PARTY

The weather is fine for a nice Friday dance this week. If my father & Uncle Frankie intend to show up at their weekly game tonight it will be much better than last week. The Friday dance will be much easier too. I spoke to Fr. Marchetti & Howard after Mass this morning. Fr. Marchetti intends to make certain changes for some things at Sunday Mass from now on. I have to lector at 5:00 tomorrow. The novena to St. Jude in Pittston is still going on & so far I've gotten there each night. Our big annual Holy Name Society pasta party is upon us once again. It's this Sunday. All the inevitable characters can be counted on to show up. Are the illegal aliens behind all those recent murders & molestations of little girls & young ladies, including Somer Thompson & Morgan Dana Harrington? In spite of what the liberals want us to believe, that's what quite a lot of people have been saying these days.

BLOOD DRIVE

The weather's been really nice lately. I hope it stays this way until at least after the party on Sunday. It should be a really nice time. My father & Uncle Frankie are both still ill but they'll both be able to show up. I still have a slight cough. I went to the St. Jude novena yet again last night. I took a different route home than the one I usually take from there. It's one I usually get to by way of another road anyway. Yesterday I ended up having to go to Price Chopper, in the Midway, for 1% milk, orange juice, bread, Pop_Tarts & cake. Gas prices have been going up quite a lot lately. They seem always to go back & forth these days on a regular basis. Yesterday I got my usual notice from the Red Cross' local chapter. They will be conducting a blood drive during the beginning & they've asked me to show up. I also got a call from a guy representing an organization that works with leukemia patients. He asked me to donate money.

CONTACT LENSES

The St. Jude novena went well last night. It wasn't terribly crowded & the traffic each way wasn't any trouble. This morning Ada explained, immediately before 9:00 Mass started at St. Joseph's, that Lynn's not available tonight so our meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel has been cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for November 4. Lynn tried to call me last night but the line was busy. My cough occasionally gets out of control but it's not so bad compared to the trouble many people are in with the flu these days. I absolutely live on cough drops. Today we say happy birthday to Tammy. She's Rich's wife, & the Ronald's daughter_in_law. Mark's son Nicolas' birthday was this month too. It's the same as Beatle John's. He's now a teenager. Mary Anne called last night. Sam got contact lenses.

PARTY SUNDAY

I went to the first night of the annual St. Jude novena last night. It started at 7:00. There was about an average crowd there. It struck me as quite impressive that I can still recognize very many of the faces of people there even though I only see them once a year. The Holy Name Society's annual pasta dinner is this coming Sunday. I asked Howard this morning about how I'd be required to pay for the tickets. He told me to pay either Steve or Bob on Sunday at the door. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday when I wasn't around. He & my father have both been ill lately. My cough persists but at least it hasn't gotten any worse so far. My mother recently got a call from her friend Dotty in Lindenhurst. Dotty's been very ill lately too.

ST. JUDE NOVENA

The weather's been exceptionally cold lately but at least the violent rainstorms are over. This morning was the first time I noticed significant ice on the cars' windows. I'm so happy to have found that can of Prestone ice remover. It works well on my windows. The weekend was entirely uneventful. Uncle Frankie's still ill. My cold is about the same as it's been ever since I first got it. I went to 10:30 Mass yesterday at O.L. Sorrows. Today the annual novena to St. Jude Thaddeus starts at St. Mary Help of Christians Church on Main St. in Pittston. Each day I try to read more of that book by Umberto Eco. Lately the coffee pot has been making pathetically weak coffee. That's a big disappointment especially in the morning.