Entrecard And Blogging

I have been blogging for three years already. The nice thing about blogging is that I get to express my emotions, thoughts and insights about things, and everything about the world we live in. I am not a very outspoken person and therefore I express things through writing.

I could not believe years have already passed and I am still into this. This endeavor started out only as my personal outlet on my fancies and fascinations, now I am happy to note that this blog has earned me already a lot, in monetary and social terms. I have not counted the financial inflow this blog has brought, but I could say it was already considerable (for me). I have gained a lot of acquaintances too through this blog and that is something important which I hold dear.


One thing that helped this blog reach out to the rest of the blogosphere is the Entrecard. It's been years since I signed up and I am reaping good results. I have to admit that most of the visits here could be attributed to Entrecard. They brought great traffic to this blog through returning my drops or clicking on my adverts. What is nice about Entrecard as well is that they serve as a venue for easy browsing of blogs. I get to read other interesting posts and enjoyed it a lot, aside from dropping. Moreover, I also came to know a lot of other great bloggers. And now, they are giving out credit to anyone who joins their contest!

Anyway, I am grateful for the things Entrecard has done for my blog, to which I am hopeful that they will continue indefinitely.

Healthy Teeth And Smarter Kids, Is There A Link?

by Dr. J. Saladin

Pediatric Dentist

As you likely already know, our Greater Sacramento public schools have responsibly informed parents of groundbreaking legislation effective since 2006 which requires children entering public school in either kindergarten or first grade to present proof of having obtained an oral health assessment. So why is the law so concerned about our local schools? Well, this new legislature is actually a national policy. Nationally, over 51 million school hours are missed annually to dental disease, the most widespread chronic childhood disease. Only prevention, as this policy promotes, can help keep our children healthy and help keep them in our schools. As a local pediatric dentist specializing in children’s oral and dental health, every little thing counts towards a child’s overall well being. Therefore, in the spirit of prevention, I would like to contribute a little education to help parents understand the importance of baby teeth.

Many people ask me, why are baby teeth so important if they are all going to fall out regardless? The notion that our own legislature feels so strongly about children’s oral health has much to do with the cost associated with the complications that arise do to dental neglect. The costs are not only fiscal but also social. These complications reach far into a person’s lifetime, effecting learning, speech, physical growth and self esteem. This domino effect of complications is clearly understood by dental professionals, especially those who have specialized in pediatrics. Yet, our public may be less informed of these issues. The personal effects on a child can be briefly addressed below:

• GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Baby teeth are an important component in maintaining the space for permanent teeth to erupt normally. Premature loss of baby teeth due to cavities can yield detrimental effects on the growth and development of a child’s face and profile development.

• NUTRITION

A healthy mouth is important towards maintaining a healthy diet. It’s common to see children who suffer from chronic untreated dental cavities also suffer from malnutrition. Children simply can’t chew food if they suffer from premature loss of teeth, chronic infections or chronic pain. This has a long lasting impact on how a child physically develops through adulthood.

• SPEECH

Premature loss of teeth can lead to poor speech development because certain teeth may be missing that aid in proper pronunciation. As a result, many children are not only delayed in their speech progress, but are also delayed at their schools.

• SELF ESTEEM

Healthy smiles can help a child feel better about themselves and the way they interact with others.

Ultimately, our children’s education depends on a number of factors from good parenting to good health. This legislature is a step in the right direction towards awareness and prevention, helping our children stay healthy and confident in our schools.

Financial Freedom

Aren't we all want financial freedom?

We all have our respective hopes and wishes, be it for the family, career, social relations, or personal growth. We hope that we can be able to meet our daily expenditures or set aside a proportionate amount for the future, but however simple these wishes are, they still require that we have enough financial resources. Every concrete thing we wanted could easily be acquired if we have them.

I came across a website that promises a freeway to success. They offer a whole new way of attaining the financial freedom that we deserve. Here's a video that shows you how:

You can check out their site for more details by clicking HERE.

Getting Fit

I have decided for the nth time that I would lose weight and be fit again. I don't know if I could make it through this time but I am certainly praying I would. Last Friday marked my first day of the new diet I am doing. What prompted me to do this diet is my brother, who has lost a considerable amount of weight while undergoing the same diet. He is slimming down so much that I could say he lost about 15 lbs. So, I asked him to email me the diet plan and now I am on the fourth day of struggle!

I am glad to have undergone this diet anyway. It makes me feel light although I haven't noticed yet if extra pounds were actually shed off. I am still halfway of this 7-day plan, so I guess I just have to wait until the 7th day to see for myself if I actually lost the targeted 10 lbs. The diet consists of mainly fruits and vegetables, and I am thrilled to note that I have stayed away from rice for 4 days already (being an avid rice eater myself!). I hope I will lose about 10-15 lbs of excess weight, just as what the diet plan promised.

On top of the diet, I thought of doing regular physical exercises as well to make myself fit. I haven't been playing volleyball for over a month now due to my busy schedule but I planned to have at least 30 minutes of dance exercise daily at home just to sweat out. I already have a lot of dance songs ready, all that is lacking is my time, lol! As soon as my hectic schedule goes light, I may go over those personal training business cards I have on file and choose which one would best suit me.

I will update soon on the outcome of this endeavor. Best of luck to me!

73 Days Before Christmas and I'm 33!

We are nearing the half of October and before we know it, it will soon be Christmas! Well, there's 73 days more left before the awaited Holiday arrives. This last quarter of the year certainly fills up my daily life with fun and excitement.

I turned 33 yesterday too! I didn't get to celebrate it with a party or the like, budget was just tight nowadays that it would be impossible to throw a party for friends. Sad as it may seem, it was a happy one anyway since I have my family with me intact. They greeted me first thing when they woke up and it was already overwhelming. My daughter gave me a card she personally made and that made my birthday all the more meaningful.


I could certainly say that this is the first time I haven't celebrated my birthday. Well, it's the first time I haven't invited friends over, or made a treat for everyone. I then realized that celebrations don't really matter, as long as you are happy and satisfied from within. I was worried at first because I very much wanted to invite friends or treat them but financial constraints prevented me from doing do. Nonetheless, a lot of friends have greeted me through text messages on my cellphone and wall/private messages on my Facebook account. Those greetings were enough for me to feel blessed with good friends and be special on my birthday. I feel like I've gotten myself a short term insurance already!

Well, my kids still have the party they wanted since my cousin and her baby (whose birthdays fall just like mine) decided to celebrate their special day at my parents' house. So off we went to our former abode and had a blast with the children's party. The kids enjoyed the games being played, what with their countless prizes received. It was indeed so fun-filled.

Life could very well be so meaningful as long as the people that matters to you are there for you too.

Plants In Our Home

Having just recently moved in, we certainly needed some greens around our new home. Aside from 'pretty-fying' the house, plants are indeed necessary since they absorb most pollutants and gives off oxygen. Moreover, plants literally bring food on the table, since we reap their produce if we just take good care of them.

For the past three months we have been in our new home, I am happy to notice that certain plants have started to grow on their own. I don't claim myself to be a green thumb, but I am glad that some of the seeds I have thrown on the ground have eventually grown. I remember when I was still with my parents, my father loves gardening and every time he is in the house, we know where to find him - - in the yard. Now that we are on our own, I delight to the fact that I could actually make a seed grow.

I am looking forward for these plants to fully grow, that is why I am personally taking care of them. Here's an inventory on what spurted out of our soils for the months:

jackfruit

tomato

papaya

watermelon

Aren't they fine? Well, for me they are exquisite! The watermelon has bore two lovely fruits already but we have yet to wait few more days before they could be harvested. Unfortunately though, one fruit (the one on the picture) was stolen and now we have only one. Hope there will be no more theft this time, otherwise we won't be able to taste the fruits of our labor and anticipation.

I am planning of putting more plants into our home, unleashing the gardener in me!

Monday's Blessings

I would just like to round up how my Monday went yesterday. This is something I seldom do (the rundown, I mean), but it was just so overwhelming for me that I need to jot it down here.

You see, a number of wonderful things took place yesterday, and these are not concrete things. I now realized that great blessings do not come in tangible forms, they are seen and felt from within.

So to start off, I received a great email message from God through Bro. Bo Sanchez, which was about conflicting wishes. He explained that we often do not get what we want because of conflicts in our desires. We have to be firm with our wishes and not be confused whether we really wanted them or not. He added that we have to pray for these wishes constantly, not because God does not immediately hear us, but because constant prayer would help us be firm in our wishes.

This message is very timely for me because I wanted for several things to happen in our life and that would definitely be realized if I don't have conflicting faith towards these wishes. With the number of wishes I have in mind, I guess I have to document them down through a Dreambook, which Bro. Bo did with his wishes.

Another blessing I received was the improvement of my daughter's academic rankings in their class. It was not a major jump in the ranks though but I am very glad she made it to the list of recognition-worthy pupils for their Grade 3 class. Many have congratulated me, since they very well know how my daughter struggled to get to where she is now. And for that, I am proud of her and still hoping she could maintain it and improve even more in the coming days. (I'm pretty sure those classmates of hers she has stepped on on the process would strive hard as well to topple her again).

After I learned about my daughter's academic standing, we proceeded to a birthday party my cousin has organized for her grandchild. We had a blast thereat and had a little chitchat about life in general. Out of the blue, our topic went to matters about health and my cousin's husband testified how good his body is right now since he stopped smoking and drinking. While he was sharing his stories to us and as if God has touched him in some way, my husband, who is a heavy smoker, suddenly decided to give it a try on quitting. I was so grateful about his realization and this is another wonderful blessing indeed! He gave me the remaining cigar packs for my disposal and today is his Day 1 towards bondage freedom.

Thank you very much Lord for the blessings!

Daily Giveaways From Georyl

I am counting myself in at Georyl.com's wonderful contest, to celebrate another blogging achievement. This will be my first contest participation in a very long time - - like two years. This is quite exciting because every day a winner is announced and will be receiving a prize, of course.

Anyway, what's at stake on this contest are as follows:

Daily Draw (1 winner per daily draw)

Draw dates: October 1 – 2, 4 – 9, 11 – 16, 18 – 23, 25 – 30
One winner of 1,000 Entrecard Credits

Weekly Draw (2 winners per weekly draw)

Draw Dates: October 3, 10, 17, 24
One winner of $5 Paypal Credits and one winner of 2,000 Entrecard Credits

Grand Draw

Draw Date: October 31
Three winners of $5 Paypal Credits,
one winner of 5,000 Entrecard Credits
One winner of 3,000 EntreCard Credits
One winner of 2,000 EntreCard Credits

Special Prize

October 2010 Top Commenter
One Year WPWebHost Rookie Plan WordPress Hosting with Free Domain Name

If you feel that is contest is so cool, just like the way I do, click on the badge above to further learn the details.

Have a happy weekend!

Movie Marathon

Since we moved into our new abode, I started to love watching movies over my laptop. Since I can't get through our common television set to watch the shows I like (there's just too much traffic considering three kids are watching cartoons), I am left with no choice but to settle down in our room and face the laptop.

I happened to watch one movie one time and after that, it was already a series of movie marathons. Thanks to some websites that offers free movies online, I was able to watch a number of amazing movies that I failed to watch on the big screen, like Slumdog Millionaire.

I enjoyed watching the movie Slumdog Millionaire. It is about a young lad who joined the popular game show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and won. But his win is questioned by authorities, but was able to justify them nonetheless. Along the way, his experiences have molded him to be knowledgeable about life and love and eventually it all coincided with the questions being asked of him during the show. The movie's setting was in India, and I could very well feel how hard the lad's life must have been; being an orphan struggling his way to live a wealthy life.

Other movies I have watched online are as follows:

Salt

The Ugly Truth

Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Juno

Do you enjoy watching movies too?