Dear Loved Ones,

            Pleasant Greetings from Sac, CA, USA! From the heat of summer and fall, comes the sudden cold of rainy season – with storms in the east, the presidential debates for the coming US elections; still counting all the wonderful blessings – Thanks GOD!

My regular Opus Dei monthly activities were highlighted with the moving talk by Sue Downs and Reflections, Benediction and Blessing/Penance by Fr. Gerry. I was inspired to pledge for the Chestnut Center for Ladies in the Bay Area. We are almost done with our monthly pledge commitment to our St. Mel’s Parish Center project for two years, thus time to start with another 2-years monthly commitment to my Opus Dei Group - God wills. As far  back in memory, vital to our family values are sharing our talents, time and treasure (more than tithing); thus, God is rewarding us thousand fold blessings!

I attended our catholic Lunch Club on October 19 at the newly re-named Red Lion Hotel (formerly Westlake / Radisson Hotel) where we had Fr. Andrew Johnson, Canon of the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulcher, as speaker on the topic “From Managing Return on Investments to Managing Return on Values”. In this difficult time, we are all called to stand up for our Catholic values every day. This is daunting – often we don’t see the likelihood of success. St. Thomas Moore said: ‘You may abandon the ship in a storm because you cannot control the wind. What you can’t turn to good, you must at least make as little bad as you can.’ Fr. Andrew is uniquely qualified to talk about challenges in the workplace, the secular, family and religious life since he experienced them all. He had a career in business, married with 6 children/ 11 grandkids, widowed, then became a priest at 69 years old. The kids call him Father Father. He is very active on promoting New Evangelization thru Communications / Media. Effective means are: Be Kind always – Evangelize by the way you act; Creativity – using God’s graces, gifts and skills; Practical Wisdom – use words of Encouragement, Inspiration, Canons of the Monks (Poverty, Obedience, Celibacy); He expounded on Kindness as the Love of God in our heart; act with open heart, mind, forgiveness; You have to love everyone; you don’t have to like them! 

With Mr. Yorozu’s promise of more vessels next year, our FSAC office is actively pursuing renewal of ISO-Japan certification soon. Thus, I was kept busy reviewing and editing the FSAC Manuals for Quality Systems Policies (130 pages) and Quality Procedures (155 pages); coordinating with the staff on responsibilities for implementation, monitoring and control.  These systems improvement requires decisive actions; which means to strike a balance between the ‘soft personal style’ of Pinas management vis-à-vis my studied MBO style of ‘goals/target orientation’ quality management, to the point of a ’Hitler’ tag, with Sean and Max as my ‘Gestapo and youth’. We gladly accept the tag with humor and as Sarah confirmed “nothing wrong, cause ‘magaling and effective si Hitler’!

In this regard, I quote Edmund Burke: ‘For evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. When bad men combine, the good must associate, else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.’

  Other highlights for the month:

·         Sean acted as baptismal sponsor to Tom’s niece Sophia, which required him to get a Certification from our parish priest that he is an active / practicing Catholic, had received the Sacraments, and qualified to be a baptismal sponsor. I believe we must implement this requirement in Pinas; let us not assume that everyone is qualified / responsible to be a godparent.

·         Watched the movies: The Perks of Being a Wallflower – starring Emma Watson, Taken 2 – Liam Neeson, Here Comes the Boom – Kevin James, Salma and Charice, and Pitch Perfect – Anna Kendricks: all memorable, moving and funny films, experienced at The Palladio – El Dorado, always followed by lunch at Japanese Blue Nami, then shopping at Folsom outlets;

·         Read 2 inspiring books: The Wisdom of the Saints – an Anthology by Jill Adels and First Comes Love by Dr. Scott Hahn.

 Attached are 3 photos with family and 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 Sac, CA, USA! The month was full of celebrations: gifts of life, good health, pleasant surprises, and wonderful blessings – Thanks GOD!

With the resumption of school, our Bible study group also resumed its activities with its launching on Sept. 13, ‘Movie and Desert Night’ at the new St. Mel’s parish center, showing ‘Introduction to the Bible’, attended by all participants – so enlightening! Our Tuesday Bible Study group of 22 is in the midst of 1 Corinthians.

I attended our catholic Lunch Club on September 21 at the Westlake Hotel with my friend Joanne where we had  Benjamin Glenn - Lawyer, as speaker on the topic “My Catholic Windshield is bigger than my southern Baptist rearview Mirror”. He was born “within sight of the buckle of Bible Belt” in Midland, Texas and grew up as a Southern Baptist. Now, one of Silicon Valley’s top intellectual property attorneys, Benjamin shared how history continues to draw him into the Catholic Church. He told anecdotes of biblical personalities, blended history, scripture and humor together to inspire others to fund joy in daily, personal faith formation, like David, Jonah, Elijah. He also offered practical tips for making the most of the upcoming Year of Faith, which starts on October 12.

 

Sept. 7 was the birthday of my daughter Sarah, and I offered Mass at St. Mel’s followed by my committed time at Adoration, then Sean and I had lunch at Elephant Bar, after we greeted Sarah by phone; we learned she had her own celebration! In the afternoon, I visited Carolina (originally from Brazil who married a Filipino) at Elk Grove who just delivered her son Paulo; she was experiencing difficult times in her life and I was glad to extend timely support, kindness and love! I also attended Paulo’s baptism at St. Stephen the 1^st Martyr Church on Sept. 15.

 

On Sept. 20, I started the day with Mass at St. Mel’s, followed by brunch with some friends, after an hour at Adoration chapel. I intended to read books and let the rest of the day pass quietly. However, at 4:00pm, Sean surprised me when he passed by to deliver a basket of edible fruits and balloons – truly unexpected! The best gift we had was the firming up of plans for our multi-located family to spend Christmas here in SAC – God wills! This means flights had been arranged: for Sarah and Max (from / to New Jersey), for Gerry (from / to Manila). By the way, as previously planned, Gerry and I will be flying together on Dec. 30 for Manila, via Hawaiian Airlines – God wills!

Other highlights for the month:

·      Other celebrations: Birthday of Mama Mary: the ultimate Virgo! Likewise birthdays of Admiral Tomas Cloma – Sept. 18; Lyrio, Don Davies, Lori, Tess, and other friends.

·      Sean’s  move to Field Area Audit brought new excitements to his career, as he is fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a ‘policeman’ - implementing laws. I recall, during his prep school graduation at 3 yrs old, on stage he said: ‘I am Sean Gerardo, when I grow up; I want to be a policeman!’ I was wondering then, why not ‘become a doctor, lawyer, or teacher . . the usual, conventional. . .’ Over the years, life went on, but Sean harbored the feelings of being a law enforcer, like when he sees drivers violating traffic rules, he would comment, ‘sarap hulihin’. In his position now, he goes with SWAT teams on car, with overhead helicopter, going after erring employers circumventing the law on red flag. I look forward to his nightly reports on exciting experiences he had for the day; While there are business owners who are resistant and difficult to deal with, on the opposite extreme are employers who are readily compliant, like when a businessman handed over a USD 200 million check to him as settlement (this happened on my birthday) – what a performance accomplishment!

·      Watched the movies The Life of Timothy Green and Hope Springs: moving and funny Movies experienced at Palladio – El Dorado, are always followed by lunch at Japanese Blue Nami, then shopping at Folsom outlets;

·      Read 2 inspiring books: You set my Spirit Free by David Hazard (given by Joanne W.), and Catechism on the Real Presence by Fr. John Hardon.

 Attached are 4 photos with family and 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 Sac, CA, USA! We are in the midst of summer heat, experiencing 3-digits by 2pm; the wonderful part is that early mornings and evenings are cool and breezy in our Sac area!

Watching summer Olympic Games occupied my time during the first half of the month, especially volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, track and field - trying hard to emulate the abs/bodies of those gorgeous ladies, nice role models! Watching their fit physique strengthened my resolve to do more in exercises and diet.  Definitely, cheering all the time for Team USA!

I resumed my monthly attendance to our catholic Lunch Club on August 17 at the Westlake Hotel with Bishop Jaime Soto as speaker on the topic “Reflections on Vatican II: Dignitatis Humanae (DH)”. Starting on Oct. 12, 2012, being declared the year of Faith, we are called on to exercise our religious freedom. DH asserted the rights of persons and communities to social and civil freedoms on religious matters; especially on current challenges to religious liberties. Bishop Soto reminded that after 50 years  of VaticanII (1962), we must review, read, understand better to serve the dignity of human person; civil society should protect itself against threats to religious liberty. The Truth is God revealed Himself through His son Jesus to be united with mankind, through the Holy Eucharist. We are therefore responsible to witness, worship, express the Freedom to know, love, and serve God!

I brought my BMW for maintenance/checkup; the service assistant went over it comprehensively, advised to leave it for thorough evaluation. With my extended warranty contract, I was given a replacement vehicle for the duration of my car’s absence, which lasted 7 days. My car was returned in great shape, good as new. I was so blessed that day that the Service Manager himself, Alan Carr, attended to me. I enjoyed all the amenities and convenience; he not only provided customer satisfaction, but truly delightful. My overall rating for the service was excellent – outstanding!

Other highlights for the month:

·      With our new grill, we had barbeque at home with my various month-long marinated stuff: beef steak, chicken thighs, pork chops, fish belly, hotdogs; enjoyed and shared with friends: Mert and Dr. Edna, Rich and Yollie with kids Ross and Ryan. We also had dinner at Elephant Bar with Fr. George and Joanne;  

·      Sean moved over to his new higher position at EDD Power Inn on August 12; so came the farewell/welcome lunches and parties. His Pinoy group had potluck dinner at home on Aug. 16 with lots of food: barbecue chicken, pancit, steamed fish, lamb chops, veggies. I prepared salad mac, another pancit, desert, rice, and drinks; followed by the ever-present karaoke singing. Seemed that all enjoyed the party, attended by Rose and Don, Amy and Lee, Gerry, Bernardo, Aquiles, Indian guy who got promoted too, Becky, and Levy;

·      Watched the movie Bourne Legacy which was filmed partly in Pinas, featuring the breathtaking motorcycle chase scenes of Jeremy Renner and Rachel Wiecz, beautiful Palawan, and some funny dialogues in Pilipino, typical of Bourne films using local dialects;

·       Read 2 version books on the Saints by Pope Benedict XVI: Doctors of the Church and    Church Fathers. I focused on St. Augustine as tribute on his Feast on August 28 who is our Panglao, Bohol big fiesta patron saint; then St Thomas Aquinas, and all the other saints;

I join the Pinoy nation in grieving the loss of DILG chief Jesse Robredo. I had the chance to meet him sometime in 1995 when I handled a training class for NPC personnel on Occupational Safety and Health Standards held at the Lake Buhi Hydro Plant in Naga, then we went around the Bicol area, Legaspi and Tiwi. He was then Naga City Mayor; since then I followed his career and amazed by his accomplishments and determination. I was his fan since then - my prayers for him.

 Attached are 4 photos with family and 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 Sac, CA, USA! The first half of the month covers the 2nd part of my Pinas sojourn (June 10 – July 14, while the 2^nd half of the month was back to reality in  sweet home Sacramento, after our Hawaiian holidays!

            Sean’s arrival in Manila via Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines was anticipated with excitement, after 7 years of being away from Pinas for his US college education at CA State Univ Sac for his Accounting degree and 2 years work at EDD. The welcoming party was led by his Ate Jessica on her Isuzu Sportivo with driver Obet, who also served me on important functions for which I am grateful always! From his airport arrival at 6pm, we had dinner at Alex’s for the favorite 7-course Japanese meal. The next day, after his 1^st office visit, Sean treated his Claret mates and teachers for Jap dinner buffet at Wacky Mix Trinoma, under heavy  rains/floods. Wednesday, between vehicle coding slots, we visited Citibank Greenhills for new USD/PH accounts and investments. Then Sean continued with his Claret reunions and treats. The joke was that he was fulfilling some ‘wish ko lang’ commitments, thanks GOD!

July 5 was my 9am appointment for my Pinas passport renewal and with complete support staff work by Kaye, I breezed through the DFA complex, finished the entire process before 10am, using the senior citizen lane – truly very advantageous – more power Pinas! Sean continued with his reunion escapades, scouring the Makati, the Fort, Ocean park Manila area – had so much fun rediscovering Pinas, with all new amenities! Friday July 6 was a big day for Fairview Shipping on its expanded office blessing: started with 11am Mass by Fr. B, blessing with coins/bills tossing on all rooms of the 3-stories, 2-units expanded office; sumptuous lunch of lechon, chicken, shrimps, oysters, pancit, veggies, salads, cakes, and more for over 50  guests; followed by karaoke till midnight participated by everyone present. Another great news was that Pinas is now a lending country extending USD 5billion to economically strapped European countries. Fairview Shipping’s status is a good example of economic prosperity experienced in Pinas, Thanks GOD! We are extremely grateful for being instruments as our life-mission in upgrading economic stature for our countrymen.  

Other highlights for the month:

·      With office staff having lunch together, I used some minutes to inculcate in them work ethics, values, and performance standards expected from them; using Sean’s performance evaluation of 99.25%, I cited factors on which their individual ratings will be benchmarked;

·      1^st week-end was hectic: We visited our Fairview home; Sean reunited with friends Jumbo, JR, Ge, and Yves – they all have grown up; we all had lunch at Maximix. While Gerry and I watched Amazing Spiderman 3, Sean bonded more with the guys. We rested for a while at El Jardin before our 6:00p dinner appointment with Capt. Palenzuela’s family at Annabelle’s. Wonderful to be with them: wife Lucy, daughter Malou, husband and 2 daughters with 3 nannies; shared family updates, and glad to know that Tony and Lucy are set to US-migrate on July 29; welcome to CA!

·      On Sunday, we had lunch with Manang Nene and Bing Manglicmot at their Madasalin residence; this couple had been very supportive of us from the start – our wedding, over the years with Sarah and Sean, even following up on our whereabouts – thank you!

·      As arranged by Fr. B, we attended the 7:00p Mass at the St. Pio Shrine at Eastwood, met up with the Santiagos. The church is truly impressive, with relics, testimonials of healings, and more amenities. During offertory, Yssa sang with a soothing, amazing voice! Later, we met up with her family, though declined our dinner invitation. Our group (Fr. B. Gerry, Sean, myself and the Santiagos – Tess, Chito, Yumi and Dr. Darchy) enjoyed Jap buffet at Sumbokojin Eastwood;

·      As Gerry planned, we checked in at Sofitel Hotel on Tuesday, to do our shopping at MOA; met up for Singaporean dinner with Gammy and Grace Cruz, Babes Velez; Sean rendezvoused with friends, shopped for Magic Sing, and many more; we truly enjoyed our stint at Sofitel with nice amenities;

·      Great news for Sean: on June 11, he received the message from EDD bosses that he got the Tax Auditor III position he coveted – wonderful to get while on your vacation, what a blessing

·      We left Manila evening of July 12 for Honolulu, joined tours including a boat dinner cruise and show with Lani Misalucha; visited the Pearl Harbor Arizona shrine, city tours, dinner at P F Chang’s, walks along Waikiki beach, more shopping; then left for Sacramento evening of July 15, arriving safely home - THANKS GOD for a great, fun and fruitful vacation!!!

Attached are 4 photos during our July vacation in Pinas. 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 Manila, Pinas! This covers the 1^st part of my Pinas sojourn (June 10 – July 14) – activities during the month of June – the first week culminating my St. Mel’s commitments, our wedding anniversary week, then the interesting flight to Manila!

            My Pinas visit was rushed for me to attend the POEA shipping executive’s seminar as required for the renewal of our license to operate as Manning agent for another 5 years. Thus, off I went for the Hawaiian Airlines flight out of SAC airport. However, due to flight delay, our group of 7 was detoured to take the PAL flight out of San Francisco airport, arriving Manila on June 12, with many interesting side stories. Upon arriving Manila, my hubby Gerry had booked us at the Sofitel Hotel for 3 days. It was convenient that transport and driver was provided to shuttle me to POEA and back; then I finally settled at my El Jardin Condo in Q.C. A pleasant surprise was to discover that Gerry had transformed the 3^rd floor of one of our 2-units office townhouse into our 2-bedroom living quarters, so things were flexible; we could sleep / stay in when the need arise. We are very accessible to MOA, CCP, Makati, Sofitel, and the like.

            The POEA seminar went smoothly – met wonderful people with varied experiences on land and sea-based recruitments; exchanged critical incidents, amazing stories, and learned new regulations in the overseas employment industry. Definitely, I got my certificate as proof of attendance, after signing in several times to ensure complete compliance!

            The following week, I went for my Opus Dei retreat in Calamba, Laguna; shared a ride with generous ladies – Lita Romualdez and Aning of L.A. Fr. Patio, who was my retreat chaplain last year at the OD Center in Horsehoe Drive, Mandaluyong, was my retreat master again this time in Calamba, Laguna – so amazing! He is a very effective director; he shared new insights on Mama Mary and convert Scott Hahn, among others; so fruitful and enlightening!    

The rest of the month was spent on activities in our Fairview Shipping office, studying the systems in the light of full compliance to POEA regulations, observing procedures/ actions relevant to increase in business activities with additional vessels and hiring of new employees, re-orienting them to our policies and systems for effective and efficient operations, such as performance evaluation at the 3 – individual, organizational, and process levels.

  

Other highlights for the month:

·      On the final phase of our Bible study on PSALMS, I had to miss the last 3 sessions due to my trip, but I continued on my own readings to complete the package;

·      To hang-out with a variety of friends, I stayed at our gated El Jardin condo on weekdays to be accessible to my QC contacts. During the 1^st week-end, Gerry and I attended the baptismal party of Kaye’s daughter where she featured a photo booth where ‘glam and bayot shots’ were taken, DAD’s sumptuous buffet is always knock-out, shopping at MegaMall, then Mass at UP Diliman;

·      Spent time looking at our family photo albums updated and arranged chronologically; Gerry also had an album ‘SUSAN’s Portraits’ where one can distinguish the era by the hairdos and dress style I had; reminiscing beautiful memories;

·      Week-ends were spent hanging out in the various malls, watching movies like Men in Black 3, Amazing Spiderman 3, then shopping later. It was so much fun pointing to all the Pinoy foods, and Gerry buying them all for me. Masarap having a ‘Papa’ to indulge on you for a change; 

Attached are 4 photos during my first month / June part in Pinas. 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 SAC-CA, USA! The heat of summer is here and with it the excitement of welcoming guests at home, and looking forward to vacation in Pinas!

            On our SacCatholicForum held at the Woodlake Hotel on May 18, 2012, we had as speaker Mr. Tom Carroll, CIA agent and Islamic specialist, who spoke on the topic “Can a Good Spy be a Good Catholic?” He narrated how he was recruited (utmost confidentiality – no address, new identity), the trainings he underwent (9 months on languages) with his wife, before they went to their assignment in Istanbul. Yes, he continued to be a good catholic, since most of his colleagues were Catholics and Mormons who were committed to be professionals, in the service for the overall good! (St. Augustine’s philo) In the 90s, Muslims believed in God, were ardent devotees of the Virgin Mary and respected Papal Supremacy. He brought to the venue for our appreciation, artifacts from Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, dating thousands of years. Despite taking great risks, he enjoyed being a spy, serving the country and God!

            On the 1^st weekend, Fr. Bobot Clemen, my neighbor in Panglao, Bohol, who graduated at UST, then became our parish priest at North Fairview’s Divine Savior church (1993-2000), came to visit. He is now the parish priest of next parish Lagro, QC, so the network connection is there. We had dinner with other Panglao kabayans, nurses I just met, toured and shopped around and at home.

Then Sean’s Claret School mates RobelRB and Red (both nurses) came to visit. RB is based in Washington DC while Red is based in Stockton, CA. Fetched by Sean at SAC airport, they arrived after finale of American Idol, thus interrupting my phone voting for Jessica Sanchez. The previous week, all my 2-hour 2000 votes for Jess went through on my AT&T home phones – so amazing! She’s truly talented and her performances are so beautiful, but I really did not expect her to win. AI history do not let 16-year olds get the title, remember David Archuleta, he was so good but didn’t win. Especially since Jessica experienced being in the bottom 7. To win AI, one should never be in the bottom 2/3. Reality is, AI voters are a conspiracy white grandmothers, mothers and daughters, so who would they vote for, naturally ‘white guys with guitars’(wgwg)! From the start, Philip Philips was a heads-up!

After breakfast the following day, I hung out with 3 handsome guys at our clubhouse while they went swimming. Then they showered at our 3 bathrooms; they also had 3 separate bedrooms, like they were in a hotel! Sean brought them city touring, went to Jolibee, and then went clubbing till 2:00 AM – splurging their dollars!  The next day, I had to wake them up as I decided to join them go wine-tasting at nearby Charles Spinetta winery. Sean let me taste their Black Muscat and I liked it! The winery does not distribute to other outlets so through ‘word of mouth’, customers must come to buy. We tasted other wine bottles and the winery also had a beautiful Art gallery (Italian family owned). The 3 guys decided to buy dozen bottles each, like panic-buying / scarcity mentality ba! Thus Red’s new Acura sedan was fully loaded. From there, we had lunch at FATS Asian bistro. I kidded RB, he had lost 60 lbs since Claret, and so he is now a tall sophisticated dude. When we went to USPS to pick up plastic ‘bubble wraps’ for packing RB’s wines, we encountered a nice lady (an ‘angel’) who gave us a big bundle of ‘bubble wraps’ – right timing! We had so much fun reminiscing the past while Red enjoyed playing the piano; when they were just content with food at Snack Bar, dalawang kanin maliit na ulam, those ‘hunger’ days!

On Memorial day week-end, we went shopping for 4 IPADs (for MAX, Sean, Fr. Bobot who ordered through his Facebook message, and Jessica) – everyone’s going high-tech!

 Other highlights for the month:

·      On Mother’s day, Sean surprised me with gifts: double hoop 2-tone earrings and a basket of pink hydrangeas – so very thoughtful!

·      In our Bible study, we are in the middle of Psalms. I was happy to show my Liturgy of the Hours book which I had used since 1993 (it is said that those who do divine readings (done by religious) are the ‘brides and warriors of the church’; I should be in a monastery a long time ago;

·      Books read are: The Three Greatest Prayers by St. Thomas Aquinas, and Spiritual Development by Fr. Daniel Helminiak.  Movies watched include: For the Greater Glory, The Avengers, The Dark Shadows ( Johnny Dep).

Attached are 4 photos for the month. 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