My father has started teaching my brothers how to collect gold coins, and also handed them some of his collection. My two brothers have started buying investment products, and it only makes sense for him to share his learnings as a coin collector.

My mom on the other hand, collects jewelry, so she understands my father’s passion well. In fact, I think their collections are complimentary. Both are good investment products which will last more than a lifetime, and can be passed on from one generation to another.

But in my parents’ case, they plan to use it to secure their not so distant future, say in a year or two.

This weekend, I re-organized our cabinets. I just had to go out with the old, in with the new. I saw my pink ties that we used during a company dance contest and we had to wear the same stuff. I remember dancing with 4 other mommy co-workers then. Geez, I joined two dance contests in my previous job, but I haven’t even dance during any of my current company events.

No, not stage fright. More of my body not wanting to move anymore.

Before I refresh my laptop later, I had to back up my files. “Refresh” in office terms (at least in our office) means you’ve been using the same laptop for 4 years. Well, mine is technically with me for less than 4 years, but our employee website says it is 4 years so I guess hooray for me! My laptop isn’t reliable anymore. Plus, I badly need a bigger memory because for quite some time now, it takes half an hour before I can normally use my laptop after it boots up.

Oh yeah, there’s a catch. Before I can have it refreshed, I had to format it, and install that new enterprise format (?) So yes, it’s not that easy. Stress!

A close friend has advised us to buy gold bullion now. According to him, these times should be the best time for us to consider investing on gold. We for quite some time now, have been contemplating on this. He’s convincing us saying that gold’s beauty lies not only on its physical form, but also on its diversity as an investment. It’s another way of preserving one’s purchasing power.

He said that our daughter (and possibly future child/ren) will greatly benefit from this investment in the future. Come to think of it, the reason we are investing now is for the future of our daughter. We want to secure her future, as well as for retirement, my husband’s and mine.

Guest post written by Lacy Ramen

My husband and I met through a ski club. We had both been married before, he was new to the area and we clicked instantly.

I had joined the ski club at my friend’s urging and he had been a member of one where he lived before. We’ve remained members of the club ever since and have made lots of friends (who were at our wedding, of course) from it over the years.

On a trip last year when we were going down the mountain I was having a particularly hard time hearing him yell something at me. It ended up that he was trying to tell me there was a tree down up ahead. I ended up missing it anyway, but when we were at the lodge that night he told me that I needed to do something about my hearing.

I followed his advice and looked up miricle ear when we returned home from that trip. I ending up getting some hearing aids from them that you can’t really see and hearing him yell things to me while we’re skiing still isn’t easy – it never was – but it’s easier now at least.

A close friend recommended an eye cream for dark circles. Yes, sleeping under 6 hours has taken its toll on my eyes… and brain. Haha. I remember sending a document at 3am only realizing it to be incorrect after someone emailed me saying so. And yet, here I am blogging at 3:30 in the morning. I can’t sleep and I have nothing else to do so why not blog?

I noticed that insurance quotes these days are good compared to years back. I mean if it’s low now, isn’t it just the best time to get one?

Sometimes I wonder, on our way to the office or home, if we decide to work abroad and go back to Manila after 5 or more years, will it be too different? Will the prices of basic commodities be higher or lower? Will “this” road anyway different years from now? Will I be also looking sadly at the buildings and start my sentences with “You know, during our time…”

With our new president, I wonder, will it be just another 6 years?

Today I ate spaghetti, cake, lots of ice cream and baked mussels, with lots of cheese. Sometimes, one just wishes to have a magic wand and all the food you can eat could just make you fit and firm. Hmm, I wonder if nuphedragen would work on me.

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I’ve been wanting to study again, just for the fun of solving math problems.

And today, I was challenged. I realized I wasn’t as fast anymore. Solutions aren’t automatic in my head anymore. And I needed paper to compute. Should I blame the age? Nope. Brain, after all, is like a muscle. Use it or lose it. Hahaha.

Last summer vacation, my daughter spent most of her afternoon watching TV. But unlike when she was younger, when she watched Dora and Barney among others almost like endlessly, she enjoyed watching cooking and baking shows this time. In fact, she preferred the Lifestyle Channel over Playhouse Disney.

I enjoy some of the shows but had to walk away when my stomach started grumbling, or I was simply salivating on the yummy food I saw. I wish to find the best diet supplement so I could eat anything I want without worrying about the extra pounds.

Anyway, I’m not sure if my daughter has decided on her future. What I know is that it feels good to see her “make” a pizza or burger out of her play doh. Or “make” tea. And now, she got Chinese food to add to her collection.

Guest post written by Shirley Stevens

I bought an ice cream shop about 10 years ago when I retired. I thought it would be nice excuse to get out of the house and meet new people in the south Florida beach town that I relocated to.

I have a staff of teenagers that basically run the shop when I’m not around. I don’t work there more than a few hours a day so as to actually enjoy my retirement. A lot of times I’ll even sit out on a rocking chair in front of the store front and chat with friends that come by.

One day while I was scooping out some butter pecan for some tourists I had some trouble hearing the next customer’s order. It was a little embarrassing to ask them to repeat it so many times but I filled their order and went on my way. I mentioned it to my husband that night and he said I should get a Hearing test. So I looked up some Miracle Ear Centers and scheduled a test at a nearby one. I got fitted with a hearing aid that you can barely even see, so I don’t have to worry about leaving my hair down when serving customers at my ice cream shop to hide it.

I choose to relax… I choose to relax… I choose to relax.

Geez, it’s Monday again, and first workday of the month is coming. The busiest days are here. Argh! Just thinking about it, gives so much stress.

I initially thought having stress would help me lose the extra pounds. Although that didn’t stop me from reading lipozene reviews. But I read that stress, in fact makes me fat. Not only it makes me want to eat more, stress makes me produce more cortisol.

Cortisol helps in having heightened memory functions (among other good side effects) but is believed to cause weight gain after prolonged exposure to it.