Home Management K.I.T.

For most of us Moms who have a thousand-and-one things to do at home but can't seem to find sufficient time to do these tasks well, please get a copy of Frannie Daez's book, "Keep It Together".

I find the book to be well-written, nicely printed, and full of practical tips on home management. There are many good lists in the book that seem to streamline the complex responsibilities of running the household. I can identify with the management cycle, especially the part on mission-visioning, and roles and goals creation. I liked too how she applied the Japanese 5-S philosophy to her own experiences in home management. Try reading the book for the Househelper's Guide--with the difficulty in getting and keeping maids nowadays, the tips given are invaluable and so practical.

A Dose of Vitamins and Good Cheer

Our friend and Bibliamate, Christian David, recently gave Gerry my hubby a nice present: a bottle of Intra capsules!

Intra is a popular vitamin supplement from the Lifestyles group. Christian is International Marketing Director for the company. And since you can only get the product through its network of marketing professionals,we were fortunate to get it direct from the head himself!

Gerry was feeling weak, feverish, and had a sore throat. Must have been due to the past few weeks of high-stress activities and shortened hours of sleep. Christian was kind enough to part with a bottle. He genuinely wanted to make Gerry feel better (as Gerry's wife, I sensed that).

Ger has been taking Intra for the past 3 days. And true enough he started to detox. The high fiber cleansed out the digestive debris and he started to feel a lot better. Combined with his anti-allergy medicine, the flu-like symptoms disappeared. I asked Christian, "Do you have something to lower high cholesterol?". I was only half kidding. I needed to bring my cholesterol down from a 200+ high risk level. I was already feeling dizzy most of the time, partly due to raised blood pressure combined with other pressures.

I read the flyer on Intra that claims it has 23 botanicals that strengthen's the body's systems. Perfect for those who lack sufficient nutrients due to imbalanced and usually rushed meals.

Christian also gave us some info on Nutria, another vitamin supplement from the Lifestyles, which we could use in tandem with Intra. The list brings to mind colorful images of a lush botanical garden: apple, rosehip, green tea, cherry, orange, prune, parsley, onion, mango, spinach, pineapple--it goes on and on. Plus nutrients like selenium, molybdenum, folic acid, beta carotene, zinc, chromium and much more. The list seems so comprehensive--and all of those nutrients found in one vitamin pill!

We all know that a pill is not a cure-all. But if you want to have extra insurance for good health and resistance to the elements, supplemental formulas such as those of Intra and Nutria are safe, sound and penny-wise propositions. I am happy that Intra worked for Gerry. He is usually skeptical about nutritional supplements. For years he handled the regional marketing of a popular multinational vitamin brand. So he knows that there are a number of questionable supplement claims out there. But he didn't question the positive results he got from Intra.

Though I know Christian wasn't trying to sell us any stuff, his perfect health and cheerful, intelligent disposition made him a convincing endorser of his own products. You can e-mail Christian David or text him at 0917-535-1312 for more of how you can benefit from Intra. Better yet, why not ask him about the benefits of joining their growing business group?

More Creativity than Candy on Halloween '06

I kept my promise to my kids that I'll change their Halloween costumes this year. They've been fairy princesses for the past 3 years. Same dress, same wings.

For this year's treck to Ayala Alabang Village's traditional Halloween treat, my kids went to Toy Kingdom for new costumes to transform them into All Hallow's Eve vixens. Mira went as a pretty wizardress. Sachi, well, a princess with a crinoline collar and faux earrings. Others went out of their way to come up with more unique costumes. Check out the Dad who came as an M&M. His entire family came as a pack of M&Ms. I saw a Mom and her daughters come in Dalmatian-spotted shirts as a tribute to the doggy Disney movie. Another guy was dressed as the traditional Pinoy dead person: barong, head tied with a white bandana, pale face and cotton-balls-in-nose. My friend Pia P. brought her kids, nephews and nieces to Divisoria to buy cloth. Then went to a hard-to-find dressmaker in Baclaran to have a furry feline jumpsuit , bunny suit, and K-zone character costume made.

Dog lovers gave their furry friends a chance to enjoy the revelry in the frontlines. Here's Pumpkin the Pug (featured below) as Dracula. We met Happy the Poodle in carnival togs, terriers with warlock hairdos and another pug dressed as Batdog.

Noticeable this year was that the candies were fewer and some residents made kids think before getting their jaw breakers. Amidst the fiendish pumpkins, Freddy Kruger slashers, skeletons, and hodgepodge of Disney characters one resident was good enough to inject Christian spirit amidst the ghoulish displays. Kids listened to his talk on Jesus and the significance of his knot trick in Christian life (sorry, sir, didn't get to catch the entire spiel!). Then they got a goody bag with a Christian Ministry pamphlet.

I loved how one neighbor in Country Club Drive put up a huge, colorful taurpaulin display of marine and wildlife creatures on her lawn. She was with the Children's Environmental Awareness and Action Foundation , and made the kids' visit a fun and educational affair. Kids had a great time guessing what the different creatures were. My daughter thought the colored tarps were the giveaways, so I was surprised when she brought a stingray painting into the car! On the ghoulish side, another resident transformed her courtyard into a full-scale graveyard complete with gravemarkers with cute names, casket, cadaver and eerie smoke.

Kudos to those who gave cotton candy and dirty ice cream in place of the usual Halloween sweets. That's injecting Filipino spirit into this Western tradition.

After orbiting the neighborhood for 2.5 hours we hied off home to watch "Ghost Whisperers" series on DVD, complete with homemade nachos and cheese sauce. My husband and kids stayed awake with suspense til 2 am. I was dead tired with a headache and promptly fell asleep.

I think it was the most fun and least expensive Halloween I've had. The greatest shocker of the night was finding out that there wasn't any water in the second floor bathrooms.

Want to share your Halloween experience? Post it here!

Some Bogs with Blogger on the Go

Ok. After the initial excitement with Blogger Beta, I'm now trying to transfer my m-blog entries to my main blog, I just found out that it's available only in the US. Patience, patience. When, when?!?

In the meantime I have temporary m-blog sites for this experiment. Hmmmm.

Blogger Beta's Sticky Proposition

I just moved Mom on Mobile to the new Blogger Beta, after seeing the irresistable "Move to Blogger Beta" icon and a tip-off from the Geekette. Blogger made sure that I didn't have to lift too many fingers to do it: simply register for a Google account, and they automatically transfer the entire content to the new platform. Well, that's service.

I find Blogger Beta's emphasis on doing mobile blogging highly, highly attractive. Look how I got to capture my daughter's sleepy moment during Typhoon Milenyo and my retreat moments in Makiling Conference Center using my new Sony Erricson K800i . Thanks to Blogger's savvy tie-up with Sony Erricson, it's so easy to regularly capture blog-worthy moments in true anytime-anywhere fashion. Now, Mom on Mobile can really live up to its name! More on the m-blogging journey later in another post. . .

I can now make labels for my entries too. What I don't like, though, is that they have to tie me up to a new e-mail address, which I frankly don't need. I'm having a bit of a hard time uploading my photos too. Well, Blogger Beta's saved by the photo blog function in the m-blogging apps.

Blogger caught me in time before I completely became enamored with Wordpress: I was quite happy with the way Wordpress elevated my Architelago e-learning blog and Architerra real estate blogs to pro-sheen status. It was soo cool and efficient to organize my blog entries by my own named category. Plus it's e-commerce-savvy to have free blog stats to track your traffic! However, I missed being able to program my own keywords (so I'll be searchable, of course!) in Wordpress (or maybe I haven't found out how to do it in the templates?) .

So the move is complete, and Mom on Mobile is on an exploration trip with Blogger Beta. Let's see how far we can go!

Postscripts: Remembering Milenyo

Ok, I haven't been posting for a long time. But aside from the usual excuse that I've been busy (and a good deal dizzy not only with work, but due to a medical condition), I've been having connection problems with my dial-up service.

Thanks to my handy, new Sony Ericsson K800i's 3.2 megapixel camera , I was able to record moments and the almost surreal experience of living through a Typhoon Milenyo's howling vengeance. Driving through strong winds, walking through the streets in search of drinking water, food, or candles, running from the sweltering heat by checking in at the nearby Eurotel, the only place with a vacancy on that stormy day--I almost felt like I was part of a reality tv show. Seeing age-old trees uprooted and so much vegetation, power lines, and billboards wrenched from the ground like they were threads made me feel even more puny in the face of nature's power. We had regular power only after 3 days, some for a week or longer. Internet and mobile lines were unstable for a time. I'm just having some trouble uploading my images from September 28 as I passed through BF Homes Pque and Ayala Alabang Villages. Will do so later.

The one shocking-humorous experience was finding out (rather naively?) that there were only 2 tv channels available in the motel, and they were x-rated. I promptly pulled the plug and told the kids that the tv was dead. So we watched only DVDs on the laptop for our entire stay there.

Missed Opportunity for Getting Another WiFi Customer?

Just peered at J Spot's article on Innove's missed marketing opportunity during a blogger's meet up at Greenbelt 2's Temple Bar. There's talk ( I read) about introducing 3G wireless internet connectivity.

When I inquired about this 3G service at the Globe Service Center in ATC, the customer representative directed me to Innove. They didn't want to say much about it, except to say that it really isn't out yet. Much as I feel the need to get the fastest connection possible, and to access anytime-anywhere, I wondered: Are Pinoys really ready to take full advantage of the 3G Internet service? Can we afford to pay for it? Why 3G anyway?

Back on earth, I asked J Angelo's expert opinion on choosing between GlobeWIZ and Airborne Access for wireless Internet subscriptions. Unless I can go to the Country Club everyday for free access to wireless broadband, I need to get my own subscription pronto! Dial-up is tooo slooow. the My Destiny cable broadband connection at home was just so slow, it didn't justify the Php 999/month that I paid for. Anyway, would love to hear what J Angelo has to say about WIZ, 3G and Airborne, plus his other recommendations.

Problogging is Family-Friendly

I felt more affirmed by the Problogging talk by the Pinoy A-listers in iBlog2.

I realize that problogging is really a leading-edge form of Minipreneurism. Hearing the panelists, it allows you to do what you love, make a more than decent living (Abe Olandres, Php7,000-85,000/month/BLOG for independent bloggers is NOT peanuts money!), use your creative and strategic skills, plus have time with the kids.

Work-life balance is a choice. Problogger Angelo Racoma showed at iBlog2 that this specialization is a family-friendly, marketable career.

Tag, You're (Blog's) It!

Just visited Technorati to explore how to get more blog traffic via tagging. Great for problogging.

Love iBlog2

I've been tweaking my e-learning blog, Architelago, this blog and Launch n Learn with Google AdSense. Successfully migrated Architelago to WordPress. . .and having a great online conversation with dynamic Pinoy Bloggers. Thanks to iBlog2. Wonderful. Now my daughters want to try podcasting. That'll be a great summer project for them--better than watching Nickelodeon all day!

The Hands that Serve

Posted this Holy Week reflection as my way of serving God through this blog. We know so much, and yet how many times do we act on what we know, in the service of others?

Kids Love to Learn with Mom and the Net

I remember Ms. Fahlman, my daughter's former Senior Kinder teacher in Canadian International School . She said that online or educational computer games are effective for drills, practice or integration. But the key is to first teach them the concepts in class. Otherwise the CD program's learning aspect is lost on the child. So since then, I would lead my kids to do these edugames usually after they review their subject facts.

I'm writing this with my 6- and 7-year old daughters by my side. It's amazing how interested they are in doing their assignments when they know I'll be giving them Internet review games for their exams. My youngest stumbled upon the teacher tools on Learning Planet. And my eldest created her own crossword puzzle for her long test in Religion, with the click of the mouse!

Learning Planet's Spacey Math for Grade 1 and 2 was fun! The space fighter game builds mastery as they get to practice random multiplication math facts 'til table of 12. Mrs. McGowan's website has a drag-and-drop compound word drill that's under time pressure. Try Kidport's multiple choice test for other language arts skills.

Try out these other sites: Science by Edugreen; a gold mine of teaching resources at Internet for Classrooms; and Kids on the Net for creative writing. Even ordinary sites like Weather.com can be used for fun learning! The resources are endless. So what great sites would you like to share?

Mom the Minipreneur

I checked out my fave PinoyTech Blog. I came across Miguel Paraz's article on Minipreneurs. The article shows how we get both freedom and control when we make a business out of doing what we love. Rapidly turn your hobby into a profit-making global venture, thanks to the free and accessible info technologies. The Net may seem to be common. But in the Philippines, using SMS to forward sales pitches has been a common practice to sell wares too.

How many of us have said we want to do something with our creative talents? The banana chip seller, the neighbor selling those Hong Kong bags, jewelry sideliners, and even those offering unique giftwrapping services like my friend Pia P. are potentially Generation C material once they take advantage of the market reach of selling over the Internet.

I'm no E-bay trader (yet), but I am definitely the quintessential bricks-and-mortar trader w/ some tech knowledge up my hem. I know the satisfaction of buying online--I've bought books, seminars, movie tickets and online courses through the Internet. I've saved time and money--for who ever said that when one shops for the item, you don't end up paying for other things like your meals or impulse purchase items you see on the way to the main shop?!? On the other end, when I lived in Singapore for almost four years I would sell export-quality Christmas linens, Filipino paintings, and items I personally picked out during my vacations to Manila. My marketing tool? A nicely designed e-newsletter and my database of friends and acquaintances. At that time I did it just for extra lunch money with the girls. But now. . .

If you have the desire to do what you love, a belief that you have a unique product or service to offer to the world, and some daring-do to experiment with the vast number of common collaboration and communication tools such as e-mail or SMS, you may be on your way to becoming a minipreneur. Moms are natural entrepreneurs--providing for the kids million-and-one needs as well as saving for a rainy day have always been prime motivators to earn a little cash.

Spotlight the Pinoy stay-at-home Moms (SAHM). Wherever she is in the world, you find her in some little business. Think of their tiny 'sideline' businesses of dried fish, generic powdered soap, yummy choco cakes, web designing, CD trading, Christmas gift items--the list is endless! With a little help from the Internet and some experimentation with her PC, the Mompreneur can expand her sales to markets beyond the referral network of her immediate neighbors. Trendwatching.com spots the explosive growth of Minipreneurs . And they've got the stats to prove it's on it's way to making you--and me--earn a tidy sum out of our little PCs.

Is it time to get a dose of the Tablet PC?

I've been a diehard user of the Palm for the past eight years. I've had 4 Palms, from the IIIc to my current Tungsten T2. It was great for research, even nicer now for storing JPEG photos coming from my handphone.

However, it has been a challenge to keep my patience when my Graffiti writing system can't tell a 't' stroke from the 'h' stroke after 4 tries--and no, it isn't the protective film barrier messing up the system. I've resorted to writing in longhand on the Writing Pad apps, just to speed things up. Very embarrasing when someone says you can copy their longhand notes from their trusty paper pad, while you struggle to complete the spelling of a single word on the silver screen.

With this irritation, I've been using Palmy (as I call my Tungsten) less for notes and more for taking down my schedule. But with the demands of realty work, I've started thinking of alternative gadgets. Like the Tablet PC. Agazzeri's Blog gives 10 sharp reasons why:

1. Use Microsoft's most advance Operating System (Windows XP Tablet PC)
2. Extend the way you work with your PC
3. Work from anywhere with the most Mobile PC ever.
4. Take your notes electronically
5. Collaborate easily and effectively (but this is true of any mobile gadget equipped with Wi-fi, I'd say)
6. Personalize your experience.
7. Extend your applications with digital ink handwriting.
8. Deploy and manage easily.
9. Provide a global business solution.
10. Get high levels of protection for critical data.

I guess this is an over-specification if you just need to file the recipe cards, grocery list, or the kid's practice sheets. But it becomes a rapid way to organize profit-generating data when you can convert your scribbles ASAP into the system, and electronically organize the different data into an integrated information system.

Of course, the set-back is the price: Php 90,000 to 120,000 for such a device makes me think I have to sell millions to justify this purchase! Other than that, the Tablet PC isn't such a bitter pill to swallow, is it?

What do you use to organize your home and business information systems?

Learning Fun

Last week the kids had their 3rd quarter exams. And with the load of assignments and quizzes, it was no wonder that they found reviewing such a pain.

Between typing out the client proposals and answering e-mail, I zipped through the Magic Net to give me a wealth of free learning aids. A search with Yahooligans led me to an interactive crossword puzzle on homographs on Quia.com. The kids had a ball differentiating it from homophones. And the lesson stuck--much better than just using the plain reviewer.

On the computer-aided instruction (CAI) end, the kids used their Number Works interactive CD for math games. My eldest daughter loves Math, my youngest finds it a bore. At the Number Works tutorial center in Alabang, kids get both tutor and computer interventions. The tutor explains concepts, asks the kids to practice first with the paper drill, and makes the kids do problem-solving quizzes in the form of engaging games for integration of their learning. My daughters have been taking the Number Works tutorials once a week for the past 4 months. It's not cheap (Php 6,000/ child/ 12 lessons). But seeing their much better grades and overcoming the fear of Math are priceless and wortwhile returns on this investment!

Check out these other sites next time you need to make learning fun: Kids on the Net for a a drag-and-drop game on learning similes; Learning Planet for groovy cartoon-type games for Grades 1-3. The Mr. E's Matching Game helps improve concentration. They have free games as well as paid subscriptions for more variety of materials, similar to Quia's site. The Primary Resources pages offer a rich source of language learning materials.

Do you have a site to share? What are your kids' favourite learning websites? They must be great alternatives to these increasingly violent network gaming portals!