Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! Actually, I just got back from New Jersey; the month had been quite hectic for me, especially the 2^nd half-month as I did a lot of travelling to and from the east coast, had some adventurous AMTRAK rides along the 13 original colonies/states, visited new nature spots, meeting up with relatives and friends in the east, and many more.

Actually, the main reason I visited east is upon the request of my daughter Sarah to ‘big-boy sit’ her son MAX while on school vacation at their New Jersey home, to strong-bond with him, which I did pretty well since he calls me lovingly as his ‘Mama Sue of California’ with a nice rolling accent. In between my sitting job, one week-end was spent to visit my UST-Eng batch mate Emma Padaoil, her hubby Bill Bull with their son Charlie. I took the Friday pm AMTRAK ride from the Newark Penn station, and then they met me at the Union station in D.C, and proceeded to their Virginia home. Passing up the standard tourist D.C. spots where I had been in my past visits, Emma brought me to the amazing Luray Caverns (2-hrs drive from their home) where we spent more than 2-hours admiring Nature’s wonders. When I had my Geology class in college, I memorized the definitions of stalactites, stalagmites, igneous, sedimentary rocks, caverns, natural deposits/ formations and many more, but could not visualize their colors, textures, and various characteristics – the total package! The visit provided all the information needed and fulfillment to truly appreciate God’s wonderful and mysterious ways / plans for balance and beauty of His creations! Thanks so much Emma and Bill for bringing me there even if you have to repeat the journey all over again with your previous guests – out of the way and extraordinary!

Since Emma is active in the planning of our Pinas UST-Eng big Feb 2010 as our 40^th year jubilee, she arranged for a video-phone conference with Nilo Daza and Amelia M. We managed to agree to save the dates Feb. 20 – March 5, 2010 for other reunion activities, like out of Manila trips. Then on Sunday, I asked them to bring me to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception to say prayers and ended up attending Mass (even if we had attended already the Sat anticipated Mass). Well, better to offer God more time than lesser, part of His mysterious Will and Graces! We visited the U.S. Postal Museum (both Emma and Bill work with the US Postal Service) before they brought me back to AMTRAK station. Thanks so much for a wonderful week-end! My visit with them is a reciprocity when they went out of their way to be my 1^st visitor, staying overnight in our new home when we just moved in July 2007, while they were on vacation in CA. Our friendship has come full circle!

The rest of my NJ days were highlighted by visits with other relatives, trips to Filipino food stores like Red Ribbon, Masses at various churches, as on Aug. 28 which is the Feast of St. Augustine, my favorite Doctor of the Church (converted and baptized at age 33 years), the patron Saint of my hometown in Panglao, Bohol. There was a big fiesta celebration even for kababayans in NJ, lots of invitation but I had to beg off due to my main job function. Upon my arrival, Sarah had asked me to cook menudo and pancit so we had Filipino food (in addition to adobo, inihaw, paksiw, etc.) during most of my stay.

Although I was not physically present during our monthly Catholic Lunch Club, held on August 21 at the Radisson Hotel, my friend provided me her notes on that occasion. The guest speaker was Mark Shea, Sr. Content Editor, Catholic Exchange, whose topic was: Care and Feeding of the Lay Catholic Apostle. Lay Catholics are called to do the vast majority of the work in the New Evangelization. He gave tips about the cultural and theological glitches that confront the lay apostle in the 21^st century America; how to deal with the challenges in these times of relativism and much opposition to expressions of faith.

I participated in the on-line Live Video/Chat Streaming during Tita Cory’s Mass and Funeral hosted by GMA7News.TV which lasted 12 hours (6:00pm to 6:00am Sacramento, CA time). Using my Facebook account, I was able to post comments which were shown instantly on the live chat stream, together with the rest coming from around the world. Comments were varied: on the live video, comments to your comments, mostly loving ‘Pasasalamat to Tita Cory’. It was a truly moving and memorable experience! She is truly a courageous and remarkable person; a historical person, we owe her so much; she deserves all the accolades and honor!

Attached are 4 photos of: with my MAX, with Emma in DC, with cousins, Sarah in NJ. 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! We are reminded of Pinas days with 3-digit temperature in the afternoons (4-5pm) but cool air in the mornings/evenings with delta breeze!

The month started with the 233rd Independence Day celebration with fireworks observed in various parts of the SAC area. Since Max’s celebration of his 7^th birthday and his mother Sarah referred us to her facebook account to view recent photos, we (Gerry and myself) had to register our individual accounts in order to be updated. Where before, I only used Sean’s account to view photos, I can now update myself easily on current developments – we are truly electronically connected (with other friends and relatives) globally! Despite the advantages of fb with photo uploading facility and instant comments, I will still continue with my monthly journal/blog, which has its unique feature.

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club, held on July 24 at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, our guest speaker was Rev. Fr. Joseph Howard, Jr. – Professor, Bioethics, Moral Theology, and John Paul II Fellow. He spoke on The Catholic Response: Reproductive Choice, Death with Dignity, Stem Cell Research. His discussion provided answers to some questions: What is the most fundamental of rights? How do we respond to the medical and ethical issues confronting us today? How do we present the Catholic response to our friends, families and co-workers? Fr. Howard helped us understand today’s threats to human dignity and how to present the catholic point of view and charity. Grounded in doctrine and guidance on the crucial issues, as well as the most current scientific research, he was uniquely qualified to lead us through this rocky ground. He often used and cited the philosophies of St. Thomas Aquinas as rationale of his treaties, especially on truth, faith, reason, and proofs of God’s existence, for which I am very familiar.

Yesterday, I hosted our monthly OD Circle with a Swimming party at our clubhouse. I had promised our leader to give me the summer month so kids are out of school to come and for them to have fun. Yesterday, we had five adults and more than ten kids enjoy our gathering from 10 to 3 pm. For food, we had hotdogs, siopao, muffins, candies, chips, nuts and various drinks. The kids had real fun and were very appreciative of everything I did – they are looking forward to next summer.

At past 3:00pm today, while Sean and I were having late lunch at Red Lobster, I got a text message from my daughter Sarah (in New Jersey) with the message: “Tita Cory is dead. May she rest in peace!" Shortly thereafter, she followed it up with a call, then we started talking and recalling on our Pinas experiences - attending all the Cory ‘yellow’ rallies from 1983 – 86. Yes, (in her early teens - Sarah, Gerry and I) were committed participants; together with 5 other ‘middle class’ couples from North Fairview, we attended pre/post-election rallies, concerts, and 4-days of EDSA (Radio Veritas, Luneta, NAMFREL counts, EDSA, etc.). We voted in the same NF precinct with Jim Paredes (of APO) who were regular features in the rallies and concerts, so we were quite familiar seeing one another in those events. We were physically in EDSA (every day) when Cory took oath as President, and when Marcos took off for Paoay. We truly thank God for Tita Cory for restoring Democracy in our country!

What happened after that is a different story – considering Cory’s limited expertise and managerial skills – like the brownouts/mismanagement in the power sector, abuses of her cronies, the leftist influences and the power-hungry rightists, among many other problems. Despite everything, she maintained her moral high-ground and spiritual values, for which we are very grateful, remember and pray for. May her soul rest in peace in heaven, AMEN!

I was deeply touched recalling all those events with Sarah on the phone, bringing us back 20-25 years in our mother-daughter bonding, when everything seemed simple, easy, always happy – these are what beautiful memories are made for, and we truly thank GOD for them!!!

Attached are 3 more photos of: 4th of July celebration, OD Cirlcle. 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! Summer months remind me of Pinas climate in the high 90s, cool breeze in the early mornings and early evenings, with high humidity; as we look forward to the joyful celebration of Independence day this coming week-end!

This month, national and international ‘hot’ events brought varied range of emotions - from being happy, to sad, to shocking, etc., consistent with the heat of summer. Being a positive person, I always start with the happy side: on the personal level – communications with my family members had been enhanced with the recent acquisition by our Pinas office of an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera which can show all the details of my office and all the office staff, while I still have my ‘jurassic age’ camera here in the U.S. which shows only my face (when it comes to tech gadgets, Pinas is sometimes ahead); on the health and safety front: family members are all okay and reporting positive - thanks always to God’s Love! On the other hand, shocking and sad are the turmoil of the elections in Iran which resulted in the death of people and the threats of North Korea – coupled with the slow/inaction by the U.S. leadership; to the continuing economic crisis, especially in the California state government; prayers and condolences on the passing of icons Farah Fawcett (our generation’s glamour – hair and smile - model) and Michael Jackson (I watched his ‘Thriller’ concert held at the Manila bay reclamation area during the late 80s), and the husband of my UST’70 classmate Tess Hizon– Rolando Viloria: eternal rest grant unto them Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them, may they rest in peace, AMEN!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club, held on June 19 at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, our guest speaker was Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, founder and director of Aurem Cordis Center for Christian evangelization and apologetics. He has a regular Sunday morning show on EWTN in our area. His topic was on Truth, Freedom and the Human Person: Catholic Evangelization and the Public Forum, where he presented the challenges faced by Catholics in a secular culture, and discussed how to live faith with courage, passion and fidelity. A national and international speaker and author, he served as consultant for the NCCB National Directory for Catechesis and well-known for his perspectives on male spirituality and keeping youth spirituality alive. His dynamic delivery and passionate message challenged, captivated and motivated the audience, which included my sister Ate Nen who finally found time for our lunch date. Actually, she had long wanted to be part of this catholic group but found difficulty being connected through the www network system (like registering, logging in, making reservations through websites).

This month, family bonds were more connected. Through the GMA7-Pinoy TV, we had been following closely the ‘Are you the Next Big Star’ singing contest where Alexa Ortega, the very cute 19-year old balikbayan from SFO, is one of the top 16. She is the granddaughter of my Ate Celia Cloma, whose daughter married Pepe Ortega (of La Union). She receives good feedbacks from the judges, so we hope she gets many fan votes, and eventually gets to the top. Either my Ate Nen and hubby come home to watch TV on Sunday nights or I record the show for later viewing. Then, last Saturday, their grandson Paolo celebrated his 2nd birthday in Oakland, so we had dinner with them at Le Chaval. Week-end before that, we were also together for lunch at their home in Roseville; and on every 2nd Saturday of the month, my Ate and I are always attending our Opus Dei Recollection where we cap our activities with lunch and bonding updates. Likewise, since December, our daughters – my Sarah and her Maria had been keeping in touch and exchanging notes on mother-daughter relationships and issues which are keeping family ties stronger, hopefully!

Attached are 3 more photos of: Summer Outfit, Cathedral Picture, and family gathering. 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! Summer is here with daytime temperatures ring to the 80s/ 90s, flowers all abloom, cool breeze in the early mornings and early evenings; unlike Pinas summer days with its high humidity.

On the 1^st week of May, our St. Mel’s Catholic school was put on national (even global) attention as the 1^st reported case of AH1N1 (swine flu virus) in California. Media attention focused on our parish school when a 7th grade boy who returned from a spring break vacation in Mexico tested positive, and the swift action and effective response of school authorities in cooperation with government health officials, prevented promptly its spread. After 10 days of suspension, classes were resumed. The boy was quarantined and treated effectively, while health measures to prevent its spread were followed by the entire community, especially among churchgoers, who went on with regular activities, even with all the multi-media coverage around the vicinity. Thank God, everything is now back to normal!

Thus, the special celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, marked with floral offerings, coronation, candle-lit procession, Benediction, also served as Thanksgiving for overcoming the H1N1 trial with flying colors, that the school went through; with special participation by the school children, under the usual direction of Pinoy Fr. George. The school principal and staff were lauded and given standing ovation for the well-done job - immediate control and proper management of the crisis at hand.

On our Catholic Lunch Club for the month, held May 29 at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, our guest speaker was Roy Schoeman, a Jewish convert to Catholicism whose topic was Salvation is from the Jews. He is also a frequent guest on EWTN, author of many books and Catholic evangelist. He spoke on Judaism both as a religion and as a central element of Christian salvation, namely, the role that Jews and Judaism play in God’s plan for all mankind revealed in the light of the Catholic faith. He demonstrated there is one theological issue on which both Jews and Christians should agree, and that is “salvation is from the Jews.” He delivered the message from a Jewish perspective within the catholic faith, reflecting that most biblical characters, including the New Testament are Jews. The turning point in his conversion at age 32 while serving as professor at MIT and Harvard was his recognition of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God and his desire to be closer to her. That time, he wanted to go to Confession so he can receive Holy Communion, pray the Hail Mary, ‘O Mary conceived without sin, Pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ The presentation was highly provocative, engaging, and fascinating!

On Memorial Day, we attended the Jazz Mass at the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in downtown Sac. This is part of the 36^th annual Jazz Festival Week celebration, featuring jazz bands from all over the world converging and playing at various hotels and parks in the state capital; enjoying beautiful jazz music the entire week! With summer break, Sean had been busy attending graduation ceremonies and parties of his friends, outings at our clubhouse. He is at life phase when socializing is peaking up and I am just awed by current culture here where it’s okay for girls visiting boys at their home. On week-end evenings, 5 lady friends would often come to visit him, spend time playing Rockband, watch TV movies, singing, etc. It is good that Sean respects my private time / space, so he ensures that his visitors arrive when I am done with my TV watching to go to my upstairs bedroom for my Sudoku and reading.

Global links: Coming to America meant being separated temporarily from close family and friends, like our triumvirate of Agnes, Margie and myself, which was formed during our NPC days (over 20 years). Agnes (the social worker) is with our office as Gerry’s guardian, while Margie migrated with her family to New Zealand. In God’s wonderful ways, she met and got close to my UST classmates Sonia and Pancho who also migrated there. S and P are in the loop of our UST Eng yahoo group, and they were very helpful to Marge’s family when they first arrived in NZ; so how amazing and awesome that our lives are always intertwined and connected wherever part of the globe we go, Margie and I concluded! We are looking forward to our reunion, either in Pinas or N.Z. or U.S., sometime next year.

Last week-end, my cousin Ate Celia (from SFO and now settled in La Union, Pinas enjoying dual citizenship idyllic life) visited and had dinner at home with my Ate and Nong Nonie. We stayed until 2:00AM, updating on our life stories.

Attached are 3 photos: family gathering, solo picture, State Capitol. 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! Flowers are all abloom with the advent of spring and glorious are our feelings with Christ’s Resurrection! Sean and I participated in our parish activities, consistent with all the traditional rituals observed in Pinas.

On our Catholic Lunch Club for the month, held last Friday April 24, at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, our guest speaker was Fr. Jonathan Morris, who I watch often on FOX TV as news analyst, EWTN – his opinions are always consistent with my values – so his talk was highly anticipated. When I arrived at the venue, the queue was already long, box-office hit, very large audience of more than 250. I got a copy of his book ‘The Promise’, right away for his autograph to avoid the ‘after lunch queue’. About Fr. Jonathan: Ordained to the priesthood in 2002, he has served as theological advisor to Mel Gibson in the making of the film “Passion of the Christ’. In 2005, with the sickness of Pope John Paul II, Fr. Jon began his work as religious news analyst and commentator for several domestic and international channels including CNN, Sky News, and BBC. He now serves as regular news contributor for the FOX News Channel (which I always watch), where he offers ethical and moral commentary to news items. Fr. Jon’s engaging presentation offered insights on suffering, in its many forms. I truly enjoyed reading his book ‘The Promise’: God’s Purpose and Plan for when Life Hurts; it was like journeying through life, which confirmed all my learnings on Philosophies I studied (St. Thomas’, Values, Human Person), especially those on Truth: Faith and Reason.

On the professional front, I was kept busy with preparing for my next class in May: re-training for the new on-line computer system being used by National University (NU). We are migrating from the iLinc to the new Class Live Pro (CLP) system, so the faculty has to be fully prepared to teach with the new system – learning CLP – attending as many training sessions on-line until the comfort level to teach is attained, doing actual teaching demo. One has to be open-minded and flexible to learn new technology, ever-open to upgrade one’s skills, knowledge, attitude (SKA)! Likewise, seminars on Best Practices on Teaching for faculty were conducted – with very attractive incentives!

In these times of massive employment lay-offs, Americans are highly encouraged to go back to school to re-train and upgrade their skills, or to get college degrees, so there is huge demand for education; consequently, the upsurge of enrollment in universities. As a result, teaching schedules are planned way ahead of time – my teaching schedule for up to May 2010 (a year from now) had been given to me – what amazing job security! For practical reasons, there is increased demand for on-line courses to obtain college degrees. Currently, only 20% of citizens have college degrees, while only 5% have post-graduate degrees, unlike in Pinas, where most people we know have college and post-graduate degrees. The high American out-of-college mortality is a result of their culture ‘of children over 18 years old leaving their parental homes to live on their own, getting jobs in retail, seeking early independence – hence, being content with receiving minimum ‘McDonald’s salary to pay for their bills, leaving their college education as optional; anyway, they are already earning to survive. A specific example is the son of my Sr. Vice-President who himself has a Masters in Engineering degree and used to be a Public Works Director in Folsom City. His son Derek, at 19, lives in his own apartment, after high school has not entered college, enjoying his job mixing paints at Home Depot. This is a downside of democracy / independence in American culture. In our culture, we parents consider our children’s education our responsibility – it’s our best legacy to them!

Likewise, here is my personal observation. Despite the economic downturn, or as a result of efforts for turn-around economic programs, there seems to be a great demand for personnel in the infra-structure projects industry, particularly in CA. The past weeks, I had been receiving calls from professional recruiters for resume updates or interviews for top-level managerial positions, apparently due to my attractive qualifications and experience. However, reality-checking my circumstances, long-term project commitments are not in my 2-5 year planning horizon, so I have to politely decline such offers. Better to give those big-time employment slots to others, who may be more in need of livelihood for their survival. I am just so happy with my teaching opportunities at NU – sticking to my passion and less-stressful life – affording me more time for health maintenance programs, and for my spiritual enrichment activities, praying for family, friends, and communities!

Attached are 3 more photos of: family gathering. 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! We are now enjoying the nice spring weather with cool air, mid-day sunshine, occasional rains in the evenings, and flowers coming to bloom, and looking forward to Easter Sunday!

This month had been sprinkled with activities in preparation for the most glorious feast of our Catholic faith. After my regular Friday hour at the Adoration chapel, our church has the Stations of the Cross at 11:00a, attended by the students of St. Mel’s. On our Catholic Lunch Club for the month, held last Friday March 20, at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, our guest speaker was Ms. Katrina Zeno, who talked on St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians: Christ the Bridegroom. Ms. Zeno, foundress of Women of the 3d Millennium, also co-hosted EWTN’s series on Pope John Paul II’s ‘Theology of the Body’, author of Every Woman’s Journey: Answering Who am I?, For the Feminine Heart, and The Body Reveals God. She has spoken across the U.S. and throughout the world, especially in this year devoted to St. Paul. She took us through Paul’s journey from merit to mercy to marriage and its application for all of us; she was truly an inspiring and engaging speaker. As usual, I got autographed copies of her books.

Then last week-end, I attended the 3-day live-in Opus Dei retreat in Novato, CA. As my 1st U.S. retreat, I am not familiar with the venue so I needed to carpool. Ms. Libby was so kind to share me a ride on her SUV to and from the venue, which allowed bonding to develop. At the venue, of the 12 attendees, 4 were Filipinas or 30%, so I am really proud of our faith and culture. While I always had my OD retreat in Pinas before Holy Week since 2000 for 5 years, they were not live-in, so this time - it was more wonderful and meaningful – as it afforded more focus and reflective ambience. Fr. Jim Kelly was our leader. Jobs were farmed out to participants so I led in various activities like Spiritual reading, Stations of the Cross, Rosaries, reading at Masses. The meditations, talks, reflections were so inspiring, the amenities, food, venue were all so great – overall, it was like experiencing heaven on earth!

Sean celebrated his 22nd birthday on March 25. During mass (also the feast of the Annunciation), Fr. George offered ‘special intentions for Sean’s birthday’. We had dinner (spaghetti, lumpia, dinuguan, shrimps, humba, salads, cake, ice cream, etc.) at home with guests, including my sister and hubby, Gene and Lik, Eve, Russel and Tess, Fr. George (he just returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land so he gave Sean a beautiful souvenir from his trip) and 10 of Sean’s friends from school. Our guests left before midnight, but his friends stayed on, enjoying the food, drinks (vodka, margarita, etc.), playing Rockband, poker, tongits, and other card games. Sean said they left past 3:00 am because some had to go to work. Best wishes for good health, wisdom, success in your studies and career, and may you achieve all your goals – keep up the good work!!!

By the way, through our bonding on our way to the retreat, I learned that Ms. Libby (who used to work in the Philippines and Thailand) was with the F.B.I. so she worked closely with our NBI and knew details about our country Pinas. She is an amazing, multi-tasking high-energy type of person, which I imagined myself partly, 20 years ago. From our retreat, we went straight to Libby’s home where she hosted our monthly Faith enhancement studies, so Sean fetched me from there. Since working with the FBI is the target job of my Sean, he is glad to be connected to this cool, tough FBI lady who is giving him tips on how to get there. Libby’s husband, whom she met while they were on FBI training, is with the State Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA – the Mexican problem/issue). With Sean’s connection as parallel to Jamal’s destiny, how wonderful God puts pieces on the puzzle of His creations!

Attached are 2 more photos of: family gathering during Sean’s birthday celebrations, Sean's group of friends. 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! We just had ash on our forehead to remind us of our mortality and the start of Lenten season so I wish you all meaningful fasting and abstinence days ahead!

February is the coldest month here in SAC made more so with the heavy rains, especially in the evenings when driving is more tedious with thick fog and traffic. Since my teaching class was held off-campus at the Roseville Electric yard (about 30 minutes drive from home), I have to exercise more caution to ensure safety and prevent peril. I thank God the course will be completed soon. However, we do welcome the rains for the water supply of the region and neighboring areas.

On our Catholic Lunch Club for the month, held last Friday Feb. 20, at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, our guest speaker was Fr. Derek LaBranch (a classmate of Pinoy Fr. George who were ordained together 3 years ago, so he is also a friend). Fr. Derek spoke about the many ways ‘God shows us His calling in our life’ – that we have to pray for discernment on our vocation. I was happy that he often quoted St. Jose Maria Escriva and how the people of Opus Dei are seeking ‘holiness’ in the midst of their profession and daily work routine’, fulfilling God’s call to personal holiness and sanctification here on earth’. He shared that he found his vocation while at the Adoration Chapel where he spent time regularly. Discerning our vocation is a continuous process while we are alive.

Sean is busy with school and sports activities during week-ends going out of town overnight staying in hotels, to Sta. Barbara, CA., Humbolt, Chico, really making the most of opportunities coming along. Sarah called up excitedly how the Jamal character in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is so like her brother’s personality, so now we fondly call him ‘Jamal’. While Sean is enjoying his magic moments, I am also pre-occupied with my spiritual, together with my physical and intellectual enhancement activities. Our Bible Study group just completed the Gospel and letters of John, which was capped with lunch at the home of our leader Claude. Our next class will resume after Easter. I am looking forward to my 3-day Opus Dei Retreat scheduled before Lent, which will be held at the Women’s Center in Novato, CA. Since 2000, I always had my annual OD Retreat just before Holy Week.

Wisdom Nuggets (consistent with the month of Love and Lent season): The promise to ‘wipe out’ offenses, even when the offenders do not deserve forgiveness, is a promise almost beyond our understanding. So often, we ourselves would rather extract ‘justice’ rather than offer forgiveness for wrongdoing. It seems almost a part of our nature. Did hat person cause suffering? Then he or she must suffer equally. “An eye for an eye.” By “justice”, we often mean balancing the scales. But what if the word’s scales were really balanced? What about he few of us who use up – in fact, throw away – more food and tuff than hundreds of millions of our sisters and brothers ever see? Do we truly want the worlds scales balanced?

At any rate, first God says: “You burdened me with your sins, and wearied me with your crimes. And then God says: It is I who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses. Not for what we do, nor because we can “even things out with God”, but simply out of God’s goodness, we are forgiven.

: We cannot actually earn God’s forgiveness, any more than we have earned any of the other blessings we have received. We easily convince ourselves that we have ‘earned’ our health, education, job opportunities, and style. “But did we earn” being born in a certain place and time? What if our gifts are taken away and given to others who lacked such gifts from the moment they were born - and even before birth? Then they would have far more than we. Would that even things out? Would that be justice? The distribution of blessings is a great mystery (count and appreciate your blessings always!).

Part of the mystery is this: In the face of our arrogance and selfishness, our refusal to forgive – “after we have burdened and wearied God with our crimes” – God keeps on responding with forgiveness!

Attached are 4 photos: Max and Mama Sue, Sean, Max and Mama Sue, Party with Liklik and Gene's new home, and Last Night in California for Sarah and Max. 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! I wish you all more Blessing throughout the year and Happy Valentines 2009! Thank God for the wonderful holidays spent together, as our multi-located family members went back to their respective places – my daughter Sarah and Max left for New Jersey midnight of Jan. 2, while my husband Gerry left for Pinas on Jan 17, allowing us more time to enjoy the sights and friends.

Aside from our routine of going to our clubhouse for physical fitness, church for masses, shopping, we spent time as follows: dinner at their homes: with Mert & Edna Tanegra, then with Russell & Tes Gerosola; driving for a day to enjoy the picture-perfect scenery with snow at Lake Tahoe, appreciating Nature with its snow-capped mountains and snow-covered roof of houses and roads along the way; a night playing with luck at Thunder Valley Casino with my brod-in-law Dr. Tony (I could not stand the smoky ambience, though we enjoyed the buffet dinner); a day visiting the scenic grape vineyards as far as your eyes can see and winery at Napa Valley (visited 5 wineries, like Mondavi); capturing the beautiful memories in sights and sounds by DVD which Gerry will enjoy when he is back in Pinas. As despedida, a 2nd dinner at the Tanegras’ was held where Gerry demonstrated his ‘cooking/preparing seafood skills’ like sinigang, Japanese sushi, kinilaw, and others, complete with saki and ‘presentation’. The audience was impressed and thankful to learn how to prepare these healthy foods. With his cooking talent recognized, Gerry is considering the idea of living it up here. Gerry left us marinated food in the freezer which could be good for 5-months supply!

Gerry had his personal satisfactions: he stuck to his History and Military TV channels most of the time, bought his collections of ‘wars and battles’ DVDs from Frys and Costco, even phone-ordering from TV ads; these DVDs will fill his time in Pinas. Likewise, his passion for battles was satiated when I accompanied him to watch opening day showing of movies like T. Cruise’ ‘Valkyrie” and D. Craig’s ‘Defiance’.

On our Catholic Breakfast Club meetings, the format (timeand venue) was changed to lunchtime starting January, held last Friday, Jan 23, at the Radisson Hotel Sacra6mento, with the intention of attracting more attendees. The move was highly successful since the attendance was doubled, also due to the very popular speaker - Stephen Ray – who poke on ‘Salvation: Abraham to Augustine’ and how we must live our lives to get there. About the speaker: A convert to the Catholic Church, and author of the best-selling books Crossing the Tiber, Upon this Rock, and St. John’s Gospel, Steve speaks at conferences around the world and is a regular guest on Catholic Anwer Live, The Journey Home, and has appeared on many other radio and TV programs. Hi enthusiasm for the Catholic Faith is infectious, as he brings the breadth of hi knowledge and experience on the mysteries and traditions of our Church. He and his wife Janet are currently producing a 10-video series called The Footprints of God; The Story of Salvation from Abraham to Augustine on location in the Holy Land and surrounding countries. Since 1995, they visited the Holy Land more than 60 times, leading pilgrimages; spend heir time researching, writing and teaching about the Catholic Church; defending Catholicism. I got an autographed copy of his book ‘St. John’s Gospel’.

Sean and I are now back to our regular schedule: he started his school Spring term on Jan. 26, and being lead player in his Volleyball varsity team; while I have a schedule to teach MNS 407 Management Science starting this week at the Roseville offsite campus and to our Bible Study class of St. John’s Gospel, which will be finished before the Holy Week. Meantime, we reminisce fondly the beautiful memories and family jokes that we shared, like Max’s singing ‘Gagambino and his aping Dennis Trillo’s actions; Sean often recalls his Dad’s idiosyncrasies: Gerry chose to wake him up from his deep slumber to ask for trivial things like cotton buds when he could have asked the rest of us who are all awake (favorite daw kasi niya si Sean; now, every time we enter our home or he enters my room, Sean would always yell: ‘Mom, kape kape, kape’ imitating/ mimicking his father. Sometimes I would react: ‘I’m already resting/tired’, forgetting the joke. (Sean is so good at mimicking people - it’s a talent). Oh well, realities come hard and slow: ‘All good things come to end and everything on earth is temporary, so just enjoy the ‘magic moments, detachment, move forward, and see you later.’

Attached are photos of: 1) group hug at Lake Tahoe; 2), 3) & 4) holiday family photos. 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 to everyone! Merry Christmas and a more Blessed New Year 2009 to everyone; as we Praise and Thank God for His Love and Generosity during the year and ask for more Blessings for 2009 - Peace, Joy, Good Health, Love, Happiness – among others, provision for all our needs and the rest of the world, especially the children!

On our Catholic Breakfast Club meeting for December, the invited speaker was Mr. Tarek Saab, who spoke on ‘Gut Checking: young men confronting the Big issues like Love, Work and Manhood’, offering a fresh perspective on being a ‘twenty-something’ male and Catholic, in today’s world! A candidate on NBC’s The Apprentice 5, he is president of T. Saab Media, and founder of Lionheart Apparel, a men’s clothing line he launched after his TV debut. He has been named Kipling’s “Who’s Who among Executives and Business Executives for 2008. He is a popular Catholic speaker and author of ‘Gut Checking’ which I got a signed copy with dedication for my children Sean and Sarah. An insight as guide for young: Choose a ‘favorite saint’ to become a model for your life who will serve as your guide, like St. Augustine, St. Thomas, St. Theresa, and always think of death as the greatest equalizing factor to keep you grounded - for humility!

We celebrated a very meaningful and memorable Christmas season with much joy and happiness in the family as we were all together, after 3 years of being multi-located. My hubby Gerry joined us at home in Sacramento during the 1^st week, so we were able to complete the 9-days ‘Misa de Gallo‘ masses starting on Dec. 16, culminating with the Christmas evening Mass at St. Mel’s church. Our daughter Sarah and her 6-years old son Max, who are based in New Jersey, joined us Dec. 23 – Jan. 2. so we all enjoyed our magic moments together for the holidays – thanks be to God!

On Christmas day, we had lunch/dinner with my sister’s family at their residence in Roseville, with the traditional exchanging of gifts and updates on life events. The following days were spent on family bonding – driving around Sac area, shopping, eating out on various restaurants, keeping fit at our clubhouse – father/son bonding playing billiards, visiting/meeting up with friends, trips to Max’s ‘toy farm’, highlighted by studio sitting for family photos which will be coming out soon.

For our traditional family ‘last Saturday of the year-end diner at home’, we invited close family and friends as we served Filipno lechon, shrimp with quail eggs, dinuguan, sotanghon, lumpiang shanghai, sinigang, several salads and desserts, drinks, culminated with ‘magic sing’ concert by all attendees. Guests included my sister and hubby; Dr. Connie Fajardo (a surprise as she sang like an Opera singer) and hubby with their friend Sylvia, daughter and her son; Mert (my husband’s ship Radio Operator 30 years ago who is also residing in our Anatolia) and wife Dr. Edna with their daughter Carolyne; Russel and Tess; Sean’s friends: Red, Jason and Michelle. They enjoyed singing till 2:00 am. When the guests were leaving my hubby Gerry said he would go up to the bedroom to sleep. I reminded him that we still had a lot of work to do – fixing up all the food left, cleaning up and everything – the realities of American living, with no help to clean after you, so we all had a big laugh – reality check!!!

While we wanted to spend New Year’s day at home, we squeezed the Schroeder’s invitation to be at their home in Roseville due to Sarah’s limited time; we had good time on ‘magic sing’; we realized we were a karaoke family as Gerry always opened with his ’My Way’ , Sarah with her ‘Till I Met You’, Sean with his “Creep’, then with my ‘Dancing Queen’; likewise, Max always grabs the mike and joins his lolo in ‘My Way’.

Attached are photos of: 1) at home with our guests; 2)at my sister’s home ; and 3) with Sarah, Max and lechon. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. We thank God for a meaningful Christmas with the entire family in Sacramento. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG