20 January 2006

Dear Loved Ones,

MORE BLESSED NEW YEAR TO YOU AND HAPPY VALENTINES!!!

Today, I have mixed feelings – hopeful that the year 2006 will continue to bring us God’s Blessings – Good Health, Peace, Joy, Love, Happiness, among many others; anxious that I will leave my son for awhile to visit Pinas in order to settle things (tie some loose ends); and looking forward to a wonderful time – continues stories and dine-outs, with folks in Pinas. Actually, when I came in August 2005, I was prepared for a month’s stay only, so I brought just two pairs of pants and few necessities, so next time I will bring in a box of consumables and necessities from in-home stocks.

New Year’s Day! It is not like how we celebrate New Year back in the Philippines; where everywhere is full of laughter and people enjoying the different colors of fireworks. After attending New Year’s Eve Mass and with Sean feeling unwell with colds, we decided to sleep to wake up at 11:30pm, expecting to see the brilliant fireworks here in the U.S. At exactly 11:30pm Sean’s phone alarm clock rung set to ensure we will be awake for the New Year. It was the most silent New Year we ever experienced. Exactly 11:59pm, we heard shouts and fireworks so we dressed quickly and ran out the door, headed to the car as fast as we can; not knowing where the fireworks came from or where to start looking. We just went with our instincts and drove out to Greenback Lane, going back and forth searching for fireworks (“desperado sa paputok”), but found nothing, except for a few cars cruising along. After a while, we returned to our place to feast on hot chocolate, bread, ham, fruits, etc; then went back to bed, praying for more Blessings for the year ahead!

Jan. 5: Taking the cue from friends, with Sean driving, we embarked on I-80 freeway going North towards Reno, Nevada to experience the Snow; after an hour when we reached Tahoe National Park and felt snow around the area, we exited at 156 when we glimpsed snow in the surroundings. Sean had his first experience of snow, took a lot of phone and camera still photos and video; enjoyed playing in the snow, together with other Asian visitors; now, we literally completed our four seasons in America! The beautiful sights were awesome –the snow-capped mountains, the height of evergreen trees contrasting the cotton-white snow on the ground slowly melting, while fresh snow were dropping like icicles – oh!!! the beauty and the natural wonder of God’s creations!

On the later part of December, a friend/co-worker in Sears gave a hint that if I did not plan to stay long, it was the time to quit at year’s end because after the holidays, most transactions at Fine Jewelry would be for Returns or “cashing in” on Gift receipts by recipient; returns/exchanges 90-days after purchase is allowed here. True enough, after Christmas, there were mostly returns which would continue for the next three months; so I heeded the advice and turned in my Resignation effective Jan. 6, before my commission earned gets dissipated. My friend Megan herself, quit after Dec. 26, to move on before the onslaught of returns came. Well, my stint at Sear’s Fine Jewelry was a very rewarding experience for me: it afforded me a wide/closer view of the American workforce system (the upsides and downsides) – the retail marketing policies and practices, the hiring ad firing procedures, benefits and privileges, the backstabbing and self-uplifting of new upstarts, the biases and prejudices, even the inter-racial diversity differences. When I teach Business and Management, I have a wealth of actual up-close experience for case studies and class discussions.

Now, I am spending more time with Sean, preparing him for his solo living - shopping and stocking up on food and water, preparing meals, etc. (Actually, he resumed classes for Spring term last Jan. 17.); I wanted to have somebody that he can call on, aside from his friends, in case of emergency. So I got in touch and found our new “angels” in Liklik (formerly Carlita Gallares of Tagbilaran, Bohol) and husband Gene Schroeder, who lives near our place. I made sure to introduce Sean with the Schroeders before his Spring term classes began and they promised to treat him like their own son.

Liklik was so kind ad generous to bring us to South Sac where all the Filipino food and shopping marts are, treated us for lunch at Max’s Resto, meet some new friends who were also relatives of my close friends in Manila - seems like there are always linkages out there, we are all related in one way or another, which is the best reason for keeping good interpersonal relations with everyone at all times. Liklik is a very gregarious and unique lady – with very good social skills - very friendly, open and knows all Filipinos in the area. I have known her since high school days and we have common friends, so we spent the whole day of Jan. 14 reminiscing good memories. We were joined later by her husband Gene for the 4:30 PM mass at St.Mel’s, after which they brought us for dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory Resto with “to go”, which capped our whole-day outing.

Days later, I also met Ms. Eve Calceta, Lik’s best friend in Sacto. Lik again treated us for lunch at Teriyaki Grill then we spent the whole day chatting, updating on Filipino news and the good memorable days. Both of them offered for me to ride with them to San Francisco for my Jan. 22 international flight back to Pinas. Earlier, my Ate Cel of Sanfo, who came for the birthday of my Ate Nen last Jan. 15, brought my big luggage with her back to Sanfo, so I would only have my carry-on to bring, as I planned to take the Amtrak train from Sacto to Sanfo on Friday, Jan 21. I thank God for giving “angels”/friends I can count on to help during critical moments/needs!

DID YOU KNOW?
“January’s garnet, given by a friend, ensures the two shall meet again.” Garnets are hard, glassy minerals that occur in almost every color and shade, except blue. The hard, durable, often brilliant stones are quite affordable. Garnet comes from the Latin word Granatum, meaning pomegranate. The red stones are thought to resemble the fruit’s seeds. A type of garnet was widely used in ancient Greece to fashion cameos. Asiatic tribes carved garnets into bullets believing the fiery color would inflict more deadly wounds. Ranging in hardness from 7 to 7.5 on the Moh’s hardness scale, garnets are ideal for all types of jewelry. Garnet is popularly given as a wedding anniversary present.

I would like to remind that this journal will be available a few days later at my updated website at http://sbgerardo.blogspot.com/.

Please click on at the end of each journal (on Comments line) and put n your comments /advice /thoughts /etc. It is our way of getting in touch and keeping connected, so I would know. I will appreciate it very much!

See you soon in Pinas! Best Regards and Love to all and GOD BLESS US ALWAYS!!!

Susan B. Gerardo