Yesterday was Grand Parents Day

My Oldest Grandson,Ian and Mom visited us yesterday, but did not know it was our Day.

I believe not to many Americans knew that the First Sunday after Labor Day is Grand Parents Day. Even my own six grand children are probably not aware of it. One of reasons why it is not as popular as Mothers or Fathers Day is connected to commercialism. Not too many people will buy gifts for their grandparents. Perhaps, they have no money and are till very young. The only way for your young grandchildren to know that today is Grandparents day is for your own children to tell their children about this day. As a grand parent, I am not expecting gifts, but a telephone call will be nice and appreciated. But If I do not received any phone calls or e-mail today, I will not be surprised.

Here's a short history of Grand Parents Day here in US from Wikipedia.

Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, West Virginia, has been recognized nationally by the United States Senate – in particular by Senators Jennings Randolph; and Robert Byrd – and by President Jimmy Carter, as the founder of National Grandparents Day. McQuade made it her goal to educate the youth in the community about the important contributions seniors have made throughout history. She also urged the youth to "adopt" a grandparent, not just for one day a year, but rather for a lifetime.

In 1973, Senator Jennings Randolph introduced a resolution to the Senate to make Grandparents Day a national holiday. West Virginia's Governor Arch Moore had proclaimed an annual Grandparents Day for the state, at the urging of of Marian McQuade. When Senator Randolph's resolution in the U.S. Senate died in committee, Marian McQuade organized supporters and began contacting governors, senators, and congressmen in all fifty states. She urged each state to proclaim their own Grandparents Day. Within three years, she had received Grandparents Day proclamations from forty-three states. She sent copies of the proclamations to Senator Randolph.

In February, 1977, Senator Randolph, with the concurrence of many other senators, introduced a Joint Resolution to the Senate requesting the President to "issue annually a proclamation designating the first Sunday of September after Labor Day of each year as 'National Grandparents Day'." Congress passed the legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day and, on August 3, 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation. The statute cites the day's purpose as: "...to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer".

Some people claim the origin of the holiday resides with the efforts of Hermine Beckett Hanna of North Syracuse, New York, recognizing seniors and their importance as early as 1961. On February 21, 1990, New York Congressman James T. Walsh recognized the efforts of Hermine Beckett Hanna in front of the U.S. House of Representatives, thanking her "for her important role in the establishment of Grandparents Day".

So to all Grand Children of the US, if you are old enough to call, Please give your Grandparents a call today. If you are lazy to call, I know you rather TEXT, correct?
But your grandparents do not have a cell phone or do not know how to text?

Life in the US versus Life in the Philippines

The Beautiful and Scenic Island of Marinduque( This article was originally published in my Hubpages account on 8/30/14)

After my retirement from the Food and Drug Administration in 2002, my wife and I decided that we should divide our year between the US and in the Philippines. Our goal was to stay in the Philippines in the island of Marinduque ( my wife's ancestral province) when it starts to get chilly and cold here in Northern California. When the hot and humid summer starts in the Philippines we will fly back to US. We have achieved this goal since 2002 and to the present. Our friends and relatives call us snowbirds because of this lifestyle.( photos)and link http://livinginmarinduquephilippines.blogspot.com/

We have planned this lifestyle 4 years before my retirement. We started construction of our main house in 1998. It was a 3-bedroom French Style Ranch house in a 5-acre lot formerly a coconut plantation. The lot was inherited by my wife and about 7 miles from the downtown Boac. It has a beach at the back and the national road in the front.
photo
Two years later at the urging of our kids, we build a two story beach house. We named it Chateau Du Mer. ( link)and Photos. The next year we built a conference hall big enough to accommodate 300 attendees. In 2005, we decided to open the Beach House and Hall for rent to the public. With this development, I decided to advertise the Beach house and Conference Hall via the Internet.

As of today, we have hosted more than 25 clients for the beach house from US, Australia and Europe. The hall have hosted more than a dozen wedding receptions, birthday parties, meetings, seminars and family reunions. We have hosted three garden weddings and one seaside weddings as of today.

Marinduque, A Gardener's Paradise

The tropical climate of Marinduque is ideal for growing not only orchids, hibiscus and bougainvillas but also euphorbias, cacti, succulents, plumerias and Ylang Ylang trees. Since I am an avid gardener this place is paradise for me.

The above plants are easy to grow and almost pest- free except for the two varieties of hibiscus ( white and yellow). My favorite orchid, a blue orchid is called "The Princess Mikasa".The Ylang Ylang flowers is the most fragrant flower in the garden. It reminds me of the perfume Channel #5. I have several varieties of hibiscus. My favorite is the canary-yellow(light orange) variety.

Marinduque is a photographer's dream. The province is endowed with unspoiled white sand beaches, pristine blue waters, fringing reefs, virgin coral reefs, isolated coves, limestone caves, meandering and underground rivers, mountain peaks, cascading waterfalls and streams, fabled sulfur and hot mineral springs, old churches, antique homes and of course beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

The Internet is filled with photographs of the scenic beauty of this island not only from the local amateur and professional photographers but also from photographers all over the world. The province has more than six islands popular to beach lovers, scuba divers and snorkeling enthusiasts. Among the popular islands are Tres Reyes Islands and Maniwaya Island.

It has also Mt Malindig known to mountain climbers and hikers. It has Bathala* and Tarug Caves popular to spelunkers and just curious seekers. In one of the eight caves of Bathala, there is a resident python, believed to be enchanted. If he shows himself when you visit the caves, it is suppose to bring you good luck.

One of the tourist attractions in the Island is the Bellarocca Resort and Spa-a five star resort popular to rich Filipinos, Koreans and Japanese tourist. However, just recently I heard that the resort is not doing well financially for lack of foreign clients because of the absence of air transportation from Manila and back. The good news is that by next month the newly improved airport will be certified for air services from two national airlines. If this happens, this will be a boost to tourism business in the Island.

The Moriones Festival

This hub about Marinduque-our second home is not complete if I do not add or write a paragraph about the Moriones Festival.

The island of Marinduque celebrates every year one of the most colorful Festival in the Philippines. Morion means "mask" or "visor," a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face. Moriones, on the other hand, refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus.

This week-long celebration starts on Holy Monday and culminates on Easter Sunday when the story of Longinus is reenacted in pantomime. Longinus, is a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye but was cured when the blood of Jesus spurted on his eye during the Crucifixion.

Home is not a Place but in Your Heart

Our friends often asked us which abode do we prefer. Our answer is always the same, both places. Marinduque is an excellent place during winter time and Northern California is an excellent abode during Spring, Summer and Fall. We love both places and hopefully we can continue our snowbird lifestyle in the future years to come. To continue this lifestyle requires good health and finances. I am hoping for the best and thanking the Lord for all the blessings He has given us all the previous years and the years to come.

I am Beginning to Like Being a Hubber

This was my second hub featured on HubPaged on 8/26/14.

When I first read the news on my Squidoo Dashboard that HubPages is acquiring Squidoo, I did not welcome the news. Like most of us, I do not welcome change if I am not sure if the change is for the better. However, of today I know this change is a positive change regarding my writing activities.

I joined Hubpages about 11 days ago without waiting for the transfer of my 23 featured lenses in Squdoo. I joined Squidoo in 2011 but after publishing my 23 lenses, I decided to be inactive. I did not have any incentive to continue writing. I earned less than $3.00 in my account since 2011 and I can care less because I am writing not for money, but for the pleasure of writing and meeting other writers who shares the same passion as I have for the written word.

The first day I joined Hubpages I wrote my first hub on the subject of home refinancing. The hub was a personal experience, thus it was written from my heart not from my mind. I was surprised when it made Editor Choice the next day. As a new hubber, I was not familiar with the capsules, format, styles, and other positive format to avoid monotony such as polls, quizzes, videos and maps. I am only familiar with photos. Now I am aware of these features and have incorporated it in my second hub published a couple of days ago. The subject of my second hub was on Feasting with Oysters and it aslo made it to Editors Choice less than 24 hours after I hit the Publish button on my HubPages Account.

I also joined a forum on the subject of the Squidoo Acquisution. The questions and answers were very informative especially to new hubbers like me. I started following old hubbers and made some comments on a few hubs that I found interesting. As a result of this activity. I have now 7 followers and four comments in my two hubs.

Based on my readings on the forum, I concluded that the Hubpages editorial Staff are more proactive than Squidoo. I had two questions in the Forum that received an immediate response from one of the HubPagers Staff.

I received two welcome notes in my Fan Mail from two veteran hubbers. This was indeed welcome and had inspired me to write this hub. I also realized that HubPagers have hubbers from all over the world. To my delight and amazement I found out there are several hubbers with Filipino roots or are residents of the Philippines. Being a Filipino-American and a citizen of both countries, my association with HubPages will turn out to be a very positive change in my writing activities.

The last point, I want to emphasize is my great chance to earn more pocket money for coffee here in HubPages. I signed in the Earnings Program just yesterday. When I checked my earnings this morning I was surprised I earned 0.05 cents. I hope this positive trend continue upward as I published more hubs in the future , Speaking on the earning program of HubPages, one of my FaceBook friends from India asked me recently if she can earned money by writing for the Site. I told her I am new to the site, but based on what I know now, she has to write more than 100 good Quality Hubs and sign in their Adsense, E-bay and Amazon programs. I have not heard from her. I guess hearing from me that she has to write 100 hubs will discourage almost everyone except for a few souls whose passion for writing is their way of life.

As a conclusion, I welcome with open an heart and mind, HubPages acquisition of Squidoo. I am 110% sure this change will bring a positive change ( if not lucrative) in my writing activities. I salute HubPages and its 15 industrious Staffs and looking forward to write more hubs and the completion of the transfer of lenses from Squidoo to HubPages

Feasting on Fresh Pacific Oysters

This article with more information was first published on my HubPages account on 8/23/14.

Yesterday while I was shopping for groceries in Food Max, my eyes bulged with excitement when I saw 2 dozen of live fresh oysters. I was not intending to buy it, because it was not in my budget, but I thought it is time to celebrate the final closing of my home refinancing loan which will save me about $160 from my monthly mortgage payment beginning next month. The 24 live oysters( 12 medium and 12 large sizes)cost me $19.99. This is still cheap if you compare eating oysters in Red Lobster or in any seafood restaurant here in Northern California. The 12 large Oysters I baked in the oven at 350F for only 15 minutes. Do not over baked as the oysters will get dry. Shut off the oven as soon as the shells begin to open. Serve the baked oysters with a twist of lemon and Tabasco sauce. Serve with fresh steamed corn on the cub and a glass of white wine(chardonnay). Yum, Yum, Yum!

The species I purchased were the Pacific oysters farmed in the area near the Point Reyes National Park, North of San Francisco and South of Bodega Bay. These large oysters are sweet and meaty, but not as delicious as the Philippine variety that I am used to. These large oysters are a mouthful for eating raw, but they are perfect for grilling and baking!


The other 12 medium size I made into Oyster Rockefeller from my wife's collection of recipes as follows:

6 oz shredded sharp cheddar
12 fresh, live medium oysters
1 box frozen chopped spinach
1/8 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 dash hot pepper sauce( Tabasco or El Tapatio brand))
1/2 bar salted butter( margarine or Australian can butter will do)
2 cups Rock salt for presentation only

Clean oysters with warm water., Broil on High or boil until shells open. Do not over cooked.. Remove from oven or pot and cool oysters. When cooled break the top shell off of each oyster. Chopped oysters 1/2 cm.

Chopped the thawed spinach, bread crumbs, and green onions. Sauteed in butter or margarine until spinach is cooked. Add the salt and hot sauce to your taste, .

Arrange the oysters in their half shells on a pan with Rock salt. Spoon some of the spinach mixture on each oyster half shell. Add bread crumbs and Cheddar cheese on top. Broil for about 10 minutes until bread crumbs turn brown and the cheese melts..Served with garlic bread and chardonnay.

* My wife's other variation of this recipe is to use bacon chips instead of the cheddar cheese

marinduque rising: High Court, HRET 'legal skirmishes' by Atty. Ralph...

Is this the finale of the moro-moro in Marinduque?
marinduquerising: High Court, HRET 'legal skirmishes' by Atty. Ralph...: Courtesy of: Gingging Barredo Bunag August 31  ·  Edited PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT FINALLY DECIDED that ATTY. REGINA...

Teaching Our Kids Empathy and Compassion

Ditas ( my daughter) and Carenna ( my grand daughter) in Paris

My youngest 11 yr old grand daughter, Carenna Katague Thompson, is in 6th grade in our local Roman Catholic Elementary school.

Yesterday she came home in tears. As a big and tall 6th grader she is walking home in a big group of kids from her catholic school. The route passes a local hospital and their new Cardiology and Heart Center. As they were walking a woman ran outside of the center, obviously distraught and grief-stricken, wailing "why? Why?" One of the 7th graders started filming her on his phone and the 6th graders all started making fun of her imitating her. Not even making an effort to consider that she may have just lost her husband, or mother, or child.

The kids all laughed while my grand daughter held back her empathetic tears, knowing the searing pain of losing someone they loved. My daughter even said, "hey you guys, maybe she just lost a loved one?" and they all ignored her. So much for teaching compassion and empathy to our children.

When I posted this incident in my Facebook Page, I received a few comments. One of the comments I like to share is as follows

“ Values are taught by parents. I'd be curious as to how many kids enrolled in the Catholic school actually attend church of any denomination. It seems that many religious schools have become the places parents send their kids because they don't want to put their kids in the local public school. It has little to do with religious education.

If religious education stops at the end of the school day that is a real problem. Any child who is raised in a congregation ought to have attended many funerals by the time they are in 6th grade. They should have been around grief and understand what it is because their parents should have been right there with them explaining it as they attended funerals and visitations as a family. Kids will listen to, or ignore, what they choose as a message from the school if that message is not reinforced at home.”

My daughter wrote on her FaceBook Page:

"Carenna and I did email the Principal who is very compassionate and who does a great job at school assemblies telling teaching stories etc. I do want Carenna to learn both empathy and compassion for those facing adversity, BUT also to be gracious and congratulatory to those who have triumphs and joyful things happen to them as well.

The awesome Principal handled it beautifully and spoke with all the students and their parents. The kids were young and immature and just not thinking, but it became a learning experience for all and I think it turned out for the better. Thank you all for the support. Sometimes I feel very alone in raising this sensitive wonderful daughter of mine".

I can not agree more at the above comments. Do You agree?

As a background to this post, my grand daughter lost her Dad about two years ago. My son-in-law was a victim of colon cancer at a young age of 52. My daughter until now is still grieving at the loss of her husband. However through her paintings and art work, both her and my grand daughter are holding on. Thanks to the support of her numerous friends and family.

Here's the site where my daughter and grand daughter exhibit their paintings and photographs as part of their therapy. www.grievingthruglee.com


There are several articles on how to instill and develop compassion in children at home in the WEB. However an article from www.brighthorizons.com attracted my attention. In that article, the author four items that will encourage empathy, caring, and compassion as follows.

1. You need to discuss to your child feelings and consequences of actions. Children who are helped to understand emotions and how their behavior impacts others are more likely to develop a deeper sense of empathy

2. Don't be afraid to explore negative emotions. Children who are allowed to show anger, sadness, or distress and helped to cope with these emotions tend to become more sympathetic and competent in later social situations.

3. You must validate caring behavior when you observe it. It will help children identify positive courses of action and last but not least,

4. You must provide opportunities for your child to care for someone or something other than themselves - a pet, a plant, or another person. Even if you can't take in a pet, perhaps you can have your child feed a neighbor’s cat.

Children first have to feel good about themselves to turn those positive feelings towards others. Children who grow up with helping and responsibility modeled are more likely to show those behaviors towards others.

For more details: http://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/volunteer-children/parents#sthash.rOyqZwwu.dpuf