Happy New Year To All!!!

The other day when I was watching shows on our http://www.directstartv.com/localchannels/Texas/T/Thornton/, I noticed how many of them right now about fairy tales. There are two main ones that I can think of off the top of my head. When I first heard about the shows, I thought they were way too similar. I really did not understand how both of them could be on air at the same time if they were so similar. When I finally watched parts of both of them, I realized that they are pretty different. One of them is like a fairy tale version of C.S.I. where werewolves and other characters take part in a crime, thriller type of story line. I have not watched all that much, so I may be wrong on that one, but the other I spent a little more time watching. It is called Once Upon a Time. At first, I really thought it was cheesy. It has two story lines: one is reality and one is the fairy tale life. I kept wondering which was supposed to be real when I watched the show. That is sort of fun in a way. I am always trying to figure out what is real. It is fun to do and more interactive than some shows.

We love eating Filipino dishes and good thing I know how to cook those foods, we get to eat our favorites here at home.  It still feels different eating those foods here because some ingredients are not easily available therefore the true authentic taste is quite hard to achieve.  Though Asian stores have almost everything you'll need, going to those stores isn't as convenient as well.

There are times when we get the craving to eat Filipino foods so what we do is to drive somewhere to get it.  One of our favorite place to eat is Gerry's grill though it is quite a drive going there.  There's also Red Ribbon where we love eating the dinuguan and fresh lumpia.  Just mentioning all those makes me crave already!  Previously we ate in Goldilock's and the food selection there was awesome.  So many to choose from and we were so happy with the dishes we ordered.  It felt like eating right back home.

It's good that there are restaurants almost all over here in the bay area specializing on Pinoy foods.  In San Francisco there's this Kababayan Filipino Restaurant serving such yummy foods.  It's in the Mission street, one of the oldest and known place for great restaurants.  The Kababayan has all those foods every Filipino would want to eat though the only thing is they only accept cash payments.  No debit or credit cards if you wish to get some foods there. 

 pumpkin cheesecake

 roasted turkey with rosemary, garlic & mushroom

Thank You to all who remembered us on Thanksgiving!

Our growing boy has growing number of toys too.  Everywhere here at home has toys around, some are neatly kept in their respective bins but most are out for him to play with.  It's unavoidable to have some mess from time to time most especially when baby's in the mood to grab his toys and drag all over our place.  Sometimes he gets too excited too scribbling on his table and he'll put out all his markers and crayons.  Depending on his mood whether he'll tidy up everything back to where he got his things or leave it for mommy to pick up.

I can be proud to say that baby's not that messy anymore, I think him seeing me organize things right after he thrashes the place around gives him a sense of order.  I also try to ask him to keep away all his things after using it or at least make him to put something back where it should be.  It's important to give early training to growing babies so they can instill it in their mind and learn things.  Having specific lockers for kids is one great way to teach our boy to keep his things in place. 

Since we don't have a walk-in closet here in our apartment making use of extra kids lockers come very handy.  Actually even just drawers and other bins help a lot in keeping our place a bit more organized.  Not having so extra space is quite a compromise when you have a kid but you can always find ways on how to make things work.  Just like in our bathroom, even there has baby's toys.  Since there's no way you can fit in any childrens lockers there we had to get some bath tub caddy to keep his toys organized and not always spilled all over the tub.  Perhaps you can already picture out how baby has taken over every space we have here at home.  

There's a big rave nowadays about steel furnishings and decors.  It gives a place a more up to date look, transforming a simple space with a modern touch.  It's amazing how small things can even make a big impact aesthetically to a plain old room.

The Stainless Steel Store is the perfect site to browse and search for modern looking items to furnish any home which needs some modern upgrade.  It carries blomus products which are very sleek and classy, something worth adding to your home makeover.  

Give that old kitchen a new look with the blomus stainless steel gadget you can make use in your kitchen.  There are more blomus stainless items which can better match your kitchen additions like the dining collection.  Make a bold statement and be unique with the fine looking stainless steel baskets, trays, canisters and other dining coordinates. 

Whether it's redecorating or simple add-ons,Stainless Steel Store has the right items for that nice modern look you can ask for.

Finding the right size for big and tall people can be quite frustrating sometimes.  Not all brands and stores carry special sized to fit people who are more gifted with height and body.  It's almost better to go straight to specialty stores where they have the exact sizes you're looking for than go through all the trouble searching all over the stores.

King Size, the big and tall experts has a wide selection of clothing for the big guys.  This specialty retailer caters clothing for men who are 6'2" or taller weighing at least 225lbs.  Tall sizes start from Large (L) to 7XL while big sizes are Extra Large XL-10XL.  King Size sure has a wide range of sizes for men who are on the heavier side, something ordinary stores don't usually have.

To complete the apparel, KS also has shoes up to size 18.  Of course who better can provide a complete wardrobe than the one which specializes for such size.  May it be casual clothing, swim wear, activewear, jeans, shirts, sleepwear, coats or sportswear, you can find it all in King Size.  Feel free to request for a catalog or simply check the site to view their online catalog to get started with your shopping.

The upcoming Black Friday event will surely be a busy day for most shoppers.  They say it's the best time to find the greatest deals on electronics, toys and clothes.  People take advantage of the cheaper deals to shop for the holiday gift giving too.  While some shoppers prefer to do the traditional in store shopping and take their time to browse for their finds, some simply stay home and do their bargain hunting online.

I think it's more practical to shop online if you want to avoid the crowd and have a peaceful time shopping. Though the excitement and fun of going through the crowd and hand picking your items is something avid shoppers love to experience, it certainly will drain your energy out by the end of the day.

One of the pros of in store shopping is that you instantly have your item once you have checked out from store unlike online shopping.  You're lucky enough to have the items shipped fast to your residential mailboxes but this usually costs more than the regular or sometimes free shipping.  If you don't mind the wait then just make sure the courier can easily spot your address plaques so there will be no lost items in somebody else's mailbox posts and mailboxes.  Deliveries might come fast or not but it will be guaranteed your stuff will be right in your whitehall mailboxes soon enough.

There are many different kinds of mailboxes, all vary in styles and sizes.  Though technically speaking, a mailbox is a compartment or a case where incoming mail deliveries are placed.  Post box on the other hand is for outgoing postal deliveries.

Mails played a big role in people's lives most especially during the earlier years when technology wasn't that advanced yet.  It served as a means of communication whether local domestic or international.  t used to take weeks before a mail gets delivered until further improvements in the courier systems were introduced like express mails.  

There isn't much evolution of styles with classic mailboxes, in fact some people even prefer to have a classic style mailbox to add some old charm to their home.  Keystone mailboxes are still highly in demand in the market for free standing type mailbox which can be elegantly placed more adjacent to the sidewalk.  

It is very important to secure the incoming mails to a specific box and not letting it be just thrown down to the porch or doorstep.  Gaines Mailboxes has a huge selection of different style mailboxes which can suit your needs.  Take advantage of the free shipping on their products and if in any case you are not satisfied with your purchase, an easy 30 day no hassle return day policy shall be granted to  provide utmost customer satisfaction.

Man, there’s nothing worse than not knowing what you’re going to do with your life and then having to decide really quickly. When I moved here to Texas that’s exactly the situation I was in since I all of a sudden had a wife and a baby on the way. I figured that was as good a time as any to open up my car repair shop like I’d been wanting to. I had to do some legwork like going to www.bank-card-processing.comand getting an accountant and all that but here I am three years later with a successful car shop! I love working on the classic models – that’s my specialty – and people around here really know me as someone they can trust. Everyone understands that for me it’s important to do good work so they don’t mind paying a bit extra to ensure they get the best treatment possible. I love my job and working for myself and I wonder sometimes why everyone doesn’t open up their own business in the end?

The Author of this post is Velma Baird

Our little boy was dressed as a tiger for this Halloween.  Last year daddy wanted him to be Darth Vader but this time around it's my turn to choose.  We were torn with a cute orange triceratops costume at first but after seeing how nice the tiger costume was, that became the winning costume.

This year we missed going to the mall to go trick or treating because baby slept through the whole afternoon so we ended up just doing the trunk or treat in Bethel Church.  I think baby missed so much this year because we also almost missed the downtown event.  He fussed and cried so much that day when we were supposed to leave, even when daddy came home he didn't stop crying.  We waited until he's calm enough and tried catching up with the event.

Last year we got so much treats but not this time around.  It's okay though because we really don't eat the chocolates and candies much, we were just after baby experiencing the fun of getting some treats together with other kids in costume.  He absolutely loved taking a candy from the baskets and putting it in his bag.  For sure next year he will be more eager to participate in Halloween festivities.

Halloween parties are getting popular these days where grown ups can have fun wearing their own costumes too.  I think it's okay because everybody does it and it's just right with the festivity.  I am not a big costume fan but I wouldn't mind dressing up if I were to attend a costume party.

What's the proper costume for grown ups like us?  I guess there's no specific rule with regards to that as long as you are comfortable enough with what you are wearing and decent too.  You can be wacky, silly or sexy but it's better if you don't go overboard with your costume fun.  

Just like those other people we saw wearing doctor uniform who were handing out candies, it was a very effortless and age appropriate costume for them.  It didn't look odd or bad at all, if any with the touch of red stains and some make-up, it was perfect for Halloween.

Buying such uniform doesn't need to be in special Halloween stores, it is even best to get it in specialized scrub stores.  Bluesky has a great selection of medical uniforms which are absolutely fashionable and stylish at the same time.  To see more of what Bluesky has in-store, check out http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Men/.

There are so many ways to earn online these days and with much given attention and effort, some people even succeed on their online ventures. Though there are many success stories for such work not everybody finds it feasible or enough to keep them going compared to regular employment.  Not everybody will have the same success and failure stories, one can be lucky and have a great kick start or the other might not be.

Say for instance you have a working website and have hopes of getting some extra income from it.  It's not impossible to attain such goal with the help of some tools to promote your site like advertising.  Internet advertising like PPC or Pay Per Click is a great way to direct traffic to the website with a corresponding amount when the ad is clicked.  This won't give you a fortune if you are looking at it that way but it's a start for something.

BizzCLick LLP offers advertising opportunity to those who want to drive traffic to their sites and monetize at the same time.  They offer various advertisements for home page, advertiser page or publisher page.  Each client will be assisted by a team of professionals who are on stand by 24/7 making sure clients get the right traffic sources.  Feel free to check BizzClick to see if it can work for your advertising needs.

My mom is the most important person in my life. She's done so much for me and our family. So I love to do all kinds of little things for her whenever I get the opportunity. Last time I was at home, I saw that she was running out of her perfume. Well I thought that it would be great to do something special for her for no reason really and buy her a new bottle of nice perfume.

My mom doesn't do much for herself anyway, so I used my Kansas City wireless internet to find some good ideas about what kind of perfume I could get for her.  I think that I found her a really nice Chanel perfume that is similar to her old perfume but I also think that it smells a little nicer. When I gave it to her she said that she thought it smelled really expensive and that she loved it. I'm guessing that smelling expensive is a compliment in her mind. Either way, I'm just glad that she loves it.

Guest post written by Amy Eliiot

Fall has arrived and it's starting to get breezier and cooler outdoors.  You can notice the leaves starting to change colors and some even falling off from the trees already.  The streets will be once again full of fallen leaves in no time, kids will be having fun jumping over stacks of leaves as if it's a pool of water.

Speaking of pools, it is advisable to keep the pools covered during this season.  Pools might be the perfect place to dump all the fallen leaves though this can pose a great hazard to kids.  This doesn't apply to ground pools alone but also above ground pools which are not collapsible or can not be stowed away.  

Leaves unlike water isn't clear and if by any chance of accident a kid falls into a pool full of leaves, you have less chances of noticing or seeing the kid instantly.  Installing above ground pool covers and ground pool covers can minimize such hazard to curious and playful kids.  Though this kind of incident might not be very common to all, having the right precaution can be a good practice.  Nobody knows when an accident can occur and it's not worth the trouble and risk.

We're thankful to have a good number of projects for the first half of this year. We're actually lucky despite the rocky economy our business has been improving and getting a lot more stable. Our business licenses are about to expire soon but we already handled the necessary payments for the renewal. Since we're really after doing things right and legitimate, we make sure that we secure permits and pay taxes.

It's hard to compete with the market out there considering we are just small player compared to those other big business establishments. Just like them we also need to work on ways to boost our exposure through advertisements. Giving away some promotional items is a great way to advertise but of course such items cost more than usual prints and leaflets. These items are ideally given to our valued clients as a means of thanking them for seeking our services.

It's been another busy week for us and tomorrow it's Monday again. The weekend was great even if we had to do errands, soon after hubs decided to go to a pumpkin patch just to enjoy the rest of the day. I don't have the photos ready yet since I've been busy the whole day cleaning here at home and also taking care of my boys. Work never ends that's why it was really nice that our family had the chance to do a little side trip yesterday. I will just post about our pumpkin patch adventure next time.

I am actually done already for the day, I am tired and just relaxing a bit before going to bed. This is my only time to turn on the laptop and browse a bit. A specific news about the drug cartel caught my attention because the way those smugglers do their business was very crafty. They made tunnels from the border of Mexico to the parking spaces in Arizona. Those guys are really pushing the limits just to get their merchandise cross the border. The drug bust resulted to a discovery of 16 tunnels leading to 18 of the parking spaces.  Imagine how those smugglers get to sneak their contraband for a price of few quarters.  

It's good that this activity was caught because lives can be saved most especially those teens who are in the experimental stage trying out things like drugs and other stuffs.  Though there are certain centers and rehabilitation for those who want to steer away from their addiction, sadly not everybody would want to take this path.  There are cases in which a person is too consumed with his or her addiction resulting to grave health dangers already.  

It makes me feel so furious to those people who just care to have money, lots and lots of money without caring and thinking the bad results of their actions.  Thankfully the government is trying their best to eradicate such activity and is continuously making campaigns through advertisements & commercials to keep people informed.  Local site like www.nida.nih.gov/ reaches out to people who are in need of help, making it possible for them to step out of their vice and be clean.

Back in 2005 I traveled with my brother and sister to China and Hongkong. Sis chose to travel instead of celebrating her 18th birthday with a party. Of course with my ever protective and conservative parents she wouldn't be allowed to go on her own. I can't remember exactly the names of the places we stayed in and went to but all I know is that it was a great adventure and experience for the three of us.

We first landed in Shenzhen, China and stayed there for two days. It was great that the night market was just walking distance from our hotel so we didn't have to spend extra for our shopping trips. We were told by our tour guide to be careful of the street foods but we're too curious of the yummy smelling foods on the grill so we didn't really care much of the warning and just enjoyed some food tasting.

Of course it was so darn hard to buy what you want if it's something beyond your reach and had to be ordered from the counter. The vendors not only didn't understand English, most stores didn't even have any English menu available for tourist as if English interpreting in China was so unheard of. I remember it clearly when my friend was trying to order a milk tea and the way the guy said it was totally off, well at least he tried talking to us in different language.

There's one incident when our group was heading back to our rooms and a group of Chinese people got into the elevator with us. Our group was shocked when they all started talking because of their loudness and it was like as described by one of the guys we're with, "cat fighting in the streets". (Oooops no offense to our Chinese friends, it all happened in China) The older people in our group started talking out loud too in our own native language trying to tone down the other noisy group but it wasn't effective at all. My brother was really funny acting like a Chinese interpreting their words, he looks like one but doesn't know how to speak their language! You might think we're rude to make fun of the other group considering we're just tourists in their own land but believe me....their voices were echoing all over the elevator.

It was indeed a fun experience seeing a whole new place and meeting all other new people. Our hotel room was facing a huge modern mall with beautiful faces on the billboards. It was rather a pleasant sight for me admiring the structure itself and also the beautiful faces there. We managed to shop and haggle good enough even if our Chinese-English interpreting was terribly bad. I think it helped that we all look (kinda) like Chinese that's why they gave us better deals for our purchases. I am happy I had the chance to travel with my siblings because I don't think we can still do that kind of bonding considering we have our own separate lives already, perhaps in time with all our kids.

Having enough storage can be such an issue for people with small homes, organizing and keeping the place tidy can be a headache given a tiny space.  Who would want a home full of clutter and mess?  I guess nobody would want to live in a place which is very disorganized, having some extra space to move around is a lot more ideal.

Reinventing the space can provide solutions for organization just like having steel storage cabinets in the garage.  These cabinets can lessen the clutter and and help keep a well maintained space, giving a fresh new look of the garage.  The Arrow Spacemaker garage storage system can be configured to match the needs of every home or space.  These are not helpful to garage alone but also to any other spaces like basement, utility and laundry room.  

Arrow Spacemaker doesn't only offer steel storage like cabinets, it also caters arrow sheds or steel sheds for added storage area.  These sheds can withstand the outdoor environment keeping your things safe and well kept.  If for instance your garage is not big enough to accommodate the rest of your clutter, sheds can be handy to have.  Make use of that little space in your backyard to make room for a good sized shed, this will make a  great storage place for your bigger stuffs which shouldn't be in the garage anymore.

Hubs got sick before and his coughing took a while before it was totally gone.  It started with colds then flu, before we know it he's been being pestered by his cough to a point that he decided to go to the hospital to have it checked one early morning.  Though he's taken several medicines and natural remedies it wasn't sufficient to suppress the lingering cough.  He decided to go and have it checked right away when he woke up with a slight pain on his chest while coughing.  This alarmed him pretty much so off he went to the hospital.

Nothing serious at the moment but if not treated promptly, it could lead to bronchitis.  Of course he didn't want me and most especially baby to be affected so he had it treated in no time.  I'm happy that he finally went to the doctor, it's really hard to make him  go for his check-up.  He just had to take some antibiotics for several days and that was it.

This experience served as a learning process for him/us with regards to our insurance.  Though we have a medical insurance from his work surprisingly he had to pay quite some cash to cover the co-pay.  Honestly, it sucks!  Despite the fact that he has insurance in a good medical provider the insurance itself is a rip-off.  Yes it paid for certain bills but he didn't expect the cost for the co-pay that he had to handle.  Up to now it makes him think what the insurance is for if people have to pay so much for such emergency case.  

To end the story hubs had no choice but to pay off the bills sent to us.  I think his prescription medicines were covered by the insurance but for those who needs medication without prior coverage, I suggest you check out Medicare Consumer Guide.  It has great information about Medicare and other insurance programs, concerns regarding prescriptions are further discussed in "Medicare Part D".  Medications are quite costly so better knowledge on your prescription coverage can help lessen your load.  Hope this helps.

It's undeniable that me and baby enjoy the outdoors so much, we both get our much needed exercise for the day being out and about. Though outdoors time means playtime or mommy-baby errands time, we also do serious playing at home. Well, a baby's life at this stage is all about playing, eating and sleeping. I let baby play on his own here at home but I see to it too that I have time to play and interact with him. It's very important for parents to keep close guidance to their children mos especially during the earlier years.

Baby is very interested now with books, cars and drawing. We already got him his very own table where he can scribble and doodle using washable markers and crayons. Funny that we have to include some preschool supplies in our shopping from time to time so baby has his materials. He's more coordinated now with drawing, he knows how to uncap and cap the markers (he figured out on his own after watching me do it several times) and most importantly, he no longer bites on the crayons!

Baby knows what he wants to do so there's no telling him "play with this, play with that". He grabs the books that he likes to browse and puts it back (sometimes) where he got it. He sounds his ABCs and 123s as "e,e,e,e,e" whenever he sees letters, words, alphabet and numbers. I am not rushing him to speak clearly, besides he's still a baby and we want him to be like that for now. He's growing up too fast! He can now say longer words like elephant, super grover and sesame street but of course in his own baby words which only mommy understands. This reminds me to jot down all his baby words again so I can have a record of his new words. I believe he had about 30+ words around 16 months, makes me wonder how many words he has now at 19 months.

At first baby was making rounds on the slides and later on took a break from the baby playground and ran all the way to the bridge going to the garden arbors. He just kept going all the way to the other end of the park with the bigger playground looking behind and screaming whenever he sees me near him. We saw many squirrels and baby tried chasing around the birds which gave him much exercise for the day. I had to ask baby to go back to the other playground because it's more shaded there plus he can enjoy more with the other smaller babies around.

I knew our cue to head out when I saw baby almost dragging his feet up to climb the playground. He was pushing himself so hard just to have a little more fun going down the slide. He practically used up all of is energy playing for good 1hr 30mins. I like it when baby's ready to go home already because it's a lot easier for me to put him in his car seat. No more resistance, no fussing and no crying.

It is rather shocking to see people being trampled over when there are certain events and a commotion happens.  Many people end up getting hurt and some cases even lead to death.  Imagine you going to a concert and then uncontrolled crowd gets out of control creating panic to all.  People usually get into a heightened level of fear giving them poor judgement on their actions.  Sad to say there were many cases of this kind of event in which people get injured or gravely hurt due to insufficient crowd control system.

To prevent outbreak of disorder it can start with simpler options like using stanchions and barricades.  Places like cinema. orchestra and other more formal setting can have a hand with the use of velvet rope.  These crowd control barriers even as simple as signages and decals painted on ground can further direct crowd to a certain direction.  These can promote more orderly movement which can avoid confusion to all.

Making sure everything is in proper order can make a big difference in every event with high crowd volume.  The system can also work more efficiently when things are moving on the right phase.  

Every year tax preparation must be done in order to get the income tax returns.  Either you get a return or pay taxes that you owe, that's how it works.  Taxes may be done with the help of licensed professionals like attorneys, certifies public accountant or even through online tax preparation software services.  Whatever is the desired service, the most important thing is that taxes will be handled or settled to avoid being audited.  

Enrolled agents who are also known as tax specialists can also work on taxes, they are the only professionals granted with rights to practice directly from US government.  Unlike CPAs and Attorneys, their practice is limited only to the states where their licenses were issued.  An enrolled agent is issued a federal license which gives the power to represent any taxpayer from any state with regards to federal tax matters.  The duties and responsibilities of enrolled agents could extend beyond preparing returns like client representation in audit, collections cases and appeals.

Enrolled agents acquire license after completing ea cpe requirements, 72 hours of ea continuing education during the 3 year enrollment cycle must be observed.  For more details and information regarding enrolled agent cpe courses, check out Fast Forward Academy.

Everyday is playday for me and baby, a visit to the park or playground is a must to keep our little boy fit and healthy. We always go to different parks and playgrounds so that baby won't get too used in a certain playground, this way he won't be over confident to the play area and will always be careful. It's also good because he gets excited when he sees a new play area. Our trips depend on his mood and lately it's harder to get out of our place in the morning. He will end up playing around first or doodling on his table and getting him to finish what he's doing takes so much effort.

Among all the playgrounds we frequent I love the one in Central Park. Usually when it's noontime already I try to avoid going out due to the burning sun but that playground has good shading which mostly covers parts of the play area. He can definitely play even on the hottest day without having to be so exposed to the sun's harmful rays. The playground is also complete with a sand and water area, swings and slides. The big area is covered by firm and cushy rubber mulch, soft enough for little tots' accidental falls when running around. I just love those places installed with Rubberecycle pads, it really feels safer for the kids. The place is about 15mins from home but it's worth the trip because I know baby enjoys it there plus I feel safe for him playing there.

Baby right now is extremely active and keeping him at home is not a good thing to do. Playing outside can give him much exercise and not to forget fresh air. Baby gets to interact and socialize with other children and best of all, we're having a great fun time playing and bonding together.