Not A Good Way to Welcome the New Year

All my plans for today were put aside. My son woke up at the wrong side of the crib. He was strangely quiet, grumpy, clingy, whiny, very sensitive and uncooperative. He didn't have temperature but I'm pretty sure he's sick.

Out of the blue, probably fed up from left-over food from Christmas, hb suddenly wanted to have breakfast in a nearby diner. It took a long while to get our son to change and put on his snow gear. I almost gave up but hb was so persistent to go out despite the snowstorm. He was worse than a pregnant woman craving for unrealistic food.

At the diner our son sat quietly coloring a page of a coloring book. Everything you asked him his answer was always 'No'. Then he just wanted to slouch and rest his head on my arm hanging at the back of his high chair. He cried whenever I tried to remove my arm. So I ate my breakfast using only my right hand. After breakfast, on our way out, it was like some outside force energized him, and he waved and said bye-bye to every table we passed by. Everybody smiled and said bye-bye back. I thought that maybe he was back to his usual energetic and playful self, but he got worse, now he's got temperature of 101.4. He's not eating nor drinking anything. I may be up all night tonight, but this is not a good way to welcome the new year.

Nevertheless, may you all have a peaceful and abundant new year.

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Last Shopping Hooray

Now that 2008 is slipping away fast and we are literally counting down the minutes before the new year strikes, I guess I can still do my last shopping hooray and get last minute gifts from Kmart. Well I've been busy with all the preparations for the holidays, buying gifts for everyone I love, it's about time to reward myself with a holiday present. Not that I didn't get anything from loved ones and friends too, but I just want to get me something that I really want. I will have the luxury to shop now without any pressure.

I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets, appliances and basically anything for the kitchen. Since I've been very budget conscious these days, I want to shop at a place that offers great deals like K-mart. I want to buy this 10-piece stainless steel cookware by Martha Stewart Everyday to replace my old non-stick and overused ones. I want non-reactive cookware set that are also oven safe so I won't have to keep a lot of stuffs for different purposes in my cabinets. That will give me a lot of free space in my kitchen cabinet that I can use for something else.

If you are still looking for great deals and want to do a last minute shopping, you still have time. Visit any K-mart store and find its complete collection of 25,000 gifts under $25. If you want to be on the know of the latest K-mart news especially in-store deals and online-only sales and find out the best value during holiday shopping, you can sign up at kmart.com to receive these great news via email.

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Finally We Have a Wii

Just before Christmas and during the snowstorm, hb's wish came true. He finally got the elusive Wii in the mail after searching for it almost everywhere. Good thing he decided to plow the snow when he did because the package was almost buried in the thick snow right at the driveway. Geez, you thought that the delivery guy would at least put it in the front door or maybe rang the bell to let us know that there was a package for us. The blades from the snow blower could have damaged the unit itself if it hit it by accident. I immediately thought about the news I saw on TV too, where some people drive around a quiet neighborhood looking for packages delivered to houses that were just left sitting outside and then steal them. Anyway back to the Wii, all of a sudden we have two gaming systems - the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Hb and I have been enjoying this new found after dinner activities, very entertaining and challenging.

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Saab and Volvo Parts

If you are driving a Saab or Volvo and want to economize on auto parts, Swedish Parts Network is the place to go. Aside from large selection of auto parts, Swedish Parts Network also offers many accessories at the lowest prices. You are assured that what you are purchasing from SwedishParts.net are just the best in the market and they come with full warranty and free shipping as well. SwedishParts.net stock up on parts of all makes for Saab and Volvo, but if you still can not find what you are looking for, you can easily speak to one of their trusted experts. They also offer a toll free sales and support line as well as email support. Visit http://www.swedishparts.net for all your Saab and Volvo Parts and accessories needs.

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A Warm Christmas Greetings

A warm Christmas greetings from our home to yours.
May the spirit of Christmas stay in our hearts everyday of the year.

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Toxic Asbestos

I used to live in a town close to an asbestos factory. I remember that most men and their elder sons in the neighborhood worked there. When you see a house with asbestos roofing, it's almost always there was a member of the family living there who worked for the asbestos factory. I wonder if they knew anything about the bad effect of asbestos that causes mesothelioma. I'm pretty sure nobody had a clue about this.

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My Circle of Friends

Few more days to go and I will be getting together again with real good friends.

When I moved to US almost six years ago, I left a very big part of me at home. Aside from my family, I left a great deal of friends that I miss terribly. But I thank the power of the internet that even then I still get to communicate with them through e-mails and ym's. I still keep friends from high school; from graduate school; from religious group; from work; from childhood and neighbors. Though we don't communicate as often as we'd like or used to, we remain friends to this day.

So when because of marriage I got uprooted and sent to a far away place where I didn't know anybody, I got so sad and homesick. But instead of sulking in loneliness, I found ways to meet new friends. I used the power of the internet again and searched online for Filipina groups and the very first person who contacted me was Barb and then Lanie. They became really good friends until now. Then as time went by, I met more friends in church, in the grocery, in some other parties, in the mall, in my son's playgroups and through other friends and recently through blogworld. And so my circle of friends grew. We don't see nor talk to each other on a regular basis; or invite everybody or get invited to all their parties, but we still remain very good friends. It's enough to know that we are there for each other. I'm happy and content with the friends that I made.

In a few days we'll be pigging out again in a potluck party to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Each will be bringing a specialty dish. I'm sure there will be tons of food to digest again, this will probably call for more weight loss products, lol.

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Reverse Psychology

My son and I were out Tuesday on a playdate at our Korean friend's house. It was like a United Nations kind of a playdate (so we joked) because we were of different nationalities - Filipino, Korean, Columbian and Italian. Our boys were of the same age and they have almost the same interests. Imagine having four toddler boys in their terrible twos all playing in one roof, it was a riot. They all liked to play with the same toy at the same time, so most of the time we could hear screams of "Mine!" or "My turn!" while they were wrestling for the toy. The house was pretty big, very ideal for running around and they've got all kinds of toys you can imagine. But still, they ended up wanting the same toy.

Anyway, we all had fun. It was a very nice break for us moms, we had some 'adult' talks and we had some impromptu craft session too. We put together a card for our sons to take home, it was really cute. Then we had a wonderful lunch that fueled the boys again and they went running around pushing toy cart and stroller. I thought that in a few minutes they will all be tired and will be ready to get home. But oh geez, it took a long time to convince them to leave. My son didn't want to go home anymore. He was arching his back and wiggled down while I tried to carry him to the foyer for his shoes and jacket.

Twice I tried to get him, twice I failed. So I used the last card I know, reverse psychology. I told him "Ok anak, if you want to play some more, then go ahead, but mommy can't stay anymore, mommy needs to go home and take a nap." Then I turned my back, I put on my shoes and jacket and pretended I was leaving. And then immediately I heard little footsteps behind me calling "Mom, go home too." I hate to do that, but I just have to be creative. While on our way home, I kept talking and explaining about 'when-its-time-to-go-home-and-take-a-nap, we-have-to-leave' things, he was already dozing off in his car seat.

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A Much Better Plan

Some two months ago, my good friend helped me clean up the basement to make way for a scrapbooking area. It was a very promising plan but I didn't really follow through with it because I prefer that I can multi-task while scrapping. The best place for me would be the study room where I work online. I can picture in my mind that when I hit a blank wall and couldn't think of anything to blog about, then I can just get up, turn around and work in my craft table, nice! I will just transform the cleared area in the basement into an exercise den since my treadmill and dumbbells are already there. I guess this new plan is much better.

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Better Luck Next Time

About three days ago, I went out to Target to have some pictures printed. Since it was still early and I have few hours to spare, I decided to go to my fave store, TJ Maxx. Hb was working from home and our son was taking a nap so I took my sweet time shopping by myself. I just browsed through the kitchenware, I promised not to get anything anymore. I always end up buying something when I visit the kitchen aisle, lol. Anyway, I got hb some small Christmas presents even if we told ourselves that the Nintendo Wii will be our presents to ourselves, althought we still don't know where to find that elusive Nintendo Wii. So maybe after few minutes of browsing some more, I decided to go home.

There was a long line in the check-out counter but a box of what looks like a Nintendo Wii just caught my eyes. As I walked closer and closer to the counter, I was staring at the box, and it was in fact a Nintendo Wii! I wondered what that box was doing there. So I asked the clerk and she said it was the last unit left and nobody has bought it yet. Even if I was kinda confused why TJ Maxx has a Nintendo Wii unit, I still called hb to tell him the good news and he immediately gave a go signal to get it. It was $367 with all extras included.

Since hb always checks availability online and in some stores of the Nintendo Wii, he pretty much memorized the features and how much the extras will cost. So he checked the box right away. Supposedly it was a good buy, since it has 11 items in the box, but some of the stuffs there were just a bunch of things we don't really need. So $367 was a rip-off. Even if we are desperate for a Nintendo Wii, we just passed up on this one and will just wait from a reputable electronic store. So both of us went to TJ Maxx and returned the item, goodbye Wii and better luck next time.

When we got home hb looked up again online and found out that he could actually order Wii at amazon.com already. He opted to pay for shipping so it will arrive before Christmas. Well, I do hope it would. I haven't seen 'big boy' so obssessed with an electronic game, geez!

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Car Over Motorcycle

I remember I had a chance to ride a motorcycle in high school with my best friend's brother. It kinda felt a little scary but overall I had an exhilarating ride. Although my house was just a walking distance to theirs, when it was quite late to walk home from their house his brother offered me a ride. He was a pretty good but really fast driver. When I got home it suddenly dawned on me that what if we had an accident, I was not even wearing any helmet. Shoot! Then few weeks after that ride, he figured in an accident but he got out of it almost scathe-free. He didn't need motorcycle accident attorneys at all because the other party didn't press any charges, they just settled their issues amicably. I'm not sure I would want to ride a motorcycle again, I'd prefer an enclosed car where I feel more secure and protected.

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I Won an Xbox 360!

So it's not a hoax afterall. Finally I got my prize from Sportsvids in the mail yesterday, an Xbox 360, what a big surprise!

I'm sure some of you have taken that opportunity from Sportsvids.com sometime in September. I'm not sure if I wrote that for PPP or SS but who cares now ;-)? Kidding aside, that campaign was to advertise the Sportsvids website. Before you can even write the opp, you have to register in their site and get a unique link that they will provide. Then you will include that link in your post so your readers can click it and earn you points. But I took it to the next level and sent out the link to all my friends in my address book.

And it paid off! I earned the highest points that won me this Xbox 360. So even if we haven't had any luck finding a Nintendo Wii game console anywhere at this time, at least there is another electronic game that we can get excited about.


Thank you so much to all my friends who supported me in this contest. And thank you to Sportsvids.com for finally sending me my prize. You all rock!

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Potluck Parties

What's the downside to holiday season? For me it's the gaining of weight after attacking the sumptuous holiday food, lol. It is always tempting to eat a lot when you get together with fellow Filipinos in a party. To my foreigner readers, who don't know how Filipinos gather in a party, I will tell you. A simple party always turns out a big feast when Filipinos gather because one person always brings at least two dishes. So not only do we have a lot of food to share in the party, we also have some to take home. When you lead a busy life in US, you don't always get the chance to taste the Filipino dishes that you loved back home. So in a potluck party like this, you crave for these dishes then you automatically pig-out, lol. After eating too much, it's good to share secrets to losing weight. Alli reviews will certainly come handy in this conversation.

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PR3 For My Old Url

This blog used to be a blogspot.com but sometime in August, I switched to domain hoping that it will give me more opportunities as far as paid blogging is concerned. Well In October, it was lucky enough to be bestowed with a PR3 which it enjoyed for almost two weeks. Expectedly, my campaign opportunities skyrocketed. Then all of a sudden it's gone. But when I checked my old url http://i-exhale.blogspot.com, it also has PR3 which it is enjoying until now, what a bummer. I wish the effect of that PR3 will also be re-directed to my domain, lol. Sometimes I regret switching to domain *sigh*.

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Driving In the Snow

The very first time I drove in the snow, I was so terrified I could use additional tire chains to my already all-weather tires. The roads can get really slippery and if you're not careful, either you get yourself hurt or you get other people hurt. That first drive in the snow, I felt like my tires were out of control, when I hit the break it made it even worse. I learned my lesson. In New England states where we get a lot of snow, one has to brace himself to a very unpredictable weather. You may go out on a very nice day and come home struggling your way to a snowy drive.

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Putting Up Some Christmas Spirit

Ok, now that my family room looks like a real family room and not a child daycare, anymore lol, I'm now ready to put up some Christmas spirit in the house. Hb and I took out all the Christmas decors from the attic. I always do the Christmas tree ahead of everything else but until now I don't have a tree yet. The weather has not been very cooperative. Over the weekend it was snowing and now it is raining. And the fake tree that I planned to use for this year is just not usable. I couldn't locate the feet, probably it is hidden under the boxes somewhere, boxes that I don't intend to lift up and check anymore. You see our attic is not finished, there are just few slabs of flat wood covering the exposed beams and insulation so I don't want to try my luck. I don't want to save a few bucks and injure myself in the process, lol.

So anyway, the whole family went out to pick up a real tree despite the wind and rain. But unfortunately all the Boy Scout stalls were closed and I'm not sure if they are open at night. What was I thinking? Of course they are closed during the day because it's a school day and all the boys are in school. But I still want to get a tree. So we just drove and asked around for a Christmas tree farm. I didn't even bother to look it up online because I was not planning to go to any farm. Anyway, I called a friend and he said that there is one in Plainville but he's not sure if they're open too. So we drove there, we saw the sign but we couldn't see the entrance. We turned around at least three times, then we saw a very small dirt road big enough for a car. The dirt was so wet and soft and slippery. We managed to drive maybe a few feet and then decided to turn around before we get stuck and stalled. So I'm left with no choice but to start putting up my other decors first. Hopefully I'll finish up and be left with only the tree to put up.

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Best Defense Against Wrinkles

Getting wrinkles when you're over 40 is inevitable. It is something that every woman dread but will have to face sooner or later. There are a lot of cosmetics and beauty products in the market today that promise solution to this problem. But nothing seems to help reverse loss of elastin. Elastin is a protein that is similar to collagen that is responsible for our skin's elasticity. So inadequate elastin causes wrinkling and sagging of our skin. Dermalastyl is the answer to every woman's wrinkle problems. Dermalastyl can not only help reduce the appearance of existing wrinkles but can also help prevent the onset of new wrinkles. Wow this is like a miracle cream that women should invest on. This will be a great buy for myself because I notice some fine lines around my eyes which are specially prominent when I laugh. What's so amazing about Dermalastyl is it does not only help reverse loose skin, it also helps in the increased production of collagen in the skin. So it is much better than other anti-aging products anywhere. If you are interested to get a younger looking skin, you don't need to resort to surgery or injection anymore. Order Dermalastyl, the anti-aging skin care with 100% money back guarantee at Dermalastyl.com now. This product is not available in any retail store, you can only get Dermalastyl online at Dermalastyl.com.

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Stick to My List

Weekend is over again. It is now exactly 17 days before Christmas. I remember that around this time last year, all my Christmas cards for overseas have been mailed out already. But until now I haven't even started getting a photo of my son for Christmas card yet. What's happening? I guess the bad economy has zapped out the Christmas spirit in me. Anyway, my to-do-list for this week is all about Christmas preparation. Sending out cards is on top of my list. I hope there won't be any distractions and that I can stick to my to-do-list.

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Of Driving an SUV and a Car

Even while in the Philippines I was already driving an SUV, although my service car in the bank where I worked for was a sedan car. When you're used to driving an elevated SUV, you feel like your bottom is touching the ground when you switch to a car, at least that's how I feel, lol. When I drove in US for the first time, hb's car felt like he installed some coilovers underneath because the ride height was very low. But it's just a matter of getting used to driving it. At least I know how to drive a stick shift vehicle so it was not hard for me to transition to a car with automatic transmission.

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Hubby Is Searching For Nintendo Wii

Last night when we were at our friend's house, hb played the Wii Sports - bowling and boxing. Now he's crazy about getting a console box and games. He went out to Costco hoping he could buy one but they didn't have any. Then he went to Target and didn't find anything there too. When he arrived home he checked online and apparenlty there's no available unit online anywhere. Now he left again and went to Best Buy and will try his luck. While writing this, the phone rang and it was hb, he said there was none too at Best Buy. Wow, I thought that maybe Wii isn't this hard to get anymore as it has been in the market for quite a while already. Anyway, he will try to call Toys R' Us and see if they have any. This will be our Christmas gift for ourselves.

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Things Moms Worry About

Moms wish nothing but good things for their kids. Whenever our children are not feeling well, we worry and wish it was us who were sick instead. I remember the first time my son got sick, he was very clingy and crying the whole time. He didn't want to eat nor drink. I didn't sleep that night, I was just staring at him constantly checking if he was still breathing. Things like that would make me worry sick, I wonder how other moms with children with medical condition like cerebral palsy would feel? I'm sure the feeling was much worse. I wouldn't like to be in their shoes. When it comes to my son, I worry easily.

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Catching Up On My Online and Offline Work

I'm trying to catch up on so many things today. Yesterday since we went to our friend's house to watch the De la Hoya vs Pacquiao match, (which was incidentally won by my fellow Filipino Pacquiao, read my post here) I put all the ongoing household chores on hold. Hb is very fond of boxing among other sports, so he was eager to go when our friend called. After the boxing match, hb and friends played Wii Sports bowling and boxing. Hb had fun playing while I had fun watching them. We left at past 1am and I only had few hours of sleep. I still feel sluggish but I have to tackle my chores both offline and online or else they will just keep piling up.

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Swing Sets in My Neighbor's Backyard

My son and I are still keeping up with our afternoon walks despite the cold weather, but not when it's really very windy. One time while turning around the curve, he saw the swing sets at our neighbor's backyard and he tried to pull my hand pointing to that direction. He thought that it was a public playground. Remember I mentioned in one of my previous posts here that we seldom see or talk to our neighbors? Well that house where the swing sets were was previously owned by our best friend who moved to another state because her husband's work was relocated there. Ever since this new neighbor moved there some three years ago, I've seen the woman only once. So I wouldn't recognize her even if I bump into her in the grocery or anywhere.

Anyway, my son and I were like playing tug-of-war on the street, he really wanted to play in my neighbor's backyard. Whenever my son is playing difficult like this the trick that works all the time for me is Redirection. I picked up a nice looking dried leaf on the street and showed it to him, and his attention was redirected to the leaves. Then he started picking up leaves and we went home with a wagon of dried leaves, lol.

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First Snow Fall

I woke up to a majestic scene today, it's snowing! If there's one thing that I love about winter it's the snow. I love to see our lawn covered with powder-white snow, it looks so clean and fresh. I remember the first time I came to US on vacation in year 2000, it was in late Fall when all the leaves were already on the ground and the trees were still standing but sort of lifeless. I thought that was a sad and lonely scene. But when the snow fell for the first time, the whole surroundings instantly came to life. I was so excited to see the snow for the first time, it was magical. But not all experiences I had with snow was great, when the snow turned into ice it was dangerous. One time while getting our mail I slipped and hurt my bottom. It was quite a long walk from our garage to the mailbox, there were black ice underneath the snow, and I walked on it and slipped, it really hurt!

When my son woke up this morning I let him look out the window and his eyes lit up. He loves snow too. Now he's repeating over and over "it no-wing aw-side", very cute. In this photo he's reacting when he saw his toy car on the deck covered with snow.

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A Meaningful Gift For the Special Women in Your Life

Are you running out of idea of what to give your special friends and loved ones this Christmas? Here's one great idea that will definitely make you a rock star in the eyes of your women relatives. Despite the economic hardship we are all facing, you can still give a sensible gift this holiday season, a gift which is not only affordable but very meaningful as well. Cryo-Cell's Signature U-Cord and C'elle gift cards are very unique gifts, one that has full of hope. It provides the hope of potentially saving one's life through the use of innovative stem solutions.

If a member of your family or a friend is expecting a baby, U-Cord, Cryo-Cell's stem cell blood preservation service is the perfect gift to give. It provides preservation of vital stem cells that are collected from their baby's cord blood which are known to treat over 75 diseases including leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, diabetes and cerebral palsy. What a great way to welcome the arrival of a newborn baby right? A new life as an instrument to saving another life, what a great concept!

But how about the women in your life who are not pregnant? Well, you can still surprise them with a wonderful gift called C'elle, which enables women to collect and cryo-preserve (store at a very low temperature) the stem cells that come from their monthly menstruation. These stem cells will provide potential cellular therapies in the future. And for the ultimate combination of U-Cord and C'elle, the Protect Baby, Protect Mom is the service that offers protectin for both moms and their newborn babies.

Show the women in your life that you really care. Visit the gifting page of Cryo-Cell.com and purchase a meaningful and affordable gift of holiday gift cards from Cryo-Cell.

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Best Mom Award

I have been receiving awards left and right from some blogger buddies all over the blogosphere. This one comes from Barb of One at a Time, thanks BFF ;-). It's a good feeling to be recognized in the toughest job I've ever handled and known, being a mom! And I want to share this award to all stay-at-home moms and working moms who despite of all the chaos of motherhood, can still manage to blog. Everybody deserves this award.

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Protect Your Family and Property

We live in a very quiet private subdivision and the houses are pretty far apart so we seldom talk to our neighbors. In fact, we actually seldom see our neighbors. When we do, they are usually passing by in their cars and we just wave or smile at each other. That's just about the interaction we have. So you will think that if any untoward things happen in any of the houses around we wouldn't know about it. That is why we are planning to have home security systems installed in our house to keep not only our family safe and secure, but our assets as well.

After searching online for what type of security systems to get, we're finally settling on ADT Home Security products. Sometime next year, we are getting away for a long vacation overseas, it would be great to have peace of mind knowing that our property is protected while we are away. The ADT Safewatch Video View home security surveillance will let us watch our home from almost anywhere in the world via any web-enabled PDA or cellphone. ADT home security products can also be a great deterrent to home invasion and help prevent break-ins. So we can certainly trust ADT, the most respected name in the security business to help us have peace of mind knowing that our family and properties are protected 24/7.

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Top EC Droppers For November

Every month I always extend my great appreciation to all my blogger buddies who tirelessly come by to drop me their EC's and I give some link love to the ones who made it to the top list. Thank you all guys!

In the Presence of Vultures*
The Shutterbug*
Life's A Pizza Pie*
Memories Frozen in Time*
Mommy's Little Corner*
On a Lighter Note**
Moments of My Life**
TuitionPlace
Slow Streamyx
The Cool Mom Guide

* Also in my top 10 at Random Thoughts

**Also in my top 10 at My Barefoot Journey

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