This week on Ganns’ Giveaways, I’m giving away to one winning blogger a 120mL bottle of fragrance from Zen Zest’s new Sparkling Sugar collection. The collection has four fragrances: Cherry Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, Watermelon Sorbet, and Vanilla Ice Cream; the winner can have her/his choice of fragrance. (Only one fragrance, please.) As you join, it will enable me to get to know you better and cover you in prayer. How simple is that?

To qualify for Ganns’ Giveaways, just make a blog entry in your own blog about something you’re believing God will give you before the end of 2008. After you’ve placed your blog post online, add a comment to this post leading me to your blog entry. While I will select a winning entry to win the fragrances, I will include each of your prayer requests - assuming I agree with it, of course, I won’t pray for stuff that isn’t Biblical, d-uh - in my own prayer time, so there will be at least two people praying for your prayer request: you and me!

To select the winner, I’ll enter all entrants’ names into Random.org, and the #1 name on top wins the fragrance. Please don’t forget to leave a valid email address so I’ll know how to contact you if you win.

Deadline for blog posts is Monday, September 10, 08, 11:59PM (Philippine time). Sali na!

The prize goes to Juligel. Congrats!

Have you been to a Zen Zest kiosk lately? They’ve launched a new line of fragrances, body butters, and body polishes based on sugary goodies, and my mouth is literally watering with the recollection of the four variants, collectively known as the Zen Zest Sparkling Sugar collection.

My favorite of the lot is the Vanilla Ice Cream variant. Cathy spritzed herself with some of that and I just wanted to eat her up. There’s something in vanilla that’s just inviting. According to the bottle, there’s vanilla bean and milk in there, and it just drove me nuts. I wanted to eat her up!

The other three Zen Zest Sparkling Sugar variants are (in order of my preference) Key Lime Pie, Watermelon Sorbet, and Cherry Cheesecake. All four smell delicious, and aren’t so badly priced, so I don’t have to take out a few payday loans to afford the whole collection.

Yesterday afternoon, Cathy and I decided to go for a date at SM Megamall without the children. True to form, we ended up shopping for the kids anyway!

I passed by the House of Praise kiosk at the basement level of the mall and riffled through the CDs in the PHP75 discount bin when I spotted… THIS!

A VeggieTales Greatest Hits collection for PHP75?!

That’s ridiculous!

Almost all audio CDs from VeggieTales were flushed out of distribution when Big Idea signed distribution rights over to Viva a few years back. Since then, Viva has brought it a bunch of VeggieTales DVDs (thank you, Viva!) but all audio production has stopped.

This was a gem of a discovery, and it was all I could do not to jump around.

Two CDs behind the VeggieTales Have We Got a Show For You CD was… THIS!

Another VeggieTales gem!

The VeggieTales Sing-Along CDs were in rare supply, and this particular one, the Pirates Boat Load of Fun, contained a whole bunch of traditional and original tracks from Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape, who together, make up the infamous bunch of scallywags, the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything!

15 tracks, plus minus-one tracks, total 30 songs.

At PHP75.00 each.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why it’s awesome having a God who likes to bless His kids so His kids can bless their kids. VeggieTales rock! When best friend Raft3r gets back here, he’ll be bringing in two more CDs for Nathan & Nicki: Bob & Larry’s Sunday Morning Songs and Veggie Tales: On the Road With Bob & Larry. My house is a garden of VeggieTales.

Oh, by the way, Cathy picked up a few clothes for Nicki. Clothes for girls, how exciting. *roll eyes* Hahaha, kiddin’.

I recently got hold of a twin pack of Spa Essentials Energy aromatherapy scents from Watson’s. The Spa Essentials Philippines pack contains a 10mL bottle of Energy Pure Essential Oil Blend (Aromatherapy Grade) with oil burner, which could be great for turning up the mood of our bedroom, and a 100mL bottle of Spa Essentials Philippines Energy Linen Spray, which we can use for our bedsheets and the insides of our closets.

This morning, we tried the Energy oil blend in our bedroom. I think Energy contains essential lemon oils. I think I smell a minty touch, which could still be a lemon, or perhaps a tinge of either mint or eucalyptus, but that may just be me. Anyway, it smelled awesome, and really perked up our bedroom.

The best part? It’s economical! No need to take out a cash advance to purchase one of these aromatherapy packs.

(Listen to Britney by Bebo Norman off his new album Bebo Norman and read Bebo Norman Britney lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer Britney mp3’s or Bebo Norman mp3s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

Bebo Norman never ceases to amaze me. Best-known for his gut-wrenching ballad Nothing Without You, Norman has made a career out of songs with the most introspective lyrics matched with the simplest melodies. With Britney, Bebo Norman may have outdone himself.

A ballad to a certain popular celebrity, Britney is an open letter of apology and hope. The brilliance of this song comes with each heartfelt verse, as each apology unfolds, one cannot help but listen to what Norman has to say next. And precisely because it’s Britney, one wants to hear the extent of the apology, and it all comes to a climax that is both befitting of the simplicity of the ballad and the sincerity with which it is sung.

Brilliant, Bebo, absolutely brilliant.

Listen to Bebo Norman Britney mp3
Lyrics to Britney by Bebo Norman after the jump. Read more

Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Spotlight’ is now Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hiphop Songs! That’s a very very good sign for Spotlight, as it moves up 12-10! Yesz!

Here’s the Jennifer Hudson ‘Spotlight’ Afroganic Remix, an official remix from Arista. Not so hot.

Other Jennifer Hudson ‘Spotlight’ Billboard chart positions:

Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay: #5 (up a notch!)
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play: #12 (up a notch; my heart’s sinking for the chances of ‘Spotlight’ on the dance charts. The official remixes are crap.)

(Listen to Make Some Noise by Krystal Meyers off her new album Make Some Noise and read Krystal Meyers Make Some Noise lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer Make Some Noise mp3’s or Krystal Meyers mp3s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

Krystal Meyers’ Make Some Noise is one of the catchiest singles to hit the Christian AC airwaves in months. Almost secular in its approach and feel, Make Some Noise is decidedly an infectious piece of work that aims to transition Krystal from erstwhile Christian pop singer to crossover superstar. NBC has tapped Make Some Noise for its fall lineup commercials, and is also included in the Olympics 2008 soundtrack out in the United States now. I think we can pretty much expect Make Some Noise to become her biggest single ever.

Listen to Krystal Meyers Make Some Noise mp3
Krystal Meyers Make Some Noise lyrics after the jump. Read more

Remember this? I was having problems with the memory card of my Nokia 5300 Xpress Music, so I brought it to the Nokia Service Center located at the third floor of the Robinson’s Manila mall.

After gently explaining my situation to a female customer service representative, I was asked if I would care to reformat the memory card, which would erase everything in the card. I had backed up all my data, so I replied in the affirmative. I also informed her that I had tried to reformat the memory card using my laptop, but it wasn’t possible.

She then pointed out to me a function in the Nokia 5300 Xpress Music that showed it was easy and convenient. As soon as I gave the go-signal, she reformatted the memory card and everything is back to normal. Completely empty, which allowed me now to flush more than 30 new songs into Noah for me to play. I don’t need Cathy’s Shuffle anymore. Hahaha.

Who needs an iPhone when one has a perfectly good Nokia 5300 Xpres Music which offers superior callback quality and is less of a security threat? I heart Nokia.

Cathy, Nathan, and I were out shopping at SM North EDSA when I decided to pass by the organic area of the vegetable section. A few minutes earlier, I popped a PHP62.00 200-gram bag of mixed greens from Dizon Farms into my cart for the lemon butter tuna salad with capers I was planning to make myself tomorrow night for dinner.

I then picked up a bag of the organic lettuce and was surprised to see that the hydroponic lettuce cost just a little over PHP40.00 for 200 grams! Furthermore, it was a nice Romanian lettuce, fibrous and flavorful, unlike the usual mixed greens mix which doesn’t have much color and texture.

If you like salads, don’t be afraid to buy the hydroponic lettuce. It’s just as good, if not better, than regular big farm lettuce, and as it turns out, it’s even cheaper!

Today, I breached 100 kilos.

Yes, I am 100 kilos. But I came from 105 kilos, so that means I’ve lost more than 10 pounds since I started the fitness program.

With only five days to go before the deadline of the 20% discounted gift certificate I won from Jaymie for a Nike+ Sports band, I am at a crossroads.

On one hand, I really want that Nike+. I can think of fewer gadgets that would motivate me to start running. A payday advance would sure be useful, but then again, I’d rather stay out of further debt. I want to be a better steward of the resources God has given me. There are so many better things I can do with PHP2,000.

So I think it’s best I just focus on doing my best at my job and losing weight in less expensive ways. I trust God will reward my faithfulness with what He’s given me.