big & huggable » thoughts and ideas

got a little busy preparing for Christmas

admin_bighuggable — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:40:02 +0000

Oh my! It’s been ages since the last time I posted something here. I got a little busy preparing for Christmas – the gift shopping, the final house decorations, the menu, the games and so much more. Well, it all comes to an end – this year’s Christmas is indeed over. And, now I’m preparing for the New Year, which means house general cleaning. Good thing my kids help me with it so the task is easily done. As for the menu, it’s already made and planned accordingly together with my Christmas planning.

However, I still can’t take a rest. My third child’s birthday is coming January 5th is the date. I thought it would be better to use birthday cupcakes instead of the big one. Sharies Berries offers wonderful selection of tempting birthday cupcakes you can have your cake and eat it from rich and indulgent chocolate cupcakes, light, sweet and creamy vanilla cupcakes, velvety and delicious red velvet cupcakes and more! Why I prefer cupcakes for her birthday because they’re cute, colorful, tasty, sweet, and perfectly sized to enjoy alone. Plus, there’s no hassle in cutting it.

Oh well, I guess that’s it for now. Have a pleasant and prosperous New Year everyone.

help save nature

admin_bighuggable — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:34:45 +0000

Last year, the city government ordered to do waste segregation. This has to be done in order to help save nature and fight global warming. But, it seems like only few follow the order. I can still see a combination of waste in the waste bin. Even so, I still continue doing the segregation because I know in my own little way I’m helping.

Currently, I’m throwing my biodegradable in the right waste bin. But, I’m planning to purchase a compost bin. I thought my garden can benefit a lot from the compost I can make from those waste. I’m not too serious with my plants before, but when the flowers started to bloom I feel like giving them extra attention and care. Giving fertilizer is the way to nourish the plants, but it’s much better to use the organic fertilizer, which is through making the fertilizer by myself.

time indeed fly so fast

admin_bighuggable — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:13:14 +0000

Another “ber” month is coming to an end. Time indeed fly so fast. Before I realize it we will be celebrating Christmas again, which is my favorite time of the year other than birthdays. Speaking of which, I think it’s time to plan for Christmas gifts 2011. I already made my Christmas list that comprise mainly of my family and few close friends and relatives.

My duty now is to find the best gift that suits each person. I still have two months to do that. But, like I said time flies fast so I don’t have to waste it to find the perfect gift. I don’t want to give anything for the sake of giving; I want to give something that creates value for the receiver. It’s much more important to collect great smiles and love as a return especially from my family.

trying to learn new technologies

admin_bighuggable — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:34:16 +0000

Recently, I’m trying to learn new technologies because I don’t want to be left out like other oldies out there. Actually, it’s my children that motivate me to do so. They don’t want me to get stuck up as unknowledgeable about simply technology like social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. I’m glad I tried it because I enjoyed connecting to lots of people. I was able to get in touch with my friends and relatives. It was the place I get to learn that my niece is taking up a cosmetology course in preparation to work abroad. Without it, I will never know about it.

Whenever I speak of cosmetology I constantly remember the cosmetology school of Regency Beauty Institute. Regency is the fastest growing beauty school in the country, which already has 80 (and counting) campuses across 19 US states. They bring unique approach to cosmetology education by emulating upscale salons and providing an exceptional education that benefits the students, the salon community, and the public. As part of their training, students provide high-quality, discounted salon services to the public under expert faculty supervision. Currently, Regency graduates are recognized and sought after throughout the United States.

For more information, visit www.regencybeauty.com. This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 3583 Alpine Avenue NW – Walker, MI 49544

reason I’m thinking of putting in our house

admin_bighuggable — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:18:48 +0000

A few months ago, certain part of the US experienced a bad case of storm. Well, it’s really a bad case and lots of family were affected. A lot lost their houses, but only few lost a life that’s thanks to the underground storm shelters and evacuation of the government. Lives were saved because of the preparedness of everybody.

That is the reason, I’m thinking of putting one in our house. Actually, we don’t experience storm in our area. But, it would be better to be prepared, right? At least having an escape plan in case of calamities can give better chances of survival unlike not having one. It’s not just for me, but for the rest of my family as well. It’s their safety that I’m after.

exploring the world of school

admin_bighuggable — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:24:10 +0000

One of my grandnieces is now ready to explore the world of school. Her mom is now preparing her and is helping her learn things by decorating the house in a playful, but educating manner. She is really busy designing the room of her little kid. She isn’t like that to her two sons; I guess she is much excited over the girl.

Anyway, I also wanted to give a cute kids farm stool I found in the web. There are plenty of step stools available from bunnies, cows, to pigs. It would be a charming addition to any child’s room or bathroom. She can also pass the stool to her other kids because what I found is hand-carved and hand-painted the details. The handy storage under the top step allows this to double as a toy chest. Well, I’m pretty sure both she and my grandniece will love it.

want to help her

admin_bighuggable — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:50:59 +0000

It’s been a week since my daughter left the country. She is trying her luck in a foreign place together with her hubby. I don’t like the idea much, but there’s little I can do about it. They are old enough to live their own life and make decisions for the betterment of their future family. But, if I only have a way to keep them nearby, I would definitely stop them. For now, the only way I can do is to show my support and trust them.

Speaking of support, I found a site that offers a number of jobs including the Technical Recruiter Consultant Jobs. I wanted to tell it to her directly, but can’t find the right timing since she is currently offline. So, I just left a message with the details. I just hope I don’t sound too pushy because I just want to help her.

better to use this technology in schools

admin_bighuggable — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:49:03 +0000

I came to visit the school of my youngest yesterday. Well, I noticed that they are still using traditional methods of teaching kids, despite knowing the fact that these kids grow in computer era. When I say traditional, I mean teachers are using paper visuals. But, I’m pretty sure they are using other medium to teach the kids if they have options.

Actually, students these days enjoy seeing, hearing and interacting with technology rather than simply reading a textbook or listening to a lecture. Having epson projectors can be a great help for any school and can offer many benefits. Teachers will be able to display educational PowerPoint presentations, videos and information directly from the Internet by using LCD projectors as well. Or it can enlarge the lessons in crowded classrooms in areas such as science, art or technology. But, it can benefit the entire school as well. The LCD projectors can be used within the school auditorium during entertainment activities school and community wide. Movies or even graduation celebrations can be broadcast in larger size. With all that being said, I guess it is better to use this technology in schools.

‘Drawdown Pension’ is it a good idea?

admin_bighuggable — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:16:13 +0000

Exchange that “drawdown” with “withdraw” and it can perhaps be most readily understood as the ability to withdraw money from your pension fund and leave the balance invested, so that (hopefully) it continues to grow. This ability therefore gives the pension holder an additional option on retirement: instead of using the pension for the one-off purchase of a lifetime annuity, funds can be withdrawn or drawn down for the purchase of an annuity at a later date. And the later the date, of course, the more attractive the annuity should be. It does mean, however, that you will probably need an alternative source of income in the meantime.

Clearly, this will give you a much greater degree of flexibility in the use of your pension and preserves the opportunity of a remaining pension fund that you could pass on to your children on your death (provided, of course, that the fund is still a reasonably significant amount).

If the pension fund is sufficiently large, you will be able to draw down income and continue to manage the balance of the fund, making any necessary investment decisions for yourself. In other words, it allows you to stay in control of a significant source of savings and investment.

Pension drawdown could also result in your being able to increase your income when you are older. Obviously, this will depend not only on there still being a sizeable balance in the pension fund, but also that the investments perform well. The opposite is also true, of course. If the investments do not perform well, then the fund can become seriously depleted and the income in your old age could in fact be significantly reduced.

Pension drawdown thus offers a more flexible alternative to purchasing an annuity as soon as you retire. This will suit those people who feel that the one-off purchase of an annuity at too early a stage locks them into an arrangement which might not represent the best deal over the longer-term. They might also be concerned about the relatively limited death benefits that come with many annuities.

From the foregoing, therefore, it can be seen that there are attractions to a pension drawdown. But these attractions come at a price. And that price lies in the risk of things going wrong or you miscalculating a number of factors. In other words, pension drawdown represents a risk. If the worst came to the worst, your decisions could leave your remaining pension fund seriously – if not totally – depleted. This would leave you without a private pension at all in your old age.

The risk is sufficient, certainly, for it to be very unwise to consider this retirement option without first consulting an experienced independent financial adviser, who can warn you of the pitfalls and carefully explain not only the attractions, but also the drawbacks of a pension drawdown.

Study Finds Too Many Options Are Depressing

admin_bighuggable — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 03:36:33 +0000

They say it’s good to have more choices to go with, instead of just one thing that we have to stick with no matter what. However, a new study comes to show that, where options are concerned, having too many is actually detrimental to us. Having too much choice often leads to depression and feelings of uncertainty because we can’t tell anymore if we’ve made the right choice or not.

From television channels to the types of milk or fruit available in supermarkets, the sheer amount of variants is overwhelming. In fact, there are so many things to choose from that we’re torn by uncertainty and doubts as to whether we made the right choice or not, researchers say. At the same time, while we’re focusing on picking the right thing for us, we’re actually losing sight of what could be good for society, as we become increasingly selfish.

People can become paralyzed by too much variety and wracked with uncertainty and regret about whether they have made the right decision. Ultimately they can be less satisfied by the choices they have made. The study believes that the problem is that when you have too much choice, you become obsessed about what your decision will say about you. Then when you have made the choice you worry that it is wrong. Choice can also foster selfishness and a lack of empathy because it can focus people on their own preferences and on themselves at the expense of what is good for society as a whole.

We cannot assume that choice, as understood by educated, affluent Westerners, is a universal aspiration, and that the provision of choice will necessarily foster freedom and well-being. Even in contexts where choice can foster freedom, empowerment, and independence, it is not an unalloyed good. Choice can also produce a numbing uncertainty, depression, and selfishness. And even what counts as a ‘choice’ may be different for non-Westerners than it is for Westerners, study cited.