BLACKOUT IN BATHROOM

Today, so far, is turning out to be quite an exceptionally cold day. Yesterday's big highlight was when the light bulb blew out in the bathroom. Things like that can be extremely seriously annoying at night & very early in the morning. I got a call in the afternoon from some woman who wanted me to go to the blood drive in Wilkes_Barre today. I shall not be going because it's farther away than the ones I usually attend. Soon enough there will most certainly be yet another one somewhere very close to here. Today I noticed that the other Michelle, Noreen's sister, has joined Facebook. I made sure I sent her a friend request. I got a message on the phone yesterday from somebody over in New York asking about some stock I have. Because I didn't recognize the name, & I've always been more than a little suspicious about important things, I made sure I looked it up on the internet. It all seems to be legitimate. Last night, on EWTN, I watched Fr. Mitchell Pacwa's live show. Joseph Pearce was on it explaining William Shakespeare's Catholicism.

MILDER WEATHER

In spite of what we'd been expecting, there hasn't been any significant snowfall so far this week. That's always such exceptionally good news. I desperately need a haircut but as always shall procrastinate until it becomes a major eyesore for all concerned. My parents' TV set flipped out completely on them yesterday. They were forced to spend quite a long time on the phone trying to get in touch with someone who could help fix it. Of course, they got stuck with one of those numbers where they spent an interminable length of time pushing different numbers for different things, all the time engaging in a pointless exercise in stupidity & frustration. There's no lectoring on my schedule so far this weekend so that leaves me a little bit less aggravated than I should have otherwise been. The fattening food, to my chagrin, is still available from last weekend & I've been getting truly sick & tired of it all by now. The Facebook people are still quite active lately. There's nothing especially important going on with any of them but they all seem to have something to ramble on about. Mary Anne called last night with all the latest New York gossip.

NO BLIZZARD SO FAR

Lately things have been calming down quite a bit. There are still quite a whole lot of leftovers from the Super Bowl party so I get stuck having to pig out entirely too much. Yesterday it snowed only very little & rained after that. Last night it snowed just a bit more. Of course, the ultimate neighborhood neurotic was out bright & early this morning sweeping the snow in front of his house. I'm pert near finished with "Northanger Abbey" & have been thinking of re reading yet another Jane Austen book, "Emma". Today's the Feast, technically only an optional memorial, of St. Blaise so everyone who goes to church gets to have his throat blessed. Yesterday I saw something on TV about how Barack Obama likes to bowl but his average isn't very good. There's never anything else on anyway so I sat through it. Lately my Facebook account has been getting really active. Brianne has just joined my friends list.

BAD NEWS FOR LOCAL PARISHES

Bishop Martino just broke the big news to the parishioners of the Scranton Diocese yesterday. Among other parishes to close down are Sacred Heart in Plains & St. John the Baptist in Exeter. Surprisingly, Our Lady of Sorrows is supposed to close, except for special occasions & St. Joseph's, the smaller of the two, will remain open. Everyone's shocked about the whole thing. The Super Bowl party went quite well yesterday except that it was entirely too fattening. Everybody left even before the game started. Most of the usual characters were there as well as Dolores & her son Patrick. The only ones who weren't available were Steve & Michael. They were at a fund raiser for the Polar Bear Club. On Saturday afternoon, Mary Anne, Bridget, Sam & I went to Dick's sporting goods store by the Wyoming Valley Mall. I made sure I got a very desperately needed pair of boots. Yesterday I also put my new rear view mirror into my car. Michael called early last night. All has been going very well for him lately. Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow. Winter will linger for yet another month & a half, to my undying chagrin.

HUG AN ITALIAN DAY

Yes, folks, I just noticed on my Facebook site a minute ago that tomorrow is Hug An Italian Day. Everyone's invited to show up. At around 2:30 this morning we got quite a scare from my father who got sick for a while but he feels much better now so far. Mary Anne, Sam & Bridget came in yesterday but Steve & Michael weren't available. So far our plans for the birthday party & tomorrow's big game have been running rather smoothly. The weather is much nicer today than we'd expected. Yesterday it snowed quite violently for a while. I've just noticed that KrissyKrissyKrissy has joined our Facebook crowd.

WEEKEND PARTYING

Everybody's supposed to start showing up later today for the big parties for both my mother's birthday & the Super Bowl. It should turn out to be quite a really nice time. Today so far the snow has tapered down to only flurries but there's still entirely too much ice. A good Friday dance, quite literally, could even end up getting a guy killed these days. Fortunately Michelle & her sister weren't forced to miss out on their big trip to New York City yesterday. Happy birthday to cousin Anthony. I accidentally left him off the list. Last night I really wanted to be able to stay up to watch "Burn Notice". I accidentally fell asleep, though, & ended up not waking up again until around 2:30 a.m. Unfortunately that happens quite frequently. Rose called my mother yesterday because of both their birthdays.

BIG BLIZZARD

Unfortunately, my mother's seventy sixth birthday, yesterday was turned into a total disaster. The weather, starting on Tuesday night, was nothing short of an absolute nightmare. There was a blizzard of snow combined with sleet. Among other roads, Rte. 81, as always was an absolute nightmare. Entire exits were closed. Schools & the library were closed too. Late in the day when I tried to move my car from the curb to the driveway I couldn't even cross the ice on the driveway so I didn't even bother. Uncle Frankie came over with pizza. Conveniently, he has four wheel drive. A belated happy birthday to cousin Frankie(Lanfranco). Mary Anne, as well as Nunziata, called yesterday to wish my mother a happy birthday. There were only six people, besides Fr. Walsh, at Mass yesterday. Howard was forced to spend a lot of time plowing the driveway. Let's just hope it's all calmed down by the weekend in time for the birthday/Super Bowl parties. Yesterday I finished "Pride & Prejudice" & began rereading yet another Jane Austen book, "Nothanger Abbey".

YET ANOTHER RAGING BLIZZARD

I've been reading more of "Pride & Prejudice". It's a relatively short book so I'm already close to the end. Lately all the news among the kin has been about Java & Katey's baby Colin, & Java & Jennifer's pregnancy. I have been quite active on my Facebook account lately. It's how I get to keep track of people. A while ago I found out that our local Waldenbooks will be closing very soon. That's really bad news because it's a result of our sluggish economy. The good news, though, is that I won't really miss it. That's one book store I've never been even the least bit impressed by. Their selection absolutely stunk. Even though they're a subsidiary of Borders, they're nowhere near as good. According to the weatherman, we're supposed to have yet another snowstorm starting tonight. We can expect about six to ten more inches of the stuff. This morning, at St. Joseph's, I made sure I got a pocket calendar. There was no official set price. Fr. Walsh just asked for a donation to help defray the price.

SNOWED AGAIN LAST NIGHT

By now the winter's been getting more than a bit on the annoying side. There was yest another snowfall last night. This morning the temperature was only two degrees. I lectored at 5:00 Mass on Saturday again. Everyone was signing post cards to send to our senators & congressmen protesting FOCA. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday & hung around for supper. As always the conversation leaned quite heavily on blasts from the far away past. He went to the doctor today. I was going to go to a blood drive today over in Wilkes_Barre but it's kind of far away in an obscure area compared to the ones I usually end up at. It's at the Geisinger Center on Church Street. I can wait a while until a closer one shows up. Oddly, no one bothered to call me about making a specific appointment for this one.

QUIET WEEKEND

All has been going quite calmly lately. I have to lector later today at 5:00 Mass. Nothing much besides that is happening this weekend. At least it hasn't rained or snowed lately. We haven't seen Uncle Frankie around lately. I have no idea what he's been up to lately. Next weekend is the big Super Bowl party. It will be entirely too fattening for me. The American Legion parties over in Levittown were always an especially annoying time with all the drinking & carousing. On top of that I really don't even like to bother with sports anyway. My mother, Rose, Noreen, & Michelle all have birthdays coming up very soon. Joey's wife, Katie, recently had their little baby son, whom they have named Colin James. Jennifer & Java are next to have their daughter.