CARMELITE MEETING TOMORROW

I just found out this past week that tomorrow is Laura's birthday though I've conveniently forgotten exactly which one. She's cousin Mark's wife. Unfortunately they live over in New York so I hardly ever get a chance to see them. While I'm on the subject, happy birthday this month to Sean, Angus Italo, Aunt Norma, Liz & Tony too. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday but I wasn't around at the time. As far as I know everything worked out as well as ever. As always, I'm still pigging out on Easter candy. It's getting quite seriously annoying by now. Cousin Noreen recently went to a wine tasting at Martini Beach. I don't know if the name of the place was intentionally chosen that way or not. Tomorrow, I have to lector at 5:00 Mass. The new schedules were in the rectory last weekend so I made sure I got mine. At least the weather is still gradually improving. Today seems, so far, to be quite a nice day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POPE BENEDICT XVI!

My parents have been going crazy lately trying to do as much spring cleaning as possible. The weather, a little at a time, is getting somewhat better. It's usually at its very best during the afternoon each day. The show about Shakespeare was on EWTN again yesterday so I made sure I watched it. As a compulsive bookworm, I've always been really interested in those kinds of things. We're back at the churches of the Wyomings from now on but Fr. Walsh wasn't available this morning so Fr. McDonnell, O.S.J., ended up covering for him. Bob called me last night at 10:00. I've always liked going to bed early & I've always despised the phone. At least the conversation turned out to be reasonably interesting though. I truly wish people would keep the phone on a nice short leash. This month's Carmelite meeting will be on this coming Saturday morning. Most probably the attendance won't be anything to brag about.

DISGUSTING WEATHER!

Uncle Frankie came over for only a little while yesterday. Of course, he showed up with candy. By now the miserable weather has gotten disgusting beyond human comprehension. Today is the last day at St. John's for Mass. Fr. Walsh is supposed to be back tomorrow. When I go to Pittston in the morning, I make sure I stop at the Turkey Hill each day, in Exeter, to get the paper. Lately washing the laundry seems to be taking up quite an awfully large share of my day. It's a lot like taking out the garbage. Neither one appears to take so much time until you realize how many separate times each one inevitably has to be taken care of. I just noticed today that cousin Mary Ellen has recently joined Facebook. It should be quite interesting having her among us. We have lots of relatives with us now. Lately there's still nothing on TV but I usually watch "Jeopardy" & "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire".

GAS PRICES GOING UP

Today, for the second day in a row, I ended up having to go to St. John's in Pittston for 8:00 Mass. There's a lot of traffic congestion in that area so at times it can be quite an effort getting through it all. While I was out I couldn't help noticing that gas prices have been going up a few cents at a time these days. This morning I got started on that site that teaches foreign languages. I have very many Italian & Hispanic connections these days. Because the Italians are awfully talkative I made sure I started with the Italian lessons. The first lesson so far is about groceries. It's all about things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage asparagus & other food that can be found in a grocery store. It also covers things like bags, shopping carts & everything else from that environment. Now that Easter weekend's over, we have all been getting back to the usual grind. I'm having an impossible time trying to handle all the leftover food & candy.