Pleasant Greetings to everyone! This month (the Rosary month), we celebrated the Feast of our Lady of Fatima (Oct. 13) and our Lady of La Naval in Sto. Domingo, QC. (this year is the Centenary of the Canonical Coronation of our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary). As Gerry reported and as shown on GMA Pinoy TV, the annual procession was attended by extra huge crowd so he could only glance at our Dominican priest friends from a distance. November is the month to remember our dear departed loved ones and our saints so we offer special prayers for them!
My invitation to friends visiting America is to allocate one week-end (Friday PM to Sunday PM) to spend with us. So when Ms. Cora (former NPC boss at HR and kumare) arrived for her usual 6-month visit with her sisters in the Sacramento area, bringing goodies from home, I asked her to spend the week-end of Oct. 12-14 with us, and the following was our week-end activities (typical, except for two Saturdays each month when I have my NU teaching classes).I fetched Cora from her sister’s home in Rocklin at 3:00PM Friday, passed by Bel-air to buy some groceries, then head home to catch up with ‘24 Horas’ news over Pinoy TV, and had dinner, updating on stories from Pinas. 2nd Saturday of each month is my Opus Dei routine (9:30a -12:00n) so brought her to our spiritual activities. Along the way, we passed by 2 garage sale where we bought some curio items. We had lunch at Fresh Choice, spent the rest of the afternoon chilling at Barnes and Noble, before going back to St. Mel’s church for the anticipated Mass at 4:30p., had dinner before watching ‘Startalk and Bubble Gang’ on Pinoy TV, simultaneously had our laundry washer then dryer on. The next day Sunday woke up early for breakfast, then off to our clubhouse gym for various work-outs (treadmill, abs machine, etc.), more walks, then lunch while watching ‘SOP, then Showbiz Central’. We have to alternate our TV watching with Sean’s Volleyball sports on (we share this passion for this game). By 4:00p, we were off to Folsom Outlets for shopping, most time at ‘Naturalizer’ for shoes on sale. We arrived at her sister’s home at 7:30p per schedule to have dinner with the family. We met very cute Noah Pewitt (born May 5, 2007) – grandson of Ed and Claire Tagala (Cora’s sister). Noah’s mom Vanessa cooked dinner and took the photo shown. Had a nice time with the family before Sean and I headed back home, ready for another busy week-days of school and work.
Cora went home with 4 new pairs of shoes (2 Naturalizers, Nine West and Liz Claiborne) while I had 1 Naturalizer. So Imelda is not alone in her fondness for shoes. Actually, many Pinays share this ‘shoes thing’. I am hooked on Naturalizer (good fit for my feet), have 10 pairs of shoes/slip-ons to date.I recently had my semi-annual comprehensive medical check-up thru my Kaiser Permanente coverage and thank God everything is okay – results of all blood tests were within normal limits. October being ‘breast cancer-awareness month’ and with no record yet, my doctor insisted on my Mammography and Ultrasound, and 2 doctors aside from the technician, confirmed that my breasts were normal and good, as I affirmed that I feel fine and lead an active exercise life! Here, they are so strict on preventive care which is so good, like taking flu shots and the like. By the way, when my pregnant Aerobic teacher took leave, Eli took over who introduced the Yoga type of exercises which I find more effective and relaxing!
Congratulations to our Manila office staff of Fairview Shipping for the renewal by the POEA of its license to operate for the next four years (up to 2011, which means I can retire with the company). Likewise, there are prospects for partnering of NVSC (especially with Janicke back in Pinas with the Norwegian Embassy) with a Norwegian firm for the recruitment of engineers, nurses and other land-based workers for deployment in Norway. Thus, I am looking forward to be busy when I return to Pinas next year, God willing!
Photos attached are: 1) with Cora and Noah; 2) with Lik and Gene at St. Mel’s church. Thanks for God’s Graces! Let us continue to pray for our country and people - Peace and Joy to You. God Bless us all!!!
Much love and Best Regards!!!
SUSAN BG
