Parting With Our Car

Our car which I’ve bought from my employer has been damaged by the flood that hit Metropolis last year and because DH has no time to monitor its repair it was shelve for months. Our mechanic had so many cars in line to repair hence our car waited for him to be vacant. Lately we’ve been using brother’s pickup for our service in attending Sunday service and we thought of buying a bigger vehicle than our Nissan Sentra. I’m looking for a cheap auto insurance quotes for the car but I stopped getting one because we talked about if we’re going to have it repaired or sell as it is.

Many buyers are offering me to sell the car but I wouldn’t hear of it because the car has a sentimental value to me as its part of my separation pay from my former job. We used the car for five years and it has served us on our travel trips to Cavite, Tagaytay City, Laguna and other missionary travel in our church. It’s like a family member to us and as such parting is a hard thing for all of us especially to me as it’s a remembrance of my 16 years employment with DSI and BT&T.

But when we looked at the damages it has suffered it would take us some finances to get it running again like the way it used to be and we also have to replace the body if we really want it to be well maintained. We’ve decided to sell it and I’ve chosen the buyer that will restore it to its normal condition. I rejected those who want to pick only the parts they want and junk the others. I’m sure that my buyer who is a mechanic also will make it good again and I hope to see it one day running again.

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:FF/FTP : Cassava Cake

This is the cassava cake we ate at the recent 50 years golden anniversary of our high school. We decided to have a potluck because it's easier to bring different foods. We emailed each planned food so there will be no duplication. Bes JennyL and me decided to share on Lumpiang Shang-hai. On that evening our batch looked like we're in a birthday party with balloons and cheers. One of our classmates brought this very special cassava cake which is delicious. So delicious that we brought home some of this :-)

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Low Maintenance Condo Living

We’re living in an old Spanish house renovated and converted in the late ‘70’s to a more modern style of house. It was a well-built house with strong foundation that can accommodate 4 floors. We certainly love our house as our father designed and supervised its construction. Some of our furniture is old but they’re my father’s creation when he studied carpentry before he got married. I used to refer to him as jack of all trades because he knows a lot of work even if he took up Law course. He’s a businessman, municipal secretary, tailor, carpenter, speech writer and many more. He’s also a good father and husband but he left this world 12 years ago and all we have are his memories and some of his things around the house, that’s why we love our home more.

Sometimes the maintenance of a very big house is taking its toll on us as we can’t cope up with changing paints, renewing the walls and some other things that need restoration every now and then. When my sister and I were talking and having chit-chat we joked about buying a condo to enjoy a smaller space and with minimal maintenance. I happen to browse lofts Petersburg va and read about the transformation they did in the luggage factory offices into a three-storey townhouses. The effect gave the structure a historical look.

For those who want to live in the ambience of historical buildings yet have the convenience of modern living they might as well visit Petersburg va rental properties and look in their townhouses and single-level condominiums. You will certainly enjoy the neighborhood where you can have a glimpse of beautiful galleries and stores that offers antique appliances. You can visit Petersburg vA condominiums and start imagining life in historical urban kind of community while enjoying the free-spirited style of living with minimal maintenance of having condominium unit. You can actually visit them anytime by appointment or just dropped by there on Sundays. Rest assured that they will give you a very competitive price.

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The Need for Customized Closets

My brother is so busy now with his new residential construction projects that he sometimes forgot some other important things. He’s so occupied with his work that you always shave to remind things for him. Well with regards to his job it’s the complete opposite as he remembers everything needed for his residential and building projects. Right now he needs someone who will do the custom closets for his project just like the closets Richmond I found while browsing. To get their service all you need is to consult your desired design which will be tailored made to your specific requirements.

Consultation is free and upon agreement the Closet Factory will do customized closet design, manufacture and install them to your home by one of their professional staff who will ensure that all installation will just be perfect and neat. They can also do customized storage to any part of your house like garage, pantry, and home office and to any part of your house that needs closets that will organize your things. Customized closets are a big help in arranging and organizing things which reminds me that I also need one because some of my important documents need to be stored in a safe closet.

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:RT/WW - School Play - Snow White

This is the story play of Gen's classmates last month featuring Snow White and the Seven Little Dwarfs. They were grouped into 5 and tasked to pick a play to perform on stage. This is just one of their lessons in English but it took all groups to practice for 5 months. All of them changed their chosen stories for many times and every time they change their story the complete play changes, it was tiring because their weekends were always spent in school to practice.

Anyway according to their adviser all group presentations are good and they delivered the play with good diction, expression and all things needed for the play. Anyway it's not my daughter's group as they did the Rumpelstiltskin story. I just thought this one is good for RT and WW!

See my other RT entries here. Click on the badge for other entries!

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Entering Teenage Years

It’s going to be few days more and classes will end before the holy week holidays. Ruth will be having her practices for graduation even after their regular classes is over. As she nears her graduation I can’t stop myself thinking how she’ll be handling her teenage years in this coming school year. I’m glad I’m just here by her side if she encounters common teen problems like peer pressure, academic ordeals, major changes in her physical features and a lot more. I think she will sometimes encounter some skin or pimple problems but not severe cystic acne because I didn’t suffered any problem like that when I was young in my teens.

Anyway if ever she encounters it I’ll advise and help her to treat it and prevent it from happening again. I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable with the effects of acne because I’ve seen some friends in my school days got inferiority complex because of acne occurrence in their faces. It damage self-esteem and confidence in young ladies so I’d better be on the checkout on my dear daughter so she’ll grow up without insecurities that will affect her personality.

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:FF/FTP : Sweet Mangoes

Since it's summer I've chosen to post one of the Philippines' best fruits. Mangoes are everywhere here - in the market, fruit stands, food cart, carinderia and neighboring stores - in all sizes and varieties. We even have them in our backyard as we have some fruit bearing trees of mango, tamarind, star apple, guyabano and kamias (if this one is considered a fruit).

This plate of sweet golden yellow mangoes are from the province of Pangasinan which were imported by my church mate to sell here in Manila. This was taken in one of our church outing in Pansol swimming resorts where we almost had two baskets full of these very sweet, juicy and yummy yellow summer delights. I love making mango fruit shakes! Philippine mangoes are one of the best in the world and I attest to that!

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Free SEO Software To Boost Your Traffic

I like traffic on my sites and every time I see the comments on my post and the dropper’s widget I smile because I know that someone would read my post. That inspires me to write more valuable posts in the future so someone can relate and comment on those posts. It’s important for web site owners to submit their blogs to free directory submission and be able to get free seo software, right tools and find necessary information. This way you can be found easily by your friends, visitors and searchers. This is a good sign also that your traffic will increase and boost its popularity. Well who knows maybe you’ll get a high page rank this time. I’ll be waiting for that too!

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Work Blessing is a Gift from God

I’m amazed that until this time of the day I’m still not sleepy. I only had a one-hour sleep last night because of some due and grabbed tasks I can’t resist to take. Good enough for me as I’m really saving up for my kids’ tuition fees come April this year. I’m very thankful that blessings are pouring in almost everyday this week. Though my work is up to my neck I can schedule my work to beat my deadlines. I’m also happy that my pending applications are now approved.

I feel so blessed now that my decision to choose this job instead of my stable office employment has proved to be God's will because He always provides opportunities for me. I feel as if God has given me this wonderful gift of being able to work while I attend to my family's needs. Thank you Lord! I'm sharing this verse to somehow guide you in making decisions.


Image from glitter-graphics.com

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Started My Healthy Meal Plan Again

I started again on taking my diet plan seriously because I feel I’m not as strong as I used to be. I don’t want to reach being obese before I make some steps to reduce my weight. As I’m feeling the need for the best slimming pill to shed off my unwanted pounds I know I can’t just take it without doctor’s advice. For three days now I had my healthy meal plan of half rice, vegetable or fish for my lunch. Then I eat silken tofu with pineapple, papaya or any other fruit for dinner.

Once or twice a week I also eat lean meat but definitely with 2 tablespoon of rice only. I can’ eat without fruits and this habit helps me a lot in maintaining my fiber supplements. I’m keeping it up at least for this week to see if I can control my cravings then I’ll try the no rice meal next week. I’m seriously pondering on taking rice only on breakfast as it’s the most important meal of the day and I can shrug it off with the whole day activities.

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Mom’s Old Medicinal Books

I’m reading my Mom’s old books to look for medicinal plants that can be used for simple sickness in the house. I feel I should know things like that because I don’t want to rely much on the drugs available in the market. I know that oregano leaves can cure simple cough and very good for babies and toddlers. It’s a mild formula for them and it promotes good health too, you can even take them when you’re not coughing. It can also be used for cooking. Well I also found in my Mom’s book some foods that burn fat and I jotted them down immediately for myself since I feel I’m gaining some pounds lately.

Since I can’t consult my doctor right now I feel safe using natural herbs. I'm also taking plenty of vegetables and fruits everyday for fiber supplement. I’ve been reading a lot these days about health and home because I’m planning to open another site with that kind of category. My Mom’s books are really the best book for me as it answers most of my researching that I can’t find on the net.

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:RT/WW - Fast Growing Up!

These are my kids a year ago picture taken last summer of 2009. Just chosen this one out as I think they're growing up fast except for my little boy :) here who never cease to pose extraordinary faces every photo shoot. My eldest and youngest are graduating this March and April from Preparatory and Primary School and I realized how fast time flies. Few years from now my girls will be in college and my little boy will soon grow up also. Now I'm just enjoying their childhood and documenting every stage in their lives so when they finally become fully grown up I'll have their photos and videos to look back and reminisce!

See my other RT entries here. Click on the badge for other entries!

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Promotional Help for Products

My daughter loves to receive brochures from special offers in the supermarket and it extends to the rest of the mall whenever someone approaches us for a meal promo or sales promo on the stores around the place. She even gets some from the racks whenever cashier asks us to get one. Then when we reached our home she will read and contemplate on the offers available and checked out some for our next visit.

Well maybe I think it’s a good form of promotion for products, events, companies or anything that you would want to inform to the buying public. Just like my former company when we’re having big product launching and sales events. The boss would ask us to inquire and request quotation for rack card printing of our full color product information. We usually request quotes for different volumes of order so we can see how much we can save if we order by bulk.

We needed to be reached out by our clients and it’s the only way to make our products known by the consumers, we’re just a small telco and few years only in the business. After our launching I received emails and phone calls inquiring about our phone card products and services. It’s really a big help in the business, it matters a lot!

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:FF/FTP : Cheesy Pichi Pichi

I'm posting here one of our potluck foods in our Alumni Homecoming one of our town's specialties also (Cainta is known for coco jam, bibingka and related native delicacies). One of my batchmates brought this one and it's a success :-) It's really yummy and somewhat different from the usual pichi pichi. Anyway for my foreign friends out there Pichi Pichi is a steamed cassava which is usually topped and rolled over coconut but this one has a yummy cheese toppings which I think is more safe to eat because coconut is only good for few hours. Also the cheese toppings makes it not so sweet in taste. Overall rating = thumbs up!

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Great Way to Store and Moved Out

Moving isn’t easy as this requires a lot of work and some finances too. More often people move for better opportunities that never seem to come in hand in your present location. Although it’s hard to relocate we sometimes need to sacrifice for our family’s well being and success. I know how it is to move as I’ve experienced it early in life when we move from my mother’s provincial town to stay for good in my father’s city town. It’s uncomfortable having all your things in moving truck because you’re not assured of the safety of your properties from damages.

Now with modern companies thinking of the common hardships in moving out it is much easier now to transfer with the help of companies like storage Minneapolis. They will not only make your relocation an exciting experience but will help you get the best of storing your things sorted out perfectly the way you would want it to be. With the help of SMARTBOX you can pack ahead of time and move later. No worry about hidden fees that might come up and you’ll only pay for the space you’ve used. You’ll have comfort packing up at your own desired time with smaller boxes available for sorting out varied things.

SmartBox is very ideal also self-storage users, real estate professionals, people buying and selling a home, storage for apartments and homeowners who are into remodeling or renovation where they can store their precious things to protect it from damages. It’s for smart people! That’s why my office friend searched for storage st. paul when she want to have their things properly sorted and stored when they moved out to another job location assigned to her husband when he was promoted to managerial position. Her family is dreading the discomfort and stress on packing, storing, unpacking and moving but it proved to be an exciting event for them. It’s not only convenient but economical too as it’s more affordable than renting a truck.

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The Value of Teamwork

Myspace Quotes Graphics

From my experience in work there are some areas of work that needs to be done by a team. Like when we’re doing our Technical Proposal and bidding for consultancy projects for roads, bridges and infrastructures. The final proposal will not be a success if we don’t work as a team because each member of the team has his own special task to do. If we don’t divide the task it will not be completed in time and it won’t be done as perfect as it should be.

The value of the work relies upon the people who worked for it. If the task done became successful it will be the success of not just one person but of every member of the team who has done his special part to make the project successful.

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Finance Plans for the Kids

I’m supposed to drop by my former office to give my requirements for tax refund to a friend who offered to arrange things for me but the super hot weather, my not-so good back pain and plenty of due tasks changed my mind. I would reschedule it next week when I’m more relaxed and free from expiring tasks. I need to save more for my daughter’s tuition as I want to enroll her as early as this month for her entry in high school.

The school’s guidance called me up to remind me to get Ruth’s exam results. I told them if they can give it to my niece who’s studying in the same school and I’m glad they told me that they will just give it to her. I’ve scheduled my finances for my three kids which will study in 3 different schools next school year. This month of March is for Ruth, April is for Josh and month of May is for their school things, bags and shoes since Gen has no tuition fees to pay. Wish I’ll be able to follow my finance plan. More opps I think!

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Regaining Your Good Credit Standing

My office friend consulted me about her credit card account that has gone out of hand and been neglected by her for sometime. Now the collection agency of the said credit card company has been calling her office and residence very often to update her payment. I think she badly needed credit repair services so she can caught up with the payment needed without paying the whole amount immediately. All she need is a good credit repair plan that would help her reduce her debt without sacrificing her whole month’s salary. Same thing happened three years ago when I was asked by a dear friend to talk to the legal collection staff in behalf of her to fix her credit card balances. I was able to minimize the total amount that she’s going to pay by about 50% and she was very happy about it. She was given a clearance from the credit card company and regained her good reputation again.

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:FF/FTP : Summer Delight!

It's our favorite for summer aside from the more refreshing halo-halo and fruit shakes. It's actually an old pic of my despedida from office last July. I find it more appropriate to post it now for a yummy feeling. On hot season like now people tend to love cold foods like these Selecta ice cream here, I must admit we had a lot of discussion for the flavors so we decided to buy their smaller 1-liter size ice cream so we can all have our favorite favors. My all-time fave is Double Dutch, the other one is Coffee Crumble and the one on the right is Cookies and Cream, of course with matching junk foods lol! Winner! Sometimes I indulge on not-so healthy foods like tortillos :-)

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Admin Jobs

I’ve tried many jobs in the past and though some of them are completely out of my college course I’ve got training from my friend Meline who was an accounting associate. She takes care of the payroll and I take care of the admin jobs which she is not so familiar with. I do billing and collection work online together with arrangement of monthly association dues of the tenants in our building. I had a multitasking job back then doing almost all aspects in human resources and accounting. I didn’t regret it of course because I learned a lot from my previous works. Being a graduate of Computer Engineering I thank God that He has allowed me to learn many things which make me a better qualified employee.

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: Friday 5 - Staples

1. Of all the hundreds of sizes and shapes bread seems to come in, what is your favorite?
~ Gardenia loaf in Raisin or Choco Flavor

2. What’s your favorite thing to eat with rice?
~ I love pork sinigang (pork in stew with tamarind extract, eggplant, string beans, gabi, radish, okra and some spices

3. What are your feelings about milk?
~ I love drinking milk mixed with a little coffee in the morning to perk up my mood and to relax my senses, makes me complete

4. What was wrapped in the tortilla you most recently ate?
~ Lettuce, Mayo, Cheese, Chicken bits.

5. How many staplers are there in your house and where are they?
~ We have 2 staplers at home. Both are blue in colors.

Join Friday 5 HERE.

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Our Very First Color TV

I remember several years ago when we bought our first colored TV we were so excited because our old ones were the type of TV that has a cabinet-like casing for television and the more improved ones were smaller but still shows black and white reception. Well that first television with bright colored pictures is none other than Samsung which was said to be the first model that they released in our country. It was worth our money because we really enjoyed the colors and sounds of our Samsung TV. Now I was quite amazed that it has gone a long way with regards to modern technology. They have LCD, Plasma and LED television and have ventured in many other digital electronics products.

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Which Heavenly Virtue Are You?

You Are Charity

Some people give until it hurts. You give until you don't have much to left to give... and then you give some more.
You believe that you were put on this earth to help people. And you do your best to make a difference in as many lives as possible.

You believe in people, and you see the good in everyone. You think that every single person and creature deserves help.
You don't expect anything for the time and resources you give to others. Giving is its own reward.

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Online Job Search

It’s always been nice to transfer to another job at the first month of the year but now I have observed that some find it better to do it after the first month like the husband of my niece. Well it depends on the expiration of your contract with other company or depending upon your situation or rank with the company. I remember few years back when I only have the time to do my job search online so I will not be absent from my work. It’s very convenient for me back then because I don’t have to leave my work and my paycheck wouldn’t be affected with my incurred absences.

Now that I’m doing my work at home I also do my job search for writing opportunities online. The internet world has bountiful job opportunities. I’m just glad that I’m working in the comfort of my home. Thanks God!

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:RT/WW - Stone Fish

Got a shot of this giant stone fish in Bio Research where Josh had their educational trip last year. I just find these little hearts at the bottom so cute! Anyway I have observed that someone in BioResearch is very fond of hearts as I have also pictures of their heart-shaped stone table and chairs in their dog and cat mansion. Must be someone's favorite don't you think?

See my other WW entries here and here! Click on the badge for other entries!

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Going Back to Walking Exercise

As soon as I saw myself in my latest picture in our alumni get together I promised myself that I’ll start my daily exercise again as I’m really big on the belly. I can fit in into a small or medium size shirt but due to my big belly I often end in a large size shirt. It’s hard to start regular exercise because I’m so busy. I start the day at 4:30 in the morning and ends before 12 midnight. I actually want the nordictrac great sale on treadmill to start my workout. I want to walk at least 3-5 kilometers a day and if I have my own equipment I can do it in my own home. Walking is good for the heart and it really feels good in your system. Got to check the discounted prices now!

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Top Droppers for February 2010

This is my way of appreciating the following blogs for continued support and visits though sometimes I can't visit them due to my browser! It makes me happy when I visit your blogs.

Dropper # of drops Lakbay Philippines 30 Life's Tricky Situations 28 Life's sweets and spices 28 moms..... check nyo 28 Take a coffee break... 28 A Simple Life 28 The Modern Mom 28 Mommy's Little Corner 28 Yummy-as-can-be 28 Hardware Drive 25

Thanks Liz for making it for all of your blogs!

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