RAIN

Yesterday's weather was miserable but today seems to be better so far. Mary Anne called last night. She's been a little ill lately. I don't have to lector this weekend so that's a nice change. Unfortunately Fr. Walsh's sister_in_law recently died of cancer. She lived in Reading. She was only my age. There was a notice about it at O.L. Sorrows this morning. My mother called Dottie yesterday. She seems to be doing well these days. I'm still reading that big book on Marxism. At this rate I should be finished with it in about two weeks if I read the same number of pages each day. Once again, because it's a Friday, we're not allowed to eat any meat today. That's no big deal for me. I can always improvise with quite a whole lot of other kinds of food. I have an eclectic enough appetite that anything can keep me quite happy. I don't like to eat too much at any one time though. For some reason I've yet to bother to get that Old Forge pizza I ordered a few weeks ago from Tom.

BAD MORNING

Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. As far as I know nothing of any significance has been going on with him lately. Of course, as usual he made sure he showed up with candy. Unfortunately it's quite seriously fattening, & bad in very many other ways. I made sure I ate it anyway. My Facebook compulsion has gotten entirely out of control lately. It's very good in some ways to be involved with this site, but it appeals to all sorts of extremely seriously weird interests of mine. The weather this morning wasn't very bad when I first left. It was just cold & cloudy. On my way home, though, it was raining. I hope it gets better later on in the day. I'm still reading the big book about Marxism. It gets progressively more interesting each time I pick it up. As always nothing much of note is on TV these days so I make sure I watch only a few game shows & short bits of certain shows.

FEAST OF ANNUNCIATION

Nothing much has been happening lately. A couple of days ago I got my notice that I have to renew my car's registration at the end of May. At least we know they can be most certainly counted on not to be a bunch of procrastinators at the DMV around here. As always the phone rang off the hook yesterday & last night. This is absolutely unacceptable. I've never been able to handle anything about the phone. Yesterday I read quite a bit more of that book about Marxism. It's not even the least bit easy to read, but it's quite interesting. Once again I went food shopping yesterday & did some laundry too. On top of that this morning I cleaned up a little & got the clothes out of the dryer. Unfortunately that's pretty much the veritable pinnacle of an exciting time around here. Pretty soon we shall have to bluff our way through April Fool's Day.

TOO COLD FOR SPRING

Officially spring is here, but lately the weather has been begrudging us any warmth although it's not raining or snowing. My father went to the doctor yesterday. His arthritis is out of control. As always lately the phone rang off the hook. Among others, Mary Anne & Aunt Lauren both called. For some reason, the Citizen's Voice machine over on Sixth Street was empty this morning. I usually like to get it over there instead of Unimart on Tuesdays & Thursdays. I went food shopping Sunday & yesterday. Yesterday, besides more food, I ended up getting a book of stamps because I needed one for my Knights of Columbus dues. On Sunday I inadvertently ended up getting a head of Savoy cabbage. It's one of the best kinds but it's more expensive than average cabbage. Yesterday I finished re_reading "Vile Bodies" & made sure I got back to the very large book I have about Marxism. I have to read books like that because I have a hard time keeping up with all my left wing egghead connections if I don't at least understand their currents of thought.

LECTORED YET AGAIN

I covered for Laura again on Saturday at 5:00 Mass. They seem to have all the same problems here as at O.L.P.H. Lately the weather's still been colder than I like it. Uncle Frankie showed up a few times over the weekend. As always he called to complain to my father yesterday about troubles he's been having with his cable TV. Bob called early in the morning yesterday about the meeting at the Oblates' Seminary next Saturday. Mary Anne called too. Robin will be showing up for a visit very soon. A lot of people went over to New York this past weekend for Jennifer's baby shower. I hope it worked out really well for one & all. Gary called last night too. He wanted to know how my father's been feeling lately. There was a blackout on Saturday morning. Those things are awfully aggravating. It affected all the general area of the Wyomings. It wasn't so bad. I've seen many that were much worse. I spent the day in Wilkes_Barre anyway so I didn't care.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Nothing nauseates me quite the way a long winter does. Today marks the very beginning of spring. This morning I showed up at the Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. Unfortunately Sister Catherine is still ill but at least she has been recuperating quite well so far. She's a diabetic & has asthma. My father has been having trouble with diabetes lately too. We covered all the usual things at the meeting. A few people weren't available. There were five of us today. We met in the conference room because the room we usually meet in is being renovated. Yesterday I got a letter from Natalie from my old Carmelite group. It was a reference to something from the works of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday & ate with us. Later today, as usual, I have to cover for one of the lectors. This time it's Laura. She called last night to make sure I'd be available to show up.

ST. JOSEPH'S FEAST DAY

Oddly, it doesn't get, at least in this country, anywhere near the attention as St. Patrick's Day, but today really is the Feast of St. Joseph. Once again Uncle Frankie showed up for only a little while yesterday. Yesterday I finished "Vanity Fair" & started re_reading Evelyn Waugh's "Vile Bodies". The weather, when I first left this morning, was very damp & raining. We most certainly need the rain, but it's still a rotten feeling. Everyone was quite surprised yesterday to hear of Natasha Richardson's death. It could have been much worse. She could have lived indefinitely like Terri Schiavo, Eluana Englaro or Karen Anne Quinlan. At least it's all over for her. Recently, on Facebook, I took a test to see how much of a New Yorker I am. It was mostly for the hard core city slickers. I lived in Queens when I was a kid but the test was geared toward people who've really been significantly engrossed in it all. Somehow I must have guessed all the right answers. Yesterday I got gas at the Unimart in Exeter on Wyoming Avenue.

SPRINGTIME BECKONS

Nothing much has been happening lately. As of yesterday I'm down to the very last four pages of "Vanity Fair". As soon as I'm finished with it, I shall start yet another book. St. Patrick's Day went by without any trouble. The only thing I absolutely couldn't stand was that the phone, as always, rang absolutely constantly. Mary Anne, Fran, Rose & a constant non_stop barrage of others called. Uncle Frankie came over for a while. For some reason he didn't end up sticking around very long. The weather has been awfully nice lately. I've seen some St. Patrick's Days with a lot of snow. Somehow, even though this past winter was overwhelmingly brutal compared to others, it ended a little bit early. Unfortunately my parents won't be going to New York this weekend. They haven't been feeling well enough for the trip lately.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

St. Patrick's Day has been working out quite well so far. It's been a nice quiet day with no major trouble. I'm wearing all my official green clothes, though not the right shade. I even have my shamrock socks on. Yesterday, as usual, Noreen called from St. Joseph's to make sure I'd be available for St. Joseph's Feast day on Thursday. This morning after Mass I went to the rectory to pick up the papers I'll need. Uncle Frankie came over yesterday when I wasn't around. As always he made sure he left a souvenir. This time it was donuts. I'm old enough to remember when McDonald's used to sell a shamrock shake every year for St. Patrick's Day. It was only a vanilla shake with green food coloring anyway but we'd all enjoyed it. Now it's just a bunch of nostalgia running around in my head. I'm still reading "Vanity Fair" & now have only a few dozen pages yet to go.

FATTENING WEEKEND

Saturday worked out well. Uncle Frankie, Fran & Lisa came over for St. Patrick's Day. Of course Cheryl called & I ended up having to cover for her at 5:00 Mass so I couldn't eat until after 6:00. There were corned beef, cabbage & all the usual other things. To my chagrin, the pie tasted a bit on the weird side but everything else was really good. From what I heard of it, the parade over in Scranton was pretty big & went really well. Tomorrow will be the real St. Patrick's Day. As always, though, the celebrating was over the nearest weekend. Last night, unfortunately, the phone rang off the hook. First it was Bill, then Maria, then Mary Anne. I've never been able to stand the phone. Now we are at the final countdown for the official start of spring. Last night, for some strange reason, I watched some of "Larry the Cable Guy". That is one supremely tacky show. It's quite an absolutely bottomless pit of tacky & tasteless.