What do you usually offer when a friend or a relative of yours is sick and has to stay in the hospital for a week or so? Don’t have any idea yet? I listed down some ideal gifts you can offer. Some of them are very common while others are pretty unique and I hope you find this list quite useful. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment on this post and I would really appreciate your participation.

► Flowers - Flowers are very common yet still effective “Get well soon” gift for sick patients. Sending a sick patient a gift is the best way to help them in their speedy recovery. They said that flowers can change someone’s mood. So if you’re friend is really sick, you can help him/her in your own simple way by sending them flowers and put a smile on their face.

►Fruits - Another common yet very ideal Get well soon gift are fruits. Of course, they need more strength to fight for their illness and for faster recovery as well. Giving them fruits and encouraging them to eat some will definitely boosts enough energy and will give them enough nutrients that their body needs to fight their sickness. Doctors might restrict them to eat heavy meals that’s why it is very ideal to bring fruits because most likely, these are the only foods they are allowed to intake.

►Personal Hygiene Products – It is quite unusual to give personal hygiene products to someone but if you know that your friend will be staying in the hospital for quite a long time, then you might consider bringing such items. It doesn’t mean that you are teasing him or criticizing his or her personal hygiene, it’s more of a way of saying, Keep yourself healthy and strong.

►Stuffed Toys – Mostly for Girl patients. Stuffed toys will keep their boredom and loneliness away while they’re staying in the hospital. Of course, you cannot visit her in a regular basis most especially if you have other obligations to prioritize. With the use of stuffed toys, she will’ somehow, feel that you’re there for her. So sweet right?

►Personalized Get Well Gifts – Nowadays, most people offer personalized get well gift because this will show how much you care and how much you wishes him/her to recover. As what the term connotes, it is personalized, which means, you exerted effort just to have that gift. It will help the patient to recover much faster because they will be more determined to recover. Sometimes, recovering from sickness is a Mind over matter thing. The more you think positively, the more positive outcome you’ll receive.

► Your Presence – The most important thing of all is your presence. Show him or her how much you care by visiting them in the hospital. Spend time with them and express how much you wishes them to recover.

I usually don’t do this kind of household thing but it forced me yesterday because we found some stains on our ceiling and we suspect that there must be a leakage in our roof. Roof leak is more like an emergency that has to be treated as early as possible before making the condition worst. They can wreak havoc in your house in a very short time that’s why you have to be alert. If you saw some signs of leakage such as water entry, stains or molds, then seek immediate action. You can hire someone from the neighborhood or do the repair all by yourself. After all, all you need is to locate the leaks from the outside. Just fill the leaks using a sealant and that’s all! And that’s what i did yesterday. And since it’s raining today, we were about to find out if we were able to fixed the issue or not. Oh God wish us luck!

Recycling plastic bottles is quite a common thing right? But how about those empty glass bottles? Is there any way to make them useful again? Well, we used to sell these bottles to junk shops simply because most factories are recycling these bottles, making them a brand new one again. We can actually re-use these empty bottles by making them as a container for your condiments. Mom used to do such thing. But if you are creative enough, you can make your very own chandeliers, lamps, vase and candle holders from them. I have read some articles online showing some step by step illustrated procedures on how to make such crafts. So instead of disposing these bottles, why not make something out of them. Just put a little bit of your creativity and viola! you can make artistic crafts out of empty glass bottles. It’s just a matter of being creative and resourceful you know.

I came across a very nice article last night and i want to share it with you. These are the 4 tips on how to ward off depression. I’ve been suffering from a serious depression guys and if you just know how much i wanted to overcome this nightmare.

• Identify the symptoms of depression.

►Serious depression : perpetual sadness, slow reaction of mind and body, morbid and bitter self criticism.

►Mild Depression: discouragement, loneliness, disconsolateness, feelings of inferiority, getting no fun out of life.

• Practice Hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit.
• Right eating, right exercising, right thinking, right praying, right living, these tone up vitality.
• Practice of thought replacement can bring about spirit transfusion.

►Replace each weak thought with a strong one.

►Replace each negative thought with a positive one.

►Replace each hate thought with a loving one.

►Replace each gloomy thought with a lifted one.

I hope i can do these all effectively and overcome my depression in no time.

It’s been raining so hard these past few weeks which is somehow really irritating because i had to postpone most of my plans and forced me to stay inside my house instead. So happy to see the sun again and clouds are much clearer and brighter which gives me a chance to hang out with my friends again. Oh well, according to PAGASA, we have to expect series of typhoons to come so i better start enjoying the rest of the sunny days before trapping myself again inside my house because of this stupid weather condition. Sigh.

Here are some ideas to help you attain Physical Well being

• What you eat today influences your health tomorrow. Eat nourishing foods. Stay away from fatty foods. Boil, bake, grill but never fry.
• Do not eat when you are angry. Uncontrolled hostility at meal times turns food sour and brings ulcer and heart problems.
• Tension and worry bring emotional and physical illnesses. Do relaxing exercises, take brisk walks. Get your mind off your work, your problems.
• Rest is important but too much rest is harmful. Regulate your sleep.
• Loss of energy is due to boredom and laziness. Take on challenges, new interests. Find life and live life. Enjoy life.
• Conserve energy. Give out a little time. Apply discipline and so every job with love and enthusiasm.
• You can avoid physical illness by right thinking, right eating and right living. Avoid stress and strain. Think health, not sickness. Take charge of your mind and your mind will take charge of your body.

Aside from us, there are other creatures who live in our house. They are the rats who used to be our enemies. So base on my experience, listed below are five useful tips to keep rats and mouse away from your house.

• Keep Garbage and refuse cans tightly closed, and food in closed containers. Farmers should keep animal feed in rat-proof buildings or rooms.
• Keep basement or storage room floors free of piled boxes or litter. Store things 10 to 12 inches above the floor. Leave no place you can’t get for regular cleaning.
• Outside the home, keep spaces porches and steps open and clean. Don’t pile wood against the side of the house or garage. Keep lumber or other stored materials off the ground, with space underneath for cleaning.
• If necessary, screen openings such as windows, doors and ventilators with 1/4 inch wire mesh. Keep doors closed  when not in use. If you have a door with a spring lock, make sure the screen is in good condition.
• Close holes around pipes or drains with concrete or sheet metal. Keep floor drains tightly fastened.
• Mouse traps are effective too.

Listed below are useful tips on teaching your kids to spend their money wisely.

• A regular allowance, no matter how small, helps give a child a sense of independence and responsibility. He learns how money can be used to buy things he needs or wants.
• Unless the child has chance to spend his money himself, in any way he wants, he will not have the real learning experience, so don’t tell him how to spend his money or to scold him when you find out he has spent it foolishly.
• Do not give him more money when he runs short of it so that he will learn to limit his expenditures or to make choices. If he needs to have money badly, give him some but consider it an advance to be deducted from his next allowance.
• Your child’s allowance should be enough to cover all his needs, plus a little extra for emergency use or savings. Until he learns how to make both ends meet or to make it last til the next allowance, it is better to give the money on a daily basis. Most mothers give their kids a daily allowance while they are in grade school, a weekly allowance when they reach high school. And depends on a child’s ability to manage his money.
• Don’t use the money emotionally; that is, giving money as a reward for good behavior or withdrawing or reducing his allowance as punishment for misconduct. An allowance is given because it is needed, not according to parental whims.
• Do not allow your child to get caught up in “keeping with the Joneses” pattern at his impressionistic age. When he complains that his classmates or friends have bigger allowances or more money to spend, the best answer or explanation you can give is because his friend’s parent are richer or more indulgent.
• Encourage your kids to earn. The money a child earns on his own is money he value most. Earning does not mean asking for payment for doing household chores they should perform in their contribution for keeping the house clean and tidy and in good shape. However, parents should pay their kids for doing tasks or jobs that they pay outsiders to do, especially when this jobs require extra effort or interfere with the children’s normal activities.
• Get your kids to share in money decisions. When something expensive is to be bought, consult the children, discussing with them the pros and cons of such a purchase. When a money problem arises in the family, let the children offer suggestions for solving it.

No child is too young to be told by his parents why they cannot give him the money he asks for or why they cannot or should not buy the expensive toy he wants just because one of his playmates has one and is showing it off.

But the most important factor in the training of child in the management of money is the example set by his parents, their attitude towards money shown in various ways in their daily life. Hope you guys find these tips useful.

This is the last part of my Internet Scams and Hoaxes post. You can check my previous entries too ( Being Scammed, Job Offer Scam, Urban Legends About Contaminated Foods and Drinks, Fake Medical Information, and Bank Details and Phishing Scams ). Today, will share you the so called Charity Scams. It is so nice to help other people right? Sadly, scammers have found a way to make money out of tragic situations. The Tsunami in Japan, Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Hiati and the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been the subject of unscrupulous scammers with personal moneymaking schemes.

Following a major disaster, scam artists set up fake charity websites and organizations seeking donations and help for victims, but instead purposely end up pocketing the money. Be wary of appeals for donations from the web because they could attempts to steal one’s bank account or credit card details.

If you want to help, find a secure way to donate to reputable charities. Even if a group contacted you has a reputable-sounding name, do a quick search online to verify that their names do not appear on anti scam websites.

Over all, we should be very careful and do not disclose any information that easily. Always observe  and do relevant searches on the web before dealing with anything.

Time really run out so fast and it seems that it was just yesterday when my family and I were planning to hit the beach and enjoy the summer and now we have to bear with these heavy rainfalls and series of typhoons sigh. Well, honestly, i don’t mind dealing with the rainy season, I love it actually, however, rainy season is like the most challenging part of my life too. There are so many things to do before the the rainy season arrives. We have to keep ourselves safe from the threat of the typhoons. To do so, we have to check every single details of our house, from the roof down to the basement just to make sure that we will not encounter any issues when a super typhoon comes. We do not want another Ondoy to damage our properties so we secure all our things especially during this season.

We’re done checking the roof and clearing the gutters so as the basement. Though i might end up hiring someone to replace our window near our kitchen. I noticed that the water is leaking from the window sill every time it rains so I’m sure there’s something wrong with it. I just wish i could find a service similar to that Windows Portland Replacement shop in Oregon. I’m sure they can fix the issue in no time. How about you? What are the preparations that you usually do before and during the rainy season? Feel free to share your experience here. Have a great day everyone and Happy blogging to all.