I'm Your Mr. Goodbar

"In the royal galley of divine Love, there is no galley slave: all rowers are volunteers..."

WEEK 1: It has been one heck of a week at work. The whole transitioning from teacher to teacher is finally over. The kids are juss trying to adapt to someone new, new personality, new set of rules etc. Its been a little rough on them but I think they're getting the hang of it. For the kids I work with they need routine, otherwise if they dont get it then its all over for them. THough its been challenging, dealing with the small behavior problems, and errthang else. For the most part I like the new teacher they hired. We seem to get along real well, she's easy to work with and asks for input. Ive been putting in a lot of extra time at work juss trying to make sure she's got the hang of errthang. Im juss glad all this madness is finally over and I can have someone permanent to work with.

CARE: At work they're implementating this new behavior rewards program. Its called C.A.R.E. courteous, aware, responsible, eager are wha the letters stand for. Challenging the students to be courteous to others inside and outside the classroom, aware of their surroundings of whas going on, responsible for their actions, and eager/willing to learn. The program was made to try and eliminate behavior problems and reward students for doing well. Each time a student is caught doing something that shows 'c.a.r.e.' they receive this card. The student will put their name and number on it then give it to their teacher. The teacher will then drop the card into a raffle and each week a student's name is called from upper and primary grades. When a studetns name is called they receive a prize from a raffle. On a bigger scale, once a month the students who have no 'minor or major' behavior problems get to participate in fun friday. A once a month activity day where those who have been doing well will get to participate in using new PE equipment. Those who cannot participate will go to a classroom on a lesson using good manners. It should be interesting to see how the children will respond. They seem excited though, which is good!

TWO INTVWS: The two intervews I had the past few days went well. The first one at the rectory I think went pretty well. Karen's a pretty down to earth person, knows wha she wants done but gives you the resources and the tools to help you. The city of cypress one was real interesting. The pay sucks, actually the whole job seems crappy, but Im juss curious to see if I'll get hired. Not to sound boastful but for the experience Ive had working in recreation and after skool programs, Im sooo worth more then $8 something an hour, thas for sure. The city of cypress was only going to start me off at $8 something maxing out at $10 something. I left making more then $10 at stanton! The position is for a rec leader to take over a pre skool program, I'd implement lesson plans and actually teach the program twice a week. I did pretty well answering all their questions. The only thing I regret is not bringing w/me some of the pictures I had taken over the summer from fern street. Turning a summer a program from nothing into sometthing and making a unforgettable summer for those kids. We'll see what happens, Im hoping I get at least one of the two.

TRAFFIC SKOOL: One thing for sure traffic skool sucks! I almost died in there, spending 8 hrs. sitting in one chair listening ot one person talk throughout the whole day! Not my wway of spending a saturday morning/afternoon thas fo sure. Note to self, be more aware of your surroundings when drivng and learn to take your time. Its not worth going back to traffic skool again! However, I must admit the instructor I had was pretty funny. He's a improv comedian that teaches traffic skool as well as subsitutes in the LAUSD on the weekdays. He made the class funny, which helped out a lot. There were so many times where I was falling asleep but woke up before he noticed me. My eyes felt like bags this morning, Thank God its over now!

IN LIVING COLOR: Remember that show in living color? ha Thas when you know youre from the 90's! That show was classic, it would always come on channel 11 on sun. evening at like 9pm. Sometimes I couldnt watch it cuz I'd have to go bed cuz of skool the next day. Man thas ol skool where you had all the comedians come from there. The wayans brothers, jamie foxx, jim carrey etc. Then you had the fly girls who wore the funkiest coustumes, that you knew were from the 90's. Geez, thas when you know you're old is when you can remember the early 90's. ha

BJS NITE: Thursday nite was crazy, walking from holy fam to bjs was quite the adventure thas for sure. Yeah it was a little far to walk, but it was cool, something different. A way to enjoy the different creation God has made. So it was joanne, mel, and I doing this whole exercise thing, praying and well some wha singing. No one believed it at first but we did it alright. Then that nite was I thikn exactly wha I needed after a long week. The evening ended different then I had anticipated ha but thas alright, I was cool the next day. Nothing like a good happy hour and good company after a tiring week.

A TOUR: I took my thurs. nite class on a tour of the church, showing them exactly whas inside a a catholic church. It was pretty interesting, to see somem of their reaction. It was a great way to help them and me appreciate the richness of our catholic faith. We went from the holy water all the way to blessed sacrament. Explained the signifiance and importance of the blessed sacrament. It was nice cuz they wanted a closer look of the tabernacle. So we walked up to stand right in front of it, and they were like whoaa. They were real entrigued by the whole story of the priest who doubted the true presence of Jesus in the eucharist.

Okay here's something I read that was real interesting...

LEARNED: It's ironic how protective we are of ourselves when the one thing we seem to collaboratively seek out is a gateway to sensitivity. Love is learned. You can't just leap into the heart of another person until you realize the brutal reality behind human nature. In rawness, our actions are highly motivated by our loyalty to the only person trully guaranteed to stick around...ourself...Is it wrong to simply love the things we take ownership over? We love our family because they're ours, we love our significant others because they're there, but once those ties are severed, are we still willing to do the things we once promised we would? Loyalty is an art form. The less we know about someone, the easier it is to respect them, and in the end, it's that dehumanizing quality that sets apart the people we hold high from the people we don't mind pushing aside. Perhaps that's why it gets so easy to hate ourselves sometimes. Eventually, there comes a point in our lives where it isn't okay to just sit back and let human nature guide our actions. True love comes with letting go of ideal expectations and being okay with those vulnerabilities you grow to be aware of. It comes with learning what you have to do to control the negative things you organically are. Love is faith...and faith is a process.

PAST IT: That game I was talking about on my phone I have? The one that I've become real obsessed with? Well I finally passed the game today at traffic skool ha Well during the luncch break I ended up passing it. However, I want to go to more stages but I have to dload the real version of the game or something like that. Its suppose to be on the nokia website, but being my phone isnt really out in the states yet, it's pretty impossible to find. Kawawa me, now I have to go through the old stages and pass them all again. THough its not as fun as completing it like you did the first time.

ROUGH NITES: I had the roughest nite trying to sleep. I woke up this morning really tempted to juss skip out on traffic skool this morning. I had one of those sleep paralysis nites, where Im stuck to my bed and I cant move or speak. Its pretty crazy and yet scary at the same time. After finally being able to get up, I walk into my living room and I trip out. I felt like there was some guy in my living room resting his face in his hands. I literally jumped and it startled me ha it must've been something I ate that had me trippin out last nite. So finally I get back to bed, and start praying the rosary cuz prior to that it felt like I was having some bizzare dreams. Finally I fall asleep waking up to the sound of my alarm at 615am. Man its dark outside taht early in the morning!


back to back meetings today crazy day

"In his arms he fell..."im done, im out God bless!

Run It

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now..."

LACK OF SLEEP: Ive been having a lack of sleep these couple of days. I cant even get a full rest cuz of my sinuses. Agh! the stupid change of weather really jacks it all up. At least it's not totally stuffed, and I can still breathe through my nose. It sucks when especially you're reallly tired and you look forward to sleeping in but you cant and you end up waking up earlier then anticipated. Hopefully its juss sinuses and I'm not catching anything. I took an airborne too juss in case, the last thing I need right now is to get sick.

CRAZINESS: Work was killer yesterday it was juss one of those days. I get tired of doing the whole rotation groups. Repeating myself 9 different times, saying the same thing over and over. At the same time, the kids are still trying to get use to having a new teacher w/changes. There's one kid who has been getting pretty bold since last week. He has become real defiant I dont know wha it is, all I know is that I was getting really irrtiated w/him. Aghhh I was telling him to sit down and he straight out would tell me no! You really start to become impatient w/things like that occurr, especially if youre not feeling the best. How many days of work left? Ahh juss two more, juss two more.

ADORE: After work spent some time at the blessed sacrament at sPv, it was adoration. I think it was juss exactly wha I needed after the madness of work. Finished reading all the journals and then juss spent some time in prayer. Juss like wha we were talking bout at the youf group meeting, bout distractions getting away at the blessed sacrament is the best way to focus. Yup, I like it when the chapel is completely empty and its juss you and Him one on one. It juss reminds me of that song, you & me. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you...

CHATTERBOX: So there was positives and negatives to last nite's class. Well first off, the negative is taht I juss so happened ot get a whole group of kids who graudated from sPv together and are all good friends. On top of that I ended up getting a grip of boys from that class that can be often times too much. Teaching sucks, especially whne you're not feeling the best. Funny thought, I was in the blessed sacrament before class praying for juss a smooth productive class. I began to think well maybe these kids aren't so bad after all. Ha! So much for that, I sent two kids outside and one next door to felipe's class. I cant stand for distractions in my class, especially when there's so much I want to cover in one nite. Francis came and gave a testimony bout his story, how he became convicted to the faith. Hopefully there was some type of conviction going inside of them. See its not so much the girls who are bad, its the guys, all the talking and screwing around that I cant stand. Anyway, I tested the waters and took the risk of intro. them to an action song. It worked for the most part at least, lulaley I love it!


CORE MEETING: BAck to holy fam I went for the tail end of core meeting. Gave a small presentation in regards to wha francis and I are going to be focusing on the rest of his term. Showed them the youf rally dvd bout the works of mercy challenge, fr. vic stopped by and seemed real interested in wha he saw. Yeah its crazy how God inspires you to do certain things, sometimes you dont know wha it is, but I guess thas when you juss have to trust. The core seemed to respond well to it as well, it was suggested to present it to the general youf. Im lucky that I got paired up with such a strong core member, rather then someone who cant committ. For the most part I think we work well together ha we make a good team.



Finally the weekend almost here!

"Because weekends were made for fun..."im done, im out God bless!

No Day But Today

"Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others..."

DUST TO DUST: Skipped out from work and went to coy's father's funeral. It was different how they did the eulogy at hte very beginning of the funeral. All 4 kids went up there and said a little something bout their father. I can only imagine how difficult it was to do that. Their family reminded me of mine...big, then again what filipino family isnt big? At least they dont have to worry bout him suffering anymore. I was asked a couple of awkward questions towards the end during the inscence blessing. The cool thing was ridding through the procession to forest lawn. Going through all the stop lights, I was a bit worried cuz my funeral sticker came off. Darn that high blasting wind! ha I think the saddest part was burial, watching them lower the casket then cover it all up. Thas when you get the real closure like it's finally the end. Wow...on the way back there was this hispanic family talk bout hardcore. The casket was in a carriage then you had a procession of people walking behind it, including a mariachi band. Life is precious.

HOME VIDEOS: I went to visit my lolo and while he was taking a nap, I found some ol skool home videos. Talk bout a blast from the past! I couldnt stop laughing at the way my family looked, the styles were so much different. Yet, nothing really changed, which in a sense is a good thing. Its crazy though how condensed we were back then, a lot of room to move around. Now there's hardly anyroom to move around its lke a club! ha No, I'm exaggerating, however things are much different now. Some have families of their own, others have been remarried, some engaged. Its like I wonder back then if they wouldve expected their life to turn out the way it is now. Home videos are always fun to watch cuz its brings back memories of juss how simple things were.

TGIF: Had lunch after the funeral w/rob at fridays. It's been a while since we had lunch. I dont know why but I was craving fridays or some reason. Then when I got there sushi had sounded good also. We should go back to having baon days, those days were fun! Agh the thing that sucked was rushing to go to work after that. Well for now I dont have to worry bout working in the afternoons yay!

TWO INTVWS: I got a call back from the city of cypress about a position I had applied for waaay back. Last week I receieved a letter from them saying the position was being changed. Now they downgraded the position, the pay is less then it originally was. We'll see how it all goes, I'm juss curious to see wha the new position has in store. On top of that with my background of recreation and child care, the intvw shouldnt be too complicated. I think do pretty well when it comes to job intvws. Then wed. nite I have another one for the rectory, which I think I'm more interested in that one. Probably cuz the envrionment would be a lot more chill then the cypress one. I guess we'll juss have to sit and wait to see whas in store. Prayers please thanks!

ST. JOHN BOSCO: The theme for last nite's youf min. meeting was Saint John Bosco. I brought up the idea during the planning phase to talk bout the life of a saint once a month. I think often times many of the saints and martyrs go unheard, but if you look back on their life its so amazing! Also it's way to compare your life to theirs knowing how some of their struggles were 10x worse then ours now. Dealing with persecution, poverty, etc. etc. The saints was one of the first things I read bout when I came into the renewal. That book I couldnt stop putting it down, I was able to finish it in less than a week. Anyway, praise God for the saints and martyrs, who gave their yes to God, and stayed faithful to Him till the end. Even if it meant going agaisnt wha errone else was doing.

FEELING HIS PRESENCE: The main thing that dane and jay pointed out from their talk was bout distractions. So the question for discussion was how can you deal with distractions or something to that extent. A good point was brought up that despite how busy you are, you still gotta pray. Prayer is the only thing that is going to keep you sane. Even if its juss lifting up a rosary in the morning or some type of prayer. Otherwise, you'll end up loosing your mind from all the outside things going on. At the same time I think it requires you juss to be still. Still enough to feel and know the presence of God. This way like Eli, when the Lord is talking to you, you can reply back saying, 'speak Lord, for your servant is listening.'


FORMAL PICTURES: The winter formal pics came in! Even though I saw them online already, its better to have them in person. Back in hs, that was the exciting part when the pics came in. Errone rushing to pick up theirs and then showing them off to their friends. Cutting them apart and writing little messages to your friends on the back. Making list of who you needed to give pictures to, then realizing 'oh crap! I'm going to have to need more!' haha 'dear natalie, 4th period is soo boring! glad youre in here w/me, here's a picture of so and so and me at the formal. Hope you like it! See ya around! T.C.C.I.C. K.I.T.' hahaa Then you would trade them off as if they were trading cards. So anyone want one of my formal pics? Ill write on the back for you! haha

CHATROOMS: The past couple of nites we've been having online chatrooms. Those are always fun cuz you end up talking bout the most randumbest things. Then you bring in people to meet other people and all kinds of crazy stuff gets thrown around. I remember back in teh days when we would have online prayer meetings. Okay whos going ot lead? okay ready? In the name of the Father...ha that one time we had errone up in the mix from banne to aela, to em, wow we had the whole community in one chatroom. Ahh the good ol days...


Passing me by...

"Here I am to say that you're my King..."im done, im out God bless!

Back in the Habit

"If people spent an hour a week in adoration, abortion would be ended..."

SANCTITY OF LIFE: Thirty-three years ago on Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortions. Since the, nearly 50,000,000 innoncent unborn babies have been denied the right to life. THis weekend we commemorate this terrible and sad loss of life and offer prayers of reperation for ourselves and and for country. We ask for God's mercy on all of us and especially for those who have been involved with abortion in anyway that they may turn to the Lord and receieve this merciful, forgiveness, inner healing and loving reconciliation. We ask for God's help to strengthen and help us to work for life. And in the word of the JPII we pray, ' O Mary, Mother of the living, grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of Life and have the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the creator and lover of life.'

SEEN ENOUGH: You know I think I've seen enough hospitals and nursing homes for a while. Especially hospitals, I hate being in there juss cuz such a despressing place to be at. Well unless someone is giving birth, then it's a bit of a differetn story. Saturday I was at Huntington beach hospital visiting my aunt. She had a knee replacement surgery so we were chillin there w/my mom and sister. So as I was passing by the ICU/CCU doors, I kinda got the chills. I think it juss brought back memories of lolo being in the hospital, then seeing coy and hearing bout his dad. Anyway, so the emt peeps, came and moved my aunt to a nursing home right across the street. She's going to be in there for a week or so, for her own physical therarpy. Dang, I'd die if I had to sleep there. It kinda sucks for my aunt cuz she's in a sardine can room. Its a room w/3 beds and she;s gotta be stuck in the middle. On her right is a 101 year ol woman, and the left is a cancer patient. Those places have a weird smell in them, maybe cuz its filled w/ol people.

WORKS OF MERCY: I have to admit though after spending a lot of time in nursing homes, I was inspired. Well, I figured since I'm the service advisor for the youf group, it would be cool to use the corporal works of mercy as our theme for service. Then I remembered the youf rally from 3 years ago when the theme was the works of mercy challenge. So I popped in the dvd and started watching...wow ol skool stuff right there. It was good stuff seeing wha other communities did for service work. AFter that I ended up calling francis and sharing wha I juss saw and errthang like that so we ended up talking for a little over an hour and then I ended juss going to his house to show him. ha

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: So instead of watching the Pacquiao fight I ended up watching this movie on the disney channel, 'high skool musical.' Well as corny as it was, it ended up being real catchy. By the time the movie was over, I was singing along and dancing. Francis had to keep reminding me that it was a disney movie ha. So the movie is about these two kids who come from opposite ends, one being an athlete the other being a academic decathlon person but both w/a passion to sing. LIke all teenage disney movies, the two end up liking each other and they end up getting the star role in the skool musical. Ha I know its real corny, but the songs are catchy and they even had the lyrics on the bottom so you can sing to them.

MAI TAI: After gettinig all jazzed up watching the musical, I ended up going to mai tais. Freakin aye there was a $5 cover charge for the nite! Usually it's free and there is no cover charge, luckily I had enough cash for arch and I. Nicole and her crew were there, along w/some sfc peeps as well. It wasnt as jam packed as the last time I had gone, but it was still fun times. It was a way to juss relax after a long week of work. That place is pretty cool, not to expensive chill atmosphere and you always end up running into someone you know there too. Its the happening place to be I guess.

VOCATIONS: Fr. JOhnny's homily focused on the lack of vocations within the archdiocese today. It was kinda sad cuz he asked errone who has ever thought bout a religous vocation and only tiffany and jan-michael stood up. After mass jan-michael comes out and goes to me, 'foo I know you thought bout being a priest before, why didnt you stand up?' ha I know I shouldve...I guess it was a little skurred to stand up in front of errone. Reality is, it sucks that there is such a shortage of vocations in the world today. Most priests are getting old and/or retiring soon. It jus sucks too that most young people dont find the religous life inspiring. I guess thas why we gotta pray for an increase of vocations.


Maan back to the daily grind...

"Gotta get your head in the game..."im done, im out God bless!

The Look

"Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race..."

STABILITY: Finally, there is going to be some stability at work. Going from sub to sub was driving the kids nuts, then having a sub who the kids were use to for a month, then getting someone brand new was madness. Yes, all is well now with a new teacher, comes probably some new changes. Im having a hard time reading her and figuring out wha she's going to be like. I hope she's not one who 'sticks to the books.' The other sub we've been having for a month was d0pe, probably cuz she was my age, thas why we got a long so well. The other day in the lounge we were talking bout clubs and she was saying how she doesn't go to any clubs where she has to pay. She figures she's a girl she doesn't need to pay. The only thing she'll pay for is her drinks, yeah talk bout high maintence alright.

GLAD TRAINING: Thursday was juss madness having 15 new teachers in my classroom all morning for this GLAD training. Its put on my the orange county dept. of education and its a training for new/1st year teachers. A training on creative teaching ideas, learning strategies, discipline tips etc. There was older teacher in there conducting this whole month long lesson and condenessing it into a 4 hr. lesson plan. Pretty crazy but amazingly the kids grasped it pretty well. I learned a few things too that have been helping me dealing with the kids also. Here's some cool things I learned...
-Learning logs: There's two parts to the paper, half that says text and the other that says you. The kids are to sketch/write on the text side two facts about whatever the theme or lesson is. For example we learning bout oceanography so the kids write on the text side two facts bout the shark/crill, then on the you side they write/sketch something about an ocean animal.

-Listening sketch: While you read a story to the kids, they can sketch wha they're seeinig as the story is being read.

-Narrative input chart: You tear apart the story and you can add the text of the story behind each picture. This way kids can see the picture w/o you having to turn the pages. You can use butcher paper to create a story board or a background for the story. Have students share w/one another about which part of the story they liked best after its over. Dont stop the story inn the middle to make predictions-this way the story will juss floow.

-Sentence patterning chart: You take apart whatever the theme or lesson is and you create sentences. First using the adjectives, then nouns, verbs, then prepositional phrases(the where). This is something to use at teh end of the unit. After words you take the words and chunk them into sentences singing it to the tune of 'farmer in the dell.' This one was a fun one, its a little complicated to juss read unless you actually see it, and there's more to this acitivity also, if youre interested let me know! ha

-Process grid chart: You create different catagories for your unit to build sentences and then chunk them together. Similar to the sentence patterning chart but a little bit different.

Anyway, juss some ideas I had taken away from the training on thursday. Sooo for you teachers out there who teach primary, some ideas you could use in your own classroom.

PARISH COORD: Went to a parish coord. meeting at holy fam. the other nite. Even though it was a normal 2 hr. meeting it felt like forever long. Probably cuz there was jusss so much to discuss and talk bout. Then there were people who had to ask questions for every single topic. My goodness, I was sitting there towards the end of the meeting getting real antsy. I was almost tempted to sit there bust out my phone to play. I know, I know bad idea, its juss well if you know me, then you understand ha.

ADDICTED: Those who have known me for a while, remember how I was real addicted to that game snake on my phone. Well, the past couple of months Ive gotten addicted to a new game, called 'bounce.' Oh man games on your phones are such a cool invention. It helps you kill time when youre waiting. I thought there was only 3 stages, but I realized that after passing the 3rd stage that well theres more stages. That it adds another stage after passing each stage. Im on already stage 9 and wow Im so addicted to that game taht even when I'm driving or eating I have to stop and play it. Fun, fun, fun!

THE VIEW: Thursday, went to coy's dad's viewing, I've never gone to an open casket viewing. Well not that I've gone to a lot of viewing and funerals in my time either. It was funny cuz coy was intro. his bil to me and the guy was like oh yeah I remember him. He looks familiar, but I can't remember where I've met the guy before. I hate when that happens cuz then it bugs you until you figure out where you met the person. ANyway, I went again the other nite too, juss to support the fam. Its amazing how quickly things happen, before you know it, your tiime is up. I took monday off also, to attend the funeral. It was funny cuz cici asked me how my cousin's were doing and I had totally forgotten that she had gone out w/him when they were in jr. high. It was a whole puppy dog love type thing, kinda gross but that you look back on it you laugh.

HAPPY HOUR CREW: I haven't been chillin much w/the happy hour crew. Probably cuz by the time I get out of whatever I'm doing I'm already too tired to go. On top of that the thought of havingn to drive to wherever costa mesa, long beach, etc. doesn't really appeal to me all that much on a weeknite. Don't get me wrong I enjoy chillin w/them cuz the convos we have our fun, and interesting but I think I'm getting old ha energy level decreasing. Anyway, last nite was fun at bjs, happy hour crew is like that show the view. Errtime we meet up, there always seems to be different people there. ha Looks like I'm making it a mai tai's nite tonite!

JESUS NIGHT: After the viewing thurs. nite I went to sPc it was like a maze trying to go around all that construction and stuff. Wasn't too sure if Jesus was open to see, but despite all the construction He was still there. So I sat for a few hours and I attempted to finish reading all my confirmation journals. I have about 4-5 more left, by 11pm by hand was starting to hurt from all the writing responses. Anyway, I was suprised by the responses I was reading. They were all good cuz they were so honest and through in regards to themselves personally. As the expression goes, it sometimes really is the ones you least expect. I do doubt whether or not they're getting anything out of wha I teach, but suprisingly it's showing through their writing. One of the questions they had to answer is wha they've learned so far. A lot of them put that making out is a mortal sin ha! Well bettter somethign then nothing right?

NEW JOB OPP: So Ive applied for a new job, well more like a second job actually. There's this opening for an exec. assitant for the rectory at holy fam. Im hoping that it'll work out and I can get the job. I have an interview on wed. nite, so cross your fingers and pray hard that somethign will work out. It'll be nice to have another set of income coming in on errother week basis rather than juss once a month. Besides working in a church I think could be fun...an adventure!

FORMAL PICS: Here's our group pic that we took at the formal...the holy fam youf ministry. The advisors and the kids, taking pics like such brings back so many memories of high skool dances. Where does the time go? Thanks john reyes for cracking the code and getting them for me!



how come the marquee is so jacked up now?


















"For the look in your eyes..."im done, im out God bless!

With So Much Happening...

"Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others..."

FIRST THING: Do me a favor, and pray for my friend coy's dad. This was the guy who I ran into at the hospital when my lolo was there. He had past away on monday. When I was told the news, my heart juss kinda sank. You know how there's special petitions that you hold closely to your heart? That was one of them, I guess being that I actually saw coy in the hospital, and I know what that feeling is like. I really thought he'd pull through though. Eternal rest grant upon mr. canas O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. Other sad news, another friend of mine, this lady from church who's mom has been sick, fighting off cancer(i think thas wha she has)was told by the docs her mom only has a couple weeks to live. Ahh what a way to start off the new year eh?

POSITIVE SIDE: On a more positive note, my lolo is finally home. Praise God! He's been from hospital to nursing home and now finally home. He's in a good condition too, speaking clearly, and very aware of whas going on. Im really thankful that his accident was only minor and nothing major. Gosh, I couldnt imagine if was anything worse. I've decided to spend more time w/them or at least visit them more often. I think it means a lot to him when he sees his family there. LAst week when I stopped by to visit he asked me where I was going. I told him no where, and he told me I could stay w/him. =) It kinda teared me a up a bit. I pray that God continues to bless him and heal him. I can't wait to the big centennial celebration in september!

WINTER FORMAL: The winter formal on sunday was a blast. The m7 performance was hot, a lot of the kids liked it. Groovin and pretending to salsa w/elizabeth, crunkin it w/nicole, circle dancing w/the elders, colored punch to the skkkkkkkkkkky made the nite all the better! I felt like it was prom, sheesh picking up the kids in my parent's escalade ha jk more like escape. The food was great, well actually I only liked the prime rib. The rice pilaf was hard, I didnt care for it too much. The chicken wasn't that good either, oh well. Taking couple pics was funny, then getting the group picture together was crazy trying to get errone altogether. THen having to wait for a couple of kids to get picked up. They all chilled in my car till their ride came, cuz it was ice cold outside. All in the all the evening went pretty well, I liked it. Thanks for the special 'spice' that nite to liven things up...ha helped jiven the dance.




IN THE WATER: Man there must be something up in the water cuz it seems like errone is all of a sudden pregnant. I was in the teachers lounge for lunch yesterrday and there's two teachers who are pregnant. Then another friend of mine I juss read today is pregnant...whooa crazzzy! Its must be the year of hte baby boomers or something. That makes a total of 6 people who will be giving birf this year. I found out on christmas that my cousin's wife is pregnant too. Its almost like there's some kind of trend goign on. ha yay for new arrivials, thas always something to look forward to. So Im going ot have a wedding, and new babies to look forward to seeing within the next upcoming months.

BAPTISM: Monday was a nice day off, a nice break. Spent pretty much most of the afternoon at francis' house preparing our talk on baptism. Geez, thas probably the most difficult talk I've had to do. Thought it was good, cuz it allowed me to learn more bout wha the sacrament exactly is. I was able to incorporate fr. antony's homily from last week into the talk also. His homily last week was really good. Ive been sharing it with a lot of different people. About identifying and listening to the voice of God. Being able to recgonize wha it is good in our lives and following it. Despite the fact that we live in a world full of modernism, liberalism, etc. I love holy family homilies!

CONFIRMATION: So I think I kinda cracked down on the kids last week. Er I mean I think the lecture I did the week before did some type of good. There was improvements in regarads to going to mass. I decided that even if they dont have their mass cards, Ill give them credit for it. And if they choose to lie bout going to mass, hey thas on them. So I made them to do this 6 point essay asking them to write a full page on if making their confirmation is important to them, why the ywant to make their confirmation, what they've learned so far, defining in their own words what confirmation is and some other ones. Im excited to read their responses, some of them wrote a lot more, while others well didnt write a whole lot. The whole point of the activity was to see where they were coming from. In a sense try to understand them from their perspective. I think Ill spend time this weekend sharing them w/Jesus.







"So sick of you..."im done, im out God bless!

Walking in the Light of God

"This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections..."

FOLLOW HIM: Tonite was great, lft/clife put on a vocation awareness type of seminar tonite and I learned a lot. Very informational and to hear the stories of different testimonies was amazing. To see how they answered the call, despite the struggles, and gave in to Him completely. Francis was telling me tonite, that they mentioned at confirmation come the next 5 years or so, holy fam may only have one priest or no priests at all. It is sad to see the reality of a shortage of vocations. I had to leave for an hour but praise God I was able to catch up to the tail end of adoration. It was hard though juss sitting there, so much to say yet I couldnt juss sit and be silent. I realized I should make more of an effort to and visit Jesus. It brought back memories of the late nites chats w/Him at savio. Praise God for juss errthang.

REUNION: Another thing that was cool tonite was seeing errone again. Ive been so caught up at holy fam, that I miss visiting other groups. I miss seeing my friends from the other communities. Geez I dont even remember the last time we all got together. I told angie tonite that it kinda felt like the end of that movie 'a league of their own.' The part where they all meet for their reunion dedication, some of them hadn't seen each other in years. Yeaaah thas wha tonite felt like. It's great to be back in the mix again, at least w/the other catholic communities. I love being at holy fam in all, but it feels good to be around those who help nourish your spirituality. I had wished that the youf would've gone w/me, thas all I kept thinking in my head how there' s so much they could've gotten out of. Doing action songs again the best! Walk, walk, walk in the light *clap, clap* walking in the light of God. I miss doing action songs. Ive realized how more and more how humbling it is to start over.

STARTING OVER: Ive come to realize more and more how humbling it is to start all over. Coming to a whole new place, learning the politics of errthang, the do's and dont's. People learning to understand your spirituality, trying to share the thing's you've learned with others. To go back to the very beginning of things, so it can be understood by errone. Yeah, it's something to get use to and after being there for a little over 6 months, there's still a lot to learn.
Sometimes when I actually soak errthang in, its crazy how many things have changed within sch a short time.

MEETING JESUS: I ran into today one of my parents who's kids use to attend my after skool programs in stanton. We were juss both talking on how we weren't planning on stopping by gaby's store but then something juss hit us to do so. It was nice catching up w/her again, errtime I talk to her I always find Jesus in her. A woman with so much love and devotion for the church...you don't see that in very many adults now a days. THe great thing bout her is she instills that same faith w/in her children. Swapping praise reports today was a reminder that God really is good all the time. We both said that even through the dark times GOd is still there, juss reminding us to pray hard, to keep the faith, and to hold on. Sometimes, its difficult when things dont go the way we want. Or its difficult to even juss deal with struggles and crosses, yet God has promised us His grace to get through it. He doesn't call us to give up, but to persevere through it all.

THURSDAY: I felt bad cuz thursday nite, I sorta didn't want to teach. I was kinda juss not feeling it, starting to feel tired. I get to class and GOd reminds me why I'm there. The kids walked in smiling saying, 'Hi mr. fish!' The cheerfulness of their smiles helped picked me up. THen the lesson for that nite couldn't of been any better...the heirarchy of the church. We talked bout the role of each member in the church. We spent a lot of time talking bout the Pope, who he is and wha he does. Even though the class is small, we get a lot done, and they're able to understand it. After class was over a long talk w/jed and had him promise me something very important. I need to start praying for that kid.

SFC DEDICATION: WEnt to an sfc event the other day, the first one I had gone to in a while. Thas another ministry too that I've been out of the mix with for a while. Joanne's dedication brought back memories of my own during the summer. Geez I remember going to St. Bernards each week, hearing back to back talks. Talks that weren't always the most interesting, and that same time soooooo long! I miss my household from '04...the hol em households, the jokes, and all that. That household was real unqiue, for the short time we were together at least. ha THen it got split up and that was juss gay. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.



Praise God for reunions!

"And he said cast your burdens upon me..."im done, im out GOd bless!

So I Wait For You

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you..."

MISS EM: I miss these guys right here...even though its only been two weeks it feels like I havent seen/talked to them in ages. Sometimes it is true, you tend ot appreciate people when you don't really see them. Distance does make the heart grow fonder...ha Even through the rough spots, you still tend to stick together. LAst nites prayer meeting had me realize how much I missed praying w/all of them. Its through them that I've grown in my own spirituality. I love how and how songs and how music ministry! yay for hooooooooooooooow!

THE ARCHIVES: Its funny whne you read your blog archives and you take a look at the different moments in your life. Of course, there are no details of exactly wha happened. ALthough, when you read it, those moments become fresh as the time it first occurred. At the same time you, look and you see how much you've grown from that time. How much God has hmm walked you through those hard times. Its not all difficult moments either that are in the archives, its those moments that you can juss never forget. The laughter spent w/good people, the places of new adventures taken, the lessons you learned...Especially whne you check out the photos too...ohhh man! Those archives...too crazzzy!!

THE STRUGGLE: Confirmation tues. nite was juss too much. I learned that more than half of my kids are not going to mass on sundays. Finding that out was very dissapointing, yet I also learned that most of those kids went to sPv together and graduated from there. So they all know each and have this close connection. Funny thing is they all ended up being in my class, and are notorious for being juss terrrible. With allen missing that nite, it was a bit frustarting, gave them the whole lecture bout the importance of going to mass, some of them juss dont really care bout making their confirmation either. I think out of all the classes this year, I probably have the worse one? Last year and this year have been completely opposite. Though I guess thas God telling me to keep on going despite the difficulties. I guess if God is able to help me work through at least one person in the class, then hey thas one more soul saved. Their teacher from last year left them hanging in the middle cuz she couldnt deal w/it anymore, and I see why. I guess I gotta keep on going.

AN ODE TO MEL: Ive been hanging out a lot w/mel as of recently. She's one of the blessings that have come out of comign to holy fam. Within the past couple of months we've become real close friends. We were talking tonite and juss talking bout the whole time line of how coming ot holy fam. Time really does goes by too fast. The one thing bout her is that she's so filled w/GOd's love. Even when she's upset w/you, or a dissapointed, she doesn't lash out on you or yell, but talks to you w/the utmost gentleness and love. Despite the obstacles that she's gone through, she still continues to give her all to God. A strong pillar in the youf ministry, inside the parish, with her being gone it's going to be different. She's always there giving a warm smile, a total reflection of God's love.



BIRFDAY SHOUT OUT: Happy birfday shout out going to jan-michael. One of the first people in the youf ministry who I met JEsus through. Its people like that who are unforgettable. After a long day at work, all I could look forward to was hopefully coming to the church, to the youf ministry. God answered my prayers cuz I made it in time to attend. Then afterwards going from bjs to jack in the box...having that long convo. w/jan-michael and francis. It was something I had really needed that nite. Yeah, this guy is one heck of a guy, filled with a variety of different gifts he offers to the youf ministry. Happy birfday jan-michael!!




MAKES YOU WONDER: I was reading my cousins xanga, and he brought up interesting point bout the things to think bout in your daily life...interesting...
So ive always wondered again and again, over and over, and maybe this will leave you something to think about. What would I be doing, if i wasn't doing what I was doing right now, moreover and again, what would I be doing if i hadn't met the people that i met yesterday, or the week before, or maybe last month over? You can interpret that question any way that you want. Be it in relation to your job, to your what your doing right now, to what your going to do tomorrow, or what you did yesterday, or an errand that you need to run. And to the latter, might be focused more on your relationships with ne one, or maybe with everyone. YOU decide.

THE WAY I SEE IT: At starbucks they have these small little motivational messages on the back of their cups. Its called 'the way I see it.' I dont know if theyve always had this or its something new. Anycase, whenever I go to starbucks now, I'm going to try and collect the cups. I wonder how many there are altogether, I have #58 & #63.
I have faitih. Faith in our wondrous capacity for hope and good, love and trust, healing, and forgiveness. Faith in the blessing of our infinite ability to wonder, question, pray, feel, think, and learn. I have faith. Faith in the infinite possibilities of the human spirit. -James Brown

Our lives are inspired by the dreams we have from the earliest stages of our youth. When you combine passion and hard work, then success is always possible. While no road is ever straight, dedication and persistence will always lead you to your dreams. -Arte Moreno

BACK ONLINE: After wha felt like months of messed up dsl, I'm finally online. Hopefully this time, without any complications or problems. SBC sent out another tech to check out and pin down the problem. After testing errthang, he pinned down the problem, a messed up phone jack. The main phone jack that connects the main phone line and the dsl was old. Its so good to know that I can go online now w/o having to turn the phone on. The nice thing too, what wouldve cost us $95.00, costed us 0! He waived it off and said it was something from their end. Whew! We wouldnt of never been able to have pin point the problem had he not come.

FIRST WEEK BACK: This first week back to work has been a little tough. I wasn't ready to come back to work juss yet. I wish we could turn back the clock to that last week of skool in december. Gosh, wehre does the time go?! The kids, I think too had a hard time transitioning from no skool then going back to routine. Then to still not have a permanent teacher yet too, it's made things even more interesting. There were some funny moment w/the kids this week though. Monday, we were doing spelling and I was asking some of them to define some of the words. I asked one of the girl to define the word 'sock,' she goes to me, 'sock is like you know...' then held up a fist haha I wanted ot laugh. Then thursday while doing math, one of the little boys who well has no clue really whas going on, wanted me to help him w/his math. He goes to me, 'mr. jason help me do the princesses!' haha Referring to that one time while doing adding, using princesses as an example. He gets the concept when I use examples he can relate to. It's juss funny cuz he's a boy and instead of doing boy stuff he's into princesses. Next week will be even more interesting.


holy fam formal this sunday!

"You are amazing GOd..."imm done, im out GOd blesS!

Catching Up

"The patient and humble endurance of the Cross - whatever nature it may be - is the highest work we have to do..."

BIRFDAY SHOUT OUTS: Let me start out by doing shout outs to some of the past january birfdays. Dane aka the danejah, whas there to say bout this guy? He cracks me by the things he says and does at time. Ill never forget that time during summer, when we were in the hall and he started to bust out w/all his cheers. I mean literally, he was doing a whole scene from 'bring it on.' I couldnt stop laughing at how freakin funny it was. Yeah, thas dane alright, I can picture him as a clown in a circus. THough thas his gift, bringing joy into the lives of others. He's got a very hungry spirit, wanting to learn more about his faith, eager to serve and willing to share that love of Christ w/those he cares about. Then there's my lola whos birfday was also the same day. Man she's gone through a lot, battling cancer, loosing kids, yet through all the hardships in her life, she's stayed strong. I really do believe God has a special plan for my family. It's been His grace that hasa allowed us to stay sane in the most difficult moments. Finally, there's nicole whos birfday is actually today. Wow the big 2-5, thas kinda skurry ha! We've gotten to know each other better through these past couple of weeks. One of those people you can spend talking forever. A d0pe, down to earth personality, thas her juss chill. Easy to get along with, avoids drama juss all around a good person. Happy birfday, to all of them, may God's blessing continually being upon them.

DSL SUCKS: Since thursday, Ive been having problems with my stupid dsl line. I hate it, as of lately the only way I can get on dsl is if I knock the phone line out. I had called like a billion times asking for help and there's been no success. The dsl tech guy came on yesterday, and didn't find any type of problems. He suggested it could be a corrupt power cord. He told me to call the telephone comp to report static so they can come out and check the line. I finally did that today, I hate those menus that you have to go through 10 different other menus to get where you need to get. Im going to be lost if they dont find a solution cuz I really dont know wha else it could be. The other part that sucks is, that this is the only I think dsl provider in my area. Verizon doesnt ahve anything, so I guess the next opition would go back to dial up or go to cable. Pray that they find some kind of solutioN!! please that would help!

OLD FRIENDS: Francis called me today to chill, actually it was an unexpected to call. Though those sometimes are the best. I miss chillin w/the ol skool crew, the same ol stuff we would do errweekend. From eating fridays at hte block and errone not paying enough, so being short on the check, watchng the latest movies that would juss come out. Ahh those were the memories, of the past. It's funny cuz francis and I were talking how it seems like we've all grown up. I mean from the first moment we all met(well some of us)when were only wha 18. Now, were all 23-24, gosh how fast time goes by. Yup, those were the days though, we all shared the greatest memories. So we went to the mall together, and he was telling me bout this girl he's seeing right now. Talk bout sprung! From the time he picked me up, to the time we went home, thas all we talked bout. Of course, I wasn't going to bust his bubble, even if it was getting a little redundant. I have to be happy for the guy, after all he is one of my good friends. Yet, it's funny cuz still nothing changes. Which is good, its nice to know that even if you may not talk to each other on the daily basis like we use to, nothing's changed. Yes, and that my friends is the beauty of friendship.

GIVING A YES: Sometimes when you give your yes, you give it like Mary not knowing exactly wha your yes is going to entail. Within the past month, I've learned that myself. Its kinda like that show on mtv. I forgot whas its called but where they go, 'you think you, but you have no idea.' Thas how I see it now, I thought by giving my yes I knew the details of errthang, but apparently I dont. I must've missed the fine size .4 font print when I signed myself away. Its okay though, I realized there are things I still need to learn. THough its weird cuz I generalized all youf to be pretty much the same. After working w/confirmation kids for x amount of years at sPv, errthang was cool. Now coming to holy fam, there are some thing's I've had to learn, and things that I think I'm still learning. I guess its all apart of being the new person, learning the ropes to how thigns work. Sometimes I do wonder if I made the right decision, if I am doing the right thing. THough its in the small things God confirms that I did make choice. Maybe I expected errthang to be like roses, there's always going to be struggle, though God makes all things better...in His time.

WHO'S HOUSE: Alas I have a normal house hold again. The holidays have come and gone, which includes the guests that have come with it. I think I did a pretty good job, doing my share of spending time w/them. Especially considering the circumstances of errthang that has gone on w/in the past couple of weeks. This will defiently be a winter break to remember thas for sure. As much as company is nice to have, it's always nice to get back to the regular routine of things. Im juss glad my counter in the living room is clean again. That I can actually see the counter top now.

PARTIES GALORE: This past week has been a variety of different celebrations. Wha I thought wouldve been a big birfday bash for my lola, wasn't exactly that big. It was alright though we made due with what we had. The sad part was the goodbyes and errthang, goodbyes are always hard to do. We took up the whole living room inside the nursing room and made it our own ha for a couple of hours. It was cool that tehy were nice enough to do that for us. SOme places are strict and they dont care. Dane's party was packed, for a brief moment in time, it brought back memories of my hs days. Minus the whole alcohol and the ghetto people oh yeah and the fights. ha This one was the opposite of that, smart kids, some who will probably end up being doctors, lawyers, nurses, etc. It was like you had the whole of continent of asia represented, chinese, filipino, japanese even indians were there! I couldnt help feeling so old though being that all the kids were still in hs, and here I am(as well as some others)6-7 years older then most of them. I enjoyed myself though, good clean for them. Karaoking, dancing, and all that stuff.

BACK TO NORMAL: So here I am going back to work, Im curious to see whas going to to happen. Wha teacher they're going to hire, who Im going to work with and all that. These past 2 weeks though have been interesting. Drama here and there with some people, relatives coming to town, people in the hospital, getting to know other people. Wow! Talk bout exciting break! I hope though that this teacher they hire, is pretty cool, like the sub I was working with all last month. Going back to the teacher's lounge to hear stories of well their childhood, and other crazy stuff will be fun. Yes, life is slowly going back to normal again.

MAI TAI NIGHT: Nicole's birfday party was pretty crazy. Packed with people from church, sororoities, frats, and errwhurr else. Fun times indeed! I ran into this girl I went to hs with, that I hadn't seen since she graduated hs. She graduated the year before I did, and we were pretty close friends, when I was a jr. and she was a senior. During ASB elections, she handed over to me her position, for icc. Anyway, we sat there talking bout what she's been up to and whas going on in her life. I still all wowed when I hear of classmates being married already w/kids. Even though they're pretty much at that age of being able to settle down. I dont know I guess its juss crazy the stories you hear. I wonder wha people tell other people when they run into me.

THREE'S A CROWD: Hung out w/jan-michael and cherry friday nite. Good times at the loft, it was busy for a friday nite too. So were sittinig at a table and it was the two of them(obviously)sitting on one side, then other side juss me. Anyway, it felt like I was doing a counseling session/interview w/a married couple. Afterwards we went to ralphs to get some laffy taffy since jan-michael wanted to know what a laffy taffy was. Great way to spend a friday nite, this girl I had geology works there and was one of cherry's friend. Cherry was bout to intro. us and the girl was oh yeah I know him we had a class together. Cooool kids, those two are, they're juss chill and not into the heavy stuff. Cute those two kids are.

DOUBLE F'S: So then on saturday, had youf alpha training. Actually, I was planning on not going, but then I figured Id better go before something changes and Im not aware. I think Ive seen the same nicky gumble video for the past how many years now? Same content, same material...the training ended an hour early, which was nice. Met up w/francis later that afternoon at south & gridley to plan out our talk. Though I kinda messed up and printed the wrong info. on St. Dom, so that was a bust. However, we managed to still make use of the time by planning tenative service projects. Went to target to get a binder to put all my youf min. notes and info. though I changed my mind and decided to check wal-mart. Wowed francis, by showing him the express for men store at the mall. He didnt believe me that there actually was a express for mens. Ended up spending the rest of the afternoon there juss shopping. I didnt nordstorm carried triple 5 soul. Francis didnt even know there was a casual section for men's inside the store. Fun afternoon with a fantastic friend ha.

THE GIFT OF COMMUNITY: I stopped by coy's house last nite and dropped off a card for him and his family. First off it was hard trying to find the right kinda card that pertains to his situation. Though, low and behold, I found the perfect one. The past couple of days, Ive been hunting down the core, and advisors to get them all to sign it. Pretty much successful in doing that, on top of that I also bought a him a st. joseph and holy fam medal. I thought those two medals were appropriate for his circumstances. Anyway, the reaction on his face upon opening the card was priceless. I could see how much it meant to him to know he had the support and prayers of his community. It means a lot to know that people who you call 'friends' maybe even 'brothers and sisters' are there for you. It also means a lot to know you can rely on people to pray for you in your time of need. The whole situation of my lolo going to the hospital then coy's dad being in there, has really helped me to get back into the groove of praying the rosary and chaplet daily. Yup praise God for that whole spiritual rediscovery again.

MVP: Last month, each core member on the youf ministry was given 5 tickets to sell for the winter formal. I was a bit afraid at the beginning of not being able to sell my 5 tickets. Being the price of the dance was $35, I didnt think I'd have a great response selling them. Well heck weeks later here I am finished selling my 5 ticketes, and now sold more then my share. In fact the day after christmas when we went to go check out the place, joanne wanted to make a bet to see who would sell the most tickets. I didnt go for it cuz I was afraid I wouldnt win, ha I shouldve taken her up on the bet.

Okay I think Im done for now...Here's some highlights from the weekend! Oh by the way, Its taken me a week to finish this entry! haha






























































"You can run, you can hide but you cant take my life..."im done, im out God bless!

Out of the Ordinay

“The love of a family is life's greatest blessing...”

I’m going to change the normal blog routine up juss for this time. I have juss a variety of different thoughts that have been scrolling through my mind lately. It’s kinda like a scrolling marquee going on in my brain ha. Anyway, so it’s almost 1am, 12:55am to be exacty and I sit here in this nursing home in Anaheim. If my thoughts seems jumpy or incomplete, they probably are cuz thas how I feel right now. Actually, to be honest, it kinda sucks cuz there’s no internet connection here. At least in the hospital I had full ‘excellent’ wireless connection. Which I found that a little odd, cuz of the fact of all the machines going on there. On my right I have my lolo, who is snoring like a baby right now. Which is a good sign, at least I know he’s breathing. He sounds like my mom, when he snores. On my left is this older man about 5 years younger than my lolo. Apparently, he juss got here himself not to long ago. Don’t worry the light from my laptop doesn’t bother him cuz he’s blind. Poor guy, due to the many different falls he has had, it broke something in his head that affects the vision. Something to that sort, I don’t know thas why I’m not in the medical field. Ha
These past wha 4 days have been wowowee, in so many different ways. I am blessed to have such a hmm supportive family. The Lord has defiantly looked out for my family on so many different occasions. Three years ago, my family was in the same position as we are today. Juss on different circumstances this time. Lolo in the hospital, right after Christmas, spending new years eve, and new years in the hospital. This whole situation as been an eye opener to me, showing me the importance and vaule of family. My aunt and her family from texas came down here. The family is almost complete now, almost errone is hurr. At least for all of my mom’s brothers and sisters.. Her coming to cali, was a surprise for my grandparents. It reminded me of the he-man/she-ra movie when adam surprised his parents by bringing audora back w/him to eternia.
The main reason she’s here is cuz her mother in law passed away and the body was being shipped out to cali. She was sharing the story how she went go wake her up and she wasn’t responding. Though her oxygen was still going and errthang. They call 911, bring her the emergency and get her going again, the doctor tells them she’s alright and if they wanted they go in to see her. They go in she’s some wha conscience of whas going on. The doctors then say they’re going to transport her to another building, so it might be best to come back in a hour or so. Well while they were away the doctor calls them and says she’s not doing real well. She doesn’t have much time left wha do they want him to do. Of course, my uncle tells them to do whatever they can to keep her going. Meanwhile, they all rush to the hospital, by tthat time she had already passed. Pretty crazy huh? In that wha 1 hour time span, she managed to go, w/o them even having a real formal goodbye.
My lolo is strong, he does have a strong heart, strong body, and I think part of is being able to receive Jesus errweek. I mean it’s the eucharist that is fulfilling them, keeping him physically strong to do things. Of course, he can’t do the things he use to do before, but at least he’s here. When I mean, I mean understanding whas going on. Heck he even remembers him falling and being in the hospital. He knows the names of grandchildren and his children. I don’t know that many ninety-nine year olds who can have such a strong memory. Watching him these past few days, made me really appreciate what I have. You know I don’t think I’ve prayed so many rosaries and chapelt’s in my life until this week. Which reminds me I need to pray it before I sleep. I even pray it as I fall asleep. Offering up whatever I can for the healing and recovery of my lolo and coys’ dad too.
New years eve, I go to hospital carrying all this food, preparing to celebrate the new year at the hospital w/the rest of my fam. By the way, we threw our own party inside the cafeteria that nite, ha popping bottles of alaze and apple cider errhwhurr. Kidding, more less juss bottle of apple cider. Anyway, so I’m walking in w/my aunt, my sister, and my mom they all met me outside cuz I had all this junk to bring inside. My mom’s talking to me bout something, then I see hear my name, ‘hey jason.’ I look up to see coy and his family in the main lobby. First question obviously, ‘coy wha are you doing here?’ I mean cmon, the hospital lobby isn’t exactly a normal place to run into people you know. He goes on and tells me the story bout his dad. Wow I was like speechless, I didn’t know exactly what to say. The first thought in my head though was to call mel, and tell her to start telling people to pray for his dad. As coy was telling me the story, I can see in his eyes he was trying to be strong, holding back his tears. Gosh, we both said, what a way to spend the new years. All last week, I was trying to think exactly I was going to do for new years. So in my car on the drive to the hospital, I was thinking although this isn’t exactly how I wanted to spend the New Year, it all happens for a reason. I get down to the cafeteria, where the party is and I’ve got no reception on my phone! Well actually my battery died, so I was trying to charge it. I plug in the charger and tried calling mel at first but she didn’t answer. I call dane next w/juss enough reception to tell him to send out an email asking for prayer’s for coy’s family. I think God gave me juss enough reception to make that call, after that it wsa gone. Come to find out later that I had full wireless connection on my laptop.
I think I’ve seen pretty much almost all the new releases on dvd out there. I’ve been at Lincoln video almost errday this week renting movies. Okay, well not errday, but it felt like it. Watched into the blue on thur. Wow Jessica alba really is hot in that movie. Watched Emily rose again, well still never was able to get to the end of it. American Pie band camp is hilarious along with the 40 year old virgin. Cry wolf was aiight, a little on the predictable side. The whole IM story for the plot is funny though. The gospel was real good. Talking bout conversions! Finally watched stealth, kinda fell asleep at some parts but that was a good one too. Four brothers I ended up buying, I love that movie too. Hmm wha else did I watch, I’ve been renting like 3-4 movies at a time ha
Its also great having community, friends who you can rely on to pray for your intentions. Especially, when it’s something real important and special, I think thas also one of the reasons why my lolo is so strong. All the people who been praying for him and those who continue to pray for him. Man walking around at a hospital in the evening is skurry. I was walking down to ICU last nite, to see if I could check the status of coy’s dad. I kinda got lost and then I hear a nurse ask ‘can I help you?’ It made me kinda jump, there’s juss something bout hospitals that creep me out. Probably cuz it’s the last place you want to be in. Now Im in this convalescent home, and I’m surrounded by all these old people. The guy fred, was saying his son hasn’t came to visit him yet cuz he’s busy w/his job. Pretty sad huh? Im sure it’s like that for many of these people in here. Then when someone does come to visit them it’s totally brightens up their day. My aunt was telling me this story on an email that was being passed around. How there were these two old men inside this home. One of them couldn’t see so he would always ask wha do you see through the window. So the other man would describe the beautiful sky, the park w/the children playing in it. All this beautiful stories, well the man finally goes he asks the nurse to tell her bout whas outside. The nurse said, I see nothing but cement. All this time the other guy was making up all tthese fictional, yet beautiful stories. Then to find out it was all fake, what a kill joy huh?
ANway, I should be trying to rest now. Confirmation starts up again tomorrow, so I’m going to need my energy to teach and I also need to prepare the lesson still. I guess basic lesson for these days, is #1 to never stop praying and #2 to realize the importance of your family. Even through the storms, you still gotta appreciate you have a family to go home to.

"Dont forget about us..."im done, im out God bless!

New Year's Prayer Requests

"There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, and too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who have a call and answer in extraordinary ways."

THINGS TO PRAY FOR: As we start off the new year, its always good to praise and thank God first for getting us through another one. Even if the road has been a difficult one w/suffering and trials, no greater love, then to do it for our Lord. Here's a small list of people you can include in your prayers. Much thanks!
-Mother Church
-Souls in purgatory
-Catholic communities out there striving to do God's work.
-The Holy Father, Cardinals, Bishops, priests, etc.
-Victims of the natural disaster this year...tusnami, hurricane, earthquakes
-Utc Winter Formal coming up.
-For the healing and recovery of my grandpa.
-For the healing and recovery of Coy's dad.
-For the healing and recovery of Theresa's mom.
-Those preparing to make sacraments this year...confirmation, 1st communion, reconcliation, baptism, holy orders, matrimony.
-For the healing of Dane's cousin Augustine who has developed a disease called Pompe's Syndrome. He's three months old, and the doctor said he won't live to be a year old, it's a really rare disease that affects 1 out of 40,000 new born
-Those who are discerning a religous vocation.
-Those who are in need of spiritual rejuvination.
-Those preparing to graduate, discerning career vocations.
-Those who have fallen from the faith.
-For what else shall we pray for? =)

This is pretty cool...wireless connection in the hospital cafteria. The down part of all this is, that myspace is blocked oh why?! haha

"Better knock, knock on wood..."im done, im out God bless!