He's at it again...

For a time I thought the hubby has forgotten his game consoles. He's been too busy with work so I thought he got no time for playing hero, soldier, spy or whatever kind of agent. A good thing I thought. Then he suddenly started to be interested with RCs, buying here and there every size of helicopters he finds cute. So far, his fleet has 6 members (shown in photo are 5).

What's so amusing is he's been trying to attach mini spy gadgets into those RCs (a camera for one) and bring them outside for test flights. Well, he'd also bring me along for videos. :D "Better than being out drinking," that's his alibi...but of course he doesn't drink much so I shouldn't worry too...I guess boys will be boys no matter the age...

Holding on to that promise

It has been a year and 3 months since my dad passed away. There was not a single day that I don't remember.....At times, I would wake up with tears and almost choking because of a dream about him. The dreams were almost always similar...that he was alive although sick but I was there...telling him to take his meds or be careful with the things he is doing. It must be my subconscious being guilty for not being there during the remaining days of  his life. Not being able to take care of him nor comfort him through his pain. It's too late now, but what ifs are inevitable...what if I had known then of a liver and colon cleanse that really works...then I surely would have recommended dad to do it...What if it was able to help him...then he might still be alive today.

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One of my earliest post in this blog is about death....I just wrote it out of whim not thinking of a particular someone.  It feels so different reading this again compared back then without the hurt I feel now.

(Entry originally published on Oct 25, 2007)

"...Weep with people who weep." -Romans 12:15

Death, perhaps for everyone, is an enigma that's so hard to accept.

When death strikes, eveyrone in the family, as well as other relatives and friends are often at a loss, mostly asking the question 'why did this happen?'

The bible urges us to weep with those who weep. Helping a bereaved person calls for compassion, discernment, and much love on one's part. We should not wait for the bereaved one to come to us. We should not simply say, "If there’s anything I can do . . ."  Find that "anything" , and then take the appropriate initiative.

I have seen people become devastated because of the death of someone they love...though uncalled for, the verses below are comforting words that the bible gives...

"Death is swallowed up forever. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?"—1 Corinthians 15:54-55

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"...the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out. " -John 5:28-29

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This is a wonderful promise that we can be sure of happening...at least for me who firmly believes the bible. Though the resurrection hope raises some questions like "where are the dead?" Are they in heaven living in a peaceful state? If they are, then why would there be a need to resurrect them? Or are they being tormented in a fiery hell?

Let's look it up soon...

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I don't remember following up the topic nor answering the questions I raised here. My answer remains the same but I will not elaborate it for now. Still, I hold on to that promise...John 5:28 - this I have always written about here a lot of times already. I look forward to that day, to seeing my dad again.

Web directories

Time and again, we are reminded that the Internet is a very powerful and convenient tool. Most of us moms who used to work 9-5 are now at home doing some write-ups of products and get paid for doing so. When I was starting out as a blogger, I have literally swept the web for every free web directory and submitted my blogs to each of them. I remember then how being wife to a graphic artist who regularly designs websites inclined me to choose design over SEO. My blog looks so much colorful compared to the simplistic layout of web directories.

When submitting my urls, it is inevitable to browse the web directory itself and this made me realize that such directories are very good tools in providing information especially when looking for certain topics. They are basically a big catalog of websites. By submitting your url to a web directory, you are joining a number of other sites that tackle topics related to your blog. This can help boost your blog’s search engine visibility too. How? By backlinks…Search engines have robots to find/crawl websites and add them to the search engine’s database. Directories are manually run, editors find or receive websites and screen them for quality and relevance before adding them to the directory’s database. The human review process is the main factor between a web directory and a search engine.

There are many categories in web directories. Take for example the debt management category where topics about recovering from debt, managing finances, avoiding scams and more importantly handling one’s credit card. There’s also the health and fitness listing, which tackles stuff about boosting one’s metabolism, eating the right food, different diet programs and of course on doing real exercise.

Health concerns

That phase where I avoided topics that has to do with illnesses or death is somehow over. I have been reading information on lupus and other autoimmune disease, acne and how to cure it, kidney cleansing and even asbestos cancer or mesothelioma. It already is too late for the kidney cleansing though, it would have been nice to know of it a year or two ago. However, knowledge of these occurences would help me prevent or at least what to do in case things happen. It is also nice to know that there are nutritionists, doctors,mesothelioma lawyers and other health experts who can help. Along with these one can read Mesothelioma lawsuits, practices gone wrong and other issues regarding medicine malpractice.

Junk

Junkfood...a trip to the Asia shop means loads of pinoy junk food! Chippy, Piattos, Mr. Chips, Oishi prawn crackers, Nova, Chiz curls, name it and my cart is sure to have them. Typical pinoys, hubby and I miss these treats a lot and the kids somehow acquired our preference...pinoy junk food is much subtle to the ones here...hehe.

And typical pinoys, our creativity with food and design is something else. We do not only love our food, we wear them. There are such vintage t shirts sporting this...see, a list of the most loved pinoy food!

(photo c/o Adrian)

Which of these have you not tried yet?

Kid's eczema

Atopic dermatitis or eczema, is a common problem in infants and children. Both my boys have it when they were younger and I would apply certain kinds of gels and lotions to help with the dryness. Eczema, per definition from medical websites, usually begins between two and six months of age with very dry and sensitive skin that will then become red and extremely itchy. I remember that my youngest had some on the forehead, cheeks and scalp and a few on his trunk, creases of the elbows, knees, and wrists.

Some of the more common household name for eczema cream, lotion and Gel are Eucerin, Nivea, Cethaphil Moisturizing Cream, or Lubriderm, should be used every day.

I'm pretty sure there are other kinds    of   eczema relief out there, I'm just glad that the boys' skin got better.

Allergies

To help prevent kids having eczema, it is vital for them to undergo an allergy test. By avoiding things that are known to trigger your child's eczema, it will be easier. These may include certain foods (cow's milk, eggs, peanut butter, fish), wool fibers and clothes, rough or tight fitting clothing, dry air, sweating, getting too hot or too cold (avoid hot or cold water), harsh soaps or chemicals, and stress. For my older boy, he has allergy with cat hair, soja, birch tree and dust...which is not particularly easy as dust is all around, reason why he is the thinnest among the three. The little boy on the other hand has allergies with egg whites so he stopped drinking milk since age 2 and he switched to soja milk. (Ironic, how one can have soja and the other cannot.)

Bathing

Bathing and eczema seem to contradict each other :) , but many people think the practice of limiting baths is old school or old fashioned. Many experts now recommend a daily bath for kids with eczema with the use of special oil that helps moisturize the skin.

Swimming is allowed too, but to prevent your child's skin from drying out immediately, shower or bathe to wash off chlorine and other chemicals and apply a moisturizer to help prevent .

Just remember to be patient. This is a chronic disease that usually improves and then comes back, but with therapy you can prevent it from happening again.

The Fitness Program that never was

Before our Pinas vacation I kept babbling about being fit. I bought a pair of skechers shape-ups. I was at the gym 4 times a week. I was in a high-protein, low-fat diet and my weight dramatically decreased. --- Just for a while. Being at home means endless pigouts...sisig, sushi, noodles, puto, barbecue, ube cake, ube ice cream, halo-halo, chicharon, bulalo and well, just look at this shirt with a list of popular pinoy food. :D

Coming back, I stayed home with the kids since it's summer and they are not registered to any kindergarten. Yes, we would occasionally go out for walks in my shape-ups.I planned to do my regular gym work when school started in September. I wasn't able to do so because there are still so many schoolstuff to do. I am also trying to attain citizenship so I'm always on the go.

I've stopped the diet for a while though I still can't help but look at diets around the net. Like mushrooms on a rainy day, diets and strategies to lessen food-intake sprout everyday.

The hCG diet is one of those that has been a hype for many years now. The acronym hCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin). It is a hormone produced during pregnancy by the cells that form the placenta. It is said that the hormone helps in correcting one's metabolism. It is always paired with a low-calorie diet.

The  foods allowed on hcg diet are composed of a well balanced nutrition from fruit, vegetables and meat, fish or poultry. Still, many are not convinced of the hCG, I'm not an expert on this so I may not try but I'd surely go on the gym as soon as schedule permits...bring back my routine and eat healthy. My fitness program for the past month may have gone to waste but it's not too late to start again. As we are often reminded; there is no easy way in keeping an a-ok bod....so I'd be taking it one step at a time.

Aging gracefully

Or not. My mom turned 60 this year...seeing her made me think that she should use a wrinkle remover already. The past year has been tough for her. Dad passed away last June (2009) and while I can't help nor be there, they prepared for my kuya's wedding. She has been doing so many things and despite her age hasn't retired from government work...this must be the reason why she looks older than her age and she also lost a lot of weight. Talk about stress.

Best buy!

Whichever country, state, town or street you are, I'm sure there's a shop that you hold close to your heart...not just for being literally close to your home but because they have cheap, useful and "cute" stuff. Coincidentally, they are either called Best Buy, The 99cents Store or The Thrift Shop. Of course, you'll find there stuff needed for the kitchen, bathroom like those little boxes, potpourri and more---what I call kulimpat (from klumpert). Such stores are like having a sale on the already on-sale items...

Online, there are many deals that you can find as long as you know where to look. There are many that offers discount and free shipping. I'm talking about netbooks, celphones, monitors and other electronic gadgets...one that interests hubby more than I.

Restaurant City rules!

The Restaurant City game on facebook continues...with new recipes to upgrade, new equipments to buy and lots of other interesting stuff....*sigh* I don't think I could ever quit! I however stopped playing Cafe World... What if your Restaurant City and Cafe world restaurants are real? If a food blogger is really up to his or her dream of making it big,  it doesn't end up  with  just one's love for food. At some point, they go to that stage of cooking their favorite food at home, discovering how each dish is concocted and what the secret ingredient to a hearty meal is. With this comes also the want to make food aesthetically pleasing, a good mix of color, a lovely sprinkle of garnish and a lovely arrangement. Thus, it follows that food photography is an inevitable course.  There might be ideas of attending a culinary school or a photography class. Along the way, the foodie invests in professional cookware too. Finally, after spending too much time in the kitchen and restaurant hopping, the foodie wants to open up a foodshop with herself/himself as the Chef.


Setting up a restaurant involves a handful of tasks that are time-consuming, mentally draining and physically tiring. Aside from location, licenses, budget, staff hiring/training, one must also plan and think of the smaller yet crucial matters such as consumer target, water and electricity connection, interior design restaurant equipment and foodservice supplies.

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Focusing on restaurant equipments, Wasserstrom.com is your one-stop online shop. From smallwares and tabletop items, like flatware, tableware, glassware, to smallwares and kitchen utensils, from table service to displayware, from pizza to bakery gadgets, from storage supplies to beverage equipments. Order menu boards and signages,  and even furniture. Pricing and shipping is also provided in the website.

With diverse and comprehensive product lines in the foodservice industry, Wasserstrom is a big help to cut down not only on the time you alloted for preparation,their tested products are sure to last making you save on money as well...They even customize and design what your equipment specification are,  wasserstrom restaurant supplies are the best that  you can depend on.