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Rooting for Ramiele Malubay


(picture courtesy of the official American Idol website)

If you have been watching American Idol, you'd have known that Ramiele Malubay, a fellow Filipino, is still continuing to wow the judges and America. She's now in the top20.

Here are her videos:
Audition
Top 24
Top 20

I liked her voice better than Jasmine Trias, who ended up in Top 3 a few seasons ago. Although I didn't really like her last performance that much, I think it's good enough to at least keep her from being eliminated. I hope she continues her strong showing. Too bad I'm not a US resident and can't vote for her.

Picture lockets make great mementos


In old movies, I've often seen these gold lockets with pictures inside and I've always wanted one of those. These are very nice mementos of loved ones. You can actually order them online! Nowadays, they are even better than the traditional ones because the picture is actually custom engraved rather than just putting a photograph inside the chamber. You can just send them a digital photo and they will engrave it on your chosen locket. It makes a very nice all occasion gift. This would have made a very nice Valentine's gift, don't you think? I know I would have a appreciated a nice silver locket with my family's picture inside.

Big Bear Hug

I got these from Yvelle and Pat.

JellyMuffin.com - The place for profile layouts, flash generators, glitter graphics, backgrounds and codes


Awwwww!!!! Thank you, girls! This is so cute and heartwarming!

I'm passing these to Rocks, Kathycot, Norms and Petradear.

8 Random Things About Ethan

Mec's baby Yakee tagged my Ethan :).

1) Ethan's "killer" feature are his dimples. But since he doesn't really smile at strangers, only people who are close to him would see them.

2) Ethan was breastfed for 1 year and 10.5 months.

3) He started crawling at 3 months. But he only walked alone at 1 year 3 months...but immediately proceeded to running once he did! And we were so worried about him not walking by 1 year old!

4) He had his first birthday celebration at McDonald's. He was suspicious of Grimace. :)

5) He can carry a tune and sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Happy Birthday Lola" with gusto.

6) His motor development is way ahead of his speech development.

7) His first word was "mama". Proud and happy moment for me!

8) He looks like his dad, but inherited mommy's skin color.

Ethan is now tagging Sheng's Kaiden, Leah's Erin, Meng's Issen and Pheng's Djuan. Have fun, mommies!

Planning a vacation through the net

My husband and I have always talked of traveling for our next vacation but we never really seem to find the time and the budget for planning such a trip.

My dream vacation is somewhat similar to the trip that we had with my parents and siblings in the early nineties, wherein we had a trip on the US West Coast. We rented a car and drove around several cities. This was back when there was no internet yet, so hotel reservations were done via phone calls. We'd plan our next stop on the road, just looking for the next hotel/motel to stay on our next stop and calling before we set out on the road. It was really fun and exciting, but now with the advances of internet, there are now ways of making the travelling process a little easier.

The next time we plan such a trip, we can already book our flights online, reserve the hotel/s or motel/s that we're going to stay in, book our car, all in one site. The best thing is that we can even avail of hotel discounts through special offers! This was not possible in the early nineties, but it certainly is possible NOW!

Oh, since you can have everything reserved and planned out, the budget planning is also much easier since you already know how much everything costs. This is so unlike the trip we had before when we didn't know how much our next hotel or motel would cost us as we would only know the price when we call them up the night before.



I can hardly wait to plan our next vacation! Hopefully I will be able to bring along my son. I want him to experience Disneyland, Universal Studios...I enjoyed them when I was already an adult and I'm sure the kid will enjoy it! I also look forward to visiting the natural wonders like those found in Yellowstone Park, Yosemite Park and the Grand Canyon. And hopefully catch some flashy show in Las Vegas. Or maybe the East Coast will be a better idea this time?

Get to know me

I was tagged by Jesse and Renz! Thanks so much!

1. Today I feel very— unhappy about not achieving what I set out to do :(
2. I enjoy - watching DVDs at home.
3. I am unhappy when — my son is sick.
4. I feel good when — I'm with my husband and son.
5. I wish my boss — would earn more. I'm my own boss, that's why :)
6. My officemates think — tough one. I don't really know what my colleagues think of me.
7. My work area is — cluttered...I'm talking about my home work area and not my clinics. Doesn't matter if I do take the time to fix it, there's always something else that piles up later.
8. I enjoy reading about — other mommies and how they cope. I used to read fiction and other pocketbooks but I don't have the time to buy and read them anymore.
9. I like myself best when — patients tell me how much I've helped them or improved their condition.
10. If I had a choice I would — live in our own place.
11. I wish — my husband and I would earn enough for us not to consider leaving the country. Also I wish my family would always be healthy.
12. Tomorrow I would like to — look forward to a another productive day.

I'm tagging Jeng, Apols, Lori and Sweetpea.

Run, Walk, Show ... How Do You Use Running Shoes?

Athletic shoe, sporting apparel, casual footwear, trainers, sandshoes, running shoes, runners, sneakers, gym shoes, tennis shoes, tennies, sport shoes, sneaks, takkies ... doesn't matter what you call them, they just aren't dress shoes -- or are they?

The Link Tag

Rule #1
Copy all the links below and replace a single link under the appropriate alphabet. If your domain name, or even the title of your blog, starts with an ” A,” you’d replace the link under that alphabet and put the replaced link at the bottom. Also, don’t forget to credit the tagger, or where you got the list from, at the end of the list with a full URL of the post so that a pingback gets generated.

  1. alwaysbcmom.com
  2. because life is fun
  3. caffeine-overload.com
  4. delusionsofgrandeur.com
  5. enjoyingtheride-jenn.blogspot.com
  6. forumfinder.net
  7. gotic-peach.net
  8. happykeg.com
  9. ipentimento.com
  10. juliesjournal.com
  11. kabalyero.com
  12. leahjoseph.com
  13. michmagbag.com
  14. notjustmama.net
  15. originalmx5.net
  16. patrickdevivo.com
  17. qweddings.com
  18. rantingsofawoman.blogspot.com
  19. sianikatts-gower.blogspot.com
  20. the-working-mom.blogspot.com
  21. utada-online.net
  22. valmg.com
  23. wickedbabylon.com
  24. xaviermedia.com
  25. yimto.com
  26. zbudapest.com

Replaced Link:thinking-outloud.com

Previous Tagger: leahjoseph.com

Rule #2
You now have to “tag” at least five people and encourage them to participate so that this thing spreads like a virus. Remember, though, that not everyone’s into these kinds of things, so don’t be upset if they don’t participate. Just simply replace your tag. Remember to tag blogs only and no pornographic ones as we do want to keep the integrity as a blogging community. TIP: Tag your frequent EntreCard droppers via its messaging system.
1. Jean
2. Jhona
3. Teebob
4. Sujee
5. Chelle

About money

When my husband and I got married, money was not at the top of our head because all we thought about was that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We are productive citizens of society, so we could probably earn enough money to support ourselves.

However, reality strikes soon enough. Everything in life requires money. Having your own home, having your own car, getting medical attention, giving birth, buying food to eat...the list goes on. We also learned that money management is not just about earning the money and spending it, because the reality is that sometimes you don't have enough money on hand to pay for what you need.

Credits cards came in very handy when our son needed to be hospitalized and we don't have enough cash on hand to cover the bills. Thank God for plastic!

Although we cannot afford it, we're trying to save up for our own home. Since we do not want to lose the place we are going to live in, we are also looking at home insurance quotes to protect our soon-to-be prized property.

Our ten year old car still runs well, and we don't have intentions of selling it yet. But we think paying for a car insurance would still be wise, because accidents do happen and not having insurance when an accident occurs is a going to be very expensive!

I like the site http://aboutyourmoney.co.uk because it helps me in making good money decisions.

Let's play domino

Tagged by Apple!

Rule: Copy the entire list and add your name at the bottom. And tag at least 5 friends. (But you can tag as many as you like)





thea
childstar
mike
my scrappy side
abie
aggie
alpha
apple
apols
jacqui
jane
jody
joy
kelly
mich
peachy
apple
joey

I'm tagging Utah Mommy, Texas Sweetie, Scotty's Princess, Pretty Life Online and Idealpinkrose.

Let's Talk About Cars

Autos are a means of getting from one place to another, a place in themselves, a right of passage, a status symbol, a monthly payment, and a mouth to feed.



Although my mouth waters at the thought and feel of a luxury car, I'd be more than happy enough with a much cheaper but reliable car which gives fuel economy. Toyotas have always proven their worth to me, reliability wise.

Heart Award

Leah gave me this award. Thank you so much, sis!




I'm passing this award to Joanne, Mhay and Rojoy.

How fast can you type?

Tagged by Sheng

I've had typing lessons in High School, under "Practical Arts". It's one of the most useful and practical subjects I've taken, since the next few years in college and med school were full of reports and such! Take note that the personal computer and word processing was not widespread then, and we had to type our reports on a manual typewriter! Later, Wordstar came along, which made saving easier (for future copies) than just typing on the typewriter and using carbon and photocopies if you needed more (and hoping that you won't lose your copy). It was also much easier to type on a computer.

We've really come a long way. It's really much easier to type nowadays. We have Word and other word processing software!

It's so nice to reminise about the old days, though, when the good old typewriter was in its heyday. I still use touch typing though, and it's quite a useful skill, although I'm not really as fast as I would like to be.

51 words

Speedtest



Ok, now, let's see how fast you type! I'm tagging Leah, Apple, Angel, Eds.

I've finally finished...

...editing my blogroll. Now I'm using blogrolling since it seems to be easier than manually managing all my links. The next time I have another blog, I could simply copy the whole javascript.

I should have done this before. Well, it's not easy transporting all the names, but it ain't so hard either. :D

Make A choice, Any Choice

We blast through our lives and make an enormous amout of decisions ... some important, some not ... is indecision a choice or a failing?

School...

I was in school yesterday. I'm currently taking up Masters in Hospital Administration in UP Open University and yesterday was a scheduled monthly meeting. I was able to hand in the assignments and take home exam I was laboring over the past few days. They were the things that kept me busy. I still have one exam to go.

Do wish me luck on this! :)

DIY skin peeling

When I was younger, I used to have a lot of acne. I have since outgrown acne, but unfortunately for me, they have left scars on my face. Because of sun damage and the effects of growing older, I also noticed that my skin has started to be unevenly pigmented. I am looking into doing my own chemical peel to improve my skin condition. TCA peel works by removing the top layer of the skin and deep cleansing it. I did go to the dermatologist before, but now I do not have the time to do so, so I'm thinking that I can just do it at home myself. I just have to follow instructions very carefully. I certainly would like to look better -- what woman doesn't? Looking good does raise one's self esteem. It also makes me look more professional and "well-taken cared of", which is important in my work.

Homeschooling - a rational choice

Schools are a hot topic in my mailing list, as a lot of mothers are discussing on what school is best for their kids. There is a dizzying array of choices, from the traditional to the progressive schools, to the multiple intelligence schools, to the international schools. All of which have their own advantages and disadvantages as well as a corresponding price tag.

Preparing to send a child to school has increasingly become more and more expensive. And we're not just talking of the school tuition fee itself. We also have to factor in the costs of books, clothes or uniforms, transportation fees, among others.

Homeschooling has become a more and more attractive option. Aside from savings from the school and miscellaneous expenses, you can totally supervise and watch what your child is learning. In the usual school, you pretty match turn over your child to the school teachers for the few learning hours each day. With today's teacher:student ratio, even if it's quite small, you cannot expect the teacher to just focus on your son. The biggest advantage of homeschooling is the one on one focus.

However, we sometimes do not have enough confidence that we can homeschool our kids well enough for them to face college and, ultimately the world. Fortunately, there are institutions like The Southern Baptist Academy Homeschool which actually helps you homeschool, with materials, examinations and a support system that will help you be the best teacher for your child.

Your dreams - a survey

Do you understand your dreams?

Tags and Awards!

I got numerous tags I've got the past week! I like receiving tags because I know people thought of me. I'm just sorry I couldn't post it right away.
-------------

Got this Friendship award from Yvelle! Thank you sis!



Another friendship award:


Why God Made Friends
====================

God made the world with a heart full of love
Then He looked down from heaven above
And saw that we all need a helping hand
Someone to share with, who`ll understand

He made special people to see us through
In times of happiness and in sadness
A person whom we can always depend
Someone we can call a FRIEND

Got this thoughtful tag from Sheng.

I'm passing the two friendship awards to everybody in my blogroll! There are people I've known only a short while, and people who I've known much longer, but I'm so glad to call you my friends!
----------


Got this one from Leah and Toni! Thanks so much girls! I thought my blog was rather ordinary myself. This definitely perked me up!

I'm passing this to Norms, Raquel, Francine, Juliana.

-----------
I got this from both Joanne and Sheng

Anger is only one letter short of danger
If someone betrays you once, it is his fault;
If he betrays you twice, it is your fault.
Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
He, who loses money, loses much;
He, who loses a friend, loses much more;
He, who loses faith, loses all.
Beautiful young people are accidents of nature,
But beautiful old people are works of art.
Learn from the mistakes of others
You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
Friends, you and me…
You brought another friend…
And then there were 3…
We started our group…
Our circle of friends…
And like that circle…
There is no beginning or end…
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.

So now, let’s see how many circle’s of friends we can make by simply adding your link on this Friendship Meme!
1-Catsy Carpe Diem, 2- Catsy Downloads, 3-Out of the Blue, 4- A Day to Savor and Relish 5- A Piece of Idea 6- Write Shy 7- Stupid Wise 8- onlinememorylane 9- See Me For What You Will 10- Michelle’s Small World 11. Chez Francine 12. La Place de Cherie 13. Le bric à brac de Cherie 14- Our Journey to this so called Life 15- Life 16- The Creativity In Me 17- Moi et mon Univers 18- Dogs Circle 19 - Planting Diary 20 - Doinge 21 - Clicking Mouse 22 - Fifty States Travel 23 - Make Life Unexpected 24 - Honestly Fresh 25 - Sorrounded Everything 26 - Moments I Treasure 27 - Trails In Life 28 - Has Alot 2 Offer 29 - Chant's corner dot com 30- Travel, Adventure and Lifestyle 31- Ramblings Dumplings 32- Sheng's Simple Thoughts 33- Me, Myself and I 34- The Working Mom 35 - Online Raket 36 - Family Health Tips 37- Food, Drinks Atbp. 38 - Practical Tips and More YOUR NEXT!–>End here<–

I'm passing this to Leah, Toni, Jane, Yvelle, Eds, Joy, Jown.

Another reason why you should join Dneero -- the reseller program!

I have already posted about Dneero before here.

Now, there's a third way of earning through Dneero, and that is the reseller program! So now, there are 3 ways to earn, firstly by answering and posting surveys, secondly by referring people to join, and thirdly, by referring advertisers to sponsor surveys!

This program allows you to sell Social Surveys to businesses and organizations. You'll earn 10% of any money that bloggers or social networkers make through the survey. This is a big opportunity for enterprising types who are willing to contact businesses. We can easily see college students making this their part time or full time job.

At its core the program is simply a Reseller Code that you hand out to businesses. If they create a survey and enter your code then you earn whenever that survey pays out to somebody.

And yes, it's yes...it's still free to join! Join here: http://www.dneero.com/invite.jsp?referredby=2175


Another tag!

Dear Friends and co-bloggers lets play-game-tag to tag- “pass it to the front”. I got this from Gracie. Thanks, girl! I'm passing this to Toni, Sujee, Rocks, Sheila, Rhoda.

If you're interested in grabbing, just do so to increase your links!

Heres the Rules:
* First copy and paste it.
* Do not remove any content.
* Just add One word related to your blogs.
* If you don’t like the concept Pls! say no?
* Our main goal is we are going to circulate our number of friends.
* The more people join the “pass it to the front” the more links we generate.
* Lastly write only one word “short” for your blogs…
*Keep it simple and short,i know some of you have more than one blogs.
* The color is only black,gray, or white plssss avoid using any color okies.
Let me show you:1.-Filipina,2.-Stories,3.-Abroad,4.-Husband,5.Gagiers, 6. Life 7. Everything, 8. Offer, 9. Moments, 10. Journey, 11. Nora’s Family Treasures, 12. Themes 13. Mom 14. Raket 15. Food 16. Health 17. Practical 18. Add your link here

You like ... OK, well sure



Answer this survey for charity. Proceeds from your answering this survey will go to the charity of your choice.

Getting to know me..getting to know you!

Knowing Me, Knowing You
I was tagged by
Rocks...here goes:

Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation? I'm a doctor, more specifically an ophthalmologist subspecializing in glaucoma
2. What color are your socks right now? I'm not wearing any
3. What are you listening to right now? nothing really. Hubby and baby are asleep so have to be quiet. :)
4. What was the last thing that you ate? suman
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes :)
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red!
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? HSBC customer service
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes, I do :)
9. Favorite drink? coffee
10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Not one particular favorite. I like tennis, basketball, swimming, pool, and a lot of others.
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Nope :)
12. Pets? Our family dogs and cats. No pet is really mine alone.
13. Favorite food? Naku, basta Asian food! I love Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai. I like steaks din. Hard to pick a fave!
14. Last movie you watched? A Love Story :)
15. Favorite Day of the year? None in particular.
16. What do you do to vent anger? Cry and shout sometimes
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? Dolls :)
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? springs
19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs
20. What kind of pie? Buko pie
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yup
22. Who is most likely to respond?
23. Who is least likely to respond?
24. Living arrangements? Living with my mom on weekdays and MIL on weekends
25. When was the last time you cried? Can't remember
26. What is on the floor of your closet? More clothes
27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to?
28. The friend you have known the shortest amount of time that you are sending this to?
29. Favorite smell? my son's scent :)
30. What inspires you? my family
31. What are you afraid of? failure
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
33. Favorite car? Don't have a particular favorite
34. Favorite cat breed? none
35. Number of keys on your key ring? A lot! Do I have to count?
36. How many years at your current job? 5 years
37. Favorite day of the week? Monday -- that's my free day
38. How many provinces have you lived in? Have always been a city girl
39. How many countries have you been to? Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, USA, Canada.

thanks
for the tag, Rocks!...passing this on to everybody on my blogroll! Grab na, girls!
Enjoy :)

Affordable glasses



Would you believe that these glasses cost only 8 dollars? It's truly a Best Thing Found: Zenni Optical.

Zenni Optical $8 Rx Glasses can be ordered online and delivered to your doorstep. These are high quality frames which are fitted with your prescription. It comes with quality hard eyeglass case and microfiber lens cleaning cloth. It's truly a Great Discovery: Zenni Optical.

Pop Scandals of 2007

OK, get out your "Do I care meter?" and apply it to the most notable scandals of 2007.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Today marks the first day of the New Year in the Chinese calendar, so to all my friends, whether Chinese or non-Chinese, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We always have dinner at my grandmother's house during the eve of Chinese New Year. It also serves as a reunion for family members. Last night was no exception. My son received "ang paos" (red envelopes containing money) from the elders (my grandmother, my mother, my uncles and aunts). This is a tradition we always look forward to when we were children and later, as unmarried adults.

My mother brought my son to the shopping center, and they were lucky enough to catch a dragon dance.

My grandmother and mother are doing the rounds of the temples this morning. For me, it's still a clinic day, as Chinese New Year is not a public holiday here in the Philippines, unlike in China, Taiwan or Hongkong.

I'm going to wear a red blouse, as this is considered a lucky color for Chinese. A little good luck never hurts, right? :)

How does your blog rank? Find out with Real Rank

If you are looking to monetize your blogsite or website, it is very important to have good traffic as advertisers would give more weight to the sites that are visited most often.

Is there really a way to know how many visitors go to a particular site? For blogs, Blog Ranks may be determined by Realrank. This is a ranking system that focuses exclusively on measuring the traffic and influence of individual blogs throughout the blogosphere. This would help advertisers in making advertising decisions based on the most comprehensive and relevant view of a blog's ability to meet specific campaign goals.

IZEARanks uses a piece of javascript to collect and report a rank based on actual traffic. You can choose whether you want to display pageviews and visitors or just your RealRank. The system weights blogs 70% on daily unique visitors, 20% by daily active inbound links and 10% by daily page views as reported by ITK.

The site is very easy to use. I just typed in my blogs's URL, http://the-working-mom.blogspot.com and my realrank, page views and unique visitors to my site appeared! And you can even check for historical data, such as how many people visited your blog 3 weeks ago!

There's also an ongoing contest. The number one blog for each week in February will win a 1000 dollar reward! How cool is that! You do have to be a legal U.S. citizen and at least eighteen years of age in order to join. Of course you should have signed up for Real Rank, so that's yet another reason to join in. So what are you waiting for? Joining is free!



Awards!

I was given this 5 star blog award by Vina, Melisse and Pheng! Wow, thank you very very much, girls! I am very flattered!



This 5-Star Blog Award is given to a blogger whose blog is of highest classification. A blog of excellence in the following criteria: content, design and style, informative and accomodating.

I also got this from Eds and Leah. Thank you mga sis! You made me feel so wonderful!



I am passing these two awards to Norm, Francine, Raquel, Sheila, Sasha.

Expert advice on unsecured loans

If you are short of cash for either a personal or a business purpose and you need it urgently, you can actually apply for an unsecured loan.

Unsecured loans are loans that do not need collateral. There are actually companies that still give out these kinds of loans. These are certainly a great help, as cash is still king and most personal and business spending still require cash upfront, even if you have a good credit history. If you do have a good credit history, however, you have a good chance of getting the loan that you need or want.

What we have to realize, though, is that these loans, even if they do not require collateral, still require approval and of course, interest. Also, you may not always be able to get the amount of money that you want or need. Hence it is best that we consult an expert on unsecured loans, like americaoneunsecured.com, in order that we get the loan that we need in the shortest possible time, with the best interest rates. Bonus for using their service is expert consulting every step of the way from start to finish, complete confidentiality and no upfront fees.

So the next time you need cash and you don't have any right away, don't fret. There's always another way.

Fashion Trends -- a survey

What do you think of the pop culture fashion trends in 2007 for women?
From Time's Pop Culture in 2007:

In the world of pop culture, 2007 was the year we turned up our noses at Britney (while unleashing a world of schadenfreude on the tearful fan who defended her on YouTube), shook our heads over the Michael Vick dogfighting arrest and did a major double-take at the NASA astronaut love triangle. Meanwhile, France yawned over its First Couple's split; An Inconvenient Truth sparked an eco-friendly clothing trend; and the verb "to tase" entered the lexicon (as in, don't, bro).



I've always been rather untrendy myself, preferring to buy clothes with a lot longer shelf life. For me, the problem of being TOO trendy is that clothes look too dated too easily. If the fad has already passed, most women would find it embarrassing to be wearing clothes that are not "uso", no matter if the clothes cost a lot and are still of good quality.

My personal rule is to buy cheap with trendy clothes. I can splurge a bit on the more timeless designs.

Peachy peachy review

If you're looking for a different dessert, try peachy peachy (yes, that's their spelling) from Arny-Dading. This small unassuming shop in Katipunan (among others) serve one of the best tasting pichi pichis (this is the spelling I'm more familiar with) I have tasted.

It's something usually classified as a kakanin, but it's actually more of a cassava based dessert. It tastes good whether at room temperature or even just taken out of the refrigerator.

The one we usually get to eat have a generous cheese topping. Look -- it almost looks like some cheese topped pasta dish!


Now, here it is after we have dug in --



It's perfect as a merienda and as dessert. But do watch out -- it's quite addicting, so calories can quickly add up!

For a list of their other branches and their list of products, just click on the picture of their box.

Charity from dNeero-ites

This survey made me really think. I know I should probably give more to charity and Dneero surveys actually give me a good chance to. However, I don't...because for me the priority is to earn as much as I can. I think that's the problem with a setting that's all or nothing. You either give all or give nothing. Most people may be like me-- I would gladly give a part of my earnings, but probably not all of it. Because, face it, majority of us are primarily joining these money making programs to make money. What do YOU think?

Things to buy for baby --- Part 2

If you need to read part I, here it is :)

Bath and body care:

Diapers - I preferred disposable diapers. I initially tried using cloth diapers (gauze) but it was too inconvenient for me. My son peed a lot, so I had to change him a lot. And not just the diaper, but also his clothes and the sheets. His sleep also got interrupted a lot.

Also, he pooed about 5 times a day when he was small (this is normal for breastfed babies). It was difficult to remove all traces of poo from his diaper.

All in all, disposables were what saved my sanity. I tried both EQ Dry and Prokids and both worked well for me. I went with EQ Dry since it was cheaper.

Cotton balls and water / Baby wipes: When he was a newborn, we just cleaned him up with cotton balls dipped in warm water. We only used baby wipes (we used Giggles or Prokids) when we leave the house since it was more convenient to use.

Petroleum jelly - I put a thin layer on him bum to act as a barrier against wetness and I think it was the main reason why he seldom had diaper rashes.

Soap / baby wash - I used Johnson and Johnson baby bath and he was ok with it. Initially, I just bought a small bottle because I wasn't sure if his skin would react to it, but since it didn't, I continued using it.

Baby oil - I preferred using virgin coconut oil since it was milder, and more easily absorbed by the skin than the ordinary baby oil. It was also organic.

I didn't use any baby powder, lotion or any other products that I didn't feel he needed.

Rubber mat - I used the traditional rubber one, blue on one side and pink on the other. The biggest one was the most versatile since I used it as a changing mat for his nappy changes and also somewhere to put him when he's wet from the bath. :)



Still to be continued....

A career as an ultrasound tech? Why not?

The health care industry is one field that will survive through good times and bad, simply because people always need to look after their health. There are several options for a career in the allied medical fields. One job you can consider when you are thinking of a job the health field is that of an ultrasound tech. This is a person who does the imaging for the ultrasound machine. The ultrasound machine is one of the basic imaging procedures most commonly used in hospitals. It has applications in obstetrics and gynecology, as well as imaging of most of the abdominal organs, including the kidneys, the liver, the gall bladder, the pancreas and the spleen. As such, the ultrasound tech is one health care professional that is always needed in the hospital.

It is pretty difficult to find a decent ultrasound tech school. The site ttp://www.medical-career-training.com/ may be able to help, as this list a good number of schools in the different allied medical specialties, classified by the different states. Admittedly, it's still not easy to find a lot of ultrasound technician schools in the given list of schools. But it does make thing much easier, as you can just check online as to which schools offer that course instead of just going to enroll without first knowing where to enroll.

In case you still want a career in the medical field but feel that the position of ultrasound tech is not for you, there are still other fields that you can go into. They are also searchable on the site.

No collateral business loans with low interest and fast approval

As many of you know, I do a micro business on the side. However, what's preventing me from expanding my little business is the lack of capital. I'm currently studying the business loans available online. If you have a good credit history, you can actually avail of a collateral free business loan! They promise no application fees and no hidden charges, and interest rates are touted to be very low. Approval is fast, taking only 24-48 hours. This looks very promising to me.

Big Bang World Record -- Updated Masterlist!

This is an update to this tag. I got the updated masterlist here.

Here is my previous post on this. You can still join even if I didn't tag you. Just grab! :D If you follow the instructions, you will note a great increase in your technorati!

Photobucket

Start Copy Here*

You do not have to be tagged to play along. This game is simple and so are the rules.
1. Copy from *Start Copy Here* through *End Copy Here*
2. Add your site(s) to the list. Just be sure to post at each site you add.
3. Tag or don’t tag, your choice, however, the more tags you create the bigger the list will grow.
4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE. I will add you to the master list. (If you would like a scroll box code, leave me your email address and I will email it to you.) Scroll Box Example. (I decided not to use the box for the Big Bang for ease of copying.)
5. Come back and copy the master list back to your site, often. This process will allow late-comers to get as much link benefit as the first ones in.


1-Attitude, the Ultimate Power 2-Juliana's Site 3-Rusin Roundup 4-Grow Rich Along With Me 5-Comedy Plus 6-lynda's loft 7-Amel's Realm 8-MAX 9-Speedcat Hollydale 10-Mariuca 11-Complain Complain Complain 12-Mariuca's Perfume Gallery 13-Life Is A Roller Coaster 14-Sugar Queen's Dream 15-First Time Dad 16-Life 17-My Life 18-The Painted Veil 19-My Thoughts 20-DatCurious.com 21-Little Aussie Cynic 22-A Nice Place in the Sun 23-DatMoney.com 24-The Down Side OF Up 25-Ladyjava's Lounge 26-Cat Tales 27-moms.....check nyo 28-Colorado Baby 29-It's a Woman's World 30-ENLIGHTENED BITS 31-My View of "It" 32-My Reviews and Finds Along the Way 33-Our Hep Chat 34-Rantings of a Woman 35-The Callalily Space 36-Mom Knows Everything 37-Hazel 38- Chronicles and Tales Unlimited (RED) 39-From the Mouth of Jabber Jaws 40-Sunny Side Up Foodie & Lifestyle 41-Carmel Corn 42-Daily Stock Picks 43-The Whole New World 44-Wifespeak 45-Slavery Bliss 46-Rooms of My Heart 47-Unpredictable Life 48-My Life, My World 49- At Your Service 50-All About Ebay 51-Everything Amazon 52-Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out 53-My So-Called Site 54-New Wife Blog 55-Tendre Poison 323 56-Nick's Bytes 57-My Scratch Pad 58-Choc Mint Girl 59-Life Is Just Around the Corner... 60-Amori, poseia, art... virtuali by Hanna 61-Maryannaville 62-monaco - monaco's 63-Nyumix's Blog 64-read my mind - my keyboard monologues 65-Shower You Children With Love - The Right Way 66-Secret Agent Mama 67-Pinaymama's Diary 68-Answers to the Questions 69-Work of the Poet 70-A Total Blog 71-My life, my hope, my future 72-NORTE 73-A Window to Our World 74-Life as a Mom 75-FIELD OF DREAMS 76-lisgold 77-See Me for What You 78-Caught in The Stream 79-Pinay Mommy Online - My Home 80-I'm Running To Win Two 81-CRUEL VIRGIN 82-Garden of Moments in Blog 83-So Cute 84-Love Everlasting 85-WeLcOmE To My CriB 86-WELCOM TO PINAYSMILE'S JOURNEY 87-Ice's Icelog 88-Jenny's Wandering Thoughts 89-Hobbies and Such 90-Sweet Paradise 91-Mommy's Gibble Gabbles 92-Rusin Review's 93-My Small World 94-Little Peanut 95-Online Ramblings 96-My Mood My Feeling 97-BLOG it with ALLEN 98-Entertainment World 99-Let's Go Singapore 100-Firelynx 101-Catsy Carpe Diem 102-Every Beat Of My Heart 103-Always Da Fresh Princess 104-Listening.. Learning..Living 105-All About Mars 106-Syii From Afar 107-Some Thoughts I Have 108-From Here and Beyond 109-My Paid To Blog 110-Scholarship Corner 111-Cell Phone Review 112-"Apples of the Eyes" 113-It's All About Play 114-The Luttrull Journey 115-RennyBA's Terella 116-Unchained Melody 117-Out of the Blue 118-The Lure Of the Unknown 119-Maricel's 120-my blog 121-Spiff, the Spaceman 122-Living Well 123-The Dog Log 124-Catnip Corner 125-A Piece of Idea 126-Observations From the Back 40 127-Poetry by The Redneck Gypsy 128-Odd Facts 129-Juliana's Lair 130-My life is murphy's law 131-lisgoldsmemoirs 132-My memories, as time goes by 133-Somewhere over the rainbow 134-Blogging by Sandee 135-Our Journey to this so called life 136-Idaho Daily Photo 137-Memories that Never Fades.. 138-Anything goes 139-Your Caring Angels 140-Little Paces 141-Laketrees 142-PoeARTica 143-fracas 144-Just FraCas 145-Archies Archive 146-Growing Up Together 147-A Woman's Diary 148-Mother's Got A Dot Com 149-Close To You 150-Hot Shit Form Here 151-Astro Galaxy 152-Detector 153-Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 154-My Life is Peachy 155-The Down Side of Up 156-Magical Milestones 157-In Search of Life 158-RebelationsdotNet 159-Jen Jen's Place 160-Mimi Writes... 161-Strange but true 162-Depois de minha viagem 163-Your Perfect Wedding: 164-Make Money Online 165-Primitive Ornies and Bowl Fillers 166-Vegetarian Diet Lifestyle 167-Looking Out For You 168-BENOLSATUEM 169-OtherSide 170-Hacko's Site 171-where was I 172-Making Money Resources 173-text's Site 174-Movie Corner 175-Rahasia Bisnis Internet 176-Online Dating Tips 177-Beauty Kissing Tips 178-Forex Trading Tips 179-Singapore Tour Guide 180-PPC vs PTR 181-Indonesian Film 182-Adsense Success Stories 2008 183-Bali Tour 184-Paypal Indonesia 185-Review Bisnis Internet 186-Blog Daniel Scardua 187-Much of a muchness 188-Gagiers Amazing World 189-Clumsy Mommy 190-Leaotheblogger 191-PBDesigns Reading and Crochet Blog 192-Gagiers Striking Zone 193-DrowseyMonkey 194-Yesterday Today n Tomorrow 195-Auntie Dar's Life 196-Sky Windows... 197-Filippino Life Abroad 198-Leao the Blogger 199-Zoop's Rantings on Life 200-My Journey 201-A Sweet Taste of Life 202-This is a Miracle 203-Lavanderia Virtual 204-COLORADO COWGIRL IN UPSTATE NEW YORK 205-Dating Profile of the Day 206-my wooden robot 207-My World 208-urban : trendy : lifestyle 209-Lucel Juliana's Library 210-Cooking Momster - My Life Journal 211-Anggie & Jeremy boy Online Journal 212-'Doc Doc Doc' 213-Transforming My Life 214-Gratitude Journal 215-Simplydunn.net 216-emila's illustrated blog 217-AZZY'S BLOG-A-ROONIE! 218-MAMABLISS' TREASURED MOMENTS 219-The Sky's the Limit 220-PROJECT HEAVY TRAFFIC 221-just another ordinary story.. 222-Samuel Rolo 223-The end mission! 224-R S S Submissions 225-Laice's Pics 226-Health and Fitness 227-Brainybimbo 228-Journey with WaterLearner 229-Zoop's Rantings on Life (at Blogspot) 230-Dear Me (Ivan) 231-Tour the Tabon Caves 232-Book Calendar 233-Love me. Hate me 234-Everyday health and beauty 235-BLOGANDO & ANDANDO 236-Memoirs.:*CRoSs mY hEARt*:. 237-The Chic Shopaholic 238-CK Go Places 239-Red Empress: Hell Flavored, Taste like Valentine 240-Q|U|E|E|N|B|E|E 241-Le bric a brac de Cherie 242-jaqqq in the blogs 243-Bijoux & Banter 244-When Silence Speaks 245-MadTomatoe's Blogging Tools and Widgets 246-Conceptis addict 247-Madamoiselle 248-My Wooden Robot Blog 249-A Simple Life 250-It's a dog's life 251-A Technocrat's Blog 252-Misty's Words 253-My Dogs Keep Me Sane 254-New England Lighthouse Treasures 255-NoDirectOn (not: NoDirection) 256-Additional BlogLOve 257-I am DZOI 258-Caroland's Breathtaking Adventure 259-Blur Ting 260-Rojoy's Daily Update 261-Down River Drivel 262-Momhood Moments 263-Real World Mom 264-REALWORLDMOMUNPLUGGED'S WEBLOG 265-Lucca D Jiwa 266-AngrianiWorld 267-Marketing•Review 268-sejuk sesangat 269-Everything and then Some..... 270-Gbex...reachingOut 271-Heart of Rachel 272-The working mom / Finding balance... 273-Madamoiselle ver.2 274-Latest Keyword 275-Tanny's Blog 276-Pay to Review 277-Happy Life 278-Pet Haven 279-Teratak Nurani 280- A Melhor Novela de Todos os Tempos do Último Verão 281-TYNIE World 282-wanmus.com 283-mokkikunta 284-BLOGHIT, POLIBLOG, TOP TOPICS 285-none of your business 286-Expat Travels 287-The Poor Mouth 288-GIRLIEGEEK.ORG 289-Tau Tau 290-Points of View 291-kimf3's Blog 292-Bing-My Treasures 293-Everything Green 294-The Pipeline Fixation 295-~Menempuh Arus Masa-Life-Photography~ 296-Pea in a Pod 297-{Me and Mine} 298-Beblan Anak Tukang Jahit 299-How Bourgeois 300-Julie's Blog 301-Emphbone 302-Simply the Best 303-Euroangel Graffiti 304-My Daily Nourishment 305-the worldwideweb addict 306-(¯`·._.· PalavraS ArticuladaS ·._.·´¯) 307-The Big Life 308-Wild Borneo 309-Failure is the Key to Success 310-The muxic box's memories 311-What Goes Under the Sun 312-Cronaca di Gatteo 313-

*End Copy Here

Hair loss products in review

If there is one thing that makes men feel older and lose their self esteem in their appearance, it's baldness. That is why we see a lot of men trying out a variety of hair loss products to reverse baldness or at least protect their remaining hair strands from becoming lost. Balding not only hits aging men, but also young men, and even women.

Provillus is one of the products that are available in the market to help combat hair loss. A review of provillus, along with the other similar products, is available online at trustsource. These reviews show the different products available in the market, with a ranking and review by real users of the products. That's a good way to gauge how effective the product is, from the people who have actually used them.

Provillus came out on the top of the pile. They have variants for men and women, since male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness are not the same. The kit consists of a topical solution and a pill, to work in synergy in regrowing your hair. These may be purchased online. You even get two free month supply AND a money back guarantee good for six months if this does not work for you!

In the News January 29 - a survey

This just made me realize how little I've been reading the news lately!

Trying to organize my links...

I've found this nifty blogrolling (link removed because of malware 9/16/2010) aid. I've joined for a while already but it's only now that I'm finding how easier it has made organizing my blogs and linking new sites. It's an ongoing project so you might find it a little "magulo" at present.

Haircuts!

My husband, my son and I all went to have haircuts today. There is a Chinese belief that if you cut your hair just before New Year's Day, you will let go of all the bad luck from the previous year.

Since we all need haircuts anyway and we happened to have a morning free, we decided to have it done in Greenhills, albeit at different places.

My son had his haircut at Cuts for Tots. They have a very child friendly place with TVs and DVDs playing "Cars" (that was what was playing during the time Ethan had his haircut). They also have chairs with cars so the kids could pretend to be driving while having their haircut and a waiting area with lots of toys. We preferred having his hair cut here although it's a bit more expensive since they are more experienced with cutting children's hair, especially children who are cranky and can't sit still. Ethan came out looking "pogi" with shorter hair. :)

I had mine done at Bench Fix Salon. I had my long, 3 inches past the shoulder length hair chopped off to a short bob. I have been wearing long hair for a long time and I felt I needed a change. Besides, summer is almost here and it's getting warm! My nape definitely felt cooler after the haircut. My husband didn't look too happy (he liked me in long hair) but he agreed that it definitely suited me. My mom, however, told me that I should have had the shorter cut way before.

My husband wanted a real barbershop, and not a salon. So he had his done at Don Juan. His cut was pretty much his usual haircut, but he looked good and much neater with his shorter hair.

Blue Jeans ... A Clothing Icon

In the United States during the 1950s, wearing of blue jeans by teenagers and young adults became symbolic of mild protest against conformity. This was considered by some older adults as disruptive; for example, some movie theaters and restaurants refused to admit patrons who wore blue jeans. During the 1960s the wearing of blue jeans became more acceptable and by the 1970s had become general fashion in the United States, at least for informal wear. But ya gotta ask yourself, where in the world is a pair of blue jeans not acceptable?



I always have at least a pair of blue jeans in my wardrobe. It goes well with any of my tops, and any of my shoes. I have jean skirts, jean tops and jean dresses. Jeans are great for travelling and for roughing it! Oh, I cannot imagine NOT having jeans!

Things to buy for baby - part 1

My pregnant friends have asked me what to buy for baby. I'm a thrifty mom, so I try to look for the best deals in baby stuff. Some of them are just so expensive!

It would be wise to wait until after the baby shower, if there is any, before going out to buy gifts because there might be some items that your family or friends might be giving you so you don't have to go out and buy them anymore!

This is just from my own experiences. I have also injected some of my own thoughts here.

Clothing supplies:
- tie side shirts, how many depends on how often you do the laundry, but I had about 12 pcs (that's a combination of sleeveless, short sleeved and long sleeved shirt.) These are easier to put on especially when the baby does not really have any neck support and mom is inexperienced.

- If it's going to be cold (for the Phils, if you're going to stay in an airconditioned room), better get some creepers/long johns/sleepers. How many depends on how often you think you will do the laundry, but 2-3 pcs will probably be okay. These would negate the use of blankets, which are discouraged in small babies because of the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)

- Onesies/rompers -- when the baby is a little bigger (around 1 month old) and mom has a little experience with dressing the little one, these are better because they do no ride up the tummy like the shirts do. Again, how many depends on how often you would do the laundry. I did not buy because I got a lot of these as gifts.

- Mittens - I just bought 6 of these since they are very easily laundered and dried. I only used these for the first month when it's difficult to cut his fingernails. After the first month, I didn't use them anymore so that motor development in his hands and fingers will be better. I just made sure that his nails are clipped every so often. Get the ones that have ties rather than elastics. The latter comes off too easily.

- Booties / socks - I preferred socks. They seem to keep the feet warmer. But I don't use them when the weather's hot.

Feeding supplies:
If you are planning to breastfeed, you may not even have to buy any supplies. However, experience tells me that even if you're breastfeeding, you do need to buy a few feeding bottles especially when you're going out a lot (e.g. work) so that baby may be fed milk (preferable expressed breast milk) while you're gone.

Feeding bottles - My son and I liked the Avent bottles even if they are more expensive than the usual bottles. They are very durable and the nipples are shaped to mimic the shape of the mother's nipple, so I didn't get any nipple confusion problems with my baby. I had 5 Avent bottles (3 9 oz bottles, 2 5 oz bottles), but I also had several conventional bottles which I received as gifts.



Sterilizer - I bought the electric sterilizer from Chicco. They are more expensive than the stovetop variety, but they are so much more convenient. I do not need to worry about forgetting about it since it automatically stops when it's done. Other brands available are Pigeon, Avent, Imarflex. Which one you get depends on your budget and your brand preference. The Chicco brand worked very well for me.



Breast pump -- I had 2. Initially, I just bought the Avent Isis because it had good reviews. It's a manual hand pump. It worked very well for a manual pump, but I found that my hands get tired with pumping (or I'm just plain lazy, hahaha!).

So I went out and bought an electric pump. I bought a Medela because it has been highly recommended. Since the Medela pump is style is out of my budget, I opted to just buy the double mini electric which worked well for me.



I still use the Avent manual pump when it's difficult for me to bring along my electric pump and it works well too.

Breastpumps are a great investment if you believe in breastfeeding. They enabled me to give breastmilk to my son for more than a year. I actually breastfed for 1 year 10 months, but I didn't pump anymore when my son turned one, instead I introduced him to boxed soya milk (he had cow's milk allergy) as part of my gradual weaning. But I still continued to nurse him directly whenever I'm with him.

Milk container - Very convenient if you're bottle feeding since you can premeasure formula good for 1 feeding into each individual container so that you just need to pour the contents into the feeding bottle. Convenient for travel. I didn't use this much because I was breastfeeding. Got this as a gift.



(to be continued...)


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I just found a new way to drive traffic to my blog. Buzzfuse is a new service which helps you increase viewership. You can join for free, then register your favorite post, song, picture or just about anything. You will get a code to post on your blog for your readers to rate it. They do require that you have at least 10 contacts for your link to be activated.

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