Hello on Valentines Day

Dear Friends,

Happy Valentines’ Day to everyone! If you don’t have a significant other, you can still treat yourself to some things that you really like. I have been reading the all the advertisements for the dinners, jewelry, spa days, boxes of candy, strawberry dipped in chocolate, etc. that we men are supposed to consider giving our sweethearts. Many of us struggle to get exactly what our significant others really desire. In our situation, Linda would like a day just to do things at her own pace, catch a movie, and have a romantic dinner at an upscale place. Well, she is not getting any of those things today!
Linda has her Tuesday Mah Jongg session from 11:30 AM until 4 PM or so. We have an Irish Sister City Committee meeting at 6 PM that I can’t attend because tonight is my review and test for the ServSafe Recertification test which is also 6 PM. I chatted with a friend at my UNICO board meeting, but he might miss the test because his daughter could be having her first child any moment now. She was due on February 9, 2012.

Observation – While I was checking out the Sunday fliers, I kept on seeing Whitman’s Sampler’s on sale. That box of candy was almost a staple in our family when I grew up. I still wouldn’t mind getting a box of them every Valentines Day. I love the fact that there is a description of every piece of candy for every slot in the box. I started off our relationship thinking that I could carry on the Whitman’ Sampler tradition with Linda, and that didn’t last too long. I know that she likes the nutty kind of Russell Stover Chocolates, and not the box of those generic creamed filled ones. Of course, if she does receive the candies which she prefers, she has to hide them from me. She knows how to savor candy, and I have not mastered that technique since I have been on this earth.
I also contend that the warm and fuzzy feelings that we get on Valentines Day should last all year long, and not just for one day of the year.

Yesterday, Linda and her girlfriend had a nice day at the Casino. Linda came home with a few more dollars than she had budgeted. There weren’t enough winnings to take some exotic trip, but she will be getting some post cards in the mail from the Casino asking her to return soon! Her girlfriend started off the day with some sniffles. By the time they had to get back on the bus, her friend had what appeared to be a full fledged cold. Linda and I have too many things on our social calendar for the rest of February, and March to even consider spending time fighting an illness.

My day did not go as planned. My sister was with my dad in the emergency room on Monday night from 10 PM until 4:30 AM. I was with dad in the same room from 9 AM until almost 3 PM which is when dad got discharged and returned to the nursing home. After all those hours at the hospital, and two CAT scans including one with dye, it was determined that my dad’s internal plumbing was causing the pain. My sister said that from her experience in Ultra Sound, seniors not only get constipated more often, but sometimes it what they call impacted. If you think about people in nursing homes like my dad, they don’t drink enough fluids, and they don’t move around enough during the day to get their internal plumbing working properly. My dad can’t stand up and walk at all right now. He spends most of the day in a wheel chair, or in bed.
From what I saw yesterday, my sister and I agreed that having dad do a transitional stay at my sister’s home before going back to his own home has now been put on the back burner. Dad needs 24 hour care that neither my sister nor I are able to provide. Oh Darn!

I had an hour to relax before I went off to my UNICO board meeting which lasted almost 1.5 hours. As I guessed, we picked up more events to work, and other events got confirmed. One event which we did pick up was a City of Pittsfield Family Fun day based out of the Controy Pavilion on Onota Lake that I was at this past Sunday. This Saturday event takes place on March 3, 2012. UNICO was asked to prepare and sell, at modest cost, hamburgers and hot dogs from 11 AM until 3 PM. Any profits realized would go to our UNICO charities.
I do remember that there is also another event in the evening at the Polish Falcon Hall. The Curley’s will be attending a Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner.

Also, it was confirmed that UNICO is having their Celebrity Bartending Night on March 15, 2012 at the Heritage Tavern in Lenox. This was a fun event last year, and I know there was a table of our Irish Friends who attended the event. I believe us UNICO volunteers are behind the bar (including me) starting around the 6 PM hour. I will give you more details at a later date.

Social Calendar for me – I have a 9 AM medical appointment. I will then go directly to the nursing home and visit dad. Retro Fitness should be my next stop before I come home and start studying for tonight’s test. I haven’t touched the manual since last Friday, and there is so much that we are responsible for knowing. I will be so glad when this day is over.

Local News – The alleged “hit and run” accident which took place on Winesap in early December made the front page of the Berkshire Eagle once again this morning. A different clerk magistrate said that there is enough circumstantial evidence to charge the driver of the car with two misdemeanors. The driver has a court date at the end of February.

It was sad to hear that Whitney Houston drowned her bathtub in the suite in the hotel that she was at. Legal medication and booze might have caused her to pass out before she drowned in the bathtub.
There were two body guards right outside the bathroom door while the drowning took place! Oh Darn!

Politics -- The President's 2013 budget proposal is not a big hit with the Republicans. Taxing the rich is a real stumbling block for Republicans to agree to.

Well, I have to finish reading the local newspaper, and get dressed. Linda doesn’t have to leave the house until a little after 11 AM.

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