Beware The Ides of March! Picture Greetings Please?

Naaah! It’s not the assassination of Julius Caesar nor a Shakespeare tragedy will happen!   But yep! it is actually a special day for me on the Ides of March! … and I want to ask for a special request from you my dear friends….

Care to send me a picture message/greetings please for my birthday? I saw this from other blogger friends and it seems fun (copy cat and “gaya-gaya lungs”)! 

I’ll wait for your messages until March 17, 2013 to my email address balutmanila@gmail.com

Sorry for the short notice but hey I trust that you love this poor soul and you will grant my wish! Yey THANK YOU!

Mixed Nuts: So Much To Be Thankful For

So February bid goodbye and as it left I wish that it brings along with it the heart aches and pains I had on top of which is the death of my beloved cat.

But this does not mean that I despise February.  I still feel so blessed in spite of the heart aches because there’s so much to be thankful for that happened to me on this month. So let’s forget about the heart aches.  Instead I want to share to you all the blessings that I am very thankful for.

The promised gift from my anniversary post.
Slowly (but surely I hope) I am able to send out the gifts that I mentioned in my anniversary post.  Some of you might be seeing by now that some blogger friends are posting about the thank you cards they received from me.  They are token of appreciation to these blogger friends who never fail to support my blog and for simply being my friends in the blogosphere.  I did not post a list on who are these people because as I always say, I love making simple surprise to people.

There are still some token that I haven’t sent out yet.  It is because I want to send them with uniqueness and sincerity.  My token may not be expensive in value but it carries with it pure sincerity.



Blogger’s Meet and their awesome presents

Spontaneous and unplanned!
That is so me again.  Just how much I love to make small surprises for people, I love to surprise myself as well. I got the chance to meet some bloggers unexpectedly and unplanned.

The meet up photos and details will be posted on another post but I am dying to thank these sweet people for their awesome gifts.  You really “hit me in my best spot” (wink*).

The father and son tandem, Juicy Jay of About Jay's Journey who just arrived from KSA and Arvin of Chateau de Archieviner who just arrived from New Caledonia gave me this bag of goodies.  The goodies were so meticulously packed/stuffed in a paper bag by Jay while the son Arvin is busy being in love (lol).



The bag contains a lot of awesome stuff including a cute bottle opener and chocolates from Jay and chocolates and tea-towel from Arvin but the ones that made me jump are these – tadaaah!

Ten Riyals and Framed Coin Collection! from Juicy Jay and  Mille Francs (New Caledonia Currency) from Arvin

As for the reason why these items made me jump, you may want to check it here.

Another unplanned meet is with a bunch of awesome bloggers during PBO's 1st Bazaar for a Cause.  I said that I will not discuss the meet up here because I will do that in a separate post but I can’t help but thank all the bloggers present during the bazaar. THANK YOU all for the very warm reception you gave to me – that was unforgettable!  Thanks as well for this cute button pin/badge.

PBO Button Pin (I bought the mug in support to the bazaar)

It was hard to contain myself again not to jump out of  joy when Senyor Iskwater of Kwentong Iskwater Mula sa Iskwater (love the title of this blog :) and Super Mario of UNPLOG handed me another addition to my collection!  Yey! THANK YOU Senyor and Mar!

Australian Dollar and Riyal (Qatar Currency) from Mar and Singapore Dollar from Senyor

The second card from a fine lady in Norway

Finally I received the card from a fine lady of  Norway Joy of Joy's Notepad.  It is so sweet of you Joy to send me another card because the first one got lost in the mail.  THANK YOU for this wonderful card with the sweetest message and an advance greetings for my birthday.  And yes I am really looking forward to meet you in person.

The Noob Sketch 

In the middle of February while I’m still gloomy for the lost of my cat and was sick at the same time, another fine lady from Norway - Gracie of Gracie’s Network tweeted me this noob sketch of a cat.  Tears automatically poured out of my eyes.  But at least this time there’s a mixture of joy.  It is very comforting to know that you have a friend around who cares and ready to cheer you up during gloomy times even she’s miles away. 

THANK YOU Gracie… looking forward to meet you in person and extend our friendship beyond the blogosphere.

Special mention about me…

THANKS for the special mention by the beautiful persona of Zai of Zai Moonchild and congratulations El Presidente for the very successful bazaar! THANKS as well to my fave blogger boy MEcoy for the special mention – really appreciate it!

My apologies for the late acknowledgment

These didn't happen in February but I am guilty not acknowledging these two sweet bloggers who made special mention about me.  Good thing that I did some back readings on their blogs and I was really surprised finding their posts about me.

THANK YOU Anthony of Free to Play for the Super Miss Popular Award (SMP) and my apologies that I was not able to acknowledge it earlier and that I may not be able to make a post about the SMP tag because I already made the same here.  But I do appreciate the tag a lot!  And extra THANKS for this special post as well. 

THANK YOU Lalah Of Captured Realities for tagging me in your holiday post that I also found when I did back readings in your blog.  My apologies as well for not thanking you earlier.


So February is gone and another month came in without a warning!  Good thing is that this new month is one of my most favorite month.  I actually call it as “The Merry Month of March!”.  Why? Keep visiting here and you’ll know.  Meanwhile let’s enjoy and make this new month a happy one! Cheers to y’all!

Sunday Quote and Photograph: Bazaar for A Cause

"We are created for community,

formed for a family,

fashioned for fellowship,

and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves.

It is because our ultimate life's purpose is to be of person to others."

~ PBO ~

Please support PBO’s 1st Bazaar for a cause!

Sunday Thoughts and Photograph: I Lit A Candle for You Today

I lit a candle for you today,

And as I do I whisper my love for you and pray.

This photograph is taken from a local restaurant during a simple quite dinner with the family during Valentine’s Day three days after a beloved family member traveled up to cat heaven.

The candle in this photograph is actually a table decoration for the Valentines’ Day occasion.  I do light a candle at home… everyday.

Goodbye Timothy Mingz… I will Miss You So Much Buddy

Your most loved pet will always be ever willing to take the bad things coming your way… he might took the fall for the bad things that is currently coming for you or your love ones.  Remember he’s doing it for the eight time and he gave the last one still. He’s in cat heaven now, just thank him and let him go…

The most comforting word I received from a dear friend after my buddy… my cat Timothy Mingz died on a Monday morning.  The word coming from a pet expert made the moment a bit less painful.

The last photo of Mingz taken just eight days before he died.  Stubborn until his last photo alive - relaxing on a deli tray where he’s not supposed to sit.  The black mark on his nose is an oven mark he got somewhere which I refused to wipe clean because the family is making fun of it.  He is wearing his newest cat bell that “he got from Santa Claus last Christmas” thus the color of the tiny red and green bell.

Some of you might say that I’m over reacting for the death of a cat but I don’t care. We have been through a lot together and we treat him not just a pet but a member of the family. Those who really know me in the blogosphere are aware that he’s even included in my blogger’s profile.

There’s a lot more stories to tell about my cat but there’s just so much sadness in me right the now.  I guess I don’t have a choice but to say goodbye.

Good bye Timothy Mingz my buddy rest in peace… THANK YOU for taking the fall for the 9th time and I know if you have more you will still be taking the rest for me.   I will miss you so much buddy… I love you and you will forever stay in my heart…

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Greetings from a person born under the Year of the Snake! Yep that’s  me!

I really don’t have much to say.  I just wanted to greet you all a Happy New Year and to let you know that Google has something for all of us and it’s really cute!

Remember the mobile phone game “Snake”? Go to google.com today and click that “play” button – awesome!



After you're done playing the Snake game you might want to read some things about people born under the Chinese Zodiac sign Snake.  Here are some:

PERSONALITY:
STRENGTH:  Wise, Proud, Determined, Ambitious, Talented in many directions, Almost always successful, Courageous, Passionate, Intelligent, Quick-witted, Charming, Possess great morality
WEAKNESS: Jealous and suspicious, Too cautious about what they discuss with others, Rely on themselves and have doubts about others judgment, Headstrong

CAREER:
Author, Psychiatrist, Philosopher, Professor, Finance, Politics, Theology

FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN UNDER THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE:
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Oprah Winfrey, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, JFK, Mao Tse-Tung, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Picasso

COMPATIBILITY:
Rooster, Ox (I’m married to a Rooster)

SECRET FRIEND:
Monkey

CONFLICT ANIMAL: Boar

PREDICTIONS for 2013:

Generally we’re not very lucky this year - sort of this is not our year. Well based on the things that I read if the Zodiac year is your sign (Year of  Birth) it is really not your best year.

But there’s always ways to contradict the forces that cause the negativity right? Prayers, charity and of course being cautious always!

Do you believe in this stuff?  well for me I always put myself in the middle when it comes to this.  But I actually do enjoy reading the predictions every year.  What about you? What is your sign and personality?

Are you lucky this year?  And err... what's your score with the "Snake" game?

P.S.
Having "Snake" as my sign is my life's biggest irony for the reason that my biggest fear is Snake :(

Before January 2013 Ends Part 2: New Caledonia, Norway and New York

Triple N!
What a coincidence that these sweet bloggers happen to be based in a country that starts with letter “N”!  They are the ones who I mentioned from my previous post Before January Ends Part 1: Foreign Currency Collection.

New Caledonia
It all started when King Archieviner of  Chateau De Archieviner posted that he is  sending post cards to fellow bloggers.   I am one among the lucky ones who received such honor from the King (wink*).  

Bonjour! The two pieces post cards from King Archieviner. Nice handwriting eh!

Front view of the two post cards.
One is a regular size post card and the other one is panoramic.  They are both awesome but I so love the panoramic one because
I LOVE FLOWERS!
(Clifford the Big Red Dog is mine. I made him sit on the envelope to cover my address lol)

I apologize King A if I did not mention that I already received the post card.  I actually received this during the holidays but there’s a special reason why I did not post about this during that time.  It has something to do with the “Norway” portion of this post.

Again my sincere thanks.  I really love receiving postal mails so I really appreciate this  very much!

Norway
So the reason why I did not mention about my receipt of the post card from the kingdom of King Archieviner is because of a  fine lady from Norway - Joy of Joy's Notepad.  I know that she mailed a card for me so I was supposed to make a special post for the cards that will come from New Caledonia and Norway together.  Unfortunately, it seems that Joy’s card got lost in the mail.

It's the thought that counts Joy.  Even if I did not received the card I would like to say thank you for taking some time out of your busy life to mail me a card.  Thank you Joy!

Also!
Talking about Norway is like talking about another fine lady based in Norway.  She’s always been sweet and supportive with me and my blogs ever since we crossed paths in the blogosphere, Gracie of Gracie's Network!

Aside from being sweet, she's also thoughtful and reliable not only to me but with other blogger friends .  Fact to that is that she already granted the wish of our blogger friend Leah of Travel Quest about the paper bill collection.  But before I talk about that, let me share to you first what Gracie made for me while I was sick…

I’m speechless… THANK YOU Gracie!

New York
Just like any New Yorker, Leah of Travel Quest is always busy.  But she never fails to visit our blogs whenever she can.  She also takes time to say hello and join our (kulitan) twitter convo.  It is is during one of those tweets that she mentioned about her paper bill collection.  She’s the main reason why I posted about my foreign currency collection.  My post is a bit delayed because I have yet to look from my (pack rat) things this collection of mine.

I consider this perfect timing because I am sending Thank You cards to these awesome friends as I’ve mentioned in my anniversary post.   So if they wish, I could include one each of paper bill from my collection (photo below).  I’m sure Leah will be very interested so I’ll give her the chance to be the first picker.  (I’m not sure if King A and Gracie is interested.  I saw them exchanging paper bills so I thought they might be lol).

3 (old) Two Philippine Peso; 1000 LIVRES (Banque Duliban); FIVE DIRHAMS (United Arab Emirates); TEN and ONE RIYAL (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency); TEN New Taiwan Dollars

I apologize if I can not offer the rest from my collection.  I found that there’s a story behind each paper bill that I can not part with.  I offered the old Two Peso Bill because they are already rare and no longer in circulation.

For other readers from other countries who wish to exchange paper bills with me in exchange of the current Philippine Peso paper bills.  Just drop me a comment or a private message in my contact page.  Thanks and Happy collecting!