Hello on Monday morning

Dear Friends,

I just returned from Retro Fitness. There seems to always be more action on
Monday morning. I have the feeling that people are trying to recover from their
food and beverage "transgressions" which usually take place over the weekend.
Retirees can transgress any day of the week.
I tried to do a little more treadmill work today instead of working on the
muscle toning machines. I located a machine with no one to the left or to the
right of me, which is the way that I like it. All of a sudden a women appeared
on the right of me. Another woman appeared to the right of the first woman. They
recognized each other, and talked for over 30 minutes. They will still talking
when I got off of my machine. I had to keep turning up the volume of my personal
television so that I couldn't hear their conversation. This irritation wouldn't
have happened if I arrived at the gym at 4:30 instead of 5 AM.

Speaking of Transgression -- More women are coming forward claiming that they
too were part of Tiger's transgressions.

Saturday Night Live was really funny. The cast picked on Tiger, and President
Obama. After a week of watching what famous people and politicians say and do,
there is always enough material for the Saturday night program.

Why was I late? Sunday didn't go as planned. After a second day of not feeling
well, I decided to seek medical help. After a battery of tests which lasted from
the middle of the Patriot game until we arrived home at 7:30 PM, it was
determined that all my body parts were in pretty good working order. I have to
watch what I eat and drink was the final diagnosis.
After Linda made me some Chicken soup, I decided to go to bed. I slept from
9:30 PM until 4:30 AM. I quickly put on my gym clothes, and headed off to Retro
Fitness.

We did miss the Patrick Pub's farewell to our Irish guests. The discharge nurse
said that spicy chicken wings, and beer wouldn't be good way to alleviate my
indigestion problems.

I feel great today. My body is back to normal. Bad germs don't like to live in
my for too many days, which is a very good thing.

We are going off to get our live Christmas tree today. Another friend will be
getting his tree too. We will help each other loading up our trees. I am going
to tie down our tree on the roof our Legacy wagon. After finishing this e-mail,
I will set up the tree stand, and prepare the area in the house where the tree
will be going. With respect to the tree, my job is putting on the lights, and
the angel. Linda is the Queen of the Decorations. This year the ornaments will
be child friendly. The crystal ornaments will not be taken out of their buckets
this year.

I am free this evening, but Linda has a Mah Jongg session. I will miss her
dearly as I watch Monday Night Football.

Observation -- Linda and I do like to see and play in the snow. The negative is
the bad drivers who come out on the roads when they are snow and ice covered.
Besides going to fast, I witnessed many cars with their front windshield almost
completely covered except for a small clear spot on the drivers side. Some
people who drove by me had the rear window in their car completely covered in
snow. All this happened after only three inches of snow. What will happen when
we get our first blizzard?

Well, I have to read my local newspaper, and get to some quiet chores.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Sunday Morning

Dear Friends,

The Berkshires are coated with about 3 inches of snow except for higher amounts
where the elevation is above 1500 feet.
It is picture post card weather outside right now with a temperature of 25
degrees. We aren't supposed to get much higher than 30 degrees today.

Saturday went well for Linda and her girlfriend. The shopped from 9 AM until a
little after 3 PM. Me on the other hand, didn't have such a great day. I was
suffering from indigestion all day long. I tried tums, club soda, tea without
caffeine,etc. I checked my blood pressure, and it was normal. Indigestion and
heart problems are linked sometimes. I feel much better this morning as I get
ready to head off to Retro Fitness.

Linda and I never made it to the Purple Plume last evening because of the way I
felt. Yes, we missed chocolate, and Champagne.

Social Calendar -- Yes, we have a full one today. There is a kids party at the
ITAM Lodge today. Linda is going to drop off a cake, and help out with the party
at noon.
I am booked in for 9 AM appointment in West Stockbridge. My ability to lift
Christmas decoration buckets for our friends whose husband is functioning with
one good arm, for right now, will keep me busy.
My next adventure of the day is to atch the Patriots do battle with the
Dolphins in Miami at 1 PM today.
This evening we are busy once again. At 6 PM, we are heading off to Patrick's
Pub for a little "Goodbye" celebration for our Irish guests who head back to
Ireland on Monday.

Tiger Woods saga-- I heard on a sports channel on Saturday that Tiger might have
had a fourth transgression. Maybe if Tiger loses the endorsement for Nike, he
could make commercials for male enhancement products.

Observation -- I am not a fan of purchasing coffee from a place like "Dunkin
Donuts", but many of my family and friends do so. Here is my problem. Let us say
I want to bring in my mug instead of using the throw away paper cups which they
serve the coffee in at the coffee shops. All the mugs, which donuts shops sell,
now have metal as part of their construction. Let's say when I get home, I want
to warm up the coffee which might have gotten cold. Since the coffee mugs have
metal in them, I can't reheat the coffee in the microwave unless I transfer the
coffee to a microwave safe container. Luckily, we will still have a fully
plastic Dunkin Donut mug which I almost threw out.
As Linda was in line the other day getting some coffee, some people in line
were listening to her conversation about the metal laced coffee mugs. They
agreed with Linda that these coffee shops should return to selling the all
plastic mugs.

Well, I have to warm up my cup of tea in my microwave safe cup.
By making my cup of tea or coffee at home, I saved a whole bunch of money and
headaches.

Have a great Sunday.
The Curley's will be having one for sure.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday Morning

Dear Friends,
I was having trouble getting on the computer this morning so I will start this
e-mail, head off to Retro Fitness for a 6 AM start, and return to my e-mail
after my 1 hour workout.

Our Friday went very well. I loaded up my car with cleaning supplies, and
headed off to dear old dad's place. I hit and killed a gray squirrel on the way
to Lee. I couldn't stop my car safely since another car was right behind me. The
squirrel was trying to cross the road from right to left. He got halfway across
the road. I heard the thud, and looked out of my rear view mirror to see him
sprawled out in the middle of the road. The crows will have a free meal of road
kill.

Before doing any cleaning, I reattached the wheel that fell off of Dad's walker
on Thursday. The cleaning took over two hours.

Observation -- On the way home from Lee, I started thinking about house
cleaning as a business. I would call it: "Fran's house cleaning and more." I
would have customers in the high income bracket. After a couple of cleaning
sessions and more (but I wouldn't transgress), I would begin with the innuendos,
and rumors. I would secure a good lawyer, and get paid for my silence. Does this
have a familiar ring to it?

After arriving home Linda and I went off to a bunch of different stores to do a
little recreational and Christmas shopping. I faded a little after 5 PM.
We went home to empty the car of our treasures, and freshen up for our evening
adventure. We met two other couples at the Shamrock for some food, fun, and
merriment. Waiting for a table of 6 took some time, but it was worth the wait.
We skipped coffee, and dessert at the Shamrock, and invited everyone back to the
Curley's.
While at the Shamrock, Linda and I said "Hello" to Liam Geddes's mother and
father. Liam was an an Irish Idol contestant in his home country. He didn't win
the contest, but the performance propelled him into the beginning of a career in
singing. The Geddes family is from our Irish Sister City in Ballina, Ireland.
Liam is performing at a fundraiser at Lenox High School this evening while we
are partying at the Purple Plume.

Linda couldn't wait to show off all the Christmas decorations which she spent
countless hours to set up. Of course, everyone was impressed with our out door
lights, and "Kissing Balls", the figurines on our deck.
I also showed our guests the bird feeding set up which I made so that we can
watch the furry, and feathered creatures through the sliding glass doors onto
our deck. I turned on a spotlight, and to my surprise was the fattest raccoon
which I have ever seen. He was enjoying the black oil sunflower seeds until I
shooed him off the deck. The raccoon bolted from our deck, and headed under a
privacy fence into a neighbor's back yard. I am not sure if he returned last
night while we were sleeping.

Social Calendar -- Linda is being picked up by some girlfriends at 9 AM to begin
her day. They are off to the annual Sacred Heart School craft's fair. They have
to go early if they want some of the homemade food items, and the best pick of
the crafts.
Tonight, weather permitting, is the annual night at the Purple Plume. Our friend
will be serving Chocolates and Champagne from 6 PM until 9 PM.

Speaking of weather -- One of the Albany, New York television channels, which we
watch for weather and news, is predicting 2 to four inches of snow for us in the
Berkshires from 11 AM until 1 AM. The heavier stuff will fall after 5 PM. Maybe
our wish for a White Christmas will come true after all.
It looks like Monday is our target date for cutting down a real tree. Once the
tree is up and decorated, let the partying begin!

Retro Fitness -- The gym was so quiet today. I opened the doors once again.
There were only four of us at 6 AM.

Well, my first quiet project is to rearrange food items in the freezer. Linda
wants a totally empty shelf for food items which she will prepare, freeze, and
reheat for when our two boys and their families arrive in the Berkshires for
Christmas. We also have to bake a cake for Sunday's kids Christmas party at the
ITAM.

Have a nice weekend.
Ours is off to a great start! The Curley lad

Hello on Friday morning

Dear Friends,

We had a pleasant Thursday. After a workout at Retro Fitness, and bonding with
Linda during the morning, we decided to do lunch and a movie. We had lunch at a
place called "On a Roll" in downtown Pittsfield. This eatery is next to the
Beacon Cinema. If you are not in a hurry, and you like a laid back place, then
this is the place for you. The food was fine, but I think Linda needed a table
full of girlfriends to keep the conversation going.
There were 6 people in the stadium seating theater, including us. We watched
the movie called the "Blind Side." It had a little sports related element to it
which helped me to stay focused.

After the movie, we did a little recreational / Christmas shopping at the
Target store in the Berkshire Mall. I stated to fade before the shopping was
over so Linda thought it best that we go home. Yeah!

When we arrived home, there was a bunch of messages on our answering machine.
One of the messages was from my father. The guilt from the telephone call, when
I called back, is why I am up so early composing this e-mail. My father was
visiting my mother in the nursing home, and the wheel fell off of his fancy
walker. He went crashing into a wall in my mother's room, and banged his head,
and body in general as he hit the floor. Luckily he didn't break anything. He
said that this happened before, and luckily he fell on my mother's bed instead
of hitting the floor.
He put more guilt upon me when he said that I could visit him a little more
often at the family home in Lee. He also said that the home might need a little
cleaning too.
So when I woke up early this morning, I couldn't get back to sleep. Maybe it is
time for both my father and mother to be in the nursing home together. My father
came up with this idea!

The airwaves have been merciless with the Tiger Woods saga. One of his multiple
mistresses hired a female lawyer named Allred. The mistress was going to state
what exactly was her relationship with Tiger. Well, the mistress isn't going to
say a word about the affair. The high profile pit bull lawyer for this mistress
must have a worked out a deal with Tiger's lawyer, and I would bet a financial
settlement was reached for her silence.

Our friend who had the rotator cuff surgery is getting really bored according
to his wife. After a doctor's appointment next week, he is hoping to get an okay
for physical therapy. Nurse Judie said that our friend is ready and very willing
to accept visitors.

Social Calendar -- Linda and I had planned to head off to Walmart together mid
morning. We were going directly to the toy isle in search of gifts for our
grandchildren, and my sister's grandchildren. We are trying to focus on
Christmas gifts for the children, and not for the adults this year. We will do
this after I get back from my chores at the family home in Lee.
This evening, we don't have anything formally booked in, but the rotator cuff
guy, and his wife have an expressed a desire to hook up with the Curley's. Like
I said, the Curley's seem to always be in demand!

Observation -- Sarah Pallin thought that the President's decision to send more
troops to Afghanistan was a good move. I sure hope that the President has made
the correct, and best solution to the war on terror. I hope that the military
people incur a minimal amount of loses. Time will tell!

Well, I have to grab a second cup of coffee before heading off to Retro
Fitness.
I opened the doors to the place on Thursday morning.
Have a great weekend!
Yes, either one of us or both of us are booked in for Saturday and Sunday. Some
of the days even have multiple events, some which we have had to say "No" to.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Thursday Morning

Dear Friends,

Our house, except for the Christmas tree, is completely decorated. Linda
emptied bucket after bucket of kid friendly decorations. We are waiting for
Martha Stewart to give her approval of how wonderful a job that she did. The
Curley's are ready to host a couple of parties / gatherings.

It looks like all the rumors and innuendos about Tiger Woods were true. He
finally made a statement that he broke his marriage vows, and that he is ready
to move on, and heal the wounds that he caused.

On a different note, I am going off to the gym in a little while, but it will
be at the 4:30 AM start time. I went to bed too early last evening to watch a
little post game celebration of the Boston Bruins hockey team. I fell asleep in
less than 5 minutes until the television woke me up a couple hours later.

Linda's BONCO group had semi fun last evening. I say "semi fun because they
normally go out to a restaurant in December. A house party isn't the same as
being waited on.

Social Calendar -- It looks to be empty for today. Linda has been talking about
going to the movies at a new theater which just opened up before Thanksgiving.
We might be heading off to a matinee.
On the other hand, Linda's body was in pain from all the decorating that she
did on Wednesday. She might want to just relax for the whole day. Yeah Right!

Observation -- According to my military son, the government does employ many
people in the defense industry, which is good when the unemployment rate is
quite high. I do believe that we have to have a strong military to protect us
from the wacko's in world.
Can we direct more money to people friendly products, finding cures for
diseases, etc. instead of making people deadly devices?

Weather -- We might hit a record high temperature before the front goes through,
and we cool down a bit. I am still praying for a White Christmas. I can't wait
to take Isabelle flying down some of the same slopes that I used to take Michael
and Kevin. Even though Max will be only 5 months old, I am taking him for a sled
ride too.


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

Hello on Wednesday Morning

Dear Friends,

I just got back from Retro Fitness. I have decided that I don't like talking to
anyone while I am at the gym. I just want to do my own thing, and not expend
energy socializing or being distracted from my routine.
I went a little later today. I must be recovering from the sleep disorder
clinic from the night before.
I thought that I saw Sarah Pallin at the gym this morning. The woman had that
Sarah Pallin hairdo. She must be a Republican!

Politics -- I did watch and listen to our President's speech last night at West
Point. Many people voted for Barac because he promised to pull out the troops
from Iraq and Afghanistan. I would surmise that the military likes the decision,
but the American public does not. I see more bloodshed and death of our American
men and women. I hope that what the President explained about our mission, and
the goals which he and the military want to obtain do come true.
The Republican talking heads have already started criticizing the President
because they don't want us to pull out of Afghanistan until the job is done.
They don't want any pullout restrictions.
The weapons contractors prefer us to be in never ending wars because that is
how they make their profits.

Tiger Woods -- I can't believe how high profile people think that they can't
get caught having a "little action on the side." His wife should just file for a
divorce, get custody of their two children, and get 50% of Tiger's earnings.
Tiger's fall from grace is going to cost him dearly. He better get in front of
a microphone and tell us the truth about the whole affair.
Now we all know why sometimes his golf game went astray. He must have been
having trouble figuring out which club to use on what particular hole.

Christmas Tree -- We are going to postpone our search for the perfect Christmas
Tree today. I forgot that if we get the tree too early, we might not be able to
keep it alive until Christmas. We don't want to have our tree looking like the
one in the "Charlie Brown" cartoon since our sons and their family will be here
will us for Christmas.

Pork Dinner -- Our crock pot dinner turned out great last evening. We wanted a
different taste to the pork instead of a barbecue sauce tasting one. Using
Sauerkraut, was the new ingredient. We found the recipe in a "Fix it and Leave
it" crock pot book. We couldn't invite friends to join us because some of our
friends have an aversion to cabbage like products. Oh Darn!
I think that we do have possibly one set of friends who will eat anything that
we serve.
As I think about it, it is almost impossible to make foods that agree with all
of our tummies as we get older.

Fruit Cake -- While driving home from the gym today, I caught a radio broadcast
about Fruitcake. In Manitou Springs, Colorado, they have a fruitcake throwing
contest. What a waste! Linda and I have been to Manitou Springs before when we
visited Michael while he was attending the Air Force Academy.
If my readers ate the Brodeur Fruitcake they would change their opinion of
fruitcake. As an example, I mentioned to my brother-in-law that Jerry Brodeur
makes a wonderful fruitcake. He said that a relative of his always made
fruitcake for Christmas. Since the relative passed away, none of his family
members have taken up the tradition. Well, I brought home a piece of the Brodeur
fruitcake from our Thanksgiving adventure. My brother-in-law gobbled up the
piece of fruitcake, without sharing, and he said that it brought back memories
of his relative's fruitcake.

Social Calendar -- Linda is the only one going out this evening. She has her
BONCO / Christmas Party at a friend's home. Linda will be making an artichoke
dip, and her crab dip. Of course, she will make a little extra for me to have
while she is partying with her girlfriends, and while I am watching a sporting
contest at home.

Weather -- It did snow flurry for a little while on Tuesday. The ground was too
warm to have held the snow. This weekend in the Berkshire, it looks like that it
might be cold enough for the ski resorts to make snow.

Have a great Wednesday.
The count down to Christmas has begun.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Tuesday Morning

Dear Friends,

Good thing that I didn't change my appointment at the Sleep Disorders Clinic
just to watch the Patriots do battle against the New Orleans Saints. Let me say
that there is room for improvement with respect to the Patriots football team.
I was the only one at the gym today wearing a Patriot tee shirt this morning.

I showed up at the clinic, and was hooked up to electrodes, machines, etc. I
fell asleep around 10:30 PM, and had my first wake up at 1:30 AM. I had a little
trouble getting back to sleep so the attending doctor propped me on a sort
inclined foam device along with a pillow. I fell asleep with a little less
difficulty. I woke up at 5:45 AM. After the technicians removed all the wires,
and having a quick cup of coffee, I put on workout clothes and headed toward
Retro Fitness. The gym had less body builder people, and more of us baby boomer
aged people.

The inside of our house is looking a lot more like Christmas. All the indoor
wreaths, wall ornaments, and pictures have been hung in their appropriate
positions. Another day, and the inside of the house will be completed except for
the Christmas Tree. We might go searching for the perfect tree on Wednesday. We
have a new heavy duty stand to hold the perfect 6 foot tree. I say the stand is
"new" because when we went the artificial tree route a few years ago, I got rid
of all of our tree stands.

Linda didn't have a golf banquet last evening. She did enjoy the evening alone
as well as no one opening the garage door until after 7:30 AM this morning. She
is trying to figure out how she could have more of these evenings where she is
home alone for the whole television viewing part of the evening, and throughout
the whole night.

Linda has her usual Tuesday Mah Jongg session, but her heart doesn't seem to be
in it because she really wants to finish the house decorating. Not all of her
Mah Jongg friends, or friends in general get into the decorating like the
Curley's do.

Since we will be home together this evening, we decided to do a crock pot
dinner for supper. I have one of those pork loins in there now, and I have to
add some secret ingredients to make the meal complete. This is the first time
that we are trying this recipe so I will let you know how it comes out in
Wednesday's e-mail.

Observation -- We are doing a lot of work to make our house look like Christmas
both inside and out especially since our sons and their families will be here
for Christmas. Linda ache's from head to foot. Good thing that I have been
working out at the gym. I moved more buckets, climbed up and down cellars
stairs, etc., and I feel great, and I have no aches or pains. As we were pretty
much killing ourselves from 9 AM until 5 PM, Linda said that "Who is going to do
all the decorating when she has left this earth?" I suggested that when she does
meet her maker, do so after the Christmas decorating is all done. I will leave
every thing up all year round except for the Christmas tree.

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