THOUGHT OF GIVING

How did your Christmas celebration go? Did everyone in your family get the perfect gift? I got mine, a new stand mixer. Husband got what he needed, a new blue tooth for his cellphone while MIL got a new printer for her computer. My kids got a lot of presents from us as well as from their aunt and uncle. This year we were a little tight on money and we could not afford to get all our nephews and nieces presents. I however got a little something fro my SIL who has been great to my kids. Kaitlyn loves her Aunt Debbie and helped me picked out a turquoise necklace and earrings for her. As for my BIL I didn't even get him anything. I feel so bad about it, I could have gotten him a pack of 5 romeo y julieta cigars as a Christmas present. Him being a smoker, I know he would appreciate a good cigar. Maybe I could still get that for him and just give it as a belated Christmas present from all of us. That's not a bad idea, and maybe with all the after Christmas day sale I can also get good bargains for all our nephews and nieces. As the saying goes " better late than never!".

STORING MEMORIES

Christmas season has always been good for my kids. This year we got the kids lesser stuff but we got them what they really wanted. I got a lot of stuff from my husband as well and so did he. I do miss my family back home. Its bittersweet when I see pictures of Christmas Noche Buena from my family and friends in the Philippines. Christmas day uploading pictures in Facebook was so slow due to people uploading pictures at the same time. Its a good thing that digital camera is popular and used by most people. My husband got me a new camera but he said he thought about getting me more usb drives so I can put all the pictures on it. I still have one that I just started using but i will be needing another one with me having a new camera again. Since my new iPhone 4 takes good pictures and lets me upload pictures directly to my social network sites, I have not really used the digital camera, but with my new camera I will be back to capturing precious moments of my family at work or play.

PARTIES AND MORE

On Holiday season, do you make it a point to buy cards to send out to friends and family? Ever since I have always been bad when it comes to sending out letter,cards, invitations,ect. But this year, I was finally able to mail a couple of cards to my friends before Christmas. I felt so good until I found out that my friends didn't get any of the cards I sent out yet,lol. Oh well, its the thought that counts and that I remembered them on this special occasion. This year I only got a few cards from the mail. As usually I got the Christmas Card and Christmas Party Invitations from my family in NJ and from my friend in Virginia. I swear Christmas time is the busiest time of the year for Filipinos. Lots of parties and gatherings to attend and the food are to die for. To bad we can't make it to my Aunt and Uncle's yearly New Years Eve party this year. Ralph has to work early on New Years Day, if it was only near I would not hesitate to go. Hopefully next year we can make it.

THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Ahhh, the smell of winter is something else. I knew a few people who welcome the winter season and embrace it with gusto. I, on the other hand will whine and grumble about the cold weather. One of my friends welcome winter for it gives her husband a hunting business a good boost. Was it winter or the fall season, lol. I never thought she would brave the cold weather going on hunting trips with her husband and even has a photo or a dead dear. She was all dressed up like a hunter and also had a hunting gun. She probably got her husband something to help with his hunting business, it has to be an object to spot animals like a holographic sights. I don't know if I will last in the wilderness and camp out in the ground. My fear of the unknown is my greatest enemy,lol. I am not a country girl, I prefer the sound of cars and the sight of neighbors. What about you? Have ever been on a hunting trip and camping?

FROM US TO YOU

From our house to yours, A Merry Merry Christmas to all.

I hope this Holiday season will be as good to you as it is to our family. In a few days the year will end and make way for the New Year. I can't complain for this year has been good to us even though we had minor hiccups along the way. I got to go and visit my family in the Philippines last July. That was the highlight of my year, the second was the day my husband came out of his car accident with very minor injuries. My girls are healthy and striving, my marriage is still going strong. Its a bittersweet feeling to bid year 2010 adieu , but we have to more forward for change is the only constant in the world.

Going to the Hardware Store

Authored by Greg Fletcher

I made a special trip to the hardware store yesterday to do some Christmas shopping. Before I left, I made sure to set myHome security alarm. It took me about an hour to get over to the store I wanted and I had one thing on my list to get. My mother has been wanting a clay chiminea for awhile now. A chiminea is basically a little stove or bonfire that sits outside. She wants one so that she can relax on her patio and roast some marshmallows in the fire. It sounded like a great idea, and when I found out that the hardware store had them in stock I ran over there as fast as I could.

I made my way into the store and it was jam packed full of people who were doing their holiday shopping. I'm actually surprised they had the chiminea I wanted in stock. In fact, they only had one left. It came to about one hundred dollars and I made my way back to the store. The lines were ridiculous, but I thankfully got on a short one and was paid and out of there within only a few short minutes. I made my way to the car and loaded the chiminea into it. I came home and had to find a good hiding place for it. I'm sure my mom is going to love it come Christmas.

RUNNING OVER

The one thing my husband loves about Winter is he doesn't have to mow the backyard anymore. Before we got the riding mower, it took him almost 2 hours to do the backyard with the push mower. He would be soaked in sweat and burning under the heat of the sun. When we got the riding mower he was happy as can be. He mowed the backyard in a fraction of a time but there was a few drawback though. Ralph already ran over our water hose and a couple of extension wires. Its so funny when he rants when he gets upset. I have jokingly told him that maybe we need to get a metal hose for our backyard instead of the regular one. He would just look up at me and give me such a sarcastic smile,lol. Accidents happen but he still gets upset coz it is something that he could have avoided. Oh well, at least he didn't run over our two jewels, his little girls.

RIGHT DIRECTION

Its been cold and windy the past few days. I hate going out in the cold, winter just dries me up. Before long I will look like a dried up prune or raisin. My MIL is already 68 years old but she uses toners, clarifying lotions and moisturizers on her face. I am 32 years old and I can already see that on my face. If I want to look young and just have healthy looking skin I have to think about really spending on products that can help. Ever since I married my husband I am big into reading review on products. So with that, I am going to read about therapores reviews and see if its the right one for me. The product itself looks promising but I still have yet to read the complete review. I will have to be quick about making a choice of what products to use for my face specially when I am trying to get pregnant. Since I already have an appointment to see my Gynecologist by the end of the month I will be able to ask my doctor what is safe for me to use and what isn't. Hopefully my doctor can steer me in the right direction.

PRESENTS AND WRAPPING

Finished with your Holiday shopping? Some have already been done shopping and wrapping presents already and some who have yet to buy it. Ralph and I are already finished buying the kids presents. It was fun and confusing shopping for them. So many toys to choose from. We didn't get the kids as much toys like we did last year. We got Kayla got her DSi XL that came with a Mario game with it. We got Kaitlyn the School is Cool computer game, by fisher price. Its something that she can really do and it will help her with her alphabets, letters, colors and shaped. We also got her a few dolls that shed real tears and we got Kayla more games for her DS and the Wii. This year I got my husband a massage pad that you can put on the bed. When he comes home from work he gets so tired and so wound up that he needs a good massage. I am still battling with myself if I should return it and get the more expensive one. MIL said I should just wait until he tries it and if he doesn't like it we can always return it. As for MIL, we got her a new printer. If money wasn't so tight we would have gotten her an e-book reader. Maybe we will get that for her on her 69th birthday. Now that we are done with the shopping, I am not looking forward to the wrapping.

STILL HERE

My laptop is about a few weeks short of its 2nd birthday. Ralph bought for me last December of 2008 as a Christmas gift. He knew how much I wanted a laptop of my own since I was constantly updating my blogs and taking to my family online. I didn't expect it, he just all of a sudden asked me while at my BIL's house what color I liked. I was ecstatic of course, I didn't think I was going to get one. It did help me a lot when it came to my online source of income. Some of the mom bloggers I have meet online have really taken me under their wings and taught me the ropes. I have come across mom that have certified hosting team like the pci compliance hosting. I don't claim to know a lot about computer and how the world wide web works but I know enough. One of these days I am going to find me a "dummies guide to the web". I have not been as active as I was before, things has just been hectic for a bit and you could say I got burned out. But not to worry, I am still alive and kicking.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY

I am finally done with decorating the house. I am a little frustrated though with some of the hanging stuff on the wall. They seem to stick and stay in place but the next day they are on the floor. I am so tired of fixing it so I think I'll forgo that this year. I have already put the wreath on the door and added a few decorations to it to make it pop. Now that I have it in place on the door I seem to be having difficulty closing and sometimes opening the lock. It happened twice that I could not open the lock right away, I had to struggle for the bit. When I mentioned this to Ralph he doesn't seem to think it is the wreath but the door handle and the lock itself. He said we will be needing new handlesets for the front door and other door that leads to the deck. Maybe its the cold weather that's making it stick. I will try and spray the lock with a little oil to grease it up. I have a lot of cleaning up and organizing to do after all the boxes and containers are returned in the basement. Oh well, a mother's work is never done.

CRASH

See that car? That was our 3rd car, we got that about a month ago Nov 2, 2010. My husband had an accident last Dec 1st while he was on his way to work. He called me on my phone 30 minutes after he left. I thought he was going to say he was on his way home with the court date he was mandated to appear for a DUI case he handles got postponed. I was in shock when he said he may need mom as he was just in an accident. He would not elaborate but just assured me that he was fine. I rushed into my MIL room to tell her about the news. We were all so worried about how bad the accident was. The next time Ralph called was to say he was in the ambulance and they were taking him to the hospital.We all rushed to the hospital with the Joey and Kaitlyn in tow. I saw a couple of Ralph police friends at the hospital. While waiting for him to come out I just kept thanking God for protecting my husband and for keeping him safe. I realized that day life is so precious, it can be taken away in split of a second. When he got out of the ER he didn't look to bad. I just went over to hug him and told him I love him. He had a laceration on his forehead, popped vessel on his left eye and bruising on the left side of his face from the airbag. Good thing he was wearing his bullet proof vest, that protected his chest from bruising from the seat belt. He lost his glasses and the car was totalled. But you know what? It's just a car, its material and replaceable. I am just happy, thankful that my husband was not seriously hurt. Thank you God.....

COVERING UP

Winter has already made its presence known in some states. Some have gotten flurries of snow and some more than 3 inches of it. So far we haven't seen any snow here in Delaware but I am sure any day we will be seeing our first snow fall of the season. Last year we got a good amount of snow not counting the snow storm that ruined a lot of property. The past days has been cold but even worse with blustering winds that can gust up to 30 mph. I had to whip out what I call my granny coat that is down to my ankle. Even my husband was looking for a knit cap to keep his noggin warm when he is at work. To bad he could not wear any of the promotional hats that was given to him while his at work. He can only wear the standard plain black knit cap. Oh well, I can wear the ones he can't use while at work. Good thing I'm not into looking fashionable while trying to get warm, I just want to be warm any way that I can.

EARLY PLANS

The countdown begins to Christmas. Less than 3 more weeks to get ready for the biggest holiday of the year. The kids are going to have their winter break is which two weeks long, lol. I bet some families are thinking of traveling and spending the holidays in different places. What I am looking forward to is the summer break where its longer. We haven't decided yet were to go next Summer but its important to get the best travel deals to get our money's worth. We promised Kayla last year that we will think about going to Disneyland on the Summer of 2011. Ralph is in charge of planning the places we want to go and see and I will be in charge of packing. I think I got the short end of the stick but It doesn't matter though, lol. We will find out when we get the Tax money next year, and after our projects have been taken cared of. I'm not worried if we may not be able to go next year, Disneyland will still be there.

AFTER TURKEY DAY

The day after Thanksgiving was a day I don't want a repeat of. My BIL came down and decided to surprise us with a visit. I had not eaten anything the whole morning and decided to eat about 6 pieces of clementines. After about 30 minutes I was nauseous and had stomach pain. I thought it was just hyper acidity and took some tums. That did not help at all, by late afternoon I was in so much pain. The pain I felt was from my lower abdomen that went through my lower back and down to the back of my thigh. I could barely stand straight let alone walk. I spent the whole afternoon drifting in and out of sleep on the couch. Kaitlyn got so worried about me and would keep asking how I was feeling. Thankfully my MIL kept a watch on Kaitlyn in her room. By 7 p.m I just had about enough and brought Kaitlyn with me up in bed. I just laid down in bed and tried not to move so I would be pain free, turned on the t.v for Kaitlyn and just told her to lay down with me. I must have drifted off coz the next think I knew Ralph was calling me. To my surprise Kaitlyn was already fast asleep beside me. The next day was a little bit better but I still felt pain but at least it wasn't as bad. By Monday I called the doctor first thing in the morning and got an appointment the very same day. As for the result, I'll write about that some other time. I still need to find out more.