What Simply Works!

This is a bit late for a farewell but as everyone knows, Hi-5 original members Nathan Foley and Kellie Crawford left the group and publicly bid farewell to their fans during their last Sydney concert on Nov 23, 2008.

We missed seeing this bit since we watched the show on the 22nd, which by the way, my 2 yr old dearly enjoyed.  Sad to see the original cast members go but I’m sure Hi-5 will resurface with the same upbeat music, fun videos but with fresh faces.

Here’s the clip of their bittersweet goodbye.  Goodbye and all the best Nathan and Kellie!

Ever since I learned how to use a broom, a vacuum cleaner and a feather duster, I kicked into the habit of rearranging our home furniture.  I had lost count of the times I have moved a sofa or heavy TV cabinet and drawers all by myself because I easily get tired of seeing things in the same place for a long time.  Now that I have my own family and we’re renting our own place, it has gotten worse.  I recall having to move the furniture about at least once a month.  Hee.  Thankfully, light fixtures in the apartment are well, fixtures.  Otherwise, I can imagine our landlord wreaking havoc over his chandeliers or ceiling light fixtures moved in different places.

But these days, with my limited physical movements, I sorely miss cleaning and rearranging the apartment.  I dare not invite friends to come over because there’s just too much chaos going on.  No thanks to our growing toddler, who sweeps all her toys and books in a breeze and like a hurricane, you’ll find all of her stuff on the floor, the laundry room, bathroom and practically every where else!

I was busy doing the dishes one morning when I chanced upon my two-year old keeping herself busy beside the office chair.  She was sitting right next to it as if retrieving something under it.  I then looked away but my inner gut tells me to check on her, so I did.  To my surprise, she was holding the chair’s spring plungers which must have fallen on its own and she was trying to put it back!  That made me smile for a while thinking how can a 2 yr old think of ‘fixing’ the chair like that?  How did she know that the tiny metal belongs to the chair?  Ah kids.

Barely two months home from our family holidays and I’m feeling the ‘itch’ to go on vacation again.  I want to escape the house for a little while, the chores, the routine.  I’m not complaining though, I love my life.  I just need a break, I guess, a time to recharge.  But with the global recession making everyone a wee bit frugal than usual, planning for frequent vacations is out of the drawing board.  If only we could get free hotel stays in scenic Melbourne or Brisbane.  Sigh.

I got so excited seeing a lot of Hello Kitty products during a church fundraising bazaar in Manila that I picked up several tote bags and a couple of replica watches, which I thought would make great Christmas gifts.  But instead of giving the watches to my godchildren, I gave one to my niece and another to my daughter.  Good thing I did this because we found out that the batteries of both watches stopped working after they unwrapped the boxes.  Yikes!  That’s the problem with copy products.  You can’t really rely on the quality.

My daughter’s love affair with books is slowly but surely getting intense.  After I (or the husband) have read a book to her as a prelude to her mid-day naptime or evening sleep time, she would continue on to mumble words as if reading.  She would even arrange the books, stack them or put them side-by-side like how I put away her books.  I remember bringing her to a bookstore only to find her running towards the sesame street books aisle while exclaiming “Books! books!”  I don’t know long she will keep this habit but we’re quite happy that she loves books.

The Wiggles will have a concert in Sydney this April.  I’m closely checking the ticketing website as the ticket sales will happen on a scheduled date, as in one date only.  I’m pretty excited for our little girl, seeing how much she enjoyed watching the Hi-5 group in November last year.  For sure, the effort to secure the tickets will be well worth it.

We have been frequenting the Asian store lately for replenishment of mostly spreads and biscuits.  I have been craving for a lot of things from back home and thankfully, the Asian store is just nearby to satisfy my appetite for Filipino foods.  However, I can’t keep track of our grocery spending because their receipt printer does not have the facility to show the actual item but just the amount.  Maybe I should ask the storeowners next time about that.

As I’m trying to pace myself with all the tasks I have and want to do, I find that I’m becoming more impatient.  I’ve set out a couple of personal projects, which I think will be on the shelf again for I don’t know how long.  Oh, those boxes of photos that I want to organize in a nice album.  The photos I want to put in digital scrapbook layouts and my online photo albums that need sorting, etc. etc. etc.  Maybe in three years’ time, I’d get the chance to do all these.  Hmm.

When I first started doing spons0red posts, I read so many blogs sharing expertise on marketing and SEO (or Search Engine Optimization).  Many of them talked about increasing traffic, optimizing websites, using SEO-optimized templates, creating backward links and so on.  Others spoke too technical about those topics that led me to more questions than answers.  But there are a few who were able to explain them fully without sounding like the acronym SEO came from outer space.

Then there are free web directories.  These for me are heaven-sent.  They are websites that allow you to list your own site that in turn give you more traffic (through site visits) and backward links (or backlinks or sites that links back to you).  Some of these directories provide free tools to keep track of your site’s performance such as how many site and page visits you get everyday, your most popular page and the likes.  The more popular your blog or website gets, the higher its position in search engines or potentially in Google’s page ranking.  It’s been a while since I last read about SEO stuff but a site owner can never go wrong with signing up their sites to web directories.

I have been extra picky with food these days and I’m trying my ‘darnest’ best to curb this.  Of all the times I need to eat right, now is the time to do so.    So, what I try to do is every bit of urge to eat, whether late at night or just as when I’m ready to sleep, I grab something quick and easy to snack on.  I don’t know how long this will last but I won’t need Fentraphen in the horizon.

There are many ways on how to create a relaxing environment at home. Aside from keeping things clean around the house, the color scheme used for pillows, curtains or walls adds to the ‘mood’ of the room/s. Then, if you’re up to it, fragrant candles can be added. These days there are lots of fragrances ranging from lavender to fruity scents. Paired with nice Votive candle holders for example, they will surely liven up the home.

It’s been a little over a week since we bought my Imac.  And to date, I’m loving it soooo much!  I told the husband that I’m being very dependent on it.  I’m using Stickies for my daily reminders — where I put short lists of what to buy, people I need to get in touch with, the works!  Also the iCal — calendar app, iMovie and a lot more! I also like it that it’s a whole lot easier for me to update my online photo albums and of course, my blogs.

I still need an updated Photoshop CS3 or 4 software though.  And that my friends, tops the list of my to-buy!  More updates about ‘Makoy’ (my beloved imac) soon.

I have posted on this blog earlier about my liking for the show The View.  During the height of the US elections, the hosts covered the most controversial issues that surrounded the four candidates.  The good part is that the five hosts were able to voice their opinions openly but with tact and sensibility.  On the world wide web, there’s a space dedicated for sharing views and takes on political discussions.  It’s intriguing to say the least, and I’m going to hop over it now to find out.

Since last week, I spent about an hour a day at least to search for a wordpress theme to replace what I have on my other blog.  I almost gave up yesterday when I saw HappyBlogDesign.  What I like most about the site is that, it’s not a typical repository of templates but only those that are really good (both in the coding and design) are included in the list.  It’s a matter of choosing what fits your liking rather than  spending extra time testing the theme and making sure that the codes work.  Thanks Ms Fath, the Malaysian lady behind the wonderful WP Theme website.

We received confirmation that the three boxes of personal effects we left in Manila have been airlifted to Sydney. We are now waiting for the call from the airline so that we can arrange for pick-up. But before it arrives, we are planning to get new cabinets because the rooms in the house have small built-in closets and cabinets. Otherwise, our rooms will look like a department store with racks upon racks of clothes, shoes and what not. If we chance upon good discount quality furniture like Lexington furniture, we just might opt to get wooden and not plastic cabinets.