Sanglahi.com

Everyone knows that during the Spring season here in the US, there are many celebrations going on.  One of the trademarks of Spring is the celebration of Holy Communion for kids who has successfully completed their Sunday School classes.

The celebrants for this year I believe are, Jessica and Joshua Dominguez-Garcia (daughter and son of Larry and Divina Dominguez-Garcia), and Pamela and Jeffrey Dominguez (daughter and son of Oliver and Ruth Dominguez).

If you get a chance, please congratulate them.  You can send in your greetings through our Yahoo Groups  at sanglahi@yahoogroups.com.

God Bless.

Most of our family members, at least on the Dominguez side, have quit smoking.  Health issues and other concerns such as congenital diseases made Kuya Boyette and Kuya Rey stop smoking.  There are still a few of us who need to quit. Has anyone tried the electric cigarette? I know that they are very careful to say that they do not claim to help you quit but some have quit with the use of it.

These cigarettes use vapor instead of the harmful smoke that we get from smoking. There is a bit of nicotine in it I believe to help you with your cravings. I am thinking of ordering one and I just want to find out if anyone has ever tried it yet. If so, please do leave a comment here and let us know. It will be a good thing for all of us.

Just to let everyone know, most of our relatives are on Facebook.com.  If you haven’t signed up already, you may want to sign up now.  We get updates from everyone there and I know exactly what anyone is doing by their Twitts!  (That’s my word for Twitter – an application that provides simple updates of “what are you doing now?”).

We are encouraging family members to join.  It’s simple and an easy-to-use tool for anyone.  Get updated.  Get connected.. link with us on Facebook.

One of the greatest benefits here in the US is the way the government has planned for the future of Americans. You work hard and you invest and save for your future. You can do it on your own, and with a little help from the government, they save a little for you as well in the form of social security. But do we all know much about how it works and how it will benefit us in the long run? I highly doubt it. It seems so simple yet complex at the same time.

How do you find out information about social security? You may go online and look at the government website or find a site with aggregated information about it. There are many tips and news about retirement, how to plan for it and how it works. We need to understand them fully just because our retirement depends on it. We could be doing better in saving for our future if we know the path we are treading. Information is available to those who seek them and better seek them while you’re putting in your hard-earned money into it and know the current status of the system before it’s too late.

We all want to retire but how well prepared are we? Are you prepared? Will your benefits be enough by the time you retire? These questions and many others about social security benefits may be answered by simply going online and researching the topic. It benefits us to know about the things that would affect our future. So, don’t just sit there… start your research now.

As you all know, we have a lot of May birthday celebrants.  I’m one of them of course.  I share a birthday with Marita Lavarias-Phillips, who now resides in Poway, CA.  We share the 24th of May and usually commemorates the “Fiesta” in Baclaran in honor of our Patron Saint, Santa Rita de Cascia.  I’m sure that our town is bustling again with youths trying to put up banners and organizing amateur singing contests.  The things we miss huh?

Well, the weather has been crazy lately – in the Philippines and here in the US as well.  It’s either rainy, too hot or too cold.  I hope that the weather changes won’t damper the celebration this month in Baclaran.

Shout out to our “kapitbahay’s” who are still residing in the area.   Enjoy the month of May – - we will say a prayer or two for Lola Chayong who was very involved with the “Alay” to the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May.  We miss you lola!