When we visited my parents’ place, I was surprised to see a cctv monitor inside the master’s bedroom. I expressed my surprise as I didn’t think they need cctv cameras around the house, and asked them if there’s anything that happened to cause their paranoia. My parents reasoned that they have the cameras installed for security purposes. Just that. No other reason.

I doubt. My parents are the kind of people who cancelled all their out of the country trips just because of the recent earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear spill. Regardless if they were planning to visit countries that are miles away from Japan. So I am quite sure if I tell my mom about high tech hi tech pickpocketing and identity theft, she’d buy RFID blocking products, not only for herself but one for each family member. Hahaha.

Anyway, my daughter had fun with the cameras asking her uncle to wave to the cameras while she watches at the monitor, then taking turns. I know, I know. Kids can have fun in the simplest ways.

Every morning, it’s sunbath and (real) bath for the baby. It’s a bit hard for me to wake up at 6am to do this when he manages to wake up every hour from 1am onwards to nurse. Good thing my husband helps me (with the sunbathing and burping) so I can catch some zzzz’s. After the baby’s morning bath, we stay in our room upstairs until before dinner, transferring to the room downstairs for the rest of the night. So yes, we “shuttle” between these two rooms. I just make sure I always bring my cell so that I can call yaya anytime if I forget to bring something during these transfers. But it has been raining these days, which made it difficult to contact yaya because she was said to be out of coverage area. These are the times when I wish we have a cell booster home.

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I find it amusing that my daughter sometimes mistakenly glide her pointer finger on my cell (Jurassic at that). She does so as if using an iPad/iPod.

I have declared long ago that I am no gadget fan. I am quite satisfied with a simple phone, as long as I can send/receive text messages and make/receive calls, I’m fine. Cameraphone isn’t a big deal to me as we have a DSLR and a digicam. This was until my mommy friends got hooked to Instagram. Now, I want an iPod too. Even an iTouch will do as long as I can connect to Instagram (and Twitter and Facebook) with them.

Some people I know even purchased wireless cellular booster to make sure they are connected 24/7. Talk about addiction.

Needless to say, I got hooked too. But I wonder when Instagram will be available to non-iPod users.

I got a nice photo with my daughter from our family outing last weekend. The lighting was good. This is one photo where my pregnancy is obvious but I don’t look too haggard.

I would have used it for my Facebook profile pic but then I suddenly remember that I have joined “Nothing but HP for Me Revolution” contest where one must use the HP Revolution Badge as one’s profile pic. I don’t mind using the badge till March 15th. As long as I have a chance to win HP items at stake. Although I’m not sure if they’re giving away laserjet 3550, I’m hoping to win the grand prize, HP Envy “14 (Beats) laptop.

Schedule is as follows:
• Revolutionary Kick-Off: February 2 to February 13, 2011
• 1stRaffle: February 14 to February 20, 2011
• 2ndRaffle: February 21 to February 27, 2011
• 3rdRaffle: February 28 to March 6, 2011
• 4thRaffle: March 7 to March 13, 2011
• Grand Raffle Draw: March 15, 2011

ETA: I’m adding the mechanics.
1. All participants must be a confirmed fan of the official HP Philippines fan page www.facebook.com/HPphilippines
2. Participants must use the HP Revolution Badge as their current Facebook profile picture upon joining promo until the promo ends on March 15, 2011. Removal of the HP Revolution Badge anytime during the promo period will automatically disqualify the entry. Moderators of the official HP Philippines fan page will conduct profile picture checks at random intervals on all participants’ entries.
3. After clicking “Like” on the Nothing But HP for Me Photo Album and changing your profile picture, participants must then post their Declaration on the HP Revolution Badge photo: “Nothing But HP for _(Your Name)_ “. This single post in the Nothing But HP for Me Revolution photo album will serve as your raffle ticket to the Grand Raffle Draw. It’s that easy!

This weekend, we are having our “sisig” night with friends. The term ‘sisig’ refers to the spicy and fatty meat dish popular all over the Philippines. People usually pair it with rice or with beer. We try to stay away from sisig and beer because 2-3 friends (husband included) suffer from gout.

An inflammation of gout can accelerate degenerative changes in the joint resulting in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis pain can be alleviated by regular physical therapy sessions. In extreme cases, surgery is recommended. Sadly, not all surgeries are 100% successful. Heard of DePuy Hip Replacement lawsuit? Recently, there was a product recall because of some complaints about hip pains, which is suspected to be due to the defective hip implant. Good to hear there’s hope for the patients even in most complex liability claims.

It will be February next week. What month is more romantic to tie the knot than the month of hearts itself. No wonder churches and hotels are fully booked for February weekend weddings not only this year, but for the next 3 years. Those who were able to save and plan ahead (like 2 years in advance), have the advantage of choosing their church and reception venue. They have the option of holding the ceremony in a church, a garden or on a beach.

More and more couples prefer destination weddings bringing together close friends and relatives to witness the union of two people in love. And what could be more romantic than the white sand beaches of Riviera Maya? Check their packages now and find that perfect wedding and honeymoon that you truly deserve.

While browsing for nice new orleans hotels, I received an invitation to try Google Wave. And in turn, I can invite 8 friends to try it too. I actually enjoyed its feature but in the end, it flatlined. Maybe because we’re still trying to make sense out of it. What I’d really like to figure out now is how to interact with my Twitter account and blogs through a wave (like I saw in their demo). Is that an extension?

I know this is an open source code. Who knows, maybe, I might be motivated enough to create a simple extension of some sort. I’m guessing a month from now, new amazing extensions will start spreading all over the web, for grabs. Well, let’s just wait.

Whenever we reach the last quarter of a year, one always looks back to what he has so far accomplished with the current year. It then becomes a struggle to work on goals he wants to meet before the year ends. The recession in the US maybe over, but life for families will take years to get back to normal, as they are just rebuilding their lives again.

One thing has changed though – the ability of people to invest their money on the stock market. It is the current trend to invest on gold as they are very liquid assets and do not depreciate over time. You can buy yours at the Monex Deposit Company (MDC today).

Did you notice how affordable to fly to great places these days? Plus, if you are one of the frequent fliers, you earn points which give you more free trips of your choice. I’ve told this to my cousin who is getting married next year. They had been researching about destination weddings and been eyeing Mexico as their wedding venue. It would be easy to invite family and friends to attend their wedding.

I suggested the Karisma Hotels where the couple can tie the knot on the beach, with the sunset as the backdrop. Yes, you might think it could only happen in movies but Karisma Hotels could make it possible for you. After the perfect wedding, the couple will stay at any of the honeymoon suites with in-room Jacuzzis. Wouldn’t that be just perfect?

My brother has just been released from the hospital after an appendectomy. He said even if he is still having difficulty, he does a lot of moving around, as advised by his doctors. It was even hard for him to stand for a long time while taking a bath.

Good thing though that my mom still had their shower chairs my dad bought when she had her gall bladder removed. The chairs are adjustable bath and shower seats and proved to be very useful since I borrowed a seat too when I got pregnant and was too weak to stand in the shower for a long time. And now, my brother uses one too. Very useful, indeed.