And we're off again

for the weekend... We're going to Lake Louise and Jasper National Park tomorrow till Sunday.

Here's our pictures from Lake Louise during the Winter of 2006 and Jasper during the Fall of 2007. Last time we were there, I didn't have my DSLR yet, so I'm hoping to do some photo shoot.

Time for reflection... Let me leave you with this --

"Life is a one-way street. No matter how many doors you take, none of it will lead you back. So, enjoy every moment of your life, because none of them will happen the same way - again."

Shopping and Men

Why do men hate shopping? My husband is one of them. He doesn't like spending time going from one store to the next and in most time, come home empty handed. Mostly due to no available size. Then one saleslady told him that they have his size online and he can just order them there. So he started shopping Ugg online. Shoe-store.net got a huge brand and style of shoes available for men and women. And they offer free shipping!

Litratong Pinoy: Proteksyon [Protection]

Helmet, life jacket, raincoat, wet suit and shoes are required on our white water rafting for our own protection. More of our white water rafting pictures here.

Kananaskis County, Alberta

Shopping with my kids

Ever since I opened an account for my daughter, she and her brother are both asking me to give them their baby money. They used to have an account back home, but I decided to close those accounts when we moved here. I have a list of their money [dates, occasion, from who and how much]. Now, they want it all back. So I put all the accounting in an excel sheet and showed it to them.

Patrick had his own savings account for 3 years now. And they both know that once the money is in their account, there's no withdrawing until they reached 18.

Yesterday, I decided to open another account for them through ING. They offer higher interest rate than the one they've got right now, so I plan to transfer their money to ING. It's a good thing both banks doesn't require any maintaining balance.

They decided that before I put all their money into their account, they wanted to buy something first. I normally put a limit on their purchases since I'm always paying for it. But now that they are using their own money, we didn’t talk about the limit. I wanted to see how much they are willing to spend before I put my foot down.

First stop is Future Shop. Before we stepped off the car, I told them to think once, twice and thrice before spending and to remember that they will be paying for it themselves. So as soon as we went in, I went to the Camera section while I left them to go to the game section. They wanted games for their DS and Wii. When I went to meet them, they had easily picked up 4 games. Price varies from $29.99 to $59.99. Patricia wanted just one game, Mario and Sonic @ the Olympic game, price $29.99. Patrick wanted 2 Pokemon DS game for DS [$34.99 each] that can be played in Wii [$59.90] too. But he will need to buy them separately. So when he added all those up, he put them all down. It’s a good thing he did that himself coz I don’t want to be a bad guy and say "no" to him.

They decided they wanted to shop around first. So we left Future shop empty handed. Next we went to Michael’s to buy some Origami papers. They both love making Origami and decided to share the cost. It’s $16.99 for 350 sheets.

PATRICK: "Patricia, you pay for the 1 cent."
PATRICIA: "No, Ahiya, you pay for it."
PATRICK: "Ok, Mommy will shoulder the 1 cent. [Making a mocking laugh]... Please mommy?"

Oh well...

Next stop, EB Games. The prices for "used" games are more expensive than the brand new one. So we left.

Next stop, Wal-mart. Patricia didn’t find the Mario game that she wanted so she’s a little disappointed. Patrick needed a stylus, and decided to buy a 20-in-1 DS package. Patricia bought the same thing. [There's more story to this part, but I will write a separate post on it.]

Patricia wanted to go back to Future shop to buy her game, so we did. Patrick decided not to buy any games for now.

At the end of the day, I told Patrick that his total was $27 and Patricia was $61. Patricia said "wow" – she can't believe she spent that much. But they are both happy and content with what they've got.

Thursday Thirteen #57: It's a small world (2)

The first batch was posted weeks ago... and here's the second installment of pictures from the "It's a small world" ride @ Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

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Handyman?

Is your husband a handyman? Mine isn't. He prefers to spend most of his time in front of the computer rather than fix stuff around the house for me. But he did have a lot of tools around the house. Most of the tools that he had in his tool box, he doesn't use.

I notice that he ordered a catalog for some industrial equipment supplies at ReidSupply.com. For what? I honestly don't know.

Wordless Wednesday: Kananaskis County

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Photo Hunt: Rocks

My daughter had her beta fish, Julian, for 7 months now, and she's been wanting to get more fish once her beta fish turns 1. She's been begging me to get more beautiful rocks for her fish tank too.

I did make a promise that if the fish didn't die, we could get more. Now she wants a gold fish. Actually, she's considering getting a different pet this time. How do I let her forget about getting a new pet? HELP!

Picture taken at Florida Aquarium, February 2009

More rocks here -- Pictures taken at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, May 2009

Turning 40!

My 40th birthday is coming up soon and my friends has been kidding me about getting me a anti-wrinkle cream as a gift. Ha!

One thing about living in North America is that the Canadians or Americans have a hard time determining the age of Asian people. Nobody wants to believe that I am turning 40 and have a 12 year old son! I guess we Asian eat more healthy food hence the younger looking look. Do you agree?

Accident can happen to anyone

One of my manager at work decided to buy a brand new motorcycle. And drove out for a night of fun with his wife. Tragedy strike and they both got in an accident. He was in serious condition, but she didn't make it.

We don't really know the details of the accident. That is why it is very important to have insurance and lawyer like this Oakland motorcycle accident lawyer, Michael Padway.

I couldn't even think about how he must have felt. But he was back at work after a couple of months recovering from his own injury. Life has to go on. And he did.

Wordless Wednesday: White Water Rafting

There was a rain forecast that day... it's a good thing it didn't rain at all. Thank God. We had a wonderful weather, and the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. We were provided with wet suit, raincoat, shoes, helmet and life vest. There was a part where we have the option to do public swimming in the rapids. Hubby and my son tried it along with some friends. But my son lost a shoe during this swim.

I couldn't bring my camera for obvious reason, so I have to pay $22 to get hold of these pictures in CD. Oh well, it's money well spent since this is a once in a lifetime adventure for our family and friends.

These pictures spells FUN FUN FUN!!!
White Water Rafting @ Kananaskis [July 11, 2009]

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Online

Buy diet pills online and you can not only buy diet pills at the lowest prices, but you can also find consumer reviews on every diet pill that DietPill.net sells. One can never be too careful in choosing the one that will best suit their needs and solve their weight problems. And at the same time, something that will be easy on the budget.

Is excited

to go white water rafting tomorrow @ Kananaskis... it's hubby's second time but a first for the rest of us!

Unconscious Mutterings #1

1. Independence :: day
   
2. Meltdown :: nuclear
   
3. Vulture :: bird
   
4. Hope :: floats
   
5. Float :: root beer
   
6. Hole :: in one
   
7. Trespass :: jail time
   
8. Moving :: on
   
9. Extinct :: eagle
   
10. Alligator :: skin
    

Free association is described as a "psychonanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content." Over time, this technique is supposed to help bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.

That's an admirable goal, but for the purposes of this excercise, we're just hoping to have a little fun with the technique. Each week I'll post ten words to which you can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.

"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head.

From Unconscious Mutterings

Litratong Pinoy: Basa [Wet]

Mt. Pleasant Community Center

Wordless Wednesday: Her first bank account

My daughter's signing her first contract and opening her first savings account.
July 7, 2009

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Whatever

I only work twice a week, and every time I go to work, there's always something new. And those "something new" are not good news at all.

For you to be a certified officer, one need to go through levels of training. And once you failed, you are out. So what happen to one person who failed the first level of training? Next thing we know she's one of our Manager. A manager who doesn't know how the operation works and therefore cannot make the right decision.

Last Sunday, a supervisor causes a breach. She got suspended, which is the next course of action. Today, I found out she was promoted as one of our Manager.

What the hell is going on with the company? You screw up and they promote you? On the other hand, we do have some qualified officers, who knows the operations, and yet get rejected when they applied for the Manager position.

This is precisely why I prefer to stay part-time. The less I see of them or of what's happening, the better for me. I am only here because of the benefits. I need the benefits. And of course because of the friends that I've made.

The job itself is not hard. It's pretty easy even though there are risk involve. It is also fun at times. It should also be a stress-free job unless you got a very difficult passenger. But our Managers are the one giving us stress all the time by changing the rules as they see fit. By being heartless and unconcern when it comes to their officers who are the front line of their operations.

Take for example those people who are not feeling well and is requesting to go home early. The Managers, who are NOT doctors, will evaluate the officer and if that officer doesn't look sick to them, they will not let you go home early. How inhuman is that? I know that there are some people who will make excuses just to go home early for whatever reason, but there are also people who will never make up excuses.

Mistakes of the minority... suffered by the majority.

Picnic season

Now that its summer time and I decided to stay home with the kids and just work twice a week, I am afraid that I will start gaining weight again. Summer time means its BBQ season and it's picnic-party all the time.

I have a couple of friends who take diet supplements every summer time and stops them when summer is over. Because all summer long, they will go camping and picnics.

Cleaning out the basement

We just moved in here 7 months ago and I don't know why but it seems that our basement is again full of junk. I need to get rid of some old clothes and recycle bottles and cans. I know I have a lot of spare time, but it is an effort to bring them to the bottle depot or donation center. I wish we have something like NJ junk removal where I will just call a number and they will come and pick up my junk.

Photo Hunt: Pink

My daughter just love anything pink!
Picture taken @ Animal Kingdom, Orlando, February 2009

Calgary Stampede

Calgary Stampede is the greatest outdoor show on earth. It's a 10 day event that starts today. People all over the city dress up as cowboys. Free breakfast in most establishments during this 10-day event. There's shows like rodeo, chuck wagon races and concerts, entertainment, midway rides and games... and a whole lot more.

Since today is the first day of the Stampede, there's a parade schedule to go in downtown. I was told that we have to be there at least 2 hours before the start so that we could get a good spot. When my kids heard about this, they beg not to go. Oh well.

Sunday is family day. So it means it's free entrance to the Stampede ground, you just have to be there really early! Sad to say, it's the start of my new shift at work, so I can't go.

Next Wednesday will be kids' day. It means kids are free! 2 years ago, we went on our first Stampede during kids' day. I remember it being so crowded, long line ups, but the kids had so much fun.

Calgary is also known as the Heart of the New West.



Our little cowboys and cowgirls all ready for a day at the Stampede ground.


Pictures taken from Calgary Stampede in 2007.
We just finished our free breakfast and getting ready to start the day at the Stampede ground.
For those who are planning to visit Calgary, please come during Stampede days. It's a new experience that you will definitely enjoy.

Thursday Thirteen #56: 13 movies

Last 13 movies that I've seen and my rating

1. Bride Wars *****
   
2. Confession of a Shopaholic *****
   
3. He's just not that into you *****
   
4. 12 rounds ****
   
5. After the sunset ****
   
6. X-Men: Wolverine ****
   
7. Angels and Demons ***
   
8. Knowing **
   
9. Inkheart ***
   
10. 88 Minutes ***
    
11. Benjamin Button **
    
12. Paul Bart's Mall Cop ** and
    
13. Night of the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian ****
    

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Photo Hunt: Flags

It's been awhile since my last entry for Photo Hunt and this is a little late, but better late than never.

This is also my entry to Wordless Wednesday [even though it is not a wordless entry].

This picture is taken from Calgary Olympic Park where the 1988 XV Winter Olympic Games were held.

Trip canceled

I mentioned in my previous post that we “might” go on another trip to New York City. I went to the extent of looking for cheap fares and found out that flights going to Newark are cheaper than flights going to JFK or La Guardia airport. Since Newark airport is too far from my sister-in-law, I even looked up fares for Newark airport shuttle. So that it won’t be a hassle for them to pick us up.

Oh well, final word is, we are not going at all. My husband’s cousin in the Philippines is pregnant and my MIL wanted to wait till she gives birth before travelling to the US. Both her parents are out of the country and MIL is her godmother, so she felt obligated to see it through. And with her new schedule, it is not feasible for us to travel to New York anymore. There’s just too much conflict in our schedule.

Besides, my husband decided that instead of spending money on travelling, which we already did twice this year, we could just save up and buy something else that we needed for the house. Or he is actually thinking of buying a cheap laptop for the kids.

O' Canada

Happy Canada Day to all Canadians!

And here are my contribution to Wifespeaks' ChikaTuesday: Long distance love affair

and Foodie Wednesday: Long distance food/resto