It's [almost] the Halloween weekend already! The little one here can't wait for it of course. She's been itching to wear her costume. The last piece of the puzzle...costume, arrived earlier this week. It actually took the seller a month to ship the dang thing. I almost canceled my order because they couldn't give me the exact date they could ship it. The best I got was a guarantee that it will be here by Halloween. Well, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time because the piece of the costume we ordered from them is the one we can't find in any store here. One would probably ask...why not make it myself??? Simple. Because I CAN'T! Hubby can but he's way too busy at work to make it.

Anyway, it's here already and that's all that matters now. One thing I'll remember though...I probably won't order anything from those people again. Boo hoo...

Halloween will be the highlight of our weekend obviously...although there is [should be???] another reason reason why this weekend is something to look forward to. Any guesses??? It's something I'd rather not remember but the little one is making a big deal out of it...so, yes, it will be remembered whether I like it or not. Any clues yet what I'm talking about? Well...it's for me to know and for you to guess....how's that??? 

...are definitely not for men. Why not? Read on....


Dear Walter,


I hope you can help me here. The other day, I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't driven more than a mile down the road when the engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help.

When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in our bedroom with the neighbours daughter. I am 32, my husband is 34, and the neighbours daughter is 22. We have been married for ten years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had been having an affair for the past
six months.

I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was sacked from his job six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. He won't go to counselling and I'm afraid I can't get through to him anymore.

Can you please help?

Sincerely, Sheila

-------------------------------


Dear Sheila:

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no dirt in the fuel filter. If it is clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors.

I hope this helps.


Walter.

I think I mentioned here that at the end of this year my high school batch will be celebrating our silver jubilee. It’s been 25 years since we did our high school graduation march and it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s that long already. Since I am thousands of miles away from my native land, I am not able to attend those monthly meetings with my high school friends to plan the event. I try to participate as much as I can via emails and through the blog I created specifically for this jubilee. Planning actually started in December of last year which gives us a year to organize everything. The event will not only involve us but the other alumni of the school thus the year-long preparations.

Sadly, I won’t be able to attend the event. It definitely bites but I feel it’s for our best interest. I’ve actually started scouring the internet for the most affordable airfares since early this year. I came across a few that are promising and I have them bookmarked just in case. Today, I also learned about Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific. It’s a 3-day campaign that starts today, October 27 and will end on Friday, October 30. More than one million hotel rooms are on sale in the next 3 days for as low as $30 a night. I didn’t see the Philippines in the list of the countries where the sale is going on but Japan, Thailand and Hongkong are on the list. The husband wants to do a stop-over in one of these 3 countries if we’re able to travel to the Philippines. This promo is perfect for us since it coincides with the dates we’re planning to travel for my reunion. Sigh…hopefully, things will turn for the better [financially, of course] so we can already book our tickets and take advantage of this great promotion from Accor Hotels. Fingers crossed!

 

This weird weather is wreaking havoc in my body. Dramatic, eh? LOL. Actually, I’m only referring to my allergies..and I can get dramatic if my allergy is involved. Ha! For months now, I haven’t had any attack. That changed this weekend when the temperature decided to go for a ‘dive’. As soon as my body realized that it’s in the 50s outside, my allergies started acting up. So I had to go back to my old routine of taking my allergy pills 3x a day. I’ve been down to 2x a day for a couple of months and I was hoping that I can go down to once a day actually. Not quite. It’s a good thing I only take store brand allergy pills. At least it won’t be as expensive as the prescription ones. The store brand pills are just a fraction of the cost of those branded pills mind you.

Speaking of store brand…a few weeks ago, we decided to also try some store brand products when we went grocery shopping. We’re trying to find ways to save and since our grocery bill is always outrageously high, we thought we can try switching to some store brand products. The difference in prices between the famous brands and store brand products is just unbelievable. It equals to a ‘buy one, take one’ for most products. I have no problems in buying store brands myself. As long as the nutritional value of the foods is not sacrificed, then it’s fine by me. I don’t see why one will spend, say, $20 for a can of a branded baby formula if a store brand formula only costs $10 or even less. Right now, Walmart has an ongoing sale called "Parent's Choice Infant Formula: 2 cans for $10. Yep, for $10 one can buy 2 cans of their store brand baby formula. After learning that all baby formulas are subjected to the same exacting standards of the FDA, the more I am convinced that we should all try buying store brand products instead of spending a small fortune every week buying branded products.

 

Brrr....that's exactly how I felt when I got out of bed this morning to send hubby off to work. I knew it was going to be cold since the meteorologist said so last night. Still....the cold somehow shocked my 'system'. Hubby turned the heat on when he woke up to get ready for work but it hasn't kicked in when he walked out the door.

So yes, I am asking: Fall, where are you???? Aren't you supposed to be here before winter comes? As always, the only reminder that it's indeed fall are the dried leaves from the oak tree nearby. Some of them already found their way in our yard. I'm sure it will only take one big wind and our yard will be covered with dried leaves...again.

After today, the weather here will be 'relatively' pleasant...hoping here anyway. According to the 7-day forecast, the highest for the week will still be in the higher 80s and the lowest will be in the mid-60s. Not bad, eh? But who knows if the forecast will stay put. As long as I'm inside the confines of our home, then I'll be fine.

It's been a while since I posted jokes here. Since I don't feel like writing much today, I guess I'll just post one of the latest jokes I get in my inbox. This is from Joke of the Day. Enjoy!

NYC Shopping...

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates: "You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increases as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!"

So, a woman goes to the store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs". The second floor sign reads: "These men Have Jobs and Love Kids". The third floor sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking."

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

At the fourth floor the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework."

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak." She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: "You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store."

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opens a New Wives store just across the street. It too has six floors. The first floor has wives that love s*x. The second floor has wives that love s*x and have money. The third through sixth floors have never been visited.

Courtesy of: Joke of the Day

I am an advocate of breastfeeding. I breastfed my baby until she was 1 year old. She’s now 7 years old and is rarely sick. Both my husband and I credit the breastfeeding for that. But let’s face it, aside from being the best for the baby, breastfeeding is also the cheaper way to go...$2000 cheaper a year actually. I have nothing against those who don’t breastfeed though. It’s a personal choice for some and a necessity for some others. I knew I wanted to breastfeed as soon as I learned I was pregnant. I told my husband that I would do everything I could to breastfeed our baby. It wasn’t easy at first. The day after I delivered, the nurse suggested that we should try to feed the baby with formula because it didn’t seem like she’s getting satisfied with just my milk. I cried when she said that but I relented. Lo and behold, my baby didn’t like the formula…at all. That to me was the sign that yes, I have to breastfeed her.

Even Women, Infants and Children program [WIC] now has a new food package that encourages breastfeeding more. Women who breastfeed will not receive infant formula while those who use baby formula will receive 13% less formula than before. Does this mean formula fed babies would have to eat less now? Not quite. Those who buy baby formula would have to be wiser in choosing which formula to buy…store brand or name brand formula. Apparently, the only difference between the 2 is the price. Both meet FDA’s requirements in terms of nutritional value, quality and safety so there’s really no need to spend all those extra dollars in buying the branded formula in the first place, is there? Hopefully, word about this goes around fast so those who still go with the more expensive name brand baby formula can get a break already.