Brrr...Baby It's Cold Outside

Coming from a country with a tropical climate almost all year round, it still is hard to get used to bone-chilling cold every winter. It is very, very cold today. The temperature is only in the low 20's and then if you factor in the wind chill, it feels like we're in the teens! It is during these times like this when I start thinking of going on florida vacations. Who doesn't want sun with warm weather? I'm sure a lot of you do!

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Moving On

It will be 3 months this week since my dad passed away. Sometimes it still is hard to believe that he is gone. I'm sure it is much harder for my mom. My dad is in his 70's and we knew that one day he will pass on but I guess no one can really prepare for this thing. After this happened, it kind of gave us perspective on things. Dh and I updated our will and made sure we have ample insurance. It's easy to look for these things in the internet, we were able to check out life insurance rate online. This is especially important for families with young children like ours.

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Giving It A Modern Look

I've been planning on redecorating my living room for quite some time now. At least, I've done half of it; we purchased contemporary furniture, a new sofa and ottoman for this room. The ottoman is huge and I placed it on the middle of the room, to replace the glass coffee table. Instead of having a sofa and a love seat, we only have one seating so that opened up the room a bit. Now all we have to do is paint the walls since right now it is ivory so kind of like white almost. I want to give the room warmth so I plan on having it painted some kind of brownish caramel color.

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What to Give?

I always find it hard to find gifts for men. It seems there aren't a lot of choices out there. Wallet, belt, shirt, robe, socks, etc. But one can only have so many wallets and belts each year. It's not like us women where we can have 20 pairs of shoes, more than two pocketbooks and even many belts and scarves. This year, I am in search of a gift for dh. Maybe I'll just give him a gift cheque and let him get whatever he needs, maybe some industrial handles or even some computer games.

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Love My Fridge!

Yes, I do. We've had this Samsung fridge for a year now and I can honestly say that it is one of the best, if not THE best. We bought this fridge when the old one just conked out. The compressor died so it is not cooling down. After that happened, dh said that we need a fridge with more than one compressor, so if one compressor dies, there's another that is still working. So we found the Samsung 4-door fridge. Yes, it has 4 separate compressors. One for the freezer, one for the cooler, one for the fresh/vegetable crisper and one for the freezer/soft-freeze compartment. It also has a built-in refrigerator water filters. I love the fresh/vegetable crisper, the veggies and fruits like strawberries lasts longer, as in very long. If you're looking for new fridge/freezer, then you might want to take a look at this model. It is highly recommended.

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Her Wish List Shrunk

Gone are the days where A's wish list was a yard long. What happened? Well, I think she is growing up. Just a year ago, she had a lot of toys, mostly Nintendo DS and Wii stuff on her list. There was even a year when she wanted to have a horse and of course, some equestrian apparel to match. I had to talk to her about it though, I told her that we cannot afford to buy her a horse! Thank goodness that my kid isn't a brat, she understood and asked for something more affordable. Now, one more year and she's going to ask for the puppy or kitten that her dad promised her.

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Redecorating Ideas

There comes a time when you just get tired of seeing the same decor every single day. I might be getting close to those times. I'm thinking of doing some redecorating in my kitchen. Of course, it will all depend on our budget. If we have extra $$ then it will be a bigger redecorating project and if we do not have that $$ in our pocket, it will be either a medium or smaller sized project. One of the things I would love to do is put up some tiles for the backsplash. Maybe some copper tile would be nice although I would imagine it will be a little hard to clean or at least it will take more work to clean it. Whatever the project will be, I know it is going to be fabulous.

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Getting a Flu Shot is Like Pulling Teeth!

It is hard to get flu shot for the kids these days. I guess a lot more people are getting them for their children. We always bring our kids for flu shots every year, you probably will too if you know that many are dying because of influenza. Then this year, you have the Swine flu!
Good thing that my children are not scared of doctors (and even dentists). It's not hard to get them to sit on the manual exam tables in the doctor's office. I think one of the key is talking to them days before the actual visit so they will have an idea on what is going to happen. It is also helpful if you're not nervous yourself.

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Visiting Family

My in-laws are what you call 'snow birds'. They go south every winter. It used to be they leave the first week of December but it gets moved earlier and this year, they left for Florida the day after Thanksgiving. A lot of seniors do this every year. Who can blame them? I guess after living in the northeast all their lives, where the winters can be brutal, they want to leave the cold weather and lay in the sun. Since Hawaii is so far away, the next best thing is Florida. Dh and I are still deciding if we will visit them next year. If we do, then we might also go to Disneyworld for the kids. Right now, I'm looking at orlando vacations and see if I can get a great deal.

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Hard Water, Soft Water, What Kind of Water?

Since we have well water, it's safe to assume that the water is hard. What is hard water? It's water from the ground and it has minerals like calcium, sodium and magnesium among others. Soft water has been stripped of this minerals and the only thing left is sodium. It has been found that there is less cardiovascular disease in areas where water has the most mineral content. Soft water though is best for doing household chores like washing clothes and cleaning. It also makes soap and shampoo lather better leaving your hair looking healthier and not dull and your glasses sparkle. So if you live in an area with hard water, you can use water softeners.

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Christmas Card Photos

Yes, I admit, I am one of those moms whose Christmas cards feature my kids' photos. Why not? All of my relatives live hundreds and even thousands of miles away and usually, this is the only time they get to see photo/s of my kids. If you think that this is uncool, then you should see my cousin's christmas cards which features him and his wife, uhm...tacky?!

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