Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
My 1890 Morgan US Silver Dollar
A Carson City 1890 Morgan Silver Dollar. Click picture to enlarge.
I've just read an article (which is also trending now in Yahoo as I write this post,) about an 1873 dime that was sold for $1.6 Million. Wow! And after reading it, I suddenly remembered that I have this 1890 - 1 dollar coin (in good condition!) which I've got in 2009 from my mother during my vacation in the Philippines, 3 years before she died. My mother have this coin like... forever. I remember seeing it inside the drawer of our shop as a boy (she's using it as a good luck charm). And I have it here right now with me.
Now, I'm wondering (after reading that article,) How much would my coin sell? or would it even come close to the selling price of that 1873 dime? How I wish!
I researched about it a bit and learned from a certain site that it's called a 'Morgan Silver Dollar' which is one of the most popular and most beautiful US coins out there. It was designed by George T. Morgan, hence the name and it's 90% silver and 10% copper. Unfortunately, my Silver Morgan turned out to have an "O" mark, but if it has a "CC" mark (which means that it was minted in Carson City, Nevada), it would have a much higher monetary value, (the mark can be seen just above the 'DO' of the DOLLAR word at the reverse side). I've also searched about it on You Tube and this is what I've learned (watch below).
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Proverbs 19:21
There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
- Proverbs 19:21 (AKJV)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Goodbye My Nanay (1946 - 2012)
Florinia Sanchez Villanueva Cabrera was her name. Most people called her Sinia, but I called her Nay (or Nanay) which means mother. A great businesswoman to most people, a complicated lady to others and an unconventional mother to me.
When I was young, I used to envy some of my friends because of their moms. I used to think of reasons why my mother was so different from theirs. Then at the age of 26, I discovered the reason why. I was saddened, yet, I felt some sort of relief because now I've got a deeper understanding of our relationship and most of my questions were answered.
It was June 2011 during my vacation, when I last saw her. That time, she just recovered from an illness, and it was because of that reason, why they transferred their bed from the room upstairs to the ground floor - she was having a hard time going up and down the staircase. That time she looked older and thinner, yet I can still see the old Nanay in her. She didn't change a bit.
My wife texted me the other day (13th May Friday) and she wanted me to call her, it was an emergency, she said. I was already expecting the worst even though I did not know yet the reason why I should call her immediately. And when I called her, she first asked me if I could come home, and then she broke the news. It's about my mother, she died the night before. I was shocked and saddened. She was a strong and great woman. How can she be gone? I guess this is what we always feel when people we know die, especially those we love.
I always included her in my daily prayers. I always asked God to open her eyes and mind so that she may see what this world is really like and accept the free gift of salvation that the Lord is offering. I just hope that she repented of her sins and accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior before her last breath. Goodbye my Nanay. I love you!
'Death Comes To All'
Ecclesiastes 9
1-This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. 2-The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
3-It seems so tragic that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. 4-There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”
5-The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. 6-Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth. 7-So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! 8-Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!
9-Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. 10-Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
11-I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.
12-People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Giving Thanks To God Amid Difficult Times
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Prayer:
Dear Lord, first of all, I must confess that I don’t always obey this verse. I am thankful at times, but surely not in all circumstances. When life is hard, when work is scary and disappointing, I must admit that it’s difficult for me to give you thanks. In retrospect, gratitude comes easily. But, in the moment of suffering or sadness or fear or disappointment, I often have a hard time giving thanks. Forgive me, Lord.
Help me to do what this verse encourages. May I be truly thankful in all situations. By your Spirit, remind me of your goodness, when I’m hurting or afraid. Make your presence known to me, Lord, so that I might offer you thanks. For all you have given me, and most of all, for your love and grace in Jesus Christ, I thank you. Amen.
Source: 'A Week of Thanksgiving: Be Thankful in All Circumstances' by Mark D. Roberts, Daily Reflections.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The Spaying/Neutering of my Rescued Cats
A few weeks ago, my friend and I took our rescued cats to the vet. It was an answered prayer. Prior to this, we were brainstorming for ways to get our pet cats neutered/spayed at a low cost. It's hard to take care of cats especially when there's a lot of them, not to mention the time and of course the financial side of it. We don't want our cats to multiply exponentially.
It was God who led us to this wonderful veterinarian. When I stumbled on a Facebook page called 'Open Paws' which is based in Riyadh, I chanced upon a familiar friend on FB, Dr.Khumbulani, who is also a follower of this page, understandably himself a vet. Dr.Khumbulani was the doctor of my cat Paquito who unfortunately died last year. So I messaged him and asked about the spaying/neutering services and how much it would cost us. And he said that it would cost about 400 Sr. each, but he can lower that down to 300 Sr. each. Still it's very expensive and we can't afford to spend that amount of money for each one of them.
Obviously Dr.Khumbulani knew of our financial constraint and instead gave me a name of a certain lady vet on FB and told me that she could help us in our predicament, but mind you, not kind of big time. When we contacted her through phone, she said that she's willing to spay/neuter all of our cats for free including those of our neighbors' pet cats. Yes, that's right, for FREE. Okay, paint a picture of how shock we were when confronted with such incredible generosity. I couldn't believe it, from 400Sr. each to absolutely gratis. I can't thank God enough for directing us to Dr.Ingrid. As she is based in Riyadh, Dr.Ingrid scheduled us a specific day for us when she gets to Jeddah. In fact she had herself soldiered up for a tough day for her expected 9 patients. (We promised her 9 but unfortunately we were only able to carry 6.) Her place was not that hard to locate. There could be no stupid mistakes of not trailblazing her private clinic as a familiar smell itself will lead you to where she is. True enough, there were more than a hundred cats living with her in her home. I've never seen that many cats in my life before. She has rescued all of them. I can tell how much effort and money she has invested in them by the looks of their healthy and happy demeanor. Or did I say some of them are too heavy to even carry their tummies? Lol! As soon as we dumped our cats to their cages we were told to pick them up in the evening. By the way, Dr.Ingrid is such a lively spirit to engage in a conversation, but we could not further waste her time as she has already rolled her sleeves up to start her day. When we returned to pick them up, they were all still groggy because of the anesthesia. The good news was, they were all spayed and neutered except for one, the youngest of our 5 cats, which we thought was a girl but he turned out to be a boy. He/she will be back next month together with the rest of our cats (and the neighbors' cats) that haven't been spayed/ neutered yet.
Thank you Dr.Khumbulani and Dr.Ingrid for all your help, you're a blessing to us and also to some of our dear friends who are helping us with the rescued cats, thank you for your support. And of course to our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you very much dear Lord for listening to our prayers. To you all the glory!
Here's the video of my 5 cats when they arrived from the vet, after the operation.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
My Conversation With Celine Dion (...In my Dream!)
Last night I dreamt of Celine Dion, yes the diva (of all people) and we had a short conversation about her daughter and a place where she will be going. This is not a joke (...but it sure is funny). This was part of a long dream that I had last night.
In my dream, I was working in a department store, I was probably a salesman there and while I was walking and holding something, I then saw Celine Dion from a distance sitting (you guessed it right) on a chair with her daughter near a table (like those you see on food courts inside a mall). I then walked towards them to greet her and here's our short conversation.
Me: Hi, you're Celine right?
Celine: Yes.
Me: Is this your daughter? Her name is Patricia, right?
Celine: Yes, her name is Patricia. How did you know?
Me: I don't know, somehow I just knew it. (the newspaper perhaps? LOL!)
Celine: Do you know where Sin-Amar is?
Me: Hmmm...No. Sorry I don't know where that is.
Celine: Well, I'm going there tomorrow. (end)
It's so perplexing to me and here's why. First, she has twins, and they are all boys, not girls and their names are Eddy and Nelson, not Patricia (I Googled it OK?!). Second, She was asking me about a place called 'Sin-Amar' and it was just this morning when I was in the bathroom that it struck me and it's here where it gets weirder. 'Sin Amar' is Spanish, 'Sin' means, without and 'Amar' (verb) means to love, 'Without (to) Love'. She's going to a place called 'Without Love'?! It doesn't make sense. But wait. Yes, I know of a place 'without love' and she doesn't want to go there. Not in Hell and not without the Lord Jesus by her side, or else she'll be singing 'Burn...baby burn....' from the top of her lungs right away. But probably she already accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. If so, she doesn't have to worry about anything at all. She's in good hands.
This reminds me of a dream that I had some 20 years ago of Whitney Houston, she was also sitting on a chair near a table, and when I got closer to her, she told to me, "Then you were thick, now you are thin". It's been years since I dreamt about her; could she be talking about my hair? LOL! This Celine Dion thing could be big. In fact, this might mean something humongous!...or ...totally nothing at all. Could be just one of those weird dreams. ha ha ha! Well, either way at least I already have a blog post for the month of February. Thank you Jesus for this dream; For your love and everything else that goes with it. God bless you all!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Ginger Conejo & Cuty Cute - "Come Away With Me" (Video)
My pet rabbit, Ginger Conejo and kitten, Cuty Cute's bonding moment. I took this video just this afternoon around 2 PM, January 19, 2012.
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