Talaga ngang it was not meant to be. Sayang I missed seeing Rowena (Leopando-Woo).  Kasi
hindi tayo masyadong nakapag-coordinate.

My brother Jun took us to a resort in Wisconsin.  There, my 3 kids
and Ric tried to learn how to tumble down,
get up and ski again.  Ni hindi nakatagal.  All their afternoon was spent
in just getting up and down after a fall.  The instructor they hired was
very patient and taught them how to walk with the skis and poles.  I think
that is all they ever learned that time. The beginner's slope which was
really quite low was even too much for them.  Dapat at least overnight daw.
The first day to learn and the second day to try and try the falling and
getting up act.  Pero I braved the snow and cold to go to them in my street
shoes so that I can get photos of them in the skis. You should have seen me
walk like a Japanese duck with mincing steps lest I fall down, too.  Ang
layo pa naman ng spot na pinili ng instructor nila.

We left the ski lodge
at Wilmot Mt., Wisconsin early, at around 3 PM and proceeded to shop at
Gurnee Mills up to 8 PM.  then we went to Lone Star Steak House somewhere
near their place.  Doon kami nagtagal.

Actually, I called you pa when I
got the message that you called up last Dec. 26.

Then on Dec 28, very
early, we left for the airport (4:15 AM) to take the 6 AM flight to LAX.

But all the puyats we spent in Chicago were worth it.  We enjoyed our
reunion with my mother, brothers, sister, in-laws, nephews, nieces and
apos.  To while away time before midnight for the opening of gifts, nag
concierto kami ng Christmas carols.  In our family, my mother is a good
alto and Jonathan is very musically inclined.  The rest of us, 2 brothers
and kaming 2 girls are out of tune, pero sigue pa rin.  Lalo na ang brother
kong si Rey.  Nag-sosolo pa ng kanta while Jonathan played the piano.  Pati
ang mga spouses and boyfriends ng nieces ko, international, ha, pinakanta
naming isa-isa. May Koreano, Thai, Filipino, American, Puerto Ricano, at
Mexicano na mga born in the US with half US blood.

Tapos nga, we celebrated
the birthday of my niece the following day (Dec. 26) at katakut-takut na
shoppingan. Mas marami raw tao on Dec. 26 sa stores because half of them
are there to return/exchange their gifts and the other half to just take
advantage of the sale.  Talaga ngang marked down ang lahat.  Kaya ang
pasalubong ko sa barkada ko ay after Christmas sale.  Magugulat sila. Ha,
ha, ha.

We were in LA for 2 days before driving to Vegas.  We visited Aida at her
new house in Anaheim.  She has a very nice and quiet place.  Bagay na bagay
sa kanya to relax after a hectic day in school.  Her place is in a
village-like place, very secure, with man-made lagoon where ducks of
Colehaan variety swim.  Marami ring puno and other plants all around. Only
the residents of this place have access to the lagoon.  I saw her darlng
pet, Muning, Sweetheart, love or whatever name she calls the cat. Very
black, tabaching but afraid of people.  Tumatakbo pag may bisita siya. Aida
has a lot of paintings in her house.  She enjoys collecting them.  Maraming
Pinoy scenes that make you feel at home. Of course naka-display din ang
aming gift sa kanya which we bought in Baguio when she was here last
August.    She took us  to a buffet restaurant and then she toured us in
San Juan Capistrano, a mission church in California. We had a wonderful day
with Aida.

 On the way to Vegas, we passed by the Barstow outlet.  Our excuse was this
was the last shopping spree ng two daughters ko. Sa kalakihan naman ng
place, lalo akong hindi makabili. Nakakataranta.

Our stint in Las Vegas was
fabulous, superb, great, OK na OK, ano pa kaya ang masasabi ko. Natalo nga
lang ako ng $100, si Ric ng $300 over a period of 4 days.  Not bad kung
tutuusin.  Pero talagang hindi kami gambler kaya nanghihinayang ako.

The millennium countdown was peaceful.  Hordes of policemen stationed themselves
in the middle of Las Vegas strip. They put barricades around and people
could only walk on the sides.  All hotels beefed up security by putting
many policemen and private guards.  They also put temporary fences around
their hotels to prevent non-guests from entering.  Actually at around 7 PM
of Dec. 31, nobody could go to any hotel if you are not a guest there.  You
have to show your room key.  Bottles and aluminum cans are not allowed on
the streets so hotels provided plastic cups for people to use if they want
to drink outside (which everybody did.) Imagine drinking champagne from a
plastic glass!

My children and their cousins and friends took to the strip.
They said very exciting daw and the countdown was made in front of Paris
hotel at may lumabas pang flying Elvis.  Everybody was kissing each other
around them.  May nag-ask pa nga raw ng permission from my daughter Rachel
if he could kiss her  and she pointed to her cousin.  We told the 3 boys
(two cousins and Ricky) to guard the girls when they walked along the
strip.  Pati rin daw sila may dalang champagne.

To greet the new millennium, Ric and I attended the dinner dance in our
hotel at Treasure Island.  OK din. Formal pa.  He had to rent tux because
he left his in LA.  Sayang because we did not anticipate this.  May mga
bagong gimmick.  May photo freeze pa nga kami na tipong prom.  May photo
spot na kinunan bawa't couple .  Dinner was prime rib, but of course, I
talked the waitress into giving me fish.  Nagulat ang mga kasama ko sa
table na mga puti, na hindi namin kilala.  How was I able to get daw a
diff. menu? Utak lang di ba, tipong pa sweet sa waitress. Before midnight
struck, they distributed masks.  Ang gaganda.  Oh, the motif was all white
and silver for the millennium party.  It was so cool. Kaya it looks like
everything was cold too, mukhang snow and clouds and buong ballroom.

After
midnight, Ric and I took to the streets also and met our children around 2
PM.  Tapos nag casino na. Nag hotel hopping din kami before and after the
31st..  Eating brunch in one hotel, dinner at another one kaya mga two
hotels a day ang na-visit namin.  Of course I had the whole family with us
and Ric's 3 pamangkins as our guide.  Aba eh mga night owls.  Kaming
mag-asawa, nag-reretire na ng 12 midnight to about  one AM, sila, will
return my kids at 2:30 AM, tapos lalabas uli na mag-night clubbing  with
their friends till morning.  Kaya ang gisingan eh about noon time na.
Nakapag-bonding din naman ang kids namin with their cousins aged 22-33.  I
like Bellagio Hotel very much.  For me it is the most beautiful one.  Ang
Murano blown glass flowers, ginawang ceiling.  Ang paintings ng the great
Monet, Picasso and Matisse  ay nasa gallery na may entrance fee pa. Kaya
hindi na kami pumasok doon.  We just imagined seeing them before at
Washington's Smithsonian. The Hotel Paris' ceiling is very low so the place
looked cramped and small when they tried to create the Paris streets scene.
 New York, New York looks NY, medyo magulo ang dating. Their coffee shops
is mala Elvis time. Venetia is beautiful also. One can even take a gondola
ride around the hotel.  It is really like St. Mark's square in Venice and
even the gondolas are similar kaya lang mas malinis ang tubig. Lahat ng
bagong hotel ok. Mandalay Bay is also very nice, but visitors could not
even glimpse at the man-made beach.  Sayang because this weekend, Jan. 15,
my other in-laws will go to Vegas and stay there.  Kasi dumating naman ang
two sisters ni Ric (also for the wedding) last Jan. 5.  So their pasyalan
will only start after the wedding.

After Vegas, we went back to LA, after seeing our two daughters off at the
airport for their trip back to Manila.  Siempre, nagdaan muna kami sa mga
outlet for some shopping.

I had dinner with our classmates at Max last Jan. 4.  I guess you must have
read Daddie's account.  Sabi ko nga kay Hector (na kadarating lang from
Pinas the night before, jet lag pa) why Max's.   Sabi niya, siguro ang mga
classmates talaga natin ang may gusto doon.  Sabik sila. Anyway, we enjoyed
it very much, too.  Kasi by that time, miss na rin namin ang kare-kare,
pancit, lechon kawali and bagoong. Ang mga better halves nina Albert and
Ceso who I met only that night were also nice.  Abet and Pearl took us
home.  Ang layo pa naman ng place namin, sa Glendora. Thank you so much to
all of you, Daddie & Noel, Abet & Pearl, Ceso and Baby, Ressie, Hector and
Aida.
 
My niece's wedding was beautiful.  It was a union of Germans and Filipinos.
Sobra ang tangkad ng groom's families.  Eric (the groom) is 6'4 and his
family and guests ranged from 5'll to 6'5.  Para mo nang nakita ang dream
team.  My niece is only 5'5, very thin but beautiful.  Ang tawag nga namin
sa kanila eh German invasion.  Sila ang kasama namin sa Jay Leno show and
tour of Catalina Island (mga pre-wedding activities). Ang haba pala ng
wedding party diyan.  The wedding itself started at 3 PM sa church, then
cocktails at 4:30, dinner at 7 PM, program and dancing.  We left early(
before midnight) because that was our last night and we had to finish our
packing.

Now we are back.  Kayod na naman.

Happy New Millennium to all.

Ruth

At 02:10 PM 12/30/1999 -0600, you wrote:
Hi Ruth... On the evening of the December 27th, Kuya Ruds and I  picked up
Rowena (Leopando-Woo) at her house on the chance that we would be able to visit with you
for a few minutes..... I called several times to see if you were home from
skiing yet.... We sat around at the Bennigan's on the corner of Milwaukee
and Golf from 7:15 pm to 10:00 pm.... We thought, at least we were already
close to where you will end up. I think the waiter got tired of refilling
our hot water for the tea..... At 10 pm  we decided to head back since we
have not heard from you... We really wish we could have seen you and the
rest of the family... I guess it was not meant to be this time around...
Maybe next time.....Rowena (Leopando-Woo)and I had a nice reunion... I brought my
scrapbook from NY... It was the first time we had seen each other in 32
years......jojo

Dear Jojo and Kuya Ruds,

My brother is preparing us to go to a ski lodge on Dec. 23 and back to
their place on the 24th. However, this is tentative yet.  so I guess we
just have to see what the sked will be when we arrive on Dec. 22.  If we do
go skiing, we will definitely be back on the 24th because it is our family
tradition to be together on the evening of 24th till dawn with the whole
family.  It will be my pleasure to invite you both to come to his place in
Glenview and join us.  Even if this is a family affair, we are used to
having some friends, too, even when they were still in Manila. I's
definitely call you up as soon as I arrive.  What is your phone no. ba?

Ruth