http://www.lifebackintervention.com/wp-includes/xtpa.htm

OIL CHANGE

Lately I've been watering the flowers in the front yard every day that it doesn't rain.   That most certainly didn't include yesterday.   There were two absolutely torrential downpours, each one fairly brief, with lots of thunder & lightning.  This year has been quite a record breaker for extreme temperatures.  I have absolutely no idea whatsoever of what the names of most of the flowers are, except the buttercups.  They're the big yellow ones.   The flowers appear to go through phases somehow.  There are times when they're all out either in full bloom or on their way, with exceptionally nice buds.   Then they go through periods of total absolute death.  They all get stark & horrible looking.   Each stage seems to last for only a fairly short time.  Recently I went to Di Leo's Garage on Wyoming Avenue & Ninth Street in town to get an oil change.  It's only right down the street.  It went fairly well except for the price.  It got a little steep because I needed a new oil filter & a rim for my tire.  The guy who's in charge is named Joe.   Another guy gave me a ride each way so I could stay home while it was getting fixed.    Fortunately it only took a few hours.   Sometimes those things can last for an unbearably long time.  Daren's birthday was July 21.  I made sure I sent her mother, Grace, a card.  She sent me one too.  She included some very nice pictures of Daren & her(Daren's)two sisters.  Daren died in 2005.   Fr. McKernan has been doing a really good job so far of keeping our men's group running.  We meet on the second & fourth Saturday mornings of each month in O.L. Sorrows rectory.  The last Carmelite meeting, a couple of weeks ago, went really well too.   Attendance wasn't so good but we got a lot done there.  Our meetings are every third Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street in Wilkes_Barre.  We always welcome new members.

http://sillesofie.web.student.hum.au.dk/wp-content/themes/classic/tpt.htm

FOURTH OF JULY SHINDIG

This past weekend, starting pretty much on Friday morning, my father's relatives got together for their fifty~first annual overcrowded feeding frenzy in Hilldale.   They call it a family reunion.  Richie's, Sean's & Jamie's families were all missing.  Michael, Tony Sr. & Junior & Scott from Buffalo weren't there either,  but most of the others managed to make it.   Michael even took Erin with him.   I made sure I wore a hat most days & didn't a headache or sunburn.   Yesterday I forgot though, & I woke up very early this morning with a headache.  Because I always made sure I stayed only until around 8:00 each night I never got too worn out.    As always it was a mixture of sports, gossip, intellectual debate, religion & politics,  & picture taking.   My camera & video camera got a lot of mileage.  The food was entirely too fattening so I shall have to spend the next few weeks toning my appetite down.   Mary Anne, Robin & a few others even went shopping for hooch.  I put in a share of the price & got a few swigs to show for it over the course of the weekend.  Most probably I shall not have another drop until the next especially big occasion.   Unfortunately the only thing missing this year was music.  Most years lately we always seem to have an ad~hoc band made up of anyone who can play his way out of a brown paper bag.    There was some bad news on Saturday since the insanely violent electrical storm, that started at about 4:00 a.m., lasted all day & drove us all plum crazy.  It's been raining like crazy for quite a while this past spring & summer.   A few weeks ago Vinnie, Steve & I got the idea to go to Jitty Joe's  for ice cream but somehow we didn't end up going.    Several people only stayed for a day or two so it was hard to keep track of everyone.

FOURTH OF JULY

This past weekend Sam, the younger of my nephews, had quite an exceptionally nice & busy time.  He went to his Senior prom & his graduation from Long Beach High School, on Long Island.  He's eighteen years old as of earlier this month.  It's a month of major milestones for him.   Following in his brother Michael's footsteps he intends to attend Hofstra University in September.  He recently got his driver's license too.   Michael is also quite busy too with his girlfriend Erin, job & new life.   Bridget, their sister, the youngest of all, has just finished her time at summer camp.   Mary Anne came in on the bus a couple of days ago to help with all the necessary cooking for the Fourth of July.  Very soon we shall have to face the inevitable crowd in Hilldale.   Unfortunately I missed the big final farewell reunion at St. Gabriel's in East Elmhurst, & shall also be forced to miss the big reunion at St. John the Baptist in West Islip.  It's on July 1.   My parents still constantly pester me to water the plants & flowers for them each day.  There's so much rain lately though that many days it's entirely unnecessary.  Last night at around 10:30, there was an absolutely overwhelming electrical storm.  My cell phone works really well.  My parents now have the one I started out using because they don't want to be bothered with all the extra things.  I was forced to spend an absolutely insane amount of time on the phone with the Tracfone people to get theirs re~activated but other than that all goes quite well.

ST. GABRIEL'S

Father's Day, last weekend, went quite well.  As always my parents & I partied with Uncle Frankie & kin from West Wyoming.  Fran came up for the weekend & invited us over to his house for a nice big supper on Saturday & breakfast on Sunday morning.   Recently my mother sent away to QVC for yet another cell phone so she & my father could have one available for when they go out.  Because they really don't need a video camera or anything like that, I got theirs & they now have mine.  I especially like the one I have because it takes very nice pictures & the video camera is quite an interesting perk.  Recently all my St. Gabriel's friends & I got some extremely bad news.  Our beloved school over in East Elmhurst, Queens, recently re~named the La Salle School at St. Gabriel's Parish, will be soon closing down.   Our last reunion will be this coming Saturday, June 25.  I really wish I could have attended but due to circumstances beyond my control there's no way I could possibly get there.  That parish was always the single biggest, most important landmark of my childhood.  A lot of my old St. Gabriel's friends have been joining Facebook lately.  Last Saturday's Carmelite meeting went well.  Sister Mary Robert was there.  We needed her help with the installation of officers.  We meet every third Saturday morning of the month at the Little Flower Manor in Wilkes~Barre at 9:00 a.m. & are always looking for new members.  The weather's been exceptionally nice & warm lately.  It rains quite a lot but we need the rain.  There was an exceptionally violent rainstorm starting at around 4:00 a.m. this morning.   My parents always want me to water their really nice flowers, that they got from Aunt Lauren's farm, but on days like this no extra water will be necessary.  I've been reading a lot lately, especially poetry & Carmelite books.  Two days ago was my cousin Larry's birthday so we all have to say happy birthday to him.   June 18 was also Beatle Sir Paul's birthday.   It's good to see he's still around. 

BUSY TIME

The weather's been usually pretty hot & frequently rainy around here lately. It's a busy time of year. Sam will be graduating from high school this month. Michael is really keeping active with his girlfriend Erin. Michael & Sam both have jobs that keep them occupied. Father's Day is this Sunday so we shall be going out to a restaurant as always when Fran comes in. I've been keeping in touch & getting back in touch with people from St. Gabriel's lately. We're all so very sad to have to face up to the fact that our beloved school, over in East Elmhurst, N.Y. will have to close this month. Unfortunately I most probably won't be able to go to the big reunion. The more time I spend in northeastern Pa. the more I see that nobody here has to be fit to drive his way out of a brown paper bag, in order to get a license. I've been reading, & watching a lot of movies lately, as always. I've always been interested in things like that. Recently we just got some very bad news over at St. Monica's. I noticed in the Citizen's Voice yesterday that Laura, who was until recently a parishioner & lector of ours, has died, at only forty years old, of cancer. This coming Saturday morning, I shall be going to our monthly Carmelite meeting. We have a meeting every third Saturday morning of the month at 9:00 a.m. at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street in Wilkes_Barre. New members are always welcome. Fr. McKernan isn't going to have Mass or Bible meetings on Thursday nights for the summer but we go to his men's meeting on Saturday mornings twice a month now. The Easter Season ended this past weekend on Pentecost Sunday so I've started my new breviary.

CARMELITE MEETING

A couple of weeks ago the Catholic radio people tracked me down again. This time it was to get me to help with addressing envelopes for them. There were fewer than twenty to write out. I delivered two directly to the people who were supposed to get them. The recent Carmelite meeting worked out well too. As always our attendance was nothing to brag about but it ran rather smoothly. We meet every third Saturday morning of the month at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street in Wilkes_Barre. We are always trying to find new members. Lately I only get very mild headaches every once in a while. Now that I no longer seem to have an allergy to caffeine, a change of weather always seems to get me crazy. Three days ago was my brother~in~law Steve's birthday. Yesterday was cousin Gino's. Bridget's is this coming Friday. Fran & Uncle Frankie came over for a visit last Saturday night. It was really nice. She only gets to show up once in a while. Mother's Day & my parents' fifty~fifth wedding anniversary~Cinco de Mayo~both went off without any trouble too. To celebrate we went out to Perkins to get a nice meal & to St. John the Evangelist's graveyard to visit all the deceased kin. Yesterday I went to a local jewelry store on Wyoming Avenue in West Wyoming to get the batteries replaced for my watch & my father's remote control for his car. There seems to be yet no end to the torrential downpour lately. I heard someone say on the radio a little over a week ago that this year had seen, so far, the fifth wettest spring in history.

DIVINIE MERCY SUNDAY

In my last post I mistakenly said my appointment for the blood drive was on Friday. It was on Thursday. Conveniently it was very easy for me to get there because it was at O.L. Mt. Carmel church on William Street in Pittston. Although it wasn't until 4:00 p.m. I, of course, being so compulsively punctual, got there at around 3:00. A few of the phlebotomists who showed up that day were regulars so at least two of them, Marlene & Tina, recognized me quite well by now. The women I spoke to at first, when I told them I was so early, let me get an early start. Marlene, though, came over & reminded me that I was going to have to wait until a double red cell opening was available because that's what I had promised to do. After it was all over I got some apple juice & cookies & a coupon for a contest. My old Knights of Columbus council, 794 in Lindenhurst, N.Y., used to give us a really nice full meal. There's a bitter rainstorm right now ever since last night. It's very common lately for some obscene reason. We always get such bad weather, with intermittent spurts of niceness. Easter & Divine Mercy Sunday are now both over. The English prince's wedding supplied us with a lot of nice hoo~ha, as did the beatification of Pope John Paul II. On the more morbid side we were all relieved to find out about the death of Osama bin Laden a few days ago.

HAPPY EASTER

This month's Carmelite meeting worked out quite well. It was Chris's reception day. Her husband & mother both showed up for the Mass. Yvonne & Judy were there too. The only catch is that whenever they attend a meeting it's always so mind~bogglingly long. Sr. Mary Robert, as always, was especially helpful. Easter was a very nice time too. The kin from West Wyoming showed up. Steve & all the kids were here too. Mary Anne wasn't available though because she wasn't feeling well. We had our big meal on Holy Saturday because it was the best thing to do for the people who had to travel. At around 8:00 that night Steve & I took the kids to Jitty Joe's for our mandatory ice cream jaunt. I ended up getting a cup of teaberry ice cream. There's still entirely too much candy & food left over. Aunt Lauren & Uncle Jim brought Benjamin over on Good Friday night. As always I ended up lectoring in church on Palm Sunday. Fr. McKernan even got me to have my foot washed. My cell phone works quite well though most of the mileage I get from it is from the Facebook app. I made sure I got a haircut from Rose Chairge a few days before Easter. I always have to call for an appointment. She recognizes my voice on the phone whenever I call. Among other birthdays this month, yesterday was KrissyKrissyKrissy's daughter Natalie's big day. She's three. I haven't gotten many headaches lately, just the occasional really slight one. The weather, finally & at last, has been getting very nice. Well it's about time. There's no weekday Mass at O.L. Sorrows this week so I go to St. John's in Pittston every morning. People are still working so hard to keep St. Gabriel's, over in East Elmhurst, from having to close down. I have an appointment to give blood this Friday.