Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

Linda and I bonded quite nicely on Wednesday since we were together all day. The VNA nurse changed the bandage at 9:30 PM which Linda prefers. The healing continues to be going well. We have a wound clinic appointment at 10:30 AM so the VNA nurse won't be coming today. Her surgeon and the infectious disease doctor will be looking looking at Linda today.

Yesterday, Linda and I went to Walmart. She didn't think that I could manage with a couple of coupons which were about to expire. Linda used the shopping cart as a walker. She lasted about 40 minutes before she had to stop her shopping adventure. She was physically unable to shop like she normally does. She has a while to go before she can return to her regular activities.

My sister and her girlfriend picked up my father from Baystate Medical Center around 1 PM. He is recovery from his procedure at his home in Lee. My sister decided to stay over at his house for a couple of days until she feels he can function on his own. My sister's friend and her husband usually spend the winter months in Florida. She might have made a mistake coming back to the Berkshires this year with the impending spring snow storm.

Social Calendar - I am leaving Linda this evening to attend, and participate in the UNICO celebrity Bar tending event at the Heritage Tavern in Lenox. I will be there at the 6 PM hour, but my 45 minute shift doesn't begin until 7:30 PM. My radio host show friend has been pushing the event on his daily program, and he said the he and his Polish Princess will be at the event on the early side of the evening. It should be another fun event that my Queen will be missing. Oh Darn!
After the Walmart attempt at shopping on Wednesday, there is no way that Linda could last 4 or 5 hours at such an event.

I am watching television right now, and it looks like the prediction of a spring storm is right on the mark. We are still in the 6 to 12 range for snow fall amounts, but higher elevations will get more snow. This will be quite an April fools' joke for all of us who live in the Northeast. Luckily, the snow will melt in a couple of days since the position of the sun in the sky is at a Spring Like angle.

Observation -- I earned a grade of "D" for shower and bath tub cleaning in the two upstairs bathrooms. Linda pulled back the shower curtains in both bathrooms as we both went upstairs to put on sleep wear, and she started to scream (just mildly). I thought that I did a pretty good job, but when the water dried there was a white residue in the shower and bathtubs. I guess that I must have gotten carried away with using too much cleanser. I told her her that the white residue would go away after taking a couple of showers. She didn't agree with my assessment of the situation. When we take a shower today, we will have to go in with sponges in our hands. If we were both working, we would hire a cleaning service to do the bathrooms. If you are wondering why Linda can't do the bathroom cleaning, she was hurting after just bending over and sorting out what bathroom cleaning chemicals that I was supposed to use on the bathrooms.

Observation -- A Mah Jong friend stopped by yesterday to pick up a new Mah Jongg card on her way home from work. Linda went through the whole story of her Hernia from Hell ordeal. Her friend was quite shocked to hear what Linda has been going through. This friend told us of her recent trip to Italy. She was with a group of about 12 people who bought this very inexpensive trip to Rome on line which included a few side tours included. She and her husband really enjoyed this trip, and they now have the traveling bug. Her and her husband loved Rome, the Vatican, the Coliseum, Venice, Florence, etc. She was another person who agreed with the Curley philosophy that "Life is Too Short", and that you must enjoy every moment that you are on this earth. This friend did admit that her and her husband are not financially well off, but when they see an affordable bargain on the Internet, they are traveling anywhere in the world. She even mentioned a trip to Ireland which has some off season bargains including airfare, lodging, and car rentals for about $500 per person if you can find another couple to go with.

Speaking of Ireland, we got word yesterday that we will have an Irish Guest from our Sister City in Ballina, Ireland. Mary Kelly will be with us in Pittsfield from July 1 through July 12. I believe that her trip is her vacation, and not a Sister City visit. I think that some of us can talk her into marching in our Fourth of July Parade, and the celebration of our 250th Anniversary of the formation of Pittsfield. I would imagine that our radio host show friend might want to have her for a one hour segment on his mid morning program. I can visualize a cookout on the Curley deck, or a late night party in my Man Cave.

Well, I have to finish my quiet morning routine before Linda wakes up. Have a great Thursday. You all know what the Curley's will be doing.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday

Dear Friends,

Another day went pretty well for Linda and I with a hardly any bumps along the road of life.

The VNA nurse called and said that she was going to change Linda's bandage at noon on Tuesday. Not! Linda convinced the first caller from the VNA that noontime is too late for a bandage change. A nurse did the bandage change at 9:30 AM, and Linda was happy.

The open wound continues to be healing nicely, but Linda is still house bound.

The second bump along the road for Linda occurred when I was off working the Fundraiser at the ITAM. Linda decided to prepare some leftovers for her supper. When I arrived home a little after 8 PM her tummy was in turmoil. I don't think that she is going to eat another leftover for a very long time. After sending this e-mail, I am cleaning out the refrigerator of any leftovers. This problem with leftovers actually began at noontime when she wanted to make herself a sandwich. The deli meat that I purchased the other day had a distinct odor that it was time to feed the garbage disposal, and that it wasn't fit to be consumed by humans. Oh Darn!

The Pittsfield High School Italian Exchange Club Pasta Dinner went very well. We served over 250 people. The parents made some wonderful desserts (some were purchased), and they seemed to be endless. Our UNICO crew of food preparation workers and servers worked like a well oiled machine. The oil was Olive oil.

Observation 1 -- When there was a little lull as the last few families went through the buffet line, there was a discussion in the kitchen how we Italians interact to certain situations. Visualize a heated discussion going back and forth while sipping some homemade wine. Visualize a bunch of Italians talking, and sometimes yelling at each other with their hands in motion, and emotional as ever. You would think that someone is getting close to fisticuffs, and all of a sudden, the arguments end, and everyone are friends again. Some ethnic groups should learn some of these techniques in problem solving. Why do some people have to pull out a knife or a gun, and cause physical harm to someone as their way of resolving heated discussions?

Observation 2 -- In yesterday's local newspaper, there was an article about the little country of Quatar trying to help the rebels next door in Libya to overthrow the Libyan government. This just seems like another country involved in a Middle East conflict, but do you remember that this country was granted the right to host the next World Cup Soccer Tournament? I don't know how this poor country is going to be able to provide venues as well as the infrastructure to host such a tournament. Now that they have joined the Libyan conflict they will have more issues to deal with. What American, if they can afford to attend the World Cup, would want to get on a plane, and head to that part of the world? The Committee which selected Quatar to host the World Cup might have to rethink their decision.

Well I will spend the whole day bonding with Linda. My social calendar has nothing listed on it for today. Lind won't be getting leftovers today. When she wakes up, we will be preparing a Corn Chowder in the crock pot. We get a daily recipe on line each day, and this one sounded very interesting. We have all the ingredients to make the Chowder. There is one slight problem, and that is the weather. We are supposed to reach the 50 degree mark today which is not soup eating weather. We can't wait until Thursday because I am socially engaged with the UNICO Celebrity Bartending event at the Heritage Tavern in Lenox.

Speaking of weather, the Northeast might get a spring snow storm on Friday. There is the potential for a 6 to 12 inch wet snow event. If we do get snowed in on Friday, we will whip up a crock pot beef stew.

My golf clubs still remain in the back of my Subaru. Even though the Berkshire Hills Country Club Golf Course is officially open, it has been so windy and cold for the past week or so that the only action at the golf course has been in the members' bar area.

I threw my NCAA basketball pool out the other day. My final four are long gone. Next year Linda is going to enter the pool. It might be better to have a person who knows nothing about any team make selections. Who would have guessed Butler, and Virginia Commonwealth would be part of the final four? It definitely wasn't me!

My father called last night as I was driving home from the fundraiser. The hospital is discharging him today around the noontime hour. I am pretty sure that he is going to take up my sister's offer to stay with her on the first floor of her house. If you are wondering why don't Linda and I have him stay at our house it is because we have a Colonial, and all the bedrooms are on the second floor? Also my father had one of those stair lift devices in his house. He wouldn't be able to go up and down our stairs. Also Linda doesn't want to pass on her infection to my father. My father doesn't need an infection as he recovers from his surgery.

Well, I have to get to some quiet chores, one of which is to throw out those leftovers in the refrigerator. Have a great Wednesday! Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Tuesday

Dear Friends,

Hope that all of my email recipients had a wonderful start to the week.

My adventure began at 9 AM. As you read what took place in Curley World you will understand why I called it an "adventure."

Linda said it was okay for me to leave the house and head to Bay State Medical Center instead of waiting for the VNA nurse to change her bandage. The nurse never came to our house until 11:30 AM.

My first stop was the Elm Street car wash. I wanted to do a quick hand held car wash to get some of the dirt off of the rear window of the Kia. The temperature was 25 degrees, and the wind was howling, and the car wash was like an ice skating rink. I was in total fear of falling as I danced around the car a couple of times before the time ran out.

After washing the car, I go into a large baggie with all my electrical cords and my GPS. I set up what I thought was the correct address, and headed to the Massachusetts Turnpike. As I was listening to the GPS lady talk to me, I thought something wasn't right about my directions. I stopped at the first rest area, and realized that I had put in the Big Lots Store located in Springfield. I changed the address to Bay State Medical Center.
I did forget to mention that I have suction cup holder for the GPS, but a part was missing so I had to set the GPS on the passenger seat of the car.

I get off a the correct exit, and I go into to the first parking garage that I see because my sister told me that the parking garage was next to the hospital. Well, I soon found out that this parking garage was for employees only, and it wasn't next to the hospital. After chatting with my sister on the cell phone, I decide to exit the garage. When I get to the exit, the pole is going across the road, and there is no attendant in the toll booth. Luckily there was enough space that I snuck around the pole without crashing into it.

I turn on the GPS, and I head to another parking lot that says it is for patients and visitors. I park the car, and call my sister, and I am in the incorrect parking lot once again. This time there is an attendant in the booth, and he tells me how to get to the main hospital.
Before I could say thank you to attendant, he tells me that I have a nice head of hair.
I finally find the correct entrance to the hospital which is directly across from the correct parking lot.

During all my traveling and readjusting for my errors, I missed the surgeon coming out to talk with my sister after my father's surgery was performed.
My sister and I then waited until 3 PM before we were escorted to the recovery room. I felt like I was waiting for Linda when she had her simple operation done in Pittsfield. After the surgery, there is normally about a two hour recovery period, but not when a Curley goes into surgery. My sister and I were figuring on seeing my father around 1 PM. Two hours later we were escorted to the recovery room.
My dad's surgery went very well. When we saw him he looked like he was waking up from a nap. The nurse asked him what his pain level was, and he said that he had no pain.
The aneurysm was located in his stomach, and they went up through his groin to put in a stent.
My sister was staying over in a nearby motel to be with dad today. My sister and I are hoping that they would keep dad in the hospital an extra day. We would love the doctor to tell dad that he has to go to a nursing home to recover from the procedure. I am guessing that Dad recovering in a nursing home won't happen. We are both hoping that he takes up my sister's offer to stay on the first floor of her home which has a bed and a bathroom on the same floor.

Exiting the hospital was so easy compared to my adventure getting there.

Linda managed okay without me, but she did miss me a little. When she went to make her soft boiled egg on toast, the egg turned out to be almost hard boiled egg. I have mastered the timing on how long to cook the egg. She doesn't like a runny egg, but it has to be cooked. I will make her a perfect egg today.

Social Calendar -- Linda is missing her Tuesday Mah Jongg session once again.
She hasn't played in the Tuesday session in over a month. She really misses her friends, and her friends miss her too.
I am going to abandon Linda this afternoon. I will be working a fundraiser at the ITAM. We were asked to prepare food for 250 people. I am waiting to hear from the head chef as to what time he would like me to be there.

Supper went well last evening. The crock pork rib roast was cooked to perfection. I whipped up some mashed potatoes, and cooked some vegetables to compliment the meal.

Politics -- After supper, I put on my Pajamas and went into my Man Cave to watch the Celtics. When I turned on the television President Obama was addressing the Nation. He was so smart to give his talk early so that his speech wouldn't interfere with programs like "Dancing with the Stars".
Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you have to admit he is an eloquent public speaker. He convinced me that military intervention in Libya was the right thing to do.
My conservative friends keep on telling me that the President is all talk, and no show. I am still convinced that the President has the country headed in the correct direction. The rich are maintaining there wealth, and they are even making more money in their investments. The President is trying to get the economy out of the doldrums, and get people back to work. This is not an easy task whether you are a Democrat or Republican or one of those people who calls themselves Independents (unable to make a decision, but they are really conservatives).
Everyone wants the government to spend less and live within their budget as long as they are not affected by the cut backs. How about if we lay off some of the people who make those million dollar per unit Tomahawk Missiles? Every time we shoot one of those missiles those arms manufacturer workers are jumping up and down because they will have a lifetime of job security.
Cutting a social worker, teacher, policeman, fireman, prison guards, a public employee, etc. is okay because they have too many bargaining rights, and their pensions are too high.
You saw the other day that when President Reagan decided to get rid of air traffic controllers and their union many years ago this move almost cost people lives. I don't blame the air traffic control person who fell asleep at his job, I blame the system for having one person trying to do it all.

Well, I have to do some baking before Linda wakes up.
I am making four loaves of Irish Soda Bread, a couple of which I will be giving away. I am going to use caraway seeds in this batch of Irish Soda Breads.
Have a great Tuesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Monday Morning

Dear Friends,

Linda and I had a very pleasant day on Sunday. Linda talked to three girlfriends, two on the telephone and one in person. The one in person brought in some salads to our home for lunch. She brought in three different and delicious salads which she purchased at a restaurant right across the street from her store, The Purple Plume, in Lenox. I got the feeling that this was going to be a multiple hour talking session, so I made up my salad, and went into the family room, and watched "In the Kitchen with David", and also a portion of a preseason Red Sox Game.
Well, I guessed right about the talking, it was pretty much non stop. Linda and her friend were all talked out in a couple of hours.

I forgot to mention that the VNA nurse did come in during the mid morning to change Linda's bandage. Once again she said the healing was progressing nicely. Since this was the Russian nurse who has seen Linda the most, she was the best judge for the positive changes which she has observed.

After our friend who brought the lunch left, Linda needed some rest. She fell asleep on the couch as I was watching the show mentioned above as well as a NCAA Mens' College Basketball game. In about two minutes, she was out like a light.

She was sleeping so soundly that I quietly slipped out of the front door at 3:50 PM, and went over to the neighbor's house. We were invited for appetizers and supper. Linda did wake up shortly after I left, and she read the note which I had left her in the kitchen.
From appetizers to desserts the food at our neighbor's home was spectacular. Our friends had a brand new kitchen put in with granite counter tops as well as all new appliances. They had the hardwood floor in the kitchen resurfaced too. I knew that when Linda saw this kitchen that she would want our dated kitchen spruced up / ripped up and thrown out and replaced too.
I am sitting in our kitchen typing this email right now, and I am starting to agree with Linda. Our kitchen is nice, but it is right out of the 1985 style which was great when we moved in to our house that year.

As we were sitting at the granite three chair breakfast nook / counter top in the kitchen, our friend was busy serving us appetizers, and cooking the main meal which consisted of a stuffed chicken breast, squash, and oven roasted potatoes, and a wonderful gravy for the chicken breast. The oven started to smoke, and set off the fire alarms in their house. Neither of the hosts knew that there was a fan built into the new microwave above their gas stove. We told him what button to look for, and he turned on the exhaust fan, and fire alarms stopped. Our hosts both have engineering degrees.
We had a wonderful home made cake filled with chocolate chips. The hostess firmly believes that Chocolate is part of the daily food group of items which we are supposed to consume on a daily basis.

Do you remember my comments in previous emails about as you go through life you should surround yourself by family and friends? Our neighbors are definitely part of that close group of friends!

After dessert, Linda started to get a little tired once again so we walked 25 paces back to our own home. I proceeded to watch the Boston Bruins Hockey game in my Man Cave. I decided to watch the third period in bed. The game was tied at that point. I woke up at the end of the game. I missed the Bruins grabbing the lead and eventually winning the game. Oh Darn!

Social Calendar -- Linda has bandage changing to look forward, and then rest.
After I make her breakfast, I will be leaving the house, and heading to Springfield. My 87 year old father will be having an aneurysm fixed at the Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. My sister is with him right now, and I will meet my sister in the recovery room later on this morning. After he is released from this hospital, my father thinks that he is going home to his empty house to recover from the surgery. My sister has offered him a first floor bed in her house to stay at. I would like the doctors to ship him off to a nursing home so that he can recover under the care of a medical staff.
He won't be driving his car for a while, and he has already started thinking about how that will interfere with his morning routine, and visits to see dear old Mom in the nursing home.

Weather -- It was cool day on Sunday. I filled up the bird feeders, and I had all intention of picking up some broken branches from the trees in our yard. I was going to wash the cars in my driveway too. Not!
We should be having highs in the forties for the next few days. It looks like Thursday is the next weather event consisting of a wintry mix of snow and rain.

Linda is hoping that when she goes back to the wound clinic on Thursday, she will be so well healed that the wound clinic doctors will tell her to resume her normal activities. Linda has had no normal activities since she was operated on at the Crane Center on February 23, 2011. She has now missed over a month of her life due to what was supposed to be a simple operation. I can't imagine going through what she has gone through alone. Yes, I am aware that some of the above email recipients have gone through serious operations alone, and I really praise you for being able to do so because I don't think that I could.

Well, since I will miss lunch with Linda, I am going to fire up the crock pot, and start cooking a pork rib roast. I will prepare the other ingredients when I get home from the Springfield Hospital.

Have a great week at work or play.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Sunday Morning

Dear Friends,

It is a balmy 18 degrees right now with forecasted highs to be in the upper 30's. It will be sunny, but not warm enough for Linda to go out on our deck and get some Vitamin D by way of Mother Nature.

Linda thought that my Saturday update of her condition was a bit harsh. Let me say that when her friends talk to Linda on the telephone or cell phone, she sounds like her normal perky self.
I am with her everyday so I have first hand knowledge of what she can and can't do. Our friends aren't with her when she starts to squirm and appears to be uncomfortable which means she better take another pain medication before the pain really kicks in.
She doesn't lie in bed all day because of her wound issue. She lies in bed when the VNA nurse comes to change the bandages, and she will not go back to bed until night time.

Our daughter-in-law called last evening because she didn't like the tone of my update. Linda alleviated her concern with a lengthy conversation.
I will say that Linda couldn't pick up any of our grandchildren right now. If she picked up any of our three grandchildren, and they squirmed and bumped her wound area, she would writhe in pain, and possibly drop them.

Let me conclude by saying that every medical person over the past week likes what they are seeing. All of them keep telling Linda that the wound is healing nicely, and that she is getting better. I am telling all of you that this word "better" is a relative term. When the open wound seals up, and we don't need bandages replaced, and she doesn't need pain medication or she doesn't need to take antibiotics four times per day, she will be ready to get back to her /our social calendar.

One of her close friends sent her an article of an Apple Orchard / Winery which was having some fun Saturday and Sunday events. Linda is not able to engage in such activities. She is not allowed to drink alcohol of any variety while on the pain meds, and antibiotics. Oh Darn!

Linda sent me out to do a little grocery shopping on Saturday. She had to write the list in detail, and I had to deal with a few coupons which she clipped from the Sunday newspaper. If she had made the list for herself, she would have put something like "Kleenex", and that would have been enough her. For me, she had to write down the particular brand she likes, and she had to write down the shape of the Kleenex box that she wanted. It took her more time to make up the list than it would have taken her to make up the list, and finish the shopping. Also, she had to repeat what she wrote down on the list so that I wouldn't make a mistake.
The other day she told me to get toilet paper. She puts down the brand that she wanted but not the size. I go to the shelf where the toilet paper is located, and I am bombarded with all shapes and sizes. I made a decision to get a four pack that the container said was as good as 8 rolls. Linda wanted the 12 pack.
Three or four times I had to ask grocery staff where items on the grocery list were located.
Linda put down that a particular item was located next to the milk. I figured it was across from the milk case. Not! "Across" I found out is a relative term. I had to ask a guy filling up the egg case where my particular item was located. Linda had me in the correct isle, but 25 paces from the milk case.
I sure am getting an appreciation of what a chore it is to go grocery shopping. I can't wait for Linda to get back to her normal self.
I also must admit that my grocery shopping adventure was for me to purchase about 10 items. Could you image me doing the shopping for a large family?
I might leave the house in the morning and never return until late afternoon.

Speaking of how important a significant other is, I met an Italian friend yesterday who wife passed away about a year ago. He was not doing well mentally. His wife was his high school sweetheart, and you could tell how he misses her so. He like my dad has been going home to an empty house, and I could see it was getting to him. The two of them did everything together, and now she is gone. He told me that he never washed his clothes. His wife took care of them during their whole marriage. For my father, it was the same thing. My dad started washing his own clothes.
Linda and I have discussed, even though she doesn't want to talk about, what would happen if either of us departs this earth before the other. Every time that I do something that Linda normally takes are of; I add the item to a mental list which I have been creating. Even though Linda is irreplaceable, if I did hook up with another partner (hopefully this is way off in the future, and doesn't happen, but you never know), this person should know what she is in for when she gets me.
The person who I referred to in the beginning of this paragraph already has friends wanting to set this man up with some potential partners. From the conversation which my friend and I had, my friend is still in a period of mourning, and I could feel his pain.

On a less depressing note "Life is Good" for the Curley Lad and Linda will be at the top of her game hopefully pretty soon.
We all experience bumps along the road of life, and we all have to deal with them in our own ways.

I did watch some sports on Saturday which included the Boston Bruins losing an afternoon hockey game, some NCAA basketball, and finally the Red Sox in a preseason game which they lost after the manager took out the starters because they had an 8 to 1 lead. The Red Sox lost by a 9 to 8 score.

There is a ceremony today at our Park Square at 1 PM where the Vietnam Veterans are going to read off the names of all the Berkshire County people who were killed in that war. I have never been in the military so I have no clue of what these people went through in that hell hole in Vietnam.

My Marine brother died of a service connected disability after he came home, but I am not sure if he saw action in Vietnam. He was 21 years old when he passed away in 1970.

Our Lt. Colonel son is in his 15th year in the Air Force so he is making up for what his dad didn't do with respect to being in the military.

Well, I have to skim the Sunday newspapers before the VNA nurse arrives.
Linda has already made a mental list of things to do around the house because she is physically unable to do so. She mentioned something about bathroom cleaning. Yuk!

Have a great Sunday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday

Dear Friends,

Hope that your Friday was a good start to the weekend.

In a few short hours the nurse from the Visiting Nurse Association will be at our home to change Linda's bandages. To change her bandages sounds like a simple task that any loved one, like a husband, would do, but it is a lot more complicated than you could imagine.
I had composed a description of what the nurse has to do each day, but Linda gave me strict orders not to put my eloquent description on the internet air waves.
I would have to have put one of those disclaimers warning for people that they might want to avoid reading my very descriptive process of what takes place.

I usually skim the CNN news on my I Pad each day before I compose my e-mail.
We sure have a messed up world that we live in. From a shooting at a middle school, to our NATO allies shooting missiles in Libya, to Nuclear meltdown in Japan, the sentencing of a machete killer, to the capture of a cop killer, the thwarting an attack by the Somali Pirates, Middle East unrest, suicide bombers, etc., and then we have Lindsay Lohan thinking that she can turn her messed up life around by changing her last name.

I have an adult friend, who doesn't watch, listen, or read about any of the above described events, and I think that she is better off by doing so.

As I always have said that if everyone focused on their own family, and surrounds themselves with close friends, and has a job during those prime years of their life, our world wouldn't have so many unhappy people. If we had leaders that focused on their constituents (and not on greed), wouldn't the world be a better place to live in?

There was a positive article in the CNN blog today, but you didn't have to tell the Curley Lad that "Laughter is the best medicine" for a happy life.

Observation -- I can kind find humor anywhere and everywhere. I will give you an example.
While our UNICO crew was working in the kitchen for the Brien Center Fundraiser the other day, there was a crew of special needs people who the ITAM hires to clean the Lodge, and set up tables for weddings, meetings, fundraisers, etc. There were 15 of us in the kitchen at the time doing various tasks. One of the special needs people goes into the kitchen to see what we were doing. Of the 15 people in the kitchen, who do you think the special needs person goes directly to, and strikes up a conversation with, and tells me to watch out because I had knife in my hand? Other people had knives in their hand too cutting up vegetables, chicken, etc., but maybe this person was psychic, and he knew that I cut a finger a few years ago at a similar fundraiser and I had to be stitched up at the emergency room.
I am magnet for total strangers every where I go. I can be sitting on a bench in the Mall waiting for Linda to finish shopping, minding my own business, and people will start talking to me.
I had one of those conversations when Linda was having blood drawn a month ago at the Medical Arts Complex. The guy started telling me about all of his illnesses, and why he was waiting for his ill wife, and that his car broke down on the way to the Medical Arts Complex, etc. He told me what he did for a living (Auto mechanic), and how he had a side job which paid him under the table in New Hampshire. Of course, I know every one of his body parts that wasn't working so good.
I must project this warm, fuzzy, and non threatening feeling to total strangers!

Social Calendar -- Linda will be housebound once again. The chances of her sitting in a lounge chair on the deck in the back of the house with a high of 32 degrees, and 10 to 20 mile per hour winds won't get her outside. It was cold yesterday in the Berkshires and it will be even colder today. March is definitely going out like a Lion. All our friends who are spending the winter in warmer regions of the country shouldn't even think about returning to the Berkshires until we start getting warmer temperatures.
I will be giving Linda my undivided attention today even though I feel guilty not helping out with a Catholic School Pasta Fundraiser especially since one of the organizers is a fellow UNICAN. I am still hurting from the long day that I had on Thursday, and we have two more UNICO events next week before March comes to an end.

I will be leaving the house today after the VNA Nurse does her bandage changing, and after I make Linda breakfast.
My first stop will be to go to Staples, and get my new Allergen Awareness Certificate laminated, and some new printer cartridges. Our printer gets a workout because I/We belong to so many organizations. Using the printer for personal uses is minimal.

When I finish this email, I am going to start soaking some raisins in some whiskey once again. I promised an Italian friend that I would make him a loaf of my Irish Soda Bread. Oops, I forgot that I promised another friend that I would give her a loaf of my Irish Soda Bread too, but I forgot to do so.
My Irish Soda Bread freezes so well if wrapped properly. I went into the freezer in the garage the other day for some frozen vegetables, and I found a loaf of Irish Soda Bread tucked in the back of the freezer. I know that it has been in there for months. When I opened it up, you couldn't tell that it was months old. The wrapping technique is another Curley secret (mostly Linda's).

Have a great Saturday.
You know that I will be bonding with the Queen!
Talk to you soon!

P.S. I tried to remove some people from my daily blog, but they told me to keep them on the list.
If you don't want to read about Curley world, just let me know.
Linda is worried that I might offend someone or some group on my daily blog because I have gotten myself in trouble before (many times).
Linda doesn't like that our lives are like an open book, but I told her that she unknowingly provides me with some of my best thoughts and material.
I don't mind laughing at myself, but she really doesn't want me to involve her.
A couple of years ago, I tried to have my own column in the local newspaper aimed at the Baby Boomer age group, and beyond, but I was rejected.
I do have some friends who like it when I stir up some issues, and get people going back and forth with their opinions which are often opposite the views of a Liberal Democrat.

Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,

Linda had a semi pleasant day without me. She communicated with one of her out of town girlfriends, and that was it for human contact. She did okay making food for herself, but I wasn't there to interact with her.

My day on the other hand was a long one, and I interacted with so many people that it was nice to come home to a quiet house.

Can you conceive how much work it took to prepare one large tray of Eggplant Parmesan from scratch, and split chicken breasts, pound them into thin pieces, dredge them in an egg, flour, and bread crumbs, and then cook over 400 pieces of chicken in a friolator for about 5 to 6 minutes until they are golden brown.

The Eggplant Parmesan was for 10 vegetarians. When people saw how good that the Eggplant Parmesan looked when we were serving them, a lot people turned into vegetarians. We ran out of Eggplant Parmesan.

We also had to prepare three different kinds of sauce. The Vegetarians had to have sauce that was made with no meat products.

We also had to have a pan of sauce with no garlic. One lady in the crowd of 400 + was allergic to garlic. If this lady came into the kitchen as we were preparing the largest pot of our regular sauce, she would have gone into cardiac arrest. The whole kitchen and everyone who touched the garlic smelled like they picked garlic for a living. We put garlic salt in the salad so the salad makers had to change there gloves, and make one batch of salad with no garlic. Once we located this woman I hand delivered her non garlic salad, her non garlic pasta, and her non garlic Chicken Parmesan Dinner. We also served string beans with the Chicken Parmesan Dinner. Of course, the string beans had to be garlic free.
Note- When we dredged the chicken, we had to use plain bread crumbs, and not the Italian seasoned one because there is a garlic product in the mixture.

As we were doing this for this one lady, I was told that we Serve Safe certified individuals have to also get a Serve Safe Certificate which explains how to deal with people whom we serve who have allergies. Our head kitchen guy did his on line, but I am pretty sure that I can go to our local health department and get certified too.

We had one complaint about the Chicken Parmesan dinner not being hot enough. I wanted to scream because if this person knew how difficult it was to plate, season, and put five main dishes on each tray, and have servers working their butts off to get food to each table. The ITAM didn't have enough of those plate covers for over 400 people. We used the few plate covers which we found in the kitchen for bread baskets because we ran out of the normal wicker baskets.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we also had a children's menu of meat balls and pasta.

One lady asked what kind of cheese was on the Chicken Parmesan. Well, it wasn't processed American cheese, it was Provolone. One of the UNICO workers sliced the block of the cheese on the slicing machine in the kitchen.

I think when people come to a fundraiser they have to realize that total perfection is difficult to attain. At a restaurant, it is a little less difficult to serve a table of 8 people as opposed to serving a crowd of 400 + people.

Of course, all of us UNICO workers had a lot fun in the kitchen. The home made wine was flowing freely. Yes, you can have good time even though you are working so hard trying to take care of every detail.

Well, my UNICO Brothers and Sisters do it all over again on Tuesday. This event should be a simple pasta dinner of Meat Balls, Pasta, and a Salad. The Pittsfield High School Italian Exchange Club parents will be making the desserts. We are back at the ITAM once again. I hope that anyone who has any kind of severe allergies chooses to make their own meal at home, and just makes a donation.
We UNICAN'S don't want to take the "Fun" part out of a Fundraiser. Preparing three pots of different red sauces is a bit much. Garlic is a stable in Italian cooking.

Even though I am awake and up, my body is still aching from being on my feet all day.

I will bond with Linda all day even though we are missing an ITAM fundraiser this evening.

I will take her to the 1:30 PM appointment which she has at the wound clinic. She will get her bandage changed then. I hope that the wound clinic people tell her that the healing is going well, and to continue what she has been doing.

Observation -- As we were all working together in the kitchen and as the servers some UNICAN'S, and some from the Brien Center worked their butts off, we put aside all the strife and suffering which is going on in the world. Every one of the guests and workers, who were from all ethnic backgrounds, were all getting along. There are always a couple people who "get under your skin", but when you look at the big picture, there was a lot of harmony which took place at the Fundraiser. Why hasn't the rest of the world learned this concept?

While at the Fundraiser, I met my cousin's son (my cousin lives in
Florida) who works for the Brien Center. We chatted for a little while, but we couldn't talk too much because he was part of the crew decorating the hall and taking care of details on the floor. I hadn't seen Derek in a long while, but he has turned into a handsome young man. He has Polish and Italian blood flowing through his veins. I see him as a member of UNICO one of these days.

Well, I have to finish my morning routine.
The Queen should be waking up soon.
Have a great Friday.
You know what the Queen and I will be doing today.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

Linda and I had a very pleasant day bonding together on Wednesday. Is that what they call it?

The encouraging words from her nurse, who came at out regular time of the 9 AM hour, made her so happy.

Actually Linda didn't like my "driving each other crazy" comments in my Wednesday blog. We have been getting along quite well for being together 24 / 7. For me, it sure beats me going back and forth to the hospital twice a day and sometimes even three times a day. For Linda, the inside of the family home is much better than being confined to one room, being poked and prodded a couple time a day, being hooked up to I.V. bags several times per day, and trying to make the time go by during the 15 day ordeal.
She still misses ordering food off of the hospital menu, and not having to worry about preparing the food, and cleaning up the mess after the meal is over.
Liquid Vicoden is another medication which she did enjoy taking.

Today I will make her breakfast, and then abandon her for the rest of the day while I work that Brien Center Fundraiser at the ITAM which I mentioned in yesterday's blog. I have all my stuff, which I usually take to these food preparation fund raisers, in my car already.

Observation -- While I was at Walmart getting some hospital gloves for the nurses who have been changing Linda's bandages, I was in the checkout line where the locked cigarette case was behind the cashier. I couldn't believe the price of a pack of Marlboro Cigarettes. The price for a pack of Marlboro's was $8.63. Oh, you could get a pack of the basic ones for $8.15. The minimum hourly wage is less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes. I do have several friends in my blog who do enjoy smoking so I am not going to be the whacky anti smoking protestor. For two hours of working at the minimum wage, I can purchase a bottle of Gordon's Vodka (with a five dollar rebate), which I did yesterday, and make it last for several weeks if I consume it in moderation. Neither of the mentioned vices is a good one, but which one damages the body more?

Observation -- One of my bloggers has a letter to the editor in the local newspaper this morning. He is an advocate of the Playwright Mentoring Program. In the Berkshires, a friend who was a Juvenile Court Judge started the program. He was sick and tired of seeing these youthful offenders constantly in his courtroom. He gave the offenders a choice of jail, or entering this PMP idea. The youthful offenders who chose not to go to jail, worked with these theater mentors, and became involved with the whole theater concept. Even though the program didn't save every youthful offender, the successes outweighed the failures. Some of the youthful offenders turned their lives around because of the program. Some sent letters thanking the judge, and some returned in person to the courtroom to thank the judge. Many times the troubled youth would create their own works with themes based on their own messed up lives.
With a majority of the youthful offenders, the problems in their lives began with the family or lack there of.

On a happy note, I feel great, and life continues to be good for me and Linda too even though Linda has experienced a bump along the road. Like I always say, when you think that you have a not so good situation going on in your life, there is always some else who is dealing with more severe issues.

Even though I am leaving Linda alone this morning, there are enough leftovers and sandwich meat so that she can survive without me. I told her that I would call her on my cell to see how things are going throughout the day.

I see where a bomber killed a bunch of innocent people in Israel. Will the violence throughout the world ever cease to exist?

Correction -- The missiles that we sent flying into Libya cost $1 million dollars per unit, not the 1/2 a million that I said that they cost in a previous email.

Have a great Thursday.
Talk to you soon! The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday

Dear Friends,

I really enjoyed watching my Boston Bruins do battle last evening in my "Man Cave". They looked pretty good for most of the game. There aren't too many games left of the regular season before the hockey playoffs begin.

The Celtic season is getting close to coming to an end. Their playoffs will be starting soon too.

As the Hockey and Basketball Season winds down, baseball will be starting up soon. I think the Red sox open their season with an away game on April 1, 2011.

Now if the football players and the team owners can come to an agreement their regular season will start up in September.

Life without sports for me would be so difficult as I go through my "Golden Years."

It looks like my golf clubs will be staying in the back of my car for a few more days. We have another round of nuisance snow coming in later today, and into Thursday morning. We could have another 4 to 5 inches of snow on the ground when the storm exits the Northeast.

This latest round of snow better not interfere with the Brien Center Fundraiser at the ITAM on Thursday night. We don't want any issues or postponements when my UNICO brothers and sisters are trying to prepare 400 Chicken Parmesan dinners with all the fixings. I will be part of the initial crew of UNICO workers who will be at the ITAM at 10:30 AM on Thursday.

Linda will fen for herself on Thursday which isn't as bad as it seems. We are beginning to drive each other a little crazy since she is housebound, and one of her favorite recreational shopping buddies is in Atlanta.

After the Thursday Fund raiser we have two more UNICO events before March comes to an end.

News -- I skimmed the USA Today and CNN on line, and there wasn't much exciting news to report throughout the nation or the world.
I did see where a woman in Indiana is suing a cruise line because the ship was going too fast, and was making her, the workers, and many passengers sea sick. Do you think that this might be a frivolous suit?

Politics -- The President's decision to fire upon Libyans might come back to bite him. I am having trouble telling which Libyan is on which side of the conflict.

Imported Food from Japan -- I hope that our inspectors in the United States don't allow radioactive tainted food to enter our country.

News from Boston -- When I get bored watching the Albany news, since we are in Albany market, I switch to a Boston Channel. A report came out in Boston that the Ethnic group producing the most babies in Massachusetts are of Spanish descent.
I never forgot the story that a former middle school teacher in the eastern end of the State once told me a couple years before he retired. He was chatting with his 8th grade students one day about what their future goals might be as they were heading toward high school. A female, of Spanish descent, told the teacher that she wanted to get pregnant and have a whole bunch of children. She didn't say that she wanted to finish her education, and go to college. She never mentioned wanting to establish some kind of career. Making babies was the only thing on her mind. Do you think that she might have contributed to the above statistic?
I was also thinking who is and who has been paying for all these babies to be born? I hope that it hasn't been us taxpayers. Yeah Right!

American Idol -- The fans of this program love the latest set of judges. The television ratings have been spectacular. The millions of Americans who watch this program (not me), can name all three judges, but don't ask them who the Vice-President of the United States is, or what role does Hillary Clinton plays in the President's administration, etc.

Garbage -- Today is garbage collection day for us in this neighborhood. When I was home alone when Linda was suffering in the hospital, I couldn't fill up one bucket of trash. Today will big a two bucket day.

Grocery Shopping -- Linda made a crystal clear list for me for my adventure at the grocery store. I only messed up one item, the toilet paper. She atold me that there are certain items that you don't go for the bargain brand.
One time I came back with a 6 pack of paper towels, the bargain variety, and the paper towels didn't pick up liquid spills. The paper quality was so bad that if you used them as napkins, you could rip your skin off of your face.
Linda did give me two coupons to use which was enough for me.
The husband of one of our closest set of friends does all the grocery shopping in his house.
I can't wait for Linda to get better so that she can go back to purchasing the groceries for our house.

Today is pasta day in our house. I am going to use the slow cooker to brew up a batch of red sauce when I finish this email. I am going to add some sweet and hot sausages to the concoction. When supper time arrives, do I cook a batch of regular pasta, or do I use a more heart healthy variety?

I am hoping that the nurse from the VNA calls early today, and says that she will be at our house at 9 AM. If Linda had taken a shower yesterday, she would have been hanging around with a water soaked bandage from 8:30 AM until noon time, which is when the nurse arrived on Tuesday. Linda and I like routines, yesterday had us both out of our daily rhythm.

Well, I better get chopping and dicing (quietly), and finish my morning routine before the Queen wakes up.

Have a great Wednesday.
You know what Linda and I will be doing.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Tuesday

Dear Friends,

I would like to tell you that everything went well for Linda on Monday, but I can't.
When the VNA nurse, who has dealt with Linda for the past three days, came to change Linda's bandages, the nurse observed something that she didn't like. I had to give her a magic marker so that the nurse could mark that particular spot. While Linda was in the hospital, the doctors did the same thing several times throughout the whole infection ordeal. They mark things to see if things change positively or negatively from day to day.
It is not like Linda feels sickly, but something might be going on besides the healing.
Since her day started with this not so great piece of news, she was an emotional wreck for a good portion of the day.
We will see what another day brings before we make a decision to go back to the doctor. The saga continues!

The chances of Linda leaving the house soon is also not good because when you are under the care of the Visiting Nurse Association, you are not allowed to leave your home. You can go out in your own back yard, on the deck, etc., but our deck has another coating of snow on it. Also the temperatures aren't exactly conducive to sunning yourself on the deck.
We even have another snow event coming in Wednesday night into the morning on Thursday. Oh Darn!

Speaking of Thursday, my UNICO brothers and sisters and I will be serving 400 Chicken Parmesan Dinner for the Brien Center Fundraiser that night. I have to be in the kitchen at 10:30 AM to help with the food preparation. I might have to ask some of Linda's friends (who are not sick) to keep Linda company, or at leas to visit her that day.

My UNICO meeting went very well last evening. The Tahiti Take Out food was a big hit. There was enough food that you could take some home. Linda's lunch is all set for today. I even brought home a fortune cookie. I hope that the message inside is a good one for Linda because she definitely needs her spirits lifted.
Of course, after every board or membership meeting we pick up more volunteer events to work.

Social Calendar -- Linda has none. She is missing another Tuesday Mah Jongg session.
I am meeting free, but I have a long grocery list which Linda would normally take care. She would have taken her coupons with her, and saved a whole bunch of money. I spend most of my time in a grocery store asking the workers where items are located. I will not be using coupons on this trip.

Sports -- I was able to watch the end of the Boston Celtic game when I arrived home last night. They beat the New York Knicks in MSG.
I think that I have a Boston Bruins Hockey game to keep me entertained this evening.

Golf -- Our golf course opened on Sunday, but I don't think people will be out there whacking a white ball on snow covered fairways. My clubs and cart are in the back of my car, and they might be there for over a week according to the week long weather forecast. Oh Darn!

Politics -- I didn't realize that the missiles that have been hitting targets in Libya cost 1/2 of a million dollars per missile. If the military shoots a 100 of them then we have spent a lot of dollars to put a whole bunch of hurt on structures and people. Just think what we could have done with those dollars to help our own people here in the United States.
Before the first missile was fired, our President said that we wouldn't be putting our troops on the ground. I hope that he sticks to that statement.
We never seem to learn from past wars and conflicts. Is it a genetic trait for us humans to resolve issues by killing each other first before we sit down and talk / negotiate ways to live in peace?

Well, I have to finish my morning routine quietly. The VNA nurse calls at 8:30 AM, and says that she will be there between 8:45 AM and 9 AM.
I think today we will be having a new nurse. The Russian nurse has Tuesday off. Oh Darn!

Have a great Tuesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Monday

Dear Friends,

Linda made it through another Sunday very well. She was invited by a friend to attend a Fashion Show, but she declined. She wants to avoid getting bad germs from other people. I don't think that I have any bad germs.

A nurse from the VNA will be arriving at 9 AM to change her bandage once again. She might get a new nurse today to do the task. For the past two days, we have had the same nurse.

Linda has a way of getting people to open up very discreetly. She found out that the nurse is from Russia, and has married into a huge local family. She has been married for six years, and she is ready to start a family. Linda will miss chatting with her today.

Yesterday, the Golf Superintendent of Berkshire Hills Country Club sent a letter by way of an e-mail to members telling us that the golf course has officially opened for the season. I have loaded up my car with my golf clubs, and my battery operated golf cart. I don't think that they will be letting out golf carts yet. The superintendent said that he won't let us use the greens yet. The mostly snowy winter that we had here in the Berkshires has protected the golf course very well. It is the constant thawing and freezing during the winter months which destroy the greens and fairways of golf courses in the Northeast.

I didn't go to the golf course on Sunday, but I am in the "Have clubs, will travel" mode right now.

As soon as the Superintendent said the course was open, the weather for upcoming week here in the Berkshires doesn't look too promising for me to be able to get out there. We have a wintry mix forecasted for today. I also saw many temperatures with highs in the middle 30's for the rest of the week. I am not playing golf in 30 degree weather with winter gear on. I wonder if they would let me play in my boots with creepers on them like I wear to go out and get the morning newspaper.

After I dusted off my golf clubs and came into the house, I sat next to Linda on the couch. Her bionic nose smelled bleach. She asked me if I used bleach when I did a load of my clothes. When I said "No", she asked me if I touched any bleach products when I was dusting off my golf gear. I said "No" once again. After a few thoughtful moments, I remembered that there is bleach in the current bandages that the nurses have been putting on Linda. Mystery solved!

I am the only one socially engaged today. I have a UNICO membership meeting at the "Girls Club" on East Street this evening at 6 PM. We are having Chinese food delivered by a restaurant owner who is a friend of our UNICO organization. The food is usually awesome, and in large quantities. Oh Darn!
There goes the old diet!

I did ask Linda if she plans on attending her Tuesday Mah Jongg session which she has missed for weeks. She said that she is going to miss another week of Mah Jongg.

I am guessing that by the end of the week she might be ready to try and socialize with some friends on a limited basis.

Politics -- Members of the President's Party don't agree with his decision to intervene in Libya's Civil War. There is so much turmoil and unrest in that part of the World that I can see us getting into many endless conflicts.
I see where the Palestinians were in some fisticuffs with the Israeli's which has been another endless conflict.
Why can't the nations of the world get together and do humanitarian activities instead of causing bloodshed?
We certainly haven't learned from all the conflicts, wars, walls between nations how to get along peacefully. Will we ever?

As I had said before, since I have been focusing on the illness of a loved one the past couple of weeks, all the craziness in the rest of the world seems so meaningless.

On a different note, I am getting an urge to hug our grandchildren. We haven't seen the two grandkids in Kansas since mid January. We had contact with the one in Tewksbury in mid February.
Luckily the technology of the internet keeps us in what I call a semi contact. The internet pictures are great, but the hugs, playing with them, the chasing them around (for a limited amount of days), etc., are the fun part about having grandchildren.
I am definitely not implying that Linda want to be the Nannies for our grandchildren because we are too old for that to happen. If there was some sort of a sickness, or crisis, etc., we would help out. Linda and I do like it when we take care of the grandchildren so that their parents can have a date night.

Sports -- I might as well throw away my pool sheet for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. My losses are starting to outnumber my wins.

My Boston Celtics did win their game on Sunday in New Orleans.

Oop! I forgot to wish my sister a Happy 60th birthday. I normally wouldn't have given her age, but she has already put it on her Facebook Page.
My father's younger brother, Joseph, has a birthday on this day also.
Linda and I would have hosted a little family gathering to celebrate both birthdays, but my dad has a cold (which Linda wants no part of), and I don't think Linda could manage hosting a coordinated noontime meal.
We will have a summertime cookout to make up for the lack of celebrating both birthdays today.

Besides relaxing, and bonding with Linda, I did help her change the winter decorations throughout the house to spring decorations. Her pain started to kick, and she needed a rest. After recovery from an operation, your mind says get moving, but your body says "not so fast!"

Have a great week at work or play.
Talk to you soon! The Curley Lad

P.S. I did have the incorrect Church for the party which I attended on Saturday night. The error was pointed out to me by a couple who will be in charge of the 2012 Irish party at the Sacred Heart Parish Hall.

Hello on Sunday

Dear Friends,

My being attentive to Linda didn't work out as I had planned on Saturday. The only meal which I prepared for her was breakfast once again.

The VNA nurse arrived at 9 AM to change her bandage after Linda had taken a quick shower. I say "quick shower" because I answered the telephone call at 8:30 AM, and the nurse said that she would be at the house between 8:45 AM and 9 AM. Linda was fast asleep when she called. Linda was in such a rush to take a shower that I am not sure if the "Press and Seal Saran Wrap" around the wound area worked as well as planned.

Linda did okay on Saturday. She tried to last more hours in between taking the pain medication. She would like to wean herself off of the pain medication, but she is still not able to go through a day without them. Oh Darn!

I just noticed a note on the counter last evening saying "Cold in the Morning". I hope that it isn't true that she will be fighting a cold too during her recovery. I am guessing that I might have brought in the germs. Two of the three Irish friends which I have socializing with have had what seems to be endless colds. I feel great, but now I know what "Typhoid Mary" felt like as she infected people!

You might be wondering what happened to me making Linda lunch and supper. I was doing an out door project of returning ice fishing gear to the storage shed, and getting rid of Christmas decorations on the deck. I also had a heck of time removing the sunflower seed shells from the deck.

I also checked out my grill to see if it made it through the winter okay. Some field mice mad the inside of my grill their home for the winter. I had to remove all the seed dropping before trying to start the grill.
Last spring, I actually fried a field mouse when I started up the grill for the first time. Since this project went slowly, I worked through the lunch hour. Linda ended up making her own lunch.

For the supper time hour, I abandoned Linda and went to an Irish function at St. Mark's Parish Hall. I was at the event a little after 6 PM until 9 PM. Rob Dwyer volunteered his D.J. services for the whole evening which was supposed to go from 7 PM until 11 PM. The party was going on when I decided to go directly home instead of heading off to hear the Irish Band "Rakish Paddy" play at "Brule's".
Liam Geddes and his entourage were at the event, and Liam performed a few of his songs for the packed hall.
His manager told me that Liam did a wonderful job singing at the Tavern at Jiminy Peak Ski Area from 3 to 5 PM. The packed bar of 100 or so people, gave him a standing ovation when he sang "Danny Boy" without any music. Linda made her own supper while I was partying at St. Mark's. Oh Darn!

I forgot to mention that Rob Dwyer was doing his D.J. stuff outside at Jiminy Peak from 1 to 3 PM for the crowds who were there for the ski area's "Spring Fling."

Well our social calendar appears to be totally free today. If Linda wasn't sick, we would have hosted a party for all of our friends at our house today. I am not sure if anything is on our Irish guests' social calendar today.

I know on Monday that Liam has an interview at two colleges in the Boston area. He would like to go to a music school in the Boston area. I believe his second interview at 2 PM is at the Berklee School of Music. The Dean who wants to interview him is from Ireland. I also found out last evening that his music instructor said that he can hit high notes and low notes so well that Liam might want to consider a "Pavarotti" like career in music.

I am really going to take care of Linda today, especially since she is fighting a cold besides the infection.

I have already planned supper. I am going to cook a turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy (which she loved in the hospital), and a vegetable. I might do a little stuffing along with cranberry sauce.

Speaking of food, one of the guests at the St. Patrick's Day house party asked the female host: "Who made the ham salad sandwiches?" This host told the guest that it was The Curley Lad who made the sandwiches. The guest said that the sandwiches, which I made from scratch, were really good. This is another recipe which I am keeping a secret.

How about my comments yesterday about the military complex, and how weapon making, and spending so much money in arms production keeps so many people in the United States working. I couldn't believe that United States, along with the French, started firing Tomahawk Missiles in Libya. Please don't tell me we are going to get started in another war! If the leaders in power in that sovereign nation want to kill their own people, is it our problem? In the United States we killed fellow country men and women during our Civil War during the 1860's. No other country stepped in to help us with our Civil War, and as a Nation we survived.

On a different and happier note, I used my last morsels of sunflower seeds on Saturday for my bird feeders in our back yard. This is good because the bears are emerging from their dens with their cubs. They will be hungry, and foraging for food. These bears always know where they can get an easy meal. Their mother has dined in the Curley back yard before.

When the bird seed is gone, I will take down the bird feeders for a while. I am still going to feed the birds in the summer, but I will take down the bird feeders at night so that the bears and raccoons don't destroy my bird feeders.

Well, I am going to skim the Sunday newspapers until the Visiting Nurse arrives to change the bandage at the same time which she did on Saturday. I am also going to try and serve Linda breakfast, lunch, and dinner unless I get distracted.

Have a great Sunday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday

Dear Friends,

My biorhythm is out of whack today. I am up too early, and I couldn't get back to sleep. When Linda takes an afternoon pain medication, we will both take a power naps.

The wind put a little damper on the 60 degree weather on Friday. There were a lot of baseball hats flying off heads as I was out and about. The weather tease has ended because we are in for stretch of 40 degree weather for the next week or so here in the Berkshires.

I saw a lady raking her yard yesterday, but she was wasting her time thinking that by doing so spring will happen quicker. Mother Nature has her own time frame when we go from winter to spring. I rushed things, like this woman, several years ago, and killed some tender flowers as they were about to emerge from the ground.

My Boston Celtics stunk up the basketball court last evening. They lost by 20 points to the Houston Rockets. One of the Celtic play by play guys, a former Celtic player, used the words "God Dammed" in the heat of the moment. He immediately said he was sorry, but his comments have already hit the sports' airwaves. Oh Darn!

I entered a NCAA basketball pool, but several of my picks never got by the first round of this tournament. Our President was something like 29 and 3 in his selections. I will seek his advice next year.

The Japanese incidents are turning out to be very scary. Many of the residents of the country would like to leave Japan, but a good number can't afford to leave the place.
The nuclear problem in Japan was definitely a wake up call for any country which has nuclear plants. How safe are the ones which we have in the United States?

The Middle East is in turmoil. If you protest your government leaders in some countries, the leaders in power just kill you.
China and North Korea are very good at stopping any sort of unrest.

It appears that there is plenty of work for companies which manufacturer weapons, warships & submarines, military aircraft, bullets, missiles, etc. Can you imagine what we could do with all those military complex dollars if we learned how to get along without killing each other? I know that you Republicans are thinking that we "Liberal Weenies", as my radio talk show host calls me, would just let our guards down, and the barbarians which take over our country like the Romans did as they were trying to conquer the world.

Linda spent a good portion yesterday talking to friends on the telephone. Her friends wanted to see how she was doing? She is making up for the two weeks plus that she lost when she was in the hospital. She had me, the medical staff, and some friends to chat with, but conversation was limited. I am guessing that a few days more in the house, and she will start going stir crazy.

In between telephone calls, she made a dent in previously recorded programs. Our DVR machine was at the 100 % level when she started watching her previously recorded programs.

I should have been a little more attentive to Linda on Friday, and kept her company as she got all caught up, but I went into my "Man Cave" for the first time in over two weeks to watch the Celtics, and NCAA basketball. My philosophy of "Separation is Good" is almost back to normal.

I don't know how mature married couples survive with just one television in the home. We have 8 televisions in our home: There is a television in each of our three bedrooms, a family room television, and the "man cave" has two televisions, one of which is on my bar, a kitchen television, and television in the screened in room on the deck. Do think that the Curley's might be over doing it? Our living room, dinning room and bathrooms are the only rooms which don't have televisions in them.

I was all set to take down some Christmas figurines on our deck on Friday, and put my ice fishing gear back in the storage shed. The wind came up, and procrastination took place. When you are retired, you can do things like this.

Our military son is having a bunch of friends coming over his house for a little corned beef and cabbage dinner at their home in Leavenworth, Kansas this evening. Linda gave our daughter-in-law some helpful hints of how to cook the meat in the crock pot. She is making some Irish Whiskey (my secret recipe) cake for dessert.

Our restaurant owner son is not sleeping in his house this evening. Kyla decided to have a bunch of girlfriends and their children come for a girls, and children weekend. I know that we will be getting some great pictures of this event.

Once people get their fill of Irish Soda Bread, I move onto making Irish Whiskey Cake. Our Third Thursdays start in May in Pittsfield. We will be serving Irish Bangers, Irish Whiskey Cake, and cookies and brownies.


Well, I have some quiet activities to do before the sun comes up. Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on St. Patrick's Day

Dear Friends,

The Grey's Anatomy doctors made the rounds for a second time at 4 PM yesterday. They told Linda that she was going home today. This will be a St. Patrick's Day to remember (day 16). She will be on a pill form antibiotics when she is home. Her bandage needs to be changed once per day. She is not allowed to consume alcohol while on the pills. She will be given a whole set of instructions when she is discharged. She is going to be house bound for several days because she doesn't want to catch anyone else's germs.

The St. Patrick's Day festivities began last evening for me at Spice. A bunch of us met Liam Geddes, his Dad, and Rebecca Leigh, the singer who will be singing first before Liam takes the stage at the Colonial Theater this evening. After an hour or so, we headed off to "Baba Louie's" for some more food, fun, and merriment.

There was a band playing in the back room at Baba Louie's. At this point, there were about 35 Irish friends as well as some regular customers in the room. Liam and Rebecca sang several songs, some alone, and some together. Essentially, we were getting a free concert. I really felt sad that Linda couldn't have been there to join us.

Around 9 PM, our social director said "Let's continue the partying at Lach's Lounge." I went there, and I waited in the parking lot for everyone to arrive. I figured that I could get myself in trouble so I drove home. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was in the arms of Morpheus!

Well, I will represent the family today for the St. Patrick's Day festivities. The social director said that she is going to Patrick's Pub and save a table during the early afternoon. After several hours, some of us will be heading off to various activities. The social director will be heading off to the Colonial Theater for the Liam Geddes Concert which starts at 7 PM.

I will be heading off to the Italian American Club for their version of St. Patrick's Day Dinner: Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner plus baked chicken, and pasta. There will be an Irish Soda Bread on each table too. Of course, there will be coffee and dessert. The Curley Lad will be with 9 other people.

Speaking of Soda Bread, Liam's manager is playing a little joke which you will be able to hear on radio (1340 AM) this morning. I will be involved with the joke, but I won't be at the radio station when things happen. Liam will be interviewed by my radio show host friend this morning.

After the St. Patrick's Day dinner, I have to come home and stuff 24 rolls with ham salad which I prepared yesterday. I will be representing the family for the final event of the day. This house party starts at 9 PM. It takes place at an Irish friend's home. I think that I will slice up one of my Irish Soda Bread's for the party too.

Normally, Linda would be with me at all of the above mentioned events. Oops! Who will be taking care of Linda while I am partying?

Linda told me that she would call me when her discharge was set in motion. It usually takes about two hours before she can walk out the door.

The partying for me continues on Friday. Maybe, Linda will feel a little better and she can partake in some of those festivities.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day.
You know that I will be having a great time for sure! The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday morning

Dear Friends,

Linda made it through Tuesday okay. The doctors ordered a third CAT Scan Tuesday afternoon. The positive is that the scan showed improvement. The negative is that the surgeon is going into Linda's body once again to remove some fluid on Wednesday morning. The removal of the fluid should help with the healing, and it will keep the antibiotics working like they are supposed to.
Another positive is that her white blood cell numbers continue to improve.

Linda is going to call me when the procedure is over. I will then go to the hospital to visit her.

The guy who was fighting an infection like Linda has returned to the hospital. He had gotten a little stir crazy, and left the hospital. He popped a couple of staples in his incision while at home, and he was back in the hospital yesterday. He has taken a liking to Linda and me since he has seen us every day for two weeks. He stopped in to see Linda when I was on a bathroom break. He wanted to lift up his gown and show Linda his even larger incision in his stomach area. Linda asked him not to show her his incision. I saw it the other day, and one look was good enough for me.

I brought the day shift at the hospital some of my Irish Soda Bread. They loved it!

I also dropped a loaf off at our friend who is the radio show on host WBRK 1340 on the AM dial who has a live program Monday through Friday from 10 AM until 1 PM. I called his house on Curley time yesterday morning, and I woke him up from a deep sleep. He said that he had some of the Irish Soda Bread for breakfast when he finally did get up.

Talking about radio show hosts, the other day I was going home from the hospital one evening, and I said "Hello" to a former radio host who used to have an hour long program on the same radio station. He was going in the hospital as I was leaving. When I arrived at my car, I saw a huge yellow suburban like vehicle which was parked next to my car. The car belonged to this radio show host that I just said "Hello" to. He was parked so close to my vehicle that I struggled to get my large body into my car. My clothes rubbed against both cars, and my clothes ended up covered with salt and dirt from each car. There was much more room on my passenger side, and I did have thoughts of climbing over the passenger seat to get to the driver's side. Since I am not as nimble as I once was, I started to visualize myself impaled on the shift. I didn't want the hospital staff to find a body in a car when they arrived at work the following day.

The City of Pittsfield has started to patch up potholes. The street that I have been traveling on to get to and from the hospital finally got patched up. You would have thought that I was a drunk driver the way that I swerved to avoid the potholes on my daily trips.

When Linda had her CAT Scan yesterday, a person from the Medical Staff called her "Miss Penta", which was Linda's maiden name. The male student had Linda as her biology teacher, and I was his Geometry teacher at Taconic High School. I am pretty sure this student was in our classes in 1970, a year before Linda and I got married. Biology and Geometry were 10th grade subjects during the 1970's. This means that the student was 15 or 16 years old, and we were 23 years old at the time. Our student must be 56 or 57 years old right now.
Linda and I have changed the way that we discuss former students of ours. We now say that "we were in school together."
Linda's Nurse Assistant was a former student of mine.

Talking about some of our now mature students, I met one of Linda's former students at the Art Show the other day. She liked Linda so much as her Biology teacher that she went off to college and majored in Biology. She works for one of those private Health Care services based in Pittsfield. When I got back to the hospital, and told Linda the maiden name of this former student, she remembered exactly who this student was. Linda was sad that she was stuck in the hospital as I was chatting with this woman.

Social Calendar -- I will be representing the Curley family at tonight's social gathering. We will be meeting our Ballina, Ireland guests for dinner at a local restaurant, and then heading off to another restaurant to hear a local band play some mostly Irish Songs. We might even have the opportunity to hear a few songs sung by one of our guests who will be performing at the Colonial Theater on St. Patrick's Day. This concert goes from 7 PM until 9 PM.
Linda was pretty much in tears knowing that she will not be able to attend these activities.

I did go to bed a happy man because my Boston Bruins won their overtime game in a shoot out, but it was sad to go to bed without my partner for the 14th consecutive day.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter each day. I hope that the procedure that she has done this morning gets her out of this tunnel even sooner.

I just went out to get the local newspaper. Our driveway has a layer of ice on it just like when I fell in 2006 and torn my quadriceps tendon. The forecast is for rain, but I hope everyone from the Berkshires who reads this email is extra careful on the way to work or school today until the rains arrive.

I will keep you informed after I visit Linda during the mid morning.
Today is day 15 of this long ordeal.

Have a great Wednesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Monday Morning

Dear Family and Friends,

Linda had a quiet day in the hospital on Sunday. She did have three sets of friends visit her at various times which may have tired her out a bit.

I did leave her around noon time to go off to the "Forty Shades of Green Art Show. I arrived back in the hospital a little after 4 PM. She was just coming off a dose of antibiotics. She tried to last a little longer in between doses of pain medications, but she needed a dose before I left to go home.

Her white blood cell count is getting close to acceptable numbers which is a good sign, but her incision is still red, hard, hot and painful to the touch. The "Hernia from Hell" repair seems to be healing quite nicely. Her stomach muscles, which were cut to get to the hernia, are getting stronger each day.

The Grey's Anatomy doctors will be in soon to assess Linda's situation. The infectious disease doctors and her surgeon will be in to see Linda later on during the day.

I will give you an updated report from the hospital.

The Forty Shades of Green Art show went very well. We had one of the largest crowds ever. My four loaves of Irish Soda Bread were a big hit. I had brought sandwich baggies thinking that there would be some leftovers which I would give to some Irish Sister City Committee members who helped out with the reception. Not! There wasn't a single piece of my Irish Soda Bread left as the event ended at 4 PM. I almost made a couple extra loaves when I woke up Sunday morning, but I decided not to. Next year we will not run out of my Irish Soda Bread. Many people wanted my recipe, but I didn't give it out.

The Berkshire Eagle had a reporter at the Art Show. I think that we might get some positive press in the newspaper today.

I think that I am going to make four loaves of Irish Soda Bread before heading off to the hospital this morning. I forgot that Santa brought me a brand new "Food Saver Seal a Meal" device that can seal soft items like my Soda Breads, cookies, etc., which I can put in the freezer. I also promised a few friends that I would make them their own loaves of Irish Soda Bread.

I also need to make a loaf for sure for my Radio Show Host friend who always gives a plug to such events as The Forty Shades of Green Art Show as well as all the UNICO Fundraising events.

Social Calendar -- I have a UNICO Board Meeting at 6 PM this evening, and nothing else on my social calendar.

Oops! I forgot Liam Geddes, Irish Idol Finalist, and his dad Liam Senior will be arriving from our Irish Sister City Ballina, Ireland. We usually have a meet and greet gathering if it isn't too late.
Liam will be playing at the Colonial Theater on Saint Patrick's Day. This event starts at 7 PM.
I won't be able to attend this event. Liam will be performing at so many places during his two week visit that I will see him for sure at some Pub, restaurant or at the Sacred Heart Parish Hall party on Saturday evening from 7 to 11 PM.

I have all the ingredients to make the Soda Breads including my Whiskey soaked raisins. The raisins have been swimming for over 24 hours.

Oops! I was talking with a lady at the Art Show, and she said that one of her daughters makes Irish Soda Bread too. Her daughter soaks the raisins for her soda bread in "Tea". Which types of raisins would you prefer in your soda bread?


Well, I have to finish my morning routine, and start baking before I go off to see Linda. Have a great week at work or play. Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Sunday

Dear Friends,

Hope that you all had a pleasant Saturday.

Linda's Saturday went okay. She seemed to be in good spirits. The prodding and poking didn't happen as often because it was the weekend. Anyone who saw Linda walking in the halls of third floor thought she looked pretty good, and wondered why she was walking around in a hospital gown. She got the same reaction from our Dalton friends when they came to visit around 5 PM. She looks perfectly normal on the outside.
No one was there to witness how uncomfortable she was when I arrived at the hospital as Nurse Matt was hooking her up to another IV dose of antibiotics, and giving her pain medication to take off the edge.

When her IV session was over, she turned into Miss Perky Linda.


I did have to represent the family at the latest social function last evening. It was a dinner party for 8 people, but there were only seven of us. This was the fifth consecutive day this week that I partied without my partner. We had a wine toast for Linda, but that didn't do much good as poor Linda spent her 11th consecutive night at Berkshire Medical Center.

The Grey's anatomy doctors probably just got through opening the bandage, and finished poking and prodding in the incision area. Linda usually calls me in a little while, and will give me a report of what they said.

Today is day 12 for Linda to be at Berkshire Medical Center. It is pretty normal for her to be semi depressed when you have been in the hospital for this many consecutive days. Like I said in previous e-mails, the doctors have been using the word "better" more often than they did a week ago which is a good sign. They haven't even mentioned or hinted at discharge date yet.

I have lost count of the number of roommates she has had during her stay at BMC.

She enjoys the food at the hospital. I think that she likes the part where she orders off of a menu, and the food gets delivered. This is what she calls the "Spa" part of Berkshire Medical Center.

My four loaves of Irish Soda Bread are all set for today's Art Show at the Lichtenstein Art Center. Our Irish Sister City crew will be setting up the reception table at noon. I will be cutting up the Irish Soda Bread into bite size pieces for our guests.

I brought an Irish Soda Bread for our dinner party last evening. The guests loved it. I had to go out and purchase more butter and butter milk yesterday. I forgot to purchase raisins, but I have a whole container of raisins in the refrigerator right now. The have been swimming in Whiskey all night long.

I promised a couple friends that I would make them some Soda Breads. I can whip up two loaves of bread in little over an hour which includes the preparation and baking.
The recipe is in my head. I can't share it because I might sell the recipe to a commercial baker one day including all the ways which I have tweaked the recipe. Actually our son should have the recipe for his restaurant "Dough East Boston". He can make the Soda Bread during the St. Patrick's Day Holiday for his customers.

Our son from East Boston did call Linda yesterday just before she was heading for a walk. He had to end the call because it really got busy.
Kyla and Max and the Herman twins went to visit Kevin at the restaurant around noontime, but it got so busy that Kevin didn't have time to socialize. The restaurant being busy was a good thing because his business was hit hard during all those snow storms. His customers had no place to park their cars because the snow took up several prime parking spaces next to his restaurant, and they just drove right by his restaurant. Oh Darn!

Well, I have to skim the local newspaper, and we will read the Boston Globe together in the hospital. I will put the four loaves of Irish Soda Bread in the car along with a cutting board, knife, and serving platter. The Art Center is a mile from the hospital. I will spend another four or five hours at the show without my partner. Oh Darn! Could I be suffering from a little depression? Not!

Have a great Sunday as Linda tries to make it through her 12th consecutive day at Berkshire Medical Center.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday

Dear Friends,

This is the start of the 11th day of Linda being at Berkshire Medical Center. Linda and only one other guy have been there the longest. On this floor, people come and go at a rapid pace unless you are fighting a serious infection like Linda and our new friend has been fighting.

The doctors continue to like what they see with respect to Linda's incision / infection. The normal progression goes as follows: You have the Grey's Anatomy doctor and residents poking and prodding Linda's incision area around 6 AM each morning. The infectious disease doctor usually stops in during the mid morning. Linda's surgeon or his partner stops in after noontime. They have all decided to not change their approach in stopping the infection.

The incision is still red, sore, and hard. The doctors say that the hardness could be another abscess forming, but they don't want to deal with a possible abscess until the antibiotics finish doing their job. She still gets pain medication every four hours because she is not pain free.

As I said in a previous email, she can get out of bed on her own. She can take care of personal hygiene. She has her meals while sitting in a chair. She has been taking walks several times per day on her floor. People have been commenting that she looks pretty good tooling around the halls. Linda said that she was lucky that she got a haircut a couple days before the hospital ordeal.

I also said yesterday that her surgeon used the words that they are getting "close to having her discharged" The white blood cell count has been getting better, but it still is not back to normal. Infections are very slow with respect to the healing process.

I think that the length of the stay is getting to her mentally, but she is willing to stay in the hospital until the infection issue is resolved. She doesn't want to go home too soon, and end up back in the hospital.

I hope that I am not contributing to her semi depression because I have been partying or hooking up with friends since Tuesday night. I will continue on with social engagements without her on Saturday and Sunday. I am not sure how many of next week's St. Patrick's events she will be able to attend. It is not the same when I am partying without out her. She does encourage me to represent the family, and I have been doing that very well.

I have four Irish Soda Breads baking as I compose this e-mail. These are for the 40 Shades of Green Art Show on Sunday at the Lichtenstein Art Center on Rennie Avenue in Pittsfield at 1 PM. Our Irish Sister City Committee is running the reception portion of the art show from 1 to 3 PM. It is free of charge. Rakish Paddy, an Irish Band, will be playing for a couple of hours as people peruse the art show. I heard that one lady stopped into the art show a couple of days ago as Judy Gallup, the owner of Pasko Gift and Frame, was setting up the hall. The lady bought one of the art works right on the spot.

Today is the Albany, New York St. Patrick's Parade which starts at 2 PM. Our friends from the Irish Sister City Committee and the Irish American Club will be marching. They will be partying before, during, and after the parade. A great deal of the partying takes place at the Albany AOH (Ancient Order of Hibernians) hall. The festivities then move to McGeary's Irish Pub into the wee hours of the morning. McGeary's is within walking distance of the Crowne Plaza which is where they all will be staying.

After marching in the parade, the Gormalley's are taking a little side trip to Proctor's Theater for a Munnelley Brother's Concert. The Munnelley brothers are from our Irish Sister City Ballina, Ireland. They have played in Pittsfield before, but now the band has reached the big time.
Yesterday Linda slept very well during the day. A friend visited while I was home taking a nap. Linda was fast asleep so the friend left a note.

Linda picked up a roommate around 4 PM. She had a female operation, and she won't be Linda's roommate for too long.

Sports, etc. -- Both the Celtics and the Bruins lost last night. I went to bed unhappy, and without a wife!


Well, I have to finish the morning routine, and head off to see how Linda is doing today.

Have a great Saturday and Sunday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,

Today is day nine of the "Hernia from Hell" ordeal. Linda is improving, but not well enough for her to be discharged. They are still monitoring one situation in which another small abscess could be forming. She is very good spirits, but I could tell she is semi depressed. They are still giving her high doses of antibiotics intravenously. She still requires pain medication intravenously, and orally. Her incision is painful to the touch. The bandages have to be changed at least 4 or 5 times per day.

We pretty much know every doctor, nurse, nursing assistant, patient advocate personnel, custodial staff, who works on this floor. There is only one other patient in this wing whom has been there as long as Linda. The whole staff likes Linda, and they don't hesitate when she pushes the call button which isn't that often. Since the staff knows me from when my mother was in this wing as a patient, and when I was in this wing as a patient, we are developing a new set of friends.

When some friends took me out for supper the other day at a local restaurant, and saw me interacting with people who they didn't know, they suggested that I should run for some kind of political office.

I made a couple of my Irish Soda Breads, and gave them to the staff so that they could share the epicurean delights in their break room. As I was leaving the hospital for my Polenta Dinner at the ITAM, I did get some compliments from the staff.

Speaking of the Polenta Dinner, there was a light turnout at the ITAM, but the Polenta Dinner was wonderful. There were only five us at our table, Pat and Marie Gormalley, and my second wife Marge Cole, and my third wife Patricia Barscz. My second and third wives of course are just close friends because no one can replace Queen Linda.

One of Linda's book club members was at the Polenta Dinner. She thought Linda was home recovering from the simple surgery.

Linda should get my undivided attention today.

There is a Civitan Soup Fest fundraiser at Berkshire Hills Country Club this evening at 6 PM. I know that several of my Irish Friends will be attending the event, but I am not sure if I am going to go. For three consecutive days this week, I left Linda and went off and partied at several events which she would normally be attending with me.

I will be representing the Curley's at social engagements on Saturday and Sunday. Can you easily see why Linda is semi depressed? While I am out having a fun time, she is being poked and prodded, shot up with antibiotics and pain medication, while dinning on hospital food. Actually, she thinks that the hospital food has been good. What she really likes about the food is that someone else is preparing the food, and waiting on her.

News -- To have to deal with an earth quake and Tsunami like they are doing in Japan doesn't seem like a lot of fun. We have a little rain and wind in the Berkshires, but our houses still remain in tact. Hawaii has a Tsunami warning too.

Like I said in a previous e-mail, all news on the national and local level seemed so irrelevant when you have a relative dealing with health issues.

Observation -- Linda was without a roommate when I left the hospital for the Polenta Dinner. Her latest roommate was kind of a weird duck. Linda told me not to say anything about some of her antics. I will tell you that she was dressed when I visited Linda on Thursday afternoon. I thought that she was waiting for an aide to take her to the front doors of the hospital. All of a sudden, she got up from the chair next to her bed, and left the hospital on her own.

Well, I am up so early that I might whip up a couple of Irish Soda Breads.
I have to make four for sure for the Sunday 40 Shades of Green Art Show at the Lichtenstein Center in Pittsfield.

I would like to be at the hospital by 8 AM if all goes as planned. I have my two Italian Friends, and an Irish friend to visit besides Linda. Is there such a job as a professional hospital visitor like those Walmart greeters? I could make total strangers feel happy!

Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

Last night was the eighth straight day that I went home an empty house. If I was single, it would be the way things are.

Linda is getting better, but she really hasn't had a good night's sleep. Her longest hours of sleep have been in the three hour range. Her changing of the bandage in the incision area, the pokes and prodding by the doctors, the intravenous doses of antibiotics, and pain medication always interrupts a good sleep. While the visiting of friends is good for her mental health, it does interfere with her ability to get any extra rest.

When I visit Linda in the hospital, I will have more friends to visit. One of my Italian friends had surgery for Diverditiculitis. They had to cut out about a foot of this 84 year old man's colon. I stopped in to see him as he was returning to his room. His wife and her daughter stopped in to say "Hello" to Linda.

While partying last evening, I found out that the elderly Aunt of one our Irish Friends fell and broke various parts of her body. She is on the same floor as Linda. All the nieces and nephews were not allowed to find out how she was doing because of the HIPPA regulations. The woman has a daily supper time routine. When they didn't see or hear from her, the family started making telephone calls. When it was determined that she was in the hospital, no one from the hospital would relay any information of her status. The family went absolutely bonkers.

On a happier note, I attended a birthday party at Patrick's Pub last evening for our President of the Irish Sister City Committee which was after I said goodnight to Linda. There was much food, fun, and merriment before I called it a night.
The party was still going on when I left, but I was tired from the seminar which I attended in Worcester. That part of the day lasted from 7:15 AM, when I left Pittsfield, until I got back to the hospital at 4 PM.

Weather - We missed any measurable snow, but a good deal of rain is in the forecast. The rain will last for a couple of days. I hope that our finished off basement remains dry which it has so far.

Our Military son went off to the Valdosta, Georgia area in search for a house to rent. His next assignment will be at Moody Air Force Base. Valdosta, Georgia is located in the southern most part of Georgia. When Linda and I go to visit, it might be easier for us to fly into Jacksonville, Florida, and rent a car and drive to their new house. The house which he decided on has a swimming pool which is good for our grandchild Isabelle who swims like a fish. Her little brother will be a swimmer too even though he isn't walking yet. I can't wait for our son to send us pictures of the new home. They are looking at a mid June arrival if things go as planned.

My raisins have been swimming in Whiskey since Wednesday morning. I am on track to make four loaves of Irish Soda Bread for the 40 Shades of Green Art Show on Sunday. Linda said that I should make a couple of loaves for the nurses and staff who have been taking care of Linda for over 8 days. The raisins which are dancing in the Whiskey will have some new playmates before this day is over.

Did anyone see the new toilet that I saw highlighted at one of those national home shows? The toilet seats have a sensor which opens and closes the toilet seats. This is very good news for women.

National news -- It was the usual murder and mayhem throughout the world.
I did see where the Wisconsin workers are starting to lose some of their bargaining rights. This doesn't bode well for us who grew up in Union households, and who kept the tradition going.

Well, you know what Linda and I will be doing today. Since I visited Linda so little on Wednesday, she will get my undivided attention today.
I hope that the news continues to be good and upbeat for Linda today.

Life is Good!

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad