GETTING WARMER

The temperature's been going up over the course of this morning. It's been a really nice, quiet day so far. In general, life these days has been pretty uneventful. My father & Uncle Frankie are planning to take advantage of those Yankee tickets tonight unless their bad_weather curse kicks in. I've never liked sports anyway so I don't care. Steve promised to send me an e.mail from Europe this weekend. I've been getting quite an awful lot of hits from Wheresgeorge lately. There was too much going on in Wyoming's library today so now I'm in West Pittston's. It's much quieter here, at least right now. In Wyoming, they have an electrician fixing the wiring in the ceiling. This one's only slightly farther away. I've been vaguely thinking of trying the one in Wilkes Barre one of these days but the parking over in that general area absolutely stinks. At this library they have no parking lot but I at least get to park in the neighborhood.

NICER DAY

Today's shaping up to be quite a much nicer day than yesterday. I even got to cut the grass. My father & Uncle Frankie wanted to go to the big Yankee (Scranton/W.B., that is) game last night but it was rained out for the second time. They took a chance anyway though, & ended up being able to get Larry his shirt. For some insane reason, people around here & in N.Y. are Yankee fans. I'm still plowing my way through that Dostoyevsky book. Aaah, there's nothing like a good dose of Russian existentialism to relax a guy. I've always agreed quite completely with many of the things he espouses in his novels. It's just that he's a little more intense than most people are used to. Liberals don't like this side of me, but I'm the western culture guy & he's one of my favorite moments in western culture.

RAINY DAY & MONDAY

The weekend at Elaine's worked out really well. Now she & her family can all relax. I most certainly really enjoyed it all but I'm always very happy to get things over with. The trip home was very nice with no traffic. We even ran into Mary Ellen & Joe in the parking lot of McDonald's. I was supposed to mow the lawn bright & early this morning but it started raining. The temperature turned out to be about eight or ten degrees cooler than we've been used to lately. I've finished A Confederacy of Dunces & started re_reading The Brothers Karamozov. Long books get me crazy but this one has always been a favorite of mine. It really puts the brain cells to work. I've been trying to become as well read as possible. Hey, you never know when it can come in handy. There are quite a whole lot of extremely seriously obnoxious little screaming young uns in the back of the library today. Something must be going on about them. I see Jo Anne & her family are back from their annual trek to California. It's good to find out that everything worked out really well for one & all. On Saturday, at 5:00 p.m. Mass, I shall get my very first ever chance ever as a lector in my new parish. We soon shall get to see how things work out.

THE BIG WEDDING ADVENTURE

Last night most certainly worked out quite well for one & all. The church was absolutely packed with standing room only. The reception was really good. I got the filet mignon. I stayed up entirely too late. It's not a habit I should ever like to get into. I took the shuttle back to the hotel with Gino & Michelle, Java & Jennifer, KrissyKrissyKrissy & Ed. Gino & Michelle nudge nudged me into staying up way the hell later than I should ever have otherwise wanted to. I got a very violent headache from two martinis, food, crowd, etc. Maria, after a long pointless lecture about my carelessness, finally gave in & gave me the satisfaction of a pill to take. I dissolved it on my tongue. I went to bed around midnightish. This morning, I'm supposed to meet the Ronald at around 9:00 a.m. to go to Mass at Sacred Heart. There's some kind of convention, I should suppose, going on around here. There are dozens of people here together wearing name tags of some kind. Everybody in their group's black. Mary Ellen finally got the coal to take up to Karen. It's too bad we can't stick around long enough to get a chance to swim in the built in pool. For favors, they gave each of us a champagne corkscrew & bottle topper. Now that Larry's not constantly hovering around peeking over my shoulder I may write whatever I want.

THE BIG DAY

Stacy and Mike are married. Both the bride & groom looked simply smashing. We all went to 2:00 p.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Royersford. My parents & I went to Applebee's first. Our next stop is the reception. It starts at 5:30. I intend to eat, drink & be sloppy. We now have entirely too many Mike's in the family thanks to number 106. Fr. Judge was the priest. There were people as far as the eye could see. Now we're at the Courtyard Marriott. It's an especially nice place. I'm wearing my groovy suit. Many of the N.Y. & Pa. people showed up. I was especially happy to see Mary Ellen & Joe. I never get a chance to see Gary, Larry & their families since I left N.Y. so I've been making sure I hang out with them a lot. KrissyKrissyKrissy & family are here. So are Jennifer & Joe. The weather has been especially nice all day throughout Pa. That made for a very pleasant trip over here, even though it took about two hours. The conversation is about their usual sports, current events, etc. Steve & Frankie are getting the kids a babysitter.

BABY PICTURES

Until tomorrow, little Kiernan is the newest of kinfolk. After the wedding it will be Mike's turn. The proud parents & grandparents have sent us pictures of the little buckaroo. Last night I watched that Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie,
Roberta. It's a smidge on the obscure side. Yesterday's storm was very forceful & violent but only lasted a really short time. I'm glad. It's pretty much occurred to me that Fred & Ginger can even lead us in this week's Friday dance. Of course, I'm most certainly not even the least bit looking forward to the long trip tomorrow but I can kind of get a kick out of the wedding. Elaine & George are cool & Stacy & Mike are in for a really neat time. I just hope I don't eat or especially drink too much. I just got an account on shutterfly & one on myspace. Hey, you never know where my wit & wisdom will show up next. I get quite a kick out of all the things that can be done on the internet. I just found out today is Tater Tot Friday.

RAINY MISERABLE DAY

Well, folks, today appears to be shaping up as a right miserable day as far as weather_wise goes. At least up until the time I got to the library, there was a very cold, dreary rainstorm. The librarian doesn't have a car. He takes a bus to work every day. I'd go nuts if I were ever forced to walk back & forth everyplace in very bad weather but I reckon if somebody has to, then he has to. I noticed, this morning, that a lot of people who go to Mass at St. Joseph's walk there. The wedding is only two days away. I'm still reading that book by John Kennedy Toole. I've already read it a few times but I re_read lots of books. Cathleen's not working today. I know that because yesterday she sent me an e mail reminding me of it. There are lots of little young uns at the library today & it's even the librarian's birthday. I know that because they gave him a very nice party. Lately I've been listening to all sorts of extremely seriously old corny country music, not bluegrass, though I like that too, just country. It's amazing how much redneck stuff I must have absorbed over the course of my lifetime. I can still recognize all these old hillbilly songs from decades ago.

THE BIG DAY APPROACHES

Stacy's & Mike's big day is just around the corner. I haven't gotten a chance to go to their neck of the woods in quite a while, so it should be quite an especially interesting trip for me. This morning, at 9:00 a.m. Mass at O.L.Sorrows, Rocco asked me if I could help him lector this Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. Mass. The girl who was scheduled to show up is not available. That happens at O.L.P.H. quite frequently, right, Eddie? Anyway, I was forced to tell him that I'm not available this weekend either. Last night & this morning it rained. It's damp & foggy. Fran & Uncle Frankie came over last night. They stuck around for a little while. She left a little while before he did. Even though Krissy KrissyKrissy's gone now, they're still among the regulars. I just finished reading a little book about, & mostly by Mother Theresa & her sisters. I'm also re_reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. It has a foreword by Walker Percy. It's a really good book & follows in the example, sort of, of Don Quijote.

HOT WEATHER

Summer is still on a very hot streak. Mike's & Stacy's wedding is just a smidge around the corner & at least we're finally over the suspense over exactly who will end up with coins 105 & 106. I haven't heard, just yet, of an official decision about Matt's & Brianne's baby's name. I'm not looking forward to the big trip with all the traffic but the wedding will most probably turn out to be quite a hoot. The library's been hysterically crowded lately. Yesterday I even got kicked out after only an hour. I finally took advantage of an excuse to go check out the library in Plains. The good news is that it's a really nice, quiet environment. The bad news is the computer_yes, folks, there's a grand total of exactly one_is obscenely slow. The library's located on a steep hill in the same shoe box of a building as a few government agencies & the fire department. Dave came over today. He's quite a good handyman. Tom also showed up with a veritable plethora of neighborhood gossip. I know him from the Holy Name Society. Fran will be turning fifty in a couple of weeks. That's bad news because she's a grand total of only around two years older than I_duh!

NICE DAY SO FAR

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. My kinfolk are rambling on lately because of Brianne's & Matt's little boy. Mike & Stacy get their turn to be the life of the party in a few days. I spent both nights of the weekend, Saturday & last night, at O.L.Mt. Carmel's annual feast. I only spent an hour_ish over there each night, but it was really nice. I got food & played with the money wheel. It was very crowded because it's a small parish. The traffic was pure hell. I most certainly seemed to have been cured of all my claustrophobia, anxiety attacks etc. If that kind of aggravation didn't drive me stark raging nuts, nothing ever will at this rate. There were left turns from hell. In New York I worked at St. John's & O.L.P.H.'s feasts. Over here I signed up for O.L.Sorrows one day feast. Saturday I thought I'd lost my library card but it was in another part of my wallet.