NO net for 4 days :(

Yay, Smart Bro gave me some headaches last weekend when our net at the house was cut off around mid-afternoon of Friday. It was raining hard that time and the electric went off for few seconds and later on we found out that we don’t have net connection. Thought of troubleshooting it by unplugging all the wires of our router and Smart Bro’s antenna but still it’s the same. I got the chance to call SMART’s technical support and the soft voiced call center agent helped me troubleshoot and soon enough the net is back BUT only for 30 mins ..grrrr… It was so hard not to have a net connection at home since I’m working online.

It was Saturday before lunch when I called again and the tech support told me that there’s an “activity” (there’s a problem) on the base station where I’m connected that’s why I can’t establish a good connection. This means that we’re going to be netless once again. Yay. Fortunately, I have a net connection here at our net cafe so I was able to finish some expiring works.

Last night, I tried to connect online at around 9:30 pm and yey, the net was back. Having no net for few days, I found myself browsing till 12:30 am last night lol

A Visit to the Dentist

The lower, right molar tooth of mine is giving me some pain already and to relieve the hurting, I took some ibuprofen for 1 week. Finally, I decided to visit my dentist the other week to have my aching and swollen molar checked.  My dentist checked it and told me that she can’t extract or have it filled unless the swollen subsides. With her initial findings, it looks like it has to be extracted already but I beg her to save it still. She just prescribed an antibiotic to take for 1 week, sensodyne for my sensitive teeth and pyodontyl for my gums.

I also had light cure treatment on one of my tooth and also had teeth cleaning. With the condition of my gums and teeth, I was on soft diet for 2 days as well. In that case, I will not bite on the new filled tooth and on aching molar. I followed all her advices and tomorrow is my last day of drinking the antibiotic . There’s no more pain and swelling and I hope the molar will not be extracted anymore. I’m set to visit my dentist once again by next week.

Dental hygiene is vey important and we all need to plan our visit regularly to our dentists to save us from further pain in the future.

Gone Too Soon

Life is really short..

Just the other day, I received an offline YM message from a HS friend but the message was left by his daughter telling that her dad passed away that day. At first, I was shocked and didn’t know if that was true so I texted my other HS batchmates to confirm the news. Indeed it was true. How sad.

My classmate was suffering from diabetes for many years now and he has too many complications already that led to his death. It was too soon as he was still so young and can still do so many things. On the other hand, it was also good that he is at peace with the Lord right now. No more aches and pains for him. We visited him the other night along with my other batchmates to pay our last respect and he’ll be buried on Friday. Rest in peace, Edwin.

Too Many Expenses

It’s the time of the month once again for school enrollments and parents are again faced with lots of expenses. Almost all school have started their enrollments for the coming school year in June and I have to say that eventhough I don’t have kids that will go to school, I can sense the fears and worries of parents. I can feel it from my brothers and SIL who have more than one child that will go to elementary, highschool and college levels.

Having 2-3 kids going to private schools at the same time can be a little daunting come enrollment time. Some parents who are working may opt to apply for payday advances if their school budget doesn’t meet the final expenses that they will pay. It sure can alleviate their worry since, some school can’t enroll your kids if you can’t pay or even give a downpayment. Aside from tuition fees, they need to buy new notebooks and books or sometimes new uniforms. The expenses doesn’t stop actually.

Geez, these days, sending kids to school are really expensive. I just hope that kids will do their best to learn what their teachers are teaching them in school and be good in school.

Soft Diet

Booo.. I'm on a soft diet for 2 days. Why? My lower right molar is aching, some parts of my gums is swollen and I had a new teeth that was treated with light cure. My dentist advised me not to bite  hard on my teeth so she told me to go on a soft diet for 2 days.

Awww..I started it the other day eating lugaw for dinner, champorado for breakfast, rice loaded with soup and mami soup for dinner last night. Today, I managed to eat banana in sugar for breakfast and nilagang baboy (mashed the veggies and meat) for lunch. Boring isn’t it??? but I have to follow my dentist’s request if I want to be healed.

So for sure I’ll be losing a little weight once again, fortunately it’s only for 2 days. I’m so glad that I don’t even need to read any ripfire reviews because my problem is gaining and not loosing my weight right now.

Going Back to School

School year 2011-2012 will start in about three weeks times and my SILs are already preparing their kids. Most of my nieces and nephews are already enrolled and bought their school supplies, books and new uniforms. I guess not all of them are excited and happy to go back to school though.

I’m also assuming that my net café will pick up once again once the school years starts. Right now, I’m already checking the computer video cables, mouse and keyboards if they are all in good condition as I’m expecting students to flock in once again to do their homework and researches online.

My little niece is excited the other day to show off her Barbie bag that she’s going to use this coming school year. It was actually a gift from her uncle when she celebrated her 7th birthday last year. There’s no doubt that a lot of kids would love to have new school items but it’s also nice to be a little thrifty by not buying new ones if they have something old to use.

Pregnant Friends

I have lots of online and offline friends who are pregnant right now and there’s a baby boom! I’m so happy for them especially those that are first time to be pregnant. Their prayers are answered and a gift from above upon them. There’s no doubt that they’ve been taking care of themselves by frequently visiting their doctors and not just drinking any medicine especially when they have migraines during pregnancy.

I learned that those pregnant women who took Topamax, a drug that can cure migraine could cause serious birth defects on babies. The result is a cleft lip and palate for babies caused by this drug. Being aware of this drug can prevent mommies to file a Topamax lawsuit.

Shopping for School Supplies

It's back to school this coming June and many parents have already enrolled their kids. My niece was already enrolled and she’s going to be grade 2 already while her brother will be in 2nd year in highschool. Since, I have no kids and no one to enroll, I decided to just buy them school supplies.

The little girl was excited upon knowing that we’ll be buying her notebooks and other stuff last Sunday. We went at SM and shop for her things, in fact, she is the one who picks what notebook cover she’ll buy. Of course, she chose barbie and other characters.

Fortunately, National bookstore is not yet jam-packed though there are long lines already. Actually, I was so impatient in the line that I just gave SIL the money and let them pay while I shop for myself. I’m pretty positive that come next weekend and early June, it’ll be hard to buy supplies as buyers will flock the store.

   

Back to Workforce

My bestfriend Race worked in a corporate world for many years until she gave it up her job in 2009 to be a WAHM (work-at-home-mom). She enjoyed the time she had with her husband and the kids as she missed being with them all the time due to her 9-5 job. I was more than happy to know that she attend at all her children’s school activities and can still work on her online work at the same time.

It was fulfilling as what she told me because being with her kids and husband is priceless. She earns well eventhough she’s not in the office for her online jobs helped her a lot financial wise. She can shop for her kids and in-fact, she told me one time when they went on a shopping spree with her kids. They’ve been enjoying all what my friend has worked in years.

A great offer from a co-worker before to go back in the office was just to irritable. At first she was hesitant to accept it but later on after asking advice, deep thinking and praying, she thought it was another good opportunity that can help her family. She got the job and right now she’s back in workforce. I know she’s still trying to get back on office mode but knowing her she can do it with flying colors.

I just wish my friend great success and praying that she made the right decision.

Earning Extra while Tutoring

It's still summer vacation for the kids and it only means that students are at home enjoying, playing and making the most of their school break. My niece who is in college found another way to earn little bit of money that can add to her allowance this coming school opening in June. She's been tutoring students who are challenged with their math subjects. Actually, she's been doing this since last year but stopped for a while when she became busy with her studies (film).

Right now, she’s helping an elementary student with her Math subjects and I know for sure when the school opens those that she tutored can use the knowledge that they got from my niece’s tutoring. I’m sure in the future my niece can easily find a job, by looking on columbus jobs advertisements either as a professor/teacher or whatever career she wants to take. I look up to her very much and I know she’ll be successful soon.

Lunch with Balikbayan Relatives

    

My aunt and uncle came home from LA last April to celebrate the Holy Week here. They visited us once lunch and since they missed Filipino foods so much, they requested for some Pinoy foods.

My SIL and bro cooked them Sinigang na Maya maya in Miso, grilled tilapia and hito fishes, shrimps in coconut and grilled pork. We also had green and ripe mangoes and watermelon fruits that are all sweet and delicious. Oh boy, we’re all stuff after lunch.

 
My uncle who has not come home for 16 years seemed so excited to come home to their hometown in Tarlac, so bro and mom accompanied them one weekend. The best part of their visit is when we received their “pasalubongs” (gifts) that they brought from LA. Lots of chocolates, canned goods, shirts and more, but no oliva cigars this time for the boys.

Our LCD TV Shopping

My mom and I have been thinking of buying a new TV for our house

since December. Funny thing is we’ve been entering Abenson almost every week just to take a peek at the LCD TV that was on displayed. Fortunately, we didn’t right away since the price that time was still high.

At first, I asked my sis who is in Riyadh to canvass me a Samsung LCD TV there and indeed it was more cheaper there. Knowing about the price there, I already asked my sis to buy me and bring it when they come home by July or so, but I changed my mind.

I could not wait any longer to have a new TV, so last April 3, I told my mom that we’re going to buy a TV already since it’s also a bit cheaper that time since it was on sale at SM Appliance center.

Here’s mom and bro waiting for our turn to have the TV tested

I wanted to buy a 42” inch but I don’t have a budget for that so we just end up buying 32” Samsung LCD TV, which is actually just perfect for the size our living room. Now, we can enjoy watching TV and movie at a bigger screen and I’m sure mom is very happy with the replacement.

Blogger Unavailable

Why? Oh Why? oh Why?

Blogger is down the whole day yesterday (May 13th) and I could not even publish posts on my blogger hosted blogs. Fortunately, all my blogs are not down (it’s on read only mode) so readers can still view it. Aside from that, I have no other expiring tasks that needs to be submitted.

This is the 1st time that blogger has been down for so long and I hope this will not happen again. Thank God it’s ok now.

Hyperacidity Attack

It was around 5 pm while I was cooking pork adobo when I felt pain in my stomach once again. The pain was different and it looks like it was another severe hyperacidity that I felt before I went to my doctor last Feb. This is again the 1st time that I felt this severe attack.

I hurriedly put on some Katinko (Chinese ointment that can cure muscle paint, aches and even good for insect bites) and rubbed on my stomach. The pain is unbearable so I confined myself at the restroom and I was in and out for couple of times.

Thankfully, I have Kremil-S on hand so I took one pill hurriedly. After few minutes my stomach settled. I blame myself for eating ripe mangoes and chocolate cake today and I guess lots of acid build up in my stomach once again. I remember my doctor told me not to overeat too much of the foods that I know that can trigger such.

Oh, how I can resist mangoes and chocolate cake? Next time, I will not be eating them in one day as my stomach is really so sensitive when I eat foods that our sour, too creamy and anything with chocolate and milk. Poor me, I can’t even indulge on those foods with much gusto.

Baby Birth Defects

I have many online friends that are pregnant right now and I’m so happy for them for they have been blessed with a great gift from above. Others are first time moms while others will become mommies once again. It’s good to hear from them over twitter that they’ve been visiting their doctors all the time for check-ups.

I was quite shocked to hear about Topamax birth defect when I stumbled upon an article about it online. Pregnant women should be aware of Topamax drug that is known to cure migraine and is anti-convulsant but later found out that it could cause birth defects such as the cleft lip and palate on the baby. Mommies, be aware of this.

Bed Weather

It's been raining since last night here in our neck of the woods. Actually I had a very good night sleep and as a result , I already got up very late. The cool weather makes it very conducive to sleeping.

Right now, the weather is very gloomy and it’s due to storm Bebeng that’s already wreaking havoc in some parts of the country. The typhoon made the temperature cooler and lessen the whining of people due to extreme summer heat.

I heard that the raining season will come early this year and we need to ready our umbrellas, jackets and other rain gears.

Procrastinating

Oh dear.. there are times that I can’t help but to procrastinate. Been delaying my doctor's appointment after so many years, but finally after 3 or 4 years, I was able to see a doctor that addressed my health concerns. I also been putting off going to the Philhealth office to apply and also not getting an insurance for myself. I hope that one day; my feet will just lead me to those offices because I reckon I need them.

I also hope that I’ll minimize my procrastination mode so that I’ll not regret some things that I have not done asap.

Welcome to the Computer/Digital Age

I have never really imagined that we’ll come to this era where computers and modern technology can help us so much in so many ways. I clearly remember the days when I was still in college where beepers and cellphones are still non-existent. Just imagine, the hours that I wasted waiting for a person on our meeting place bec. I simply could not contact her. Thankfully, cellphones made us contact persons or clients much faster and easier.

Computers have also been very helpful. An awesome invention if I can say. Researching online has never been very easy. Online banking, shopping and other transactions are also possible. It’s also easy to look for services like at AptusInsurance.com by simply typing the URL on the address bar on web browsers. We can also read reviews about a certain product or service.

Communication via messengers sometimes replaces the phone calls because of the much affordable messenger chat capability. It’s incredible to know the these technologies can bring us more closer to our loved ones who are far away from us. Who would not get excited about iPhones, iPad, ipods and other similar gadgets that can be helpful in our computing, entertainment and communicating needs? Ahhh…. they are wonderful, but I still need to get one of those.

Watching videos or movies are high-tech as well. Gone are the days when we are contented on just watching “noisy” or grainy pictures. Thanks to high definition TVs and machines. HDMI cable and VGA cables can also help in attaining the high quality images in our monitors and TV. These cables are optimized to boost the image quality thus making our home-theater experience a great experience.

Right now, I’m still in awe with all the gadgets and new inventions that are coming every now and then. I just wish, I can still cope with the every changing world of digital technology.

World News / Events

So much has happened this past few days and I need to jot down all those events here:

 

 

1. The Royal Wedding: April 29th- We have witnessed the union of two hearts. Prince William and Princess Catherine (Kate) wed at the Westminster Abbey in London. Millions of people around the globe waited and watched their wedding which is also dubbed as The Wedding of the Century.

- To be honest, I was glued to the tube as early as 3pm (Phil. time) watching the pre-wedding special and the ceremony itself till about 8 or 9 pm. In fact, I even took some photos of the wedding on our TV screen.

2. Beatification of Pope John Paul II- May 1 – at Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City. Thousands of devotees flocked the Vatican to witness the beatification of blessed John Paul II and October 22 was even set as his feast day. One more miracle is needed before he can finally become a saint.

 3. Death of Osama Bin Laden – May 2- A friend tweeted about this news and upon hearing it, I immediately opened the TV and found Pres. Obama speaking and telling about the news.

Cartoon Characters Invade Nursing Work Clothes

When you want to work in the medical field, you need to ready yourself for some toxic days attending patients non-stop. I have experienced working in the hospital, particularly in the laboratory and I have to say that there are instances in our night duty when we need to get blood samples in the wee hours of the night. It’s our duty so we don’t have any reason to complain and not to fulfill it.

Aside from us, nurses also play an important role in patient’s care. It’s no joke to work full day where you need to be alert and always ready to help and assist patients. Working in this field requires you to wear comfortable uniforms such as Cherokee Workwear Scrubs as the job can be taxing. Wearing ill-fitting work clothes can be annoying.

Lately, I also noticed that some nurses are wearing colorful or patterned uniforms during their duties and to my surprise, I even saw Hello Kitty scrubs. It turned out that other cartoon characters such as Betty Boop, Dora, Tweety and lots more have been printed on nursing scrubs that I saw online. I guess these types of scrubs worked well in Pediatrics area where kids can enjoy seeing those characters.

Fun Times with the Bagets at SM

It’s Easter Sunday on April 24th and after having a feast for lunch and afternoon snacks, I told the my nieces that I’ll be redeeming the 2 tutti fruitti frozen yogurt that I purchase online and I want them to come with me so they can have it. I also asked the lil’ girl to come with us and it’s a miracle that she said yes. She learned that 2 of her “ates” and her “kuya” are coming with me and that made her want to come and bond with us as well. So off we went to SM mall.

Our first stop was at Smart Bro office to pay my internet bill. It was quick as they have the machines where you can pay instantly. Since the mall the we had in our town is quite small, you can literally go to many shops in just few hours. We went inside shops that sells mobile phones, gadgets, anti aging products, etc. We even try on different shoes inside SM and I end up buying Reign white sandals that she can use on her birthday while I got myself an everyday slippers.

 

Our last stop was at the Tutti frutti stand where the 2 older girls enjoyed the yogurts. Actually, I can eat lots of yogurt as my stomach is sensitive to that so I only had 1 or 2 spoons just to taste it.  Reign, Jerel and I found it too sour but the 2 girls loved it. Reign enjoyed her time with us and I’m sure she’ll be coming with us once again and I hope she’ll not ask me to buy her again..lol

Easter Sunday

We heard the mass at our local church and afterwards we had a small feast at my brother’s place for lunch. We can eat pork now so I marinated pork spare ribs the night before and asked older bro to cooked it in turbo broiler. Meanwhile, they barbequed fish and their favorite pork liempo and cooked fish sinigang in miso.

  

Actually, It’s a double celebration. Since my nephew is also going to celebrate his b-day the next day (April 25th) I bought a cake and her mom cooked also some spaghetti. Oh boy.. we are all stuffed.

Good Friday 2011

Good Friday falls on April 22nd and it was the day when some of religious groups form and perform the PENITENSYA on the streets. The scorching heat of the sun didn’t stop them from going on the street to imitate what happened to Jesus Christ the day he carry the cross, crucified and died.

Around 5 pm, my family and I joined the procession in our town’s street and later on watched the “AMBA”, dead Christ being brought inside the church. The crowd was huge and there are lots of religious saints that took part in the procession.

The Amba successfully arrived in our church premises, thousands of devotees followed and “carried” Him.