Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! With the cool climate, stronger winds and falling leaves, can winter be far behind? October was kind of hectic with lots of travel and discovering new wonderful sights in other states, highlighted with joyful reunions with relatives and meeting new friends, continuous celebration for the many blessings and more!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on October 16 at the Radisson, the guest speaker was Fr.Thomas Eteneuer – President, Human Life International, who spoke on the topic ’Exorcism and the Church Militant’. With the current trend of too much liberalism and permissiveness, the audience’s interest was enthusiastic as he answered some queries: Is demonic possession real? What makes a person susceptible to diabolical attacks? And what really happens at an exorcism? What most of us know about demons and exorcism comes from Hollywood but what is reality? Fr. Thomas explained some causes of victimization, possession, and then the process of Exorcism. Demonic forces as they are fallen angels; they come in various forms: may come in business suits, games, books, entertainment - lurking in the dark to attack those who allow them. Fr. Eteneuer advised on how to avoid occasions for sins, to be vigilant always, to stay in the state of grace. Avoid practices of vodooism, Ouija boards, and other demonic practices out of curiosity. The Exorcism process should be done by authorized persons only, using the language of the church (Latin) in a set format, with humility and Authority of the Church / God / Holy Spirit! After exorcism, one should grow in holiness, as sign of deliverance and freedom of bondage from the devil. For more info, please visit www. stmike.org.

October / November are months of thanksgiving for the current year and anticipation for the coming year; spent time continuing the series of lunch-outs/ blow-outs with a series of friends and relatives, so it was hard controlling on the calories input; thus, I had to be more committed to my gym work-outs, diet and medication. With the cooler days, it was also time to switch wardrobe, putting on several layering of outfits from the closets.

The delay of this October update is due to computer inaccessibility while on my 4-day sojourn to New Orleans, Louisiana to attend the wedding of my nephew Mark to Sherri Pouyadou (of French descent) at the Loyola University Church, held on October 31, 2009, Saturday, 7:00pm. Why they chose the big Halloween night for their big wedding of 150 guests – their choice – what a way to make a wedding and their anniversaries truly memorable! Since it was my first in that culturally-rich Big Easy state (of Katrina and Brad Pitt fame), I had to maximize immersion into its history and tradition. My flight from Sac on Oct 30 am was via Atlanta (busiest airport in the world with its trams moving you from one concourse to another) was on time, but the flight to New Orleans was delayed due to heavy rains, so I arrived past 10pm, thus unable to attend the rehearsal dinner. My daughter Sarah from NJ, was already checked in at our hotel room and was able to attend dinner, so she updated me on other relatives present asking about me. So I stayed up late that night, bonding and catching up with cousins staying in the same Renaissance Pere Marquette hotel. Anyway, I am on time for the wedding and there to enjoy other life-learning activities. So early Saturday, I joined Grayline tours around Louisiana – the 5-hour Oak Alley Creole Sugarcane Plantation tour and Katrina/ City tour – finishing up an hour before 7pm to prepare for the wedding, to fulfill a social responsibility.

However, when we arrived at church, my sister’s husband (the groom’s father) handed me his video camera and asked me to cover the entire proceedings). As I looked around there was only a still photographer, so I was the only official videographer – just imagine the moving around I did to make an excellent coverage. The wedding was very formal, ensemble/ entourage and guests were very elegant, well-organized to the details, as the bride / groom planned and dreamed about - culminated by all the attendees riding together on a 2-coach tram from the church to the French-style reception, featuring an open bar, cocktails, dancing and speeches – truly fabulous wedding! At the reception, many (on the bride’s side) were asking my Ate who the lady in green (me) was, who did an excellent coverage of the ceremonies, leading and giving the cue to the photographer on the best shots of the proceedings, since I was not at rehearsals; many also offered to take photos with me since I could not be in the church photos. My Ate responded them: ‘She is my sister and she’s an engineer so she can be pushy (whatever that meant?). My Sarah said: Mom, take it as a compliment to your effective work as videographer! Now, I know I do have additional skills and fallback job!

By midnight, most of the guests moved to the French Quarter area where our hotel was, along Bourbon St. where the merry-making costumed people of big Halloween stayed awake till the morning hours. I saw many colorful, weird costumes – some I want to delete from my memory bank! Sarah left early Sunday for her morning flight back to NJ, while I stayed on for Mass at the nearby Immaculate Conception church, then had brunch with other relatives who came from Florida, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, etc. Weddings are truly occasions for reunions and catching up with families you last saw 10, 20, 30, or more years ago, and enjoy listening to various family stories. Well, life is a box of chocolates; you never know what will turn up next!

Attached are 4 photos of: wedding and New Orleans tour. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG

Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! As in Pinas, this month kicks off joyful anticipation of blessed Christmas holidays with carols in the air, thankful celebration for the many blessings received all year round, especially the gift of life and much, much more . . . . !

On Sep. 3, after the 30-min. Q & A in the U.S.- C.I.S. Naturalization process, the officer announced: ‘Congratulations, you have passed all the requirements and we are giving you an advance Birthday gift as you will take your Oath/Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S.A. in ceremonies scheduled on Sept. 17 at the . . . . .!’ On the other hand, Sean had a similar experience with his lady interviewer. At the door, she greeted him thus: “So, you are a varsity volleyball player at CSUS where I got my college degree and a varsity volleyball player too; Is Weidi (their mutual coach) still there?” So Sean felt at ease immediately. After their Q and A which went smoothly, they talked more about their mutual passion Volleyball and their favorite coach. Thus, we were so blessed! The following day, we received our formal notice of the Oath-taking in the mail, which means that the US-CIS staff did all the documentation and posting that very same afternoon (we finished past 2:00pm).

The tough compliance was the 4 years + 1 day continuous stay in the U.S. within a 5-year period, with no foreign trip exceeding 6 months. In my case, it was most difficult so I had to take 2-weeks short trips to Pinas over that period, and God is so generous to allow me to satisfy that requirement. Our Sept. 17 Oath-taking at the Memorial Auditorium was memorable and moving – much diversified group of inductees. Of the 875 new Americans coming from 85 different countries, the top 3 were from India – 103, from Mexico – 115, and from the Philippines – 193, or 22% of total. This statistics is only in Sacramento; with Pinoys scattered all over the country, it would be a similar phenomenon (the fast spreading of Pinoy culture and faith!). After each country was called out, applause followed, proportionate to the representation; so definitely the loudest cheers/claps/shouts were from Pinoys. The ceremonies were very touching and orderly – live performances of patriotic songs, welcome remarks, SSN updates and registration as new voters, among others. Moreover, on that same week, I received the subpoena for my first Jury service scheduled on the 2nd week of October, fulfilling my 1st responsibility as citizen; the other is to vote in elections. This is the efficient American info system – so AMAZING! Emma and Bill, I salute the U.S.P.S. for your very efficient/ speedy services. Thus, I feel so welcome and truly part of American society! I intend to maintain my dual citizenship status, to enjoy the best of both worlds/ cultures.

Therefore, my birthday celebration was marked with so much appreciation and thankfulness to God Almighty for allowing / granting / giving me all these wonderful blessings – good health, fulfilled dreams, among many others. In my Bible study group, we started the series “Journey through the Bible – The Story of Salvation”, an 8-part Bible Timeline, using the guide by Sarah Christmyer and Video by Jeff Cavins, starting with Genesis to Acts of the Apostles (Old and New Testaments). Even as I had read the Bible many times before, you gain fresh insights from the sharings of a new group of persons (20) with their varied profile and life experiences.

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on Sept. 25 at the Radisson, the guest speaker was Dr. Ray Guarendi - Clinical Psychologist, Radio host, and Father of 10 (all adopted) – very remarkable with lots of humor! . The topic was ‘Keep your Children Catholic’ – the parenting myths the experts don’t want you to know. Excerpts: ‘Parents, teachers, and anyone who works with children today are having their confidence, peace of mind, and authority undercut by a number of wide-spread myths that have been pushed on them by the experts, media, and almost everybody else. Dr. Ray offered tips on how to handle them. As usual, I got an autographed copy of his book “Adoption: Choosing It, Living It, and Loving It.’

One of my birthday resolutions is to ‘maximize my learning-for-life on community, society and culture’ through attendance of civic events, like concerts, shows, etc.; the latest was the live performance by the Marine Corps Band at the Capitol grounds. With our inherent musicality and being San Diego-based, there were Pinoys in the band. While I had always enjoyed music, the rendition of patriotic melodies like ‘Semper Fidelis’ and themes of the various military branches brought higher level of perspective for me, this time around – ‘soaking them all in’. Thus, the magical experience and journey continues!

Attached are 4 photos of: Oath-taking, Birthday celeb and Luray experience. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG