Live Dealers Online

I was just chatting online with my friend, Mr. W last night. He told me he is back in Germany now, his home country. I got to know him when he was his company's regional director for Asia. We were both part of the same community service organization, and we had several projects together.
He has since then retired, and is enjoying the leisurely life with his wife. His children are all grown up and have lives of their own, so he and his wife had to find new ways of amusing themselves.
He said he is now into live roulette. I asked him what that was, and he very kindly explained to me that it was the game with the wheel with numbers in red or black. Ah, I said I always see that game in the movies, but I've never played it before. I've never even been inside a casino here in Manila.
Mr. W said that before his retirement, he never frequented casinos, but when he retired, he found himself with time on his hands and he searched online for things to do. One of the things he found was this live online roulette blog, which teaches people how to, well, play roulette online. He said the site was really easy to navigate and understand, so he got hooked into playing. Now, he's playing live roulette a couple of hours each day, with the rest of the day devoted to gardening and catching up on the latest bestsellers.
I have to admit Mr. W got me curious, so after we signed off, I looked for the live dealer roulette he mentioned, and saw the actual live dealer who will deal the dice. I thought he looked like someone I know.

Kids' Backpack

I've decided not to give big parties for Belle's birthdays. We only gave a big party when she turned 1 year old. The next party will be when she turns 7. It has to do with all the kids' parties these days. There is too much pressure. There has to be loot bags. There has to be giveaways and souvenirs. There has to be a cake and cupcakes. There has to be games and prizes. I think every child is entitled to have a happy birthday, not necessarily a birthday party.
Last year had my relatives come over to our house for a simple home birthday party for Belle. It was simple, inexpensive, but still nice. I bought seafood at Seaside Market, which is famous for the fresh seafood. I had the shrimp, crabs, blue marlin and tangigue cooked at the upstairs restaurant, and just added rice at home. My dad bought a cake from Goldilocks, I had someone buy 6 balloons in front of the church, and we were set. I far prefer this kind of birthday party.
But when Belle turns 7, I'm going to give another big party for her. It's tradition to give a party on the 1st and 7th birthday. Belle will be in grade school by then, and I want to give souvenirs which will be useful. We will have games, and the prizes there will be fun prizes, but this is what I have in mind for individual giveaways.

This camouflage design kids backpack will be for the male classmates. I have another design in mind for girls. Or if I can find a pink camouflage print cloth, I can have it specially made in our garments factory.

Check the Airconditioning this Summer

Summer is starting in the US, and my brother in law and his family are going on vacation. The kids are excited to go swimming, and perhaps some dancing lessons too. With all the driving my brother in law is going to do, he has to make sure his car aircon is in tip top shape. His two little girls are sure to complain and whine if they have to suffer the summer heat. And since their mom is a nurse, she is sure to be wary of heat stroke. Good thing my brother in law has always been mechanically minded, and is a regular handyman around the house. He knows how to fix practically anything in the house. He even took an electronics repair course here in Manila some years back.
My brother in law checked his car airconditioning, along with his house cooling system. Since they live in California, where summers are almost as hot as in Manila, airconditioning is a must. He even called Fresno HVAC, to double check his work. His wife's relatives in Texas called Austin HVAC for their own repair needs.

Level 2 or Level 3?

Enrollment at Belle's school is ongoing, but we haven't paid yet. We went to school to pay, but the principal talked to us and said that they were unsure which level to put Belle in, Level 2 or Level 3. When Belle entered school last November, she was put in Level 2, but her age is really for Level 1. Now they are unsure if Belle will fit in better with the Level 2 or Level 3 group. They want to do a test run, put Belle with Level 2 a few days and in Level 3 a few days. Just to see which is better for Belle in the long run.

After a long discussion, hubby and I have decided to put Belle in the Level 3 only. We reason that Belle will just get bored with the Level 2 lessons, since she heard them before, even if she was only in school for a semester. And she already knows the school routine, morning greetings, putting her stuff in her cubby, listening to teachers and circle time. She already has a long attention span so putting her in with new students will make her regress to their level.
I know that she will be the youngest in her class, but I know that she can catch up with the older kids. I believe Belle is quite advanced linguistically and socially, so she won't have a hard time coping with the lessons.
Now I have to look for term life insurance for the hubby. He wants to increase his coverage a bit.

Cheap Rugs

My mother is forever fixing up her house, having the facade painted, cementing the walkway, wanting to put a fish pond(!), stuff like that. Actually her house is a commercial building, and she lives up in the highest floor. The other floors are rented out as stockrooms and to a tshirt factory. We told her that painting the outside was a good idea, and cementing the walkway was also good, but we balked at putting in a fishpond. It was unnecessary and would be more trouble than it was worth. So she's now put her energies into renovating her house upstairs.
She now wants to buy new furniture. And she's now looking at area rugs. We've never had any sort of rugs in our home and we wonder if that's really appropriate here in hot, dusty, and humid Manila.
We saw a lot of rugs for sale in the warehouse depots around town, but somehow we can't seems to agree on any. I think we need the help of an interior designer. My mom has a certain idea of how she wants the house to look like, but my sister and I disagree. Our mother's ideas seem to be from her youth, so 50s! My sister and I on the other hand, want something more modern looking. We don't want a dated look, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, an interior designer would be a great help to us. Good thing my egroup has a thread about looking for interior designers who have just graduated. The new graduates charge cheaper than the more established designers. Now we just have to look for cheap rugs. I'm sure the designer will know where to source them.

Sister will be in Paris for the next 9 days. Her course requires an international tour, so the school organized a trip to visit their sister school in Paris. But that will only last a day. They will do the tourist thing around Paris, see the Eiffel Tower, the Champ Elysee, the Louvre, and all the must-see places there. Wish I was going with her!

I'm going to miss her.

Family Day

We're back from Family Day at Belle's school. I'll collect my thoughts and blog about it tomorrow. Just let me leave you with a picture.