Payment Processing Service Provider

I and two of my friends have started a trading business recently. What we do is basically to provide the products that a customer needs. Products include bags, caps, mugs, flasks, pens, cups, uniforms, shirts, jackets, school supplies, construction materials, jewelry pouches, raincoats, planners, etc! We create a need for our clients. We are currently working on our website where we can showcase our products and services. Since business are done over the internet facility, we are planning to have a shopping cart on our website. The facility will allow transactions to be done on line. In line with this, we will be needing a payment processing system since customers are more likely to use their credit cards when doing purchases from a website.

I saw Five Star Payments that offers credit card processing services that will answer business owner’s need of different types of businesses.  They can help setup any of the following: Retail Credit Card Processing Account, Internet Credit Card Processing Account, Offshore Credit Card Processing Account, or a High Risk Credit Card Processing Account. What’s better is that their interchange fees are lower than other card processing providers. This is good value for our hard earned penny.  The company is proud of its high level customer service and professional staff who will handle its customer’s need. We may get this service as soon as we see it is fit to have said facility on our website.

"Heaven Scent"

Women, in general, love perfume or cologne. It has become a part of the whole fashion ensemble, has it not? Like fashion, perfumes were made to complement the seasons and the weather.  Strong scented perfumes would work well in very cold countries. Light scented ones in hot or humid countries.

It is now summer season here in the Philippines. I abhor this very hot, scorching and humid weather! It makes me sweat, sweat and sweat some more! One of my favorite cologne is “Light Blue” by D&G. It has that very light, fresh, and seemingly “just-gone-out-of-the-shower" Scent.  However, I fell in love with the newest scent made by Salvatore Ferragamo -- Incanto Heaven perfume for women. This fragrance for women contains a blend of grapefruit, seringa flower, apple, pink peony, apricot, hibiscus flower tea, violet and musk. And I really recommend this women's fragrance for daytime and/or for hot weather wear.

Are You Looking For Someone?

Life is all about relationship. We were created to have a wonderful relationship with the Lord, and our brothers and sisters. It is always important to have meaningful and healthy relationship with friends and other people. I’ve made a lot of friends when I was still in school and in the companies I’ve worked in. I make it a point to get in touch with them through SMS, email or community service websites. Once in a while I make time out to see them for get together fun and chatty. One time when we were arranging a reunion we wanted to invite everyone but got lost of some of our friends’ contacts. Glad to know that there is free people finder now over the world wide web that can help locate people. Just key in the name of the person you would want to get in touch with plus the state he/she is in, then you will be given the details that you need. And as I said it, it is FREE. 

Grateful to have these kind of tools now. It keeps us connected and close with people we love no matter where they are.

 

Just For Laughs

Just for sharing... from a very good friend who have finally settled down and resigned from a toxic and stressful job to take care of her family. This is a cute poem for hardworking people alike out there! KEEP YOUR SANITY!

Prescription Eye Glasses

I have a friend who loves to wear very stylish eyeglasses. She has a collection of different colors and design, shapes and sizes. She opted to buy less expensive brands yet very chic and elegant and very good quality. Very practical she uses them as accessory, or an accent to top her daily ensemble. It need not be expensive or highly branded as long as it addresses her needs to see clearly and be in fashion. If you are smart like her, you might want to check out Incredible Stylish New Frames From Zenni. They offer high quality frame, anti scratch coating, full UV protection and more value for your money -- from Zenni Optical $ 8 Rx Eyeglasses to $ 30.00, you can have prescription eyeglasses service by merely inputting the needed data on an online form to calculate the right and correct eye grade for you. Voila! Prescription glasses delivered right to your doorstep. Very affordable because they manufacture their own frames and sell it directly to customers. Deal or Dud? Check out for yourself, Zenni Optical was on FOX news!

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

Every parent and school must have known Eric Carle through his wonderful children’s books! His number 1 work of art in 1969 – “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is the most popular book he has written. Very colorful and artistically written and created, every child is drawn to it!  This book has been translated to more than 45 languages and over 25 million copies sold.

His art work is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers which he cuts and layers to form bright and cheerful images. As an added dimension, many of his books also has die-cut pages giving them a playful quality – a toy that can be read, a book that can be touched. The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his knowledge and love of nature, which is also shared by most small children. His books also offer the child the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. Learning, stimulating, creative and fun experiences for very young children. 

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is one of Gabby’s favorites. The story not only follows the very hungry caterpillar as it grows from egg to cocoon to beautiful butterfly, but also teaches the days of the week, counting, good nutrition and more. Very interactive fun! Some of Gabby’s collection of his works include “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” , “Pancakes, Pancakes”, “The Tiny Seed”, “Do Kangaroos Have Mothers Too?” and “From Head To Toe”. Each month, I bring her to a bookstore and let her choose a book that we will read for D.E.A.R. (it’s our Drop Everything And Read day!). It’s smart to surround them with books to read!

Arts Workshops

IMAGINATION STATION is the newest project of Lifeline Daycare Centre. It aims to provide a venue for children and teens age 3 to 15 year olds to learn, explore and develop their skills in various aspects. Art, science, music, crafts, writing, photography, sports, etc, anything that you can imagine your child can do! In collaboration with professionals, teachers, students, artists, musicians, moms and dads and people who care – the concept was born.

The courses are guaranteed very affordable. Reaching out to the community, the Foundation is now accepting enrollees and will start classes in “ART FOCUS” course on September 13^th, Saturday 8:30am through 11am. It will run for a month with specific 8-session modules designed per age group. 

Trash To Cash

Have you heard of the phrase “There is gold in the trash?” or “There is money in trash?” This is so true. We found out recently from a “recycle guy” that there is really money in the trash. But for him, it is just an icing on the cake. He wanted to help the environment, and recycling is the best way he knows how. He only started collecting and buying trashes and garbage in a few plastic bags from a few establishments then sell them. It grew big and now he has his own dump track to collect more garbage from more companies and establishments. His dump track brings the trash collected to his own recycling plant. There are different categories by which you can segregate your trash.

1. White Paper
2. Waste – this includes telephone directories, brown paper
3. Tin cans
4. Soda cans
5. Plastic bottles
6. Plastic Shampoo containers
7. Sibak – this includes plastic lid and ring
8. Cartons

Remember, the prices increase the cleaner they are.  And take note that they buy in kilos so the more, the heavier, right? LOL! Yes, you need to work on it from segregating to cleaning to packing and so on.  This is also going to change your lifestyle – for the better. This way, you can have extra income while you help save our environment. Only benefits for you and your love ones. I together with our community are having a “recycle drive” weekly. A little trash from an individual and a little from another adds up, so this is not impossible to do.  I will never look at trash the same way again!

Do It The Dirt Devil Way

Have you noticed how tremendously hot our climate has become today ? Call it Global Warming? Right. We and our children will be in great danger unless we take part in preventing possible destruction of our earth. Though small, tiny steps can make a difference, I believe that in the face of the situation that we are in today,  bigger and bolder steps are indeed needed to make bigger and bolder impact to curb global warming. So, I suggest we start from our own houses. Since one of the solutions is to cut carbon emissions 2% each year, I encourage everyone to choose energy-saving and efficient appliances or equipment i.e. compact fluorescent light bulb, new technology heating ducts, or energy efficient vacuum cleaners. Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners use AccuCharge Technology. A high-efficiency charging system that saves you time and money while keeping your house clean and the environment pollution free and green! Nothing beats 70% reduction in energy consumption, only cordless Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners do that. The first cordless vacuum products that is Energy Star approved. They have wonderful products that suit your every need, Stick Vac, Hand Vac, bagless, for cars, for allergies, cordless, for pets and a lot more. Cleaning will never be the same again. No more tangling long wires, plugging and unplugging. No more worries of high electric consumption. Go ahead. Do it the Dirt Devil way!  

New Job For Me

Tomorrow is the start of my new job as a Manager of Lifeline Parental Assistance Programme or LPAP, a 24-Hour Daycare Centre in Paranaque. LPAP aims to help hardworking parents have peace of mind while they are out there working for their family. The Centre provides the following qualified and caring staff: English Speaking Nannies, In House Nurse, round the clock Security Guard and Teachers. It also endeavors to revolutionalize and uplift the status of Nannies in the Philippines. The Nannies in the Centre are highly trained to provide first aid and professional childcare. Unlike regular daycare centers, LPAP has physical and mental enrichment programs and activities to ensure continuous education of the children. It is equipped with age appropriate educational toys and books. The child-friendly facilities of the Centre consist of the Reception Area, Main and small play area, Preschool, Library, Sleeping Room, Kitchen, Toilet and Bath, Garden and spacious Lawn for physical activities, among others. Shuttle services are also provided for parents/kids from Alabang (where call centers are located and where most parents work) to LPAP everyday, round trip.

As a Manager, my duty is basically to oversee the whole operation, making sure that the children are safe and are receiving proper care from the Nannies and that the Nannies are performing their jobs well. It also involves training the staff, marketing and budgeting. By the way, the centre is just a 4-minute drive from my house (it takes 5 minutes if traffic is bad. LOL!). My shift is from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday. I am sure to bring Gabby with me during my shift, this way I get to work and have a fix income without being away from her. Then I can still blog on the side (for that needed) extra income. Perfect! 

Who Is Trying To Call You?

A lot of times our phone rings in the middle of doing a very important task or errand, during parties, or just when we are about to doze off after a tiring day at work. Only to find out that it was a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to, or somebody from a telemarketing company offering new products and services that we just don’t need. WhoJustCalledHere.com provides the solution to this very rampant situation. You just need to register your number with their “no call list”. Being added there will remove all your information from any data source that can be accessed by any telemarketers.  And they don’t charge a fee for it, just a bit of your time to register.  However, if it just won’t suffice and you are willing to pay some fees to know who just called you, WhoJustCalledHere.com can provide you with further assistance through their reverse phone lookup service wherein a phone number can be traced back to find out where it came from.  This is a helpful service to keep you away from those unwanted phone calls.

I Am Pear

I got an email from a friend that came with a captioned subject “Peach”.  I didn’t bother to read it because I was busy blogging. A few minutes passed by I received another email alert from another friend having a captioned subject “Banana”! Hmmm. What’s with all these fruits??? I got nosy and finally decided to open it. And I had fun with it so allow me to share it with you. 

Apparently, it was an email where you will have to pick out only one of your favorite fruits from the given list.  Every fruit has a corresponding personality trait at the bottom of the message. There was an instruction to choose first before scrolling further down so you don’t get to choose which fruit should match your personality ( no cheating of course!) So I chose Pear, then I scrolled down and got this:

PEAR - If you put your mind to something you can do it successfully,
but
 by and large you tend to be fickle and have trouble completing a task
with the enthusiasm you started it with.
 You need to know the results of your efforts almost immediately. You enjoy mental stimulation and love to get into a good discussion! You
 tend to be a restless and high-strung person, and are easily
excited. Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect! It means you've decided
 to see beyond the imperfections!
 

I was surprised after reading this because this is really ME. Most of the time I am so enthusiastic with a new project but also have the tendency to wane down after a while on it. This is because I easily get impatient and want to do something new again. Specially the last part, being happy doesn’t mean everything’s got to be perfect because I am settled knowing there no such thing as perfect in this world, only God is!  

I am copying the list here.  Why don’t you choose one, let me know your favorite and I’ll provide you with its corresponding personality trait!

1. Orange
2. Apple
3. Banana
4. Coconut
5. Pineapple
6. Papaya
7. Mango
8. Cherry
9. Black Grapes
10. Peach
11. Custard Apple
12. Pear

Be sure to swing right back for your answer which I will post here. I'll make sure to include your link on it! 

I Signed Up For PPP

I have another thrilling news to all of you! This site has just been approved by PPP today! It got me so excited and more inspired to write more entries (the same excitement I felt when I first got hired for a job, LOL). Now I can earn out of something that I have been wanting to do…which is obviously writing. It will definitely help me with my expenses being a single parent and a WAHM. With the inflation rates today it sure is better to have extra income.  Although to write or author a book or a newspaper/ magazine never became my goal, I find use and value in expressing my thoughts through written words.  So just to be able to have a space where I can write just about anything and everything in the hope to share values and life experiences is enough for me.   

Racel, my fellow blogger is sure to get excited too when she reads this. She was the one who introduced me to blogging and is mentoring me through it. I heard about her good experiences with PayPerPost and how trouble-free it is to submit an application there so I took her word for it. It also helped reading some posts about PPP by other bloggers hence, this. Now that I have a first hand experience with it, I agree with them. You just need to submit your blog which is 30 days old with 30 posts. Once approved, you can already start taking opportunities or Opps as we call it in blogging, then you are set to go!  

I am currently encouraging my friends and relatives especially WAHMs, who also have a knack for writing to start building up their own site and eventually monetizing it. Special mention to Liza for assisting me to set up my debit card account for this purpose.

Thank you PayPerPost for the wonderful opportunity.

Under The Spreading Cherry Blossoms Tree

My sister sent me this picture of her with her sons last month under the beautiful Cherry Blossoms Tree or Sakura in the Japanese language. It also originated from other east Asian states like Taiwan, China, Korea and Taiwan. In Japan, a practice of flower viewing or hanami has been a heritage where imperial households, singers and other aristocrats would gather and celebrate under the blossoms. Moreover, Hanami Festivals celebrate the beauty of the sakura and a chance for many to calm down and enjoy the beautiful and colorful view. The blossoming begins in January in Okinawa and reaches Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. What’s amazing is that this tree only blooms once a year and only lasts within a week! Wow. That explains why people there are so excited to see them bloom!

My sister also said that most Japanese schools and public buildings have sakura trees outside since the school year begins in April. And that these flowers are seen on almost all consumer goods in Japan, also on paper, dinner ware, kimono and dolls.

 

Inflatables and Tubbies

Oh yes, you will definitely see inflatables and tubbies on display during summer. During this season, people love to take a dip in pools or go to the beaches to cool and refresh from the summer heat.  These inflatables come in different shapes, sizes, bright colors and designs that are surely inviting to kids. It’s good to have one. First reason is for the protection of your child while swimming in the water. But don’t forget that those are not life saving devises, adult supervision is still necessary to ensure the safety of our children.

New Cellphone

I have been all over the new phone I got under my wireless provider's Subscriber Loyalty Program. I got it for free and am satisfied with its many features that suits my requirement. It is a Nokia 2630, simple yet very useful. I took pictures to see if the camera is working well and it surprised me getting clear pictures from the phone's VGA camera technology. This will come in handy during travels, for taking pictures when needed to be posted on my site. This is my favorite picture of the day.

 

Educational Gifts

This cool green stuffed toy caught my attention when I was looking at the books and other items in our church bookstore. I saw this cuddly soft turtle for only P250.00 a few months ago so I planned to save for it, so I can buy it for my niece whose birthday is on April 26th. What has drawn me to it is that it is being sold for a cause. The proceeds will go to a Foundation for endangered turtles. I have learned to give educational, useful, meaningful and inexpensive gifts. I realized it doesn't have to be that expensive. The objective is to give something that will help in the progress of that person rather than help me "look good" myself.  You know, I used to always think of my reputation when giving out gifts. I didn't want to give inexpensive, unbranded items  because I didn't want to look "cheap." As they say, your choice is a reflection of who you are, which is so true. Thank God I am smarter and practical now so I am going to put it in the proper perspective: I choose to give inexpensive yet meaningful gift that will have a positive impact on the person. I will explain to my niece why I bought that stuffed toy thus, imparting care and responsibility in her young mind. Why don't you try it!  

 

Food For The Poor, Inc

Here's another "project-for-a-cause" item I would recommend to you. Food For The Poor, Inc aims to help out the poor of the Caribbean. One of their program is called the "Banana Bark." This has helped alleviate the destitute condition of the lives of many people through the creation of variety of jobs for them. One of the products handcrafted with banana bark is this beautiful card which Gabby and I received from a good friend. Visit their website to find out how you can help support this cause. 

 

Journal For A Cause

I admire those manufacturers or organizations that create and/or sell products or services for a cause. I usually buy these products because I know that it will at least help change a life. I found this "This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life 2008" journal, a unique, not-your-usual planner where all you see inside are plain calendars, the metric table, maps, time conversion table and other unnecessary and not so useful stuff. This particular planner features interesting events in history that has relevance to our world today, useful and practical tips and reminders that can help improve your lifestyle, etc. And what's more important is that all proceeds for this planner will go to the building of wells and schools and the planting of trees around the world!