Joys of Retirement at Chateau De La Mer (Seaside Garden Paradise): A Simple Celebration of Macrine's 79th Birthday

Saturday, March 28, 2015

A Simple Celebration of Macrine's 79th Birthday

Last Thursday( March 26) was my wife ( of 58 years) 79th Birthday. We celebrated her birthday by just going out to a nearby Red Lobster Restaurant and ordered her favorite dish of two Maine Lobster Tails and her favorite drink, the Margarita Gold. Along with the main dish we have cheese cake with fresh strawberries. We also had a mushrooms stuffed with Dungeness crab meat as appetizer.

Macrine received several birthday greetings on her FaceBook page. The one above was from her first cousin Angie Jambalos Aulds from Paradise, California. Macrine also received a video greeting from Wesley Lazarte Chalfin, son of Lanie Lazarte Chalfin from Mountain View, California. Lanie is the oldest daughter of Fe Jambalos, younger sister of Macrine. Merlet Perlas and Violeta Laririt also send their birthday greetings.

Another greeting that Macrine treasured was a note card from Loyda Sore from Silver Spring, Maryland. Loyda is a long time friend of ours. We have known Loyda since 1990 when we first moved to the Washington DC area after accepting a position with the Food and Drug Administration, Center of New Drugs, Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products.

We received another note from Irene Rose Catague, a relative we first meet in Maryland in the mid 1990's. Irene send us a card from Paris France just wishing Macrine well and noting she has not forgotten how we welcomed her during her first few months here in the US. She is now married with one son and resides in Texas.

Macrine also received birthday greetings from her other sister, Sister Guia Jambalos, R.C from Davao. Her Facebook page listed birthday greetings from Ditas, from me, Efren Katague my brother in Australia, Yong Nieva ( first cousin in Manila), Olga Quiazon ( first cousin from Vancouver via telephone) and Agnes Apeles ( also Clemen Lardizabal).
Last but not least, Macrine received birthday greetings from Dinah, our oldest daughter 3 days before her birthday. Dinah calls her Mom once a week just to say Hello and her Mom appreciates it.

The first photo below was taken during our Red Lobster early dinner last Thursday and the second photo taken prior to dinner at our kitchen and breakfast area.

At Red Lobster in her light blue outfit.

At our residence before dinner

The day culminated with us watching Angelia Jolie movie Unbroken. We watched it on Comcast Movie on Demand for only $4.99. If you have not seen this movie, read my review on my next blog in a couple of days.

Lastly, Thank you all for wishing Macrine a Happy Birthday on her 79th year on planet Earth!

No comments:

Joys of Retirement at Chateau De La Mer, Marinduque, Philippines

I have been retired from USFDA since 2002. At first, I feel I have lost my identity as an individual or have lost my contribution to society. However, within a few weeks all these feelings were gone. It started when my wife and I started baby sitting one of our grandchildren. As some economics professor states: "Your children are your capital investments, but your grandchildren are your profits. That is why you love your grandchildren more than your children". I really agree with the statement. Retirement also gives you lots of time to do things you like to do, such as your hobbies and of course travel. In my case, I turned my hobby of gardening and landscaping into a small business in the Philippines. This endeavor was planned about five years before 2002. That year my wife and I started construction of our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque , Philippines. The next year we built a beach house, followed by a Conference Hall two years later. Needless to say, planning and executing the landscaping was a challenge and very enjoyable. With the help of local labor, I not only enjoy the time gardening and landscaping, but also help improved the economic situation of the province by providing work and jobs to the local residents. With plenty of time, I have engaged into two specific activities as follows: First, I created a website for my small business. By trial and error, I created and design the website, www.chateaudumer.com I have never been a computer nerd or expert. But with plenty of time and patience, the fruits of my labor could be enjoyed if you visit the website above. The second activity, I have not done before was to utilize on-line activities, such as shopping, paying bills ( save you stamps) and playing computer games in the Internet. I really enjoyed playing duplicate bridge on line. You play with players all over the world and can chat in between games. But be careful, you are not spending too much time in the computer. It is very addictive. With a lots of time, my wife and I devoted more time on our favorite humanitarian project. For the last 15 years, we have been involved with medical mission to the province of Marinduque. For details please visit the website: www.marinduqueinternational.org As a summary, the joy one gets on retirement is very specific for an individual. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spending more time with their grandchildren. Others hate it, since they missed their former jobs and co-workers. Others with no children still enjoy retirement by traveling, turning their hobbies into business or more community involvement. Of course those that retire and hate it, is believe to die earlier than those that enjoy their retirement years. So, plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

A Simple Celebration of Macrine's 79th Birthday

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin