SNOW

Yesterday was a little on the confusing side for me. On Thursday, at St. John's Church in Pittston, I found an ad for a book sale to benefit the Pittston Library. I didn't bother to pay enough attention to the details so I got the idea that Barnes & Noble people would be at the library. When I got there the librarian told me that the sale was at Barnes & Noble at the Hub in Wilkes_Barre. This morning before 7:30 Mass at O.L. Mt. Carmel I noticed that someone was inside the little store next to the gas station. When I went inside to get a paper after Mass the woman who was there said she & her husband are the new owners. It only closed down for a short time. This is my second day in a row without a headache. Those cluster migraines get me crazy. They've been threatening us with snow lately. I'm not looking forward to it. I shall be lectoring at 5:00 Mass today. That's not exactly news for me. Today's Amanda's birthday. She's my cousin Alan's daughter in law in Michigan.

GUITAR

Today was the first time in a while that I didn't end up getting a headache very early in the morning. At least that's some good news. For a few days I shall try not to do very much reading. Sometimes if someone reads too much it can give him violent headaches. I can practice my guitar more to make up for it. My parents called Uncle Frankie yesterday to see if he wanted to go shopping with them. They spent a few hours at Target. All the liberal politically correct garbage has, of course, started already. Every day we hear people saying the infinitely ugly, unacceptable "Happy holidays" instead of the much more worthy "Merry Christmas". This afternoon there will be a book sale, sponsored by Barnes & Noble, at the Pittston Library. It will last from 2:00 until 7:00. Of course, it's time for yet another Friday dance.

LECTOR SCHEDULE

Starting late yesterday it was absolutely pouring out. It lasted until early this morning. The last time I went out it was really nice. Oddly that was the first time all season I wore a hat. Yet again I got a headache in the middle of the night. Excedrin got rid of it this morning though. I got a call from Mary last night. She noticed that there was some confusion on our schedule. It said something different from what the bulletin said about who was supposed to lector this weekend. At first I thought I'd made a mistake when I noticed the same thing but she agreed that there was a misprint. We got it all straightened out. Last night there should have been a meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel church but it was cancelled in advance because of something that was going on at the parish.

KIWIS

Now that December's here the weather's been getting a little on the cold side. Unfortunately winter approaches. It's now only nineteen days away. I got yet another headache at around 1:00 this morning. I took an Excedrin for it & it went away very soon. Somehow I keep getting headaches lately. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. He wanted to see something in Sunday's paper. My parents were gone grocery shopping when he first showed up. I'm still practicing my guitar each day. Yesterday I ate a kiwi. I've eaten a few pieces of kiwi before, every once in a while. This was the very first time, though, that I've ever picked one up & just eaten it from out of nowhere without someone's having previously sliced it up as part of a meal or something. Dave showed up for a while this morning. He was driving his mother's car. She's out of the hospital. I have to lector at 5:00 Mass on Saturday. Hunting season around here started on Monday. That's about a week later than it starts in New York.

HAPPY DECEMBER

I got yet another headache in the middle of the night. The last one was on the right. This one's on the left. It went away a little while ago. Bad things always seem to happen to me when the weather changes. It's very cold & rainy today. I completely forgot my wallet when I left to go to Mass. I was afraid I might get stopped by a policeman on the way home but nothing ever happened. My parents both were going nuts this morning trying to remember the names of all the Lennon Sisters from Lawrence Welk's old show. Today Dianne Lennon turns seventy years old. December is now upon us. Christmas is only a little over three weeks away. It gets me crazy that all the carols & decorations get started so soon because it takes a lot away from the way things are really supposed to be. Don't even get me started on all the liberal crap we shall be expected to put up with. I'm still reading "The Possessed".

BEATLE DEATH ANNIVERSARY

Yesterday was a bit quieter than the past few days. Unfortunately I woke up with a fairly violent headache. Pills didn't work. The weather's very bad today. I woke up to an annoying rainstorm. It's been cold, windy & foggy all day so far. I went to Pittston, to Child Jesus Church, for the 10:00 a.m. Mass yesterday. It was the first time I'd been there in a while. I spoke to my nephew Michael a little while ago on Facebook. He said he enjoyed that concert Saturday night. My parents started putting up the Christmas decorations early this morning. To do that they were forced to take down all the Thanksgiving decorations. Yesterday was the eighth anniversary of the death of Beatle George. The History Channel showed a special about the Beatles. Even though I've already seen those kinds of shows at least a billion times over by now, it was really interesting. Yesterday was Gino & Michelle's twelfth anniversary & her parents' fortieth.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

Mary Anne, Steve & the kids went home around 9:30 this morning. They made sure they left very early because Michael has tickets to see a band, Brand New, at 6:00. I don't bother to keep up with new music so it's all completely out of my league. Before they left we all took some boxes upstairs from the basement & put them in the back of the house. Sam's been reading Thoreau's "Walden". We were all watching a bunch of James Bond movies yesterday & last night on the SyFy Channel. For a while Steve was thinking of taking the kids out to a movie but it never happened. I ate entirely too much all weekend. Last night I even ate a few chestnuts. I can't remember the last time I even ate a chestnut. They're very plain. Today is Alyssa's birthday. She's Mike & Terri's daughter. Tomorrow will be Gino & Michelle's twelfth wedding anniversary. The first Sunday of Advent is this weekend. I don't have to lector at Mass this weekend so I shall just show up.

BLACK FRIDAY

Today is Black Friday. Do as big of a Friday dance as you want, maybe a turkey trot. Just think twice about going shopping. I absolutely dread the crowds people have to put up with at these times. Thanksgiving worked out quite well yesterday. Uncle Frankie & Fran both showed up. Mary Anne & family were here too. Today's my cousin Michelle's birthday. She's a bit younger than I. We ate quite a large meal yesterday, complete with dessert. As always I made the coffee. It was just entirely too fattening. Steve & I took a walk over the bridge yesterday although we didn't cross it completely. Nobody's ever liked that bridge. He wanted to see how all the construction work has been coming along for the new one. Amazingly that was the first time I've ever walked on it. As always, Steve, the boys & I've been playing guitar. All the kids are doing quite well. Steve & Mary Anne went out at 7:00 this morning to go shopping. My cousin Mary Ellen sent me a really nice card reminding me of all the nice times we used to have in Buffalo on Thanksgiving.

THANKSGIVING BECKONS

The weather's been a bit colder lately than I like it. Because of the rain & dampness, yesterday was miserable & today's pretty dreary so far too. I've been playing my guitar regularly, usually just a lot of scales & arpeggios lately. Last night I sort of figured out how to play a variation of "Liar Liar" by the Castaways. Today I got the exact sheet music on the Ultimate Guitar site. It always pays to cheat a little. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. As always there will be quite a crowd. Mary Anne & family will be coming in tomorrow because of all the traffic we shall be expecting tonight. I absolutely dread times like Black Friday. If there's any shopping to be done, I'm hoping to pass the buck with driving. I'm still reading "The Possessed". Recently I've gotten back into the habit of watching "Jeopardy". Somehow I stopped watching it for a while. I've also gotten into the habit of watching reruns of an old favorite of mine, "Cheers".

SHAKESPEARE

Thanksgiving is now only two days away. Mary Anne & family are supposed to show up either late tomorrow or Thursday. Once again, I shan't be going to Buffalo. I miss those days. Because of my insanely good long term memory, I have total recall of all sorts of obscure details from all those trips. I'm still reading "The Possessed". Surprisingly I can get through all the small print fairly easy. Dostoyevsky's books are overwhelmingly long & didactic. On Monday I watched Joseph Pearce's show about Shakespeare. It's a good refresher course on the Bard of Avon. I've been practicing the guitar too. My fingers get quite a workout each day. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. As far as I know there's nothing going on with him lately. Yesterday I got yet another fund raising letter from St. John the Baptist. It's good to see that Wally Lace is still in charge.