WEATHER CHANGE

The bitter cold weather, at least for now, is over. I find it rather hard to believe that I went out without a coat today. The snow's melting. St. Gabriel's in East Elmhurst is planning a big reunion in June. Jo Anne said she may go. Tim, From California, will even go too. I just found out that Mary Anne's old friend, Steve from Copiague, is married to a woman who went to school there. I'm still reading quite voraciously lately. I try always to finish one book & then virtually immediately pick up another one. I've also been trying very conscientiously to practice my guitar each day. Uncle Frankie is supposed to visit Fran for a couple of days this weekend. I shall have to pick up his mail again. Fr. McKernan won't be available for a few days at St. Monica's so I shall have to go to St. John's in Pittston for a few weekdays. Recently I added a second teacher of mine to my Facebook friend list. Jerry Di Noto was my theology teacher in the tenth grade. I tracked him down a few days ago. Tomorrow I shall have to go to another lay Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. It's at 9:00 a.m. at the Little Flower on South Meade Street. We meet on the third Saturday morning of each month. There will be another day of recollection in Middletown, N.Y. this spring. I'm hoping to be able to show up. Mary Anne's family has been doing quite well. Michael just got a really nice new job & we're all happy for him.

THANKSGIVING BECKONS

Uncle Frankie's back, as of two days ago, from his trip to Fran's house. I picked up his mail each day when he was gone. Thanksgiving is only five days away. Everyone has been making preparations. Mary Anne & family will be showing up in a few days. In the 1980's I spent several Thanksgivings in North Tonawanda with relatives. It's too bad we can't have those days back now. This morning I went to Wilkes_Barre for our monthly Carmelite meeting. We meet at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade St. every third Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. Only a few people showed up this month. The weather's been very nice lately with occasional very violent thunderstorms including one in the middle of the night this past week. To my chagrin I always get very violent headaches when the weather changes like that. After tomorrow's 11:00 a.m. Mass the two churches in the Wyomings will officially be known as St. Monica's Parish. There will be a reception at St. Joseph's immediately following the Mass. It must be a stressful time for people who grew up with these parishes. Yesterday I called Jim, in California, on his cell phone. We often get to talk on Facebook anyway but he gave me his number so we could at least give it the more personal touch for once. This month we wish very happy birthdays to Steve in California, cousin Maelene's son Scott, & cousin Leonard's granddaughter Sarah(today), Wendy, two Javas & Kim.

ELECTION DAY

Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble again. I needed another can of de_icer for my car so I wanted to make sure I took advantage of the trip to see if there was a car care store in the area. Other than Sears in the mall, there doesn't seem to be one. I ended up going to AA in Exeter, on Wyoming Avenue, to get what I needed. Today is Election Day so I made sure I stopped into the election booth to vote. People were handing out flyers outside the door so it appears electioneering isn't considered unethical around here. From what I know of Luzerne County politicians' reputation, neither is anything else. When I got inside the room, Howard asked if I should be willing, unlike everybody else so far, to pose for a picture for the Citizen's Voice. I said yes. Today's Steve's birthday. He's one of my old friends from Lindenhurst, now living in California.

Only Ten Days Until Christmas

There are only ten days left in Advent. Then the Christmas season begins. Today has been cold so far but at least I've been able to see where I'm going. Surprisingly, I finally got an e mail from Cathleen in California. Here's one of my Christmas pet no_nos: People who refer to Christmas as the holidays, and seem to feel they have the authority to force others to do so whether we like it or not. That's an awfully nauseating practice, whether in person, the media or wherever. Every day, from now on, I shall refer to a Christmas no_no. Last night, I watched Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest with Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint & many other familiar faces. Today I started reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park again.