And so it continues

I really hate officer meetings. I know Yvonne has things to say -- for the both of us -- but there are much easier way of saying things that don't get the people you're saying them to all upset and confrontational. Personally I'd rather keep my mouth shut than have all the confrontational crap. So she read a letter she wrote about how everyone puts down our bulletin and gets pissed at us if there's mistakes and then they get all pissy and confrontational and she goes back at them and I try to back her up because it really is for the both of us and I agree with her but I try to say the same thing in a milder way and still everyone's all mean to each other. I hate officer meetings.

So now she called me and said she quit the bulletin. I hope she's just upset and changes her mind. But honestly it might be better for her own health if she really does because it's really stressful to her. It isn't for me because I've been through enough crap belonging to things like the ren faire, that I'm not letting anything that's not of vital importance to me, upset me. I'd walk away too if I were getting that upset. But I won't let myself get there.

So that's that for now. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Arrowhead found!

Anita found, and mailed me, Anthony's arrowhead that he wanted to see after all these years. He found it when he was a kid in her back yard and she took it from him and he never saw it again. She was purging stuff in her house before going to France for six weeks and she found it. I just got it in the mail. I hope it's the right one because he's going to be thrilled.

Now if he can come over with no attitude issues from anyone at all, we'll be all set.

Well he came over and clipped Pino's nails and was thrilled by the arrowhead. Carol went right to her room and stayed there until he left. While I'm glad there was no visible attitude stuff I would so love for her heart to melt.

Anthony is still talking about going to North Dakota. If he does, I hope his dreams come true. They both deserve that.

Bowling

Today I walked down to the lodge to meet Peggie and we went to Amity to meet the others. I bowled two games -- a 77 and an 100. Not bad for being completely out of practice. Then I walked home from the lodge. A little exercise. :)

April is ending

The weather has been great in my eyes. Nice cool weather and hopefully spring will stay cool. But if I can tolerate the summer as well as I did last year, I'll be thrilled.

Sandy and I went to a Civil War reenactment at the Seymour Historical Society today. I love, love, LOVE history! Then we went to the Sandwich man and Ocean State and the thrift store and Seybridge Pharmacy. Afterwards I went to see Angelina. She's getting older and sicker. I need to go see her more often. Preferably weekly. She gave me some stuffed breads and pizzas that she made and a dozen fresh eggs.

We're moving stuff around again. Looks like my babies are staying. At least I hope so. We fight and fight and fight but I can't possibly love anyone more than my kids. BOTH of them. My Carol is still my Precious and always will be. They cleaned out the sun porch today and move things around and we called Anthony and he said we could take what was left in his closet out. Basically it was some ammo (worth more than gold nowadays so I hid it well), a .22 rifle and some dvds. So now they'll clean the closet and have room in there. And I'll move some of my stuff back into the sun room and I'll have a little more room.

I definitely need to clean the rug again. Pino keeps peeing on it. But if it's a choice between him dying or him peeing on the rug -- let him pee. He'll be exactly 14.5 years old in three days. My poor old man.

Night of rest

No meetings. No newsletter. Nothing I HAVE to do. So I'm catching up on dvr'ed stuff and resting up.

More classmatess

The Elks seem to have old classmates crawling out of the woodwork. Tonight we met another old classmate -- Earl Robinson. I remember him a little in school. He was like me, not popular. Seems ok. But how funny is it that classmates are drifting towards the Elks?

Yvonne and I went and finished the newsletter tonight. It's all done except for the mailing.

Ringtones

And apparently I didn't hit 'publish' last night so this didn't get in for the 24th - Aunt Elenore's birthday. Miss her.

We went to the lodge and got two pages of the bulletin done -- really it was four pages -- one 11x17 page back and front. Hopefully tomorrow we'll finish.

I also found out from Yvonne that we can buy single ringtones through Itunes. I was under the impression that you couldn't anymore. You can definitely on the phone. So I'm back to having different ringtones for different people. YEAH!

Waiting to hit publish

I met Yvonne down at the lodge to work on the bulletin but Vinny was there and Peggie and Peggie's friend, Darryl and we all started drinking and talking and drinking. At least both Yvonne and I had a hot dog and fries so that was good.

We had a great visit with Vinnie. I tried to get Tommy to come down but he couldn't so we're all supposed to get together at the lodge for Cinco de Mayo on the 4th. Darmish came over from the cigar store too and he might come over on the 4th.

Anyway I didn't realize that Yvonne was totally drunk until we were outside and it was too late. I just called Spencer to let him know she's on her way and he's outside waiting for her. I asked him to please call and let me know she makes it ok. I won't hit publish until he calls or until I don't hear anything and it's bedtime. I hope he calls.

Ok, he just called and she's home. Thank God. Geez! I'm not even sure how she got that bad. That will NOT happen again!

District Deputy meeting

Went to the district deputy meeting at the Milford lodge tonight. It was a really good experience. I learned a lot and can't wait to go to the state convention at the end of next month. Yvonne is the Special Olympics chairman for the state and Peggie is the Youth Activities chairman for the state. This is going to be a really busy year!

Also, Rich said I don't have to do anything and am now on the cultural commission. And Judy sent me an invitation to Tony's fundraiser dinner next month for $25.00. I'm going to that and I'm going to all Anita's stuff I can afford too.

This is going to be a very interesting year.

Almost forgot -- Anthony had asked me to ask Anita Muldoon about a big arrowhead that he had found in her backyard when they lived here on Caroline Street. He said she took it from him -- he was only a little kid -- and he never saw it again. I'd emailed her about it and she had no recollection of it. She just emailed me today that she was purging stuff from her house and actually came across it and wants to send it to him. I told her to send it to me and that I'd surprise him with it. She's going to be a speaker at some homicide conference in another state and then going to France for six weeks. I am hoping she sends it before all that. He's going to be sooooooooooo surprised!

My day today

It was a really nice day. I did laundry and called and talked to Lou for awhile. She sounds good and I need to get up and see her. I keep thinking I'm coming down with a cold or something and I'm petrified of giving her any germs. But now I'm thinking I may have allergies because nothing sticks.

Then I worked the open house at the historical society and talked to Maria. We're going to get together at her house to sew. Joy gave me some fabric to make myself some garb to wear there and it's going to be really pretty. When I no longer have use for the garb, I will give it to the society. I also started a Woodsy Association mitt and of course I messed up. I finished knitting it when I got home and was about to bind off when I decided to reread the instructions. Sure enough, I have to tink the last eight rows because I forgot to decrease. DUH!! LOL!! I'm glad I hadn't bound off yet.

Carol and I set up the sewing machine and tested it out. It's going to be great! Now I've got the sewing itch again. That will be good for the hotter weather when I can't knit. And I'm hoping I can finish my quilt and make more.

All in all it was a very good day. 

Regular Saturday

Was up all night again. I hate insomnia. But went out with Sandy on a regular Saturday today. It was nice to have a regular Saturday again.

Pino

This morning I had to help him get up because he was yelping when he tried to move. When he was up, he was fine. I hate that he's getting old. He's already half blind and half deaf. My poor old man.

Going out with Sandy tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be pouring all day. They say it will clear up by 9-10:00.

Something tells me Grimm won't be on tonight because all the network channels are doing full time coverage on the manhunt for the terrorist. I'll watch Merlin since I still have three or four episodes left. I can't watch the news like that. It's too depressing.

And Gina is not doing well. They did tests and started immediate radiation. They don't want anyone to know she's sick. I only know because I knew something was very wrong and made Tell tell me. I'm praying and praying and praying.

A City Called West

Another disaster. They just don't stop. A little city in Texas, near Waco, by the name of West. They called it Fertilizer City and the fertilizer plant blew up. And people died and the town is probably destroyed.

Then there's some asshole doctor who is on trial for murder because he's been doing late term abortions or killing babies just before they're born.

If I believed in end of the world stuff, I'd say it's started.

At work, I'm ahead of myself. Everything caught up and starting on the new fiscal year.

My own personal day was a good one.

Garden time

Anthony had me get the community garden so maybe he's going to stay. I really hope so. I hope his work picks up and he has so much he has to pick and choose the jobs.

And Carol is talking again about getting married this coming October first up here and then going to Florida for a second reception. That means I'm hoping they're staying here. As much as we bitch and moan and fight, I love my daughter with every fiber of my being, just like I love my son, and I want them both close always. I just pray constantly that they start demonstrating their love for each other instead of this stupid hating shit.

Regular lodge meeting

Went to work today and got all caught up. I'm going to try and get requisitions done ahead for the new fiscal year since we're on top of things.

Lodge meeting tonight. It still feels strange sitting in the Lecturing Knight seat. :)

And now Boston

Bombs at the Marathon. Is the world truly gone nuts? My first thought was gee -- will they make bombs illegal? What a sad thought to have. People are nuts and now I see people saying terrorist all over Facebook and parts of DC have been closed.

On the home front - I was up all night. Those damn sleeping meds are not working at all. And coughing. Every time I drifted off, I'd start coughing.

Throat still sore

My throat is still sore and I reformed the laptop. Went out with Sandy. That's about it. Blah!

Laptop issues

I think I'm going to have to reformat my lap top. From one minute to the other it lost all my Itunes stuff -- I mean totally kaput. So I uninstalled and reinstalled and it's still weird and old and none of my stuff. I had to put the songs from my Ipod to Itunes using Diskaid and it's still not working right at all.

Stayed home today. Sore throat. I had to miss Seb's wedding. I can't believe he got married after all these years of looking. I'm very happy for him.

Ringtones

I've downloaded ringtones and now my Itunes is saying I don't have this account. None of my stuff is there. Haven't a clue what happened but I'm going to restart the computer and hope that takes care of things.

New Uverse services

So I'm supposedly saving money here. We got rid of the house phone -- I'm going to miss 203-734-4024. *sigh* and upgraded both the internet and Uverse to the highest we can get.

Thunder boomers

A good old thunder storm is going on. My son is talking about going to North Dakota to work in oil fields. Jimmy is doing it and his brother is a supervisor and guarantees him a job. I don't want him to go. But he needs to do what he needs to do. I will miss him. He wants to be a well tester  -- yes, it's fracking, which is supposedly bad like global warming. But people have to have oil because no one is coming up with any alternatives. I hope for his sake that he gets it. It's got terrific benefits and terrific pay.

Youth in Government

Yvonne and I attended the Ansonia Board of Aldermen's  meeting tonight with four Ansonia High students who will be shadowing the mayor and his staff on May 10th. It was actually quite interesting and I got to see Jerod and Eileen, both of whom I hadn't seen in quite awhile.

Then we went down the lodge for awhile. Got some info for the newsletter.

Memories

I need to know who's memories are wrong. I have some unique memories that Roseann seems to think are hers. Seriously. One of them being the time Madeline and I were attacked on Bradlee's path. I know it was just me and Madeline going down the path but Roseann seems to think it was her too. I may have to email Madeline, as much as I don't want to. But this is getting bad. No matter what we talk about our memories of things are so opposite that I want to scream. People think it's funny but either I'm losing my mind or Roseann is losing hers. I'm afraid it's her though. Because one memory she insisted on for years, and finally realized she was wrong, is that my mother used to make something called Toad in the Hole. My  mother made friend eggs one way and one way only. And I'm not the only one who would have been grossed out by making it inside the toast. Gag! My mother would have hated it!! Another time she had the memory of being parked with me and Allen on Coon Hollow Road when we saw the brush fire. Um ... no -- Allen and I were having a private moment and she was NOT there.

She remembers Ricky trying to crawl out her car's back window while we were driving to New Haven. No, that happened at Assumption or St. Joe's parking lot in Ansonia after a dance. I don't think we went to the dance but were maybe picking Ricky up.

For the most part I just agree with her so I don't have to see people laugh at us. It's really not anywhere near as funny as they think it is. But when it's my very own memory like my mom's eggs or that horrible attack on the path -- I will not budge. I'm really at the point of asking her not to share memories or just avoiding her and I don't want either. But I can't keep this up for too much longer. :(

Oh yea, another memory of hers that's not true -- that I had a bike with hand brakes. First off, I had a normal bike with pedal brakes because I paid for half of it myself -- Robert paid for the other half. And bikes with hand brakes were NOT common and off the wall expensive and I hated them anyway. That one I called her on.

Baptism day

So it was just Carol, Anthony, Allena, the godparents -- Bob, who got his Confirmation last year just for this and his wife, Lea, who is Jewish -- and it was ok for her to be a sponsor. Anthony's sister came from Waterbury and Kevin and his husband, Brendan came down from Rhode Island. No one else was invited. But it was after the 11:30 Mass (no, we didn't go to Mass) and since Roseann and Anita were there, we asked them to stay for the actual Rite. It was very nice.

Afterwards we all came back to the house (except for Roseann and Anita) and Sam came over and they had cake. I went and bought some cold cuts for lunch and that was that. Very low key and no invitations or party.

I want to go back to Mass. I miss my church. 

Beautiful Day

Sandy and I went to Hamden for lunch to the Glenwood Drive In. I love that place. We also stopped at the Red Barn (I think that's the name of it) in Woodbridge and I bought a Tardis mug. I've passed the place a million times and never went in before. I'll have to go more often. The we roamed the Hamden Plaza and finally went to Edge of the Woods natural food market on Whalley. I've been wanting to go there ever since I started working at Southern -- 13 years!! It's fantastic!!! It's like Whole Foods but only two blocks from work and wonderful. I'm so excited!

Roseann called when I got home and invited me to go with her, Anita, her cousin Debbie and her husband Mike, to Alberto's. We just got back a little while ago.

Allena is getting baptized tomorrow.

I hate cancer

Gina has cancer. Probably lung cancers. They don't know how bad yet. Allen died of cancer. Lou will die of cancer. Daddy died of cancer. Dad died of cancer. I HATE cancer. Please, God, cure Gina because they love You and their faith is strong. Please.

Missed a few days

I thought I only forgot to post one day but I guess it's a few more. LOL!!! Well nothing out of the ordinary happened so I guess it's ok.

Tuesday was my first Elk's meeting as a knight and it felt weird sitting in one of the 'thrones' instead of by the door. I've been an officer three or four times and always Inner Guard or Tiler so I always sat by the door. It was nice though.

Yesterday was Cosmic and we had a new old member. A woman that used to belong 15 years ago. She's a wench and a karaoke singer and an ex-Elk. So far I like her. Lewis was really weird last night but he's a whole other story.

Tonight I'll run to Adzima's to Tony Mei's mother's wake. He used to date Chontelle in high school and is dating my co-worker, Lisa now. His mom had a massive heart attack the other night and passed away. She was only 59. So sad.

Oh yesterday I bought Anthony a week or two's worth of groceries. If he had to call and ask if there's any left overs he can have, you know he's going hungry. I hope he gets some good work soon. He didn't want me to get him food but I won't let my family go hungry if I can help it.

April

Winter is just about over and spring is beginning. I saw some flowers actually coming up on the side of the house. I have to admit that I do love spring and even summer as long as it doesn't get too hot and humid. But I'll never tell anyone that. LOL!!!

I talked to Anthony today and he's in a good mood. I hope he starts getting work. Carol's in a good mood too. Everyone is and that's great. I just wish they could be in a good mood around each other but I guess you can't have everything.

Gina is sick and I'm not supposed to know -- no one is. There's a mass on her lung and they're going to do a biopsy on Wednesday. She's lost weight and is only 120 pounds. I miss her -- I miss the family stuff and I miss how we were friends. So much has gone over these years and yet so much good (Sam and Allena) has come to us.

I'm trying to edit my book list but it won't let me. First I spelled Nora Roberts name wrong on the last book and I wanted to add the new one I'm reading in the Key trilogy -- Key of Knowledge. It's not letting me do it. Hopefully I'll remember to try tomorrow.