We bought this for Christmas and the kids are reluctant to let me keep it away since Christmas is over – the loved their Santa toilet cover and mat.  But for any kind of toilet cover and mat – you and I know that it has to be washed quickly because of all the bacteria that may have landed on the mat and seat.   I myself do not encourage toilet seats like that all year round – except for Christmas.  What about you? what is your take on toilet seat covers and mat?

I’ve had an old back injury for the longest time – I think more than 20 years now.  I was moving to a new home and a new office simultaneously and hurt my back accidentally.  But I had seen a chiropractor for the longest time  and even though it helped a bit – it didn’t really cured my back.  When I moved to Canada – the spouse had bought a very expensive king size bed that supports back injury like I did but after so many years now – I’m waking up with a very bad sore in the morning.  So we figured it was time to either look into a back surgery laser kind – that is less invasive or look for another bed that might work for a few years.

I read that a laser spine surgery can correct an injured spine and any spine abnormalities – and it’s like a day surgery – so instead of buying another bed for my back problem, I’m checking this laser surgery for spine out first but of course, I think I need to change my mattress – my old one is about 7 yrs old now – so time for a change – but if I did the laser surgery for my spine – I just gotta get a good mattress and not a more expensive one – just for sore back.

Many of my friends are still renting a home – because rental houses are so cheap these days – you can get the entire house for less than $1000 – and for those who’ve just migrated – I strongly recommend you rent and don’t buy a house till you are all settled and know where you actually want to live.   Unlike in Hong Kong where I come from – houses or apartments are not as expensive and if you can get your house or home – from the owner itself – you don’t even have to pay a real estate agent any commission.

Houses and apartments in the West are a plenty – so don’t be worried about not getting a fair price – make sure you check everything out before renting and that you have all the papers done correctly.  Landed immigrants are so eager to buy a home but let me tell you – it’s not the best decision to make especially if you don’t know the place well.  I’ve lived here for more than 15 years and still haven’t really found the best place to recommend my friends – so i strongly suggest they rent first and get to know the neighborhood before settling down and putting so much money in the investment of a house.

While others decorate their home with primitive decoration from gift shops – I loved to decorate my house with crystals or this kind of Himalayan Salt Crystal Lamps because I hear it brings calmness and harmony just like when I am wearing the Swarovski Crystal beads – these are always supposed to bring me good luck and good health.  A home is so important to me – and I would do just about anything to keep the flow of the home good, most people wonder why I don’t buy diamonds instead – but what good is a diamond if they don’t bring you love and good health?  So if you are thinking of re-doing your home or moving into your new home – think of these Himalayan Salt Crystals as well as real Swarovski crystals for yourself.  All my daughters have a pink in color crystals and the son who is in college – he has a black one.

When you have a few kids at home – you have to be prepared for a  huge dental bill.  In Canada – a child’s dental care is only up to when he or she turns 9 yrs old and dentist do charge quite a bit for their services.  I have no idea if it is because the supplies are expensive or because their are still paying their education bill – but I’m very scared when the kids tells me that they have a bad tooth.   Maybe, if they make use of wholesale dental supplies perhaps than the charges to patients like us – will not be so expensive.

But how do you tell your dentist that his fees are way too high for ordinary people to afford?  if only all dentists don’t charge an exorbitant price – maybe patients wouldn’t avoid them like a plague?  what do you thing?  how much was your last dental visit?  will suggesting to my dentist about getting wholesale dental supplies ease the cost to us?  I’ve got to try – can’t be paying so much every visit right?

My kids are on the computer so much – that I’ve decided to buy a footrest to help them sit better and feel better after sitting for a long time.  Usually, we stretch our legs or sit cross legged when we are on the laptop on the computer and after a while your feet feels like it’s falling asleep – hopefully with the footrest – it will help with blood circulation properly.  But I was told to use it with carpet flooring to get the best result, for $23 – you cannot go too wrong with it – I will update after using it for a week.

As you all know – my spouse is often not at home – he travels a lot for work – so how does he gets his paycheck to us – everyone asked – well -more politely than this of course.  But yes, the company he is in uses this automated clearing house for all their employees – so instead of getting a cheque in the mail every month – it just gets put into his bank account that we share.  Of course, I then separate the money we need, the mortgage, the credit card payments and the family allowance – into different account – that way I won’t mess up.

So how do one manage their money in the home front?  well, for me – I have to do it because the spouse is mostly on the road for work – so the dental care and all the bills are taken care of by me but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know what the spouse does with the company’s credit card.  You see, the company’s credit cards bills goes to the company and I don’t get a copy of it but I definitely want to know what he did spend on that card don’t you?  So what do I do about that?  Well, I won’t go behind his back and ask him CFO or his secretary – I just request a copy of it from the spouse every month and yes – even the phone bills.

It’s important to keep on top of every expense in the entire family – as a mom/wife – right from the beginning, in case there is any changes in our financial situation.   For those who say they trust their spouse or children with their credit cards or supplementary cards – and turn a blind eye on the money side – then they are just asking for trouble.  As for me and my home  – I make sure that I know what goes in and out – I’m like a automatic clearing house myself.

Inspired by a friend who had gone for a yoga retreat recently – I decided to bring yoga back to my home as well.  My daughters will so thrilled because they can also join in when we have our yoga session and for all those who are not familiar with yoga – Yoga is for everyone and no they won’t be expecting you to do all kinds of twisting.  One friend who attended our home yoga session yesterday had lost so much weight and we had wonder if she was using the best weight loss pills or was it yoga that did that for her.  I was curious of course but I didn’t want to appear rude and since she didn’t offer any further information when we complemented her – I left it as such.

Anyhow,  we decided that we will now do our Yoga session with a few invited friends and neighbors – every other morning before heading out for work – I think it would be a positive way to start the day.  Yoga has helped me to focus more and also it has giving me calm and helped me to relax immensely – for those who are shy to go for yoga session – try hiring a yoga teacher for private lessons.