He treated us with pizza for (late) lunch. I got to know a few of fellow class participants like Robert and Eric. Both are in the construction business/industry. The former has a speeding ticket. The latter, who I learned as the class progressed and the day went by that he's attending the class on voluntary basis and has just decided to join the local police force lately. When I asked how long is his police academy class before he becomes a police officer, he said it takes six months. I also learned that he's a veteran Sailor, having served nine years as an aviation mechanic. He has two young children, wife who's an ER nurse at a local hospital.
Every hour, in the class, we have ten minutes break---to stretch out, to use restroom, etc. Before 3:00 pm, we had a brief review or recap of the lessons (which are very educational and informative) about safe, responsible driving, Alcohol and Impaired Driving, Drinking and Driving, Car Crashes Incidents related to DUI (Driving Under the Influence), Emotions and Driving (road rage), Driving Emergencies, Ultimate Driving Challenge, etc.The last part of the class was taking a 20-question test. Then, the test was administered by Terry. At the end of class, Eric and I had handshake and wished each other Good luck! I got my Driving Improvement Program certificate for the completion of the class. (I will present or show this to the judge on my appointment next month.) Lesson learned: Observe rules and safety in driving, at all times. And slow down, observe speed limit! In my Composition Book, I wrote this My Thoughts: Safety is everyone's responsibility.
Sunday, 21 Oct 2012---Tintin spent the weekend with us. She's back in Hampton Roads because she's scheduled to play piano for a Christian church in a neighboring city, every other Sunday of the month. And she gets paid $100 for her playing piano for the Sunday church service. So, we attended that 9:00 a.m. Mass in our Catholic Church, at St. Mary's in another city, each time Tintin is home on weekend. But most of the time we go to our parish at St. Paul's in another neighboring city. Our pastor (of the four clustered parishes in our area), Rev. Fr. David, celebrated the Mass with us. Church attendance was full at St. Mary's, which is smaller (building-wise and attendance-wise) compared to St. Paul's.
After the Mass, I've wanted to attend the coffee-doughnut fellowship at St. Mary's multipurpose center. But we have to go for Tintin's piano church service. We drove to another city where Tintin played piano in that Christian church. Churchgoers there, I noticed/observed, were mostly seniors or retired.
After the church service attendance, we drove back closer to home and had lunch at our favorite Seafood Restaurant.
After lunch, we went home, prepared to bring Tintin back to D-ville where she works. It takes 3 1/2 hours drive, one way. With us, on the road trip, was our friend Myrna, a retired nurse and wife of Michael, our friend and fellow parishioner at St. Paul's. Myrna just wanted to see for herself the place.
We had one rest stop at a convenient store where I bought bottled iced tea for four of us. I like the strawberry-flavored versus the lemon-flavored tea. Arriving in D-ville, we passed Tintin's apartment because we decided to show Myrna the public high school where Tintin works. And also the only Catholic church and school in the city.
Then, we drove to Tintin's place. (BTW, my wife Freny did the driving, as usual for long trips. And, on the way, we refueled our van even if it has half-full tank.) Her apartment mate and fellow college advisor was already there. She's also a UVa graduate, like Tintin.
We left D-ville at about 8:30 p.m. We had one rest stop, at Pizza Restaurant, where we bought two large pizza for $23 plus tax. I bought two because we'd give one (pepperoni pizza) for Myrna and the other one (sausage pizza) for us.
Irresistible because it's newly-baked and the smell was so good, I ate one slice of our sausage pizza. Freny had one, too, while driving. When offered, Myrna said she's okay. She decided to munch pistachios. She said she was still full having eaten roast beef sandwich and fries (we had them from Arby's, next to the gas station/convenient store where we bought a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread for Tintin).
Arriving in Hampton Roads, past 11:30 p.m., Freny and I brought Myrna back to her house where Mike was waiting for us. They thanked us for the pizza we gave them. We both said "Good night!" as freny and I headed back home. Thanks to God, we arrived home safe and sound, before midnight! Tired we were. I went upstairs to our room, while Freny was downstairs with Rose, her sister, my sis-in-law.
Monday, 22 October 2012---I had these thoughts, written/scribbled on my Composition Book, prior to doing laundry. Yes, it's Laundry Monday for me! I haven't had laundry of my accumulated stuff, used unwashed church clothes, for months! I tell you, I can go on attending any occasion with one-time use of my clothes, without washing them at one time. Not to brag but the truth is that I have enough clothes (new and slightly used) to wear a lifetime, man! Thanks to God! I don't know about you but I love wearing my wardrobe. Especially those casual wear, you know. Lots of them. So many that our closet is too small to accommodate them all! Yay, I can't believe how much we've accumulated through the years! I need to do something about it. I know what to do. Yes, I know; we're kinda guilty of this thing called "hoarding?" But not as bad as others I see on TV, though, to the point that their house is already too messy and disorganized and unkempt. We're doing fine, I believe. Lesson learned: Material things will pass. We, human beings, wanderers on planet Earth, will one day have our turn to pass this life to the next, like our ancestors did.
But let me get back to my original thoughts. Here's what I've noted on my Composition Book yesterday. It's untitled:
I'm a sinner
I know
I'm not a saint
But I want to be one
Someday.
Today
I believe
I have a chance
I have an opportunity
In living with His Word
In doing good
In thinking no evil
In dying a good, simple, humble life
For Him and others.
I'm a sinner
But not forever.
(c) 2012 by chris a. quilpa
While still snuggling in bed, (I like this Fall weather!), I did listen to some Catholic church songs on YouTube. Then, afterwards, while browsing the videos on the right side on my screen's laptop, I happened to come across this video uploaded by steve silvia (from San Diego, CA). Anyway, I got stuck on one of his video which he titled Salvation through the Catholic Church, the Bible alone teaching is a lie, with a background music "Come to the Water," sung or performed by St. Louis Jesuits. I tried reading the notes on his video and also the comments. He started by asking, "Did you know that religions go by the name of their founder?" That's when I learned something about Martin Luther, the so-called founder of Protestantism?, John Calvin of the Presbyterian religion, and John Smith of the Mormon Church. Silvia noted that the former was a Catholic priest "who fell away from the Church through pride, and married a nun" and eventually excommunicated because "he was the first to raise the standard of rebellion and revolt against the (Catholic) Church of God." Comments about the video were aplenty. I read some of them and Silvia tried to share his thoughts and ideas, too.
Well, I continued listening to Silvia's music videos (Catholic Church songs) even while I'm downstairs in the kitchen, finding out what's to eat for my "brunch" and at the same time preparing something for our dinner. There's one video of his that I'd like to share to my Facebook friends but I don't know if it's possible. The artist is Anathema and the song is titled Anyone, Anywhere? It's very touching. I like the melody, too. Sort of very mellow but dramatic. It has this them about homelessness. Yes, we have homeless in our midst, that's the truth. It's a global, societal issue that you and I have to face, like poverty and sickness, and crime.
For "brunch," I had that leftover roast beef sandwich from D-ville, and a cup of coffee, and that peanut butter-strawberry rhubarb preserves (from D-ville) sandwich. Pretty heavy, huh? Anyway, here's what I've decided to cook for our dinner: purple hull peas or black-eyed beans with some left-over sausage and left-over baked scallopini pork chops, and a can of salmon sardines, and a bag of frozen dried vegetable (from the Philippines, I don't remember the name, at the moment. It's not "malunggay." Yes, I know now. It's "alokon" in Ilokano.) How's that, huh? Yummy! For flavoring, I used a tablespoon or two of oyster sauce. Bon appetit! I know for sure that someone will be happy when she gets home.
So, without further delay, my dear folks and friends, I've got to sign off now. You know that I have something to do. (I still have to watch my International soap on YouTube! Probably later on, after cooking and eating dinner. Sounds like a good plan to me.) Enough of my blogging, this time. Until next time around. Thanks for your time. Take care and Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone! And, as always, I pray, "May God bless us all!"-chris a. quilpa, 23 October 2012
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