Thursday, March 30, 2006

Lunch Date with Dad

Thursday is Trish's off day from school. Unlike last week when we went out for breakfast at Eggspectation, we decided to go for lunch and we set our sights on Mexacali Rosa but upon getting there we found the place was close and the restaurant has probably changed ownership because it had a new name, Sombreros.

Trish quickly suggested one of our favorite restaurant in St. Anne de Bellevue, Peter's Cape Cod. I was quick to agree :). We both had a scallops platter. Yummy!!

Cheers!!
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Sunday, March 26, 2006

Pics from Tito Pilo's Nokia PhoneCam


Tito Lits at the Old Port of Montreal - taking a call at the moment.
Layer of ice can still be seen over the water at the Old Port.
Further back you can see the St. Lawrence River, ice cover gone.
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Pics from Tito Pilo's Nokia PhoneCam


Tito Pilo wearing his trademark 'yellow' jacket;
behind him is the Imax and Science Museum building at the Old Port of Montreal
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Pics from Tito Pilo's Nokia PhoneCam


Old Port of Montreal, Saturday, March 25,2006.
Layer of ice on water remains - see background.
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First Ride This Season, 2006 - Old Port of Montreal


Beautiful spring day for a bike ride for Tito Pilo and I, our first ride this 2006 season, particularly the route from Lachine to the Old Port of Montreal and back.

Ice and snow have not completely melted along the Lachine Canal bike path; but I'd say that the 85% of the bike path is free and clear of ice and water (from melted ice). Give it a few more days of mild temperature, the rest of the bike path will be clear of ice and water from melted ice.

We stopped for coffee at the McDonald's on St. Lawrence Blvd., by the Palais Du Justice, Old Montreal. The manager was nice enough to allow us to bring our bikes inside. This gave us a chance to warm our feet as well; I had decided not to put on my over booties, and so my feet were chilled :)

The Boat Cruise company located at the corner of St. Patrick and Lasalle blvd have a new addition to their fleet - a recommisioned Catamaran. Our gang's been talking about taking a dinner cruise along the St. Lawrence river. This could be the one for this season.

Have you ridden your bike lately?

Tito Lits Posted by Picasa

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Blast from Past Collage

Starring Tita Nil, Paul, and Pam. Where's Trish? Still in the planning stages :-)
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Blast from the Past

Blast from the Past


Thank you Pam for scanning these photos.



Tita Nil with Paul and Pam - camping in South Hero, Lake Champlain Isle, Vermont


Pam and Paul playing 'let's wash the dishes' at the KOA campground we used to visit almost every weekend during the summer months.


Paul and Pam organizing my office desktop.


Pauly celebrating a birthday, surrounded by cousins; there's Tita Nene too.


Paul, Pam, and Mom aka Tita Nil posing by the Christmas tree.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Nil's Bday

Nil's birthday fell on a Thursday, the day when we have the 'Walk Away the Pounds' workout at the church.

We decided to treat our birthday celebrant to a delicious authentic Chinese food dinner at the Noveau Maison Kam near our place. After dinner we followed up with coffee and dessert at our place.

With Trish and I, to celebrate this occassion, were Karen and Agnes, our consistent 'walker' buddies.
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Breakfast at Tita Nil's

As your children get older and each one gets busy with their own lives, it is such a blessing to have them all together on a Saturday morning and share a breakfast together.

Paul, Trish and Pam prepared breakfast this fine Saturday morning.

PTL!!
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Jeremiah 17:7-8 (New International Version)


7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

Our Daily Bread: A Daily Devotional

Our Daily Bread: A Daily Devotional

Today's devotional from "Our Daily Bread"

Divine Interruptions

Read: Luke 10:29-37

A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. —Luke 10:33

A Samaritan made his way down to Jericho and encountered a wounded Jew lying alongside the road. Others had hurried by, too busy with their own affairs to be interrupted.

But the Samaritan, who was hated by the Jews and would be expected to pass by, "had compassion." He "bandaged his wounds, . . . set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him" (Luke 10:33-34).

God's will comes to us in strange ways, often in the form of interruptions. Just when we think our duties are done for the day and we've settled in for a quiet evening at home, someone calls on the telephone or shows up on our doorstep asking for our time. "Are you busy?" they ask.

The best thing to do is to stop looking at these intrusions as interruptions. Instead, we should take them as opportunities that God is sending us to serve those in need—to listen well, to show love, to help them on their journey toward intimacy with God.

One early Christian writer, Jean-Pierre de Caussade, said, "Love is the duty of the present moment." No matter what else we may have planned, love is our duty.

"Who is my neighbor?" I ask. Jesus answers, "The person in need I'm sending your way." —David Roper

Lord, if I'm feeling rushed today,
I need your eyes to help me see
That when an interruption comes
It is an opportunity. —Sper

Monday, March 13, 2006

Edsa / Fort Bonifacio

lead, below is an email I received with a parallel message as the one from "middle class pinoy", but written in English and directed specifically at the "bleeding hearts" et al. It is a bit shrill, but I think it is worth reading.


Dear Tita Cory, Senators, Congressmen, Businessmen, Media people, Leftists, and all Bleeding Hearts Out There:

I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tired of all you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos.

I feel like screaming every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my rights, when you obviously are just thinking about yours. You tell me that the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the right to speak his or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but you yourselves do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have made. In other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights and your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours.

I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already responded to your calls, and our response has been very clear - we chose not to heed your calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio not because we do not love our country or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we love our country even more.

Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward. You may think that is not correct, you can tell me all the dire warnings about the evils of authoritarian rule, but quite frankly all we see is your pathetic efforts to prop up your cause. You tell me that you are simply protecting my freedoms and my rights, but who told you to do that? I assure you that when I feel that my rights and my freedoms are at a
peril, I will stand up and fight for them myself.

You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this country because she has done immoral acts. As someone who sees immorality being committed wantonly in many ways every day and by everyone (yes, including the ones you do), I may have become jaded.

But you have not been able to offer me any viable alternative, while GMA has bent over backwards many times to accommodate you while continuing to work hard despite all the obstacles and the brickbats you have thrown her way. From where I sit, she is the one who has been working really hard to move this country forward while all of you have been so busy with one and only one thing: to make sure she does not succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join you in your moral pissing contest.

Forgive me if I have chosen to see things from another perspective. You say she is the problem. I say, we are the problem, more to the point, I think you are a bigger problem than she is. Taking her out may solve part of the problem, but that leaves us with a bigger problem: you. That is right, YOU!

While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during the
elections and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then taken the higher moral ground and forgiven her.

Yes my dear bishops, I have done what you have told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the Christian and moral thing to do: forgive.
Especially since she has asked for forgiveness and has tried to make amends for it. Erap certainly has not apologized and continues to be
defiant, continuing to insult us everyday with his protestations. Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we have forgiven her just the same because like GMA, she has worked hard after all.

I know you do not think that GMA’s apology was not enough, or that she was insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please spare me the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of protecting the moral fiber of society. The real reason is because you smell blood and wants to go for the kill.

Well, I have news for you. I do not like her too. I did not even vote for her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like you even more. I may not trust her, but guess what; I do not trust you even more.

You know why? Because all you do is whine and sabotage this country. You belittle every little progress we make; conveniently forgetting that it is not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them.

Every single day, we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country will finally pull itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that. Every little progress is the result of our collective effort, we who toil hard everyday in our jobs. Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in the eyes of the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to prove your sorry point. In the process, you continue to destroy what we painstakingly try to build. So please do not be surprised that I do not share your cause.

Do not be surprised that we have become contemptuous of your antics. You have moved heaven and earth to destroy her credibility, you have convened all kinds of fora and hearings and all you have done is test our patience to the core. For all your effort, you have only succeeded in dragging us further down. I say enough.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying down, or that we let the President get away with anything illegal. But you have tried to prove your accusations all these time and you have not succeeded, so it is time to let things be.

Besides, you are doing something immoral as well if not utterly unforgivable. The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the communists - the same people who have been trying to kill democracy for years. Cory has been consorting with Erap and the Marcoses.

So please wake up and take a reality check. In the absence of true and genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided to cast our lot with the President, even if we do not like her. A flawed leader is better than scheming power hungry fools who can not even stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest.

Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently made only underscore what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people whose only defense is to cry suppression when your ruse do not work. You
are like bullies who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to task for your cruelty.

I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and making lame excuses. You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all these things for the country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing to go to jail for us.

Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the government when that is the one and only thing you have been trying to do in the last many months?

We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not give a f*&k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our share to make things work. If you only do your jobs, the ones that we elected you to do, things would be a lot simpler and easier for every one.

The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are more
dangerous and a serious threat to this country than GMA is. We have seen what you are capable of doing - you are ready to burn this country and reduce everything to ashes just to prove your point. If there is something that we need protection from, it is protection from you.

Knowing God Through John

Knowing God Through John

According to John, if you want to describe what God is like, you say "Jesus."

Christ came to be the visible, tangible, on-earth expression of the Father. In fact, Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (14:9).

Christ came to express God, to be His "Word." Therefore, to see Him was to see God. To hear Him was to hear God. To walk with Him was to walk with God in the world. The gospel of John, then, is one man's record of the unveiling of God by His Son.

Be Blessed!!

Ups and Downs

Paul revealed the secret for making it through his “season” of life. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13).

Friday, March 10, 2006

More Nokia phone cam captures


Hanging out with my sister Grace's family - Uncle Phillip, Ging-Ging's (Grace's) husband is a very good cook. I love his 'tinolang manok' and a number of his other specialties. Whenever he cooks anyone of those I get invited for a free sampling :) God bless you guys!!

Coffee time, story telling time over at the dinner table, this was after a good dinner. There's Neil, Ging-Ging, Tita Nil, and myself - collage. Posted by Picasa

Nokia phonecam


I must say that I am impressed with the quality of this digital photo taken by Trish using my Nokia mobile phone.

Indoor shot, no flash, low light.

We were hanging out the Place Angrignon Mall in Lasalle, having coffee and dessert by Cafe Depot, beside the Sports Expert store there. This was also the same day when we visited Ashley (Catherine Booth Rehab Hospital) who is recovering from a knee surgery.

Earlier, at the hospital, I remember saying that I wished I had brought my digital camera. Completely forgotten about my Nokia phone cam. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, March 09, 2006

FYI- Trial update--Kelly-Anne Drummond

Email update from Pam (forward) regarding Kelly-Anne's murder trial

Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:40:56 -0500
Subject: Trial update--Kelly-Anne Drummond

Please forgive the mass e-mail, but I thought it would be the easiest way to deliver a message to all of you. Although a year and a half has passed since Kelly-Anne's death, I know many of you think of her often.

As you may have heard, the trial for the man accused of Kelly-Anne's murder has started in Montreal. The proceedings are scheduled to begin in front of a Jury on March 14. Please don't hesitate to contact me (or any of the Drummonds) if you have any questions or if you would like to attend the trial. Although nothing can be done to bring back our dear friend, I hope and pray that her accused murderer will recieve an appropriate punishment for his crime.

Also, as a reminder, I have been keeping a blog on the internet in memory of Kelly-Anne, which you are welcome to visit at any time. If you have any photos or stories about Kelly-Anne that you would like to share, I would be very grateful if you e-mailed me.

The address of the blog is http://kadrummond.blogspot.com

Please feel free to forward this message on to any other friends of Kelly-Anne.

Hope things are well for all of you,

R A

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Quotation from today's Our Daily Bread

If you are in some way damaged by past abuse or feeling defeated by sin, or if you feel so inferior to others that you walk with your eyes to the ground, take heart in what God has in store for you. Live today with the courage God gives you. Make what you can of your afflictions. But rejoice, because all that degrades and limits you is only temporary. It will be gone—some of it sooner rather than later.

If you have a living hope in Christ, you can deal with your past because of your future. God's glorious best for you lies ahead. —Haddon Robinson

Lord, give us grace to trust You when
Life's burdens seem too much to bear;
Dispel the darkness with new hope
And help us rise above despair. —Sper

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Bike Trainer to the Bike Path to the Road

I am looking forward to make the transition from trainer to bike path to the road - soon, soon, soon! :)

Anyways, I thought I'd check the weather forecast for today just to see if it will be feasible to ride out in the cold.

If it wasn't the 34kph wind I'd probably go. I think I will wait until the wind dies down a bit and I'll put on my cold weather gear and head out.

Happy riding to all the brave souls out there!!

Friday, March 03, 2006

Trish's Birthday Cake


Trish's birthday cake lovingly baked, prepared, and decorated by Uncle Pilo.
Fresh strawberries and a generous amount of whipped cream.

| More photos from Trish's Birthday Celebration - 2006 Edition |
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Quote of the Day

Abraham Kuyper, a great theologian and one-time prime minister of Holland, said “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry out: ‘Mine!’”

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Unbelievably busy

Yep, yep - unbelievably busy or possibly organize / disorganize chaos :)

Haven't posted for quite sometime.

Just want to gather my thoughts for a moment - pulling from here and there and everywhere.

First thought comes to mind - tax time. Time to prepare for my income tax return. The cliche about the two things in life that's for certain - death and taxes, I believe, still holds true. Well, if it is something that needs to be done, don't put it off, just do it! No more later, tomorrow, when I get around to it thinking. As in all other things that needs to get done - just do it!! Law of the harvest - what you plant you will sow.

Yesterday - visited with Ashley at the Catherine Booth Rehab Hospital. It was a double blessing as I ran into my long lost, long out of contact with, Comare who happens to have been working there for the last few months. I am godfather to their second child / son who is now 28 years old. I was in the company of Dave, Karen, and Trish- should have brought my camera, well, next time maybe.

From the hospital we went to Dilallo's Burger for lunch - yummy!!

Trish's got a week off from school. She'll be registering for her driving class, Lord willing today of tomorrow. Class starts Monday. Would be nice to have a back up driver on long drives as Tita Nil doesn't drive- nope, she does not drive. Oh yeah, she drives me nuts sometimes :)))

Tomorrow we're celebrating Pam's birthday, dinner at a Szechuan restaurant near Fairview.

I am glad I emptied some of my thoughts here, lots more, but, this is it for now.

There's been a lot of activities, family events, recently, with pictures to be posted.

Blessings to all who came by to visit!!

Tito Lits