Friday, March 28, 2008
Things to Remember
| I find what I look for in people. If I look for God, I find God. If I look for bad qualities, I find them. I, in a sense, select what I expect, and I receive it. A life without challenges would be like going to school without lessons to learn. Challenges come not to depress or get me down, but to master and to grow and to unfold thereby. In the Father's wise and loving plan for me, no burden can fall upon me, no emergency can arise, no grief can overtake me, before I am given the grace and strength to meet them. A rich, full life is not determined by outer circumstances and relationships. These can be contributory to it, but cannot be the source. I am happy or unhappy because of what I think and feel. I can never lose anything that belongs to me, nor can I posses what is not really mine. To never run from a problem: either it will chase me or I will run into another just like it, although it may have a different face or name. To have no concern for tomorrow. Today is the yesterday over which I had concern. To never bang on a closed door: Wait for it to open and then just go through it. A person who has come into my life has come either to teach me something, or to learn something new from me. (Author Unknown) Labels: ala lang, inspirational |
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
wordless wednesday #3 - charming
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
holy week
| we spent our holy week out of town in the italian region of switzerland, canton ticino. it was there that i found, from the internet, a holy week tradition from back home. the small town of mendrisio holds this tradition every holy week on maundy thursday featuring the passion of Christ and on good friday's religious and liturgical characters' procession. as far as i can remember, this is the first time i was able to watch the procession live, i only got to watch it on tv back home. it was quite an experience, even when there were lots of people, the moment the procession started, everything went quiet and solemn. i can only admire the participants of the procession because it was freezing cold that night, the temperature was no higher than 2 degrees celsius and it was windy. some were even barefoot and wore very light clothing yet they all went on with the show - so to speak. it was worse the next night, on their good friday procession because it was drizzling. it feels great spending 4 relaxing days as a family and being able to attend the easter vigil mass on saturday, it was 2 hours and started at 9pm (another first for me!). i'm so glad our last minute trip went well - we practically decided to go for it in the morning so i was busy packing up until 1pm, had no time for lunch as we targeted to leave at 2pm. we had our lunch in the car that day! i'll be posting more photos from the neighboring towns we visited soon. until our next adventure! :) Labels: holidays, photos, swiss life, travel |
Monday, March 24, 2008
Happy Easter! :)
HDPE for some bucks
what is HDPE anyway? HDPE (short for High Density Polyethylene) is a commonly used plastic which can be recycled. It is used for many packaging applications because it provides excellent water barrier properties and chemical resistance. mostly used in snack food packaging, cereal box liners, plastic bottles for non-carbonated drinks, milk bottles, and basically anything you can think of that is just in your kitchen. good news is, "Scrap HDPE" is the collected material which is then sold to be recycled. just think of it as a way of doing your part in being environment friendly, this way, we will help conserve energy and resources by recycling and at the same time, earning a few bucks for your own. as a mother, my driving force would be the thought of having my children grow up in a green, clean world. this is will be my tiny part in helping preserve the environment. :) Labels: sideline |
best web hosting
| the dilemma being faced by today's hi-tech world basically revolves on the web, especially when one decides to put up his own website, be it a business or personal site, one will encounter the difficulty of choosing a reliable and trusted web host. it's simply very difficult to decide on the best best web hosting company you should take, if one is not knowledgeable or just a bit lazy to do his own research, then one can get into the danger of getting unrealiable web hosts. well, here's a good news! kaushalsheth has done it's homework and have come up with a shortlist of the best web hosting companies, avoiding confusion and stress on research! i would like to one day just put everything in one site and having the choices trimmed down for me is really one great relief - imagine not having to go about with all those research, making the mistake of choosing an unreliable web host and ending up just all stressed-out and your money down the drain! so click on to find out more, you won't regret it! :) Labels: sideline |
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Photo Hunt 2: Metal
taken from the recent geneva car show, lots of fabulous cars in that expo. i just can't remember which car this is. :) for more photo hunters, click here! Labels: photo hunter, photos |
guess what i found!
another racket for cashing in on your blog! :) this time it's bloggerwave, gives us bloggers the opportunity to earn extra money on our blogs! they aim to be europe's biggest advertising media on blogs so let's join the fun! register now, it's free and this will be an exciting opportunity for us to join the growing bloggerwave family! we sure could use that extra cash for a little something nice! :) Labels: sideline |
we're back in town! :)
| we just got back from a 4-day excursion in the italian region of switzerland. it's our second time there, but this trip was more enjoyable and very relaxing. will post photos and probably some kwento soon. we're now back to reality... the laundry in the works and adobo dinner to welcome us! will catch-up soon! :) |
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
bad headache
| i have a bad headache right now, and it's because we still have not yet decided whether we'll be going on a long drive for the easter weekend. well actually, we've already decided that we'll go out of town from tomorrow, but... we received an email a few hours ago saying that the new tv we ordered has already been sent. meaning, there's a big chance it will be delivered tomorrow. question is, what time? yes, we've already called the company we bought the tv from (we bought it online), but there was no ringing but an automated answer saying the number is unavailable at the moment, just great! when i tried calling again around after 5pm, there was finally a ring... but, of course, it was after office hours already and the answering machine said to call from 9-5. grrr!!!! so now, i have a really bad headache, no hotel |
spring forward!
| spring officially start this weekend! yipee!!! although there's still a bit of the cool winter air, there's no snow in our part of the country anymore, and we don't see much of the snow caps of the nearest mountains, as well! very soon, our winter jackets will go back to their boxes and wait for yet another winter or perhaps as early as autumn for their comeback. we're all excited about spring... spring simply spells out sport & entertainment for everyone! so, while the weather is still in transition, i will be checking out at list where you can find a wide range of business listing on any trade you can think of, and they even allow user reviews. quite useful for someone like me who wants to get in touch with businesses directly when doing my research on products, places, or services. i will definitely look at their sports section for that tennis racket DH is eye-ing... should be worth checking-out! :) |
wordless wednesday #2 - hubby's new addition to his collection
 it's been a few months now since hubby got hooked at the taste of whisky. his first taste of it was a blue label johnny walker (i think), from then on, he started his search for "the best whisky". the photo above, his latest find, was given to him by a friend, so that's ok... since these drinks can be very expensive! but his favorite, so far, is talisker. he plans to take a better photo of that one next! oh, he does drink moderately. =) |
plans for the weekend
| none yet! i've been spending online hours researching for where to go for this long weekend. i've actually already found one, but it would require DH to go on half-day tomorrow we have to be ready for a 4.5 hours drive after lunch, if that happens! but he doubts he can take the afternoon off because of work deadlines... he said he'll try. hopefully we'll have somewhere worthwhile to go to for the weekend, it's 4-days straight so we really, really have to go somewhere!!! :D so going about with my business on the net, i decided to search for music to add to my ipod, and what do you know! i chanced upon this rap forum where you can link up with actual rap artists! cool, huh? well, i'm not so much of a rap fan these days, but i was a teeny-bit in my teen years - had a huge crush with a local rap artist, actually! i'll browse the site and see if it will give re-birth my rap music (or should i say, rap artist) enthusiam. :D still, my search continues for a weekend getaway... |
Monday, March 17, 2008
Photo Hunt 1: I Spy...
... with my little eye, five horses. can you find all of them? tell me where you see them in the photo or what colors they are. click photo to view larger image. enjoy! :) this was taken at camp john hay in baguio city when we were on our christmas holiday in the philippines. ok... here's the answer. did you see all the five horses?  Labels: meme, photo hunter, photos |
less-than-perfect credit rating?
i can imagine how difficult it is to be bankrupt and no bank would welcome you with happy smiles. well, good news! there's now hope for those people who are in financial difficulty to start again. bad credit loans is a free consumer resource dedicated to helping those with a - simply put- bad credit rating. they cover credit cards, home loans, credit repair, auto loans and credit reports and score. they have a team of experts who continually monitor the credit marketplace to bring to consumers the best "bad credit credit cards" offers currently available. by collecting and studying daily top offers right on their website, bad credit loans will help the financially struggling to get up on their feet, start anew and rebuild their credit image. it is their goal to equip consumers with the knowledge and resources necessary to help them find and choose the best credit offer suitable for their current needs without having to worry about their credit history. so click on below and learn how to have a fresh start at your credit line, they would like to lend a helping hand. good luck! =) Labels: sideline |
a lot better now
| i just wanted to report that the kuya is a lot better now, he's still on his antibiotics - it was prescribed for 10 days, so we should finish that. but he's definitely back on track, still with a little bit of rashes but are no longer red nor itchy. thank you all for your prayers and well-wishes, he's now at a home stretch to full recovery. stay healthy! :) |
i wonder...
| we've been renting for 5 years now, and have always wondered how our lives will change once we purchase our first home. had we been in australia, we'd be entitled to a first home owner's grant, which is a good amount of money to furnish the house. it won't, of course, be that big an amount to reduce one's mortgage, but it is very much welcome to anyone. here in switzerland, there is no such benefit from the government, the only advantage would be tax-wise, the amount of payment you make on your mortgage will be deductible from your taxable income, saving you a little more from taxes. i don't have full understanding of mortgages yet, but we are now on the look-out! who knows, maybe in a year or two, we'll be moving in a new home we can call our very own... until then, i'll do my reading about it because of curiousity. :) Labels: sideline |
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Simon Andreas: Then and Now
| And now it's Simon's turn: Here are the Rules: If you still keep your baby’s first 3 days photos, We would love to see them. Label them as 1st, 2nd or 3rd day (as shown below). After that, please post the most recent one, one photo will do. You can post as much as you want though. I’m sure you will realize and tell yourself “seems like yesterday”. THEN:
 NOW:
 
  Labels: bunsoy, meme, reminiscing, the boys |
Franco Lorenzo: Then and Now
| Taking cue from Princess Amelie , here are Franco's photos: Here are the Rules: If you still keep your baby’s first 3 days photos, We would love to see them. Label them as 1st, 2nd or 3rd day (as shown below). After that, please post the most recent one, one photo will do. You can post as much as you want though. I’m sure you will realize and tell yourself “seems like yesterday”. THEN:
NOW
How time flies, indeed! He's now 4 years, 5 months and 17 days old. Labels: kuya, meme, reminiscing, the boys |
Friday, March 14, 2008
scarlet fever
that's what the doctor said kuya franco has, and he's the 3rd case the paedia's seen today. good thing i decided to go and see the doctor - not usually the case. have you heard about it before? i have, but never really knew what it was, now i had to make myself aware of it. i just don't know what it's called in filipino, would any of you know? here's from one of the websites i checked:
the moment the doctor said it was scarlet fever, i was absolutely sure he got it from the garderie because there was a note on the door of their room that they had 2 cases of scarletina and another case of i forgot what. it all started on wednesday, we picked up franco from the garderie, had dinner after and at the dinner table, he said his throat was painful - but he wasn't really complaining, so i just had a look, didn't see anything wrong and went on as usual. he did say he was feeling cold a couple of times and just got the throw rug from the couch to keep him warm, nothing else was out of normal and we slept peacefully that night. around midday yesterday after lunch, i felt he was so warm and he looked very tired, so i told him to rest and sleep. i didn't take his temp immediately because i thought he was just warm because he was bundled up with a blanket, so i just took him to his room and he slept. in the evening around 7pm, hubby came home and greeted the boys. franco, told him he's not feeling well, so he checked his temp and he was really hot now, his temperature it registered at 39.3ºC, we saw he had rashes all over his body and he was complaining it was really itchy and was scratching all over. the paedia's clinic was already closed so we had no choice but to wait until morning to see the doctor, we didn't want to rush him to the hospital. i thought it was another viral thing - which was very popular this season and is usually accompanied by rashes, but are not itchy - so i just gave him paracetamol for the fever, thankfully the fever went down and he was feeling a little better. but he didn't have a good night's sleep that night, he kept waking up complaining of the itch and i kept hearing him crying for a few seconds - i couldn't sleep, as well. we just gave him another round of paracetamol and made him sleep in our bed. morning came, i couldn't get up early since i was up all night because of the scratchies :). got up at 9am and at around 10, together with the little one, we went to the doctor but he couldn't see us at that moment so we were scheduled in the afternoon. good thing the clinic was just across the road so going back wasn't an issue. poor franco was still complaining of the itch and tried to hide from me when he was scratching because i told him not to scratch, i did apply baby powder to hopefully help relieve the itch a little. he was disappointed that the doctor didn't get to "listen to his tummy" with the "Y-like thing in his ears" because he was "so, so sick", but i told him we'll come back in the afternoon. in the doctor's clinic, when he saw the rashes, he asked for the symptoms and i answered yes to most of them and after checking franco's weight, listening to his breathing, checking his ears and throat, looked closely at the rashes, ask for the temperature and more, he said he had scarlet fever and that he will need to take antibiotics for 10 days and that it was contagious for the first two days of treatment... therefore, there is a big chance that simon will get it too. the doctor even said, if the little one will have fever on sunday, wait until monday to bring him to the doctor. at least we are aware now and yes, i think i'd welcome it for simon right now - although they may have slightly different medications, we will be able to treat the fever and the ithcy-ness. i'm beginning to feel itchy myself because of all the scratchy talks :) help pray that franco will get over this infection soon and the good news is... he will never get it ever again and will be immune from this condition for life (and then we'll just have to deal with chicken pox)! i sure hope hubby and myself are. |
i got PPP approved!
after about five days of waiting and was on the verge of losing hope, i finally got the approval email on pay per post! i got to know about pay per post a few months back from my blog buddies, but didn't pay much attention because i wasn't really interested. but i've heard so many raves from blog buddies that i couldn't resist the pull any longer! i had to go with the flow and of course, the thought of earning cash for blogging did sound like a win-win racket. so, after days of waiting, here i am, officially a brand new postie. i'm looking forward to exciting opportunities, this will be a good exercise at my blogging and will in a way make me research on new things, as well. so, why not join us make money and spread the love! :) for those who are not familiar with paid blogging, it is basically the latest craze in the blog-sphere where you get paid for writing about websites, products, services, companies or write your own reviews, feedback and opinion about these advertisers. it's basically recommending them to your readers, so better write things you believe in and that you know will actually sell to you. i think it's quite easy once you get the hang of it... besides, you can choose among many opportunities. i'm still very new at it, so i'm hoping for the best! :) so now, i can start planning on what to do when payout comes... plan for my next purchase... hmm... the sale season is just around the corner so this will be a great time to start practicing my marketing skills! good luck! Labels: sideline |
Thursday, March 13, 2008
TAG: Fill me in
| I AM… a stay-at-home mom of two boys. I WANT… to travel as much as I can, for as long as we can afford it. I HAVE… a new mobile phone. I WISH… I could be fluent in French. I HATE… back stabbers. I FEAR… i won't be able to finish photobooks of ALL of our pictures, they're piling up too fast! I SEARCH… for new things to teach my kids and myself. I WONDER… how it feels like to live a country that is covered with ice. I REGRET… not having brought my Dad to see Australia. I LOVE… God, life and my family. I ALWAYS… cook. I AM NOT… a very patient teacher. I DANCE… when in a party and nice music. I SING… in the shower. I CRY… when I'm hurt, at sad and touching movies. I WRITE… in my blog when I have the time. I WON… the title Calendar Girl, in an initiation for new employee in my first job 10 years ago. I AM CONFUSED… when somebody doesn't understand what I am explaining. I NEED… to get some exercise. I SHOULD… start to look for a stand for the old TV, since the new TV will arrive in a few days. THE LAST THOUGHT YOU GO TO SLEEP WITH IS… praise and thank God for all the blessing in my life.” Next to tag is Maan, Jigi, Amy, Roslyn and Mickee |
a new find
| i've been on the net a bit longer than usual today, it's because i can't push myself to fold the laundry and change the sheets. so from morning until this afternoon, with cooking lunch and eating in between, i was able to order our new tv and some books for my pre-schooler. i got excited about my eldest's reading skills, so i just clicked away and ordered the books i felt he can easily read. but, not being able to earn money on my own made me think over my impulse buying habit... until recently. i think i might just fall into that habit again, because of all the buzz of blog marketing... and that spells out earning some money for me! and snapbomb is my latest find! they won't be able to pay off my monthly credit card bills just yet, but hey, it's worth a decent meal or if i'm addicted enough, might just pay off a trip to the grocery! :) so, join the craze, sign up and start earning the snapbomb way. |
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Hop on Pop
| Here's my 4-year-and-5-month-old doing a bit of reading. I started teaching him on and off (more off than on) before Christmas (maybe about five to six 10-minute sessions in total) and then again just over a week ago (maybe six times now)... can't seem to keep my word to teach him 10-minutes everyday. He is an eager learner - I'm the one who gets bored, actually! He mostly reads by memorizing the words and he hasn't perfected it yet, but that's good enough for me! :) And I see it helps that the pictures are telling the story too... puts his imagination at work, as well. He will start on the local school system (5-half days a week) in August. I'm hoping to have all the energy to teach him English and some Filipino on the side while he learns French and in French in the local system. Wish us luck! :) |
Refiner's Fire
Refiner's Fire Purify my heart *** Malachi 3:3 says; 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' *** * Thanks to capncrisp for the forwarded story. It's beautiful! |
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Weekend Snapshots :)
 last weekend, at avenches and a few weekends back in chateau d'oex, vaud
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Friday, March 7, 2008
together now
| it's exactly 1 month and 1 week now since the boys moved to their own room and their own beds. the baby cot is still there, we haven't found time (and storage space) to pack it up yet but we're hoping to wrap it up soon-ish (the -ish thing i picked-up from AI7 contestant Danny - I enjoy watching him too bad he got voted off this week, he reminds me of a childstar back home in the Phils.)! anyways, we re-arranged their room so the two beds will stay together in one corner, we don't have a bed guard/barrier/fence that's why simon will need to stay near the wall and franco on the other bed with the hope that because he is bigger now, he will not be falling off the bed while sleeping. so far, he's managed only two falls since (my poor baby!). here's how they're enjoying their beds, there would be a lot of times come morning, franco is already in simon's territory and the little one is near the foot of the bed. they seem to still be playing even in their sleep! i couldn't find a decent angle so bear with me on the shots :) by the way, we did try to convince franco to move to that room before, but he kept coming back to our bed in the middle of the night. and it wasn't easy because he moves a lot in his sleep, would kick our faces, keep moving towards my direction so i would be on the edge of the bed, and i am a light sleeper, sooo..... it was only when he had company that he finally settled to sleep on his own bed, but not without a time or two that he would again go to our bed in the middle of the night... hopefully, he will graduate from that habit soon! :) Labels: at home, kids, swiss life, the boys |
My very first web award :)
 Wow! I'm speechless! :) Thanks very much, dear Haydee for this award! I'm touched! Perfect timing, for our upcoming trip! And now let me present this award to my kumareng Ana... miss you, dear! |
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
love this song
Labels: ala lang |
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
6 Quirky Things about Me
I've Been Tagged ... 6 Quirky Things about me 6 Quirky Things about me ..thanks Jigi, this is a bit of a challenge! :) The rules: Link to the person that tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share six unimportant things/habits/quirks about your self. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let these random people know that they are tagged by leaving comments in their blog.Let your tagger know when your entry is up. Six Unimportant things/habits/quirks about my self: 1. I love starting new (extra-curricular :p) projects (like scrapbooking, knitting, etc.) but more often than not, I fail to finish it. I get impatient at times, plus the fact that I've two little boys who are always tailing on me! 2. I am so bad at remembering names, it takes me probably 3x before it sinks in! (I will need to keep in mind that it helps to say the name of the person once they are introduced). 3. I'm a big bargain hunter and impulse buyer (especially where there are sales!), and then, there would be times that once I get home, I'll need go back to the shop to return the item I bought, because I realize that I really don't like it... it's just that it was on sale at a very good price! But most of the time, the item would just sit somewhere in the house, still in it's original packaging :p 4. I am right now self-studying piano for about a week... and I tell you, it's not easy and I'm not good at it! :p 5. Yesterday, I was front of the PC for a whole three hours (while the kuya was at school and the little one was sleeping) without getting up, because I wanted to finish season 2 of Amazing Race Asia... but I don't think I'd do or have the chance to do it again! :) 6. I've watched The Notebook (my favorite serious love story movie so far) for the nth time already last night but it still made me cry, but I try not to show hubby! I'm a brave woman! :p Now, I'd like to get to know new blog buddies quirky-ness 1. Haydee 2. Francine 3. Farah 4. Garf 5. Amor 6. Rika |
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Friendship Chain
Thanks to dear Haydee for the thout! :) This is long overdue, can't believe I did not post it! :) ~~Begin Here~~ This is the easy way and the fastest way to : 1. Make your Authority Technoraty explode. 2. Increase your Google Page Rank. 3. Get more traffic to your blog. 4. Makes more new friends. Rules : 1. Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog. 2. Put your own blog name and link. 3. Tag your friends as much as you can. 1. La Place de Cherie 2. Chez Francine 3. Le bric à brac de Cherie 4. Haydee Etcetera 5. The Ansermet's 6. A Sneak Peek 7. Frapr 8. Add yourself here ~~END HERE~~ Now, I am extending the invite to preggy Jigi. If any of you are interested to this "Friendship Chain", please go ahead and join. |