First I want to greet you, my readers, a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.
I also wish that the New Year will bring you better things.
I won't be online as much until next year...will be busy with the Holiday preparations and celebration. I will be back after the New Year, though.
So...See you and stay safe!
Another conversation at dNeero from the SpitzTunes series. This one is called Cheer and Fear. Check out my answers...
To give or not to give...that is the question....that I asked at dNeero.
"In today's tough times, what are you giving as presents to your family members?"
We are still going to be giving gifts to our family and friends this Christmas (and not cash). I have never felt comfortable giving cash gifts. I don't think I ever have. How much is enough, anyway? I am always afraid that the amount I set might be too cheap or too expensive.
However, because of the financial crisis, our gift budget this year is very much lower than last year. I also have removed some names from our gift list and transferred them to the card list instead. I am sure that the receipients of our gifts will understand. At least, I hope they will.
This is the 2nd Brain Pain contest. Thanks, Jona, for telling me about this challenge. It is a bit difficult so I am just making a guess here.
Question:
When the day after tomorrow is yesterday, today will be as far from Wednesday as today was from Wednesday when the day before yesterday was tomorrow. What is the day after this day?
+/- View the answer
If you also want to join, just do the THREE simple steps to qualify to win the prize of $5 through PayPal from The Money Maker.
The contest deadline is extended up to December 20.
I received this BEAR-iuca tag from Pinaymama. And it's called The Spirit of BEAR-iuca.
-START COPYING HERE-
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a powerful Genie Princess named Mariuca who was known throughout the land as the friendliest, most popular blogger in the blogosphere kingdom. Adored and admired by international visitors and commentators from around the world, the Genie Princess travels the blogosphere on her magical flying carpet, always looking for ways to share her good fortune with others.
Over the past two years of blogging, Mariuca has met so many new people, from all walks of life and all over the world, each one bringing a little of their culture and lifestyle when they visit and comment on Mariuca’s two sites. So on her 2nd Blog Anniversary, Mariuca wanted to celebrate with all of her international blogosphere buddies by hosting a bear-naming contests at Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery and to pass her two lucky, cuddly teddy bears along to the winners who came up with the best names.
On the opposite side of the world, from the moment Roxy (the prolific Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blogger) and her sweet daughters London and Maddie saw the teddy in his personalized t-shirt and blue muffler at Wishing On A Falling Star, they knew that he needed to come to live with their family in Mendham, NJ. The three New Jersey girls named him immediately and burst into a wonderful song for BEAR-iuca:
BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, amazing teddy cheer.
BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, we’d love you to come live here!
Mariuca received 16 possible names for the Mariuca Teddy Bear, making it hard for the Genie Princess to choose just one…then Alakazam! A bolt of lightning delivered the perfect way to share BEAR-iuca’s good fortune to bloggers around the globe. While the soft, stuffed, cuddly BEAR-iuca is on his way to live with Roxy, London, Maddie and Rex in the Roxiticus Valley, the Spirit of BEAR-iuca is racing through the blogosphere to bring happiness, holiday cheer, and beary best wishes to everyone who welcomes him into their online home and passes along the BEAR-iuca good luck charm to ten friends.
Please play along with us by following a few important rules:
1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Spirit of BEAR-iuca badge of teddy bear cheer.
2. Pass along the Spirit of BEAR-iuca and his cheery badge to as many people as you like.
3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Spirit of BEAR-iuca.
4. Once Roxy and the Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.
4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!
BEAR-iuca LOVES
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I am passing BEAR-iuca along to the following lovely ladies:
Pinay Jade, Tere, Jona and Fat.
Enjoy!
Do you have kids? Do they believe in Santa? Well, there's a fun site to visit called Portable North Pole Console where your child can view a special video message from Santa himself.
After answering a few questions about your child, her name and age, the link to the video will be emailed and be ready for viewing.
I received the link from Tita Dodon the other day while Leelai was still asleep. When she woke up, I told her that Santa sent her a video message. While watching it, she smiled whenever Santa mentioned her name. She was also surprised when Santa knew she was four years old and that she wanted a doll for Christmas.
She watched it over and over again. And she said she couldn't wait for Papa to come home to see the video 'that Santa made for her.'
It's a cute idea. You might want to check it out.
While shopping at SM City, Davao we saw the poster of the mall's operating hours for the Holidays.
Instead of memorizing the schedule, I took a picture of it using Papa Wins' Nokia E51.
For your convenience, I am re-typing it here. I am not sure...but this may also be applicable to the other SM stores nationwide.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dec 14-18 ---> 9:00 am - 10:00 pm
Dec 19-23 ---> 9:00 am - 12:00 mn
Dec 24 and 31 ---> 7:00 am - 07:00 pm
Dec 25 ---> 12:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Jan 01 ---> CLOSED
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Only eleven days to go til Christmas Eve. I hope you have already started preparing for the holidays.
This week is general cleaning week for me. I already began rummaging through my closet and sorting items into three piles. One pile for stuff to use, one for stuff to store and one for those to give away. I already finished with my hand bags. Tomorrow I will do the shoes and clothes.
General cleaning also includes dusting the insides of the closet and the nooks and crannies of all the rooms. I have to do it manually with a duster and broom because our vacuum cleaner's filter is worn out already and there is no available replacement here in our city.
While looking for replacement parts, I came across a site called Ezvacuum.
They sell vacuum cleaners bags belts filters brushrolls machines. Lucky for those who live in the US because they offer US ground shipping as low as $1.99 (shipping is free for orders over $50). If you use coupon code EZVAC10 on any order over $20, you get 10% off your order.
If you are also in need of vacuum cleaners or its parts, check it out.
Happy cleaning, everyone!
Tonight was the second time I was able to go shopping for presents. With Ate Leelai and Baby Liam in tow, I had to do everything fast. So, while Papa Wins watched the kids, I shopped.
I used to be a very SLOW shopper. Week in advance, I would prepare my Christmas list. I would list down the names of the people I should buy gifts for. And then, write down a gift that I think they would like. Then, I would look for that particular gift. More often than not, I wouldn't be able to find that particular item. That's after spending hours and days looking for it in every store I could go to. Eventually, I would end up buying something else for that person. At the last minute no less. (And this would be repeated for every person in my list.)
It took a long time to complete my list but I enjoyed shopping and also wrapping the presents one by one myself.
I did this for years. But that was before I had two kids. This year is a lot different. Shopping time is now limited. Preparation is non-existent. Everything is unplanned. No more lists. The first thing I could see (that would fit the budget, of course) I bought right away. It is my second day of shopping and I am proud to say I am two-thirds done! That means, hopefully, I have one more day to go.
Wrapping the gifts also has to be quick. So, no more boxes and gift wrappers this time. I already bought GIFT BAGS. Quick and no mess. (More environmentally friendly, too. Since it is reusable and uses less paper.) I just have to put a lot of sticky tape to close the top so that the receiver would not be able to take a peek inside.
So far so good. I hope I won't jinx it by blogging about it before my shopping task is complete.
How about you? Are you done with your Christmas shopping?
I have been a satisfied GoDaddy customer since 2006. And last year, I received a check by mail worth $20 from them. This was for the Cash Parking services I used then. I did not expect to get anything. After I registered the domains and 'parked' them at GoDaddy, I simply forgot all about them. So I was very surprised when I got the check.
I register all my domain names with them. I have availed of their web hosting services also. I have no problems with their services and I am confident in recommending them to you.
If you are going domain or hosting shopping, just choose from the money-saving offers they have ongoing right now.
$5 off on any order $30 or more at GoDaddy.com
Save 10% on any order at Godaddy.com 
Although we consider ourselves to be a young couple, Papa Wins and I recently had a conversatin about end of life care. We both agree on almost the same things.
See my (our answers) at dNeero...
For my answer to the question as to whether I prefer a loved one to care for me or hire a professional to do it...
If my finances would permit, I would prefer to hire a professional to care for me than burden a loved one (my children especially). I would like for them to continue to live their life as they wish and not be tied down by caring for me at all. But (and a big one at that), I would still WANT them to visit me from time to time, though.
This conversation reminded us to make a decision on which life insurance plan and memorial plan to get and also to prepare our living will. (We actually don't have these yet.)
Did you already make your living will?
I got this email from sis Pia in New Zealand. I laughed so hard that I wanted to share this with you.
You have to read the text first then expand the post for the punchline...
Okay, so this is how I imagine this conversation went.............
Cake shop employee answers phone...
"Harro, dis Springvale cake-shop, how can I helping you?"
Customer: "I would like to order a cake for a going away party this
week."
Employee: "What you be want writing on cake?"
Customer: "...'Best Wishes Suzanne'....underneath that....'We will Miss
you'...."
+/- View the punchline
Written on the cake was "Best Wishes Suzanne Under Neat that We will Miss You"
Isn't that funny? I hope it made your day like it did mine.
We are all sick...except for Papa Wins, that is. Leelai got sick first. It is her second one in two weeks. :( Last Friday, she woke up with a slight fever. Then later in the day, she started coughing. Since it was her second time, she started drinking antibiotics (Himox) already. The next day, I started to get sick.
Saturday afternoon, I had a terrible cold. I sneezed a lot and then had runny nose. I had to plug my nostrils with tissue to stop it. Not a pretty sight at all. I am drinking Sinutab. It has paracetamol and phenylpropanolamine so I drink it only after breastfeeding.
Sunday was baby Liam's turn. He also started with a slight fever. So, Papa Wins also started him on antibiotics. He now has colds and is coughing. Last night he had a hard time breasfeeding because of his clogged nose. At 2 in the morning, I had to get up and put salinase in his nostrils so that he could breathe properly.
Right now, the three of us have hoarse voices, runny noses and dry cough. It sucks! Poor Papa Wins,...I hope he doesn't get sick, too!
I just hope, we all will get better soon. I still have a lot of preparation to do before Christmas.
Bigby's Cafe and Restaurant is holding it's 10th year anniversary Awesome Buffet on Monday, December 8, 2008. Lunch will be from 10am to 2pm. Dinner is from 5pm to 9pm. The tickets cost Php249 and is inclusive of unlimited (bottomless) drink.
Bigby's has branches in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Bacolod and Davao. It recently revamped it's menu with new dishes. Priced between P120 and 180, the restaurant offers huge servings of Filipino, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and Mexican dishes.
We already bought our tickets for the buffet and plan to have an early dinner. Yumyum!
BIGBY'S CAFÉ AND RESTAURANT
SM G/F SM, Davao City
Phone number: (082) 298-0168/298-0111
and at
Metrolifestyle Complex E. Jacinto Extension, Davao City
Phone number: (082) 221-0111/3044547
I don't consider myself a rebellious person, even when I was a teen. (At least I hope I wasn't.) I also don't know anyone (thankfully!) who is a rebel of any cause. My constant prayer is that my two children would not be one when they grow up to become teenagers and young adults.
Milestones. Baby Liam can already stand while holding on to something. His favorite spot is either inside the laundry basket or by the plastic chair. He still doesn't know how to walk. If he wants to go somewhere, he drops down on all fours and crawls to it.
Liam also remembers people...especially me. Whenever he sees me walk out the room, he cries. If he doesn't see me go but realizes that I'm gone, he cries. (It is flattering that he needs me but it can get tiring a times, especially when I have tasks to do.)
He can also pick up small objects with his fingers. And anything he picks up automatically goes into his mouth. That's why I have to keep an eye on him ALL THE TIME.
I have tried letting Liam use a pacifier. But, unlike his big Sis, he doesn't like it. I AM his paci! :P
Sleeping through the night. He doesn't fully wake up anymore. Because if I feel him start to become restless, I give him my breast to feed. (I know this will start to become a bad habit for both of us. If only he would use the pacifier to soothe himself back to sleep and not me.)
Feedings. Liam was introduced to formula around 6 months. I have not pumped breastmilk for more than a month already. (It's time to but the breastpump back in its box.) I try to give him formula, Nan Two (HW), twice a day but he doesn't consume it. And, I make only about 100mL (4oz) each time. Sayang! So formula feeding is now down to once a day or none at all.
He eats solid food twice a day. Thrice if we count his breakfast of biscuit and juice. For breakfast, he alternates between Gerber Biter Biscuits, Marie Biscuits, Fita, or butter cookies.
GERD. Thankfully, Liam's reflux has suddenly disappeared around this time. Since starting solids, he doesn't spit up anymore. And he doesn't seem to be experiencing gas pain/tummy aches.
Baby signs. Liam is still not using baby signs. But we still continue to sign when talking to him. With continuous signing, babies are expected to also sign around 9-12 months or later.
Baby wearing. The Hotslings has been heaven sent whenever Liam doesn't want to be put down. We have three kinds of slings now, the Evenflo Snugli, Hotslings baby carrier, and a wrap that I made myself. The Hotslings is my favorite. It is quick and easy to put on. When Liam sees me getting the sling and putting it on, he knows what is coming next and starts to get excited.
Toys. Liam is already bored with his baby toys. He ignores them and tries to get my stuff to chew on. Like my mouse, my planner, and even my check book! Maybe they should start designing toys that look like the real stuff. Enough of those plastic colorful rattles...
Thank you to the top ten Entrecard droppers for the month of November.
You're the best! As a token of gratitude, your links will be in my sidebar for the whole month of December.
I hope to keep seeing you again this month.
Last Friday, Mama and Lola picked us up at home so that we could visit the Christmas Bazaar at Davcon (Davao Convention Center). Before heading for the bazaar, we had lunch first in one of the nearby restaurants.
Among the restaurants beside Davcon, Yahong is the family's favorite. The first thing we always ask for is their specialty -- Talaba (Oysters) topped with Quesong Puti (cheese) and Bawang (garlic). Before sitting down, ask first if they have fresh oysters in stock. We walk out pronto if they don't.
Another favorite is Kare-kare (Ox Tail and Veggies in Peanut Butter Sauce). We always specify Beef because the last time we didn't, they served us the Vegetable Karekare. The Bagoong (shrimp paste) that goes with the kare-kare is yummy, too. I think they also sell bagoong in jars if you wish to take some home.
For Leelai and Lola, we chose Lechon Kawali (Deep Fried Pork Belly). It was tender and I was glad that Leelai liked it and ate a lot. Lola loved the liver sauce that came with the dish. She asked for more from the waiter and kept complimenting them on the sauce. Actually, Mom thinks it was Mang Tomas - ready-made liver sauce in a bottle - and plans to buy a bottle for Lola's consumption.
We also ordered Adobong Kangkong or Apan-apan (Sauted Watercress with shrimp paste) but since it arrived late, I was already too busy eating to take a photo.
And for my drink, I ordered mango shake...perfect cooler for the very hot day.
I did not pay for the lunch so I don't know how much it cost. But I think the Talaba is around 160 per order (9 shells).
After our lunch and before going home, Mama ordered another plate of Talaba to take home to Dad. Dad loves oysters and could consume the entire plate (by himself!) in less than 5 minutes. Right, Dad? :)
Yahong
Torres St., Davao City
Phone number: (082) 221-9171
My answer is Thursday