FIREMAN FUND RAISERS

August has always been quite an especially big month for birthdays among my relatives. Yesterday was Jamie's birthday. He's my cousin Alan's son in Michigan. Today is Fran's & Elaine's birthday. They're both cousins too. Yesterday my parents & I all went to Uncle Frankie's house for a party for Fran. Immediately after the party, though, she was forced to go home because it's such a long trip for her. I lectored at 10:30 Mass yesterday at O.L. Sorrows. It's nice to see that Rocco's back on the schedule. On Saturday night there was a big fund raiser put on by the local firemen. I didn't bother to show up. Everyone at Mass yesterday wondered why I wasn't there. Gino & Michelle, Uncle Frankie & Fran went there for a while & they too were surprised that I never bothered with it. The big annual Tomato Festival in Pittston is also coming up this month. I should suppose that life as we know it will cease completely if I dare to pass that one up. It's been raining intermittently around here these days. We haven't gotten enough though. On Friday night I saw "Rosemary's Baby" & on Saturday night I saw "Dr. Doolittle". They were both really famous when I was a kid.

ODOMETER

Yesterday's slight snow didn't amount to anything. Last night I made sure I got one of my big green bags out of the cellar so I could take it with me on the trip tomorrow. I ended up having to spend quite a lot of time going back & forth downstairs anyway. This will be my first trip to Washington since the 1990's & I've really been looking forward to it. Yesterday the UPS truck came with my odometer, thanks to Steve. I called the AA in Exeter to make an appointment to get it installed. The guy on the phone said I could have an appointment tomorrow but I'm not available. I got one for Monday. As always I shall be there at 8:00 a.m. Today is my cousin Alan's birthday. He lives in Michigan. We wish him a happy birthday. Saturday will be Matt's birthday. He's Brianne's husband in New York.