Beauti-Fall Weekend

 Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.  ~Elizabeth Lawrence

 

We were in New England over the Columbus Day holiday weekend, and what greeted us was a visual feast of the beauty that is autumn!  The drive up had us "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing", a favorite reaction that was repeated throughout our stay.  :P  Can't help it.  We were enjoying great weather, scenic routes, crisp autumn air, blue skies, and a dazzling display of color-tinged leaves.  The wedding reception we attended was held outdoors, and the family's spacious backyard was transformed into a truly warm and inviting harvest celebration.   OMG!  Simply perfect!  

   

There's this song from Noggin that I've been singing along to... "I feel like I'm falling for fall."  Well I've fallen for fall.  I love it!  And to all fellow leaf peepers out there, it ain't over til the last leaf falls!

*picture courtesy of cnn.com

Congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama!

Here Kitty Kitty!

Finalleeeeh! :) The 2G was mine! I'm demystifying the kitty party, if you had not searched about it yet.

Kitty party... Paluwagan... Jam-ia... Sou sou. Whichever way it is called, it's a means to save money. Here's more:

Kitty, in India (and this is according to Tarun), means a pot of money. The Dictionary of Indian English has this meaning:

kitty party: n. a meeting of women where chits are arranged or gossip is exchanged.
chit: n. a financial scheme in which a group of people put in a fixed amount every day/week/month and one of them gets to collect the entire amount by lucky draw each time.

Note: There's 10 of us in the group. 8 women and 3 men. The promoter (and promotor) coined it kitty party...as per Tarun. So yeah, technically, it's supposed to be a meeting of women. But hey, we're all women! Chits are exchanged. Check. Gossip is exchanged. Check. Unique drawings are held. Check. Kitty party all the way!

My mom has something similar in their school, and they call it Sou sou. I went, "su... what??" :P
Fine, count me in. :) The more "diversified" I am in my savings, the better. The Urban Dictionary has this to say:

Sou Sou
A savings arrangement where a group of people each pool an equal amount of money for a period time (month, two weeks, etc) and after that time is up, one person in the group gets all that money. They keep doing this till everyone gets their turn and receives that full lump sum at least once. It's not a pyramid scheme, no one loses as long as everyone's trustworthy and puts in their share. It's just a way to hang on to money by putting tying it up into something else temporary. This is popular with 1st-gen Carribbeans, South Americans, Africans, and maybe someother people. Just a way to save money up if you can't get a small savings account, aren't in a credit union, or don't want Tha Man all up in your business.

Note: My mom's group draws the monthly "winner" in the beginning of the Sou Sou. You'll know when to expect your share. You can also request (or switch) for a slot, if let's say you need the money by a certain month. With mom's help, I got the March money pool (I needed it for Andrew's birthday party). Aren't they great?

On to our Filipino version, the Paluwagan. I say, who hasn't joined one??? Same premise: contribute money to a pool on a monthly basis, and the lucky member for the month gets to enjoy the money. It's repeated until all the members get their fair share. I was teasing a friend of mine who didn't know about the paluwagan (or is it more like, patago) that was so "in" during our elementary and high school days. I told her, she probably didn't need to do it anyway. Meanwhile, there I was... often a part of the class savings program. I even got assigned the responsibility of keeping the money safe (which, let me tell you, now that I look back at it, was difficult to do during those years). Look, you got extra cash in your possession... you're young... wouldn't it be convenient to borrow some of it to buy stationery for your collection, or to get yourself a bottle of Denenes? You tell me! Nah. Let me pat myself on the back... good thing I was the responsible class VP and I was also a legionary... no hanky panky.

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Okay. So back to my win. What do you say I now do with the money?

The NYC Papal Visit

I only learned about the Pope's U.S. visit about two weeks ago, and felt ashamedly ignorant that I didn't know of this news sooner. Papal mass tickets were granted through lottery, and I bet getting one felt like winning the lottery indeed!

Last Friday, A and I were glued to NY1's coverage of the Pope's departure from Washington D.C. and his arrival to NYC. Even if we were just seeing him on television, there was this overwhelming feeling of his holy presence that truly touched us. It's hard to explain. He exudes love, and warmth, peace, joy and blessing among others... you just feel like crying. And so we 'followed' him until he got to the United Nations building for his scheduled speech to the General Assembly. As it was getting close to 'tchukoy's nap time, I switched to his lullabye cd and missed the Pope's UN speech.

Saturday, I was scheduled to be in the city for the Young Child expo. I would then meet up with A, B, and Mama later during the day to attend M's 1st birthday party in Bayonne. The expo's venue was at the Hilton Hotel on 6th Ave. and 54th St. , a few blocks away from St. Patrick's Cathedral where the Pope was scheduled to celebrate mass at 9:15am. I was out of the subway by 8:40am, and as I walked towards 54th St., I saw many people headed towards 5th ave. Police had already closed several blocks of streets towards 5th, and only residents or individuals with tickets were granted access. (Now I regretted not bringing the camera that I saw on our dining table.) I wanted to photograph what I was seeing. I also felt excited to be in the same vicinity where the Pope was. Using my camera phone, I did get some low res pictures of that morning scene. Better than nothing.

By 11:45 am, I was out of the Hilton and in the streets of Manhattan... just wandering... and wondering where the Pope was at that time. I decided to go to F.A.O. Schwartz to see if I can add a toy to M's gift (we got her clothes). I don't know why I headed west towards 7th ave. when F.A.O. was on 5th. I turned the next block and headed back. I passed by Carnegie Deli, and some police barricades. A couple more steps heading east and lo and behold, I realized that the Popemobile's Motorcade route is along 5th! W-o-w! I'm gonna be where the action is. True enough, 5th Ave. was crowded, the 'fences' were filled, and people crammed the sidewalks. More and more people headed that way. The atmosphere was definitely festive. The crowd was enthusiastic. People seemed joyfully anxious. Smiles were often exchanged. I was thrilled at the thought that I may catch a glimpse of the Pope. I didn't know then what time the motorcade was going to start. I asked a cop, and he said he wasn't sure. Anyway, I was too happy to be walking up and down 5th avenue, taking "it" all in. I did a quick stop at F.A.O., but it was really quick. I couldn't take my mind off what was going on outside. Standing with the crowd, all I felt was peace, happiness, and gratitude. I felt so blessed.

A informed me that the motorcade starts at 1:15pm. He'll pick me up on the way to Jersey, and I was to head down to 36th and 7th. Awww... I won't see the Pope! I may have missed him, but I really felt him in my heart and soul.

Today, we heard the 11:30am mass in our parish church. Earlier, we watched the Pope's visit to ground zero. At 2:30, we tuned in to the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium. As spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic church, it is not surprising how Pope Benedict XVI has this power to connect to you... whether you are near or far.

Even if I didn't get to see the Holy Father in person, I will always remember his NYC visit to be a very spiritually uplifting experience.

Note: Picture, from the Archdiocese of NY.

Spoiled by my cupids

I guess it all started after I sent Tatay to a cooking class at Cafe Centro (my surprise Feb-ibig gift). Everything was early for this year's Valentine's Day. 'got a portable videocam from Tatay last Monday. Love it! And today, the FedEx guy came knocking before 10am. Flowers from Butchukoy!!! Sweet! What a day!

Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)

Gong Xi Fa Cai. Kung Hei Fat Choi. May Prosperity be with you.

However way we choose to greet our Chinese friends, we all mean to celebrate with them the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year. Today, there is a lunar new year parade in Flushing (our home) that kicked off at 11am and will last until 1pm. I wanted Butchukoy to see the floats and the dragon dancers and steel drummers with colorful costumes, but the weather is drab and it may rain so we stayed home. Albert left early for an 11am-1pm cooking class at Cafe Centro (my early Valentine's gift). B and I hung out with the Lolo and the Lola.

Note: The picture is the Year of the Rat stamp that kicks off the USPS Celebrating Lunar New Year stamp series for the 12 different animals in the Chinese Calendar.