Dear Friends,
It was a balmy 5.4 degrees on the north side of our house as I started to compose this early morning e-mail.
We had another fun day with our toddler grandson, Max, on Thursday. He has only a few more days left before his vacation is over. It will be sad to see him depart this weekend. I must say it is like having the energizer bunny with you 24 / 7. His father was exactly like his son. It is so cute at the end of the day with Max when his batteries start to wear down. His little body gets to the point where he stops running around, and he will sit calmly next to you as we watch the final kid’s television program of the day. Yes, I know that some parents try and keep the television off and create some family activity, but it is difficult when most toddler children have short attention spans.
Note – Max has touched every single object on the first floor, and in the basement which is at his eye level. Not a single object has been broken or destroyed. We do have a few tire tracks from some of his car toys on the family room television which is lower that the television in his own home.
Our Dalton friend stopped over after work and after his cardio workout to see Max since Max was crawling the last time that he saw him. We got to discussing if boy toddlers and girl toddlers are wired differently. His granddaughter just turned two years old around Thanksgiving. I asked him if his granddaughter was as active as Max at the 16 month old age. He said that his granddaughter wasn’t as active from what he observed as he watched Max. My Dalton friend did say that when his daughter was a toddler she got into everything. I would bet that her older brother had influenced her decision making.
I received an e-mail yesterday from an Irish Sister member about a benefit next Sunday at Patrick’s Pub from 12 PM to 6 PM for an Irish Band member’s two year old son who was just diagnosed with leukemia. The Irish American community is reaching out to the public to help support this fundraiser. I always feel so sad when I hear about children who have these life or death situations. It seems so unfair that they have to go through so much suffering. The Curley’s will try and make an appearance even though we are booked into three Christmas parties starting at noon, and going until about 6 PM.
Details -- 2 year old Jacob Daniels has been diagnosed with Leukemia. There will be a benefit at Patrick’s Pub Sunday December 19, 2010 from noon to 6 pm.
$15 dollar donation
The Benefit will feature a day filled with musical performances by some of Berkshire County's most talented acts including, Rakish Paddy, Mary Verdi, Satellite Shine, Rev. Tor, Andy Kelly and friends, Cam Collins, Shaun Callaghan and more! We are having a 50/50 Raffle and a Chinese Auction. Donated items include: Special Gift signed by James Taylor, 2 Canyon Ranch Spa Renewal Days, Luxury Spa Gift Basket and Gift Certificates to Friends Grille & Catering, Olde Forge, Ski Fanatics and more coming in.
Observation -- While reading the local obituaries on Thursday, I saw that a former south county educator passed away at age 72 after a brief illness. I first met this gentleman when I was a youth and high school soccer referee. With his mentoring help, I made it into the college refereeing ranks. I was always impressed what great shape that he was in even as he got older. He liked to jog several miles each day which helped him keep up with those speedy college soccer players. He was one of those guys who I thought would live for ever because of his good workout and healthy eating habits.
This is another example that “Life is a crapshoot.” You have to enjoy every moment that you are on this earth. Celebrate your life by surrounding yourself with family and friends. Enjoy your grandchildren every moment that you can like Linda and I are doing right now. Also, don’t sweat the little stuff because there are people like the little boy mentioned above who are dealing with life and death issues.
Linda is working on flights to see our two Kansas grandchildren and their parents during the mid January time frame. Since we get almost daily e-mail pictures from Kansas, we can easily see how fast that these two cherubs are growing up. We haven’t seen these two grandchildren since mid July. I did tell their parents that when I give Max a hug, I always have their two children in mind.
Linda had fun at her BONCO gathering last night. I always ask her if she picked up any gossip from her lady friends. The host’s son, who is a friend of son Kevin, has a new girl friend. He had a long term relationship with another girl that we all thought would turn into a marriage. Well, it didn’t happen. His new girl friend is a Lee High Wildcat. I don’t know her, but I think that she is from a Lee family that I knew growing up in the town.
I got myself in trouble the other day when I announced pre-maturely that one of Kevin’s friends was engaged. The engagement is official now. The boy’s Mom called Linda yesterday, and said that the engaged couple has set a date for the summer wedding. The couple doesn’t want to drag out a whole year of planning, and arranging things. If this wedding turns out to be like his twin brother’s was, it will be another fun weekend.
Observation – I got to thinking about Marilyn Edwards whose husband abandoned her as she was dying of breast cancer. I thought that part of the marriage vows said something about “for better or worse”. I thought that a married couple was supposed to stick together “in good times or bad times”. Maybe every couple should have a framed copy of their marriage vows hanging on a wall in their house. Maybe some people should talk to my parents who will have their 65th wedding anniversary on January 5, 2010, and ask them how their marriage vows have worked over these many years of being together.
I fell asleep watching the Celtic game last night. The ending must have been exciting because the Celtics won by one point.
Well, the Red Sox organization must have deep pockets. They paid almost $300 million dollars for two players who were signed to long term deals. I think that it is outrageous to pay people such large sums of money for playing a sport when a lot of communities across the nation are struggling to balance budgets as well as talking about layoffs or cutting services.
The temperature has dropped to one degree since I started this e-mail. It is difficult to imagine that the temperatures on Saturday will rise to the high 30’s with total sunshine. In the Berkshires, we are in for a round of freezing rain and just rain for Sunday and Monday.
Social Calendar – We were thinking of taking Max to an Irish American Christmas Dance at the Elk’s Club this evening, but we don’t know where a portable crib could be set up. The band starts playing about the same time that we have been putting our grandchild to bed. It looks like the Irish American Club members and their guests will have to party on without the Curley’s. Oh Darn!
I am going to grab that second cup of coffee before Max wakes up.
Yes, Max and I have been on the same napping schedule.
We both enjoyed a morning nap on Thursday. We tried an afternoon nap, but Max would have nothing to do with a nap.
Maybe this is why we both faded early on Thursday.
Have a great weekend.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Hello on Thursday
Dear Friends,
My bio rhythm is out of whack right now. I should be sleeping, but I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I tried fighting the urge to get up, but nothing I could do could get me back to sleep. So I am sitting at the computer with a cup of fresh coffee, and trying to create my morning blog. I will definitely need a couple of naps today.
Max was his good natured self on Wednesday. We took a mid morning nap at the same time. He slept for an hour longer than I did. After lunch, we packed up and headed off to do a few errands. We did go and visit Mom in the nursing home, and Dad was there at the same time. They both got a chance to see Max which turned out well.
Max prefers my “Man Cave” instead of running around the first floor. He gives me a clear signal when he doesn’t want to be on the first floor. In a few years from now, I can visualize Kevin and Kyla finishing off at least one of the two rooms in the basement of their home, and creating a Man Cave.
Max’s mom and dad have sent e-mails saying that they miss their son. Linda spent several hours sending the latest pictures to them over the internet. Maybe one day, when we get “I phones” like our children and their wives have, we can send pictures instantaneously.
Linda had fun with her Knitting group at Panera Bread last evening. She said that there were a large number of knitters. This was probably due to the cold weather which we have been having. Today we are going to hover around the 20 degree mark all day long. It is 16 degrees out right now, and it usually goes a few degrees colder by the time the sun comes up.
When the temperatures reach in the high 30’s on Sunday with rain, it will be like a heat wave. The temperatures then drop once again. By the time next Thursday gets here, it will be in the low 20’s once again. I will be bell ringing for the Salvation Army with my UNICO brothers and sisters. My shift goes from 3 PM until 5 PM on December 16, 2010. The first hour usually starts out okay, but as the sun goes down, it gets down right cold. I will be wearing my electric socks for sure.
There was an article in the CNN news blog that said that someone stole a Salvation Army Kettle (not in Pittsfield).
This week I would normally be writing out Christmas Cards, but I can’t do that while chasing Max around. I decided to send cards if I receive one from friends and relatives. Am I weird because I like sending cards out with a little personal note? Yesterday, I received a nice Christmas card from my Aunt Lil who lives in Ohio. Her hand writing (The Palmer Method) is just the way that we Catholics were taught in Elementary school. She often sends me an article related to something that I put in my daily blog. Yesterday, she sent me an article from her local newspaper about feeding the birds which she knows I love. The article said that it was a myth that we do harm to the furry and feathered creatures by feeding them.
While I was feeding Max lunch yesterday, Max started pointing to the suction cup bird feeder, which had a couple birds eating my sunflower seeds, which I have attached to the kitchen window. He knows that Grandpa likes to feed the animals too.
I think any family which has small children should put up bird feeders so that they can appreciate all of God’s creatures. Now if you happen to have bears coming to the feeders, like we do, you might want to alter times that you put the bird feeders out, or take the bird feeders in at night.
There is nothing prettier than seeing a bright red cardinal against a snow white background. Seeing a woodpecker attacking a suet cake is another great sight for kids to see.
Linda is socially engaged today, but I have nothing on my social calendar. She has a body maintenance procedure at 10 AM, and her monthly BONCO session at a friend’s home at 7 PM.
I have another sporting contest to watch after Max goes to bed.
Speaking of Sports, the Boston Celtics won their game last night. To summarize, the New England Patriots won their football Game on Monday night, the Boston Bruins won their hockey game on Tuesday night, and the Celtics last night. The Boston sports market seems to put out great teams whether in the football Stadium, at the Hockey rink, on the Basketball court, and on the Baseball diamond. The New England sports teams play to packed houses and tickets are often difficult to come by even in this depressed economy. There aren’t many States in this great country which can make this claim. This is why I love living in New England. I always have some team to cheer about.
Well, I am going to go back to bed.
I am getting a little tired even after having a cup of coffee.
I hope Max sleeps until 8 AM like he did yesterday.
Have a great Thursday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
My bio rhythm is out of whack right now. I should be sleeping, but I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I tried fighting the urge to get up, but nothing I could do could get me back to sleep. So I am sitting at the computer with a cup of fresh coffee, and trying to create my morning blog. I will definitely need a couple of naps today.
Max was his good natured self on Wednesday. We took a mid morning nap at the same time. He slept for an hour longer than I did. After lunch, we packed up and headed off to do a few errands. We did go and visit Mom in the nursing home, and Dad was there at the same time. They both got a chance to see Max which turned out well.
Max prefers my “Man Cave” instead of running around the first floor. He gives me a clear signal when he doesn’t want to be on the first floor. In a few years from now, I can visualize Kevin and Kyla finishing off at least one of the two rooms in the basement of their home, and creating a Man Cave.
Max’s mom and dad have sent e-mails saying that they miss their son. Linda spent several hours sending the latest pictures to them over the internet. Maybe one day, when we get “I phones” like our children and their wives have, we can send pictures instantaneously.
Linda had fun with her Knitting group at Panera Bread last evening. She said that there were a large number of knitters. This was probably due to the cold weather which we have been having. Today we are going to hover around the 20 degree mark all day long. It is 16 degrees out right now, and it usually goes a few degrees colder by the time the sun comes up.
When the temperatures reach in the high 30’s on Sunday with rain, it will be like a heat wave. The temperatures then drop once again. By the time next Thursday gets here, it will be in the low 20’s once again. I will be bell ringing for the Salvation Army with my UNICO brothers and sisters. My shift goes from 3 PM until 5 PM on December 16, 2010. The first hour usually starts out okay, but as the sun goes down, it gets down right cold. I will be wearing my electric socks for sure.
There was an article in the CNN news blog that said that someone stole a Salvation Army Kettle (not in Pittsfield).
This week I would normally be writing out Christmas Cards, but I can’t do that while chasing Max around. I decided to send cards if I receive one from friends and relatives. Am I weird because I like sending cards out with a little personal note? Yesterday, I received a nice Christmas card from my Aunt Lil who lives in Ohio. Her hand writing (The Palmer Method) is just the way that we Catholics were taught in Elementary school. She often sends me an article related to something that I put in my daily blog. Yesterday, she sent me an article from her local newspaper about feeding the birds which she knows I love. The article said that it was a myth that we do harm to the furry and feathered creatures by feeding them.
While I was feeding Max lunch yesterday, Max started pointing to the suction cup bird feeder, which had a couple birds eating my sunflower seeds, which I have attached to the kitchen window. He knows that Grandpa likes to feed the animals too.
I think any family which has small children should put up bird feeders so that they can appreciate all of God’s creatures. Now if you happen to have bears coming to the feeders, like we do, you might want to alter times that you put the bird feeders out, or take the bird feeders in at night.
There is nothing prettier than seeing a bright red cardinal against a snow white background. Seeing a woodpecker attacking a suet cake is another great sight for kids to see.
Linda is socially engaged today, but I have nothing on my social calendar. She has a body maintenance procedure at 10 AM, and her monthly BONCO session at a friend’s home at 7 PM.
I have another sporting contest to watch after Max goes to bed.
Speaking of Sports, the Boston Celtics won their game last night. To summarize, the New England Patriots won their football Game on Monday night, the Boston Bruins won their hockey game on Tuesday night, and the Celtics last night. The Boston sports market seems to put out great teams whether in the football Stadium, at the Hockey rink, on the Basketball court, and on the Baseball diamond. The New England sports teams play to packed houses and tickets are often difficult to come by even in this depressed economy. There aren’t many States in this great country which can make this claim. This is why I love living in New England. I always have some team to cheer about.
Well, I am going to go back to bed.
I am getting a little tired even after having a cup of coffee.
I hope Max sleeps until 8 AM like he did yesterday.
Have a great Thursday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Hello on Wednesday
Dear Friends,
Linda and I made it through another day with our toddler grandchild. Linda took a little break from baby sitting , and played Mah Jongg with her usual Tuesday group. I did okay with taking care of Max, but I could have used an extra set of hands.
She was pretty lucky while playing Mah Jongg so she walked in the door very happy at 4:30 PM.
After I put Max to bed around 7:30 PM, I tried to watch the Boston Bruins hockey game which normally goes from about 7 PM until 9:30 PM. I went into my man cave prepared to watch the game. I fell asleep after period one with the Bruins leading by a 1 to 0 score. I woke up with the roar of the crowd with the score tied 2 to 2. The game went to an overtime period, and the Bruins won the game.
It is a balmy 21 degrees right now, and we aren’t supposed to get much warmer here in the Berkshires. The weather guy said that we have another day of similar cold weather. He did say that the weekend storm heading our way will be mostly rain on Sunday and Monday with the some light snow as the front exits the Northeast.
The national news didn’t appear to have anything worth noting except for a Illinois husband who died in a car crash, and his wife is missing. They were partying before getting in their car and heading home. They did find the woman’s foot tracks in the snow, but they authorities haven’t located the woman after the deadly crash on icy roads.
Observation -- This accident got me thinking about drinking and driving as many of us attend more parties than usual during the holiday period. I also was thinking about the many people who will be driving while impaired. The driving impaired people are often under the influence of prescription drugs as well as other substances like Marijuana besides the usual alcoholic beverages. If any of my readers do party over the holidays make sure you have a designated driver.
Since I have been talking about driving, the cars sold by 2014 will have those cameras above the rear license plates so that you can see people and objects when you back the car up. Our Kia is a high profile vehicle but we don’t really see small objects behind the car. This new law was brought about by a couple who had three children. One day this grandpa backed up in the family’s driveway, and ran over and killed his toddler grandson. The family forgave grandpa, but he has been reliving the incident, and he will do so until the day he dies.
The rear window in our Kia Sportage is tinted which makes visibility more difficult especially at night time.
Another observation – While reading the Sunday Boston Globe, our son’s interest was peaked a front page article about one of his competitors called “The Upper Crust”. The guy started out small as a pizza place, and now has 25 franchised places. Well the founder did so using illegal aliens, underpaid them, and threatened to go to the authorities when they workers complained.
If you do something illegal, the law will catch up to you eventually.
Most of my e-mails over the past few days have been about our grandson. How could anyone ever get upset or lose their patience over such a good child who eats well, naps well, sleeps well at night, wakes up with a smile, and just acts like toddlers are supposed to act. The attention span of a toddler isn’t that great. When he gets bored with stuff on the first floor, he signals me that he wants to play in my man cave. I am not used to picking up toys before Linda and I are ready to relax. Max sleeps all night and wakes up between the 6 AM to 7 PM hours. Grandpa has a tendency to rescue Max in the morning before I should. My son told me to wait to he starts yelling to be rescued since he deals with Max in the morning at his house.
I did take him outside in the snow yesterday morning after breakfast. I pulled him around in the toddler sled. He enjoyed it until a stiff wind blew snow into his face. Linda did purchase a new pair of boots before she went off to her Tuesday Mah Jongg session. He had all the winter like clothes except for the boots.
The crock pot won’t be turned on today. We have enough leftovers for lunch and supper.
Today is garbage day, and I did notice that we have generated a bit more garbage with an extra person in the house.
Wednesday is Linda’s knitting group session at Panera bread. I won’t let her go until after Max has supper.
We all might go out and do some errands at some point today. I have to go out for sure and do a few things. I could do so while Max is napping, but I usually nap when Max takes his nap.
We heard by way of an e-mail that Max’s parents miss him very much. They requested pictures of him so Linda took out her camera, took some pictures, and sent them over the internet to his parents.
After Max wakes up, I have to put out the garbage, and get the newspaper off of the driveway. Our plow guy did plow our driveway yesterday afternoon. I have to fire up the snow blower, and do the sidewalks which are a mandatory ordinance for the City of Pittsfield residents.
Have a great Wednesday.
You know what Linda and I will be doing for sure.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Linda and I made it through another day with our toddler grandchild. Linda took a little break from baby sitting , and played Mah Jongg with her usual Tuesday group. I did okay with taking care of Max, but I could have used an extra set of hands.
She was pretty lucky while playing Mah Jongg so she walked in the door very happy at 4:30 PM.
After I put Max to bed around 7:30 PM, I tried to watch the Boston Bruins hockey game which normally goes from about 7 PM until 9:30 PM. I went into my man cave prepared to watch the game. I fell asleep after period one with the Bruins leading by a 1 to 0 score. I woke up with the roar of the crowd with the score tied 2 to 2. The game went to an overtime period, and the Bruins won the game.
It is a balmy 21 degrees right now, and we aren’t supposed to get much warmer here in the Berkshires. The weather guy said that we have another day of similar cold weather. He did say that the weekend storm heading our way will be mostly rain on Sunday and Monday with the some light snow as the front exits the Northeast.
The national news didn’t appear to have anything worth noting except for a Illinois husband who died in a car crash, and his wife is missing. They were partying before getting in their car and heading home. They did find the woman’s foot tracks in the snow, but they authorities haven’t located the woman after the deadly crash on icy roads.
Observation -- This accident got me thinking about drinking and driving as many of us attend more parties than usual during the holiday period. I also was thinking about the many people who will be driving while impaired. The driving impaired people are often under the influence of prescription drugs as well as other substances like Marijuana besides the usual alcoholic beverages. If any of my readers do party over the holidays make sure you have a designated driver.
Since I have been talking about driving, the cars sold by 2014 will have those cameras above the rear license plates so that you can see people and objects when you back the car up. Our Kia is a high profile vehicle but we don’t really see small objects behind the car. This new law was brought about by a couple who had three children. One day this grandpa backed up in the family’s driveway, and ran over and killed his toddler grandson. The family forgave grandpa, but he has been reliving the incident, and he will do so until the day he dies.
The rear window in our Kia Sportage is tinted which makes visibility more difficult especially at night time.
Another observation – While reading the Sunday Boston Globe, our son’s interest was peaked a front page article about one of his competitors called “The Upper Crust”. The guy started out small as a pizza place, and now has 25 franchised places. Well the founder did so using illegal aliens, underpaid them, and threatened to go to the authorities when they workers complained.
If you do something illegal, the law will catch up to you eventually.
Most of my e-mails over the past few days have been about our grandson. How could anyone ever get upset or lose their patience over such a good child who eats well, naps well, sleeps well at night, wakes up with a smile, and just acts like toddlers are supposed to act. The attention span of a toddler isn’t that great. When he gets bored with stuff on the first floor, he signals me that he wants to play in my man cave. I am not used to picking up toys before Linda and I are ready to relax. Max sleeps all night and wakes up between the 6 AM to 7 PM hours. Grandpa has a tendency to rescue Max in the morning before I should. My son told me to wait to he starts yelling to be rescued since he deals with Max in the morning at his house.
I did take him outside in the snow yesterday morning after breakfast. I pulled him around in the toddler sled. He enjoyed it until a stiff wind blew snow into his face. Linda did purchase a new pair of boots before she went off to her Tuesday Mah Jongg session. He had all the winter like clothes except for the boots.
The crock pot won’t be turned on today. We have enough leftovers for lunch and supper.
Today is garbage day, and I did notice that we have generated a bit more garbage with an extra person in the house.
Wednesday is Linda’s knitting group session at Panera bread. I won’t let her go until after Max has supper.
We all might go out and do some errands at some point today. I have to go out for sure and do a few things. I could do so while Max is napping, but I usually nap when Max takes his nap.
We heard by way of an e-mail that Max’s parents miss him very much. They requested pictures of him so Linda took out her camera, took some pictures, and sent them over the internet to his parents.
After Max wakes up, I have to put out the garbage, and get the newspaper off of the driveway. Our plow guy did plow our driveway yesterday afternoon. I have to fire up the snow blower, and do the sidewalks which are a mandatory ordinance for the City of Pittsfield residents.
Have a great Wednesday.
You know what Linda and I will be doing for sure.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Hello on Pearl Harbor Day
Dear Friends,
The first full day of babysitting went very well. We were both a bit tired when our heads hit the pillow last night. My head actually hit the pillow during the morning when Max and I took a morning nap. We both slept from a little after 9 AM until 11:30 AM. We both woke up refreshed. We did try and take an afternoon nap, but Max’s internal plumbing woke him and me up before we got any rest.
Anyone that thinks that people in their 60’s would be good at childrearing has to be absolutely nuts. I suppose if the person was rich and could hire a nanny to do the daily chores of child rearing, it wouldn’t be so difficult. Max is like an explorer, who has to touch and experience everything without any fear. As an example, our television in the family room is at toddler level. He likes to drive his cars on the screen of the television. If he sees a cartoon character, he thinks that he can touch the character. Linda had to take out the Windex before she went to bed to get the tire tracks, and the finger prints off of the screen. Anything that has a dial or a button on it, Max likes to touch. If you are watching a program with him, and you don’t react quickly enough, you will lose the picture, lose the sound, or have your ears blasted out of the room, etc. All these things that I am telling you are what toddlers are born to do. I guess we forgot how much work that it takes to raise active children. We have kept him away from out two four foot decorated trees. If we ever left the room, the decorations on the tree would be altered.
Max has been eating so well. Linda gave him a bath last evening. She put in some plastic ware in the bath water. Some were like cups, and he started to drink the bath water. It looks like we better get some bath toys for Max.
We did leave the house and went off to Walmart looking for some winter boots for our grandchild. They had none in his size. We will have to go back to Target, and buy the pair that we had our hands on. The boots are necessary because we have 3 o 4 inches of snow from the lake effect snows, and I want to take him sliding in our front yard at some point today. All toddlers need a lot of fresh air to help burn off all the energy that they have in their bodies.
We did purchase some car like toys for Max. That kept him entertained for a little while. There is actually enough stuff in any house that will keep him entertained. I have been trying to keep him away from the wine rack. He doesn’t touch the wine bottles, but he does like to touch the hanging wine glasses. He touches them, and the glasses tinkle like chimes.
Maybe I should put crime scene tape all around the house to protect the items which are breakable.
The crock pot Beef Stroganoff turned out very good. Max didn’t care for it, but Linda anticipated that this might happen. She is so good at feeding children with food that that they will just gobble up. As a matter of fact, our refrigerator and the freezer part of the refrigerator are exploding with food designed for a growing boy.
Speaking of the crock pot, I have it fired up once again. Today is pasta night. I have a crock pot full of sausages, one onion, and peppers swimming in a red sauce. It should be wonderful at supper time. I might whip up a loaf of bread in my bread machine when Max is taking a nap.
How about those Patriots? All the people who hate anything to do with Boston Sports went to bed unhappy last night. I watched every minute of the game. All the hype about the game turned out to be a waste of the sports writers’ breaths. Yes, I realize that it is only one game of a long season, but the Patriots are heading in the right direction. The Jets got out coached and out played.
I was thinking that if Belechik was in the corporate world, he would be an asset to any company. He is a man of very few words. He can motivate a team which is made up of 50 % rookies to perform like veterans. His preparation is truly amazing. If you beat him once, he would not let you do it again. He makes adjustments before, and during the game so that you can’t figure out what he is throwing at you. He will give you a chance to do what you are supposed to do, and let you know if you don’t do it right, and he will give you praise if you are successful. Isn’t this what a company wants in a leader?
I think that I might go out and purchase some New York newspapers today. I would like to see how they write up the embarrassing loss by the New York Jets.
Belechik will have his team back at work today. They will be preparing for their weekend opponent, the Chicago Bears.
How about the College Mascot who got thrown out of the game for throwing snowballs? The Police asked him to stop throwing the snowballs. He didn’t, and the Mascot was kicked out of the Stadium. The team did have a back up Mascot.
Linda has her Tuesday Mah Jongg session today. I will be in charge of Max alone. Maybe we can take an afternoon nap at the same time to help take some of the pressure off of me.
There aren’t many of the Pearl Harbor veterans left in the Untied States. Even though I wasn’t even born when it happened on December 7, 1941, I will never forget that day.
Well, I have to squeeze in a cup of coffee before Max wakes up.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
The first full day of babysitting went very well. We were both a bit tired when our heads hit the pillow last night. My head actually hit the pillow during the morning when Max and I took a morning nap. We both slept from a little after 9 AM until 11:30 AM. We both woke up refreshed. We did try and take an afternoon nap, but Max’s internal plumbing woke him and me up before we got any rest.
Anyone that thinks that people in their 60’s would be good at childrearing has to be absolutely nuts. I suppose if the person was rich and could hire a nanny to do the daily chores of child rearing, it wouldn’t be so difficult. Max is like an explorer, who has to touch and experience everything without any fear. As an example, our television in the family room is at toddler level. He likes to drive his cars on the screen of the television. If he sees a cartoon character, he thinks that he can touch the character. Linda had to take out the Windex before she went to bed to get the tire tracks, and the finger prints off of the screen. Anything that has a dial or a button on it, Max likes to touch. If you are watching a program with him, and you don’t react quickly enough, you will lose the picture, lose the sound, or have your ears blasted out of the room, etc. All these things that I am telling you are what toddlers are born to do. I guess we forgot how much work that it takes to raise active children. We have kept him away from out two four foot decorated trees. If we ever left the room, the decorations on the tree would be altered.
Max has been eating so well. Linda gave him a bath last evening. She put in some plastic ware in the bath water. Some were like cups, and he started to drink the bath water. It looks like we better get some bath toys for Max.
We did leave the house and went off to Walmart looking for some winter boots for our grandchild. They had none in his size. We will have to go back to Target, and buy the pair that we had our hands on. The boots are necessary because we have 3 o 4 inches of snow from the lake effect snows, and I want to take him sliding in our front yard at some point today. All toddlers need a lot of fresh air to help burn off all the energy that they have in their bodies.
We did purchase some car like toys for Max. That kept him entertained for a little while. There is actually enough stuff in any house that will keep him entertained. I have been trying to keep him away from the wine rack. He doesn’t touch the wine bottles, but he does like to touch the hanging wine glasses. He touches them, and the glasses tinkle like chimes.
Maybe I should put crime scene tape all around the house to protect the items which are breakable.
The crock pot Beef Stroganoff turned out very good. Max didn’t care for it, but Linda anticipated that this might happen. She is so good at feeding children with food that that they will just gobble up. As a matter of fact, our refrigerator and the freezer part of the refrigerator are exploding with food designed for a growing boy.
Speaking of the crock pot, I have it fired up once again. Today is pasta night. I have a crock pot full of sausages, one onion, and peppers swimming in a red sauce. It should be wonderful at supper time. I might whip up a loaf of bread in my bread machine when Max is taking a nap.
How about those Patriots? All the people who hate anything to do with Boston Sports went to bed unhappy last night. I watched every minute of the game. All the hype about the game turned out to be a waste of the sports writers’ breaths. Yes, I realize that it is only one game of a long season, but the Patriots are heading in the right direction. The Jets got out coached and out played.
I was thinking that if Belechik was in the corporate world, he would be an asset to any company. He is a man of very few words. He can motivate a team which is made up of 50 % rookies to perform like veterans. His preparation is truly amazing. If you beat him once, he would not let you do it again. He makes adjustments before, and during the game so that you can’t figure out what he is throwing at you. He will give you a chance to do what you are supposed to do, and let you know if you don’t do it right, and he will give you praise if you are successful. Isn’t this what a company wants in a leader?
I think that I might go out and purchase some New York newspapers today. I would like to see how they write up the embarrassing loss by the New York Jets.
Belechik will have his team back at work today. They will be preparing for their weekend opponent, the Chicago Bears.
How about the College Mascot who got thrown out of the game for throwing snowballs? The Police asked him to stop throwing the snowballs. He didn’t, and the Mascot was kicked out of the Stadium. The team did have a back up Mascot.
Linda has her Tuesday Mah Jongg session today. I will be in charge of Max alone. Maybe we can take an afternoon nap at the same time to help take some of the pressure off of me.
There aren’t many of the Pearl Harbor veterans left in the Untied States. Even though I wasn’t even born when it happened on December 7, 1941, I will never forget that day.
Well, I have to squeeze in a cup of coffee before Max wakes up.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Monday, December 6, 2010
Hello on Monday
Dear Friends,
It is not even 4 AM when I began to compose this e-mail. I hope that you don’t think that I am crazy. There is a method to this madness. When Max goes down for a nap whether it is a morning, and afternoon one or both, I will be taking a nap too. As long as I get my afternoon nap, I will be extremely happy. I have to stay awake for the “Big Game” which takes place tonight on Monday night football. My Patriots do battle with their rivals, the New York Jets. The winner will be leading their division since they are both going into the game with identical 9 and 2 records.
My drive home went very smoothly until the last 30 minutes of the trip from North Tewksbury. I put on a CD of James Throughgood, and within 35 minutes Max was out like a light. This was just about the time that we left Route 495 south, and got on the Massachusetts Turnpike heading west to the Berkshires. As we go to the highest point on the Mass Pike, Max woke up from his nap. I gave him some cheerios which lasted for a while, but at this point I had to do some magic so that I could make the last leg of the journey, and still keep my sanity. I thought that he would be impressed by the snow flurries, but it had no calming effect.
I called Grandma Linda as I went through the toll booth in Lee. She greeted us as I arrived at our home in Pittsfield.
Linda did a pretty good job of childproofing the house for a toddler. If there was an item that should have been put away or put higher, Max found it. He liked going around the house exploring, and finding new things to touch.
Linda fed Max a hearty lunch before we went off to the Children’s Christ Party at the ITAM. Max once again liked to wander around in these new surroundings, and watch other children interact with their parents and grandparents. Each child got a goodie bag, a juice drink, and container of ice cream. Santa arrived about 45 minutes into the party, and then passed out presents to all of the children.
Linda’s goal was to keep me and Max awake so that he would go to sleep good and tired. Well we did get good and tired shopping at Target, and at one those grocery stores which had one of those “buy one get two free items” on specified things.
Max had another hearty meal for supper in the Berkshires. I put Max to bed at 7:30 PM without a whimper. I fell asleep during Sunday night football.
Speaking of meals, we have enough Max food in the refrigerator and freezer so that he could last several weeks here in the Berkshires.
This is my time right now. I am wide awake, and enjoying the first of two cups of coffee before Max wakes up.
Max is going to wake up to a snow coated world here in the Berkshires. The snow is like white frosting on a cake.
Linda and I decided that we are going to crock pot our way through the week that Max will be with us. I have a Beef Stroganoff brewing in the crock pot right now. I am using a McCormick’s spice packet designed for Beef Stroganoff. You add sour cream after the beef, onions, and mushrooms are done (cooking the mixture for 10 more minutes) after slow cooking it for 8 hours. Linda will whip up some noodles, and then you pour the beef concoction over the noodles.
As I came home from North Tewksbury, my high school friend and neighbor was putting up his Christmas lights. I couldn’t believe that he was out there in 29 degree weather with a wind blowing. I am so glad that I have a tendency to do things like decorating early. His efforts were worth it because we drove down the street when it was dark, and his lights that he put out were very nice.
Max got a chance to see our front decorations, and the ones on our deck. Of course, he wanted to go out and touch the mechanical deer, and the lighted figurines on the deck.
I guess that I didn’t miss much these past few days not watching, and listening to the news. It is the same old, same old. One headline that did jump out at me was that a father and stepmother from Alabama are accused of killing their two children. I can’t believe the number of stories each day which involve children. I don’t understand how adults can kill their children. Even though our grandchildren need a lot of attention, and even when they are driving us crazy, Linda and I just want to give them hugs.
Speaking of chasing around grandchildren, a grandmother, who sat next to us, got on the floor to take a picture of herr grandchildren, and she couldn’t get up off the floor. She saw me laughing as her husband helped her up. I had to explain to the lady that I know the feeling. When Linda and I took Max to dance and music lessons in Tewksbury, all the parents sit on the dance floor for a portion of the 45 minute class. Linda and I knew that getting off the floor would be a challenge so the instructor gave us chairs to sit on during class.
It was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night. There is no place like home.
Linda told me that the other Herman (our Optometrist’s son and high school friend of Kevin) twin got engaged over the past few weeks.
Well, I have to send a couple more e-mails, and make out some Christmas cards before Max starts stirring.
Have a great week at work or play.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
It is not even 4 AM when I began to compose this e-mail. I hope that you don’t think that I am crazy. There is a method to this madness. When Max goes down for a nap whether it is a morning, and afternoon one or both, I will be taking a nap too. As long as I get my afternoon nap, I will be extremely happy. I have to stay awake for the “Big Game” which takes place tonight on Monday night football. My Patriots do battle with their rivals, the New York Jets. The winner will be leading their division since they are both going into the game with identical 9 and 2 records.
My drive home went very smoothly until the last 30 minutes of the trip from North Tewksbury. I put on a CD of James Throughgood, and within 35 minutes Max was out like a light. This was just about the time that we left Route 495 south, and got on the Massachusetts Turnpike heading west to the Berkshires. As we go to the highest point on the Mass Pike, Max woke up from his nap. I gave him some cheerios which lasted for a while, but at this point I had to do some magic so that I could make the last leg of the journey, and still keep my sanity. I thought that he would be impressed by the snow flurries, but it had no calming effect.
I called Grandma Linda as I went through the toll booth in Lee. She greeted us as I arrived at our home in Pittsfield.
Linda did a pretty good job of childproofing the house for a toddler. If there was an item that should have been put away or put higher, Max found it. He liked going around the house exploring, and finding new things to touch.
Linda fed Max a hearty lunch before we went off to the Children’s Christ Party at the ITAM. Max once again liked to wander around in these new surroundings, and watch other children interact with their parents and grandparents. Each child got a goodie bag, a juice drink, and container of ice cream. Santa arrived about 45 minutes into the party, and then passed out presents to all of the children.
Linda’s goal was to keep me and Max awake so that he would go to sleep good and tired. Well we did get good and tired shopping at Target, and at one those grocery stores which had one of those “buy one get two free items” on specified things.
Max had another hearty meal for supper in the Berkshires. I put Max to bed at 7:30 PM without a whimper. I fell asleep during Sunday night football.
Speaking of meals, we have enough Max food in the refrigerator and freezer so that he could last several weeks here in the Berkshires.
This is my time right now. I am wide awake, and enjoying the first of two cups of coffee before Max wakes up.
Max is going to wake up to a snow coated world here in the Berkshires. The snow is like white frosting on a cake.
Linda and I decided that we are going to crock pot our way through the week that Max will be with us. I have a Beef Stroganoff brewing in the crock pot right now. I am using a McCormick’s spice packet designed for Beef Stroganoff. You add sour cream after the beef, onions, and mushrooms are done (cooking the mixture for 10 more minutes) after slow cooking it for 8 hours. Linda will whip up some noodles, and then you pour the beef concoction over the noodles.
As I came home from North Tewksbury, my high school friend and neighbor was putting up his Christmas lights. I couldn’t believe that he was out there in 29 degree weather with a wind blowing. I am so glad that I have a tendency to do things like decorating early. His efforts were worth it because we drove down the street when it was dark, and his lights that he put out were very nice.
Max got a chance to see our front decorations, and the ones on our deck. Of course, he wanted to go out and touch the mechanical deer, and the lighted figurines on the deck.
I guess that I didn’t miss much these past few days not watching, and listening to the news. It is the same old, same old. One headline that did jump out at me was that a father and stepmother from Alabama are accused of killing their two children. I can’t believe the number of stories each day which involve children. I don’t understand how adults can kill their children. Even though our grandchildren need a lot of attention, and even when they are driving us crazy, Linda and I just want to give them hugs.
Speaking of chasing around grandchildren, a grandmother, who sat next to us, got on the floor to take a picture of herr grandchildren, and she couldn’t get up off the floor. She saw me laughing as her husband helped her up. I had to explain to the lady that I know the feeling. When Linda and I took Max to dance and music lessons in Tewksbury, all the parents sit on the dance floor for a portion of the 45 minute class. Linda and I knew that getting off the floor would be a challenge so the instructor gave us chairs to sit on during class.
It was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night. There is no place like home.
Linda told me that the other Herman (our Optometrist’s son and high school friend of Kevin) twin got engaged over the past few weeks.
Well, I have to send a couple more e-mails, and make out some Christmas cards before Max starts stirring.
Have a great week at work or play.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Hello on Thursday
Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned except that my outside light deer didn’t fair well during the rain and the wind which occurred through most of the day. Even though the deer are staked down, the rain softened the soil so much that the stakes had no affect of keeping them upright.
I also had to go out several times and chase light garbage bags that kept blowing down the street. Keeping our three garbage cans upright was also a challenge since they garbage collection guys never get to picking up our garbage until the middle of the afternoon.
Linda and I started our day in the garage once again. I was the bucket man. Linda had to go through several labeled buckets of Christmas decorations before she decided which stuff she was going to use. She didn’t decorate the house with all the Christmas stuff that she normally would put up because neither of our sons will be home for Christmas. For the average person who comes to our house it will appear fully decorated, but it really isn’t. Also, Max will be with us from December 5 through December 12 so she had to put up toddler proof decorations for the most part.
We did put up our two new four foot artificial trees in the family room, and the living room which Linda decorated quite nicely. We decided not to put up a normal sized tree for the moment. Some Christmas wreaths, and other decorations are up in every room on the first floor, bathrooms, and in the basement. We are going to try and keep our grandson busy during his stay, but we will be trying to have him play with toys in the basement. Yeah Right! This sounds nice, but this isn’t going to happen.
Speaking of our Grandson Max, I will be heading alone to North Tewksbury today. I will stay with Max for a couple days in North Tewskbury before taking him back to Pittsfield. I will be taking the KIA which means Linda will be driving my Subaru. She doesn’t love driving the Subaru. We also decided to use the Subaru for short trips and not for trips to the Boston area or beyond.
Kyla drove the Kia the other day when we were there for Thanksgiving, and she loved it. Her Murano went from being a leased car to being owned by Kevin and Kyla. The car needs a bit of work with all the miles that they have put on the car. Linda’s Kia Sportage has 30,000 miles on it, and it doesn’t have the aches and pains that Kyla’s Murano has.
Speaking of grandchildren, our Cheshire friends became the grand parents of twin girls on Tuesday. Their daughter and her husband live in the Boston area like Kevin and Kyla. This means Grandpa and Grandpa Emery will have an easy drive to see the twins as well as giving their daughter and her husband a helping hand. These friends now have three grandchildren and it happened during a one year period. They have already sent us pictures of their new additions to their family. They twins are a couple of cuties!
Sports – I did get my dose of sports last evening while Linda was with her Knitting group at Panera Bread. I was flipping between the Celtics and the Bruins. Both teams won their respective contests.
Speaking of Boston Sports, Tom Brady was named player of the week in Professional Football, the Celtics’ Doc Rivers was named coach of the month for Professional Basketball, and Tim Thomas (the goalie for the Bruins) is leading the National Hockey League in allowing the fewest goals per game. He recorded a shut out last night.
My sport illustrated magazine arrived yesterday. Drew Brees was on the front cover of the magazine . Let us see if it is the “Kiss of Death” like it was for Michael Vick last week. They had a great article on Michael Vick on how he has turned his life around since the dog fighting incident, and his two year stay in Federal Prison in Leavenworth Kansas, which is a few miles from where our son Michael lives. Last week his team lost the football game. I think that it even happened to Tom Brady several weeks ago. Could it happen to Drew Brees too?
The “Boo Birds” will be out tonight in Cleveland to greet LeBron James as he returns to play the team which he abandoned this past year. I might watch a few moments of the nationally televised game just to see how the jilted Cleveland fans react to his presence.
Linda wants to send some Christmas gifts out to our grandchildren in Kansas. Our son said that his house is exploding with stuff too, and that money deposited in a children’s account might be the best gift to give. He is going off to Walmart, and purchase more buckets. This must be a genetic thing. I think that Linda and I must have passed on some of our accumulating stuff habits. He is starting to get nervous because he and his family will be leaving Kansas in June for a new military assignment some where in the States or in a foreign country. He is thinking of selling toys and other stuff before they have to move. Linda and I still have at least 8 buckets of his childhood stuff waiting for him to claim in our garage as well as another 8 buckets of Kevin’s stuff too.
I took a looked at the CNN headlines, and concluded that daily news can really get a person depressed. Oops, I better not use that word depression, I caused a bit of controversy several months back when I expressed my thoughts on depression.
Actually, the Christmas season is not a good time for a good deal of people. Some people have nothing to look forward to. They have no family or friends to celebrate the Holiday’s with. They never get a chance to have that warm and fuzzy feeling like Linda and I get around every holiday, and which we pretty much have every day of the year. Some people have no clue how to make the best of a not so good situation.
Linda and I didn’t have to decorate this year since we have neither son is coming for Christmas, but that didn’t stop us. Linda is booked into a couple of Christmas parties with her girlfriend related groups which she belongs to. We have at least two Christmas parties booked in which we will attend as a couple. I will probably be having another Patriot Party or two before the football season ends, and into the playoffs hopefully. You can sit home and say: “Whoa is me!” or get off your butt and do something.
While I am in Tewksbury for the next few days, Linda and her girlfriend have a shopping day planned as well as Crafts Fair to attend on another day. The only time we get depressed is when our body aches from being too active or trying to find a day where we can act like slugs all day.
You won’t be hearing from me for a couple of days since our laptop will be staying in Pittsfield with Linda.
Our back up computer is not working the way we want it to work so she can’t use that computer if I took the lap top.
I would use the computer at the Brodeur’s, but the last time that I used it, I messed it up, and I haven’t been on it for months.
Kevin and Kyla have their own computers which they use for work.
Linda is trying to squirrel away a few bucks for a new laptop.
Have a great Thursday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Another day went as planned except that my outside light deer didn’t fair well during the rain and the wind which occurred through most of the day. Even though the deer are staked down, the rain softened the soil so much that the stakes had no affect of keeping them upright.
I also had to go out several times and chase light garbage bags that kept blowing down the street. Keeping our three garbage cans upright was also a challenge since they garbage collection guys never get to picking up our garbage until the middle of the afternoon.
Linda and I started our day in the garage once again. I was the bucket man. Linda had to go through several labeled buckets of Christmas decorations before she decided which stuff she was going to use. She didn’t decorate the house with all the Christmas stuff that she normally would put up because neither of our sons will be home for Christmas. For the average person who comes to our house it will appear fully decorated, but it really isn’t. Also, Max will be with us from December 5 through December 12 so she had to put up toddler proof decorations for the most part.
We did put up our two new four foot artificial trees in the family room, and the living room which Linda decorated quite nicely. We decided not to put up a normal sized tree for the moment. Some Christmas wreaths, and other decorations are up in every room on the first floor, bathrooms, and in the basement. We are going to try and keep our grandson busy during his stay, but we will be trying to have him play with toys in the basement. Yeah Right! This sounds nice, but this isn’t going to happen.
Speaking of our Grandson Max, I will be heading alone to North Tewksbury today. I will stay with Max for a couple days in North Tewskbury before taking him back to Pittsfield. I will be taking the KIA which means Linda will be driving my Subaru. She doesn’t love driving the Subaru. We also decided to use the Subaru for short trips and not for trips to the Boston area or beyond.
Kyla drove the Kia the other day when we were there for Thanksgiving, and she loved it. Her Murano went from being a leased car to being owned by Kevin and Kyla. The car needs a bit of work with all the miles that they have put on the car. Linda’s Kia Sportage has 30,000 miles on it, and it doesn’t have the aches and pains that Kyla’s Murano has.
Speaking of grandchildren, our Cheshire friends became the grand parents of twin girls on Tuesday. Their daughter and her husband live in the Boston area like Kevin and Kyla. This means Grandpa and Grandpa Emery will have an easy drive to see the twins as well as giving their daughter and her husband a helping hand. These friends now have three grandchildren and it happened during a one year period. They have already sent us pictures of their new additions to their family. They twins are a couple of cuties!
Sports – I did get my dose of sports last evening while Linda was with her Knitting group at Panera Bread. I was flipping between the Celtics and the Bruins. Both teams won their respective contests.
Speaking of Boston Sports, Tom Brady was named player of the week in Professional Football, the Celtics’ Doc Rivers was named coach of the month for Professional Basketball, and Tim Thomas (the goalie for the Bruins) is leading the National Hockey League in allowing the fewest goals per game. He recorded a shut out last night.
My sport illustrated magazine arrived yesterday. Drew Brees was on the front cover of the magazine . Let us see if it is the “Kiss of Death” like it was for Michael Vick last week. They had a great article on Michael Vick on how he has turned his life around since the dog fighting incident, and his two year stay in Federal Prison in Leavenworth Kansas, which is a few miles from where our son Michael lives. Last week his team lost the football game. I think that it even happened to Tom Brady several weeks ago. Could it happen to Drew Brees too?
The “Boo Birds” will be out tonight in Cleveland to greet LeBron James as he returns to play the team which he abandoned this past year. I might watch a few moments of the nationally televised game just to see how the jilted Cleveland fans react to his presence.
Linda wants to send some Christmas gifts out to our grandchildren in Kansas. Our son said that his house is exploding with stuff too, and that money deposited in a children’s account might be the best gift to give. He is going off to Walmart, and purchase more buckets. This must be a genetic thing. I think that Linda and I must have passed on some of our accumulating stuff habits. He is starting to get nervous because he and his family will be leaving Kansas in June for a new military assignment some where in the States or in a foreign country. He is thinking of selling toys and other stuff before they have to move. Linda and I still have at least 8 buckets of his childhood stuff waiting for him to claim in our garage as well as another 8 buckets of Kevin’s stuff too.
I took a looked at the CNN headlines, and concluded that daily news can really get a person depressed. Oops, I better not use that word depression, I caused a bit of controversy several months back when I expressed my thoughts on depression.
Actually, the Christmas season is not a good time for a good deal of people. Some people have nothing to look forward to. They have no family or friends to celebrate the Holiday’s with. They never get a chance to have that warm and fuzzy feeling like Linda and I get around every holiday, and which we pretty much have every day of the year. Some people have no clue how to make the best of a not so good situation.
Linda and I didn’t have to decorate this year since we have neither son is coming for Christmas, but that didn’t stop us. Linda is booked into a couple of Christmas parties with her girlfriend related groups which she belongs to. We have at least two Christmas parties booked in which we will attend as a couple. I will probably be having another Patriot Party or two before the football season ends, and into the playoffs hopefully. You can sit home and say: “Whoa is me!” or get off your butt and do something.
While I am in Tewksbury for the next few days, Linda and her girlfriend have a shopping day planned as well as Crafts Fair to attend on another day. The only time we get depressed is when our body aches from being too active or trying to find a day where we can act like slugs all day.
You won’t be hearing from me for a couple of days since our laptop will be staying in Pittsfield with Linda.
Our back up computer is not working the way we want it to work so she can’t use that computer if I took the lap top.
I would use the computer at the Brodeur’s, but the last time that I used it, I messed it up, and I haven’t been on it for months.
Kevin and Kyla have their own computers which they use for work.
Linda is trying to squirrel away a few bucks for a new laptop.
Have a great Thursday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Hello on Wednesday Morning
Dear Friends,
The wind has been howling all night. The temperature is in the 50’s. We have a little rain falling right now. One of the bags of garbage was rolling down the street. I had put a bunch of that Styrofoam packing material in a garbage bag. The lightness of the bag was no match for the wind.
I spent three hours in the garage cleaning, throwing stuff out, and rearranging stuff on shelves so that we can now park both cars in the garage.
Linda had fun at Mah Jongg which lasted until 4:30 PM. Many times the games end at around 3:30 PM, but they players must have been into on Tuesday.
I squeezed in a nap too so that I could stay up and watch the Celtics game. The Celtic’s beat LeBron James’ former team the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While Linda and I were on a date night at Matt Reilly’s for their Fish and Chips special, I asked Linda who the big winner was during the Mah Jongg games, and how did Thanksgiving Dinner go for each one of her friends and their families. Every one of her friends won a game or two.
Linda did tell me of a Thanksgiving story which one of her friends told everyone who was playing Mah Jongg. One Mah Jongg player, who is in her late 70’s decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family. She never cooked a Turkey in all of her days on this earth. This Thanksgiving she decided to cook one herself. She had no clue of how to cook a turkey. She called a friend for advice, and the friend said that you have to put water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Well, the Mah Jongg lady got carried away with the amount of water which she put in the pan. She didn’t give the Mah Jongg ladies much details of how the bird came out, but she did say that the bird came out very moist. A steamed cooked Turkey would of course come out moist. No one asked if she made stuffing or if the cooked bird ever got a crispy skin toward the end of the cooking process.
The lady told the Mah Jongg players that next Thanksgiving she is taking her family out to dinner at a restaurant which her and her family have always done in years past.
I also found out that my mother has a new roommate at the nursing home. She happens to be the Mother of a guy that my Dalton friend and I used to tailgate with at the Patriots’ game when we had season tickets. This guy’s mom is in the same age group as my mother. She had a fall at home, and that is why the family had to put her in the nursing home. It sure is a small world.
Politics – I see where the Latino’s in Nevada want to break away from the Democratic Party and form their own party called “The Tequila Party!” The Latino’s are upset with the lack of progress with immigration reform. Do you think that this group will serve free Tequila at every rally? If that is the case, I might join the movement. Just Kidding!
I also see where some people want Hillary Clinton to resign because of the leaks from the Wikipedia affair. Do you think that all the other the other countries who belong to the United Nations might do a little spying on each other like the United States does on a regular basis? It is so sad that our thoughts were written down and stored on a computer.
The Korea incidents had calmed down a bit from the shootings of a couple of days ago. I hope that we don’t get involved in another military conflict, but we have military bases in South Korea.
I was reading my Time magazine yesterday, and there were a little over 100 billionaires around 2000. We now have over 1000 billionaires in 2010. President Obama is not having success negotiating with the Republicans who want to keep the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the nation. I don’t want the rich people taxed to death, but they could pay a little more in taxes. The middle class has been footing a larger than normal portion of the budget in the United State. I can see why the rich, and us as well don’t want to pay for other people who will sit on their butts, and continue to receive handouts.
I am actually not I favor of extending benefits beyond the 99 weeks our government has already extended for unemployed people. When you are getting handouts for a long period of time, you lose the urge to go back to work. These people don’t want to go back to work for lower paying jobs, but sometimes you have to suck it up and do so. You might have to work two jobs to make ends meet. You might have to work with immigrants and illegal aliens who are thankful to work any kind of job.
Yesterday, I was listening to a local talk program while working in the garage. The host was upset with the people who drive around in those motorized wheel chairs, smoking cigarettes, drinking cups of Dunkin Donuts’ coffee. These people most likely never paid for the motorized device. They are also in these wheel chairs because they didn’t take care of themselves. The government pays for their subsidized apartments too. Whoa, do I sound like a Republican? Even we Liberal Democrats get a little conservative as we grow older.
There are some truly needy people which government agencies can give a helping hand to, but the helping hand wasn’t designed to last a lifetime.
Social Calendar – I will be helping with chores around the house today. We bought a couple four foot lighted trees, and we have to decide where to put them. I have to dig out the bucket which has Christmas Linens in it. We have to put together some toys for when we baby sit for Max beginning this weekend.
Linda has her knitting group this evening at 6 PM. I might do a Chicken Novena while she is with the knitters.
Have a great Wednesday.
For people in the Berkshires, brace yourself for some cool weather after the front goes through including some possible snow next week.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
The wind has been howling all night. The temperature is in the 50’s. We have a little rain falling right now. One of the bags of garbage was rolling down the street. I had put a bunch of that Styrofoam packing material in a garbage bag. The lightness of the bag was no match for the wind.
I spent three hours in the garage cleaning, throwing stuff out, and rearranging stuff on shelves so that we can now park both cars in the garage.
Linda had fun at Mah Jongg which lasted until 4:30 PM. Many times the games end at around 3:30 PM, but they players must have been into on Tuesday.
I squeezed in a nap too so that I could stay up and watch the Celtics game. The Celtic’s beat LeBron James’ former team the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While Linda and I were on a date night at Matt Reilly’s for their Fish and Chips special, I asked Linda who the big winner was during the Mah Jongg games, and how did Thanksgiving Dinner go for each one of her friends and their families. Every one of her friends won a game or two.
Linda did tell me of a Thanksgiving story which one of her friends told everyone who was playing Mah Jongg. One Mah Jongg player, who is in her late 70’s decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family. She never cooked a Turkey in all of her days on this earth. This Thanksgiving she decided to cook one herself. She had no clue of how to cook a turkey. She called a friend for advice, and the friend said that you have to put water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Well, the Mah Jongg lady got carried away with the amount of water which she put in the pan. She didn’t give the Mah Jongg ladies much details of how the bird came out, but she did say that the bird came out very moist. A steamed cooked Turkey would of course come out moist. No one asked if she made stuffing or if the cooked bird ever got a crispy skin toward the end of the cooking process.
The lady told the Mah Jongg players that next Thanksgiving she is taking her family out to dinner at a restaurant which her and her family have always done in years past.
I also found out that my mother has a new roommate at the nursing home. She happens to be the Mother of a guy that my Dalton friend and I used to tailgate with at the Patriots’ game when we had season tickets. This guy’s mom is in the same age group as my mother. She had a fall at home, and that is why the family had to put her in the nursing home. It sure is a small world.
Politics – I see where the Latino’s in Nevada want to break away from the Democratic Party and form their own party called “The Tequila Party!” The Latino’s are upset with the lack of progress with immigration reform. Do you think that this group will serve free Tequila at every rally? If that is the case, I might join the movement. Just Kidding!
I also see where some people want Hillary Clinton to resign because of the leaks from the Wikipedia affair. Do you think that all the other the other countries who belong to the United Nations might do a little spying on each other like the United States does on a regular basis? It is so sad that our thoughts were written down and stored on a computer.
The Korea incidents had calmed down a bit from the shootings of a couple of days ago. I hope that we don’t get involved in another military conflict, but we have military bases in South Korea.
I was reading my Time magazine yesterday, and there were a little over 100 billionaires around 2000. We now have over 1000 billionaires in 2010. President Obama is not having success negotiating with the Republicans who want to keep the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the nation. I don’t want the rich people taxed to death, but they could pay a little more in taxes. The middle class has been footing a larger than normal portion of the budget in the United State. I can see why the rich, and us as well don’t want to pay for other people who will sit on their butts, and continue to receive handouts.
I am actually not I favor of extending benefits beyond the 99 weeks our government has already extended for unemployed people. When you are getting handouts for a long period of time, you lose the urge to go back to work. These people don’t want to go back to work for lower paying jobs, but sometimes you have to suck it up and do so. You might have to work two jobs to make ends meet. You might have to work with immigrants and illegal aliens who are thankful to work any kind of job.
Yesterday, I was listening to a local talk program while working in the garage. The host was upset with the people who drive around in those motorized wheel chairs, smoking cigarettes, drinking cups of Dunkin Donuts’ coffee. These people most likely never paid for the motorized device. They are also in these wheel chairs because they didn’t take care of themselves. The government pays for their subsidized apartments too. Whoa, do I sound like a Republican? Even we Liberal Democrats get a little conservative as we grow older.
There are some truly needy people which government agencies can give a helping hand to, but the helping hand wasn’t designed to last a lifetime.
Social Calendar – I will be helping with chores around the house today. We bought a couple four foot lighted trees, and we have to decide where to put them. I have to dig out the bucket which has Christmas Linens in it. We have to put together some toys for when we baby sit for Max beginning this weekend.
Linda has her knitting group this evening at 6 PM. I might do a Chicken Novena while she is with the knitters.
Have a great Wednesday.
For people in the Berkshires, brace yourself for some cool weather after the front goes through including some possible snow next week.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
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