and Mateo will get his first airplane ride and boat ride, his feet will have its first feel of soft, white sand. Andrea and I are excited for our Boracay trip next week. We are feeling happy and grateful for the people who will be making this possible for us – our parents (and of course the friends who will be getting married there). We’re also both first time Boracay goers so we can’t wait to see Yahoo Travel’s #1 most popular beach of 2007. Let’s just hope for our sake and our friend’s sake that Bora will have the perfect weather next week.

As part of the privilege for purchasing web hosting and domains, andrea and I have lots of other emails. Great, right? Yes, it is because we’ve lots of ways of communicating with several people without the risk of any down time. But at the same time, nope, because it is such a bother cleaning each and everyone of them of spam messages.

Because you see, no matter how much we try, spammers make their way to our emails. I’m not so sure how, but they do even though our emails already have spam protection. I guess they’re not that reliable after all. This is why we’re seriously thinking of trying out commercial spam filters like Appriver’s Novell spam filter. The company boasts of muti-platform spam filter that eliminates spam from exchange, groupwise, notes, linux, etc.

And since, we’re planning on setting up an online business one day that might entail serious usage of our existing email accounts, might as well practice cleaning them up right now.

A friend of mine from Austin is planning to launch his own company in the next few months. His problem is where to set up his very own office space. You see, for the past two years, he’s been conducting his business from the comforts of his own home. I can’t blame him. It’s cheap, accessible, and you can keep a close eye on everything 24 hours a day.

But because, his company has been expanding steadily over the last two years, he feels that it’s already time to move out and build a real office outside his house. The problem is where and how? I told him to check to check out the internet for help. I said if his looking for an Austin Commercial Real Estate, then I’m the last one he should ask for help. I haven’t been to Austin before.

Fortunately for him, a cousin of mine lives there and she told me to tell him about the Don Dox Company. She’s been working on an office that was bought using the help of the said company. According to her boss, their office was found by simply using the company’s customizable and easy search function. Her boss was able to save a lot of time and money in looking for a place because of Don Dox Company. I told him to try it out.

We’re down to the last day of the long weekend. And since I know that tomorrow is gonna be the start of the end of the school year rush, I just had to enjoy this last bit of vacation. So before the afternoon was done, I asked andrea and mateo to dress up and come with me to SM Taytay, for another family outing.

For the second time this weekend, we shared an ice cream, strolled around the department store, and window-shopped till our hearts dropped. For several hours, we had no single direction. We went where out feet took us. But mateo’s feet of course were taking him all over the place. Hehe!

It was half past 6 when we decided to go home, and by this time, mateo wasn’t putting up a fight anymore. He was also tired and sleepy and we were every bit as tired as he was. We were drained but we were all happy. I didn’t mind. It was a fitting end to a rare 3-day weekend.

One of the things that Andrea and I would love to enjoy together is traveling. We wouldn’t mind spending for travel if ever we get some extra money. Of course, we’d like to bring Mateo along. There’s no match to the rich life experiences that travel can bring. We have a lot of destinations we dream of visiting. One of our dreams is to go on a Hawaii cruise vacation. Andrea loves beaches and a Hawaii cruise is a must for any beach-lover. It’s great that there are now sites like TravelStoreUSA.com and Cruiselocators.com to help any traveler book vacations to various destinations around the world. I hope we get to fulfill our travel dreams. There are just so many places worth going to before we grow old.

Mateo is a very curious little baby, very inquisitive, persistent, and determined. He’s so many things in one, but if there’s one thing that he isn’t, that’s a daddy’s boy.

Yes, he’s no daddy’s pet. He’s a true blue mama’s boy. Ever since he started suckling from his mama, he’s been like that. The only time I would be more interesting to him is when he’s full or when he wants play time or if he sees me going out and he wants to come with me. In fact, even during times when his sleep gets disturbed, he cries out loud whenever he sees me first before andrea.

He’s a slave to the milk according to andrea. I don’t know for sure. But I don’t mind at all. He may be a mama’s boy now but he’ll eventually grow out of it. And when he does, I’ll be waiting! Hehehe!

Sick with the usual regular jobs, Ramil and I are thinking of starting a business. We’ve played around with several ideas, from getting a small franchise to opening our own music resto-bar. Ramil has been so fond reading and buying Entrepeneur magazines to get ideas and tips. Having our own business would be the perfect set-up for us, both of us getting fed-up with working our asses off for somebody else. With our own business, we know we would have to sacrifice a lot, we would experience difficulties first-hand, but we also get to feel the rewards of our hard work.

The only thing that is hindering in our little dream is our >lack of capital. Which, ironically, is the first thing you need in starting your own business. We’ve read of businesses who started with barely enough for capital and Ramil is very inspired by such rags-to-riches stories. We’ve considered Small Business Loans from lending institutions that help out small to medium businesses. EZUnsecured.com offers such loans plus they offer excellent service, easy processing and fast funding. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to bury ourselves in another debt right now. So we are waiting for the right opportunities. Hopefully, they’ll come… soon.

Last Saturday, when we went on a family outing to SM Taytay, I came across a car exhibit again. This time it was Hyundai that’s showcasing their two flag carriers – the Grand Starex and the 2008 Getz. I figured we could never afford the van so I chose to look at the econo car instead.

At first, I was excited to see that the car was on promo. I mean, for as low as 98,000,  you can bring it home already. It sounded really nice but after thinking about it carefully, I realized that’s still one heck of an amount. Not to mention, we’d still have to pay around 10k every month for  5 years even if we took the lowest installment plan available for the cheapest Getz model.

I realized, a brand new car is definitely not an option for us, at least not right now. That’s why I’m starting to give up hope. Instead, I’m trying to look at a different option – restoration. You see, andrea and I have agreed that the most affordable way for us to secure a vehicle is to put our faith on the old one – the red car (an 89 series GLX Lancer). All we need to do is to find a good detailing or restoration shop to make it road-worthy again. And I’m not just talking about city-driving-worthy, but close to brand new road-trip-capable kind of worthiness. I mean if we’re going to spend a small fortune anyway, I’d like the car to run the distance.

So if there’s anyone out there who knows of a good car detailing or restoration shop that’s a bit friendlier in the pocket than others, please, I need your help! I’m not dreaming of pimping my ride (although that sounds really nice too). I just want a worry-free, baby-friendly ride for me and my family.

Aside from the price of the parts, the next problem with restoring cars is the availability of its components. You see, there are brands of cars whose parts are more readily available than others just like BMWs. A collector, for example, will have an easier time looking for BMW Tail Lights than Nissan tail lights. A detailer will find a BMW front grill faster than a Toyota front grill. This is why a lot of car buyers prefer Bimmers than other models.

Unfortunately for us, what we have is a series 89 Mitubushi Lancer. We don’t have the luxury of ordering from MyHotBimmer for parts and accessories unlike BMW owners. We have to scour different places just to find parts like front grills or tail lights. That’s why I promised andrea that the next car we’re going to have is gonna be a BMW. Of course, I deliberately didn’t mention when I’d fulfill that promise. Haha!

Andrea has been immersing herself on a project. She decided to make Mateo’s first year album lay-out. She’s been cramming it since the little boy is past his first year already. Lately, I’d often find her engrossed on her laptop and would sometimes call my attention to ask my opinion on what she’s done so far. She’s hoping to finish the 40-page lay-out before April and then she’ll continue on our long overdue wedding album lay-out. I guess she can’t be disturbed for the next few weeks.