love and family

not feeling good

2009-12-03T14:51:00.003-05:00

Today is a beautiful day but instead of lifting me up I am actually feeling low. I don't know what is going on with me. Perhaps this is PMS? Everybody is subdued, even the little man is asleep and has been for four hours now. The husband is taking a nap too and it is unusually quiet here at the moment. A lot of incoherent thoughts are swirling in my head that I am actually having a headache. If this keeps on I will go crazy. I'll go get me some sweets maybe it will help me feel better.

happy thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T04:34:00.002-05:00

I wish you good food, good company, and bountiful Black Friday deals :)

debt management

2009-11-24T20:19:00.003-05:00

I am vocal about saying we are in debt. Not as bad now as it was two years ago but we still have to make payments every month. At the time the husband could not pay his credit card bills so he defaulted on all except one. He got phone calls daily from numerous creditors that he thought about switching phone numbers. He even considered debt management counseling so he will have an idea what to do or where to start. It was a mess. Aside from the calls, we also received threatening collection letters from lawyers and such. It was intimidating and having to go through all that was depressing and humiliating. The collectors did not know that if we had the money we would have paid them in time. They probably thought after spending all that money using the credit cards we don't care what happens anymore. We just didn't have the money so we stopped paying and whatever money we had we used for our basic needs. It was when we started recovering financially that we started paying the debts little by little. The husband said he does not want to go through all that again. We are now more careful on our spending. We try to make allowances for future expenses so we don't get short and risk having to default on bills. We could say we learned our lesson the hard way so we are more careful. We know now how to budget now which is the key to not incurring a lot of debts.

did not get a good night's sleep

2009-11-23T10:21:00.004-05:00

My phone kept on ringing last night that I had to get up several times to tend to it. The culprit are my brother and our father. The first wanted me to get online at one in the morning because he was online so we could talk. Is he crazy? I said no, I need my rest. And that if he wanted to talk do it at a decent time. It did not matter that he was at some port in India. I still had to sleep. Then my phone rang again with a text message from Papsy asking me why the balikbayan box we sent is not delivered yet. Now this one I don't have an answer to. When I did not reply he called a few hours later which was two hours earlier than my normal waking hour. Agghhh! I had to get up early today after not having a good rest last night. And I still did not know the answer to the question. I may have to call the agent tonight to know what is going on. As for the brother, I hope he will get online early so we can talk. I hate to be loud in the middle of the night when everybody is asleep.

holiday buying guide

2009-11-19T16:17:00.007-05:00

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dirt Devil. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am always in the look-out for discounts and coupons I can use when I buy an item either online or in stores. Saving a few cents really makes a difference in our budget especially since only the husband works. I have a couple of trusted websites I visit when I need a coupon for an item I want to buy. And I really think the said sites are what I needed until I chanced on the Dirt Devil Holiday Buying Guide. Boy, this guide has an extensive list of websites to get coupons and discounts. It includes the websites I frequent. If I will not be able to save using this guide when I do my shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday then there is something wrong with me, lol. Seriously! The Dirt Devil Guide not only lists coupon and discount websites, it also tells shoppers some promo code tricks to use when shopping online. But I think the best deal is in free shipping and rebates. I remember about two years ago when the husband and I bought electronics with rebate offers and it was fun. Waiting for the rebate checks to come in the mail is actually exciting. Right now I do avail of free shipping when I shop online. It saves me a lot of money when I do that. I know I have to start browsing before long since the holidays are coming and I do need some presents for my family. I am not very creative when it comes to giving gifts so I will check on family favorites from DirtDevil.com and see what I will choose.

shoes!

2009-11-14T16:30:00.003-05:00

I wanted a new pair of shoes. My old pair still looks good and I am still using it but I had it in my head that I need a new pair. I guess I just wanted to shop. Anyway, so we went to the mall today to find me a nice pair and we ended up buying more shoes than we need. We bought shoes for my brother's little girl which was really cute and, well, girly. Also bought a pair for one of my cousin's daughter who I used to buy clothes when I was single. Then the husband went wild buying shoes for his son. Shoes that are still too big for the little man to wear. I must tell you the shoes were on sale and were marked way down to where we only paid 6-9 dollars a pair. Good deals? You bet! It took me a long time to find a pair for me. I was ready to go when the husband pointed this cute walking shoes to me and asked me to try it on. I said that same pair was on clearance so I went back and was lucky enough to find the perfect size (6) which felt comfortable when I tried them on. That was 50% off but still expensive but I really liked it so we bought it. Now I not only have a nice pair of shoes but we also have shoes for the little man and for the girls. We are slowly filling up another box to send to Leyte. I will wait for more sales to come :)

good idea

2009-11-11T21:14:00.005-05:00

When the husband retires he wants us to move back to the Philippines. He said he loves it there and he thinks he will be fine living there with his family. I am fine with the idea. I have told him often enough that I will go with him wherever he wants us to go. But we have to have a means to come back should we have to for his and the little man's sake. And he said we will. He said he wants to bring most of our stuff with us. The first time he said that to me my reaction was Are you kidding me?. Well, apparently he was serious about it. He wants to bring with us his prized Jeep among other things. He said we need a four-wheeler so the Jeep must go with us. Then he said we will bring the things we have accumulated through the years. The idea of packing all these things and then shipping them to PI is already stressing me out and it will be another twenty or so years before it is going to happen anyway. Until I have heard of international removals which he actually researched in advance. You see, he is already setting things in motion so to speak. He knows that in order for us to be able to get all the things we want to bring with us get to its destination in one piece without problems he has to hire experts to do the removals of our things for us. After his explanation I was relieved, lol. Who wouldn't be if faced with the same dilemma? Anyway, since that issue is resolved for now I stopped worrying about what I am going to do when the time for us to move comes. REMOVALS I think is cool. Granted we have to pay more than when we have to do it ourselves but the stress will probably drive me nuts anyway so why not let somebody else take charge?

itching to go shopping

2009-11-11T07:54:00.002-05:00

We received coupons from the store yesterday for a sale that actually started that day. It was a good deal too because the discounts were up to 75% and I so love it when we do not have to pay a lot of money for clothes or kitchen appliances and other things. But we did not go. The husband promised we will but it rained. The weather did not cooperate and I am a bit disappointed. I would love to browse and see what I can get that we need. I did not think of blowing off his credit on that store, I planned on buying things I think we will need or we could put in a box for our balikbayan box for next year. It is never too early to get things for that one, you know. But as I said we did not go. We might today because the sale runs for three days I think but there might not be anything if people decided to go yesterday. We can still try though. If nothing else, I can buy clothes for the little man for next year. All I have to do is get it a few sizes bigger so the clothes will still fit him. And maybe look at the clearance rack on shoes. I found a very nice pair a few months ago. I might get lucky again this year. That is if we will go. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

on cars and choices

2009-11-10T22:36:00.006-05:00

The husband is a mechanic and it only follows that he loves cars, right? Right. He love them and I think he may have been a little obsessed on cars lately. He gets online to look at cars. New ones, old ones it does not matter to him. His passion right now is the cadillac because he said the caddies (as he calls it) make good cars. He is dreaming of owning one if only we can afford it. He said he will even settle for an older model so long as it is a cadillac. I asked him how about another car, say, a tesla roadster because I know how he loves sports cars. He even owned one when we got married which he traded for an SUV when I got pregnant. I know I somehow feel responsible for the loss of his baby but such is life and we can always buy one provided we have the money. I hope. So anyway, I asked and he said he will think about it. I think he is still gearing to get hold of a cadillac. I don't mind at all. I know he knows what he is doing. He is a mechanic after all, he should know what is good for us even if he does not read car reviews and just rely on his over twenty years of experience to decide on which car we should get. There are a lot of cars out there in the market now though and I think every one of them has its own characteristics that are appealing but we cannot have several cars even if we can afford them since I cannot even drive alone anyway. If I have the choice (and money is not a problem) I probably will switch cars every month. That is when I get my license, lol.

surprise

2009-11-10T22:26:00.006-05:00

The husband and I were talking earlier about planning to visit my parents next year. Some of you might know we have this same plan every year but have not acted on it due to financial constraints. But instead of letting it get us down, we talk and plan and laugh about it. We even come up with hilarious plans sometimes. We decided now that if and when we go visit next year we will not inform my parents we were coming. We will surprise them. It is kinda appealing and I can just imagine my parents surprised looks but there are glitches to our plan. One, my mother is liable to whip me in the a** for not telling her in advance about the visit so she could clean the house and prepare things for our stay. Second, it may get expensive when we hire somebody else to drive us from the airport to my parent's place. Third, I am not comfortable riding in a van with a driver I do not know especially if the trip is three hours and mostly in the mountains. We could live with one and two but the third still bugs me until I realized I have a cousin who is driver we could ask to pick us up after we swear him to secrecy. I have been thinking about it and the more I do the better it sounds. Now we only have to come up with the money, lol.

math tutor?

2009-11-08T11:32:00.003-05:00

The stepson switched his course from management to engineering. This is because an engineering degree will help him get promotions in his current job. He loves this particular job and plans to stay in it so he is making some changes in his academic choices as well. The problem with engineering is the huge loads of math subjects which starts from day one until he finishes the course. How do I know? I have been there, I have a degree in engineering, only on a different field than he is aiming to get. Anyway, the husband said his son needed Math help because he was overwhelmed with it. I did not blame him. For somebody who works full-time and has to go to school with instructors who actually think that it is up to the student to study more and be prepared in class is stressful. I tried to help but he seemed embarrassed that I have to teach him so I gave him a link to an online math tutoring website. He saved it and said he will get on it and see what will happen. I have not heard from his father nor from him about his Math problems after that. It was like it never happened, lol.

He comes to our place almost every week and he talks to his father daily on the phone and gone was the whining about failing Math and losing all his benefits. Online math help must have been working well for him. He probably understands a topic when he reads it online than when I explain things to him. You see, I am not a good teacher. That is why I did not take up education in college in the first place even if my father demanded on it. But anyway, I am glad he seems to be doing well and that there is actually this kind of resource available for students who need help. This would have been a great help for me when I was in college.

happy weekend

2009-11-07T08:30:00.002-05:00

Had a nice chat with the parents this morning. It was nice to hear them laugh and talk and not worry about bills and expenses even if we all are broke, lol. Now I only need to hear from J so I will quit worrying about him. It is a happy weekend indeed.

on plans and scrubs

2009-11-04T20:09:00.003-05:00

One of the courses I am considering of taking if and when I go back to school is nursing. Sure it is a demanding job but it also pays good (I heard). And there is room to specialize if ever I want to. I have a problem with my build because I am petite but I have a friend who is working at a hospital right now and she is about my height only she is skinny and she does not seem to have any problems. I have seen her pictures with her uniform on complete with her nursing shoes and I can almost imagine myself wearing the same things. Only I need to go to school first before I can even think about uniforms and scrubs and other things associated in this field. The husband said I need to rethink about my choice but I really like to be a nurse. I just don't know how I will fare not only on the academics side but on hands-on training as well. As for the uniform, I will worry about them when I am actually enrolled in a class. Besides, I think I will look good wearing different styles of urbane scrubs when the time comes as long as I find the perfect size for me. I hope I will be able to work on this plan at the right time.

replacement

2009-11-04T20:02:00.004-05:00

Mamsy lost her earrings a few weeks back. It was an expensive pair too given to her by the sister-in-law and her first pair at that. She is in her forties and she just had her ears pierced. And the first pair of earrings she got she lost. She is devastated so I promised her I will either send her a nice pair of earrings or give her cash so she can buy a new pair. She does have the money but she is hanging on to it like her life depended on it, lol. So I am giving her a gift. What is a small expense compared to the headaches I gave her right? Besides I know she will be happy and hopefully will treasure the earrings when she gets it. Now I have to hurry and start saving up for her.

my favorite house

2009-11-03T15:09:00.004-05:00

I have this fascination with log houses. Whenever we are out driving and I see a log house I get excited. I have told the husband several times that if we have the resources and I will be given the chance to decide how our house will look, I will go for a log house. It is beautiful to look at and not your traditional brick house which almost everybody has. Of course I may require several house plans because I want the house built to suit me. Hey, I want a three bedroom log house complete with a porch and spacious living room with a fireplace. Pretty demanding, eh? That is only if we have the money though. If not I will settle for something homey and neat. The website houseplansandmore.com provides log home plans for future homeowners who are interested to own and live in a log house. I have looked at a few log home floor plans which includes drawings and layouts and they look dreamy. When will we able to afford a log house? It will be nice especially if it is built in the country and is surrounded by a picket fence. Oh, it should also be near a lake. I do wish we will live in a log house in the future. For now I will continue to drool at every log house we see and be a little envious of the people living in them.

over-abundance of sweets

2009-11-03T15:02:00.003-05:00

While making this entry, I am staring at a bowl of candies the little man accumulated last Halloween. I have thrown a considerable bunch away after he wanted them open and not eat a single candy. I have hunted for M&M's and skittles around the house afraid it will stain the carpet. I don't know what the husband is thinking unwrapping candies for his son when he knows full well the little man does not like candies. I wanted to dump everything in the trash can but I don't want these sweets to go to waste. Perhaps I should save them for next year? Lol.

make every penny count

2009-11-02T19:30:00.005-05:00

When money is tight the husband and I tend to make however much we have to stretch a long ways. We do not spend on anything that is not important. And everything should be accounted for so we will not get overdrawn. Easy to say but in reality this is hard to do. Because just when we are short on cash that is when the bills pile up or the stores go crazy on sales. Who will not think cash when faced with such dilemma? I have told him we are not buying any more food for the next few weeks since our freezer and refrigerator are already full with food. He still could not help but look at the store ads when they come. I do too but I always think we can only eat so much food. Anyway, as a last resort we could always get a short term loan in case we really need money. Thankfully though we have not resorted to that yet. We will continue to make our every penny count. It is hard to do but we will try for our own sake. I have a friend who told me that sometimes her husband goes to a payday loan so they will have money to spend until the next paycheck. They may have to pay the money back but at least they have sure cash when they need it. I don't see anything bad with that so long as they know their responsibility.

plan to watch movies

2009-11-02T19:13:00.003-05:00

I did not feel good today. It was cold and gloomy and I wanted to go shopping but I did not have the money. Sad, eh? Lol. I ended up renting three movies from Hollywood which I will watch when I know I can sit down without interruptions even if it means watching one in the middle of the night. I have Ice Age 3 which I am hoping will lift my mood up. I am a fan since Ice Age 1 and I have watched the previous movies over and over again. Hopefully this new movie will be good too. I just love Sid.

ahead of time

2009-11-02T13:22:00.003-05:00

With the stress I went through because of not buying a Halloween costume for the little man ahead of time, I promised myself I will not do that again. Next time, I will order a costume weeks in advance so I don't have to rush to the store to buy something that is hard to find anymore. If I time it right I will have a chance to find the right fit for my little boy. If I have to bookmark several costume stores to do it, I will. Maybe I will even find something cheaper when I do. I am all for affordable stuff but if paying a few dollars means getting the right order on time then I am all for it. With the success we had trick or treating I told the husband we should make this a yearly event. I might even buy myself a costume to get in the fun. That would be something to look forward to, lol. We could tell the little man had a pretty good time even he does not care with the candies he got. He still has a bag full of goodies here which I hope will not go to waste.

wait another day

2009-10-31T22:40:00.004-04:00

I had every intention of watching Ugly Betty today but I got sidetracked. We had so much to do. We went to Target to buy Halloween costume for the little man and we found one that I had to cut the pants shorter to fit him. It was a pretty good choice so I am still happy about it. Anyway, we got home late and I am so sleepy anymore so Ugly Betty will have to wait another day. I am glad though that I can watch my favorite television shows online. This way I can do things for me and my family without missing anything. Watching Online TV Shows rocks! I don't have to be glued to the television set nor do I have to miss any of my favorite shows for that matter. I can watch them anytime I want, at my convenience.

facebook and a toddler

2009-10-26T18:00:00.004-04:00

My friends encouraged me to join farming in Facebook. And after saying no for the longest time, I gave in. I don't announce about anything I do on my farm, rather I do it for fun. I even let the little man help me harvest our crops when they are ready. It was fine at first, he was a big help. Until he decided to take over. Whenever I open my computer he runs to me and says Facebook! It was amusing at first but then it got annoying anymore. He wants to check all the icons and do everything else except what I tell him to do. We argue about it which the husband finds annoying, lol. I showed him the cause of the argument and he said we are crazy. Well, he has one thing to be thankful for, I am not addicted to it yet. Like I said I do it for fun and upon learning my lesson I now do my farming when the little man is busy to avoid temper tantrums. I want him to stick to educational websites when he wants to get online so he will keep on learning and leave mommy to her silly game.

on demand

2009-10-23T17:23:00.007-04:00

Being a stay at home mother with a very inquisitive three year old, I seldom get to sit in front of the television anymore without interruptions. I cannot finish a single show, not even a commercial, without having to get up to either fix him something to eat or just watch him play. Yes, sometimes he does require an audience. So I told the husband there is no use in getting cable anymore since he does not watch television much anyway. And he agreed. This saved us money on bills we do not have to pay. But when I heard about this very good offer from Charter Communications called Charter on Demand, I caught myself thinking of the possibilities. You must know when I say good deal it usually means free which is what Charter on Demand is all about. If I can watch Ugly Betty a day after it was aired I will be in heaven. I just have to schedule it when the little man is asleep so I will be able to watch it uninterrupted. I can even watch movies which I really love to do but has not done much for the same reason. And I could find my little man a good channel to watch his favorite shows too. Mostly educational of course. This is pretty interesting. I hope to and will learn more at charter.net/ondemand so I can present my case to the husband. We are trying to cut back on expenses but this is so hard to pass up. I will keep an eye on and will get updates and fun extras on Charter’s Facebook page from now on. I hope the husband will give me the go.

catching up

2009-10-21T18:20:00.004-04:00

My brother informed me he was in Russia yesterday and if we could talk online so I am waiting for his signal. I don't know what is keeping him from doing it though. I tried to call his mobile phone but remembered that it is on roaming which means it cannot accept calls and according to his text message he was on his last peso. Such luck! I hope we get to talk online before they leave port so we will see each other on cam. He might want to see his nephew who is as obnoxious as him, lol. I want to catch up with what has been going on with his life and his career. We have not seen each other in person since he sent me off almost four years ago. We need plenty of time to talk and gossip. He may be a pain sometimes but most of the time he listens to his "ate" even if it annoys him so much being younger than somebody who he towers over.

get noticed

2009-10-20T16:20:00.004-04:00

The husband is the kind of person who makes himself presentable even if he is having a bad day. It can be snowing outside and he will take a shower and shave and put on clean clothes before heading to work. He said it is best to look your best at all time to make an impression. His son is a different story. He lectures him about good grooming and such but his son needs to be worked on some more. I do not know if he is just being defiant and is doing this to let us know he will do what he wants. What the husband and I believe is that he could be better off being presentable and well-groomed. Maybe we should tell him about the Gillette Career Advantage so he will hear from the experts, then it will be easier for him to believe and maybe change his ways. He has to know that looks indeed will help a person's career tremendously. He can get pointers from the experts and maybe it will help him keep his job. The husband is always worried about his son being fired one day because he does not keep himself tidy all the time. If his son will visit the Gillette Resource Center and get the information and advise he needs to keep himself perfectly groomed every time he goes to work he might not have to worry about him losing his job. In fact it might even be a reason for him to get noticed in a positive way.

fatten him up

2009-10-16T17:42:00.002-04:00

The husband and I are on a quest to fatten the little man up. It is not an easy feat considering he says no to most food. Fruits? No, except for banana. Vegetables? No. Rice? No. Bread? No. And a lot more no's.That leave us with very little but we will try to make it work. At almost three he is only 30 lbs and all legs. The times I take his shirt off the husband cringe when he sees his son's ribs sticking out. And so we want to change that. We will try to let him decide what to eat if we can't talk him into eating the food we serve. I hope it will work. We need somebody's cooperation in this one real bad.