Hello on Thursday Morning

Dear Friends,

It is 32 degrees as I start this e-mail. I am hoping that the daffodils, and the tulips survived the frost which we had last evening.

Linda and I made it through our full day on Wednesday. We /(I) did come home in time to watch most of the Red Sox game. A home run in the 10th inning brought another Red Sox victory.
The Sox are off to Tampa bay for 3 games, and then they are off to Yankee stadium for games on Monday and Tuesday before coming home to Fenway.

Besides the breakfast visit with Mom, Linda and I went to visit Mom in the afternoon. The therapists took Mom out of bed, and put her in a wheel chair. While in the therapy room, they tried to get Mom to stand up straight at the parallel bars. Mom struggled because she hasn't used her one leg or her hands for weeks. She has no muscle tone at all. The therapist were really trying to establish a baseline of where she is at so that they could create an action plan.

Social calendar -- My sister is going to do the morning shift today. My day will consist of helping Linda prepare and serve dinner for 8 Book Club members. The appetizer course will begin at 6 PM. Linda will be making a couple of antipasto platters, and I will be the grill person. The grill man will be preparing vegetables, chicken, and shrimp. The meal will end with a homemade dessert and coffee.
As soon as my services are no longer required, I have to leave for a neighborhood watch meeting. Hopefully I won't arrive too late.

Swine Flu -- Should we go out and purchase those masks that the people of Mexico have been using?

Speaking of people of Spanish descent, I want to tell you of an incident I witnessed at the grocery store where I purchased my vegetables which I am grilling this evening. Visualize a discount grocery store that has a good deal of ethnic fruits and vegetables, 50 pound bags of rice, etc. I watched three short people (two women and one man) of Spanish descent do their shopping while I was doing my mine. I observed one of the ladies take a banana, and eat the whole thing, and leave the banana peel on a shelf in one of the isles. I wanted to say something when I observed what she did, but I didn't. They lady knew that I caught her in the act.
When we get to the check out line, the three of them are right behind me. I wanted to confront them, but I resisted. As I walked to my car, I started to think that of what I should have said to them. See if what I said would have created a confrontational situation? I was going to tell the cashier to charge these people for one banana. I would then speak to them directly, and say : "I saw what you did with the banana. Maybe it is okay what you did in your country, but in the United States it would be considered stealing."
My wife, who wasn't with me, suggested that I should have gone to the store manager, and tell him what I observed. I prefer the confrontational approach.

Well, I finally have a morning where I can relax a little before my kitchen work begins.
Have a great Thursday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday Morning

Dear Friends,

It is 38 degrees as I start this e-mail. We didn't need to have the air conditioners on last night. We went from a day time high of 88 degrees to 38 degrees in a short period of time. We are supposed to have high's in the 60's for the next 5 or 6 days. This is my kind of weather.

Mom was moved from the telemetry wing to the rehab wing (located on the second floor) of Berkshire Medical Center last night. She was doing okay, but not great, when I was there to assist her for breakfast on Tuesday. She still needs pain pills, and she is experiencing some discomfort.

Speaking of Mom, I asked my sister what they did with the leg when they removed it a week ago. My sister said that the doctor asked her if she wanted the amputated leg. My sister thought this was kind of weird. The doctor said that some people actually take the leg, and bury it. Is this like a dog burying a bone?

Sports -- My beloved Red Sox couldn't make it 12 wins in a row last evening.
The Boston Celtics did win a nail biter, and they lead their series by a 3 to 2 margin as they head back to Boston for the next game against Chicago.
I think the Boston Bruins Hockey team plays this evening.

Mah Jongg went well except for the heat at our house on Tuesday during the day.

The Polenta dinner went well at St. Mark's. We served over 300 people salad, bread, Polenta, chicken, and sausage. When I say served, this was not a buffet dinner. There was a cash bar for wine and beer. The 50/50 was worth $500. No, I didn't have the winning ticket. We never got out of the place until around 9 PM. There were many pots, and pans when you serve over 300 people. The pots that the polenta was cooked in were the most difficult to clean.

We have a full social calendar today which should end a little after the start of the hockey game which I am looking forward to watching. My first adventure starts with a visit to see Mom at BMC for the breakfast hour.
I have to go to City hall to pay our quarterly taxes before heading off to the grocery store.
I am the liquids person. Linda doesn't like lifting cases of soda, and water.
While at the grocery store, I am in charge purchasing the vegetables which I am grilling for the Book Club dinner on Thursday evening.

When I return home, both Linda and I have to head out to Berkshire Community College for a Health Fair for City of Pittsfield employees. We are changing health care providers, and have to choose a new one by May 15, 2009.
We then go to Berkshire Medical Center because Linda has a doctor's appointment. I will visit Mom again while Linda is doing her thing.
No, our day doesn't end after Linda's appointment. We are going off to a 5:30 PM awards dinner for some people who will be recognized for there local volunteer efforts for Cancer Society. A former colleague of our is receiving an award.

Hopefully my day will end with me sitting in front of a television watching the Boston Bruins. I hope that I will be able to stay awake for the whole game.

Politics -- Can't you Republicans just feel the love generated by President Obama?

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

Hello on Tuesday Morning

Dear Friends,

After today, we won't need the air conditioners for over a week. We had them cranked up last evening.

We have a busy day ahead of us. I have to exit the house before 7 AM to make sure Mom gets through breakfast okay.
I will return home to help Linda set up for her Tuesday Mah Jongg Session since she is hosting it today. If the day wasn't so hectic, I would grill some burgers and hot dogs for the ladies.
As you know, her Tuesday session goes from 11:30 AM until 4:30 PM.

When Mah Jongg is over, Linda will be representing the family at a wake for the 95 year old mother of a friend of ours. We normally would be attending the wake together, but I was asked to work a Polenta Dinner fund raiser for a local Church. I will be part of the serving, and clean up crew. I got involved because one of my UNICO guys is the head chef for today's dinner.

Swine Flu was the most talked about item in world news on Monday. We just had some friends come back from a Mexican resort who said that they were flu free. They were actually in a part of Mexico where the flu didn't originate from. I am betting that there will be some super offers for Mexican destinations in the next few days, but who in their right mind would want to travel there.

The influx of stimulus funds have spiked a flurry of home-financing activities for our local financial institutions. Like I always said: "Give our President a chance, and things will turn out okay."

My Red Sox have taken over first place in their division. The team had several heroes last evening. When both starting pitchers left the game, the score was zero to zero. Boston's bullpen came through once again. Jason Bay cracked a three run homer in the top of the ninth, and that was all the Sox needed to win the game.

I should be home in time to watch the last couple of periods of the Boston Bruin playoff game this evening.

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

Hello on Monday afternoon.

Dear Friends,

It seems like I never left Pittsfield even though I went the Yankee vs Red Sox game last night, and slept over Kevin & Kyla apartment in East Boston. I left East Boston without my toiletry bag, but there is nothing in there that I use unless I am on a trip somewhere.
I decided to stop in Lee to visit my dad on the way home, and to my surprise an appointment had been scheduled with the Elder Services rep. She was there from 10:30 AM until after 1 PM.
I was going to go straight home and take a nap, but I decided to do some chores before my nap. Well, three air conditioners later, and the front door being changed from glass to a screen, and here I am typing on the laptop.

Linda is just teeing off as I continue this e-mail. I think that I am content to be in an air conditioned room instead of chasing a white ball around the golf course. Give me the 70 degree temperature that I had on Friday with no humidity, and I will play golf every day.

No, Linda's evening doesn't end when golf ends. She and her lady friends have some food and beverages after golf.
No, her evening still doesn't end, she was asked to sub at a Mah Jongg session. This was a last minute telephone call.

I am going to enjoy and evening of peace, and quiet while I watch the Red Sox do battle in Cleveland.

Speaking of the Red Sox, we had a great time at the Sox game last evening. We dined at a restaurant right next to the gates where we went in. The food, and fun was great.
I am going to have to lose weight if I go to a Red Sox game again with Kyla. Kyla had warned me that the seats were kind of tight. She should have said that my butt was too big for the seats. I now know that when the Red Sox say that they added more seats to the regular part of the ball park, exactly how they did so.

I don't have to watch the ESPN Sports Center highlights because I was at the game.

My head hit the pillow a little after midnight in East Boston. I am so glad that I didn't drive home after the game. I would have fallen asleep at the wheel for sure.

Well, I still might take a short nap so that I can stay up for the whole Red Sox game.
Have a great Monday evening.
Go Red Sox! For those Yankee fans I will use the typical line that : "It is early in the season."

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Sunday Morning

Dear Friends,

Our Saturday went as planned from my perspective. I visited mom through her breakfast, and then headed home to do my projects. Taking all the stuff out of the storage shed, and putting in two snow blowers, and ice fishing gear, etc. in a orderly manner was quite a challenge. I had to work around a riding lawnmower, and a self propelled lawn mower too.
It was so exhausting that I needed a nap while Linda went off to do errands, one of which was to purchase food for the appetizer which we were bringing to the dinner party.

The dinner party went very well as I watched, off and on, the Red Sox play one of those marathon games. The game was so long, and there were so many runs scored by both teams that I had to finish watching it at the concert which we attended. The Sox 16 to 11 victory sounds more like a score from a football game than a baseball game.
The Yankees and Red Sox do battle this evening at 8 PM EST on national television. As I said in previous e-mails, I will be at tonight's game.

The concert was fun. I guess that I didn't realize how much better it is to have a live band as opposed to a D.J. The band was right out of the 70's, and they had the whole place rocking. There was no rap music at this place. It was baby boomer heaven with a few youngsters thrown in. One guy from a table next to us came back from a restroom stop, and sat at our table by mistake. I tried to carry on a conversation, but he was incoherent. After a few minutes, he did realize that he was at the wrong table.
Our table of eight started to do shots of tequila. I did participate in consuming a few shots of the Mexican firewater.

Linda is not happy that she will be spending her afternoon at the ITAM while I am having fun in Boston at the game. I told her to compare it to when she and her girlfriends do dinner and a movie while I am home alone.

Linda and I didn't mean to get so defensive with respect to our teaching careers. Our lives right now are going in the direction we hoped that it would, and "Life is good". I am thinking that there are some people who are not happy because Linda and I are always so happy, and upbeat. Do I detect a bit of jealousy?

Well, I have to get to the Boston Globe. Our local newspaper was a quick read today.
Have a great Sunday.
Go Red Sox!

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday Morning

Dear Friends,

We made it through a hectic Friday even though we never saw or talked to each other until I woke up from an afternoon nap (2 hours long)after golf.

I left the house before 7 AM to send off a package by using the self service device at the Post Office. I went directly to the hospital to visit Mom before heading off to the golf course. After playing 18 holes of golf, and socializing at the 19th hole, I was ready for a nap. After my nap, I took a shower before we headed off to our Sister City Event which was held at the ITAM lodge. There was much food, fun and merriment between 5:30 PM and 8 PM before we returned home. After putting on my sleep wear, I settled down to watch the Red Sox do battle with the Yankees.
Linda had a similar busy day. She went off to her monthly retiree breakfast at 8:30 AM with her lady friends before she headed off to a body maintenance procedure. She then went off to visit Mom at the hospital. Since she was at the hospital, she decided to see if she could reschedule her appointment, and be squeezed in for her annual mammogram. She did get the mammogram done, and now she will be able to play golf for the first time this season with her lady friends on Monday afternoon. After her mammogram, she did a little recreational shopping, and returned home just about the time that I woke up from a nap.

Speaking of Mom, Linda said that she was a bit uncomfortable around lunch time when her and my Dad were there. The nurses come in every two hours to help manage the pain. The dressing also has to be changed a couple of times per day. There was some normal draining in the wound area. I still haven't chosen to look at the amputation area yet. I am not sure if I ever will.

Sports -- The baseball game was a great one if you are a Red Sox fan. The Yankees were ahead by a score of 4 to 2. The Yankees had their premier reliever on the mound during the bottom of the ninth inning. The Red Sox had one man on base, but there were two outs. The batter was one strike from the inning, and the game coming to an end, and !!!!! With the crack of the bat, Jason Bay hits a two run homer to tie the game. The Sox won the game with another homer in extra innings by Kevin Youkilis. The Red Sox Nation when crazy, and I went to bed a very happy man.
Linda was watching her programs in the family rooms while I was watching my sporting contest.

Social Calendar -- I am going to make a morning visit to see Mom before I have to do some yard work. I am very tired of looking at my ice fishing gear, and the snow blowers which are still in our garage. I have to put them in the storage shed, but that means I have to empty and clean the storage shed first.
Linda has to make a grocery store run because she has to prepare a appetizer dish for the dinner party which we are attending. The dinner party is a prelude to the Band Concert which we are attending the Wahconah Country Club this evening.

Politics -- It is kind of quiet on the political front. The Presidential dog got a good bit of press this week.
One of our senior golfers is a die hard Republican while the 15 or so other golfers are liberal Democrats like me. After a few beverages, we got into some good verbal battles. Our friend soon realized that it is going to take a lot of work to convert us Democrats into believing in a Republican type of mindset. Even a majority of the nation believes that President Obama has us going in a positive direction.

Weather -- We are finally going to hit some summer like weather today before it cools off a bit next week.

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

P.S. Two more days, and it is back to school for you teachers and students in Berkshire County. I remember counting the hours, minutes, and seconds before Monday morning arrived, but not any more. Friends still ask us if we miss school, and the students, and we keep on smiling, and say: "Absolutely not!"

Go Red Sox!

Hello on Friday Morning

Dear Friends,

It is 35 degrees as I start this e-mail. I am ready to start a new season of
golf, but I don't think that the golf superintendent of my club will allow us to
tee off until it warms up a bit.

Our Thursday went as planned. I was at Berkshire Medical Center a little before
7 AM to visit with Mom. I didn't want to look at the stump of her leg which was
left after Monday's amputation. They have her on pain pills, and not morphine .
The nurse said that she looked better on Thursday than she has looked all week.
Yes, they are still trying to manage her pain, but hopefully this pain will go
away eventually. Mom seemed very lucid, and in good spirits.
Mom did suggest that we (my sister and I) should spend more time with our own
families, and let the hospital assist her when the need arises. Mom said that
she likes it when we do visit her, but that we don't have to be there for
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
There is something called Phantom Pain and feeling. Your mind / nerve endings
have been programmed to believe that a person is functioning with both legs even
though one is not there any more. I am hoping that I never have to deal with an
amputation in my life time.

The nurse who was working with Mom these past few days was one of my students
from several years ago. She was in my class as a ninth grader, but she left
school to have a baby. Yes, I had her boy friend in one of my other classes too.
I asked my former student if she was married, or stayed with her boyfriend. She
said that they tried to make it work, and they lived with his parents for a
while. She ended up in a teen parent program because things didn't go as
planned.
The good thing is that she didn't give up the challenge to get her life back on
track as a teenage parent. She eventually went back to high school and college.
She has been a registered nurse for almost 7 years now. Her daughter is 15 years
old, and she is attending my former high school. This means my former student is
some where around 30 years old. I don't know what role the father has in raising
his child, but he owns a successful landscaping / nursery / lawn care business.
The purpose of this little story is to point out that you can make a mistake,
and still work through it. You have to get off of your butt, and make the
effort. This is what all the support groups were designed for like the local
"Teen Parent Program". The Democrats have created a good deal of these social
systems, but most weren't meant for people to be on them for life.

Sports -- The Boston Celtics beat up on the Bulls last evening in Chicago.
The Red Sox start a weekend series with the Yankees tonight. Let the baseball
wars begin.


Speaking of this weekend's baseball series, it looks like I will be sitting in
Fenway Park on Sunday night to watch the Yankees and Red Sox do battle for the
nationally televised game on ESPN. This means that I won't be attending the
installation of officers at the ITAM on Sunday afternoon. Linda will have to
represent our family.
Kevin and Kyla, Kyla's Dad and me will be sitting together at the game. The
weather is going to be great for baseball. I can't wait!

Have a great weekend, especially if you live in areas where we are finally
supposed to get some warm weather.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad