Fatima Rosary Crusade

Every year, around late May/early June, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima visits our home. We are part of the Rosary Crusade which originated in the Glendale area. We used to live in Glendale, and still have many friends in that area. Which is why we are still connected to this rosary crusade.

Last Sunday, we picked up the Blessed Mother from another participant's home. They live in an area in Los Angeles which is officially known as "Historic Filipinotown" (i am not kidding). We prayed the rosary (thus the name Rosary Crusade). And then came merienda time. They served spaghetti (so good, parang Jollibee), fried chicken, dinuguan and puto, and pancit molo. After about an hour of eating and socializing, we took the Blessed Mother with us, together with a flower arrangement, candles, prayer and song books, etc.

We set-up the Blessed Mother in our living room, where we pray the rosary every night.

This coming Sunday is Her departure from our humble abode. A few members of the Rosary Crusaders will visit our home, pray the rosary, and partake of the food. After which, She will then visit another family.

We always look forward to Our Blessed Mother's visit. We like being part of this crusade.

p.s. Last year, we served sisig, lechon manok and chopsuey. I am still thinking of what to serve this year. Clay wants pancit bijon, because that's his favorite. And maybe pork bbq.

Festival season

Last weekend, St Robert school held their annual Festival. We volunteered to chair (or be responsible for) the Bumper Car booth. Chairing a booth means you have to be at the 3-day festival all those 3 days. And you have to recruit other parents to work the booth for you, or with you. We had a good number of volunteers. Some of the booths just have 1 or 2 extra helpers, and that's for the whole weekend.

In the Philippines, we call this event the Fair. I remember the annual fairs in high school. SPCQ holds the best fairs, IMHO. Our fairs at Maryknoll College was just so-so. In high school, we had Jail booth, Marriage booth (i was "married" during freshman year), Dedication booth, etc. And we had a ferris wheel, caterpillar and the ever popular Octopus ride.

At Bree's school, the booths are game booths like Bumper Car, Cork Gun, Tic Tac Toe, Basketball, etc. Some games cost $1 each to play, others are $2. Most of the games offer prizes - like stuff toys, neon balls, tattoos, invisible ink, squirt gun, etc. Our booth's "grand prize" is the plastic sword. It was such a hit!

Oh, and here's a picture of Bree having her hair colored at the hair coloring booth.

McDreamy...

My second favorite TV show (Amazing Race is 1st) is Grey's Anatomy. It's a well-written show, not overly dramatic, sometimes funny, but mostly it's just very different from other hospital shows.

I first started watching it because it's after Desperate Housewives (which used to be one of my favorites). So, since the TV is just on after watching the Wisteria Lane women, i just happen to watch Grey's Anatomy. Until i fell in love with the show. And then i realized that a lot of people actually love it, too. It has gotten very good reviews, and is now a "water-cooler" topic.

One of the catch-phrase (or word) used in the show is "McDreamy" which refers to Dr. Derek Shepard and his good looks. He is a real McDreamy...

Dog Graduation

One of Bree's girl scout activities is attending the Guide Dogs of America graduation rites. Guide dogs are canines that are trained to become legal companions of blind people. These dogs undergo formal training at an accredited canine school, and one of those schools is Guide Dogs of America. These dogs are amazing. They are trained to recognize danger, to protect their sight-challenged owner from hazardous situations (like crossing the street at a pedestrian lane). Not only are they smart, but they are oh-so-cute, too, because the temporary owners groom them and take care of them like their own children, before the dogs are handed over to a compatible blind individual. (There's a match-up process between the dog and the new owner).

Long live the Hippies!

Amazing Race 9 finale... and the hippies won! I am happy that they did. I was rooting for them since the first time they finished last and had to give up their money and belongings.

The brains won against the brawns. I'm happy with the outcome.

Mothers Day

We had our Mothers Day party at our place yesterday. As usual, in our parties, we have games and prizes. Obviously, the theme of our games is MOMS.

Moms - how well do you know your kids? One game, the moms are blindfolded. All the different kids line up, and the blindfolded mom would guess who their son/daughter is by touching and feeling their hands. A lot of the moms guessed right, but some didn't, or some had to do the hand-touching twice until they were sure.

I was one of those moms that guessed right. The 3rd pair of hands i felt seemed like it was Bree but i wasn't so sure. So i didn't say it was Sabrina. Then the 5th pair of hands that i felt, i knew 100% that is was my baby, and i said "Sabrina." Of course, i am right! That's how much i know my daughter.

Another game is: what's your favorite... There were questions to the kids and moms, and the answers are written on a piece of paper by mom and kid separately. And if their answers match, they get one point. Of course, again, Bree and I won this game. We got a perfect score. Some of the questions were:

1. What is your mom's favorite color? Purple
2. What is the first thing your child does when he/she wakes up in the morning? Eat breakfast.
3. What is your child's favorite TV show? Zoey 101
4. What is your mom's favorite TV show? The Amazing Race

It was a fun Mothers Day! Lots of food (sisig and pork barbeque were the big hits).

Discounts at Disney

While we were at Disneyland, i made full use of my discount cards. Your AAA membership cards gives you discounted rates at some restaurants at the Disneyland Resort.

And of course, being the tightwad that i am, i used my card to the max.

We used it at the 3 character dining restaurants that we went to.

Monday dinner: Ariel's Grotto at California Adventure. We saw Ariel (of course), Cinderella, Belle, Alice in Wonderland (hmmm, she seems lost) and Snow White.

Tuesday breakfast: Minnie and Friends inside Disneyland Park. We saw Minnie (of course), Dale, Goofy, Captain Hook and Tigger.

Wednesday brunch: Goofy's Kitchen inside the Disneyland Hotel. We saw Goofy (of course), Chip and Dale, Madhatter, Donald Duck and Eeyore.