Cows On the Couch

It has come to my attention that many of our younger cousins who have just tied the knot are looking into buying a house or are or has already bought the house.  While I strongly encourage a home inspection before buying their home – I have some cousins who are very good with their pneumatic tools  and can do all their own minor renovation or fixing up of their new homes on their own.   But unless you get the house at a really low price – I wouldn’t want to fix up my house for we don’t have any spare time to do it.  So when the spouse or the brother in laws wants tools for Christmas – i gladly buy them for them because I know that when we need renovation work done in our home they would certainly come to help with the tools we’ve bought them.So what so important about a home inspection and what to watch out for a home inspection,  that would be for another post and another day.

For those who don’t enjoy the winter and the cold – the only consolation one gets when they get home from a hard day’s work is a heated jacuzzi.  I find that it helps with my back pain and arthritis and with a raypak  spa heater, our jacuzzi and pool is heated even in the summer.  We bought the jacuzzi to help with my back pain when I first arrived in Canada – and we never turned back – so those of you who have back pain – instead of spending money on going to the spa once a month – why not save the money and invest in a jacuzzi.  I love using the jacuzzi after using my infrared steam bath – I think it was one of the best investment we made – the steam bath gets rid of toxins in our body and then the dipping into the heated jacuzzi for 20 mins a day helps to reduce my back pain and aching body.

While we are paying dearly for our electricity – my friend from new jersey told me all about their power bill with new jersey energy – how I envy her.  Winter’s power bills can be real pain on the pocket of many people – and  we all would loved a little savings on power bill wherever we can.  Even though we are never home for most of the day, our power bill is still very high and for a normal family I would say – it can be quite taxing keeping all the bills paid during the winter months.  My girlfriend say that at new jersey energy, they even have a $50 sign up bonus – good marketing plan – but the overall savings is the one we are all looking for right?  Everyone could use some savings during the winter months and every month of the year – and if you are in New Jersey – you should look up at some savings too.

When you have kids you definitely need to visit a pediatrician at one time or another.  Some of us visits the Pediatrician more often than others and a new mom asked me the other day – which is the best pediatrician in town.  I chose my pediatrician not only because he came highly recommended but his office was all equipped with computer carts  that were also designed for children and less intimidating.   When your kids enter the pediatrician’s office and see all those children’s cartoon of submarine, fishes, smiley faces – it definitely helped. Visual are so important to kids – so if they can picture the pediatrician’s office being a happy and kiddy place – they don’t mind going back to visit the pediatrician.  So my advice to all new parents to choose your child’s pediatrician properly – make sure that the doctor’s office is a fun place for your kids’ to visit.  The all white or grey office just don’t cut it for our kids now – our kids are way too smart these days.

The local radio station had been playing sounds from Adele for the last few months – that even someone who don’t know who Adele is – would know by now.  My kids had been asking for Adele’s song to be downloaded on their  ipods  as well – so we have been buying  iTunes gift cards for them instead of their allowances.   Unlike other parents, we make sure that they learned that things cost money and they need to save up for their ipod accessories and iTunes gift cards – we don’t just give it to them.  My kids say that I’m mean and stingy but I don’t mind being the bad guy in the family because I was brought up that way – therefore I never spend what I don’t have.  Instilling the right value in your children when they are young is very important – so if they needed anything they know they have to save their allowances for them.  In the meantime, here’s a sound from Adele.

The spouse had just announced that he will be taking us for a skiing trip to Quebec in January when he is up there for a business meeting.  What a hoot ! it would be for me and the kids – they are so excited now – and already preparing for the trip.  One of them had asked for the Crescent Moon Gold 12 Snowshoes  last Christmas and it will be put to good use now.   I can’t wait to go back to take another lesson for myself – because I’m not very good at it if you must know – but I love skiing so much – and if there is one sport that will help one lose weight – it’s skiing.   Folks say that you burn fats when you are sweating – but skiing helps burn more fats I find.  I remember coming home with 5Ibs lighter a few years ago – just spending 3 days in a sk resort in BC.  But don’t forget to get the right type of skiing equipment and the right type of snowshoes and you will have so much fun – you won’t want to go home.  Check out the hot tubs in the middle of winter too.

There is a little cake shop that just opened in town – near my home and I had been to it’s cake tasting before it opened in the mall – and when I found out that she was opening her own store downtown I was quite excited because I loved sweets.  With some help from a small business equipment leasing  she was able to get the baking stove that she needed and with the help of another organization for the young women entrepreneurship – she was able to also buy a building that she is currently in.

Of course, like any new entrepreneur, she would be going thru’ some ups and downs in her small cake shop but I think she will do good if she continues to do what she is doing.  Thank God for all these help that she had gotten – because some financial institution in town is always asking for a lot in interest in repayment.  So I’m indeed happy for her – and wish her all the best – you really gotta admire all these people who are so brave to go into business in this economy – I for one wouldn’t be that brave.

Christmas decorations are up and the outside of our home are lighted up with Christmas decoration – now to prepare for the menu for the Christmas party.  And then to book raleigh carpet cleaning  for after the party for cleaning up the house – after all the celebrations. We can expect drinks on the carpet and people dropping food on the floor and anything that can dirty the carpets to happen during the Christmas party – so we are pretty smart this year and contacting our carpet cleaning company way ahead of time – so that they can come in as soon as they start work after their party too.  Last year – we didn’t book them in advance – so we had to wait for like a week – before they had an opening to clean our carpets – now that’s not good, for you and I know that the longer the stain stays on the carpet the harder it would be to get out.   So if you haven’t done your booking for carpet cleaning yet – do it quickly.

Earlier this year – the spouse bought me an iPhone 3G but it was the iPhone 4S that I was waiting to get but beggars can’t be choosers right?  After seeing the sister-in-law’s new iPhone 4S today – my spouse wants to know if we can upgrade to a 4S without having to pay for a new one on our own.  After all, my iPhone 3G is practically new – so where can I buy iphone  without having to sign a new contract but can upgrade my old one into a 4S?  I’m going to check at the local mall on Monday and see what the good guys at The Source can do for me.  I’ve always liked them – they always take time to explain to us about everything and we have been with Rogers for so long and have had the same cell phone number for as long as I’ve been in Canada – so yes!  I support our local Canadian stores always.

The spouse and I will be celebrating our anniversary soon – and we’ve decided to throw a party – sorta a celebration – plus we want to renew our vows in front of closed friends and family.  We want to give out something special to those who are attending our celebration and decided to compile our holiday videos from the last 25 yrs.  Places of interest, hotels, different countries that we’ve visited – a journey of our life since we travel so much and for our friends and relative to enjoy the different countries in our eyes.  Since we only have time to do one dvd – we are getting some help with the  dvd duplication  – definitely will make it a lot simpler – cost effective and will look a lot more presentable afterall, it is a gift from the heart right?