EASTER VIGIL

Today is the day before Easter, the single most important day of the entire year. We all went over to see Aunt Norma in Amityville. Uncle Larry, Larry, Rose & Maria were there. When we first showed up, it was at the very beginning of their Mass at 2:30 for the Easter Vigil. While there, we drank espresso & coffee & ate pastries. I really was sorry not to have gotten a chance to see Gary or any of the kids. I ran into a guy who was in my Lindenhurst KofC Council 794 around twenty years ago. I also met Pete from the O.L.P.H. Holy Name Society. A splendid time was had by one & all. I truly enjoyed all the catching up. That part of Nassau County most certainly has changed. By now, I'm just about up to the last couple of dozen pages of "Mrs. Dalloway". Somewhere over the course of the last few years, I seem to have left a few of my books here. Everybody's gone to bed by now except for Michael who's out visiting his friend Anthony. Other than Bridget, who just snuck up on me for a minute, I'm really enjoying all the peace & quiet right now. Tomorrow will be a busy fattening day. Although the kids are all very much past the Easter Bunny days by now, they still most certainly enjoy a good pig_out fest whenever there's a lot of candy around. I shall most certainly be doing a bit more than my usual share of eating too. Since I can't possibly attend Mass at my parish, I shall be sitting in the pews tomorrow instead of being a lector.

GOOD FRIDAY

This morning, at around 10:10, we left for Mary Anne's house. All went well & because there was no significant traffic, & the weather was very nice, the trip only took around three hours. My headache is finally gone by now. Mary Anne, Steve & all three kids were here when we got here. Over the course of the day, we ate meat_free pizza with ziti & peppers, & the kids colored Easter eggs with their grandparents' help. Michael & I played guitar & Sam played drums. His drumming teacher was here for his weekly lesson when we first showed up. So was the guy who was helping them with their new computer. He even spent a while rambling on about his Greek ethnic background & religion. So far, over the course of today, I read about a third of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway". I Ofirst read it in one of Amy Zarett's classes over at Adelphi in the nineties. Bridget & Sam, as always, got into quite a fight downstairs over some trivial things. My mother wanted to call Dottie & Ann but couldn't figure out how to get her hands on their phone numbers. Unfortunately she left her purse home too. The Easter Triduum continues. At O.L.P.H. everybody really used to like to keep me very busy but my schedule at .L.Sorrows isn't quite so hectic, even at times like this. So far I haven't really gotten involved with that much of the parish's life. Last night, at 7:00 Mass at O.L.Sorrows, I showed up & made sure I was available in case they needed me for anything. They didn't put me to work though. I wore my green jacket just in case. Green seems to be the official color of the parish.

HOLY THURSDAY

Today's Holy Thursday. It's a very cold first day of spring. I'm not absolutely positive of when spring starts. The library lady said nobody else is quite positive either. There's even been a little snow. By now the miserable weather's all been getting beyond disgusting. I went to 9:00 Mass at St. Joseph's where I ended up being an usher instead of a lector. I'm most certainly used to both by now anyway. Besides Frannie's cookies yesterday, Josephine & Mary Anne gave me a rosary & Carmelite book mark this morning from their trip to Israel. While they were there they saw all the significant Biblical attractions. I have a headache. I'm assuming it comes from the change in weather. Yesterday I saw "It Happened One Night" again. It's one of Frank Capra's best. A few months ago, a columnist in one of our local papers claimed that it was outdated & hard to find these days. I think it's pretty groovy. It's easy to track down too. Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert & all those other old_timers were quite a bunch of cut_ups in their time. I think the guy who played Perry White in "Superman" was even in it.

ICY COLD RAIN

The weather's very bad today. It's a bitter cold rainstorm. I'm just very happy yesterday was much nicer. In only two more days, as impossible as it is to believe, spring will have sprung. KrissyKrissyKrissy called my mother yesterday. That was good news. This morning, before 9:00 Mass, I found my breviary in the sacristy. One of the church ladies gave me a bunch of cookies. She baked lots of cookies for her grandchildren. The bad news was that I left my hat in the pew. My father called Sam last night, but unfortunately he was at a hockey game. The kid enjoys sports for some insane reason. He most certainly doesn't take after me for that. Can New York ever be expected to get a governor who's not hysterically frisky or what? The big news story yesterday was that the new governor & his wife have a history of cheating on each other. Between that & Obama's insane preacher, I'm getting bored with all the scandal. I found out yesterday that Bill Clinton is supposed to appear at Coughlin High School today. Amazingly, we always seem to get quite a few real biggies around here. He's certainly picked on quite an unfortunate day for it.

JOB FAIR

Today I made sure I showed up at the job fair at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes_Barre. To get there, I followed my father, who knows the way much better than I . I came home by way of Rte. 81 & 309. There was lots of traffic but I didn't let it bother me. I gave out at least a dozen resumes. Like the New York job fairs it was all very informative & interesting. They even give out souvenirs & candy at each booth. Aunt Lauren was right. There were flights of steps to have to climb. Yesterday I watched the swearing_in of New York's new governor. It's very nice to see that he has a jolly good sense of humor. He appears to be quite a frustrated stand_up comic. That will serve him quite well, considering his ominous responsibilities. To my surprise, he's even Catholic. Among other distinguished characters, former Gov. Hugh L. Carey even showed up. I met him once in the late seventies while attending S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale. To my extreme chagrin, I just overheard the library ladies complaining that starting in May, a first class postage stamp will cost forty three cents. That more than kind of stinks.

HOLY WEEK

Saturday I went to O.L.Sorrows where Linnae & I were the lectors. After Mass, as soon as I got home, I pigged out on corned beef & cabbage. All went well. Yesterday I went to the Latin Mass at Child Jesus Church. On the way home, it started snowing a little. I'm trying now to read "The Iliad" by Homer. It's a little on the thick side. Over the weekend I made sure I saw a few movies. I watched "A Man & A Woman" & "The Maltese Falcon" on Saturday. Unfortunately I ended up staying up until one in the morning. Yesterday I watched "The Blue Angel". Rose called my mother yesterday with all the latest N.Y. gossip. Bridget called this morning on her way to the big parade in Manhattan. I even met RFK at his last parade when I was a young un. Tomorrow I shall have at least a fairly busy day up ahead of me. There's a job fair at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes_Barre. It lasts from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Yesterday I found out, in the Times Leader's jobs section, about the companies that will be showing up. I used to like the ones I attended at S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale & Adelphi. Today I made sure I got fifty copies of my resume from the library. I was forced to part with five dollars for them. I found out in the paper yesterday that they're looking for phlebotomists at the American Red Cross. I'd always assumed that that must require some kind of a specific college education like a background in health care. All they want, though, is a high school diploma & valid Pa. driver's license. They train.

NEW LADY AT CARMELITE MEETING

This morning I showed up at our monthly Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. We're always complaining that we haven't been able to get any new members but today we got a really interesting surprise. Theresa showed up. She was originally in another fraternity. It should be interesting having her around because she has a degree in theology. I am now the formation director for our fraternity. There was a little confusion because something got messed up over in Middletown, N.Y. Someone appears to have misplaced some paperwork of mine. I'm officially classified as an isolate from my old N.Y. fraternity. Unfortunately, Mary Anne is still very ill. At four o'clock this afternoon my parents & Uncle Frankie are supposed to get together for supper for St. Patrick's Day. It's also the Feast of St. Joseph. Fran's not available though, because her broken gam has been getting her crazy lately. The weather so far today has been reasonably nice. Surprisingly, it was around forty degrees at 7:30. Yesterday started out a little too cold but got nicer as the day went on. Maria, who's still recuperating, called my mother last night. I have to be the lector at 5:00 p.m. Mass in a few hours. Palm Sunday is quite a grind, as I can still remember from O.L.P.H.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY BECKONS

Tomorrow is the big day, somewhat early this year. It's also the transferred Feast of St. Joseph. Today, of course, the Friday dance is an Irish jig. I shall be at the big Carmelite meeting all morning. I made quite sure I answered all the questions in that book. They always have such nice coffee, tea, juice & pastries ready for us at the meetings. Maybe tomorrow they will have green things. Last night I showed up at the novena again. Hillary Clinton showed up over in Scranton a few days ago. I absolutely dread the very idea of her in the White House. Of course, I'm most certainly not even the least bit favorably impressed by Obama or McCain either. I made sure I went over to Turkey Hill in Exeter for gas yesterday. The prices have gone up quite a whole lot. The young uns are having their Easter party in the library right now. I've been known to go to Easter parties over the years. One year I even played the Easter Bunny at my old KofC council. Lately everybody's been rambling on about N.Y.'s deposed governor Spitzer. The guy who's replaced him is black, a first for the Empire State, & blind.

NICE QUIET DAY

It's a cold day today but there's no rain, snow or anything like that. Let's just hope it stays this nice for St. Patrick's Day on Saturday. Everybody will be eating corn beef & cabbage for the big day. On Tuesday I got yet another call from one of the Red Cross ladies. She wanted me to sign up for another donation. I ended up agreeing to go to Edwardsville on the eighteenth to give blood. Believe it or not, a few days ago I found out about a guy who's given quite a few hundred apheresis donations over the course of the past two decades. I've only done that once before & it would drive me nuts having even to think of something like that ever again. Yesterday I made sure I finished the rest of "8 1/2" & read more of "The Violent Bear It Away". Last night I went to the St. Joseph's novena at the seminary too. There was another Passionist there. On Saturday morning I have another Carmelite meeting to attend. I'll have to make sure I get all my homework done. They made me the formation director & I'll be in big trouble if I renege on my new responsibility. It's fairly easy since it's virtually just one big open_book test anyway.

SNOW AGAIN

I woke up this morning to a very light snowfall. Yesterday went fairly well. I watched "Dr. Doolittle" & around half of "8 1/2". They're both sixties classics. Unfortunately, I ended up staying up until pert near midnight. I've never been a fan of late nights. As usual, I made sure I went to the St. Joseph's novena. Somehow I mistakenly got the impression that the priest was Father Jones. He told me he wasn't though. I still have no idea who he was. By now, I've been getting to be a real pro at making that trip. All my New Yorker connections must be aghast at their governor's latest antics. It's making all the news headlines lately. The ex_wife of New Jersey's governor was on TV this morning explaining what happened when he got into similar trouble recently. The Osmonds were on Oprah Winfrey yesterday. Lately they've been showing up constantly. It's as if they're as famous now as they were when I was in school. It's more than a little on the weird side watching a bunch of grey_haired grandparents singing those cute_as_a_bug's_ear teeny bopper songs. It just doesn't get any more bizarro than that.