Senior Dating - you don't have to be alone

Due to my fathers Alzheimer disease I had some contact with senior people. Some of them didn't have family or someone to take care of them. With internet access and a site like Dating For Seniors many good things can happen. On this senior dating site there are a lot of single seniors waiting for the opportunity to get a match in the database. This site is completely free , you just have to sign up , fill up your profile, make a search and see what matches do you get. You don't have to spend the rest of your life alone, sign up and search for a senior match. Good Luck!

Summer is gone - autumn is here

Autumn is here, no doubt of that. Flowers are going away; the cloudy sky is here as well as the rain. The nights are cold, running noses also prove that summer is gone.

These blooming flowers pictures were taken on August 25th and the old and dying flower picture was taken on September 25th, one month apart, a big difference in my garden.

No more strawberries also, I'm thinking about putting the strawberries flower pots indoors and try to have them during Winter. I'm not sure if it will work.

My plans to change my living room

For quite some time I've been wanting to remove my big bar from my living room. It's a big piece of furniture that fills one wall a corner and half of another wall. It is divided in sections, one for TV, VCR, DVD, etc. , another to put glasses, another with shelves and drawers and a bar in the corner. It goes up almost to the ceiling and I'm quite bored of looking and having it in the living room. All I want is a simple table to put the TV and DVD and a cabinet to be used as a small bar with glasses and drink bottles. My neighbor is the opposite, he just replaced his little TV table with a big bar that comes with bar stools. He says he needs more space to put all his glasses and bottles.

Fortunately opinions vary and people have different tastes otherwise stores would be closing!

Looking for a House in Arizona?

This information might interest some of my US readers. If you are looking for a house in Arizona you should check the Sonoran GMAC site, they are specialized in Arizona real estate and have many properties available waiting for a buyer. In case you have a house to sell you can also contact them and sell your property though them.
Do you have a Real State license and are looking for a job, then you can contact them to join their team.

A change in our life - Hubby's changing jobs

It's a fact. After two terrible months with diseases and small problems to solve, a big change is taking place: My husband is going to change jobs.

He has been working for the same company for 11 years but they are having lack of work, huge financial problems, we never know when he paycheck is coming, and these last months we have been real anxious with all this situation.

One opportunity showed up, he checked the company, went there for two hours a day (after his normal job schedule) to see if he liked the job and the people and he ended up accepting the job.

He was supposed to work until middle November in the current company but his boss said he could leave...today, yes today it was his last working day for that company. He's going to stay at home for a week as a small vacation to finished some pending issues, like to know the results of the latest medical exams.

October 8th will be the day of the big change, the day he will start working in the new company, a whole new routine, new co-workers, new bosses. As we still have visa card and payloan to pay I expect that only in January we will be able to start from "zero", with no debts. I hope this new work...works out. Wish us good luck!!

Love Reading

I love reading books. Lately I read mostly blogs but I miss my paper books. Usually when I buy a book I read the topic of the story and if I think I am going to like reading it I will buy it. Sometimes I just end up not liking the book.

To avoid this situation, there is a site called Love Reading where we can check freely opening extracts of all the books and get a general impression of the book. This way we only buy what we like.

You can also receive an email newsletter with the recent releases of your favourite genres, and use the Compare Book Prices feature to find cheapest place to buy.

There is also a section only for kids’ books. Reading is very important from young age so it’s very important that they have contact with books since they are little.

All books have a 25% discount.

Enjoy your reading.

Bed Time - How do you handle it?

I've got a problem (another one...). Usually when I put my kids to sleep I have to stay near Flower (3 years old) so that she fells asleep. The problem is that I'm so tired from working all day that I fell asleep too.

As usual I have many things to write and I end up not writing them due to lack of time. There are days when I stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning and at 7 I'm up to prepare the kids to school and go to work, but other days I'm so tired I just can't. Other time I wake up in the middle of the night, to the computer for 2 or 4 hours and then I go back to sleep. Crazy hey!!! But after a few days doing this my head starts aching. (I wonder why!!)

The solution (and it worked for a month) is one week I'm the one that put them to sleep and one week is my husband, the problem is that my little one wants me to be the one to put her to sleep and when dad tries, she just cries and screams and it breaks my heart.

My options are:
1. I put her asleep but I have to try hard not to sleep and write at night
2. I go to bed at her time and I wake up 2 or 3 hours before my usual time.
3. We make an effort to get her used to go to bed with dad

Do you have a similar problem? How do you handle it?

Dance Crazy - your personal dance teacher

Do you want to learn to dance but you are to shy to do it on public? Then Dance Crazy is the answer.

Dance Crazy has available books, videos and instructions to make you a great dancer. You can learn everything in the privacy of you home, far away from critical eyes and innapropriate comments.

Dance instruction Videos will teach you how to dance ballroom dance, rumba, wedding dance, salsa, merengue among others. You can impress your friends and family in the next wedding or arty you attend with the new steps you are going to learn with Dance Crazy support material.

What are you waiting for, check the site and order online. Be a great dancer!

I'm going to miss my co-worker

One of my co-worker was fired. She has a six month contract and the bosses are not going to renew it. She entered in the company with a well defined objective, search of German companies that would be potential clients to our company. Thousands of mailing were sent out and only a few responses, so she's considered as a no-profit worker.

I created some bonds with her, she's only 22 but already a person with a high level of knowhow especialy of life. We have several points of interest in common and it was always a pleasure to discuss them with her. She made my days happier and funny and I'm sad she's going away. This Friday is her last day.

Medical Tourism is a reality

This last month I spent a lot of money treating only one tooth. Dental care is not included in public medical service and we have to pay privately for every single treatment we need to make on our teeth. Some people, besides normal check ups and treatments, opt for cosmetic dentistry or surgery to correct teeth imperfections but these treatments/surgeries are very expensive and a medium wage worker can't afford it.

What is happening is that some people are searching in Eastern Europe for qualified specialists that having the same or even more qualifications than the westerns, are much cheaper. So, a phenomenon called medical tourism is happening and increasing everyday. People search for cosmetic surgery abroad and there are already companies dedicated to this type of tourism. Flights at really affordable prices and cosmetic surgeries at low prices (when compared to western prices) is the right combination to get a desired cosmetic surgery that before could only be made in dreams.

The fear of low quality services is gone, clinics in Prague or Czech are equipped with high quality equipment and specialists have high qualifications and studies and are at the same level of U.K. and U.S.A. one.

Medical tourism is increasing and can be a solution for those that seek cosmetic surgery and can't afford to pay it locally.

More medical exams results

Today I went to the clinic to pick up my hubby echocardiogram exam and the envelope was open, meaning I can read the report!!! Yes, I'm one of those that can't wait to get a doctor appointment to know the results. When the envelope is closed, really closed, I can't open it because my hubby doctor will get mad, but today...I could take a look.

The only remark that is done is that the mitral valve is a little thick but the overall result was a normal exam. However, I will only be completely convinced when I hear the doctor saying: Everything is normal.

Tomorrow I will have to pick up the Holter exam. I hope it's normal too.

GHD Hair Straighteners - New Prices

Here I was thinking that I should have an hair cut soon, maybe change my hairstyle, when I come across some great news for my UK readers related to the same subject.

There is a huge holiday season promotion at Beautysleuth.co.uk on GHD hair straighteners. The deal of the week is a ghd IV styler + ghd thermal protector + mat for only £92.95. You can also find many other new prices (savings up to 45%) that will allow you to have the hair of your dreams in a few minutes. There are packages available that include a DVD with all the instructions to use your GHD. Take a look!

Quiet Sunday

After this busy night our family activities were a little limited. At lunch time Flower was sleepy and she ended up falling asleep on my lap. I had a lot of blogging to do and my first thought was: I'm free to blog, but I had second thoughts and as I was so tired and sleepy I just took her to bed and I took a nap with her. I really needed to recharge batteries and for 2.5 hours I was recharging them. :).

Sun, being a very active boy, he's never tired, so he's not able to take a nap, not even a 5 minutes one. Hubby watched TV with him and played PS2 while mom was napping.

Flower's tummy issues just disappeared and we went to have dinner at my in laws.

If we erase the busy night I can say I had a quiet weekend!

Drug Forums

Discussing drug addiction is not always easy when you are face to face with another person, that's why drug forums are a useful tool. At drug forums you can share your experience, discuss drug addiction treatments, get support and support others in the same situation. There are always people willing to answer your questions and give you the support you might need. Sharing experiences is very useful for the recovery and drug detox.

Commission Junction is not working for me

Some months ago I thought I could earn some money from Commission Junction, I joined some advertisers, put some banners on this blog (later on my other blog) and after 14.379 impressions, I had 21 clicks and ...0$ (zero). Not even one cent for the report. Definitely CJ is not working for me and I'm removing the banners on this blog and on Buy better and Have a Better Life. I will continue to write about discounts and coupons on the other blog but only in an informative way.

Home Based Opportunities

Those who have been reading my blog for a while have read several time that I would like to leave my full time job and start a home based job that would allow me to spend more time with my kids.

That is still a wish that I hope will come true. I know it is not easy to start a business and have success right away, I have to do some marketing and spread out the word about the business.

Fortunately there are sites like Direct Matches to help us advertise our business and reach millions of potential clients. All we have to do is sign up, fill up your profile with all our information, name, location, description of our business and other relevant information.

Direct Matches is a direct sales business opportunity, we can also find a partner for our business or join one of the many networks there are available. Some networks offer a cash prize for each person we refer, some extra money is always welcome.

There is a blog available where we can check the news and latest businesses opportunities available and a forum for us to advertise our business, discuss ideas and share opinions.

There are many home based business opportunities available, for sure one day I will find one I will enjoy working for. For now I will keep my full time job and keep looking for a home based one.

A busy night for me and Flower

I should have already know that when things are too quite, something strange or bad is going to happen. After a quiet Saturday I had a very busy night.

Flower was fine at dinner time, she ate well and she was very well. She went to the living room with Sun and as usual Sun had these fight/wrestling kind of games with Flower. She was very happy, laughing a lot but I think it messed up with her digestion.

A little later she started having tummy ache and she ended up throwing up part of the dinner. She only wanted to drink water but each time she drank it she would throw it up, and we went like this for 3 or 4 times. At 6am she woke up, she wanted some milk and...she threw it up. She didn't want to sleep more, and the two of us went downstairs (at 6am Sunday!!!) and we watched TV.

She is fine now, no tummy ache, no sleep (I'm really sleepy. I think it really was the games she had with her brother that messed up her tummy.

Baby-Wise.com

One of the things I always worried about was Children Car Safety, seat belts, car seats. Nowadays all car come with seat belts, this did not happen 30 or even 20 years ago when some cars (like my old Fiat) didn't have back seat belts.

A few months before Sun was born and having car seats installed, our main concern was to buy the right Car Seat. There are several brands available and you should take a close look to all the specifications in order to buy the right car seat.

Britax has a huge variety of child car seats all designed thinking in child safety, functionality and comfort. There are Britax car seats for all ages, some of them can be convertible and used by different age stage.

Example: the Britax Boulevard Convertible Car Seat can be used as rear facing and forward facing depending on the age and weight of the child, meaning instead of two car seats you can buy only one that will "grow" with your kid.

The Combi Kobuk High Back Booster Seat is another example of how the same car seat can be used by different age stages. This car seat can be use with back or backless according to the child age and height.

Britax products can be bought at Baby-Wise.com where other baby products can be found in the following categories: Feeding, Nursery, Bath, Health, Safety, among others . Shipping is made by UPS and free shipping is offered for orders over 99$ and within US address.

Take a look at the site, you will find a lot of interesting products and if you are looking for a gift you can buy a Gift certificate to offer.

Quiet Saturday

We're having a quite Saturday. Hubby didn't work today, I ironed in the morning with Sun and Flower playing around, we had a neighbor that stopped by after lunch to check on the internet services available. He hasn't got internet at home (how can he live without internet, I wonder...) and he wanted to check on the available packages there are from the several companies offering the service.

Sun has been going from PS2 to TV and Flower is having a huge nap. I have one paid post to be ready today and have to check the new WP platform I installed on my www. usefulstuffblog.com. There are a few plugins I have to check and I haven't decided yet which template I'm going to use.

Any suggestions on the most useful WP plugings?

Dell Computers

With all the problems I’m having with my computer (now the board has to be replaced), I’ve been seriously thinking if I bought the right one. My computer has a “white” or generic brand and it has been problems after problems.

My brother in law bought a Dell Desktop three years ago and he never had problems with it. He says that Dell Desktops are the best but when I was looking for one I decided for another one - my mistake.

If you’re looking for a Personal Computer, check Dell computer first, Desktops or Laptops they are of great quality and you can buy them at affordable prices. From time to time there are big discounts that allow you to buy a well equipped Dell computer with the latest hardware at great prices.

Morning moods - School vs Work vs Separation

Flower is enjoying school a lot, the only issue is that I can't take her there.

Since our holidays in July and first week of September she got really attached to me and everyday I have to answer questions like: Why can't I go to work with you?

Entering in Preschool brought a lot of changes into Flower's life. She:
* left her first floor daycare room
* left the teacher that was following her on daycare room
* goes to preschool in the morning and at 3:30pm she comes to the daycare
* changed to the first floor of the same daycare
* has another teacher in a different daycare room

Her daily routine is completely different and I had to make some adjustments. Due to the problems I was having in leaving her at school (she wanted me to stay there and cried a lot) I decided to try another approach, the same I did when my son was in the same situation.

We leave home in the morning, I take her to daycare where there are people available to grab her right away and keep her calm. Daycare will then take her to school together with other kids in their bus and she arrives at preschool and stays there without any fuzz. If I take her to school myself she just grabs my leg and won't let me go to work, and starts crying, she gets nervous, I get nervous, etc.

She likes to go with the daycare bus but if we arrive at daycare and the bus is not there (because they take other kids to other schools too at different times) she says she doesn't want to stay there, she wants to go to school. Then someone will start talking to her saying that in a few minutes she will go to school and she just goes inside but always with that sad look that breaks my heart.

I had the same situation with my son when he was the same age so I just should be used to it but...I'm not. It always breaks my heart to leave her in the morning.

I'll get over it, I'll get over it, I'll get over it, I'll....

We need more Theater shows

I miss going to the cinema and watch a good movie. My son saw Shrek the Third with daycare and he wanted to watch the Ratatoui movie. I don't think Flower will be capable of staying in the cinema for 2 hours so the only option would be for me to go with Sun alone. I know it's a "one in a year thing" but it's too expensive and if I wait a few months I will be able to watch it at home for free. I'm just waiting for it to be available on DVD to "get it".

One thing we don't have much here is Theater shows. I know "Wicked" the untold story of the witches of Oz, is on tour but unfortunately will not come to Portugal. For those lucky ones that have the show coming to a nearby city, can get Wicked tickets online on the site ticketsolutions.com. Enjoy!

My son will have swimming classes as a school activity

In third grade and fourth grade kids have swimming has school physical activity. My son is thrilled with it.

He tried Judo last year and he didn't like it but he loves water and can't wait to start the lessons. Being part of school activities, school provides transportation to the local swimming pool. It will be once a week.

What about your kids, do they have physical activity at school or only has an extra curricular activity? What do they practice? I know in US it's very common the baseball, is it part of school activities?

Personally I don't understand the rules of baseball, raigby or golf. Although there are several courts of golf here I should probably attend the Callaway golf center and learn the basics. I also don't think I would have the patience to walk around following the golf ball.

Health appointments update

Flower had her homeopathic appointment and it seems she's very healthy now. She took an antibiotic in May therefore her liver was a little out of control but she's already taking the right product to detox the liver. She's taking some vitamins just to prevent colds and flus, but the overall result was that she won't probably have asthma crisis again. Let's see what the winter will bring.

I had my tooth finally fixed, three appointments and I have a fixed and really white tooth. I also fixed a small caries I had in another tooth, and for the future months I don't want to hear about spending more money with my teeth.

Now, I have to schedule Sun's ophthalmology's appointment to check if he needs to change his glasses lenses or not.

And October will bring us more health issues like Flower's surgery...

Want some popcorns?

Almost everyday the "PopCorn" ritual repeats itself. The kids have dinner and they want to watch TV eating popcorns.

I always made them by putting a little of oil in a pan, the corn and I just wait for the popcorns to stop popping.

They are not difficult to make and they don't even take too much time to be ready, but I have difficulty in removing the oil and popcorn remains from the bottom of the pan. I'm thinking about looking for a store that sells popcorn machines and check the price. If they aren't very expensive maybe I'll buy one.

I started building my first Wordpress platform

Finally today my Useful and Fun Stuff blog was released from the previous registrar and is available on BlueHost. Blogger platform is not working anymore so I had to start trying to build the Wordpress one. I was able to put the blog 90% functional. There are still a lot work to do but some of the plugings are installs and others I'm still trying to figure out how they work.

There are so many WP themes available that I haven't decide which one am I going to use yet, so be prepared for some changes in the next days.

Drug Detox

With the end of summer holidays and the begining of school days, drugs is a subject that again crosses my mind as well as other moms and dads.

Fortunately for those having drug problems, new and more effective treatments are always being developed. The new Waismann rapid detox treatment is fast and effective for the opiate addiction. Everybody having a drug problem or dealing with drug addicted people have the desire for a fast drug detox and this advanced treatment provides the drug free state in a few days, which is a big difference from traditional treatments.

No neurological problems - Thumbs up!!

My husband had the doctor's ppointment at 6.30pm, we got inside the doctor's office at 8.00pm but at least we had good news. The TC Scan although showing pos-traumatic marks of the trauma he had 15 years ago, the rest of the scan is normal. Those marks can cause or not future small problems but nothing serious.

So, one thing less to be worried about, no neurological problems. Let's wait for the cardiac exams, one of them came out normal, the other ones only at the end of the month do we know the results.

I need inspirational words

Those following my blog for sure have realized that these last two months have been troubled. Sometimes I'm feeling so down, so depressed that I must search for words of inspiration. Usually I visit Karl's blog and read his posts that are always very inspiring and helpful. From his last posts I would like to mention The Moment, I love this post, it's about "experiencing the magic of the moment" by:

• Be Mindful
• Be Meditative
• Be Spontaneous
• Be Focused

Karl Moore has also a forum where you can, anonymously, open your heart and in exchange you receive love and acceptance without judgment.

So, are you feeling down, do you need to share your worries or seek inspirational words, then Karl's blog is the right place for you.

Still health issues.

I'm nervous today. It's my husband's medical appointment with the neurologist. I'm not the only one feeling nervous he is too. He had headaches and is not feeling very well but I believe it all comes from anxiety. Some big changes are approaching (I'll write about them probably still this week) and he's scared.

Regarding the echocardiogram he did on Friday, the technician that did the exam pointed out than one cardiac valve was a little "thick", the rest was fine. (the electrocardiogram was normal). I really don't know what it really means, probably when we have the report we'll have to go to a cardiologist. Am I going to get rid of doctors soon?

Prevent accidents

At 7pm I drove with Sun to Tomas's house to pick up Flower at the birthday party. Sun ended up playing with the kids and I just stand there telling them we had to go.

Tomas's mom is a very nice person, she has a 23 years old son and she has Tomas who turned 4 today, that's a big difference of ages. Tomas is a very clever boy, it seems to be a gifted boy, he does stuff that for a 4 year old is not very common. He is already able to install software from cd's on the computer, win games that he doesn't even know what they are, it's a little weired.

One of the things he does that has nothing to do with being gifted is to grab and open cleaning products bottles. I never had that problem with my kids but Tomas mother is having a hard time with it. She has to look for a some cabinet hardware and buy a childproof latch. She has all her cleaning products on a cabinet locked with a latch. This way she feels more safer once he's not able to open the latch.

The secrets of WP Platform

I’m getting into the mood of BlueHost. I’ve setup my account, a new domain that I’m using for test purposes only, installed a theme and some plugins but the worst part is that I’m not being able to import my blogger posts from these two blogs: Buy Better and Have a better life and Useful and Fun Stuff. I’ve submitted a question on the forum, I hope I can get that fixed soon.

I’m still figuring out how to work with the plugins, I thought the widgets were similar to the blogger ones but I’m realizing that Wordpress works mostly with Plugins, there are plugins for everything.

I already started the process of transferring one of my domains fro Yahoo Domains to Bluehost, the process is now pending registrar release. I've contacted Yahoo and they told me there is nothing they can do, I just have to wait around one week for the process to be completed.

It’s a challenge for me, to learn the ”secrets” of a new platform and I’m really enjoying it.

You can learn to dance Salsa online

One of my favorite movies of all times is "Salsa" from 1988, where a Latin dance competition was the main focus of the movie. Dances like Salsa, Cha Cha, Merengue, Bachata are dances that always attracted me and now I have the opportunity to learn them online.

SalsaCrazy's Salsa Dance BootCamp website teaches online Latin dances. This site has available thousand dance videos and you can also order DVD's and receive them in the mail. All lessons are taught by top dance instructors that are available twenty four hours a day all week long to explain any move you might have doubts with.

Before becoming a member you can take a guided tour that will show you how the lessons work. As a bonus for those signing up now, 2 SalsaBootCamp DVDs will be offered, totally free, to help you to be a great dancer.

Flower was invited to a friend's birthday party - 1st invitation

Yesterday I received a phone call from a mother of a friend of Flower from daycare inviting her to his birthday party. She's 3 and she's already being invited to birthday parties? Where is my baby? She's a little girl now.

Today Flower told me that she wanted me to stay with her at the birthday party. I said I couldn't because the party was only for Tomas's friends. She insisted but as soon as she arrived at his house she just forgot me. She started playing with the other kids while I chat with Tomas's mother and grandmother.

Then, when I got up from the sofa she asked me if I was going home and I said yes, that I would pick her up later. I left and went to shop some last minute school material for my son and I was on the laptop when I received a phone call from Tomas's mother. My first thought: she's crying and wants to come home. Wrong!!!!

The phone call was to assure me that she was happy, playing with all the other kids, she tranquilized me saying that everything was fine and for me to pick her up later so that they could play a little longer.

My baby is slipping through my hands, there is no baby girl anymore. I'm getting old!!!

Big surprise: Flower is going to Preschool

I still haven't entered into the school / work / house / blogging routine. I'm still adjusting and I have a few things that should have been written before.

The big surprise: As I wrote previously Flower was not entering preschool but Wednesday, first day of school, at around 11:30 am I received a phone call from a pre-school teacher asking me if I was still interested in getting Flower to pre-school because some one gave up the sign up and she was next on the list. I said yes, and Flower, at the age of 3, had her first preschool day yesterday.

I stayed with her in class for half an hour, some of the kids were very stresses, some of them where crying for their moms, and I had to "escape" from the classroom without saying goodbye. I called later to check on her and they told me she was very calm and behaving really good.

She was enjoying school so much that at lunch time when daycare pick her up, she cried because she wanted to stay there...

Today it was really hard to leave her there. She said that she wasn't going to cry but when it was time for me to leave the school she didn't want me to go and started crying. I had to leave and I'm sure she stopped crying right away. I already had this experience with my son a few years ago and it's happening again.

Making a comfortable space to enjoy your hobby

My co-worker who plays poker has finally arranged a space on his house to gather his poker friends. He rearranged his home office room and divided it in two separate spaces. The room is not very big so he has been looking for small poker tables and he finally found one that fits in that space. He also bought four chairs and a small wheel bar cabinet where he can put some appetizers and drinks. I think his going to have some interesting poker nights.

My husband's hobby: Speedfighter Plane

My husband has been building a SpeedFighter plane in the garage. It comes in kits every two weeks and it's almost finished. He went to a local hobby shop to check on the paints and he was really disappointed when he knew the price of the motor he has to buy to that plane. It's almost 100$ which, for us is quite expensive. I told him to be patient and as soon as he finishes all the paintings and other small details we will check on the motor. Maybe I can find a cheaper one on the internet.

He has put so much work on that plane that I really want him to see it flying.

Medical test results

My husband has his tests results but no final answer was given. I hate this suspense.

The blood tests showed high values of uric acid (Gout) that is something he had in the past. From now on he has to take daily medication to control the uric acid once it can be dangerous if it rises to high values.

The ECG is normal but the doctor wants him to make a Echocardiogram and the Holter exam.

Regarding the Cat San, the report mentions something possibly related to his accident 15 years ago and coma he was in, it is probably a “scar” from the skull trauma he suffered but the family doctor wants him to go to a neurologist once they are specialized in “brain” issues and can give a better report. He'll have an appointment on Monday.

Opinion: Car Vacuum

We have two cars and no car vacuum. Usually on Saturday my husband grabs the house vacuum and vacuums the cars.

Most of the days my kids eat in the car the fresh bread I buy and soon there are crumbs all over the seats and car floor. For sure I would vacuum my car more often if I had a car vacuum in the garage because it would be easier to use than the big one and it would be closer to the car.

Where is the money going? Not for funny events

I’m really tired of this last month and half, my father’s disease, dentist appointments, medical exams, medical appointments. How can I have a decent life if I spend all the money I have and don’t have in medical appointments?

Schedule for this week and coming weeks:

Friday: Homeopathic appointment – Flower = 125€

Monday: Neurologist – husband – 60€

Tuesday – Dentist = 51€

October 1st – Otorrinolaringologist – Flower = 60€

Not exact date yet: ophthalmologist – Sun = 100€

Am I forgetting something? Probably yes…

ORIKI products for AMO skin types

At the age of 38 I should be more careful with my skin. I should follow a routine for skin care but I don't. Shame on me.

I've been researching online about the right products for each type of skin and I came across ORIKI Cosmeceuticals that developed special products for AMO (Asian, Mediterranium and Olive) skin types. People with this type of skin, which is a more pigmented one, have available at ORIKI a wide range of hypoallergenic and safe brightening ingredients products as Nourishing Cream, Rejuvenating Cream or Whitening Lotion. It's important to choose the right products for the specific skin type to prevent side effects.

AMO skin type tend to darken easily and for instance people with acne problems easily will stay with scars, but ORIKI have the right products to prevent and diminish those scars.

Although this is a more pigmented skin type it should be protected from the sun. The use of a Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 will prevent sun exposure damage besides protecting from skin cancer and skin aging.

ORIKI products for AMO skin types have a wonderful texture and smell and they improve the skin appearance and texture, the skin will look cleaner, more toned and moisturized. Acne scars will fade away in a few weeks and you will look much younger.

Flower is not going to Pre-School

Flower is not entering Pre School. There are many kids with 4 and 5 years old for that school and some with 3 but older than Flower, so she’s out. Only if someone changes to another school will she have the chance to enter.

She’s sad because she sees her brother going to school and she’s not.

Tomorrow it's first day of school for my son

Tomorrow it’s my son’s first school day of 2007/2008. He’s going to third grade and he’s going to change classroom. Usually from first to fourth grade children stay in the same school but once this school, although one of the best in town, due to government rules, the daily schedule was changed last year meaning that only first and second grade can stay. Third and fourth grade are moving to a big school were usually the fifth to ninth grade have classes.

They have three schoolrooms only for them and they are much protected from the older kids once this situation is a special one. Last year was the first time these two grades went to that school and everything has gone well.

Another issue is the schedule extension. They start school at 9am, lunch time is from 12pm to 1.30pm and “normal” classes end at 3.30pm, but there is a optional schedule extension and kids can stay until 17.30pm. Between 3.30pm and 5.30 they have several activities, like English, swimming class and study classes. Last year my son did not attend that extension because, as he is in daycare, they pick him up at 3.30pm, he eats, do his homework and plays until I pick him up at 6.45pm. If he stays in the extension classes he will arrive at daycare at 5.45pm and have little time to do his homework and play.

I don’t know how it works in other countries but I feel that for a 8 year old kid having classes from 9am to 5.30pm, homework to do there is no time left to play. On fifth grade they have to do that schedule but on third grade…I think it’s too much.
Of course English is necessary but I searched a few online courses he can take, instead of staying so many hours in the same classroom.

What do you think? For a third grade student, what is the normal daily schedule?

Sad but true - My own father didn't recognized me

Today it was the first time my father didn’t recognized me, nevertheless a few minutes later he asked for my children. I think he didn’t recognize me but made the associating with my children. The Alzheimer's disease is taking control and he has his on and off moments.

My son's interesting questions

Last week during our vacation my kids took advantage of our time together and asked a lot of questions.
One day we were all three in bed playing and talking and my son asked me:

He: Are you going to have more babies?

Me: I don’t intend too, why?

He: I would like to have another brother and another sister.

Me: What? Two more?

He: Yes

Me: And where would they sleep? Flower's room is small for two beds.

He: You buy two bunk beds, one stays in my room for me and my brother and the other one stays in Flower’s room for her and the new sister.

Me: You have all figured out… You are always fighting with your sister, are you really sure you would like two more around the house?

He: (thinking)…hummm better not.

Maybe we won't have this conversation again!

Office issues...

The vacation week is gone and today I'm back to work.

I started my working day realizing that someone was checking my private e-mails and entered in at least one community site I belong too.

Checking my private email could (I know it wasn't) have been a mistake since the password was saved in the outlook program but the community site could only be access using my password.

If you are reading this post, yes you, I hope you got what you were looking for, I mean nothing because I have nothing to hide. You are not the person that I knew some months ago, you're are turning yourself in a mean person and I really don't know why. You can check my computer any time, it's not mine, it's from the office but please next time please hide your tracks to prevent me from find you.

This was something I was expecting, so during my vacation I started changing my password in most of the sites, I'm almost done. I'm so sad that I have to lose all my trust on you. Mind your own business child...yes you are behaving like a child.

My desktop is broken again

My desktop is broken again, I can't believe it! The guarantee ended on Friday but since the computer has been several times visiting the technician, those days also count so it works has it still is under the guarantee. The technical assistance kept the computer and I don't know when I will have it back.

Since I bought it, two years ago, technical assistance was required at least 6 times. They have changed the motherboard, processor, hard disk, and a few other things. I guess this time is a hard disk problem, once windows starts, desktop shows all icons but suddenly the computer stops and I'm not able to do anything else. Let's hope it comes home soon.

Do you need a criminal lawyer?

There are situations in our life that might require a lawyer. Fortunately I only needed one once in my life and he was a friend of the family.

If you live in California or nearby counties you have a criminal defense law firm (rated Top 5% US Law firm) offering their services, with crime growing so fast you never know when you are going to need this type of services. Los Angeles Criminal Attorneys give all their clients legal advice and advocacy for criminal cases like: domestic violence, drug crimes or even juvenile crimes. Attorneys are available 24/7 to provide you with the best criminal defense. Dial (877) 781-1570 for further assistance.

Vacation afternoons

Our afternoons since Monday are as per the pictures, swimming pool.

We have four Parks available not very far, two more expensive, two cheaper, so as you might guess, we went only once to a expensive one (that has more pools, even jacuzzi, and the other days to the cheaper ones that are also nice.

One of the parks has salty water in all the pools and yesterday we were there but the small one was closed due to contamination.... We were invited to go to the bigger swimming pool but it was too dirty and Flower couldn't play (too deep) so we just left.

Today we went to another one, we took a friend with us and Sun spend his afternoon with the friend, sliding down the tubes.

Paycheck arrived

Finally my hubby brought home his paycheck. Each month we struggle with the doubt if he's going to receive or not the salary and when. Fortunately I requested last year a cash advance account that allows me to spend some money in advance even the account has a negative amount.

My salary just vanishes in the begining of the month and I have to pay at day 8 of each month for the Daycare service and most of the times my hubby's paycheck comes after that date. This month his salary came in one check instead of some cash and check. So it takes 2-3 days for the money to be free in the account. I hope this whole money situation will change soon...

Cooking an imaginary meal

This was Monday morning, our officially first day on vacation. My daughter decided to "cook". I gave her a towel, some pans, water, pasta, a drainer and a wood spoon. She asked me to get her "oven" that was on the living room, and she started making lunch.

Sun found it interesting and joined her. Of course he started requesting more interesting ingredients like eggs and flour but I said no, it would have been a major mess.

This all "cooking" thing ended up with pasta and water on the floor, a wet towel, a floor to clean...but they had fun and family activities are not only the clean ones, the messy ones also count.

Online coupon codes are a great help

Being on vacation and spending more time with my kids has been terrific. School is starting next week and Christmas is just a few weeks ago...yes weeks I don't even count the months anymore.

This week Christmas has been a daily subject, I really don't know why but possible gifts are being popped up in the conversations. For now, the gift that is already requested is a PS3. My daughter just speaks in a general idea like: "I want gifts" but without specifying.

Of course I'll need some help and CouponChief.com is the right place to find it. We can find With promo codes that allow us to buy with great discounts.

For instance for the PS3 I can use a Sony coupon code that offers me a discount of 100$, it's really a significant discount. For me Santa can bring me a Canon or Nikon using a Dell coupon, I would be grateful.

CouponChief.com brings you the best online coupon codes, keep checking their site often and you will find great deals.

Pleasant wet Sunday

Yesterday, Flower was not having fever any more but her conjunctivitis although not worse, it was not improving as fast as I wanted to so we went to the doctor to check her eyes. He said the conjunctivitis was strong and therefore instead of twice a day I had to put the remedy 4 times a day, and it's working.

As we don't have a swimming pool, we manage to get some alternative options like a boat a a baby swimming pool. Sunday morning my son filled both with water and put them on the sun to warm up.

Once the doctor said there was no problem for her eyes to get in the water even if it was salty water or swimming pool water, and she was not feverish anymore I let her go into the water for a few minutes. They had a good time throwing water at each other but soon they ended up in the bath with hot water.

Binoculars for a better vision

We live near some pine and eucalyptus trees, we have them close to our back yard. Often birds and pigeons are flying from one tree to the other, sometimes they come to our back yard and just stay there until they hear some noise and fly away. One of the things my son likes to do is sit in the sofa on our living room and through the windows he watches the birds with his binoculars. As he is a very active kids if he is outside the house the birds just fly away and he can't watch them.

If you are a bird watcher or need to buy a gift to someone that likes to see nature and birds closely you can find all type of binoculars at OpticsPlanet.net. Here you can find not only bird watch binoculars but also opera, theater, sport and other binoculars .
There are several brands available, among them celestron and nikon binoculars. You can search from the several models depending of the utility you are going to give them, for instance if you like night activity you can buy night vision binoculars. OpticsPlanet.net also provides other type of equipment like telescopes and microscope sunglasses. You can buy all these equipments at discount prices and UPS free delivery.

Officially on vacation but not a good start

Its weekend but officially its our first day of our one week vacation. Dad is working all week so it will be the three of us.

Things don't look good for Flower. The conjunctivitis is not better yet (only one day of treatament yet), she was already with fever in the morning although no high values and she has her nose stuffed so a flu in on the house. I hope she gets better by tomorrow otherwise I have to take her to the doctor.

Sun wants to go for a bike ride but we need a pump to fill the tires and our is broken. So Dad and Sun just went to some stores to find a bike pump and dad or myself will have to go out for a ride with him.

It's a shame Flower is sick, she can't get into the family activities fun spirit.

Furniture from Home

If you are thinking about buying some furniture for your home you should take a look at Furniturefromhome.com site.

The site is very easy to use, you can navigate by Room, Style and Color. Here you can find quality and fashionable bedroom furniture for a good night sleep. If you have or want to have a home office you can check the Furniture Home Office section. You can start with a home office furniture desk and then some shelves and a book case.

Living Room Furniture is also very fashionable, sophisticated and you can choose from the wide range of sofas which are available in several colors.

I wish I could erase August from 2007 Calendar

August was terrible for me. I could easily erase it from the 2007 calendar.

Bad things:

1. My father's Alzheimer evolution and all the consequences of it
2. Three weeks of tooth ache and 47€ on first appointment
3. My husband's dizziness and exams
4. A lot, I mean a lot of work in the office
5. A friend that accused me of saying things I didn't
6. A friend that is having serious health problems
7. among other things...

The only good thing was "Flower is having her surgery for free in a public hospital".

Number 1, 2, 3, 4 I already wrote about them.

Number 5 - I don't even know if I should waste time writing about her...
My co-worker that after I supporting her during a complicated relationship with another co-worker accused me of talking her matters with other people (it's a lie), making gossip in the office (it's a lie), tell the bosses she spent most of her day on the internet and instant messenger (it's a lie) and many other things she says she was told by someone from outside the office.

I was (am) very upset once I never had that kind of conversations with no one, and I don't know why she accused me. I'm really upset, I can't even have a normal conversation with her right now, and I guess I'll never will. The office is now very quiet because we only speak with each other when it's really necessary and it's a work subject.

I suspect what happened but I'm not sure. The bosses speak about her outside the company due to the complicated situation she was in. She used to cry a lot in the office, she even had to request psychiatric help, and probably she heard something about her outside the company and thinks it was me.

This really upsets me and I feel real sad about the whole situation. The office will not be the same anymore.


Number 6 - Another co-worker has kidney problems for a few years now. He is 32 and his kidneys create stones very often. He has one stone now stuck between the kidney and the blade with 10mm. He is at risk of losing his kidney. He called me two hours ago, and told me he's having some exams on Wednesday and on Saturday he will have a small surgery to try to break the stone, if it doesn't work it will have to be removed by hand meaning a major surgery. This is something I worry about since he's someone I work with for 7 years and we have a friendly relationship.

Number 7 - Among other things, Flower has a conjunctivitis, she's with fever tonight probably a cold or flu, hubby continues with a little dizziness and headaches (that I think are caused by nervous system, stress, anxiety), hubby doesn't know when he is receiving his paycheck because his boss has no money, etc etc etc etc etc.

I'm done with August, it was a terrible month and I just hope September will be better. It's 1:07 now, therefore September already.

I'm in my bed with my kids (they are asleep of course), it's Friday routine, father sleeps in the couch and the kids sleep with me.

I'm going to sleep now, and I hope tomorrow (or today morning) a better day will come. I want to start writing about my kids, their behavior, conversations, family activities, family issues, but lately all the other problems have kept me away from writing them.

A great weekend for every one that read this entire post and also to those that gave up in the middle because it was too boring and upsetting.

Middle name meme

hszoo tagged me for a meme. I have a very popular name that can be used has a first, second or middle name.

The Rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.


M -Money (my everyday problem)

A - Anxiety (due to M)

R -Relief (when I have many opps to write)

I - Ideas (my head is always thinking - maybe a bank robbery plan)

A - Away (I need to go on vacation somewhere far away)


Now it's your turn. Anyone who wishes can participate, of course. Just drop me a message in comments and let me know.

Have fun!