Daddy Learned a Lesson - The Hard Way

Last 2007, Daddy entrusted his money to someone whom he thought can be relied upon. Since he and I were having a really big conflict then, there was no one to advise him that what he was about to do would just set him for a big trap. He was led to believe that his money will be in good hands, and that he will earn from engaging on that "business" proposed to him. He was clueless; and that someone perhaps was secretly laughing her ass off for convincing Daddy to entrust his money to her.

Now, two years after, since that someone cannot return to Daddy anymore the total amount he entrusted, she started hiding from him. And whenever he tries to ask her about where the remaining amount is, plus the profit from the previous ones remitted, she will always say that she has nothing to give him. I, myself, don't want to believe what she said really. Because how come she has a business of her own now? Would you agree with me if I say that perhaps she already used Daddy's money to invest on her own? And worse, when we confronted her about that business, she just threw back at us lots of nonsense issues, as in not related at all to what the real issue was - and that was the money entrusted to her.

Daddy really learned a hard lesson from this whole thing. Although it seems impossible now that we can still get the remaining amount, we're not giving up on that "ruthless" person who took advantage of him. She will pay. She has to pay. If not in the form of money, it will be in another way - and that I call is BAD KARMA.

"To say there is no bad karma is the same as saying that when you drive over a cliff that only good things will happen."

Securing Our Home - ASAP!

Just days ago, I made a post here about my plan of installing a wireless security system to secure our home. And since it's now in my to-do priority list, I'm thinking about doing it ASAP than the rest of my home improvement plans. It's because the nanny told me a while ago about a thief roaming in our neighborhood. It's scary, just thinking that it's just the nanny, the two kids, and me here.

In the meantime, I instructed the nanny to put something heavy beside the front and back doors so that when someone tries to open them, we will be awaken by the sound of that heavy thing being moved. I also keep a hard steel bar beside the mattress that we're sleeping on; in case someone breaks in our home, it will just be within my reach.

But in spite of those two current home security measures that we observe now, I still don't feel 100% safe. I need something more reliable like the home security systems packages from Protect America. The Copper Package, for instance, includes all the necessary products that I need to secure our home. These are the motion detector, talking control panel, internal siren, door chime, yard sign, and window decals. Where else can I find a package as complete as that? Plus, it comes in a very affordable price so it won't be too hard on anyone's budget.

Securing our home ASAP is really my top priority now. Hey, if you're thinking the same, better check out Protect America. Be sure to call 877-470-2751 to get 2 keychain remotes when you order.

Reminiscing Our Baguio Trip: Part 1

Last February, I mentioned in my "Baguio, Here We Come" post that Daddy and I, together with my friends, will be visiting Baguio to witness the Penagbenga 2009. And since I totally neglected making a post about it, I'm here now trying to reminisce that "memorable" trip. Indeed, it was a memorable trip, not only because Daddy, me, and my friends had a great time but also because of two not-too-happy incidents: 1. We almost crashed ourselves because we dived into the crowd while watching the flower float parade and 2. My beloved Casio Exilim digicam was "stolen" from the pocket of Daddy's jacket (huhuhu!).

We only stayed in Baguio for two days; but we had so much fun visiting all the nice places in the City of Pines. During the first day, we went to Philippine Military Academy, Camp John Hay, Manor Hotel, and Baguio City market to buy food and souvenirs. And on the second day, we first dropped by at Baguio Athletic Bowl to have a closer look at the flower floats. They were really so gorgeous and we couldn't help but admire the creativity of the people who made the floats because they really used fresh flowers. After taking lots of pictures there, we then proceed to Botanical Garden, Wright Park, The Mansion, Mines View, Bell Church, and Strawberry Farm. We also took pictures at Kennon road before we head home.

Baguio City is really a cool and nice place to visit. Although that weekend getaway was a little short, Daddy and I had a really great time since it's our very first out-of-town trip together (in spite, of course, our "stolen" digicam). But yeah, Daddy promised that he'll replace it with a better one - hmmm perhaps a DSLR this time. "Thanks in advance, Dad!" LOL

Here are our pictures during our Baguio trip. I know, this post is 2 months late, but then again, "it's better late than never" LOLs.

( At the Baguio Botanical Garden )

( Outside the Manor Hotel )

( At the gate of Philippine Military Academy )

( At Burnham Park )

( making our way away from the crowd of Burnham )

( my look after we lost our "digicam" )

A New Baby

Lately, I’ve been thinking about having a new baby, but not the baby that you have in mind now, since I already have one on the way. It’s a new blog – perhaps a more serious blog with OFWs, would-be OFWs, and OFW families as my target readers. My husband is an OFW, so that inspires me to start making a blog with OFWs in mind.

However, since it’s a more serious blog that I’m thinking, I must secure a domain name and webhosting for it to make it look more credible. I already have a domain name in mind, but as for webhosting, I’m still looking at several webhosting reviews to be sure that I get the best webhosting service available.

Good thing, there are sites such as Web Hosting Geeks to help me in choosing the best webhosting option for my new baby. I’m looking at the independent reviews of the Top 10 web hosting providers as of now, and really I find them so helpful for bloggers like me. Each web host is ranked according to their features and bonus features, so I have a clue now as to which provider will serve me the most. Plus, they have this really cool web hosting blog which I also find very useful.

Many thanks to you Web Hosting Geeks! Now, I’m more than ready to have my new baby.

It's Raining Opps!

Wow, it's raining opps! This is the first time in ages that I've seen so many available opps (opportunities) from one of the sites I joined to make money online. As of this time, I've seen three green colors, meaning the opps are featured and are available for me to blog about. If only I could write about them at the same time, I would gladly do so (since I've mentioned here before that I'm having "slight money problems").

Anyway, enough of this. I'd better start writing now or else they'll pass before my eyes. But before I do, I want to utter this small prayer: Lord, thank you for the blessings you give each day.

Home Improvement Time

Our new home is still a mess. Aside from the fact that we need more furniture and appliances to fill in the space, we also need to go through some home improvement first, since the unit we bought is bare. Now, what I need is an interior designer to help me do the job. But since I can't find one as of this time, I settled on searching through the net for helpful home improvement articles.

Here, let me share to you one article that I found. It's about drawing floors and walls with SketchUp. If this is the first time you read about SketchUp, well let me tell you a little about it. SketchUp is a 3D sketching software that is used for the conceptual phases of design. Often times, architects and interior designers make use of this in creating any design they have in mind.

Now, why did I find the article helpful? The answer is simple. The information it contains is detailed and thoroughly discussed so that I can understand the process of drawing walls and floors using that software better. Although I am not a designer, this will make a good start for my home improvement project.

Oh, I’m so excited to make our floors and walls look better than they are now. For sure, Daddy could hardly wait as well.

BAD KARMA

Do you believe in BAD KARMA? I do.

Sad but true. Sometimes the nicest people are pushed to the edge, letting out the beast in them. And the person who pushed them there will get his/her own share of BAD KARMA.

It may not happen now, but later it will. So watch out!

Survey Time: Hair, Beautiful Hair

The last time I got a haircut was February. Now, my hair is starting to get longer again, and I'm beginning to feel bored with it. I'm thinking of getting a new, but some old folks say that when pregnant, it's best not to have a haircut. So okay, I might just follow the tradition.

Anyway, here's a survey that might be of interest to you. It's about hair, beautiful hair. Feel free to answer :) .

Pregnancy Week by Week Videos

I am now 19 weeks pregnant, and I'm more than excited to share to everyone here how baby and I are doing during this week. Here is a Pregnancy Week by Week resource to keep you updated of our amazing journey.

To expecting moms out there, I highly recommend that you watch these videos. And to those who are not, feel free to check them out as well. Happy viewing!

"Slight Money Problems"

I'm having "slight money problems" lately, but I don't want to discuss them with Daddy because I know he'd just feel pressured. I don't know how I had gotten into this situation; all I know is that these are starting to get into my nerves. Although I'm trying to start spending really wisely, I'm still so bothered by these to the extent that sometimes I find myself in situations where I could endanger myself and the baby inside me.

I keep telling myself that I will overcome all these "slight money problems" in time. But the more I convince myself, the more I find it impossible to relax and be worry-free because the interests and late fees continue to pile up. Daddy somewhat knows about these, but I don't want to discuss these with him further because he couldn't do anything anyway. With the exchange rate of 1,000,000 Korean Won to Philippine Pesos falling, how can he?

So sad to think that in times like these, I could rely on no one except myself. Now, I'm thinking about getting freelance jobs again, in spite of my already tight schedule with work and home, not to mention the long distance that I travel a day just to be at work. I know it would be too much for me already, since I'm also 19 weeks pregnant. But what can a poor wife and mommy can do? I can't let these "slight money problems" overwhelm me; I need to do something. And if that something means working beyond working hours, I'll do it. May God have mercy on me and my baby.

Securing Our Home

Ever since we moved in to our new home, Daddy keeps reminding the nanny and me about securing the doors and the windows before we go to bed or when we go out to buy something at the grocery or simply stroll around the neighborhood. I admit, sometimes I get annoyed of his constant reminder, but I very well understand his side since he is far away from us and cannot protect us in case something happens. If only I could get a wireless security system right at this minute, I would do so just to secure our home. That way, it won't only be me and the nanny who will feel secured but also Daddy.

I remembered when I was in high school, when I was still living with my father, a man broke into our house. It was around 3am when I suddenly woke up and saw a shadow of a man at my room door. My dad was sleeping just outside my room, so I got out of the bed and asked, “Who’s that?” No reply from the man, and the moment I came near the door, I saw a man wearing no tops, only shorts, with no slippers or shoes. After he saw me, he ran as fast as he could, through our back door. I woke my dad and told him that there was a man inside the house but I wasn’t able to recognize his face. When we tried to search for him, we couldn’t find him anymore. From then on, I felt more scared than ever, thinking that what if that man comes back. Good thing, he never did and our house was never broken into since then.

Situations just like the one I experienced could really be terrifying. I don’t want to experience that again, so it’s really a must that I install a wireless security system, just like the one from Protect America - the leading home security solution provider. I've been looking at their packages and really I'm amazed at how great their deals are. Even with the Copper Package, our home will already be secured with those chime, motion detector, and internal siren installed.

Having a wireless security system installed in our home should really be on top of my priority to-do-list now. If you are also thinking the same, why not contact Protect America? Call 877-470-2751 now and get 2 keychain remotes for every order!

Morning Pictorial Using My Macbook's PhotoBooth

It's Monday morning, a rest day for me, and a time to bond with the little girls. To start the morning right, I decided to capture some photos of the baby in between, her sister, Yana, the nanny, and me. It's been so long since I last posted a picture of Baby Gaby here (remember my post saying that our digicam was stolen last March?). So, I'm sure you're all eager to see how she looks like now.

Here are the pictures we capture during our morning pictorial. Since Daddy has not bought a new digicam yet, I settled on my macbook's PhotoBooth to take these pics:

Daddy's Future Plan

I’m so sleepy now, yet I can’t go to bed yet since Daddy is still discussing with me his future plan. I’ve mentioned here that we recently moved in to our new home, right? Although the unit is okay, I’m having major problems in commuting to and fro my work from Tuesdays to Saturdays. So, Daddy decided that once we’re done paying for this, we might get a new property and have this one open for renting or perhaps for sale. When that time comes, we might need the service of Real Property Management to make the task easy for us. Well, that’s really the plan. But who knows, Daddy might still change his mind and settle on this one instead.

The Baby in Between Got Really Scared

While Daddy and I were talking over voice call in Skype, he sent me a URL, which according to him was an interesting video to watch. It was a scary ghost video of some sort. I had my own shares of watching scary clips from the Internet, so I already had an idea what it was about. And I was right, it was just like one of the scary videos sent to me via email.

After playing it, I decided to show it to Ate Rose, the nanny. Baby Gaby was right beside her while watching. It never occurred to me that the video will be too scary for her. After the "ghost" popped right on the screen, Baby Gaby was shouting and crying like crazy. She was so scared. And I couldn't help but blame myself for allowing her to see it.

The nanny screamed as well, but not as loud as Baby Gab's. I panicked and immediately carried Baby Gab and hugged her so tight. Daddy scolded me for letting her see it, but I blamed in return for sending that video. After a while, Baby Gab was back on her old self, and so Daddy and I couldn't help but just laugh at ourselves for being so silly.

The lesson: We will not let her watch any scary video again. Got it, Dad?

A Tribute to Nurses

I'm not a nurse. And it never occurred to me that I’ll become one ever since I was a child. But after seeing my friends and acquaintances, who are nurses, happy and successful in their chosen field, I couldn't help but question myself, how come I didn't choose nursing as my career? I could have been wearing scrubs right now instead of my typical office attire.

But even if I’m not a nurse, I do understand the many challenges and disappointments that nurses go through. I’ve seen how hardworking and committed they are, just like the ones who assisted me during my previous deliveries. And so, they deserve to be recognized – not only for their commitment to their career but also for their courage and compassion. This is where Scrubs comes in – the nurse’s guide to good living.

You might think that since nurses guide, assist, and take care of patients, they already know everything in life. No, they don’t. Just like us, they also stumble upon life’s difficulties and disappointments and so, they need a really good resource for them to be more inspired and dedicated. And Scrubs aims to do just that – and more. Scrubs include articles which aim to inspire and uplift the spirits not only of nurses around the globe but also of those who are not, that includes me. There's even one article on this site that particularly caught my attention and really moved me after reading it. It's entitled Gratitude Walk. I've been so occupied with work, home, family, and financial concerns lately to the extend that I neglect spending time with myself and do at least a gratitude walk. That article was an eye-opener for me, so I made a promise to myself that I'll always find a "me" time by simply walking.

Scrubs is really not the ordinary clinical site that we can find on net these days. It's way beyond the technical stuff. Even if I'm not a nurse, I'm glad that there's a site such as this. More power to you Scrubs and kudos to all the nurses around the world!

An Update

Sorry guys if I haven't updated this family blog lately. I've mentioned earlier that I'm reviving my personal blog, Phoebe Online, right? So, that's the main reason why I kind of neglected this one during the past days. But anyway, I'm back now and hopefully, I'll be able to find more time to blog in spite of my busy schedule not only in the office but also at home.

And hey, maybe you're all wondering how the baby in between is doing now. Well, she's fine; she's doing okay and she's getting bigger everyday. She's now 1 year and 6 months old. Promise, once the nanny got her new cellphone with camera, I'll take pictures of Baby Gaby and post them here.

Okay, that's my update for now. 'Til next!

Daddy and I Learned About Ethical Hacking

When you hear the word hacker or hacking, what is the first thing that comes into your mind? Illegal, right? Daddy and I have that same notion before, until we saw the news about the Commission on Elections’ plan of getting hackers to test their system for the 2010 automated poll. Were we surprised? Yes! Because we never thought that hacking can be done for IT Security purposes. It’s called Ethical Hacking.

If this is the first time you read about this term, well let me give you a little info about it. Basically, ethical hacking is about attacking a system, which of course with the owner’s request or authorization, to seek vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could take advantage of. Also known as intrusion testing or penetration testing, this is conducted by an individual, known as the Ethical Hacker, to test a security system legally for the purpose of helping the owner take pre-emptive measures against malicious attacks instead of exploiting them.

Now, you might wonder, how can anyone be considered a Certified Ethical Hacker? Well, you can simply attend the CEH Program through the E-Council iClass Official Training, with the following categories being offered: Security Fundamentals, Ethical Hacking, Computer Forensics, Disaster Recovery, and Secure Programming. Actually, Daddy and I were also thinking about giving it a try. After all, who doesn't want to benefit from a high paying job these days? Not to mention, the chance to be recognized as one of the experts in this field.

Reviving Phoebeonline.com

Lately, I've been thinking what to do about my other personal blog, Phoebeonline.com. I've been neglecting it for quite some time now, my bad :( . Honestly, if not for the email reminding me that my domain name is about to expire on August, I would never realize that it's supposed to be the blog that I should be more focusing on since I bought its domain name unlike this one.

Now, after days of contemplating, I've decided that it's better to create posts for this family blog solely about the baby in between and our family as a whole. As for my personal posts (re: experiences, pregnancy, parenting, rants, travels, etc. ), I'd write them on my other site, Phoebeonline.com. Actually, I started to transfer some of the posts I made here regarding my pregnancy to that blog. And so yeah, it is going to be more of my online haven from now on, and leave this one to the baby in between.

So, if you haven't seen that personal blog of mine yet, feel free to drop by and read a few of my posts. And if you want to exchange links, I'd be very happy to do so. Thanks!!!

Pleasures

I love wearing perfume, but only when I'm not pregnant. My personal favorite is Pleasures by Estee Lauder. It has a refreshing, flowery scent and possesses a blend of violets and lilies, peonies and roses, with fragrant woods and exotic blossoms.

I first learned about Pleasures from my friend Jirl last 2007. After trying one bottle, it became my favorite since then. My husband loved the scent of it as well. He couldn’t resist kissing me on my nape whenever I wear it.

Oh, I can’t wait to start using Pleasures again. Ugh, this pregnancy is really not fun at all! :(