RANDOM THOUGHTS

Moved to Texas

2012-03-03T13:10:00.001-05:00

Moved to texas

Thanks for the guest post by Jonathan Curtis

We moved to Texas on a whim but it ended up being the best thing ever for our pocketbooks. It’s so great how cheap everything is down here compared to the city and the weather’s not too bad either! The people are so nice and we found a great agent to help us get our home – it was bargain basement priced and we’ve saved money on everything from a contractor tohttp://www.texaselectricityproviders.com by the suggestions of our new neighbors. I just don’t know what we’re going to do with all our extra spending money each year! Anyway, I’m really excited about how things are panning out down here and I can’t believe this is our new life. If you’d asked me a year ago if I wanted to live in Texas I would have laughed at you but as it turns out, it’s a great state for me. I love barbeque, too, so there’s no shortage of great places for me to run by and grab lunch if you know what I’m saying!

What's Next For Me?

2012-03-03T10:29:00.003-05:00

I'm finally done with my Medical Billing program! Actually I've been done for more than a week now and I'm just taking a breather. Next week I will be busy updating and sending out resumes and hopefully I could get a job that allows mommy hours! Mommy hours as in - I work while my son is in school and I go home when he gets out of school, is that too much to ask? LOL. Well that's six hours a day too, so I guess I'm willing to work part time for now. It would be a great adjustment after being away from corporate world for almost 7 years. I am excited to see what's next for me and I'm looking forward to working again!

It's About Time

2012-02-10T20:03:00.004-05:00

The mid-winter school break is upcoming and I'm so looking forward to not having to wake up early and get my son ready for school. I can stay in bed longer and enjoy some quality sleep for a change. I'm missing on good sleep because I stay up really late to do my online course. I'm a night person and I am most productive at night. During the day, I do household chores and run errands, so I'm not really resting a bit too. Sometimes things catch up on me and I would need a power nap to recharge again. I can't wait for my last online course to get done, I only need to take up the final exams and I'm all set (sigh!) It's about time to get done with my course!

Non-working Blogs

2012-02-10T19:51:00.006-05:00

So what have I been up to the past weeks? I've been up to so many things except updating my blogs. The time when I finally had the chance to check my blogs, two of them were acting weird too. Every time I try to access my mommy blog and food blog, I always get redirected to an entrecard.mad1421.com,,,, link. Does anybody know how to fix this problem? My mommy blog is a domain, current and doesn't need renewing till August 2012. The food blog however is just a free blog so no need to renew at all, unless there's a new policy that I'm not aware about (?). I haven't been active blogging so I'm totally losing my 'techy' skills if you can call it that. Anyway, now that I'm almost done with my course, I can commit few hours to blogging again. I wish though that my other two blogs were working too.

Get in the Kitchen!

2011-10-16T01:03:00.002-04:00

Guest post written by my buddy Lavern Small

I recently got direct TVat home and I can tell you one thing, I’ve been watching the Food Channel all the time! Whether it’s Bobby Flay or Paula Deen or even Ina Garten you can bet I’ve got one of them on my TV at any given time. I work from home so it’s been really nice having it on in the background while I work since it’s something I can easily tune out. I love cooking anyway so it’s been fun picking up extra tips and tricks while I’m just doing my regular work and I know my boyfriend can tell a difference in my cooking skills! There’s nothing about being a chef that excites me, particularly the hours, but it’s nice to know that I could hold my own in any kitchen if given the chance. My family wasn’t big on cooking when I grew up so everything I’ve learned about the discipline has been self-taught up until this point. That’s something I feel like I can really be proud of you know?

Weekend in NH

2011-10-12T23:46:00.003-04:00

We had a great family weekend getaway in Lincoln NH last week. We took advantage of the long weekend and the gorgeous weather - imagine fall weather in the 80's, unbelievable! It was supposed to be a three-and-a-half-drive up to Lincoln but it took us a bit more because of the traffic. It looked as if everybody was out enjoying the weather too. We saw the beautiful display of foliage along the way, breathtaking! We stayed at South Mountain Resort right at the center of town closed to everything which was both great and not-so-great. Great because everything was almost walking distance, not-so-great because it will take you forever to turn left when you're driving because traffic was moving so slow.

There were many highlights in this vacation. We went miniature golfing twice! We had so much fun that we had to do it again. In fact we might do it again this weekend, schedule permitting. But we're not driving all the way to NH for that, we found a miniature golf range close by. We also took the Hobo Railroad train ride around the White Mountains, and the view was just awesome. We also took the Gondola Skyride up to Loon Mountain and it was really fun. When we reached the summit, the kiddo played some at the playground then we had sumptuous lunch at the summit restaurant. Then we just enjoyed the breathtaking view of the mountain and lake from the restaurant deck. The kiddo also had the time of his life bouncing and flipping back in the bungee trampoline. It was his first time to try it and was not scared at all. Then of course as adventurous as we are in terms of trying new cuisines, we dined in different restos. Hb had the weirdest mac 'n cheese with cranberry sauce, he said it was just ok. We also went to a very popular pub full of bikers and waited for a long time to have a seafood platter and clam chowder.

It was a fun family vacation overall but I wish we could stay longer.

Being a Creative Mom

2011-08-05T18:24:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was my son's last day of summer camp so today meant the start of my really busy days as if the days before this were not busy enough. I wanted the day to be spontaneous but just the same I still planned some educational activities to make the day somewhat like in summer camp.

As soon as he woke up I asked him to make his bed, which he could now do without any help. Then before breakfast I asked him to sort by color the puzzles that he scattered on the floor the night before. Then I asked him to put the puzzles together, he only finished two so he's doing the other two tonight before bedtime. Then after breakfast I taught him how to write letter A in the alphabet. I made today the Letter A Day, and the next days will be assigned for the succeeding letters. I noticed that he doesn't like writing very much, he gets easily bored, so I just made him trace three big and three small letter A's. Then we went out to play in the yard. He rode his battery operated John Deere pick up truck, then played in the sprinklers, then took a dip in the pool even if it was only in the 70's. He played in the water for few minutes then decided to come out for good, it was a bit cold for him.

Then we went out to lunch in an Indian resto after which went shopping and visited a friend. Now while making dinner I let him play for an hour in Wii, he's playing Wii Party. I normally just let him play in the computer on weekends, but today is an exception since he was very good and did what he's told (for most part).

When you're a mom, you need to be creative and resourceful in making school vacation fun and educational at the same time. I don't allow too much tv nor too much computer. We do physical activities and some arts and crafts too. He gets quiet time too in his bedroom where he listens to his fave songs that I uploaded in his boombox. I noticed that he really loves to sing along with songs in the radio, I'm amazed at how easily he could memorize lines from such songs. If he's old enough I would enroll him in music school.

Keeping Up With My Boy

2011-07-19T03:42:00.004-04:00

It's almost 4am now and I'm still up. This is what happens when I fall asleep while watching my show on tv, it energizes and recharges me to stay up very late. Never mind feeling sluggish in the morning, but staying up late accomplishes a lot of things for me. I've done some online work and online job application too while doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. After I take my son to his summer camp at 9am I will have a trip back to my bed to catch up on zzzz's. I can't keep up anymore with my energetic son so I have to recharge before he comes back from camp. I've planned some arts and crafts projects for him in the afternoon so I need to stay awake.

Father's Day Celebration

2011-06-20T00:00:00.004-04:00

We had a great Father's Day celebration today. We started the day by celebrating early Mass at St. Mary's Church followed by Irish breakfast at Casey O'Conor's resto. Back home I had a big piece of pork shoulder cooking at the crockpot that I made into Pulled Pork BBQ. We brought this dish to a fishing-picnic escapade with close friends. It was my first time to try this recipe and it turned out great. Though we didn't catch any fish, we had so much fun nevertheless. Two of our friends caught crabs instead of fish and they used my son's fish pail to keep the crabs in. This gave my son so much thrill and excitement especially when a friend tried to lower a bird's feather in the pail and the crabs started to snap out. My son said that playing with the crab is so much better than fishing. Oh not to forget, I also went canoeing with my two girlfriends while the guys fished. I was scared at first but it turned out to be an exhilarating experience, I might try it again.

After fishing at Horseneck we headed out to Cape Cod only to call it off halfway through since it was beginning to get dark already. So we might continue our escapade the following weekend, hopefully we'll get another great weather next week.

Family's Health Comes First

2011-05-14T22:46:00.003-04:00

I set the alarm clock earlier than usual last night so I can get my family ready for my son's first Fishing Derby at 8am. I signed him up for this event over a month ago and he's been practicing to catch fish with his dad ever since. This event is for kids aged 4 to 8 who will be grouped by age and will compete for the biggest and longest fish they will catch in the pond. My son was so excited and he couldn't wait for this day. But there seem to be another thing planned for today, my husband was so sick I had to take him to ER.

Backtrack - On Thursday I prepared Crab Cakes and Green Beans and Potato Salad for dinner. It was a sumptuous dinner and he ate a lot. Late night he started feeling sick and took a lot of trips to the bathroom. By the way I ate a lot too of the same food but didn't have any problem. On Friday he felt really cold but didn't have a fever. He didn't have an appetite for anything, he was only taking liquids. I was so worried and offered to take him to the doctor but he refused.

My hb has very high tolerance for pain and he doesn't like being babied. But Saturday morning he was in great pain. He was groaning and moaning and couldn't take the stomach pain anymore. Finally he agreed to be taken to ER. At the ER, he was administered with medication for nausea and pain and he felt a lot better. Then he took some barium liquid before the CT scan, and two hours later he had the procedure. Thank God, he didn't have anything serious going on in his stomach, it was diagnosed as viral syndrome and will just go away in time.

So my son's first taste of Fishing Derby went kaput, but it's ok. The family's health comes first, there will be a lot more Fishing Derby to join in later. For now, his dad will take him fishing as often as he can, and by the next Fishing Derby he's gonna be an expert!

Off To the Next Course

2011-04-13T11:26:00.004-04:00

Finally last night I was able to take the final exams on Medical Billing course despite my momentum being crashed as I couldn't access the page online for almost a week. So one more course down and two more to go. I couldn't wait to finish this program. I am praying that I'll get everything done before the spring ends. Summer is just around the corner and I wouldn't like to be left out on family outings, so no more books by that time. Anyway, now I'm off to a new topic and I'm hoping to stick to my schedule. Per my calculations, I should get everything done in three to four weeks. Wish me luck.

Momentum Crasher

2011-04-11T15:33:00.003-04:00

I'm in the middle of trying to finish my long overdue online course. I made a schedule that I strictly stick to. Everything was working perfectly till the online site acted up. First of all, you can not advance to the next module till you pass the quizzes or project of the prior module. Now I'm at the end of the course, I've been wanting to take the final exams since Friday night but the final exams page wouldn't load right. And every time I tried to access the page again after rebooting my laptop, same problem came up. And the worse part was, the time just kept running down. So I wasted at least 5 minutes just trying to load the page. Now I only have 2 hours and 55 minutes to finish the finals.

I hate it that the school doesn't have technical support on weekends so I had to wait till today to call them and we have three hours time difference too. Now I'm still waiting for the support to call me for any instructions. I hope they could solve the problem before my momentum totally runs out.

Today's Gospel

2011-04-10T10:01:00.004-04:00

It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. There is then one Teacher, who spake and it was done; while even those things which He did in silence are worthy of the Father. He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His very silence, that he may be perfect, and may both act as he speaks, and be recognized by his silence.

--St. Ignatius

Fun at the Backyard

2011-04-08T16:56:00.004-04:00

After being out of normal circulation for sometime now, I was able to dug myself out of my books and went to lunch with my two boys. We went to the Indian buffet that we always go to and got myself stuffed like there's no tomorrow. It was nice to be out especially when the weather was really nice. It's good to breathe some fresh air after a very long winter.

When we got home I noticed that my son was a bit sleepy so I dragged him to the backyard to ride his bike. Taking a nap late in the afternoon is not ideal, because it means that he's still gonna be up till past 11pm, so then I won't be able to stick to my night study schedule. He just took a few turns in his bike then decided to run around the backyard. It was the perfect weather to hang out in the backyard so we were there for quite a while. My son took his collections of rocks from the deck and made a rock garden. He lined up all the rocks around my flower beds and he enjoyed it a lot. When he ran out of rocks, he started digging for some more under the deck. When he's done lining up rocks, he just rolled down the slopes so his clothes were stained with grass. It's no biggie, what mattered most was that he had a great time. Tomorrow he's going out fishing with his dad.

Jets vs Colts

2011-04-08T16:29:00.005-04:00

Posted by Jerold Austin

After having to come into the office this past Saturday to finish up on a project due Monday morning, I came home to relax with a beer and some football. I flipped over to the HD channel on my satellite TV I got after coming across this directv DVR information to catch the NFL playoff game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets. This was anticipated to be a grudge match because the Colts had knocked the Jets out of the playoffs last year. The Jets head coach, Rex Ryan had never beaten the Colts in a game where Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning had actually played the entire game. His only win in fact came last season in a game where the Colts, having already clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs, decided to rest the majority of their players in order to get ready for the playoffs. So I decided to root for the Jets because they were the heavy underdog going in and because I really wanted to see the Jets play their hated rivals, the New England Patriots, in the divisional round.

For the most part the game was a defensive snooze fest, with three and out punts the norm. The

Colts finally came through on a busted coverage for the games first points. The scoring apparently picked up some in the second half and ended dramatically with a Nick Folk field goal. But by then I was so tired from the day's work that I had dozed off.

Today's Gospel

2011-04-03T07:52:00.008-04:00

"The love of worldly possessions is a sort of bird line, which entangles the soul and prevents it flying to God." -- St. Augustine

A Blessed Sunday to everyone!

Cramming Mode

2011-03-28T07:14:00.006-04:00

So I'm at the height of my cramming mode trying to finish course number 2 and 3 of my online Medical Billing course. I need to finish them by April 24 or else I have to pay for registration fee and probably for upgraded books again. I've wasted too many days just putting them aside, not that I wasn't busy doing other things, it's just that the course got the lowest priority in my sked. But I'm usually great when I cram, my adrenalin is really kicking up and I accomplish a lot. Well, that's not all true now. I'm not the young gal I used to be with the stamina and strength that you wouldn't believe.

After staying up very late all nights 'burning my eyebrows' my body gave in. I woke up Saturday with achy joints, upset stomach and kind of shivering. I had a temperature. I regret wasting the day not reading at least a chapter, but I just couldn't focus. I went to bed early because we practiced the Earth Hour. We turned off all the lights including all addictive electronics like ipod, iphone, laptop, computers, etc. So for lack of anything to do we just went to bed early.

At around 2am I started getting this grumbly achy feeling in my tummy and I felt very cold. I went at least twice to the bathroom but still didn't feel right. I asked hb to get me a thick comforter and sweater and a cup of hot green tea. After all that I was still shivering endlessly and just couldn't get back to sleep. Finally at around 5am I felt sweaty and warm and felt a little better. My tummy was still a little upset but at least I didn't have a temperature anymore.

I was recharged and was able to finish a chapter without staying up late again. I went to bed at 11pm! I hope to keep up with that schedule for the succeeding chapters. No more staying up late!

Sony Vaio Sucks!

2011-01-26T23:19:00.006-05:00

I was so excited to finally get my laptop that was twice sent to Sony for repair. I must say that this laptop has been out longer (for repair) than the time I've used it. The second time I sent it back to Sony my problems were - it freezes often so I had to constantly turn it on and off; the blue ray drive and the SD card drive quit working. So now that its back I was of course expecting that all those problems were history, but nah! Only after few minutes of trying the blue ray drive if it already works, it just went dead and trapped my cd inside. My excitement went pfft in a flash. It sucked, Sony sucks! I have never had these much problems with the laptops I've had in the past compared to the headaches I've suffered so far with my Sony Vaio.

They have this survey card attached to the laptop when it arrived and oh boy did my hb give them a failing grade and would never ever recommend it. Now for the third time, we're waiting for another box yet again from Sony so we could send my laptop back yet again for yet another repair, grrrr! I just hope that the Sony repair would do their job this time. Now I have to contend myself again with checking emails and all in my iphone, thank God for this small but powerful gadget!

Hopefully (against all hopes) that when this laptop comes back that its really operational and in usable condition!

Missed Delivery

2011-01-20T14:30:00.006-05:00

Just yesterday I was talking about missing my laptop. I guess Sony heard my plea, and delivered it today via Fedex. But unfortunately, the Fedex guy didn't see that we were at home this morning and didn't even bother to ring the bell or call. I know it's impossible to get to the front door due to thick snow, but he could have called us on the phone. Anyway, when my hb left for work today he saw a door tag hanging by the garage door saying that Fedex attempted to deliver but nobody was home, yeah right! So I called the 1-800 number of Fedex and found out that they will attempt to deliver again tomorrow by 3pm or I could drive some 20 miles to their office after 4pm to pick it up. I'm desperate to use my laptop but I don't feel like driving there too. What to do?

I Need My Laptop Back

2011-01-19T00:05:00.004-05:00

I have been without a laptop for over two months now and I'm still surviving it. I couldn't believe I've been doing great with just my iphone. But of course iphone can only do so much, I still need a pc to do my blog work. Right now, I'm using my hb's computer in his office and I can only use it when he's not working. Most of the times he's working until the wee hours of the morning, but right now he retired to bed quite early, just my luck! But sooner or later, I really need to get my laptop back. I sent it to Sony for repair, actually it's its second time to be repaired in less than 3 months. It's a good thing that hb bought an extended warranty for it. Hopefully Sony would do a better job this time. I hate sending it back for repair on the same problem again.

Icy Roads

2011-01-18T23:57:00.004-05:00

I dread driving my son to school tomorrow morning. After getting so much snow last week, and rain all day today, the roads are expected to be a hazard for driving tomorrow because they'll be slippery for sure. There were lots of accidents on the road shown in the news today and they warned people to be extra careful for the morning commute. I should warn hb to be careful when he takes the garbage out tomorrow.

Slowing Down a Bit

2011-01-18T23:48:00.003-05:00

What an awful day it was. Aside from the messy weather, I'm also nursing a bad back. I was getting ready for my son's swimming class when I suddenly couldn't get myself up from stooping down. It felt like I got paralyzed from my lower back down. I couldn't hold my frame up but managed to baby walk from the bathroom to our bedroom door. I tried to scream for help but my hb was busy grinding coffee beans so he couldn't hear me. I tried to hold tight on to the door praying I wouldn't drop dead on the floor. Finally hb heard me and rushed upstairs and carried me to the bed. I was half naked and he helped me dress up. My sweet little guy was there too telling me that he'd keep me company. But it was getting late for his swimming class, so hb took him instead.

All day today, I was on heating pad to relieve my back from pain. And a tablet of pain reliever helped too. But there's still stiffness in my back and I still can't stoop down or twist my it. It's hard to get injured when there's so much things to do around the house. But I guess my body was just telling me to slow down. I hope to get better soon.

Shopping Online

2010-11-28T01:54:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I'm still up until now. I''ve been occupied with browsing Christmas gifts online, taking advantage of great deals that I just couldn't stop till I get the best deal of all. I've looked in all sites possible and compared prices of toys, apparel, jewelry and kitchen items. I want to stick to my plan of getting all the gifts early so I won't be overwhelmed at the last minute. I'm actually feeling exhausted, my eyes are already strained from looking at my computer monitor for at least five hours. I should better call it a night. I'll just continue searching tomorrow or I should say later today as it's already 2am.

Excited to Put Up My Christmas Decor

2010-11-27T22:02:00.006-05:00

Now that the Turkey Day is over, it's time to tackle Christmas once again. My excitement to put up my Christmas decors has been building up as the days go by. Last week when I went to Kohl's to buy a vest for my son, I was drawn to the the St. Nicholas Square's Christmas Village collection and bought like ten kinds of items to add to my growing collection. I can't wait to put them out on display in my family room.

I would love to get a new set of train too that I will put around my tree but my hb is discouraging me from buying anymore, at least not this time. He said to wait till our son is old enough not to break it. My son loves train and he just couldn't help himself, he got so excited and couldn't resist the moving train to the point of breaking it. But I'd rather get a train that my son would still enjoy watching than to wait till he's older and not even care for it. What do you think?

Long Lost Friends

2010-10-19T23:42:00.003-04:00

I'm so loving Facebook right now because I've found so many old college friends that I wouldn't have found otherwise. To think that I was very reluctant to create an account back then. Anyway, I've created a group for my college batch and now we have 11 members and maybe 5 more others to be added. I hope to find a lot more and hopefully we could get together after 25 years. That will be so cool.