The whole family (five of us) were blessed to have free tickets to the red carpet premiere of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. It is a very timely story about a boy who lived in a place where trees were all made of plastic and the girl of his dreams wanted to have a real tree. He sought for the real tree as he learned that they used to be all over the place. He went out of the fortressed place which was actually forbidden. He sought the Once-ler, the only one who can tell him about the tree and what happened, why none was left. It turned out that…

Oops! I’m not going to spoil it. Go watch it! It was fun watching it through the 3D glasses and SM’s IMAX gives the best 3D experience!

I loved the movie mainly because of the message behind. Very apt for our environment today. Not only for kids but especially for adults so that they can learn and teach their children too about the message. So REMEMBER to watch The Lorax!

The voices include that of Danny de Vito (the Lorax), Zac Efron (the boy Ted), and Taylor Swift (Audrey). 

The last four years since 2007 bloggers have been using their writing skills to blog about a company, either for a review or a mere mention and actually get paid for doing so. From a measly few, numbers have grown to thousands. From then on new ad pool companies have emerged as middlemen between advertisers and publishers (bloggers). Advertisers contact the ad pool company and when they have agreed on the payment scheme, the company will contact the bloggers with a price ready. Often, the blogger can choose which task to write about. The advertiser is also given the option to choose what niches would he/she want her website connected with. From the company’s system, only the tasks that are qualified for the blogger’s particular blog will be available for the taking, with much consideration for the blog page rank (how famous it is with Google). Also, only blogs that have been around for awhile and have been updated regularly will be accepted by the ad pool company.

Businesses have seen the power of the internet and many are jumping in the bandwagon to hopefully reap the same benefits. As a result, they contact a webdesigner or web developer and get it published. They tell their families and friends and even co-workers and business partners. Sadly, even after a couple of years, it seemed that there is something missing that other companies who have succeeded and earned are doing, that the others are missing.

Indeed, for the last two years, more and more businesses have tapped the opportunity of letting bloggers blog about their websites, either as a review or in mere passing. One’s pricing is different from the other. If you are one of them, the number of blog posts will add inbound links (other sites linking your website to their blogs) which gives your website search engine credibility. It is just short of saying that, say, a hundred blogs are blogging about you, then your website must be good! Recently, though, the FCC has declared that blogs who are promoting websites in exchange for payment or product gift must declare so as a disclosure to avoid any assumption by their readers. Making use of this promotional technique online will benefit your business for a long time because bloggers are continuously doing their best to have their blogs rank higher to be able to attract more advertisers.

In conclusion, simply having a website posted on the internet is not enough if you are trying to sell. You need some sort of promotion so that your website will pop up in the first few pages of the search results when people try to find something using the search engines. Tapping on the power of bloggers to blog about your business is a great opportunity that can last long. There are ad pool companies that are expert in handling this kind of promotion. They have thousands of bloggers in their system and the system matches the advertiser and the possible bloggers in a breeze depending on a pre-qualification based on page rank (the higher, the better, though costlier) and blog niche (what the blog is generally about, i.e., money matters, family, health, home repairs, parenthood, animals, etc.).

Life is full of problems. What are we going to do about it? Whining cannot solve any of them. Drinking alcohol can only make you forget for a while your focus on the problem but still, it will not give you any solution. If you cannot think clearly of a solution while sober, how else can you expect to think when you are drunk? Moderate drinking will only make you temporarily forget or not care about your problem but it will still be there unless someone gets to solve it.

I have asthma and it has been bugging me for years. While it has mellowed for a couple of months when I discovered that chicken makes my asthma attack, after a while it has regularly attacked several times a day. I haven’t been eating chicken for a few months now. The first two months got me attack-free but now it has become frequent again. I figured it really has something to do with my lack of exercise.

I’m not an exercise lover. I mean, I tend not to do it for the sake of exercising. I want to do something else and be exercised from it like swimming, hiking, cyling, etc. Since I do not have access to those activities or any other sport now, I resorted to walking. I even put up a blog for my journey to battling asthma. I chose to do something about it before it gets too late.

It is that time of the year when almost every store entices you to come closer, closer, see what stuff are on sale, see how beautiful or wonderful the clothes, shoes, gadgets, sporting gears, latest fad they have and there is just something for you.

There are three reasons you are in a mall and eating is almost always part of any of the three: 

1. you are really going to buy something.

2. you are going to watch a movie.

3. you are buying windows (window shopping).

Whichever is your purpose, you are almost always pulled by the magnetic effect of a beautiful window display. It makes you want to buy. If you have the money, and you are an impulse buyer, you will likely buy. If you know you are an impulse buyer and you know your funds are limited and budgeted, stay away from the malls.

If you are the one in charge of the store, though, you would want to really entice as much people as you can. Even if they do not have the money, people who are jam-packing your store because they saw something awesome and magnetic will give the impression that there is really something worth buying in your store. That will make the impulse buyers with money to join the bandwagon. You get a sale.

You see, even those without money give you the advantage of a sale. If you have that window display, make the most out of it.

I have just finished setting up (again) Scribefire for Chrome. Scribefire is an application that helps bloggers organize blogging tasks. It makes me enlist all my blogs, therefore, it will be easier for me to update them in a logical fashion. The only thing I cannot do with it is check on the comments. Writing and editing is what Scribefire does.

So far I have recorded 32 top level domain blogs using WordPress and 5 Blogger blogs. I still have to add more. Last night I wanted to buy one but the $1 promo code is gone. 

I haven’t been updating as much as I could because I had no SF installed until just today. With it now installed, I expect to be blogging more logically.

It was November 22, 2011. The long-awaited date since months prior. After experiencing the first PMC GEB in April 3 of the same year with lesser preparation, the 2nd was a blast! While the first was held at Kamayan/Dad’s Restaurant at SM Megamall where we did not have a private enclosure, the second time around, we made sure it was private so it was held at Aling Tonya’s Seafood Restaurant near SM MOA in Pasay City. While the former was a whole day event, the latter was a half-day-afternoon more fun!

Before leaving, I was carefully learning the road map of the area because I was not familiar with it. When I arrived at around 1:30pm there are many members there already. The founder, Ruby, was not around yet. There were many new faces who were not present during the first GEB. Being a natural coy, fumbling for the names in my faltering memory, I felt ashamed of myself when others would call out my name and I could not respond back with theirs. Good thing, PMC members understand that and will not take it against another for not remembering.

The event officially started with eating! Lunch almost at 2pm (which was expected). Since I ate before leaving home, I was not that hungry. Besides, I knew what food to expect. Most were seafood (which i do not eat) but there was also beef and fish. I enjoyed the beef much with lots of hot chili.

When I signed up at the registration, I was immediately given loot bags from Ajinomoto and Smart Steps. A little while after lunch the loot from Unilab was distributed, as well as the P&G items.

There were 50 registered mommies for the event coming from different parts of the country and the world (yes, some flew to be there). Some who cannot leave their kids behind brought them along. It was really a mommy event, not taking for granted the importance of prioritizing the needs of the children over an event.

The program was hosted by our abled mommies, Ning and Cielo who were more than willing to accommodate us since we could not afford the likes of Eugene Domingo and Pokwang.

Ruby gave us a background of how the Pinay Mommies Community started in 2008. I think I have been a member for over a year only. That short time really made my online life more alive and spontaneous. There is this community that I can mingle with where topics range not only about blogging but include our personal lives. Support, support, support of different sorts have been experienced by diffierent members. All for one and one for all is the general outcome of the group. There are different opinions but everyone is respected. There may be disagreements but they are left as that. We agree to disagree when needed. PMC is not bound by religion nor politics. What is common among us is we all are bloggers and we make blogging as an advantage to the family. Many of us are earning on the side as bloggers and the rest who are not yet earning are learning to do so. We share the blessings and opportunities to the group. 

When the raffling started, I was blessed to be the recipient of Unilab, Avon and walis tambo (broom) from Ane. I was really happy with the giant Ceelin, the lotion and hair styler and the walis tambo. Actually, I was expecting the walis tambo because that day I just lost mine to wear and tear. I told my family not to worry because I will be bringing home one from the GEB…and I did!

At the end of the raffling, Geiser Maclang had something for us too: Krispy Kreme and Pacquiao shirt.

Goldquest Biotechnologies gave cash for the extension of budget and a souvenir of pen-con-nailcutter.

We also had a lovely PMC cake which Iris made. It was so lovely to look at I never got to see it sliced!

The event was a enjoyed by all moms and respective families as the moms went home bringing loots and tokens which almost broke our shoulders off. The EB turned into a mini DV (Divisoria) because of the 50 exhanges of tokens.

The fun was even enhanced by the Krazypix photobooth!

Thanks to the following who contributed in photo sharing, being the official photographers: Eihdra and Mauie. Thanks also to Pehpot who did most of the leg work to make this GEB a success.

Before going home, we had our class picture taken. Before that, we made sure we wore our PMC tshirt!

It has found its way to be in the local papers, People’s Tonight and People’s Journal the next day.

To give you an idea of our first GEB, here is our class picture:

Looking forward to PMC GEB3!

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I hate being late. I sometimes do but not on purpose. There are lots of things to do and lots of things to face in life. When you think of all of them at the same time, they are enough to kill the worrywart.

Life may not be financially easy but God promised to provide our NEEDS. We know that needs are limited to food, clothing and shelter. We have actually added education but actually the real needs, are only food and clothing. If you have anything more than food and clothing then you have more than what you need.

So when my children, especially the youngest, ask for something they want, sometimes I’d say yes, if we have the money by that time. They would be hoping but oftentimes the money won’t come for that plan. I would be dubbed as procrastinating (not saving for it early) but I’d say no, I’m prioritizing.

Food is more important. Today is more important. If there is enough for today, be thankful. Don’t worry about tomorrow. The cares for the day is enough. Yes, it’s good to plan but don’t fret about it if it’s taking longer. Worrying will kill you everyday. When that happens you might not just live enough to see your plan come true.

Prioritizing. We could have been rich long ago if I let my husband work abroad, but no, the family in one roof comes first over the bountiful money that could have come. We live in a small space, 26×7 feet. Communication has been a normal thing. Everyone knows about everything we talk about. The children are involved with the problems we face. Everyone knows about one’s problem or success each of them had in school.

Prioritizing. We moved to this house from a much bigger house. This is much closer to hubby’s office. He can actually casually walk to it for 18 minutes. It saved him a lot of time and he’s home much earlier. The former takes him 3 hours of travel and when he comes home, he’s very tired.

Prioritizing. What comes to our lives can make or break us. We may not be able to do something about the situation but we can choose to let the situation bring us down or let us hold on, with a surviving smile.

Have a great day today!

Life insurance has been in the market for over half a century now. While it was yet new, the rich and famous made sure they bought several while those who merely knew about the advantage but could not afford it continued to wonder and wish they, too, can own at least one.

In the 90s up to the time of the financial bubble a few years ago, the insurance business has boomed more than ever. More insurance agents walked the streets trying to knock on every office door in the great hope that they will meet their quota for the day. The Insurance Commission entertained more people who were out of school, mothers and fathers who wanted to try to get their riches in sales. They then get the training they needed to be well-equipped in selling their intangible products.

Who needs to buy life insurance? First and foremost, the bread winner in the family. The main purpose is to sustain the dependents in the event the insured died. Since it is appointed for all human beings to die, it is just a matter of time when it will happen for each person. The fear of loss of income, in addition to the loss of life, is what the life insurance industry is banking on.

How much insurance do you need anyway? It is good that you should know because there are sales people who are merely thinking about the sales they want to make without having concern if you are overbuying, beyond your necessity and capacity.

Basically, when computed, the face amount (the figure you are buying, say, 1 million), when stored in the bank, the interest thereof should be equivalent to the current income of the insured. This is to make sure that in the event the insured lost his or her life, the beneficiaries or dependents will still be able to receive the same amount as if the insured is still earning.

What if it took a long time before the death happens? As time flies, usually the earning power has also risen. When it does, it is ideal to upgrade one’s policy like adding to the face amount for the same reason that in the event the insured died, the current face amount’s interest when banked is enough or commensurate to the usual income of the family when the bread winner was alive.

Next to the head of the family or the bread winner, the single young employees are ideal to get insured. They may not have their own family yet but they will grow old just the same. Since most life insurance policies mature at age 60 when the power to generate income ends, the insured can enjoy the benefit of his or her own insurance. Again, as income increases, the policy is ideally upgraded to keep up with the economic demands of the time.

Getting insured gives the benefit of financial streslessness. While it can be an avenue to give your descendants more than enough (over insuring), this article is meant to let you know what is enough.

Opera has been installed in both computers: the pc and the lappy. Why? Firefox is getting slow and Chrome is not enough for certain add-ons I needed. Opera seems to be the solution because it claims to have the speed of Chrome and the add-ons of Firefox. It even has the option for Turbo browsing.

When I installed ScribeFire, it seems better also since I only have to press enter on certain areas where I am required to click the mouse when I use the other browsers. It may be a small thing but with almost 3 dozen blogs to configure, pressing enter with my right pinky is a lot easier and time-saver.

Looking forward to a brigher future with Opera. Am checking My Opera and the widgets offered…