A special birthday cake

I baked delicious chocolate cakes for our special child’s sixth birthday, which was celebrated in 3 places as planned, as mentioned in my post last July 23: our home on July 24, at the hospital on July 25, and at my brother-in-laws home on July 27. Of course there was a cake made for each location, but I reserved the one for our house, which was a small round cake and the only one with decors, for the blowing of the candles in all three locations mentioned. That made the cake special and aside from that, the decor was changed a bit every time it was moved to another location.

From now on, I'll make small birthday cakes instead of big ones. Why? It's easier to make it special since it will have more icing thus more delicious, and is more flexible to decorate. It's easier to fill up with decors since it is small, and it's easier to put one on top of another, for added height.

Are you a certified IT professional?

Since last year, I've been applying for several IT positions: IT Project Manager, Systems Analyst, Program Applications Developer, Data Center Team Leader, etc. Most of the ads of such positions specified "... certified applicants will be given preference". In my thoughts, I kept on saying, "that was their preference, but I can still apply for the position since I have years of experience". But the reality is I can no longer apply for most IT positions because they require very specific software or hardware exposure, and that could be a major reason why it has been almost a year now and I haven't found a job yet. It could have been a different story if only I took a certification exams. I was planning to do just that but I didn't pursue it. It just slipped off my mind.

Applying in several IT positions only confused me, losing my focus on potential areas where I could have enhanced my expertise. My thinking was, "I am a goal-oriented person, I can achieve my goals whatever position will be offered to me". My dear IT colleagues, don't follow my example!

I've been in IT more than half of my life now, but I even tried to shift to another career so I won't have to be an employee all my life, but now I realized that is not the solution!

I even tried to be an entrepreneur of an entirely different line of business, but now I realized I made the wrong move!

What could I have done then that would make things right? Follow what the ads had been saying: be certified! If I got a certification, there's a big possibility by this time I've already started a career as a consultant, not necessarily an employee. I could have chosen the best IT field for me to specialize, attend a training if needed, and be a certified in that field.



Very recently, I've encountered a website that offers online IT training and certification, and it's from The Cisco Learning Network! This website can guide even beginners in charting a professional path. It has sample job role paths that will point a beginner to the right direction and Cisco certification to take. Beginners, as well as those experienced in the IT profession should check out The Cisco Learning Network. Just to be sure you're not missing out on something very important in your career.

In my case, my research from The Cisco Learning Network led me to an industry solution where I can gain more expertise: the Healthcare solutions. I was the Head of the Health Information Management Services of my last employer and that specialization fits me well!

A proof of God's love

It is now July 24 here in the Philippines. Today is the sixth birthday of Lyca, my adopted special needs child. During the last two years, her birthday fell on the dates of her scheduled physical therapy so they were celebrated at the hospital with her therapists, though it was also celebrated at home, and also at my brother-in-law’s home after the mass at Loyola Grand Villas chapel where my family sing as part of the Venida Clan Choir, every second and fourth Sunday of the month. The three celebrations became a tradition so even if her birthday did not fall on her scheduled PT, we will also celebrate it at the hospital this coming Friday.

It is also my sixth year now as Lyca’s mother. At this point in time, I know I can sacrifice anything for her. My two biological children are grown ups now, and I was blessed to have one more child. The fire within me as a mother kept burning for 27 years now. Nothing has changed. It is still that same fire and love that I felt since I gave birth to my eldest child.

A comment in my post on God’s Message from Tomas Karkalas said that I am the luckiest of all man because I was able to talk to God through the stones I was cleaning and God answered. What I can say about that is maybe not. There are so many people as lucky as I am because they also conversed with God and received a response through various ways, but there are also luckier people because they had followed the ways of God even without hearing any response from Him, and are always able to discern what direction God wants them to take. I don’t think I am as lucky as they are. Thinking more deeply about the sequence of events, I remember I was constantly thinking of a child who can help me take away my sorrows, and then His message to mankind through the stones happened, which obviously meant “I love you” (143 stones). After a year, Lyca was born.

The best reason I can think of, why I was “lucky” to receive God’s message is because He wanted to prepare me for this biggest challenge in my life to take care of a child with special needs, even while experiencing financial distress.

What do you think?

Entrecard drives the comments to your blog

If you are a serious blogger then this good news is for you! Finally, your comments will be treated as important as your posts. This good news came from Entrecard who has partnered with SezWho, which provides a comment platform, to make that possible. If you’re an Entrecard member, all you have to do is to register your blogs to SezWho through your Entrecard dashboard. You will then be e-mailed for further instructions.



Once you’re registered in SezWho, whenever you give comments in other SezWho enabled blogs, your comments will be rated based on their contents and the readers will be able to view the ratings when they point the mouse to “check me out” beside your profile name found as a header of your comment. Your comments will build your reputation through their ratings, which will be seen web-wide. Traffic to your site will increase, through backlinks from your comments.

You may also see your ratings and other information like your blog’s statistics by logging in to SezWho. I was very excited to activate my blogs in SezWho so I can now show you a screenshot of my public profile, which include my comments and the ratings given.

On top of all the above, you will get Entrecard credits ranging from 1-10, to be given by the community, the truthful comments to be given higher points. That incentive of Entrecard will surely drive comments to your blog!

Good reputation because of our comments, Entrecard credits, more traffic to our sites, wonderful but honest comments on our posts, what else should we look for as serious bloggers?

A symbol of strength and excellent Feng Shui

Among all the living things mentioned in this blog, the best “character” that can symbolize strength is Wendy, the green turtle or terrapin. In my post Miracles Are For Animals Too, I’ve shared how she was able to survive after being sick and without taking in any solids for five straight months. Most probably, somehow she has sipped the vitamins and nutrients in her rice washing pool, but I’m not sure of that because she rarely moved at that time. Was it possible that the nutrients were just absorbed by her hard body?


I’m again showing you her photo in that March post where she was already well and energetic. That was only four months ago, but look at her now! I’ve chosen her current photo for my new blog title, if you’ve noticed (though not the whole photo), because as a blogger I want to be influenced by her strength and longevity, and because those are also the qualities I wanted my blog to achieve.

In Feng Shui, the terrapin is a very powerful symbol but should be placed at the North part of the house. According to Lilian Too, “since one is the number of the North location, and the terrapin in feng shui is associated with the North, a single terrapin represents excellent feng shui. Do not worry that the terrapin will feel lonely. This is a creature who is a natural loner and is happiest when alone. If the terrapin you keep dies, simply get another one. This simply means your pet has successfully protected you from a minor disaster.”

We need an AccuCharge cordless vacuum cleaner!

“Caring for a special child like Lyca can be enjoyable when you know you’re not alone in that noble mission”. That was from one of my last posts titled "Special Child Caregiver". All of us in the household are faced with that big challenge to take turns taking care of a special child.

Who then does the cleaning? Nobody is tasked to do all the cleaning by himself or herself. Lyca’s caregiver does her share of cleaning the floor every morning while Lyca is still asleep. She still has to wash the clothes or iron laundered ones after that. Most of the time, she has no time to dust the pieces of furniture so that task is left to anybody who volunteers.

We have a variety of dusters, and each one of us has a favorite. My husband’s favorite is the one made in U.S.A. He won’t allow others to use it because it is the most expensive among our dusters. He’d also use different sizes and types of paint brushes sometimes. I enjoy using the set of static feathers. There’s a long rod of feathers with a short handle, a shorter one with a long handle, and one that looks like a big blusher brush. I even bought one that is worn like a glove.

Isn’t that funny? We have all sorts of those dusters but the house is not clean enough simply because we don’t have time to do it. In the past we’ve thought of buying a cordless vacuum cleaner that will make cleaning easier but it is not enough to sacrifice the cost of energy it requires. I’m glad that Dirt Devil has introduced AccuCharge which has two products, the Stick Vac and Hand Vac. The good news about these products is they use 70% less energy! That makes AccuCharge the first cordless cleaning technology to earn Energy Star approval!

I know there are a lot of people out there with the same cleaning problem as mine, and I’m very happy to announce this good news. I myself am excited to own the hand vac so I’d like to remind my Mom who lives in U.S.A. that my birthday is fast approaching (LOL)! I’m sure there will be more volunteers in our house to do the cleaning once we have it!

Recognition versus Income

This year’s Feng Shui prediction for Snakes like me is “recognition will surpass your income”. The problem is it is quite hard at my age to look for a job so I don’t have an income yet since the start of this year, though there are still 6 months left for this year in the Chinese calendar. I’m seriously thinking now about monetizing this blog to earn some income though of course I know earning big cannot be that soon. I'd like the readers, and even myself, to enjoy the contents of all my posts, including the sponsored ones.

At first I was happy enough about the prediction because recognition cannot be bought. Only very recently, while searching for my name in Yahoo! and Google just to see if this blog will come first, I was surprised to see “Hall of Fame” beside my name in one of the search results. That recognition was from Toastmasters Club and I think it’s about time I pay back this club the good things it has done for me, even through my blogs. It was not really me but the whole Makati Toastmasters Club that was included in Toastmasters Int’l Hall of Fame. The past officers of that club tried very hard for our club to always get the "President's Distinguished" award. Until I became President, and had to do my best for the club to be “President’s Distinguished” again because that was the fifth consecutive year it will get that highest award thus could be included in Toastmasters' Hall of Fame.

I won’t deny that this absence of income is starting to make me very depressed but I was still blessed with this timely discovery of a past recognition because somehow it alleviates this depression.

I almost forgot that I’ve also gained more than enough recognition from this blog, at least through the comments in some posts and I’m really very thankful to the people who are mostly bloggers themselves, who have openly shown their appreciation and support. This world of blogging and bloggers has proven to be another blessing not just for me but to all bloggers so I’m hoping that my mother and brothers who are all writers will join me in this very fulfilling endeavor.

SocialSpark is Great for Mommy Bloggers!

Mommy bloggers like me sure have a lot of topics to blog about, but of course, we blog about the things we always see. It can be about our children, our husbands, our pets, our houses or gardens. You can just imagine the endless topics we can think of, focusing only on these subjects.

I can say that blogging is the most convenient way for mothers to journalize the daily tasks of parenting and housekeeping, or big family events. But these journals cannot be left in the archives unread. Blogs need readers, and a medium where blogs and readers can meet, like SocialSpark.

Mothers who join SocialSpark will find endless opportunities to monetize their blogs. Aside from that, their blogs will be spiced up with a variety of topics that are relevant to a mother’s blog, and bring out a mother’s creativity to the max. High quality posts are encouraged by SocialSpark through countless ways, including bonuses from some advertisers. SocialSpark will not only bring about a wiser mother, it will also increase her reputation as a person and make her family proud of her.

If you are a mother, you can now enjoy blogging more, by joining SocialSpark. A support group of fellow bloggers and most importantly, fellow mothers, await you. In SocialSpark, it won’t take long till you discover how contagious the feeling of satisfaction is, among bloggers and mothers who have signed up.

Mommy bloggers can also sign up for the mailing list in order to join, as soon as it is public. This is another calling for you, not only as a mother to your children, but also a mother to fellow bloggers. Since you will be earning from your blogs, you can be a mother to yourself too, and buy the more important things you've always wanted for yourself.

I Made A Mistake!

I was so eager to earn from my blog that I didn't review the terms in posting sponsored posts in SocialSpark. Though it allows bloggers to post at least three sponsored posts from SocialSpark each day, which was the only condition that stuck in my mind, it doesn't allow consecutive sponsored posts. Each sponsored post should be preceded and followed by a non-sponsored post. I don't know if changing the contents of a post so it won't be a sponsored post, like what I'm doing now will work. I will repeat the posting of my Dirt Devil's AccuCharge sponsored post, and well, I just hope they'll consider that.

SocialSpark is Exciting!

As time passes, I increasingly enjoy blogging because of the overwhelming learnings from the other blogs that I read each day. A lot of bloggers monetize their blogs through social networking sites offering opportunities to bloggers. However, just like the opportunities in real life, opportunities for bloggers didn’t come easily. Until SocialSpark was introduced!



Bloggers who join SocialSpark will find endless opportunities to monetize their blogs. They can always find opportunities that are appropriate for their blogs, and even filter its display, just like what I did as shown in the above screen shot. I filtered only those open opportunities where I am qualified and with an offer from $7 and above.

SocialSpark also helps bloggers improve their styles by showcasing examples of selected blogs who has taken the opportunities. It also allows bloggers to give their comments about each opportunity thus allowing them also to interact with the advertisers. The screen shot below shows just that!



In SocialSpark, bloggers and advertisers also have the opportunity to advertise contests or any other free opportunities that can help increase traffic to their sites. I can say that SocialSpark has considered all other needs of advertisers and bloggers to make their networking in SocialSpark more exciting!



SocialSpark's code of ethics ensures the following:

100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
100% Transparency
100% Real Opinions
100% Search Engine Friendly

To advertisers and my fellow bloggers, I've been looking forward to this opportunity to share to you the benefits that I and others who have signed up to SocialSpark enjoy. There is still a lot to tell, so sign up now and see for yourself!