GT: Techie Gadget

I am not-so techie Mommy, I am quite unsure what "to die for" gadget to write about. I am quite happy with my netbook, until I accidentally broke its LCD. Now I need to have it replaced, and it would cost me around Php7500 for a LCD replacement. It means that saving a little more amount  would mean I can buy a brand new netbook.

this is the LCD of my Aspireone netbook now

I would like to buy myself a new netbook which means I need to double time on working online to save money. My kids are already complaining that I always use the desktop. I think I would get another Aspireone netbook because I am familiar with it.

I feel guilty to spend money for gadget like this, but I think it is not really a luxury because I use for my work. Maybe on my birthday this coming June, I can buy this one for myself.

Check out other "to die for" gadgets here.

Blue Monday: Easter Sunday

 Easter Sunday celebration filled with lovely blues.

 Easter celebration at Hotel Vida in Clark Pampanga.

 The kids had a great time and so is the Dad too!

There were lots of food (Dad and Kuya Jet didn't have their breakfast yet!)

I guess, even Kuya Gabby is hungry too.

But the my little boy Jeon would rather play than eat.

GT: Me and My Sundresses

For this week's Girls Talk, I guess all "girls" love clothes. There are clothes that I truly love- if only I can get back to my before-pregnancy figure.very deep sigh. (dream on!) Even if I am not sexy and slim as I used to (nax naman), I love sundresses. I have a couple of them (lakasan ng loob lang) and I still continue to collect them.

 

 And aside from sundress, I guess all women should have their mini black dress. I am still looking for the best mini black dress for my plus size figure. Mini black dress can be used at any occasion, you just need to properly accessorize it and find the perfect shoes to wear.

I am not really brand conscious when it comes to clothes. But when it comes to bags and watches, that is a different story. Let me just state that aside from these clothes, a pair of red stilletos and red chucks are part of my wish list. I guess I need to work hard to buy myself these simple luxuries in life.

Blue Monday: Refreshing Summer

There is no denying that here in the Philippines, we can truly say that Summer has started. We can definitely feel the scorching heat of the sun. It is the best time for vacation too! To date, we have no plans yet on were to go during the long weekend. Anyway, here are some Blue photos taken several summers ago.

Jeon in his first airplane ride to Cebu via PAL

Cebu's Tambuli Resort version of blue whales

The blue sea of Cebu

It was a great family bonding experience to go out of town. I hope I can make adjustments on our budget to accommodate another out of town trip again. 

Check out other wonderful blue Monday entries.

GT: Celebrity Idols

It is my first time to join this meme, I have been wanting to participate but I have been quite busy. Anyways, I am not really a huge fan of any celebrity. I watch the movies not because of who is in it, but mostly it is about the plot or the story. So I am torn between choosing Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston. I like the way they act, and I have seen a lot of their movies too.

These two are not just merely pretty faces, they can act and portray different kinds of character. I guess most girls have seen the movie Pretty Woman and it contrast to Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman is her film Erin Brockovich.

As for Jennifer Aniston, I started to like her since her "Friends" days. I like her character Rachel Green whose famous hairstyle was copied by a lot of women. My favorite Jennifer Aniston movie is "Along Came Polly"; she often portrays a very cool and fun-loving character.

Learn more what other girls have to say about their favorite celebrities at Girls Talk.

ABC Wednesday Challenge: M for Memes

According to Wikipedia, Meme is a unit of social information which identifies ideas or beliefs transmitted from one person to another or a group to another.The term Meme was the shortened term for the word mimeme which means "something imitated". The word Meme was coined by British biologist named Richard Dawkins.

There are all sort of memes that a blogger can join, I have joined several memes. Bloggers join memes for several reasons. But as for me, I joined memes because:

• It keeps me on track on what day it is, I have memes from Monday to Saturday.
• It gives more traffic to my blogs, because meme participants are required to visit each others sites.
• To be part of a community where you can meet blogger friends.

I have compiled some of the memes that you may want to check out.

Monday Memes : Blue Monday , Green Monday , Moody Monday

Tuesday Memes : My World Tuesday , Tempt My Tummy Tuesday , Tuesdays at the Table

Wednesday Memes : ABC Wednesday ,  Why Do You Love Me? , Postcard Perfect

Thursday Memes: Girl Talk , Recipe Swap Thursday , I'm Lovin' It

Friday Memes: Friday Fill Ins , Pink Fridays , Food Trip Friday

Saturday Memes : Sweet Saturday , Photo Hunt , Saturday Shutter

Sunday Memes : Sunday Stealing , Our Weekend Memoirs , Getting to Know You Sunday

I am definitely sure that you would find one meme that would interest you. Who knows you may also meet a lot of blogger friends by joining memes.

How to Make a Happy Marriage

Google for the photo

 Hubby and I had our 6th wedding anniversary. Although it turned out as planned, it is okay with me because I know that there are more anniversaries to come. If you are looking forward to celebrating 50th wedding anniversary with your spouse, then you must find ways to keep the marriage happy even in times of adversities. Being married to your spouse does not mean that there would no longer be arguments or disagreements. There are times that you would disagree on certain issues that involves your family. But then again, agreeing to disagree is somehow healthy because you can come up with very good solutions to family concerns. Married life can be happier for you and your partner. Here are simple ways to make your husband or your wife happy:

1. If your partner is at work or is not with you, send SMS during the day. Say how much you are looking forward to seeing your partner again.
2. Cook dinner for your partner, even husbands can cook dinner for their wives especially during the weekends.
3. Plant a kiss on his or her cheeks for no reason at all. Remember to always kiss your partner in the morning and before going to bed (even if you just had a fight).
4. Ask about each other's activities during the day, take time to listen to rants if there are any.
5. A good back rub or massage will soothe tired muscles, and touching your partner would make him or her feel special.

These things are very basic and there is no need to spend money in doing these things (except for cooking dinner of course ). Happy marriage would mean raising happy kids too!

Blue Monday: Boys Love Blue

 

 My three boys love the blue, they have clothes and other stuff which are blue. In fact, when we were choosing our house color, in unison they answered "Blue!"

Of course, their messy bedroom uses blue bed covers and electric fan. Even their curtains are blue, too bad I have no picture available.

Their love for blue is also apparent on the clothes that they wear. Most of their shirts are in the shade of blue.

Hope you enjoyed my share for Blue Monday and have a great week ahead :)

ABC Wednesday Challenge: L is for LESLEY

The author's name is Lesley, but she has earned the nickname MommyLES when she started to work in a call center. The author's blogs have the same blog titles, MommyLESsons and MommyLESsons Too! It is not because she can't think of another name (lol! that's the real reason behind it), but because the blogs were both parenting blogs. Thus the title makes it suitable ,Mommy LES' sons (yup! I have sons- 3 of them).

Motherhood has thought Lesley a lot of valuable lessons, and she shares some useful tips on her blogs. Raising kids is a very difficult task, it is a continuous learning process. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way, but then again life has to move on. To dwell on the past mistakes would not make life a lot easier.

Lesley is not a perfect mommy, but she is not after perfection. All she wishes for is to instill valuable lessons in the minds of her children. Lesley is not also the ideal wife, but she is willing to learn how to compromise to keep the relationship strong. Lesley loves her family so much and she is willing to lay down her life for them.

On Saving Marriage Retreats

We are not the ideal couple too, but I can proudly say that we have proven a lot of things to not-so-nice people.  There is no need for us to go on saving marriage retreats or counseling. Although I do not see anything wrong with that. In keeping the love and harmony in our married life, we try to compromise on a lot of things.
As much as we want to avoid arguments, there are moments that we cannot do so. But we have learned to manage our emotions and deal with the problem. It's hard to stay calm when there are issues to settle, but that should be the way to handle it.

Here are some useful tips on how to solve marital issues: There should be a positive reason on why you want to solve the problem. It must be specific, for example you have problems with your finances; give a positive reason on why you want this specific problem to be solved.

Tell your partner that you want to save up money for emergency situations that is why you need to check on how you both handle your finances. Avoid pointing fingers, bickering with each others faults would never result into something positive. Gently direct issues on why a certain problem would arise but never blame the other person for the problem.

Remember it takes two to tango. Present possible solutions that are agreeable to both of you. Never present a solution that could only be beneficial to one person. It would not solve the problem but can further create trouble as well. Deal with the current issue, steer clear from going back to other problems that you have.

If one person would tend to veer away from what is being resolved, gently remind the other person that it is not the current issue that you are trying to resolve. Once you have agreed upon a possible solution, stick to it. Then take the marital problem as case closed, don't bring it up again if in case another marital issue will arise. Learn to listen and compromise. From what I have read before it says that "it is okay to bend a little rather than to break".

Everyday we discover new things about our partner. Some of these discoveries may not be pleasant, we may learn a lot of flaws about their character. Learn how to accept and deal with the little flaws in our spouses character (unless of course, you get abused physically or emotionally-that is a different story). Remember the love that you have for your partner whenever conflict arise.

Resolve issues and do everything to save the marriage. If saving marriage retreats can help you rekindle the old flame, then do so. Try to do the best that you can if you think and feel that your marriage is worth saving.

Blue Monday: Beyblade for Kids

It's vacation time and my kids are at home the whole day. As expected, they easily get bored and are always looking for things to do and toys to play. Just recently, they asked Mommy to buy them Beyblades (it's the modernized version of "trumpo" or "spin top"). When hubby and I did the grocery last week, he bought them a Beyblade arena.

That's the Beyblade Arena that their Dad bought them

Their Beyblade, one each child

Busy setting up their own Beyblades

It's time for the Beyblades to compete

Hubby and I would like to encourage our kids to play games that would involve face-to-face interaction, rather than play in front of the computer or their game consoles. Outdoor games and sports would keep their body healthy and also they would learn how to socialize and deal with other people.

End of Unlimited Deal : PLDT in Buying Suncellular

For those who benefit on unlimited text and call of Suncellular, the acquisition of PLDT on Suncellular worries them. It is still unknown whether the buy off of Suncellular would be beneficial to the consumers or only to the stakeholders of the company. 

Suncellular has 16 million subscribers, although it is not the primary choice of telco network among Filipinos. However, for those who are holding more than one mobile phone, Suncellular has remained to be the top choice because of the unlimited call and texts it offers. Last March 31, PLDT and Suncellular sealed the deal of the former buying 51.55% of the shares of the latter.

I must admit that I am one of the many people who owns more than one phone, in fact I have my own mobile numbers for all the three major telecommunication network. I am a bit worried if PLDT would require Suncellular to stop its offer of unlimited calls and texts. For moms who are budget conscious, a mobile phone load of only 150php per month with unlimited texts to same network and 200 minutes of free call to same network (Sun-to-Sun) is a big help on my budget. Losing such kind of services would mean lesser time to communicate with the people I love.

Aside from this worry, DadEngr (my hubby) also works for Suncellular and we are unsure on what effects it would bring to Suncellular employees. The last thing I learned from hubby about the buy-off is that by June 2011, PLDT will officially take over about running the business of Suncellular.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for two main reasons, the first one as a consumer. That the services I (and the other millions of Suncellular subscribers) enjoy from Suncellular would still be the same, or improved would be much better. Of course, I am also hoping that the higher management of PLDT would be considerate about the welfare of the employees of Suncellular. I hope that there will be no retrenchment of employees and that they would look into the compensation and benefits of the Suncellular employees too.

Friday Fill Ins- New Home

Starting this week, my entries for Friday Fill Ins meme would be on my personal blog. I have decided to all mommy memes on my parenting blog. Here goes my Friday fill ins:

1. I can't believe __it's weekend once again woot!___.

2. __Relaxing weekend___ for everyone.

3. How can I _tell my boys to clean their room with being a nag? whew!____.

4. __Fried fish___ was the last thing I cooked.

5. Six of one __dozen___.

6. __Diet?___; nonono!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __finishing my articles___, tomorrow my plans include __bringing hubby to the doctor___ and Sunday, I want to _relax and unwind____!