For Football Fans

While most Filipinos are mainly basketball and boxing fans, I'm sure there are football fans out there who may be having a hard time looking for their favorite games. I guess they try to get their football and NFL (National Football League) fix from cable TV whenever they can. The problem is that it may be difficult to watch all the games that you want, because of their schedule.

DirectTV has something for you, football fan! It's the nfl sunday ticket! You can watch up to fourteen NFL games every Sunday, or a total of up to two hundred games per season. You just have to get hold of the nfl sunday ticket schedule so you know when your favorite teams will be playing. I'm sure the nfl sunday ticket price is worth it if you really, really would like to watch the exciting games and to be up-to-date with what's happening in the NFL.

Online Investment

As I've repeatedly stated before, we really need to save up and to invest. Although our income at present is more or less enough for our day to day needs, we have to admit that we need to think far ahead, to the time when we can't work. We can't depend on our kids because they will have problems of their own.

That's why it's really imperative that we have investments. The problem is that most investments need a big amount of cash, which we do not have right now.

What's interesting right now is the presence of small investments that are easily disposed like gold and silver coins from reputable coin dealers like Monaco Rare Coin, which is part of the Monex Group of Companies, a trusted leader of precious metal investments for almost forty years now. And the bonus for busy people like me? You can actually transact online! How convenient!

Online Sideline

Mommies (and daddies too) often have a hard time achieving the so-called balance of career and family. Working moms get to earn money, but they experience less time with their family. Stay-at-home moms, however, get to stay full time with their brood and answer to their needs, but they do no earn any money since traditional jobs dictate that work should be done outside the home.

Now that there is the internet, though, more and more mommies like me are discovering how to make money blogging.

Blogging for money is nothing new. There are actually lots of ways and avenues in doing it, whether through pay per click ads, the most famous of which is Google adsense, through private advertising either through paid blog articles, banners and similar avenues, or submitting your site to a high traffic site for revenue sharing.

You can actually earn during your spare time, meaning you can do your work in between your chores or when your full time job is done. Just perfect for family men and women who have families.

I Need Shoes!

I need a new pair of shoes. Seriously. The last dressy pair (the one I use almost everywhere) gave out just before I gave birth. Now, I'm surviving on a pair of rubber clogs, just because I'm on maternity leave and not going anywhere for a while.

Unlike most women who buy shoes on a whim, I actually buy shoes only when I need them. I'd like to maximize their use so I'd look for a comfortable style that I can bring to the office, wear with either jeans or something a little dressier. Something versatile. In fact, when I bought my wedding shoes, I actually bought a pair that I could use for later parties and events! So when I say I need shoes, I really do!

That's why it takes a long time for me to find the "IT" shoes each time. Not to mention that IT has to fit my budget aside from the criteria above. It's good that you can actually do comparison shopping for shoes online. And not only shoes but also socks and stockings that should go with the shoes. That's certainly a godsend for someone like me!

Our Messy Bedroom

Our bedroom is really a mess right now!

Well, what do I expect, there's now four of us in the room which used to be just mine when I was still single. Four includes our pre-schooler who's perpetually tinkering with his toys and a small baby who has more stuff than we do. Sigh. It should've been okay but I get comments from visitors about our room being a mess and I can't argue because it is. Double sigh. This too shall pass.

Perhaps when the kids are older and we have our own place, we'll be able to get our own master bedroom with a contemporary bedroom set where we can sleep the day's cares away.

For now, we're simply enjoying our kids...mess and all!

Need To Earn More

We brought my kids for a check up yesterday afternoon. When we got out of our doctor's clinic, we found that our friend and fellow ophthalmologist Dr. JCN was holding clinic in the room just right across our doctors'! We just had to say hi!

Since we have not seen each other for months, we talked about a lot of things. One of the topics that cropped up was the fact that there seems to be less patients nowadays. Of course, we know from previous history that even health care has seasons. Like it's low season near Christmas and near school opening, and high season during January - February. It's just exceptionally low right now, because of a combination of factors -- school opening, economic downturn (people having less money for healthcare), swine flu (people not wanting to go out of their homes unless really needed), etc. Although we've always thought that health care is a priority, sometimes people just hold off spending on health care because of other concerns.

Which brings us to our concern, with the economic downturn and the lessening of patients, we get to earn less. And with prices of necessities going higher, school tuition fees rising (I have 1 kid in toddler school) and overhead expenses in having a clinic, we doctors have to have an alternative source of income and investments in order to have a fallback in times when our income is low. It also pays to put in any extra cash we come by into our mutual fund account while the value is low and to look for a few ways to earn on the side so that we'll have a comfortable nest egg for emergency and retirement purposes.

How Do You Receive Your Mail?

Mailboxes are not really not "in" here in the Philippines. The kartero or mailman usually prefers to hand it over to someone he happens to see in the house. This is a good way to make sure the mail gets received, I guess, but during working hours, you cannot always count on anyone being around.

If it happens that he does not see anyone, he would rather just insert it between the grilles of the gate even if there are there's a mailbox or a slot for letters and bills. The problem with this is that sometimes the mail gets blown away by the wind, gets wet when it rains, or simply stays there for days/months/weeks exposed to the elements if the occupants of the house happen to be away for a period of time.

In spite of the penchant of Philippine mailmen for ignoring the mailboxes, I still like the look of those. They are both functional and decorative, and I still hope that someday, the mailmen would realize that it's better to use mailboxes to keep the mail in good shape and to ensure that the occupants would not lose their mail.

Planting Ideas

I have to admit that I do not have a green thumb. I do appreciate having plants and flowers around but they have to be low maintenance or else they won't last long since I do not have the talent to take care of them.

So maybe a full garden setup is not really for me. I wonder if the Indoor Planters would be a good idea for our future home? Having a bit of nature indoors would make the area even brighter than it is. But for me, as I've mentioned, it has to be low maintenance plants.

Maybe we can set up some Decorative Planters so that they can double as decorations even if the plants, unfortunately died in my care :P. A Window Box Planter may also be a good idea -- my uncle had one since they didn't have space for a garden and it looked great. That might work for us too!

Thinking About Satellite TV

For the past few days, our cable TV reception has been very bad, so bad that my brother has been complaining about not being able to watch some shows. I wonder if Direct TV would be better for us and if it is available in our area. I've heard of good reviews about Direct TV receivers too so I'm thinking this may make my brother happy. Of course, it depends on whether our household budget can handle an additional expense, but then, this is supposed to come out as more value for money. And, there are several packages to choose from so there certainly should be one which should meet our needs and our pockets. Now all we have to do is pick the right one for us.

I'm Yours

My son E loves this song! His a-ku (Uncle) Jack, my brother was singing and playing the guitar one day and the kid just loved it! He now refers to it as A-ku's song. :)

Lyrics | Jason Mraz lyrics - I'm Yours lyrics

Do You Care?

Frankly speaking, I don't even know about some of the things that's happening right now. When I saw the news about Michael Jackson's death I thought I was delayed in getting the news.

It may be because right now, I have my hands full and my priorities at the moment are my kids.

Indian Clothes, Music and Dance

The internet has certainly made shopping much easier. I remember when we celebrated United Nations Day in elementary (or was it high school?) and our class was assigned India. A few girls from our class presented a dance number . We're actually not sure if the dance and the music were authentic, since we don't know any Indian who we can consult for advise, but to our untrained eyes, it sure looked nice. So did the costumes, even if they just improvised.

Of course, it would have been easier nowadays to just order Online Kids Wear from India. If my son were to need a costume like that, I'll be sure to look up the internet first. I'm sure I'll be able to look up authentic Indian music and an authentic Indian dance number if I search the internet for it.

Dream House

Since we don't have our own house yet, we've been dreaming about it and designing it in our heads. The advantage of not having a house yet is that it affords you the luxury of dreaming up what you want and don't want, especially if you're gonna have it built rather than buy it ready made already.

We are thinking of at least a 3 bedroom house, with en suite baths, a lanai and a small garden, a big carport, lots of natural light and air circulation via well placed windows and extra rooms for our own personal hobbies.

It's gonna cost a lot of money, but, hey, dreaming is free so we'll enjoy dreaming for the meantime. Anyway, whatever kind of house we get, whether or not we get the house of our dreams, we have to protect what will be our biggest family asset with home insurance. So far, I like what Houston Home Insurance offers, as aside from the house itself, it covers for the possessions inside the house and protection of your house against lawsuits.

Well, we certainly hope that we'll soon get and move into our dream house. Maybe, I'll win in the lotto or something? :P

It's Going To Be A Challenge...

A 3 week old and a 3 year old.
Me recovering from a Cesarean operation.
No yaya (nanny).

For 2 weeks.

Will we adjust? Well, I've been rather spoiled actually, being in the Philippines and all, so I haven't really tried that out. But others have been doing it.

And it's not as if I totally don't get any help. There's hubby who can bring our 3 year old to toddler school (about 5 mins. drive away -- or even less). There's my mom, who can -- and wants -- to cook traditional Chinese ge-lai food for me. There's my mother's laundress, who has volunteered to take over washing my kids' clothes and my mother's all around girl, who I can call in when I need some assistance.

And, of course, there's me, who is able bodied and can do mommy tasks. I've been taking care of my baby 99% of the time anyway.

Just need to get my bearings. Just need to simplify our life. Just need to know how to manage our free time. But we'll make it.

Car Search

We need (and want!) a new car! Both me and my husband need a car to go to work, bring E to school and run errands. The number coding system here in Manila also makes it more difficult for us not to have a second, or even third car because once a week, the car is virtually useless unless we leave very early and come home very late. The "grace period" does not apply to us since we live in San Juan City during the work week -- they do not honor this grace period.

Looking at different car models and deciding on which one is the best for us is half the fun. It also allows us to give our imaginations as to what to get free rein, whether or not we can really afford it.

For example, a mercedes benz would definitely be something to drool over. Beautiful, classic, timeless and durable. However, it's way out of our (financial reach). Maybe a nissan altima? Still looks beautiful, and most probably more affordable than the mercedes. But I wonder if it is fuel efficient? And would it be the right size for our growing family? A dodge 1500, but it seems that the cabin space is not very large, probably just the same as a sedan. So there's really no advantage for us since we do not need a truck bed. Well, for our budget, we may have to settle for a kia, which has gained considerable reputation as regards its reliability despite its lower cost. We'd probably have to check out the bigger models in order to fit our at least 6 people -- COMFORTABLY.

I'd like to check out more vehicles, and it's good that we can now check them out online (before actually going to the dealership and checking out the real thing) and doing a side-by-side comparison. After all, we do need to make sure that the (huge) money we plunk down to buy our vehicle would be worth it and something which really fits our needs.

Myrtle Beach

The last I've been to the United States was more than 10 years ago already! I didn't realize that it's been such a long time. The next time I go there, I will have to bring my whole family and visit a place like myrtle beach. It's out of the usual path for the usual Pinoy but it offers a lot of things -- golf (what it's most famous for), nightclubs, aquariums, NASCAR-themed go-karts, amusement parks -- for the whole family to enjoy.

My New Daughter!

Here's the big announcement!

We have a new daughter, R! All of us are very happy, the hubby, the new kuya, and of course, the mommy. She arrived the day before my birthday, a squalling, female look alike of her kuya, but with more hair :D. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces, more than a pound lighter than her brother when HE was born.

I got admitted the day before my scheduled CS, had the non-stress test. Initially, I wanted to go home to check on my little boy, but it turned out that going out-on-pass is more trouble than it's worth.

Since I was scheduled at 9am the next day, I started on NPO (nothing by mouth) starting midnight. I took a bath at 5am and waited for the nursing aide to shave me. I was wheeled into the labor room (even if I was not in labor) and waited for my doctors (the OB, anesthesiologist and the pedia). They brought me to the operating room, where I was put on spinal anesthesia. I was adamant that I wanted to be awake throughout the entire procedure. I do not want to be knocked out the whole time that my baby was coming out. I wanted to witness her coming out! Especially since they didn't allow my husband to be present with me (hospital policies!).

My daughter came out at exactly 10:03 am, with a large wail and APGARs of 9 and 9. She had a full head of hair, unlike her kuya. Otherwise, they both looked similar when fresh out of the oven :P. My pedia and I wanted the breast crawl, but since space was limited (the drape was up to the top of my breasts and the operating table was narrow), we settled for latching on at the recovery room.

My daughter was then brought out to be shown to her daddy and lola, then brought into the nursery to be cleaned thoroughly. They brought her to me for latching when I was at the recovery room.

As for me, I actually shed tears (of joy) when looking at my daughter. I feel so blessed. :)

It was not easy, what with the pain after the operation, but it was definitely all worth it!

-o-o-o-o-o-

R's birth is pretty straightforward. It was a repeat elective Cesarean section. I was able to choose my daughter's date of birth, so my mom and I chose a date and time that's considered auspicious (in the Chinese calendar). Well, we chose a date within the date range set by my OB, and we thought that, hey, there's nothing to lose if we choose a good date, right? Now it would have been different had it been a normal delivery, or even an emergency Cesarean! I would have just let my daughter choose the date and time when she wants to be born!

The advantage of having a scheduled Cesarean is that you can pretty much schedule everything -- when you go on leave, when you get admitted, when you get operated on, the type of anesthesia (either spinal or epidural) and even when you can go home. Everything's planned and deliberate.

Why did we have a scheduled Cesarean? I already had a previous (emergency) Cesarean with my firstborn (due to early rupture of membranes and failed induction of labor). My OB's also thought that my birth canal was too narrow, hence my babies never engaged and never descended, and I never dilated past 1 cm. So, CS seemed like a better option. Another 2 things we considered: my age (I'm 39, hence I was classified somewhat as high risk since I'm quite an old mama) and the fact that I had an H. mole prior to this pregnancy. So since, we've decided on Cesarean, there was really no point in getting me to labor. Hence, a scheduled CS.

Pictures to follow. Sorry haven't uploaded them yet....