Happy Birthday Jeck!

Happy, happy birthday to my brother-in-law
Jeck!!!

We really appreciate all your help. Thanks for always "saving" us during times of emergencies! Good luck and we love you.

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Tagged on Thursday

It seems I've been Tagged on Thursday! Actually, it's more of a Photo Tagged. Thanks to Aimee from Our Family - From Scratch.

Here are the rules to play along:

1) Go to your photo files, select the 8Th photo folder.
2) Select the 8Th photo in that folder.
3) Post that photo along with the story behind it
4) Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same!



I forgot what she was watching but it said "Clap, clap, clap" or "Swing, swing, swing" so this is her version. Photo taken March 24th, 2010

Now to tag 8 blogging friend:
1. Witchie's Place
2. Pops up of my mind
3. Random Luck
4. Mageebaby
5. Pull up your Potty seat, this could take a while.
6. Woman's elan vital
7. The Ethertons
8. A Mom's Balancing Act

This is an exciting mix of friends since 3 of them are long-time friends, 1 from my first few days of blogging, and 3 new friends from Friday Follow.

As with Aimee, if I didn't tag you and you'd like to join, please, feel free to leave a comment and let me know to check out yours.

Have fun and have a great day!

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General Cleaning

So she left, right??

OMG, I can't even begin to describe how messy and yucky my house is, well... was. No matter how you ask, I won't even tell you because it's just too embarrassing, really. I have never seen that many critters anywhere.

I so thank my entire family who spent the day with me cleaning the whole house. Now I can say it's a house. It will take another day or two, maybe even a week to make it spotless but dang, that's mighty fine for a 3-year worth of mess that she left. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here for my previous post.

Thanks to all your words of encouragement. I really needed it since I felt so helpless. I'm still in shock but with my family's help, I'll be fine before I even know it. Who would have known that something like a person's departure could be so traumatic!

Thanks for reading and happy hump day!

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Happy birthday Myla!

A very, very happy birthday to my good friend Waterfals' pretty and loving wife

Myla U.-P.

... and congratulations on the house warming.

My heartfelt thanks for taking care of our dear 'ol friend and wishing you more happiness (if that's possible) and success in life. Oh, and lots of little Waters and Mylas. Hope to meet you soon!

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Trusting your neighbor

Do you trust your neighbors?

I used to. I used to be confident enough to leave my home for maybe 2 days and know that my neighbors will look out for me. Now, I don't know anymore.

My household help of 3 years suddenly left yesterday without saying a word. I was busy feeding my little one her afternoon snack and after I bathed and dressed her, I couldn't find her anymore, our main door slightly ajar. The gate though was padlocked but still, it was very irresponsible. I believe she didn't take anything with her, our money was on the table, the cellphone I loaned her on top of it. She just took her SIM card and her personal things.

This morning I woke up early to prepare for hubby's coffee and morning rituals and I heard her and my neighbor. Our house is a townhouse/apartment type so our dirty kitchen is just separated by a wall with an opening above.

I trusted my helper and it wasn't a mistake. After all, she didn't take anything with her, and I am thankful for that. I just hate the fact that this neighbor, who's been here less than 6 months could do this to us. I'm sure now that she convinced, persuaded, or whatever else you may call it, my helper to transfer and be with them. At what cost, higher salary?

I hope my ex-helper knows that I don't think of her as just our helper. She was my friend, she was like my sister, or a daughter I could have borne out of wedlock if I got pregnant at 16. I know I had my shortcomings but we knew each other well. I rest my case that it wasn't and isn't her fault.

We are a row of 5 townhouses. In the 4 years we've been here, this is the first time I can say that I lost trust in a neighbor. The other 3, I'm good terms with. But as the saying goes... there will always be a bad apple in a bunch.

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BC Bloggers 3 now open

Calling all bloggers! Round 3 is now open... woohooo!

Calling all bloggers who want to gain friends in the blogosphere and build links at the same time – BC Bloggers 3 is now open. To join just visit Mommy Diary, read the requirements, and fill out the Application Form.

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She turned 19 months today

Happy 19th month birthday to my little princess!

I know I probably shouldn't be counting months already and just say she's just a year old but sometimes it seems it misrepresents her. I know I'm biased because I am her mom, but I believe every parent shows bias when talking about their children. I also know that most 1 year old can do what my daughter can but in my eyes, in our eyes as parents, our children will always be special.

Anyway, our day started slow, rest for hubby basically for a very hectic week. But in the afternoon, hubby decided to take us with him to a bachelorette party! Wooohooo! You may be thinking, a bachelorette party for a 19-month old??? Oh.. this one is all clean fun. No dancers or kinky games or anything, it was a simple gathering of friends wishing the bride-to-be happiness and success in the next chapter of her life.

Before we went to the "party", hubby decided to buy a couple dozen of Krispy Kreme doughtnuts as our share for the food. When we were about to pay for the doughnuts, the kind lady at the window (we ordered through their drive thru) took a liking to my little one. She gave her a free mini strawberry donut and the long green KK balloon! I guess her birthday is her lucky day. I should remember that, every 24th is her lucky day. Maybe that will come in handy for her, and me, sometime!

So off to Antipolo we go, with fresh, hot, KK doughnuts yummm! On the way, we also bought a small bag of cashews, it's one of the things Antipolo is famous for. Buying the cashews was a good call. We lost our way a couple of times so it's good that we were munching on something while being lost. Imagine being lost and hungry! I'd probably go mad and pick a fight with Daddy the whole time!

When we got to the party, it was so fun meeting hubby's co-workers. They were speaking different languages and I found it all so interesting. Multi-lingual, multi-cultural people having fun together. So this was hubby's world. Now I know why he said it was challenging at first but excited at the same time. Yes, I still remember those words from his first day at work.

They all had fun with my little princess too. She was dancing to any tune, ballroom, 80's or hiphop. She was even dancing to karaoke music :) They also loved seeing her run all over the place. She also loved patting Fluffy the dog, geez my girl never thought twice about patting him. As soon as I put her down, she just ran towards him and patted his head! (After of course I asked the owner if he bites!) They also loved watching her read her flash cards!


It was fun hearing hubby's co-workers talk. They tried to talk to my little princess in Korean, German, Thai, Bahasa, etc. Wouldn't it be amazing if they understand some of my daughter's babble?? Maybe for me it's just blah blah blah, child babbling but what if some of those yadayada actually meant something in a different language. Now, that's interesting! I have to ask them to talk to her again soon and let me know if she's multi-lingual too.

Hope you had a great Saturday. Thanks for reading.

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My other blogs

Just letting everyone know:

• For contests and giveaways, please visit my blog - My Game of Chance
• For recipes and anything about food - My Tummy Calls
  

Thank you.

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Friday Follow April 23

It's Friday again!! I can't wait to find and follow more interesting blogs today!

To those who come by my blog from FF here are a couple of things about me:

1. a stay-at-home mom but trying to find work from home (Maybe next week I can say I'm a work-at-home mom)
2. I have a 19-month (tomorrow) old daughter
3. started 2 other blogs, My Tummy Calls and My Game of Chance
4. I'm starting to love blogging and article/review writing
5. I loooooooove Friday Follow!
6. So please do leave me a link and I'll be more than happy to follow you!
   

For those who want to join, please click on the badge below to know how:


Thank you to the hosts:



Link up your blog here:




Have a great weekend!

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Honoring Earth Day

To honor Earth Day, my blogs My Tots Exactly!, My Tummy Calls, and My Game of Chance are now carbon neutral. A tree will be planted for each domain.

I really wanted to do this earlier on but waited since I thought it would be more timely today. I miss my mother's stories of trees, birds and clean water and by neutralizing my blogs' carbon footprint, I hope I am somehow doing my share if not for me, my daughter's and her future children.

Quoting from Kaufda:

Make your blog carbon neutral!
For free!

Being part of the initiative “My blog is carbon neutral” is an active contribution to help the environment! All you have to do is described here. Make it happen - make it green!

“My blog is carbon neutral” is an initiative, originally started in Germany by the “Make it green” programme, that has the goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. We plant a tree for your blog and thereby neutralise your blog’s carbon footprint for the next 50 years! Everyone can make a small contribution to the environment. Every tree counts!

If you would like to join and make your blog/s or website/s Carbon Neutral too, please click HERE for the complete instructions.

Let us all do our share to conserve Mother Earth.

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Dear PLDT Part 4

Hi all! I'm having major issues with my internet provider again. Fortunately this time the agents who answer my calls are pretty much courteous and respectful. A big difference from my experience at the start of this month. The supervisor also took my call right away and has updated me the status after 30 mins. Hopefully he/they continue to update and expedite the resolution to my problem.

I hope to be online again in a few hours! Hope everyone has a great day/evening!

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Sunday Family Day #2

Another special Sunday for me and my whole (extended) family. Though there were no mango trees to harvest this time, we had fun playing family mahjong. We, as a family, also think I may have a budding little engineer or architect. She had fun stacking the mahjong pieces as high as she could (literally, until how high her arms could reach).

After Sunday mass, we went to my Lola's house for lunch then to my mom's. I bullied my sister to open her a/c unit early so my little princess can sleep longer and to avoid another "overheating" episode.

Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

The game is ON! Oops, see that?? That's my little girl stacking her tiles.

Still at work.

Going for 5 now.

Mommy and baby.

The Scorching Sun (hubby took this shot)

The setting sun.

Plane #1. Amazing how the sun sets on one side, turning the skies into radiant orange, while the skies remain vivid blue on another side.

Plane #2.

I think this was her highest since she was having a hard time reaching the top already.

Plane #3. I think this is Cebu Pacific.

Plane #4.

Plane #5.

She went for 8 and she did it!

... and the day turns to night.

The End.

Thanks for reading!

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Excited for my Sunday MeMe

Can't wait to post pics of our family get-together (again) later. Please do come join me in my first MeMe Sunday Family Day. Apologies in advance again for no buttons/badges, etc yet. It was one busy week for me. See you all later!

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Friday Follow April 16

Friday Follow: A Celebration of Followers - April 16th

Again, I'm joining Friday Follow! Can't wait to blog hop and see more interesting blogs and hopefully meet new bloggers.

Come join me!

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Happy birthday Hubby!

It's my hubby's birthday today! Yay!

Our original plan was to start early, go to a rented resort for the kids to swim. Unfortunately, as of this writing, we're still home. The car won't start. I guess it's the car way of saying happy birthday maybe? We're now waiting for my cousin to drop by to help out charge the battery with his car's.

Also, my happy birthday greeting to hubby was such a surprise. I've been sick since 12am. Good about it is my little one has complete recovered from the sniffles. If you watch Heroes, I guess I'll start to call myself special. I simply absorbed her illness. Also, since I'm sick, I won't swim. I'm the official photographer of the day then.

Photos later. Hope you enjoy your Friday. Thanks for reading!

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At the end of the day.

As the sun sets



A happy child comfortably playing all by herself



The image says it all.



At the end of the day, all we have is love. This piece of ice was not intentionally carved. My brother was using an ice pick on a block of ice when this piece broke off. He thought it was "fate" since we were spending our day with (extended) family.

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What makes you happy?

It was my Aunt's birthday yesterday, April 13th. She turned sweet sixtyn two (technically).

Ever since I can remember, we usually spend our birthdays with family. It doesn't have to be a party. Usually it was a no-frills get-together, with just everyone eating a simple meal, preferrably with pancit (noodles) for long life.

Another Aunt wanted the so-called "gathering" yesterday at a mall. The purpose? To avoid the scorching heat. Since most malls run their air-condition units on high during summer, she decided that it will be more relaxing to pass the time there. (She doesn't have access to the internet, or keep up with the latest health news, but her idea proves to be a prevention guide from the CDC for Extreme Heat).

Moving on, the attendees were supposed to be:

• my Lola, 86 (Grandmother)
• Birthday Aunt, 62
• Sponsor Aunt, 55 (will sponsor the food and cake for everyone)
• Aunt 1, 53
• My youngest sister, 28
  
• My mom, 58
• Me and my little princess, 3? and 18months
• My sister and her kids, 3?, 6, 5, 3

I said supposed because the last 3 bullets above couldn't go due to different reasons. I also included the ages to emphasize how perfect the CDC's tip was.

Sponsor Aunt said they still tried to just "chill" but she and Aunt 1 noticed that Birthday Aunt didn't look too happy. They decided to just spend the rest of the hot afternoon there and then, as a surprise, bring some of the food to my mom's house. My sisters live with my mom so all the kids would be there. They figured Birthday Aunt was missing the kids. Birthday Aunt is like a surrogate mom for all of us. Being unmarried, she has, at least once in her lifetime, personally cared for all of us. Sponsor Aunt also called me to ask if I'd be willing to go to my mom's because they also want my little princess to be there. I said we'd go, to make everything complete. After all, Birthday Aunt is also my Ninang (my Godmother at birth, confirmation and wedding).

When we got there, we started eating while the kids scampered off to play. Sponsored Aunt looked at me, to tell me that finally, Birthday Aunt was happy on her special day.

I know this post might be confusing because of all the names and may be shallow for some. But this makes me realize how something simple, as the presence of children,can define one person's happiness. I am truly touched. I am truly lucky to have my (big) family.

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Manic Monday

Why is it that every Monday, almost everyone goes Manic?

I've always hated Mondays, especially when I was still working full-time. It's as if I go into overdrive as soon as I wake up Monday morning. Suddenly, I remember deadlines, meetings, updating projects, projects to be approved, blah blah blah.

I know it's just an ordinary day, but somehow people find ways to barrage me with work every Monday. I guess it's to "fill up my plate" for the week, so to speak. Oh well... those were the days. Now that I'm a full time mom, I don't feel too"manicky" every Mondays... not!

Even though I stay home with my little princess, I do feel stress and pressure every Monday. I need to think of budget for the week, food to prepare, supplies to be bought for the week, etc. It seems 24 hours isn't enough for all the "thinking".

But somehow, this time around, the Manic turns out to be just plain panic. The elevated mood associated with mania is overpowered by the joy and happiness of spending my whole day with my little girl. I guess it's just a natural effect of being a parent.

How did your Monday turn out?

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Sunday Family Day #1

I'm officially making this a Sunday topic and meme and hopefully create a badge and all so people can join in. I've seen a lot memes around and since Sunday is usually spent as family day, why not make one? It's probably too late to invite bloggers for this now, since it's technically Monday but hopefully, we get to have more contributions and participants next week.

As usual, we started our Sunday by hearing mass at 10:30am then spent the rest of the day at my Lola's (Grandmother) house.

Here are some of our FUN pics:

10:30am mass at HFP


My daughter officially "overheats" at my Lola's house every time so she takes a quick dip in a wide pail.

It's the season for Indian Mango!

Hook 'em down time! (Bro-in-law)

The way to catch 'em. (I am not endorsing any candidate by the way... it just so happened that this tarp was at the right place, at the right time)

Do you think they actually caught the mangoes?

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Goodbye Sun!

This is not a paid advertisement or review.

I can't even remember the last time we had the car tints installed. It's actually hubby's car, and it's been with him 11 years I think or maybe more. We so love the car, it's literally a part of our family.

Unfortunately, when we go drive somewhere during the day we can no longer take the heat. Our temperature here gets to between 32 and 40 degrees Celsius (93-104 degrees Fahrenheit)... and it's not even the peak of summer yet! Even when the aircon is on full blast, it feels as if it's at the lowest Fan level.

So midday today, hubby decides to finally have his window tints changed. It cost him around P3,500 ($80) but it was all worth it. The advantages of choosing the Solargard XG:

1. 5-year warranty,
2. Rejects 95-99% of all ultraviolet rays,
3. Excellent glare reduction, and
   
4. High color stability

We had to leave for my mom's place right after it was installed so my little tot and I had first-hand experience. At 4pm, we couldn't feel as much heat from the sun anymore. The aircon was cooler too. We usually had it on max power but this afternoon we had it at the 2nd to the lowest level (4 levels).

I think it's a good investment. Hubby will be more comfortable now driving to and from the office. We get to be more comfortable in the car when we spend family day driving around during the weekends. All in all, it's a two thumbs up decision.

So sun, sun, sun... if we can't get rid of too much of your heat, we can at least make it harder for you to irritate us.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend everyone. Thank you for reading.

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Friday Follow April 9

Friday Follow Blog Hop (April 9)

This is my first time to participate. I'm excited to blog hop!! Let's go...

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Boggle Me Thursday 43

I miss playing this game. Last I did was maybe when I was in college, more than 14 years ago!! I knew I had to play this when I saw it on Kat's blog: Mom's Place

How many can you find in 3 minutes?

To join: click on the Boggle Me Button on top.
I found:

1. bee
   


2. been
   


3. tee
   


4. teen
   


5. net
   


6. ten
   


7. bent
   


8. exit
   


9. fit
   


10. fine
    


11. vow
    


12. coy
    


13. fix
    


14. nit
    


15. tin
    


16. yen
    


17. tine
    

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Dear PLDT Part 3

Alas... my internet connection has returned!!!

Okay, okay, let me not get too ahead of myself. Yes I can surf, I can even upload some pictures. It's better than the other 2 days. BUT, it still gets disconnected for, at maximum, about a minute every 45 minutes or so. I will still report it but I am no longer irate, unless I get another one of those CSRs that MAKE you irate.

I understand that they're doing their best to provide quality service, but as a consumer, I need to get my money's worth too. This is what I tell them every single time I call them. I know they are consumers themselves, with mobile phone plans and probably even internet connections in their homes, so I patiently explain to them that what we pay as consumers is hard-earned money. This demands quality service from a provider.

It now makes me think of other options. If I do want to go that route of doing online jobs, I think I would need a backup broadband provider, even if only the prepaid ones.

Who do you think provide better service? I know it's dependent on the area, but in terms of customer service and response time, I'd like to know your thoughts.

Thank you and have a good one!

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Dear PLDT Part 2

A much needed PLDT Update! But of course I couldn't post this yesterday. I could only open my messenger for about 45 seconds then shut down again for 3 mins, then on 45 secs, shut down 3 mins, and so on. Can you guess I'm still not happy?? But this was towards the end of the day, let's not jump to that just yet.


April 5th 2010

• 10:30am During my first call to PLDT (please refer to my previous post HERE for some transcript), my attempts to be transferred to a supervisor proved futile.
  
• 11:51am Supervisor JS called me let me know that my internet connection report has been escalated to the local field supervisor for physical checking, AND my report regarding the Customer Service Rep (CSR) EP is under investigation. She promised to listen to the recorded investigation and was also advised by EP that I MAY be filing a complaint.
• 4:45pm Supervisor JS called again to update but I wasn't able to take the call. I was busy feeding my little princess.
• 8:00pm Called PLDT to let them know that my connection was still intermittent. Spoke with a very courteous Jas. She told me that Supervisor JS was calling earlier to ask my availability the next day in case the PLDT repair man needs to come over to check the connection in our house. I told her I am making tomorrow free for them so they can finally fix this. She will relay to Supervisor JS and will also request for remote line testing again to try and pick up the service.

April 6th 2010

• 10:00am Supervisor JS called to let me know that the connection report is being handled by the local business area. They might come over the check the PLDT "box" nearby. She also informed me that she already heard the recording. She confirmed the following:

1. CSR EP was way out of line when he answered "Hindi! Meron pang ibang tests!" (No! There are other tests!) Supervisor JS confirmed that the intonation was indeed wrong.
2. Supervisor JS also confirmed that she DID hear CSR EP breathe a sigh of frustration towards the end of the call, which is when I really lost all traces of my sanity. She even told me that she heard him deny it when I asked him "Did you just breathe on the phone's mic?? (as a sign of frustration?)
3. My complaint is being handled by the the team leaders and coaches. As of this phone call, she informed me that CSR EP already had 1 coaching session and is being monitored closely.

• 1:12pm Mr. Joe A. called me from within my area to ask if my internet is working properly. The light, proving successful connection, was stable but he still told me to monitor in case I still get intermittent connection. I felt he was way older than me, but he was very, very courteous.
  
• 2:00pm - 10:40pm Intermittent connection. I can't even load a page! Called PLDT again to let them know that the problem has not been resolved. CSR Joel will request forward request again and order remote line testing.

Let's see how all this goes down today, April 7th.

Incidentally, we do have a tentative scheduled brownout which MAY start between 12nn and 1pm and last for 2 hours. Meralco (CSR Bianca) said that it is tentative because if the power can be supplied, then our schedule can be "waived".

Have a good one everyone! I hope our day goes well too. Please wish us luck *wink

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Dear PLDT Part 1

My connection is still intermittent. I am starting to really hate PLDT now, not only because of the connection but also because of poor customer service. Last time something like this happened, they managed to fix my internet in 16 days, and phone in 14 days, and that was with me calling EACH and EVERY DAY to let them know I'm counting!! Let's see how long this one takes. I first called to report it April 2.

after stating the problem:

E. P. (PLDT CSR): May mga tests po tayong gagawin ma'am.

Momsy (still calm): Anong klaseng mga test? Sa connection ko? E kakawala lang so gumagana, paputol-putol lang every 3 mins. Ping? e wala ngang connection.

E. P. (pabalang na pagsagot): Hindi! Meron pang iba!

after stating the problem:

E.P. (PLDT CSR): We have to run some tests ma'am.

Momsy (still calm): What kind of tests? If physical connections from my computer to the device, there's no problem because I was just connected to the internet. I lost the connection right now so I don't think the problem is from my end. I'm just reporting that it gets cut-off every 3 mins or so. Ping test? We can't since there is no connection.

E.P. (with I presume a big smug on his face for me adding work to his currently full plate): No, there are other tests! (possibly even thinking of connecting the word "stupid customer" after that sentence)

THEN I LOST IT!!!! I told him I didn't want to talk to him anymore and if protocol says that a customer has to ask for a supervisor 3x before they can transfer, I told him 3x I wanted a supervisor.

Forgot to mention, that after 2 more times of him coming back to the phone and using the words "po" and "opo" again, AND trying his best to pretend to apologize that all 3 supervisors are taking calls and was told that it would take longer, he breathed a sigh of frustration on the phone's mic... seriously!

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Easter at the Farm... sort of!

We decided to head to McKinley Hills for the Easter at the Farm activity after we heard mass. My little one had so much fun, and even the little once who went with us. I hope you enjoy some of the pictures!

Easter Mass at our Parish

Blessing of Holy Water

A beautiful Siberian Husky on display


I'm currently having internet connection problems.. more photos to be uploaded in bit. Please stay tuned.

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Easter, easter, here we come!

Have you visited your local parenting sites lately? I've seen lots of ads for Easter activities for the family. We're thinking of doing an egg-hunt in my Lola's (grandmother) house, or maybe checking out new scenery in one of the places nearby, or even bring our little one for the first time to a zoo!

Wondering how things will go today? Stay tuned... but in the meantime, what are YOUR plans for Easter? Care to share?

Check out my other blog My Game of Chance for what my Easter bunny delivered!

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