Fat burners! Who needs them? Well, a lot of people do. Sometimes, especially when you are older, metabolism slows down. Even if you eat the same amount of calories everyday, once metabolism slows down, you are set to gain weight, an ounce at a time and before you know it bam! You've gained 10 pounds!

There are probably thousands of fat burners sold online. Relatively there are also thousands of ADs promoting these products. One such fat burner is Hydroxycut. The internet is bombarded with promotion about this product. In relation there are also a lot of hydroxycut reviews that are published online. If you are bent on taking fat burners, source for reviews regarding the product as we all know that not everything claimed by a product is true.

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No classes today for it is the 25th anniversary of the 1986 People's Power. It was the time when the Martial Law led by the late President Ferdinand Marcos ended. it was the time when the widow of Ninoy Aquino stepped up and became the president of the Philippines. After 25 years, Noynoy Aquino, the only son of Ninoy and Cory Aquino now sits as the president of the Republic. After 25 years, the cute and sassy daughter of Cory and Ninoy reigns as the billboard queen along EDSA. Her lovelife exposed for all to scrutinize, disparage or envy.

The question now is could Ninoy be proud of his son's presidency and Kris's infamous "celebrity" status? We'll never know. But! I am quite sure that the rest of the Philippines would have preferred a progressive, God-fearing, honest society as led by the leaders in all sectors of society. How I wish that the 1986 bloodless revolution was not all for naught. There is hope. There is always hope.

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D4 said she has been reading articles about diet pills and fat burners. She is bent on losing the extra poundage that she has gained the past two years. Yup! Seems like she just added pound after pound right after college. Her new officemates are no help either as they all "love" to eat. Most of the time, their bosses treat them out to lunches and dinners.

Anyway, D4 read a couple of adapexin reviews and she thinks the diet pills are pretty safe as they contain natural ingredients such as: vit B12; caffein; raspberry and ginger root. I read the other ingredients and I have no idea what they were. The reviews on that particular diet pill is good but I told D4 that it's best if she just burn more calories than she consumes to lose weight. Eat less. Exercise more.

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There is a growing "trend" for moms to breast-feed their babies. Breast-feeding was not a popular choice for middle-income families here in the Philippines as most moms a few decades ago prefer to bottle-feed their babies. Because of breast-feeding campaigns by government and non-government agencies such as breast-milk.org, moms are now well-informed on the benefits of breast-feeding. Oh yes, I breast-fed my kids but it was only for 2 to 3 months. Ethan wasn't able to but, his mommy pumped breast milk and put them in feeding bottles then kept them in the refrigerator for him. Today, there is no excuse not to have babies breastfed by moms except when they choose not to.

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Finally! The mango tree with an uber big branch that has been leaning towards the garden and fish pond for almost 4 years now has been chopped-off. The mango tree used to stand straight and tall but a really nasty typhoon almost uprooted the tree thus left it leaning at less than 45 degrees from the ground. Hubby finally consented to have that one offending branch rid off. Now I can go about sprucing-up that part of the garden.

Speaking of sprucing-up the garden, I also need to seriously consider renovating my bathroom. It has this really small glass tiles popular in the 70s and 80s. This type of tiles is no longer available in locally but there are a few home depot that carry imported ones. I saw this one online and this will look great in my bathroom.

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The end of the school year is fast approaching. After 2 months of praying for guidance, we have finally decided to transfer Ethan to a new school. His current school does not meet his needs anymore. We told Ethan about the move and he is not so happy about it. Teary-eyed, he asked "why?" He said he will miss his friends. We told him, you will make new ones. We also explained that we feel that his present school does not have the capability to teach the right curriculum for grade 2.

It pained me to review Ethan on division one week, then perimeter of regular and irregular areas the following week, then computing the area of irregular shapes the next week. It pained me to review Ethan about light refraction, reflection, absorption, prism et al when he does not even know that light travels faster than sound. It pained me to see that instead of teaching how to read notes, their teacher was doing movable do!

D2 said the Math and Science subjects taught are for levels 5 and 6. I say the movable do thing in music is for high school students who know how to read notes. When the teacher does not even know the difference between desert and dessert, it is time to seriously consider a move to another school. In fairness, the preschool division is superior but the grade school is still a far cry from established schools. In its want to be "different" and "progressive" the school is still in a "hit or miss" stage regarding what it takes to be one.

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D4 is serious about losing weight. She enrolled in a gym and diligently works out 4 to 5 times a week. She has let go of herself, in terms of eating, that she gained at least 15-20 pounds in the last 2 years. I told her that she should also diet in order to hasten weight loss. I told her that she needs to eat low fat and low salt food. She asked D1 it it's alright to take appetite suppressant but D1 and I gave her a resounding "no"! There's just too much lies regarding such products (such as the lipozene scam) that D4 is better off watching what she eats rather than go for "pills" in order to lose weight. The surest way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. Exercise!

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For the past few weeks, dinner time has become a 3 to 4 persons affair. The kids were busy doing things that most of the time it was just Ethan, D2, D3 and myself facing each other at the dinner table. There were a lot of leftovers in the refrigerator because of this. I was cooking for 7 persons and only 3 to 4 were present to eat. Last night I did not cook dinner. And guess what? All the girls + 1 came home for dinner! It is a good thing I have leftovers in the fridge. The meal was a hodgepodge of flavors. There is just no diet that diets that work for my girls. They eat almost anything!

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Early Head Start (EHS) is crucial to a child's (0-3 years old) social, intellectual and physical development. If you are interested to know more about EHS, come join advocates, parents and teachers on March 5, 2o11 from 10:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. at the Trinoma Activity Center for Outbox Media's event aptly called Baby Blast Year 2: Fun Learning Continues, a one day event highlighting the importance of early childhood education.

Bring your babies! See you there!

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The church had a busy day yesterday. After the morning service, the church as a group had to "go forth and spread the Good News"; practice for the 3 P.M. Love Concert at the Union Theological Seminary and attend the church's administrative meeting; go home for lunch and leave instructions about dinner.

By 2 P.M. D2, D3 and I were on our way to UTS. I decided to drop by the church to see if someone could use a ride. Oh yes! There were about 25 people without a ride but I can only take in 7. The Love Concert started with a short worship service. There were 16 participating churches. it's a good thing that we were number 4 in the line. The choir sang "Ikaw ang Mahal Ko" the prompted the audience to clap their hands in sync with the tempo. We stayed until the 8th the presentation -a group of male teens in hip hop clothing "hip-hopping" their way to an upbeat music.

It was long and tiring day. I was in such a rush to get home because I had to cook the spaghetti sauce for dinner. The dining table was all set when I got home. D1 prepared the sauce. On the table were barbecue ribs, fried chicken and mashed potato. All I needed to do was the veggie dish of green peas, carrots and cauliflower. My son did the dessert of batter-dipped-fried Oreo.

Great Day!

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One of my nieces called me the other day asking if I have a tan lotion that she can borrow. She said she off for the beach on the weekend and can't find the brand of tan lotion she prefers. Because she has a dark complexion I asked her why she prefers sun tan lotion instead if sunblock. Apparently, she turns "gray" when she uses sunblock! Anyway, I pointed her to a store where she could buy the tan lotion. I wonder what's her "color" now

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I want an iphone 4! My mobile phone is more than 2 years old. Everyone in the family either has a Blackberry or an iPhone. My kids can basically browse the web, read emails, post in FB, make calls, text messages, watch movies, listen to music and more using their mobile phones. I want an iPhone4 now! But I guess I have to wait for a local service provider to offer the phone so I can have big discounts.

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D2 is always busy. She is in school all day teaching and nurturing. She is glued to her computer at night checking test papers, doing her lesson plan or highly visual handouts and reviewers for her students. She constantly do research work to enhance her lessons and make them interesting for her students. She even has custom presentation folders for keeping her printed files. She has so much dedication to her work that her students and their parents love her.

I cannot understand why there are lazy teachers. I cannot understand why some teachers just go through the motion of "teaching". I do not understand why a teacher would define natural light to her grade 2 students as "the product of chemical and nuclear reactions that creates great energy" when she could have just said that natural light comes from the sun. It is funny how a grade 2 student has to "memorize" the meaning of light refraction, reflection, absorption, translucent, prism et al when he still needs to know that light travels faster than sound.

Some teachers just don't deserve to be called "teachers".

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A restful night is a must if you want to wake up refreshed and raring to be up and about to meet the challenges of the day. However, a lumpy mattress is not an option. My mattress is not lumpy at all but it sags! I noticed that I wake up feeling a little bit tired and I wondered why until I read an article about the benefits of an orthopedic mattress. Wow! I really need one. Maybe I'd start with an orthopedic pillow first. I saw some on sale at one of the local department stores. I wonder how much they cost? Hmm... I better check it out. The sooner I have one, the sooner I'd have a really refreshing sleep.

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When an acquaintance approaches me and says she easy personal loan, does that mean I have to help her secure the loan? D4 works in that capacity and some people think that I can do something for them regarding loans. Well, I cannot. I have nothing to do with my daughter's work! It's so sad that there are now so many who get loan left and right just to maintain their lifestyle. I think it's better to "adjust" one's lifestyle than be in debt just to keep up with the Joneses. Now, if the loan is for something really important, then I guess it is alright to take up a loan. Just make sure the interest will not put you more in debt.

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I need to get my creative juice flowing. A niece is getting married and I have been tasked to host the bridal shower. Now, what would be the shower's theme? Of course it needs to have a theme! Every single party should have a theme as planning around it is easier. Hmm... I wonder. The girls said the theme should focus around the bedroom. Sexy! My older cousins suggested a "kitchen" theme. Domestic! Oh, well I guess I just have to settle for something that will personally benefit the bride-to-be. Bedroom shower it is! The girls will do the games. I will do the food. Now, who will do the bridal shower invitations? Guess again.

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I hate to read newspapers and watch News telecasts. They are so depressing! The other day, a commuter bus exploded en route and 10 passengers died. The explosion was allegedly caused by a home-made bomb. Who the culprit was is anyone's guess. The sad part was that people died. The really infuriating part was that by-standers who helped did not really help as they looted the bomb victims! Seriously, these "bad" Samaritans should undergo go opiate detox! Surely they were "high" as it is unthinkable that people in their right minds would loot injured people. No they were not "high"? Well, then the "Proud to be Filipino" motto should be re-worded.

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