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.