Use the Box Cutter, Honey

I have been busy putting stuff in the balikbayan box. It is ready to be sent out. Hopefully tomorrow I can contact LBC to arrange for pick up. While I was taping the sides and bottom of the box I forgot that we have box cutter and scissor to cut the tape. What I did was biting the tape to cut it. When hubby saw me doing so, he handed me the box cutter and told me to use it instead of using my teeth. Sometimes when I do something I tend to innovate if the thing I need is out of reach. My husband will laugh at me when I do such a thing. But at least I know that I can be resourceful, isn't it? In life you need to know how other things work and use common sense to get things done. But in whatever we are doing, we should always be prepared. Now, I have to remember that if I am going to send another balikbayan box I have to prepare the things I need and always use box cutter or scissor to make things done in properly manner :-)

I'll See Them Next Year

My husband's training and deployment is fast approaching. They were ordered to pack their gears last week and I believe it was already shipped to their destination. Last week hubby was busy sorting his stuffs; what goes to the big box and to his duffel bags. While doing so, our DD was also very busy climbing up and down on them. Hubby told me that I will be seeing all those gears again next year. I was kinda sad while he was packing coz I know it's real. He will be leaving us again for the nth time. This deployment will be the longest time that he will be away from us. As most of military spouses is feeling, I too dreaded the day but we can't do anything about it. It's part of the duties they've sworn to uphold. As his wife, I am only here to support him and stand by him no matter what.

Mortgage Thoughts

When the economy slumped down, the first indication felt by many is the crumbling of real estate. Then foreclosure went up and many can't keep up with paying the mortgage. This is very sad to know. Last year we're active in looking for a house because we are thinking it is best for us to pay mortgage and in the end we will own the place than renting. But when we learned about the real estate problem we think twice. We weighed everything and came up to a decision that we need to wait. Along with mortgaging a house, we also need to think of other fees that comes with it, like taking all the utilities, house maintenance, tax, and most especially mortgage life insurance to protect those that we leave behind in case something happen to us and other insurance that will protect us and our property. We looked at our finances and even though we will be able to afford it but it will be very tight. I don't want to endure the pressure of financial constraints so we put it off for now. I think it was a blessing in disguise not pursuing our mortgage plan because when we checked back the houses we looked at and the area, we saw more houses on sale and some are even foreclosed. So our mortgage plan will be pushed through once husband will be on his last years in the service. It will not be a long wait though so I am pretty sure it will be worth the wait in the end.

Trip to Hawaii in Limbo

I blogged about our upcoming trip to Hawaii here already. I mentioned that we booked everything, accommodation, car rental and flight back in April. Early this month I attended a company meeting of my husband's and they mentioned that possibly the soldiers will be off for their out of state training on the 8th of June. Our Hawaii trip is scheduled to end on June 7th. So hubby will only have a night for rest and then he will be off again. But last week they were informed that they will leave on the 6th. This is our dilemma now. The graduation of the oldest son will be on the 6th and we wanted to be there since it is one of the most important milestone of his life. He will only graduate in high school once. We are very proud of him also since he will graduate with honors. His Daddy promised him for us to be there but because of this out of state training this trip now is in limbo. We can't do anything about it once it is finalized. I will be sad if we can not go there.

Fat Burner

When I arrived here in the US I was thinking if there will be clothes that will fit me by not going to the kid's section. I am on the petite side and usually can't find clothes that fits perfectly to me. The first time we went shopping for clothes I looked at the sizes and it ranges from 0 and up. I was confused what my size is at first so I took a size 3 and 4. When I tried it on, It was big for me. So I asked the sales lady. She explained that aside from sizes 0 and up I can also look at the length. There is short, regular and long. Since I am on a very petite side, I checked out 1 and 2 short. Still it was a bit big for me. Then I saw 0P ankle. So I went ahead and tried it on. It fits me well and was happy I found my size.

Four years and one child later, that 0P size will no longer fit me. I jumped two sizes up! Yes I am now wearing size 3 short on jeans and it depends on the brand as well. I don't mind that I am no longer wearing a size 0 so at least I won't be a really tiny bit :-) but I need a fat burner to get rid of excess flab on my belly and tone my arms. Now that I am not getting any younger I need to act fast. I need to take care of myself, not only for aesthetics but it is important to be healthy at all times. I want to be a fit size 3 :-)

Packing for Deployment

Yesterday hubby told me that they received an order to start packing for their out of state training for a month and deployment for Iraq. I know this is coming but I still wish they are staying. So, today they start packing and I believe they will load it in vans that will be shipped to their destination. Last May 7 we attended a meeting for their company. It was one of the many briefings and meetings for the soldiers and their families to talk about what's going on in the coming months. This coming 17th there's another town hall meeting as well as expo/deployment fair. Families are urged to attend to get important documents and resources to be prepared once our soldiers leave. The Army made it clear that whatever issues the soldier has, it is important that it is taken cared of before the soldier leaves. This is why they are holding series of briefings and meetings to make sure the families that are left behind know whom and where to go to in case anything happen while their soldier is away. There are so much going on for us this coming days and every schedule we have are all crunched up. Hubby is surely overwhelmed with all this travel thing, from vacation to training and deployment. I also need to make room of all the appointments that we needed that requires couple to attend before the d-day. Hopefully everything will be in placed before the leave.

Meds for Your Pets

I love to have a pet but now but I am not so sure if I can handle both caring for a demanding toddler and pet. I don't want to embark on something that I will not be able to give or devote time into it. I was told that having a pet is also like having another baby. You need to care for them and attend to their needs. I don't mind doing it but I will wait until our DD is older so she can also help in taking care of the pet. I have a friend that has pet and their pet got infected with fleas. I told her to check about Frontline, a topical preventative medication for fleas. Accordingly it can kill fleas and tick 100%. I hope she will be able to treat her dog's fleas. It's something that I don't want to happen also when we have a pet. I may have to get those as well since my father's pet dogs have fleas and my Mom is desperate to have it treated. For those pet owners that have the same problem, check it out as well.

Our Weekend

We wanted to go somewhere this past weekend but the weather is not as cooperative as the last weekend prior. I decided not to drive to my class on Saturday, so hubby did the driving. After he picked me up from my job, he went ahead and fix his truck. He changed the bearings of both front wheels. It took him almost three hours doing it. It was raining and he was doing it under the carport. We bought a tarp on Friday that he used so he will not lay directly on the concrete ground. After he did it, we went out to test drive the truck and ended at a Chinese buffet. On Sunday we planned of going to church. When hubby woke up he told me he will clean both vehicles. I thought he will just go to the car wash outside our complex but he wanted to wash it manually. Our complex has an area for car wash and its free. I checked him when me and our DD woke up passed 9am. Then he told me he is going to clean the insides then vacuumed it. I helped him for few minutes but have to get in the apartment for lunch. He finished cleaning around three pm. The vehicles are now clean inside out. At 4pm we went to Point Defiance to have a walk along the beach. It wasn't cold and there was still sun. There were lots of people walking at the park trail as well as along the beach. We picked a table to sat down when we reached the other end of the beach. Unfortunately it started to rain. The car was parked almost a mile away. We hurriedly walked back while it's only showers. We were still lucky though since the rain started to pour hardly when we're about 15 steps away from our vehicle. The rain was only at Point Defiance since when we arrived in Lakewood it was still sunny. Our Sunday ended at an Old Country Buffet. We got hungry after that long walk :-) It's two nights in a row that we ended our day in an eat-all-you can, which I think is not a good thing to do considering I am thinking of losing some pounds off (tsk, tsk, tsk) :-)

April Top Droppers

I am posting here again my top droppers of the month of April. I am so appreciative of all your effort. I am grateful that there are still people and friends that continually visits here and drop. Thank you once again and hope you keep coming back :-)

Dropper	# of drops
FickleMinded-A Life That Is Less Ordinary	23
Jean sQuared	23
Whatever Comes To My Mind	22
My Written xPressions	17
Maximum Happy	16
The Dreamcatcher	13
Blessed Sanctuary	13
C'est La Vie	12
Grampy and You!	12
Angelika	12