THE YEAR WINDS DOWN

Christmas went quite well. Mary Anne, Steve & all the kids showed up. So did the West Wyoming kin. If Aunt Lauren & her family could have shown up all the northeastern Pa. relatives would have been here. There were all the usual minor irritations. The kids were somewhat ill & the food was entirely too fattening. Mary Anne & family were forced to go home early yesterday because of the big blizzard. Fortunatley it didn't amount to anything of any significance around here, other than slight snow & lots of wind. In New York, though, all the major airports were closed. I went to 8:00 Mass this morning at St. John the Evangelist in Pittston, with only insanely intense winds & somewhat slippery roads to bother me. Mike Aquilina, from EWTN, & his friend were there. Of course I got my annual card from Grace, Daren's mother, a few days ago. I'm still reading Cervantes' "Don Quixote". In only four more days, 2010 will be over. I still have to pay my K of C dues. It's just a matter of getting the money ready & sending it out to Wayne at my council.

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE AGAIN...O~U~T SPELLS OUT

Yesterday cousin Larry's daughter Jennifer gave birth to a baby boy. He's now the tenth Joseph among our relatives. I got a haircut at Rose Chairge's new barber shop in West Pittston yesterday too. It's right inside her husband's comic book store. It was a little hard for me to track it down but I got there eventually with no trouble. Aunt Lauren came over last night for a while when I was at confession at O.L. Sorrows. A few weeks ago Tom sold me a St. Monica's sweatshirt. I picked it up last night. I've been re~reading Cervantes' "Don Quijote", the classic picaresque novel. It's long & the small print gets me crazy but it's always been quite a favorite of mine. My nephew Michael just graduated from Hofstra University this past weekend so he's been quite excited lately. It's still insanely cold but I can handle it as long as the snow doesn't get any worse. Last week, from Monday until Wednesday, there was no priest at our church so I went to Mass each day at St. John the Evangelist in Pittston. This year is very fast coming to its end. We should most certainly hope that 2011 will bring us much better times.