NICE WEEKEND SO FAR

Mary Anne & Bridget got here yesterday afternoon. Steve & the boys are unavailable. Fran will be showing up sometime pretty soon. Last night Bridget practiced her flute for a while. I think I recognized the theme from "The Magnificent Seven" somewhere among her greatest hits. Mary Anne, Bridget & my mother went shopping at Bon Ton early this morning. They always have especially nice sales. It's in the Midway. I've been reading more of that book by St. Teresa of Avila lately. Because of my connection to her order, it's all quite familiar to me by now. Alas, I have to say yet another happy fiftieth birthday this weekend to an old friend of mine. Diane, a homeroom classmate from St. John the Baptist High School, gets her big day tomorrow. To my chagrin, we're all getting up there. Surprisingly I've spent the past couple of days without any pain. I have no idea why I keep getting all these troubles but at least lately I haven't gotten any headaches or significant pain on my left side.

MOTHER'S DAY BECKONS!

This weekend will be Mother's Day. Kudos are in order for all the women who qualify. Yesterday I got a few slight headaches but they all went away. It's getting weird but at least my left side hasn't hurt lately. By now I need yet another haircut. I get pretty sloppy looking when it's long. Yesterday I started a book by St. Teresa of Avila. I just found out from Michael's wife, Terry, that today is their son Anthony's twenty first birthday. I hope he has a really happy one. They live over in New Jersey. My nephew Michael will turn twenty one in August. Unfortunately this year is full of milestone birthdays for all us old timers too. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. He & my parents spent a lot of time hanging around together as usual. They spent much of the time reminiscing. Mary Anne & Bridget will be showing up this weekend but Steve & the boys aren't available.

BATTERY FOR MY WATCH

Last night I went to that meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel Church. Because I was told it was a young adult group I assumed I was too old. It didn't make a difference. Another mistake I made was that it's not a social thing. Father Johnson(his first name) spends all the time at the meetings talking about different religions, their history, beliefs, etc. We at some pizza from a local pizzeria. It had tomato slices on top of the tomato paste. It was round. I've never seen round pizza around here. There was also red wine. It was very powerful stuff. It rained early in the day & at night. Because of the strong hooch I was cringing in my car all the way home. One woman lives in Dallas so she was really in big trouble. Finally & at last I have gotten a battery for my watch. My Fossil watch was driving me bananas lately constantly losing time. Instead of bothering to get a new battery for it, though, I decided, as a change of pace, to get one for my Peugeot watch. The store I went to was once on 8th Street by the bridge. It's now on Wyoming Avenue. The battery was about three dollars less than the ones I used to get over in New York. The blood drive was also at the same church. I was early for my appointment. I got a headache early in the day & took some non_aspirin pills for it & it went away. I woke up in the middle of the night, though & it was back so I took some Motrins.

BLOOD DRIVE

The weather this morning is cold, damp & rainy. Our miserable spring, really a borderline winter, never ends. I just got the biggest shock this morning in O.L. Sorrows parking lot. After Mass, a woman who's one of the regulars came over to me in the parking lot & asked me to join O.L. Mt. Carmel's young adult group. I'm most certainly not exactly among the youngest of adults. I was in O.L.P.H's young adult group in the middle of the 1980's. Their meeting is 7:00 tonight. She said I could pass for my early forties. I'll most probably end up going over to see what it's like. At 4:00 this afternoon I have to go to O.L. Mt. Carmel for the blood drive. It's one of very many in our general area this month. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. While he was there, Fran called. Mary Anne called too. Right now my arm doesn't hurt so much but I have a little bit of a headache.

FIFTY THREE YEARS!

The weather seem to be showing some promise today of being consistently nice. For a while on Sunday & yesterday it rained. Lately my left arm still hurts. One broken limb can really get a guy crazy after a while. Today is my parents' fifty third wedding anniversary. Most marriages can't be expected to last that long. It's also Cinco de Mayo, an occasion of much interest to my Hispanic connections. I made sure I sent an e mail to Mary, whom I knew in O.L.P.H. & St. John's, to say buenos dias. She teaches Spanish. I'm still reading those Carmelite books. They're pretty deep but by now I've gotten used to all the obscure references. Last night I ate blueberry cereal. I've always really liked those kinds of cereals that are good for the health. As virtually always my TV watching habits have been restricted lately to the usual three game shows & old shows.

NICE WEEKEND

Tomorrow will be my parent's fifty third wedding anniversary. In our current toleranter_than_thou culture, that's considered quite an oddity. Yesterday Uncle Frankie came over for supper. On Saturday afternoon he & my father went to a game. Somehow, when I first overheard them talk about it I seemed to have gotten the impression that the game would be on Friday. I thought I may have gotten yet another break from having to lector this weekend but alas, I should most certainly have known better. Of course, Cheryl called at the last minute & asked me to cover for her. That truly rankles me like crazy. I just found out by way of CNN & the BBC that there's a university over in England that's offering a master's degree in the Beatles. For all these past very many decades I've been delving into the further adventures of John, Paul, George & Ringo on an enirely unofficial level anyway.