QUIET WEEKEND

Nothing much has been happening so far this weekend. I have to lector tomorrow at 10:00 Mass. Of course that may change by the time I get home. Lately there always seems to be someone trying to get me to cover at another Mass. My Facebook account has still been getting lots of mileage, especially from my Queens crowd. Ruthie just accepted my friends invitation. My parents are still quite busily cleaning up all the mess from the Christmas decorations. It's an extremely annoying chore because of all the boxes, decorations & other things that have to be put away again until next year. Lately I've been trying to see as many James Bond movies as possible. Yesterday I started watching "Die Another Day". It features Halle Berry as 007's love interest, Judy Dench as M, & Madonna sings the title song. The weather, so far, hasn't been so bad lately. Today, even early in the morning, it was quite clear & only as cold as it should be expected to be anyway. Yesterday was very cold but there wasn't any more rain or snow.

HAPPY 2009!

New Year's Eve & Day went quite well though they were both entirely too fattening. There was a really nice snowfall New Year's Eve but it didn't amount to anything bad. I didn't bother to do any partying this year. I just pigged out on a meal with my parents & Uncle Frankie. Of course, he showed up with quite a whole lot of candy & cookies. The next morning, before 10:00 Mass at O.L. Sorrows, as I was getting gas & the paper at the Shoemaker Ave. Unimart, I ran into him at the gas pumps. He seems to be recuperating quite well, so far, from his cold. Over the course of both days, unlike many people I didn't bother to watch any sports. I spent the time watching reruns of "The Twilight Zone" & "The Honeymooners". They've always been two of my very favorite shows. Of course, many of the inevitable phone calls. Aunt Lauren, Mary Anne, Fran, & Rose, among others called. Today we get to do the very first ever Friday dance of the new year.

BOND...JAMES BOND

Yesterday I saw the classic James Bond movie, "From Russia With Love". Sean Connery starred in it. In this Bond movie, the character of M was played by a man. In last year's "Casino Royale", Dame Judi Dench played the part. Uncle Frankie's sore throat seems to be lingering for a while. He's still at home ill & hasn't bothered to visit us lately. The price of the Citizen's Voice has gone back up to a half dollar so I now frequently get it at the machine instead of the store again. Tomorrow's New Year's Eve. I have no plans to do any partying. I enjoy a good party as much as anyone but don't really go crazy over things like that. My New Year's bash will more probably consist of watching reruns of "The Honeymooners" on that WGN channel 96. My parents spent all this morning cleaning the really disgusting oven & other things in the kitchen. That kind of chore has always been quite an absolute nightmare unfortunately. Very many years worth of dirt is hard to handle.

FIVE GOLD RINGS!

It's the Fifth Day of Christmas, as in the very famous carol. The weekend worked out quite well. Fran went home early yesterday as far as I know. Yesterday I finished "Romeo & Juliet" & started reading "Cymbeline" for the first time. Surprisingly I can't remember ever having read it before. I got a message from Cheryl on Saturday asking me to cover for her at 5:00 Mass but by the time I finally got back to her she had already asked Mary to do it. After Latin Mass yesterday in Pittston there were lots of new calendars there for 2009, reminding me that the new year is right around the corner. On Saturday, right after Mass, I went to Blockbusters in Pittston to take advantage of my gift card. I got a DVD Of Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto". I also ended up, to my chagrin, getting a pretty scary reminder of just exactly how slow & sluggish these Pa. drivers are. Everything was constant stop & go garbage.