Authored by Greg Fletcher

Working from home is great for me and it’s been a real blessing ever since my kids decided they wanted to be home schooled. It’s really tough for me to balance both but my kids are great at independent study so it’s actually worked out really well. We have tvbydirect.com Satellite so they’re often watching nature or educational programs I pick out for them while I’m getting work done and it’s nice because the extra income is definitely needed. My husband’s hours keep getting cut and I know he feels a lot of pressure to keep this family afloat so I’m glad to be contributing in more ways than one. I love spending more time with my kids but what I really enjoy is putting so much thought and effort into my work. I have a sense of purpose again and it’s a great way to feel, to be honest! Staying at that dead end job would have been the worst decision I could have made so I’m really happy I took this big risk.

I know someone (really close to me) who kept buying things that in my opinion are a bit expensive but are not much needed. I remember her buying a massage machine which she used once or twice only. She opted to just visit a spa twice a month. Haha.

When she bought her GPS, I was glad because I know she’d need it. She likes to drive around. It wasn’t like a gps for truckers type but still a very useful one. And boy, she used it a lot. I can truly say that one was a good buy.

But then, she bought an iPad, which she now uses for directions and maps. Although, even without admitting, I know it’s a bit harder for her to use it than her more conveniently installed GPS. In this case, the GPS wins. But I guess she wants to justify her iPad purchase. (She isn’t much of an ebook reader or a gamer.) Well, at least she sold her GPS, unlike her massage machine which has just accumulated dust in her shelf.

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On another note, I forgot to blog about Artscow’s sale last weekend. I just hope you guys are now subscribed via email or fan of their Facebook page. I was able to take advantage of their promo on 39 Paged 8″x8″ Photo Book for only $12.99 with free shipping. I am hoping to take advantage too of their promo on 60 paged 8″x8″ Photo Book.

Coupon Code: 100PGS8X8
Expiry Date: 9/30/2011

60-paged 8″ x 8″ Photo Book – $18.99/each
80-paged 8″ x 8″ Photo Book – $23.99/each
100-paged 8″ x 8″ Photo Book – $28.99/each

2 weeks ago, I just thought of uploading 2 layouts to my Shabby Princess gallery, which had previously only 2 other layouts uploaded way back in 2008. I’m not really sure why. I just like to share them, I guess.

And yesterday, I was so shocked to see this on the shabbyshoppe blog!

Wow. So this is how it feels to be featured.
I’m excited about the $10 gift card prize. Though, I haven’t seen the email from them on my inbox nor spam folder. I’ll just wait for it.

Theo received a lot of gifts for his baptism. I’m happy there was no baby gifts for girls. Hahaha. He received clothes, toys and books. Someone even gave him a bike! No kidding.

We had many attendees despite the heavy rains. And I’ve asked the guests to sign on the guestbook that I made. It will serve as another remembrance of the people who celebrated with us.

Like I have previously blogged, I made paper shoes as container for the souvenirs. After making 20 pieces, I have accepted the fact that I won’t be able to finish them on my own. So I asked the help of my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Thankfully, we were able to finish the night before the baptism.

While the cake supplier offer to bring them with her so she can set it up with the cake. Good thing she did because since it was raining hard, our buick lacrosse custom floor mats got wet. And I’m pretty sure if we were the one who brought the paper shoes, I’d be placing them on the floor to avoid being smashed by the baby’s stroller at the trunk.

And oh btw, we gave away clay key chains as souvenirs.

Finally, my son was baptized last Saturday. I am happy with the outcome of the ceremony and the baptismal party. It was successful in my opinion even if we only had 2 weeks to prepare for it. Not only that, there was a typhoon on that day, and I was grateful to family and friends because 71 out of the 80 invited guests came. Yes, despite the heavy rains. Plus, I think about 5 people told me that I look thinner that day. Someone asked if I had been taking diet pills. To be honest, no. Breastfeeding has been burning a lot of my calories.

So that’s the secret to my weight loss… it’s not a secret at all.

Some are asking how my photobooks turned out. Well, aside from the minor problem encountered with the shipping, I am satisfied with my photobooks.

Here are some photos of my Bohol photobook pages.

As previously blogged, I had a problem with Artscow upgrading my shipping from regular to Fedex without my consent (Customs expenses incurred) but after several email exchanges with Artscow support, they agreed to give back the money that I paid Fedex/customs as cash dollars. I can use the cash dollars in my future orders.

Anyway, the guestbook that I made and ordered from Artscow for my son’s baptism has arrived my friend’s house, which I will receive on Monday. And I am currently busy doing the paper shoes that will serve as container for the souvenirs.

Some use the paper shoes as souvenir itself and put in sweets. In fact, my initial plan was to put in either a cupcake or a cookie. Hubby even joked that we can put in montecristo cigars to be given away to male guests. But we finally decided on something else. I can’t divulge it yet so it would be a surprise to the guests.

Earlier today, while I was browsing to compare dental insurance quotes, I was told that a package for me has arrived but I need to pay for something. I saw that I need to pay Fedex a thousand pesos for custom stamps, taxes and storage fee.

This is frustrating as I ordered my photobooks and chose regular airmail for shipping, but got the Fedex shipping service. If via airmail, I will just have to pay 35 pesos for each photobook at the post office. I never heard of any complaint or bad review on Artscow about shipping before so I didn’t expect this. Or maybe I wasn’t just reading their forum often enough.

It may be a generous(?) gesture by Artscow to upgrade the shipping to Fedex but instead, this made my experience unsatisfactory. So just today when someone asked me at Facebook about Artscow, I’m no longer sure if I should still recommend them.

If I’ll be shelling out that much money for Fedex shipping, I might just as well order my photobooks from a local store like Digiprint or some other printing shop that’s just starting up. Tsk tsk.

I’m not sure why but I have some ballet-themed kits. As much as I want my daughter to enroll in a ballet class, she doesn’t want to, no matter how insistent I am. Still, she twirls when she dances. And I must say, her twirl is just amazing, you’d think she studies ballet.

Here’s a photo of her when she was 2 years old.

Credits:
Template: sensational singles 2 by Janet Phillips (SSD)
Papers and elements from Just Too Funky kit by Zoe Pearn and Manda Bean (SSD)
Tiptoe/tulip stamp from Barefoot kit by Shabby Princess
alpha from Smooches kit by Amanda Heimann (Scrap Orchard)

And last week, it was their talent show in school. Initially, I thought she’ll be singing but then, I was surprised when she asked me to buy her a ballet costume. I simply told her that it’s not within our budget, and it would be a luxury to buy a costume if she isn’t going to ballet classes. So again, I asked her if she wants to attend ballet classes (then I can buy her the costume), to which she did not agree, as always.

She danced ballet at their talent show, alright. She also chose “blue danube” as the music to dance to. I wasn’t able to go to her school to watch her but I’m glad she showed me her dance so I can snap some shots.