I'll See You Later Joe...

I lost an hour of sleep today. It's Daylight Savings Time (DST) and we have to move our clock one hour ahead. I really don't mind because what this means is that sun will still be up when I get home from work which will allow me to spend more time outside with my kids.

I started Sunday the usual way, having breakfast with my family in Safeway. Weiwei, Cheryl and I share a panini sandwich for breakfast while Abby enjoys a doughnut. I have coffee with Weiwei and the 2 kids share a hot chocolate. Then after that they drop me off at church because I have rehearsals for the Sunday worship set.

The service started and we did the worship set. At the end of the set, I talked to Joe our interim worship leader and I found out that today is his last day as the worship leader. The church has found somebody who might be a good candidate as a full time worship and creative arts pastor.

I always feel a sense of sadness when someone leaves especially when it's someone that you have been working with for quite some time. Joe has been our interim worship leader for more than a year now and I really really enjoyed playing with him. I also got to know his wife Jenny and his 2 beautiful kids. I am going to miss them a lot. I know that God has something special for them outside of Fair Oaks Church and I will forever treasure the friendship that I have established with them.

I'm So Happy!!

First off, the sun came out over the weekend so my weather blues are gone and I have a dose of natural Vitamin D so that really helped lift my spirits a lot!!

One of our to do's this year is to reconnect with family and friends. I finally realized that it's worth spending time and effort nurturing relationships that we truly value. I have been a procrastinator and I have to admit that staying in touch with friends and even with my family back home in the Philippines has been a problem with me. It's one of my major character flaws. And I know that it would seem that I don't really value these relationships but the truth of the matter is I do. I don't have any excuse for not staying in touch and I have made a commitment to work on this issue starting this year. So yesterday, I sent a note to my dear friend Pastor Doug who I consider my spiritual father.

I was so happy to hear from our dear friend Doug. He is the pastor of the church we attended in Canada where I served in the worship ministry as a drummer. I love hanging out with him, his adorable wife Laurel and their kids. His family reminds me of my family back home. He and Laurel have 10 children (I hope I got that right). I came from a big family myself. I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. I will always admire how he and Laurel manage to keep their sanity intact and their house in order. The love and respect that flows and emanates in and from their household is just amazing.

To hear the wonderful things that have happened to their family is really heartwarming. They became grandparents last year and they are expecting another this year. I am so happy for them and knowing Laurel, she must be beaming with pride with the new additions to their family.

I miss them so much. I remember the special occasions that we get to spend with their family when we were in Canada. They treated us like their own family and that really meant a lot to me because we didn't have any relatives at all in Canada. It really feels great to be in touch with them again after all these years.

Back here in California, it was a fun night for the Salgado household. Tomorrow is Abby's birthday. Weiwei and Cheryl were so busy preparing and baking the cake. Abby tries to help but you can imagine how that went... I suggested just buying a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake but Cheryl insisted on making one.

If you have read the book "Five Languages of Love", Cheryl's love language is Gifts. She loves giving gifts to people and she prefers giving something that she has created on her own. If you haven't read this book, I suggest you do so.

Here's a picture of the cake that Cheryl baked with her mom. She said that she's going to decorate it tomorrow when she comes home from school. Don't you think she's so sweet?