The first thing that sprouted on the list is the thought of “who would have freedom to celebrate Jesus’ birth and who wouldn’t”.  It is a good practice to bear this in mind so we could really celebrate the meaning of the season by sharing not just goods, but some quality time to lighten others’ situation up.

The second racing thought was gift-giving – a tradition that erases the “personal touch” on the handling of gifts due to circumstances and distance. Most of our family members are overseas.  The only thing they have in common is that they use cars to and from work. Hmm, perhaps tire chains would be good for my brother and sister’s cars in the desert while snow chains would make my father-in-law’s car safer in the snowy New Jersey.

Lastly, the “how” of everything knocked on my door as I tried to reconcile long distance relationships with close family ties in today’s global village.  Is it unselfish to say that the best gift would still be one’s presence in such a very special occasion?

In an instant we thought that the best solution is for us to go back to the countryside and live in my parents’ house  where both my son and my mom could enjoy fresh air, a garden of vegetables and a big space for some kids’ sports.  We would only need to finish the hardwood floor installation in the new children’s room and we’re set to go.  But then going back there would pose a problem for my husband who works in the city and for my two nephews who study there, too, so we decided to stay in the city on weekdays and head back to the countryside on Friday night.

This set up, we thought, would be good enough for the time being until we realized that leaving our apartment on weekends might cause some troubles involving burglars.  It wasn’t long ago when thieves robbed the apartment next to us in broad daylight!  Yap, thieves come even during the day now (it’s one of the tips cops warn the community about when there’s a robbing incident).This makes leaving our apartment for three days and three nights not a sound idea.

But being techno-savvy as we are, we thought that the internet would have an answer to our big problem and voilà! we came across www.homesecurityteam.com – burglar alarm seems to be the best option. With this in mind I surfed the net a little more for alarm installation steps and tips and I am convinced my husband won’t regret cashing out some figures to buy the gadget.  After all, no amount of money could buy the peace of mind we would all have especially when our plan is about the ones we love.

Meanwhile, while we haven’t purchased anything here are a few tips which we have been observing whenever we leave the house for short travels:

1. Do not leave your valuables in locked drawers or vaults. Instead, hide them somewhere inconspicuous.

2.  Leave thumb tucks behind the doors and at windows. Burglars would definitely make loud sound when they stepped on them, which in turn would call the neighbor’s attention.

3.  Make sure all the windows and doors are properly locked. Make someone else double check on these after you’ve done it. Also make sure that the doors and windows installation are still in good shape.

4.  Do not leave a key duplicate anywhere. If everyone’s leaving the house, who would need a duplicate?

These simple steps have worked for us so far, but if we would leave our apartment on a regular basis the robbers in the place would definitely know when we’re not around so I guess I really have to check which burglar alarm system is suitable for our need.

Do I hear dollars being cashed out this time?

Just a few minutes ago, my hubby and I read DOH’s most recent action against smoking and perhaps the second best thing they could do to stop it (the best would be to pass a law that would regulate, if not totally stop the selling and buying of cigarettes in the country).  Why not?  Looking at all angles, smoking doesn’t give anyone anything good.  Personally, I see it as an expensive way of killing one’s self and those who fell victims to it pay a slow yet sure death.

There are many ways which could ease one’s boredom or could help someone kill time, but smoking is definitely not one of them.  So, can’t the Philippines start to be like Singapore which has imposed a fine to smoking violators?

DOH has done its part, let’s do ours.  Text “NOSI” to 2256 and help save your life and those of the ones you love.