Ideal Gift For Expectant Parents

I am sure a lot of you have heard about cord blood banking. To be honest, I have never heard of it when I was pregnant with my son. I just recently found out about it through reading from many internet articles that at present, there’s now an option for expectant parents to preserve their child’s cord blood. What does it do and how is it done? It is believed that cord blood can be used to treat at least 70 diseases, which includes anemia, lymphoma, diabetes, cerebral palsy, and leukemia. Collecting of cord blood takes place shortly after birth. It is done using a kit that parents must order from their chosen cord blood bank ahead of time.

It is nice to know that there is such an option. So if you know an expectant parents, whether it be your friend, a member of your family or relative, would it be a nice idea that this holiday season, you give them a Gift Certificate from Cryo-Cell? Cryo-Cell is devoted to educating expectant parents about the benefits of preserving newborn’s cord blood and they are offering an affordable solution for cord blood banking. If you are interested, you can visit their website at cryo-cell.com and see their Current Offers.

What The Heck !

The other day, I heard my son screaming from the kitchen so I hurried and checked him out. When I got into the kitchen he was standing right by the garbage can and about to cry. He was asking me why was his pumpkin in the garbage. I told him that his daddy threw it away because it is not good anymore. He wanted me to pick it up... so just to give him a little peace of mind, I just told him that we will buy him a new one. He walked away a bit angry... Time passed by, he heard his daddy came in from work... It was funny coz as soon as he saw his daddy... he screamed.... "Daddy!!! What the heck..$%^&*#$%^&^ (inaudible) put the pumpkin in the garbage?" It is inaudible coz I didn't understand the words he said eheheeh he's trying though... He still can't express himself clearly but I know he's trying to talk real good. But still "BULOL" pa din..He's daddy was shocked coz the boy was really upset and confronting him about the pumpkin...but laughed after he recovered from the shock ehehehe If you just heard it, you sure would laugh your butt-off too :)

Christmas Photo Cards

It is almost November and before you know it, Thanksgiving is here. Not long after that, it is going to be Christmas already. Since I have not much to do today, I decided to visit VistaPrint so I can start selecting designs from their tons of holiday cards. Below is the design that I think I would like to use for this year’s Christmas Photo Cards.

It is simple yet nice looking, plus I like the color blue :). You know how much time it took me to do this? Not long, probably a couple of minutes or so. Yes, that quick! This is not final though; I will try to look for a better picture to put on because while I was making the card, VistaPrint popped a message saying that my picture has low resolution and might not print clearly. I find that feature amazing. My card was saved on their system. I can go back and edit it when I have found a new picture to put on. By the way, not only you can put photo on your card but you can also customize the text, which means it is much easy to tell your family and friends how much you are thinking of them during the holiday seasons. You think it might be too early to shop for Christmas Cards, but it really isn’t, so stop by at VistaPrint.com, browse their hundreds of holiday cards and even register for free!

My Other Addiction

Yes I am an addict! Games addict that is :) My recent addiction other than Winster is playing the computer game called Ranch Rush. The goal of the game is to help Sarah turn 3 acres into a thriving Farmer's Market Ranch. What you do is harvest fresh produce like clovers, tomatoes, corns, wheat, grapes, pumpkins at first, then progress to collecting honey bees, milking cows, making ketchup from your freshly harvested tomatoes and a lot more! I am in the expert stage now making bread :) You can take a snapshot of your Ranch too, but I have not done that part as sometimes my computer will just freeze on me while playing. It is a really fun and addicting game just like Cake Mania and Diner Dash.

this is a screenshot of Ranch Rush from Yahoo! Games

Easy Search Using Find.com

Over the years, I have been using Yahoo or Google as my primary search engine, whether I am looking for a certain product or just researching about something. It always gives me good results, however, it is sometimes overwhelming because they would give you too many that you still have to go through all the links just to see which one you really need. It is just time consuming and pretty tiring clicking one link to another.

I mentioned that because I have been trying out some of the newest search engines there is and I decided that Find.com Search Engine is the one that I prefer using. The site is very clear, simple and not a lot of overpowering ads, plus easy to remember. You can Find People, Find Friends, and even Find Jobs. Yes, I tried looking for some jobs and unbelievably, I have found some jobs here in our area that I have never seen using those two search engines I have mentioned above. Can you believe that? How can those two giant search engines miss those? Or is it just me? I do not know but next time you want to look for something no matter what it is, simply type-in in your browser Find.com. It is as simple as that.

For Kuletz

I probably have mentioned a few times that I am a Winster addict. :) Yes I like playing Picture Magic at Winster. I just recently exchanged my points for an Amazon Gift Card and I bought a book called Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegried Engelmann (picture shown below). I ordered it last Friday and surprisingly, it came here yesterday. Pretty fast for a standard delivery. Anyways, I have read the introduction as soon as it came and plan to start our first lesson today. We will see how this one would go. Kuletz is pretty smart, hopefully I will be able to get a good response from him doing this reading thing. Will be posting our developments here of course. :)

Another Great Use For Dragon

About a month ago, I wrote an entry about the amazing software that would let you talk on your computer microphone and it types everything for you word for word. Furthermore, you can use the said software to surf the Internet, for Microsoft Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer and more. Yes folks, I am talking about the Dragon Naturally Speaking. Read the press release or check out the video below that I am sure would make you say… I want to Type at $150 Words Per Minute for $99!

Heather From British Columbia
using the Dragon Naturally Speaking

Press Release:

The above video is not the typical Dragon NaturallySpeaking video. It was created by a blogger named Heather from British Columbia. She writes a blog called Boating in Beautiful British Columbia.

In the video that she has created, she talks about Dragon NaturallySpeaking. She talks about using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. In fact in the video, she is using Dragon NaturallySpeaking while she's talking about it but you don't quite realize that until the video is about halfway done.

The thing that's REALLY interesting about this video, is not the fact that Heather is using the software and it's not the fact the software works for her so much as HOW she chooses to use it. She took Dragon NaturallySpeaking and sat down with her father who is 95 years old. She spent a few minutes with him getting the software tuned to his voice so that the computer recognizes his sentences and words. Then she's lets her father tell some of his great stories to the computer which transcribes everything that he says.

You can tell just by watching the video and listening to her father that he really does have some interesting stories to tell. I have a feeling that I could probably listen to the stories myself quite a bit, enjoying them immensely. And that too is not really the cool thing about this video. Although I'd love to hear her father tells more stories, the COOL THING is that she's using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to capture a piece of her family's oral tradition.

I can think of hundreds of different stories that my family has shared with me over the years that have not been documented. Our family is slowly losing some of those great stories and unfortunately, as we are losing some of our family members. We survivors don't know all of the stories ourselves that our parents or grandparents or our great grandparents knew. But this video shows that you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to help capture some of those great stories that your parents and grandparents and great grandparents have probably told you dozens of times.

It's something that we don't always think about, but in a lot of ways those stories are some of the most cherished memories that we will walk away with from our family. And the sad thing is that our family cannot Be with us forever, but their memories can live on and this is where Dragon NaturallySpeaking really shows us its value. It's true for $99 you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking and you can type 150 words a minute. That's a pretty good value for the software. It's not too expensive and the benefit is tangible.

Now, you can get a useful tool at any computer store or Home Depot or Lowes, and if you don't know how to use it well, then it really doesn't matter what you pay for it. It is a waste of money.

Heather shows us a great way to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to capture some of the most valuable information and stories from her father that she might ever be able to record not only for herself but for her daughter and her grandchildren someday and great-grandchildren and many other branches of the family even.

So that's just another great reason why they Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a pretty cool piece of software. $99 could help you capture your family history easily and even make it indexable too, so that you can search it from your computer. That's just amazing.


My name Brett Bumeter, and I write about Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I've been writing reviews about it for almost 2 years now. You could say that I'm sold on the software, and I hope that this article and this video helps show you the value of using it as well.

Sincerely,
Brett Bumeter
Softduit Media
www.softduit.com

Jen's Mom And Brother, Murdered

Last Friday, the breaking news was very shocking as the mother and brother of Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson were found shot to death in their South Side of Chicago home. In addition, her seven-year old nephew is still missing and has issued an amber alert. Concerned neighbors helped looking for him over the weekend. No one has been charged, but authorities has been talking to her sister's estranged husband as a person of interest. Sad...sad...sad... Jennifer Hudson has a new movie coming up entitled The Secret Life Of Bees with Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okenodo and Dakota Fanning.

Quick Note: As I was writing this entry there's another breaking news about an SUV found with a boy's body inside. It has not been identified if it is the missing nephew of Jennifer Hudson. We will probably learn more about it later on today.

Saab Parts

Do you own a Volvo or Saab and in need of parts or accessories? I asked because there is a reliable website that carry a complete assortment of Volvo and Saab Parts and sell at the lowest prices. All their products are original and come with full warranty. If you are interested, all you need to do is to visit swedishparts.net, type in the car make year, and start browsing their wide array of parts and accessories and that is it! If you cannot find what you are looking for, simply talk to one of their specialist and they will be happy to assist you.

My New Comfort Food

Chocolate is my all time comfort food, but at this time of the year, this is my newest fave. "Ginisang Mais" or ...ahmmmm.. Corn Soup? Chowder? Who cares! eheheeh I started craving for this and never tried cooking till two weeks ago. I remember how my grandma used to make this when she was still alive and it was truly delish! She'd normally use white corn though... Hubby liked it too... my little boy, not really...but I was able to put some on his food last night and he didn't even notice it (he was playing video game when I decided to feed him) :D That way he's pretty occupied and just eating and eating without looking at his food ehehehehe he even ate carrots and brocolli :)

New TV Series, Legend Of The Seeker

If you are into watching epic movies like Lord of the Rings and cannot get enough of it, then the new television weekly series Legend of the Seeker is for you. The series will premiere this coming November 1st. You will be seeing many elements in the series such as fantasy, magic, adventure, mystery, and romance to name a few. Legend of the Seeker was filmed in New Zealand so we all know that the scenery is going to be spectacular!

Legend of the Seeker is based on the novels of the author Terry Goodkind and was put into film by the talented creators of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. I cannot wait for their 2-hour premiere on November 1st, so I took a peek of their full trailer, which I found at www.craveonline.com.

Don’t forget to mark November 1st on your calender, and if you want to see more videos, latest news, cast interviews and behind the scenes of Legend of the Seeker, just visit http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/.

Boo !!!

Happy Halloween!

I posted this same picture in my other blog. This was my hubby's creation ehehehee. He did it the other night after getting the pumpkin from the grocery store. Kuletz got so excited and he went to bed with this pumpkin next to him. This is the very first time that my two boys made (yes, the little one helped hubby a bit) something like this coz in the past Halloweens hubby were out-of-town. A good time to snap a few photos. We turned all the lights off and I turned my camera's flash and voila! We put a flashlight inside the pumpkin, which is much safer for a kid instead of a candle.

Here's a snapshot of it with the flash on. I think I like the above photo better :D

Skin Care Products

Winter is just around the corner and for most of us; dry skin is going to be a problem again. I do not know about you ladies, but cold weather really aggravates my skin. It makes it dry, flaky, and at times itchy. I have tried many facial moisturizers and they seem to work great during the summer months but as soon as cool weather hits, its outcome is not as good. Now, I just recently heard about a product called Ocean Actives Topical Deep Water Squalane and the benefits seem very reassuring because it is a highly concentrated moisturizer that is said to soothe, nourish, softens and of course most importantly hydrates dry and rough skin. By the way, this Ocean Actives Topical Deep water is just one of the many Squalane Products at www.drlark.com. Compared to those high-end skin care products that would cost you an arm and a leg, I find Dr. Lark’s products way reasonable. Check them out if you want to learn more, you might find a great product that would interest you and decide to have you in their automatic order plans.

Oldies But Goodies

Last night while hubby was flipping channels to see if there's a good movie on, he saw one of our favorites, The Temptations movie, so that's what we watched. Believe it or not, we have seen it probably countless times but still, every time we see it on, we can't help but watch it again. I love, love, love all their songs especially My Girl, Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Just My Imagination, and Get Ready. I wasn't even born when these singing sensations started in the limelight. Hubby was I think two years old then ehehehe... Anyways, here are some of their performances, tell me if their dance moves weren't killers :D

Web Hosting Geeks

It is your prerogative as a consumer to know everything about the product you want to buy or any services you want to acquire. One way of doing this is by searching online and reading customer reviews. Many websites out there provide reviews of certain products and services, would it be insurance, electronic products or even web hosting companies, unfortunately, not all of them are quite reliable.

Speaking of web hosting companies, a reliable one would be WebHostingGeeks.com, which provides unbiased customer reviews of web hosting sites. Unbiased, meaning, you can read not only the positive reviews but the negative reviews as well. In addition, WebHostingGeeks offers their independent review of top 10 web hosting providers which contains helpful information such as hosting plans, key features, bonus features, customer support and of course customer ratings/reviews and comments. How does this benefit you? For one, WebHostingGeeks will be able to guide you in finding top quality web hosting services. It will save you the hassle and a lot of time going through the tons of web hosting sites out there, as surely there are too many. So, are you looking for or planning to purchase a web hosting service? I would suggest visiting WebHostingGeeks.com and read their articles about web hosting and so as their web hosting blog for more useful tips and information.

Fun Sunday

Yesterday, we had a great Sunday. I was actually feeling lazy then I remembered that my mom-in-law is coming by to bring some clothes for my kuletz. So I had to rush and check what I can cook for dinner. I decided on cooking Chicken with Broccoli and steamed rice. For dessert, just baked Chocolate Chip Cookies. Voila! Instant dinner in no time at all! :) Then she came around 4 just before I can cook... so I offered her a sandwich, which she gladly accepted. She said she was so hungry. She just came from the church and went straight to our house. To make it short, we had dinner and all that stuff... Never ending stories about this and that, hubby and MIL had a short conversation about the bible. Then when she's getting ready to leave, hubby asked her to stay for a bit more cause he wants to play the Monopoly. I don't really enjoy playing them anymore, but Monopoly is one of my favorite board games when I was like 8 or 9 years old :) But since hubby wanted to play, we went ahead and played. Surprisingly, we all had fun!!! At first my hubby is bullying me about buying properties and the likes, then he started losing money.. hahahah! I was doing good... For a while I had the most properties... but then when MIL and I started ganging up on him, he started making lots of money... and guess what! The bully ended up winning! hahahah! He had a great strategy buying properties. :) That was really fun! Now I am thinking of buying some more board games like scrabble and the new MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition. It's a great way of having fun conversations too. :)

Caravan Tours Trip for 2 Giveaway

I am sure that most of us can use another vacation before winter comes. Do Mt. Rushmore or Grand Canyon sounds good to you? How about a fully escorted trip to Costa Rica, Guatemala, or Mexico? Well, here is a chance for you to win a tour for two on any Caravan Tour courtesy of TraderJoesFan.com. All you need to do is to visit this link, Trader Joes Fan.com EXCLUSIVE Caravan Tour Giveaway, click the same banner that you see below and simply enter your name, email address and phone number. Do not wait up because you might be the winner of this special offer!

Another EC Outage

It's 3:48 a.m. CST, trying to finish up my EC dropping, but unfortunately, in the middle of my busy dropping, this message just popped up


"Outage

Outage for a maximum of 2 hours until 7AM Boston time while we try and deal more conclusively to performance issues we are experiencing during high-load times. We apologize once again and hope this outage will be the last we need for some time.
Served from s02 "

Ouch!!! This is the only time I can do my droppings (sounds like poop eheheh EC Dropping that is) and yet another outage. buhuhhuh!! Oh well, can't do anything about it... have to wait till 7am Boston time. Will just play Winster then :D

Get Well Baby

My baby woke up today feeling sick. He was coughing and thought had a little fever. Thankfully, he's still playing, eating well and very active in spite of his condition. Right now he's acting up like he's Bob the Builder :)... hammering nails and stuff while watching Lightning McQueen.

Search True Love For Free

An online dating service has been one of the popular solutions for people having problems getting dates offline. For those of you who still do not know, my husband and I met on the Internet back in 1998. We have been married now for eight long years and blessed with an almost 5-year-old son. We did not actually meet through an online dating site but nowadays, sites like these offers many chances for date seekers to find their match. All you need to get started is an Internet access and a cup of tea or coffee. However, choosing from too many online dating sites is probably the difficult part. You need a site that cares about your safety and well-being, one that would protect you from online predators.

One site that I am aware of that is committed in providing a safe and smart way of finding someone his or her true love is True.com. They screen all their communicating members. Felons and married people are not allowed in their website. True.com will save you the trouble of meeting strangers because you can exchange messages first and/or chat to get to know each other before you actually meet in person. This way, you will be more comfortable (no more shyness) and who knows, it might be taken to the next level. Anyway, if you are still looking for your Ms. or Mr. Right, you can visit True.com, take advantage of the free sign-up, and search for free!

Got My Pearls

Yesterday, I finally got the free pearl earrings that I have been waiting for. Yey! It is similar to the picture below. It was from AlohaPearls.com. I'd like to thank Aling Tikya for giving me the link to this free pearl earrings. Aling Tikya, thanks a bunch! I really can count on you when it comes to freebies like this one. :) I wish the next thing would come is my Visa Gift Card.:) That would be awesome! :)

Yahoo Messenger

My Yahoo Messenger is not working for over two days now and it sucks! I don't know what happened. Two mornings ago, I received a spam message and tried to block it but YM just froze on me. Then I restarted my computer, after that, when I was trying to log back in to YM I couldn't do it anymore. I contacted people from Yahoo already but they still can't say what really the problem is. Aling Tess tried logging in using my username on her computer and she said that she was able to do so.. darn! I guess it has something to do with my computer. I really can't say. I downloaded YM for Windows Vista though, and it worked ok. However, the webcam feature is not available on YM for Vista and it made my computer a bit slower. What a bummer! The only consolation I get is that I am able to chat using the chat feature on my Yahoo email.

Corned Beef

I really, really need to go to the grocery store. Our refrigerator is empty and so as the pantry.. geez! I am glad that there's one can of corned beef left and this is what we had for dinner (just me and kuletz though, hubby don't eat food like this, finicky pwe!):D Their corned beef here is not as good as the one back home. My fave is Argentina corned beef... I am sure pinays out there know what I am talking about. In fairness, the closest to Argentina’s flavor is the brand that I get from Aldi. I think it's Brookdale or something. Can't remember.

corned beef with onions and potatoes

New Frames From Zenni

In my previous entries, I have mentioned so much about the website that offers $8 eyeglasses. Remember that? I am sure you do. If you don’t, then let me refresh your memories. I am talking about ZenniOptical.com. They have stylish, high quality yet affordable prescription eyeglass and was featured on Fox News. Today, I have learned that the radio talk show host Clark Howard also recommended them to his listeners (read more about it here --> http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2007/06/27/12362/).

Anyway, I brought the subject up because I found out that new frames have arrived in ZenniOptical. Yup! New selections of full rim, half rim, rimless, stainless steel, and titanium frames. Honestly, I have been wanting to order one for myself, but I keep putting it up. Upon learning of the new arrivals, I decided to go ahead and try to order, but stumbled while filing up the order form. I think I still need to consult my optometrist because I don’t have any idea what my Oculus Dexter and Oculus Sinister is even my pupillary distance. I want everything to be précised so that is the only thing that’s keeping me from ordering eyeglasses at this very moment. But no worries, all I need to do is call my doctor and that’s it. This is the one that I plan to order…

By the way, I'd like to remind you that you can order from ZenniOptical anytime, anywhere!

EC Droppers

I just recently joined EntreCard and enjoyed it so much. I have seen and read so many blogs that I am sure I won't be able to come across in my regular blog hopping. Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who has dropped and still dropping ECs on here. Will do the same in return. Here are the top 10 EC droppers for the month of September.

Subjective Soup, C'est La Vie, Whatever Comes To My Mind, Inspire Emotion, Merydith's Place, Modern Glam, Lamberry, Fil-Am Gallery, Thrifty Thoughts, Mommy's Paradise

Again, thanks a bunch!

Cost Captain

Do you know that the software shown below is going to cost you a lot if you are to buy it in one of those popular computer/electronics stores? I want to get one myself but I cannot afford it at this time. It made me think that if I can’t afford it, how much more those students who are already struggling to get by with their daily expenses. Fortunately, there are sites that offer discounted Microsoft products. One that worth visiting is the CostCaptain site. Why CostCaptain? Because they are Microsoft Authorized Education reseller, offers academic discounts for every Microsoft products (all 100% authentic) like Microsoft Office 2007 or Vista upgrades, and friendly customer service to cite a few. I feel like this is a great site to share to all students, school staff, libraries and research labs as well as home schools. All you have to do as a buyer is simply provide academic eligibility and the product will be shipped to you. For more information of whom are eligible, please visit www.costcaptain.com.

Kuletz' Art

Lately I've noticed that my son hasn't been drawing a lot. He used to draw every single day. Just like the picture below. This is Arthur. He likes watching Arthur in PBS kids channel. Maybe tomorrow I'm gonna ask him to start drawing again after we do all our learning activities. We are into spelling three letter words now. :) We started with the cat and the dog, now he can spell pig, bug, bed, car and cow. Everyday I try to add 1 word. It's not easy to teach him though. Concentrate or pay attention are not in his vocabulary :)

Arthur, another fave of Kuletz

MBA Podcaster

Getting an MBA is not as easy as some would like it to be. It sure is a tremendous hard work. There are the concerns of how you can afford it, or can you give the time it will entail etc. But if you are really wanting to get an MBA but don’t know where to start? Then MBA Podcasts is probably the first thing you need to check in order for you to get insights and advises about MBA admission, application process and the likes.

MBA Podcaster has free podcasts for people who are interested in applying to business schools. They bring pertinent information and advice through biweekly audio segments. Their topics are comprised of the behind-the-scenes view of the process to post-MBA job prospects. Some of their guests in their podcasts are Deans from various business schools, consultants, and corporate recruiters to name a few.

Anyway, I have mentioned this site to my friend as she’s trying to get an MBA for years now but she kept putting it off, as she didn’t have any idea on exactly where to start. She said that getting an MBA here is totally different with getting an MBA back in our country.

Nicktoons TV Games

This is the video game that my son has been playing after we had our everyday learning activities. He got tired of the other one (the one with Super Mario in it). He got mad at me earlier today because I didn't wanna play with him. Can you believe that!? He wants me to play the game with Spongebob Square Pants. Darn! I don't even know how to play it... at least not yet coz I still don't have the time. Well, maybe tomorrow I will play with him for a little while.

Bellwether Rewards

There are some companies that use corporate incentives as one way of motivating their employees to be more loyal and to work harder. However, there are some who could use incentive ideas to inspire their staff to work even harder. In my previous jobs, we get a mid-year bonus, Christmas bonus and you get even more cash if you have a perfect attendance. Thus, most of us would like to be rewarded with free travel vacations, you know, just to get away from the pressure of job all the time. Like the one that Bellwether Rewards offer. They are one of the top incentive travel companies that provide different levels of travel reward packages. It is very easy for the employers as all they need to do is get the program and Bellwether Rewards will take care of everything. I am sure that corporate incentives like this will really motivate and improve employees’ performances.

Easy Chicken With Broccoli

Here is one of my experiments again. This was inspired by food we always like to order at the chinese take-out "the beef with broccoli". Since hubby don't eat beef, I replaced it with chicken.

the picture isn't good (used my cellphone)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
broccoli florets (just eyeball it)
1 packet of McCormick brown gravy (dissolve it in 1 cup of cold water)
green peppers
onions
carrots
garlic 1-2 cloves

This is so easy... just saute` the garlic (after infusing it, I like to take it out coz I don't like chunks of garlic in my food). Then add the chicken, cook it till it's not pink anymore, then add the gravy...simmer for a bit then add the carrots, green peppers and onions. Simmer it again for about 15-20 minutes or until the gravy thickens. It's up to you really and that's it! By the way, I don't measure all the time, I just eyeball everything even with the cooking time :) You can serve this with steamed white rice. Yummers!