely historic Australian city in Tasmania. Since my friend knew that I preferred staying in a hotel, he immediately recommended some Hobart Hotels where I can be booked ahead of time. He promised me to tour in Tasman Bridge and Derwent River. He said we could do water rafting if I want. Aside from that, he told me that we can go to other cities, like for just more than 2 hours of drive we can be at Launceston if I want to do fishing at Macquarie Harbour, another known tourist attraction in Australia, isn’t that cool or what? The good part is I don’t really need to think in staying in just one hotel since there are also Launceston Hotels that give passes where I can purchase as many nights as I wish. I also heard of the Devonport & Cradle Mountain Attractions, I’m not just sure yet how far this is from Hobart but I hope there will be lots of Devenport Hotels I can choose from when I still get a chance. I can’t wait to see all these interesting sights but of course most especially, my friend, who I haven’t seen for a long time. He’s so generous in his invitation, I can’t refuse to accept.

Having a vacation is a good treat not only for ourselves but also to our friends who misses us. Make time for yourself, don’t just think of finishing your work as always, I tell you, it will never be finished. Don’t let your work finish you instead. Now, let me ask you, when was the last time you had a vacation?

Tasman Bridge

Hobart from the eastern shore of the Derwent River

Cataract, George Launceston

Devenport Cradle Mountains

Alligator, Chicken and Sprinkles??!!

2009-03-23T00:18:00.018-04:00

Every day, new and newer things I'm discovering from my son. Time is so fast, and yet there's no significant changes happening to me but a lot of development I can see in my "ahoy' matee" Clarence (he loves pretending as pirate, Arrr!!). He'll turn 3 in April by the way. Sometimes, he'll just surprise us with his owned composed sentence that we don't know where it came from. Making full little sentences with a subject and predicate hehe.. plus some adjectives make him so adorable to be heard. I think becoming used from his baby talk and just few words when he was just a baby made us so amazed when we hear him talking like already a grown-up now. One time, he cautioned me by saying, "Quiet! no talking, mommy is sleeping"..I swallowed my tongue at that very moment hehe. And when we are playing paint in the computer, he'll changed the color followed by a reasoning, "this' much better daddy!". But one thing I definitely know, that he's Spanish counting of uno up to diez was Dora and Diego's liability. I thought, wow! He doesn't need me anymore to learn.. In fact, I don't want him to learn that way of counting before because I don't want him to be confused with the English counting..(he can count and recognize numbers individually up to 50 now) but who am I to judge him... hehe.. I think I underestimated him in that point somehow.. I learned that we should not think or say that our kids can't do or learn things, not unless we don't allow them to give it a try. Kids are so smart not to know what we already know, they just need a little explanation and trust from us. The funny part is when they juggle the words in some of their rhyming words hehe.. Like my son, when we went to the doctor's office which was located in 4th floor, we're playing outside the clinic while waiting for his mom's checkup... he grabbed my hand and pulled me while telling me he likes the alligator... I was so confused till we reached the ELEVATOR and pointing to the button while kept on saying.. come on daddy, alligator! alligator! hahaha... there are a couple of words more.. one is chicken whereas it should be kitchen.. "let's go to the chicken daddy, get milk!" another is sprinkles instead of splinters.. on the playground, he tends to take off his slippers and say, "daddy, Oh no! sprinkles on my socks".. He's adorably funny!!! Then I said to myself, well he still needs me and that is for sure! I wonder what surprises are in store for us for the next 12 months..

Clarence with his art works on the wall