Moments in My Life

Our Toyota Camry is only 5.5 years old. We bought it beginning of 2003 when the Carson Toyota was having promotion on car loans and with a minimum down payment we got it the loan at 1.9% for 36 months. The interest rate was around 3% at the bank that time. We definitely got the advantage of having such a low interest rate that time. Now we are loan free for the Camry. It is nice not to think about making the car payment every month. The car is still in very good condition. It has a huge and very comfy interior.

Now I keep thinking if I should trade in the Camry and get a mini van instead. When I was back in KL, my uncle owns a Toyota Alphard and it was very comfortable moving in and out the mini van with children. Back there, we went out as a big family. At least 5 of us went out together. But in LA, most of the time we go out, it will be me, my husband and Brandon. We don’t really need such a big car for now. Oh well … we’ll just keep the Camry for a few more years and see if any situation changes then we will get a mini van.

We started cloth diapering Brandon around June 2007. The first two cloth diapers we got were the Drybees pocket diaper and BumGenius pocket diaper. Within two months my cloth diapers collection went up. I bought half a dozen Kissaluvs fitted cloth diapers and a few more other pocket diapers.

After trying many brands, I still like BumGenius the most. I have 4 of BG pocket diapers. Only complaint I have on BG is the velcro. It doesn’t seem to stick too well after our almost daily use for 12 months. I would think that they will be able to last longer than that. But I am not worry about it now as they will be put away for a while.

Yesterday I’ve decided it’s time to store the cloth diapers away to make room for other daily wears in the drawers. We had used the cloth diapers only the first week after we returned from KL. Since the 2nd week, he has been on underwears/briefs. And now we only use pull-up when we go out, at home all day and all night, he will be in underwears/briefs.

So I put the cloth diapers together and took a picture. Then I carefully insert them into the vacuum storage bag.

I love using vacuum storage bags for putting away all Brandon’s smaller size clothes. They help to save some space. I forgot to take a picture of the vacuumed bag as Brandon was crying in his nap and I had to quickly put the bag into the storage box after vacuuming.

Bye bye cloth diapers … definitely won’t miss the routine of washing you all every night. *grin*

My friend had recently bought a new Mini Cooper for his wife. The car has been brought back to the dealer at least twice within 4 months of the purchase with the same defect. Since he lives out in the Corona area but the dealer is out here in Long Beach, he has to drive very far to drop off the car to get the problem fixed. Luckily for him, the dealer loan him another car to drive for the day, or else he would be stuck here in Long Beach and probably had to take an unpaid day off from work just because of that.

I was wondering if the car might be a lemon. Don’t you just hate it when you thought you bought a new car but then you got a lemon instead? I didn’t know until just now that California has a Lemon Law. According to the Lemon Law facts found on California Lemon Law attorney website, the purchaser of the vehicle can seek refund or replacement of the vehicle if the vehicle:

• Been taken in for service on four (4) or more occasions for a defect that substantially impairs the use or value of the vehicle;
• Been taken in for service on two (2) or more occasions for a defect that is likely to cause serious injury or death; or
• Been in service for thirty (30) or more cumulative calendar days. 

If you don’t know how to get the process started, just visit CLP Consumer Law Partners, Inc.. They specialize in handling California Lemon Law. They will be able to help you find out if you are eligible for the refund or replacement of your vehicle.  Call them at their toll free number to get a free consultation.  You can also submit your information online and someone from their end will get in touch with you promptly.  Don’t ever get stuck with a lemon. Get help from the California Lemon Law firm.

I am so bored with the 3 ringtones that came with my Sony Ericssons cellphone. I need some Rap Ringtones to spice up a little bit. It is easy to do it at Rap Music Ringtones website. You choose the songs you want, enter your cellphone number and they will send to your cellphone the ringtones you’ve chosen. This is a simple and easy way to download free ringtones.

I need newer Yard Signs for my real estate business. Yes, I am a real estate agent, a part time one. I’ve switched to a new real estate office and I need new signs as my old ones have my previous office name and phone number. This time around, I will customize the yard sign so that it doesn’t have the office name and only have my cell phone number on them. So next time around when I move to another real estate company, I do not need to purchase new ones. Save me some money there.

I’ve checked around and found BuildASign has a wide range of customizable selections. With them, I can do the designing myself too and do not need to hire a professional graphic artist to do it. They have many different sizes of real estate yard signs. I like their pricing system. The more quantity you order, the cheaper it is per sign. If you come across any problem while using their online design program, you can call them at their toll free number or online chat to solve your problems or questions immediately.

Before having my own kid, I didn’t understand why others were buying fill their shopping cart with the gallon milk at Sam’s Club.  I used to see many parents on the weekend at Sam’s Club with 4 to 6 bottles of 1 gallons milks in their shopping cart.  It was hard for me to finish 1 gallon of milk for two weeks.  Usually by the end of two weeks, I had to throw away the leftover milk. 

Then now that I have my own boy, I know how fast the household can run out of milk.  So now whenever we visit Sam’s Club we buy 2 bottles of 1 gallon 2% low fat milk.  It will last us both for about 1 week plus a day or two.  Now if I have another child, I may need to get 3 gallons, and if I have 3 children, I will have to get 4 gallons.  Now I can see why the other parents are stocking so much milk.  Hmm … then we probably need a bigger refrigerator.  LOL!

Our home was built back in the 1950s. It has pretty amazing amenities including a 2 cars garage, 1 bathroom and an attached 3/4 bathroom to the master suite. But one thing that they missed out for homes that were built during the 50s was the insulations. So our home has no insulation. The insulation below the roof was added by the previous owner.

In winter, our central heater runs all day and stops only slightly in between operating. This means we pay a lot of our heat/gas especially during the winter months. We are actually trying to find a better type of insulation so our heat won’t leave the homes during the winter time. One of my friend actually recommended spray foam insulation like those offered by New Jersey insulation. What I didn’t know is that with foam insulation, my gas bill may be reduced by 40%. Foam insulation will fill up all the cracks and crevices that regular insulation will not. I may look into having it done for this winter as I know the gas price has gone up so much, we need to reduce the cost by having a foam spray insulation installed below our roof.

So which brand and model of digital camera do you have?  I have a few digital cameras.  The very first digital camera we have ever owned was an Olympus D-220L.   Can you guess how many pictures it can store?  It can only take up to 20 pictures with the highest resolution (640 x 480). 

Currently, we have a Canon XTi Rebel DSLR, a Canon P&S SD450, and another Canon P&S SD630. Previously I have owned a Casio P&S Exilim model but that one was sold as used to a friend in Malaysia in 2005. Later when I returned to US, I bought a Canon P&S SD110. I find the colors are more vivid on Canon digital cameras. I haven’t own any Nikon P&S or DSLR but have heard many good reviews on them. May be I will get a Nikon P&S in near future to test out the picture quality.

If you are thinking of investing in one of these digital cameras, you have to read a lot of reviews. I did my research online before deciding which but you must make sure you drop by 42nd Street Photo to check out their competitive pricing. There are 3 ways you can place your order at 42ndPhoto dot com. You can order online, order through their toll free phone number or you can shop at their store. For a limited time, they are offering FREE cleaning kit when you place your order. Please check their website for more details on this offer.

Exterior shutters have been used as a decor for years. Many of them are actually working shutters that function as sunlight screener. My grandmother’s house has shutters all around the exterior windows. They help to give the home a classic feeling I think.

Our current home has wood shutters too but only on the front exterior windows. And they are getting old because we haven’t had much time to carefully take care of them. May be I should be looking into getting a new set of faux wood shutters that may have less maintenance - doesn’t crack, peel, splinter, rot and insect resistant! I think I might stop by Larson Shutter Company online website where I can view many selections of the exterior shutters all at one place. Some of the shutters can be easily installed ourselves. For a limited time now, Larson Shutter is offering free shipping for all orders. Check it out if you are in the market for any type of exterior shutters for your home.

Picture credit: Copyright © larsonshutter.com

So how far along I am in my packing? Not much. I still have more to pack because of the laundry. We need to wait till almost the last day before I can finally pack all clothing necessary for the trip.

Anyway flying with MAS Airlines, each passenger is allowed 2 pieces of checked-in luggage. Each luggage should weigh 70 pounds or under with a maximum linear dimension of 60″ (height+width+length). My brother brought two suitcases with him, so he will be bringing two suitcases back. And between me and Brandon, we will be allowed 4 pieces total.

This below here is my brother’s suitcase which I already helped to fill it up and it is 55 pounds now. The items in this suitcase are not for me but for other people including 10 boxes of 1 pound See’s Candies chocolate. This suitcase is all done packing now.

This is another bag which I almost done packing. A car seat bag. I will be packing in this bag the Portable Fisher Price Booster Seat too which will be packed on the last day.

We probably have a total of 5 checked-in luggages and one car is definitely not enough to fill up the passengers as well as the luggages. We may need my SIL assistance to help driving some of our luggages to the airport on that evening.