Lost in Space

Cyberspace that is. I have been trying very hard to figure out Facebook. Still a novice there. I have stalked a few blogs today and I see that my lovely daughter-in-law, Heather is now selling pony tail holders! What da hell? I got no hair! How about selling some pony tails for certain old guys (and some young ones too but I won't mention any names). I would certainly like something in red like Magnolia's hair color. Can you fix me up?

I also see my daughter is trying to make my granddaughter a hunch back. Help the little girl lay down for crying out loud! And stop making her cry with all that Philly stuff.

My other daughter is away this weekend with her elderly boyfriend. Victor is now well over thirty and who knows how long he has to live?

I must go now to find out if I am any better at facebook than I am at this damn thing. I could use a few friends...take a look at facebook. I am the oldest guy on the site!

I'm Baaaaack!

Hey...where you been? Long time no see! Crazy end to summer and we hit the ground running. Everyone makes fun of me for having so many days off every year at St. Joe's High School but we did go back a week earlier than everyone else. REMEMBER THAT ON MY NEXT DAY OFF! So, Syracuse to Cleveland to New Jersey, to Rochester and back to Jersey is how we ended the summer. My 10 week old car has 7,200 miles on it!

Our first week with the students is over and I have about 143 work days till the next summer vacation. About 450 work days to North Carolina.

This year's calendar is probably my worst since being ordained. This week, for example, my only free night is Tuesday and that might be booked with a meeting with a parishoner. I look forward to drooling and depends. The best thing about the future is that I can be a burden to my children. You know what they say about pay back! The great part about being an old guy is that expectations about your behavior lessens. People always say, "Oh, you know what dad is like". For example, I take great pride in the fact that in the one week she was here I was able to teach Maeve how to make noises with her mouth and spit slobber everywhere. THAT is an accomplishment.

I am a pretty saavy old dog though. Did everyone see that I have a facebook account? I actually have some "friends". I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing on it but, so far, it is fun.

You may have noticed that I did not change my song yet. That's because I don't know how. I need to talk with Erin or Heather before I can do that. So enjoy the Beverly Hillbillies until I get some help.

Special shout out to those little sneaks who read the blog and never comment. I know you're out there!

Took A Little Trip

Last week we took a little trip to Cleveland via Syracuse to Baptize yet another McCarron kid. This time is it the midwest branch of the family tree. I successfully snatched Daniel James McCarron from the snares of Satan and made him a child of God. I was disappointed when I got to Syracuse to find out that I had to bail my grandson out of prison. Poor kid, his parents left him there.

Once that was taken care of we went to the movies! Also, little Miss Katie was quite the fashion plate. She always likes to dress up before taking a ride on her horse in her pajamas!

We had a very nice stay in both places and when it was time to come home from Cleveland it only took 100 hours. Lovely trip through Pennsylvania in pouring rain and through constructions sites where no one was working. I bought a car on June 13th and as of August 16 I have 5,200 miles on that sucker! I can't wait to get, "On the Road Again".

Y'all Come Back Now

Well, we went south of the Mason Dixon Line this week. The purpose of our trip was to visit our friends, the Clampett's, formerly known as the Beverly Hillibillies (pictured above). That's my wife, Ellie Mae Sue, second from left. Far left is Nurse Ritz Cracker and the couple on the right is Jed and Daisy Clampett from North Carolina via Beverly Hills, New Jersey and Pennsyltucky. It was a great trip. First day we went out on a tooth counting trip. We found many more people had teeth than we originally thought. However, some of them shared the same set of teeth and chewed alternately. I looked into why there were so many people without teeth and the reason seemed obvious after a few days. Everything in the southern restaurants is cooked in tons of butter, deep fried or has been previously chewed by someone else with teeth so you don't really have to chew yourself. Therefore, teeth become unnecessary. After the teeth hunt we decided to drive around and take advantage of the beautiful weather (104 degrees, humid and cloudy). We went to Davidson College in beautiful, downtown Davidson and took a picture just to prove we were there. Apparently, their mascott is a bronze wildcat.

We did not have a lot of time this trip so we left on Thursday. We drove straight through to come home (about 10 hours) with only one stop for fuel for us and the car. We ate at Roy Rogers in West Virginia and after dinner my wife let me ride the horse outside the restaurant. It cost 50 cents. Used to be just 10 cents when I was a kid.

We got home last night at about 9:30 PM and that ended our adventure. Next, wedding on Saturday, Syracuse and Cleveland next week and two weeks after that WORK again!!!! Bites

Keep the Faith

Don't give up hope...I will be posting tomorrow (Friday)

New Entry

I would like to begin by addressing the issue so many of you seem to have with me not blogging very often. First of all, I believe in quality not quantity. I learned my lesson when I had 7 children! Went for the quantity there. Second, it seems that I am too busy living life instead of writing about it! To all who think I don't blog enough....GET A LIFE TOO!!!! As you know, a certain elderly woman in our family has just celebrated ANOTHER birthday. Not really a bad thing. Better to have another than not! Here are some of the pictures from our gala celebration.

As you can see, this band of wandering kids shows up at every party! People can't even blow out their own candles. Then you can see the great table etiquette in progress as they glom up every piece of cake they can get their hands on. When we move to NC I'm not telling anyone the address.

They're Here!!!

So much for quiet in the house! You can see the look of shock on my face when I tried to make friends with the little kid and she told me to, "get the hell off her blanket!" What's up with that? Then she ate my watch! A few minutes ago she tried to eat my fish in the fish tank. Wait till Erin finds out that I am going to buy her a gold fish to take home with her on the plane!!!!

Citizen Susie

Today is a momentous day in the life of Middlesex County. Today Citizen Susie did her civic duty and became part of the jury pool. She was called just before lunch and it looked as though she would have been a part of a trial for robbery and resisting arrest. However, after lunch break she was questioned and one of the questions was, "Is anyone related to a police officer". Pretty funny question in our family. Lets see there was Officer Tom Sullivan. (AKA dad), Officer Tom Sullivan Jr., Officer Thomas R. Sullivan III, Det. Joe Lyons, deceased, Sargeant Donald Lyons Ret, Lt. Bobby Muldoon Ret.. I think that takes care of NYC. Oh yeah, then there's Sargeant Richard McCarron Jr. and Corporal Brian McCarron. I may have left some out but I think you get the point. Since all of the witnesses for the trial were police officers, Citizen Susie was excused. See you in 3 years.

So, How's Your Summer Going?

So far so good. Since my last post I have assisted at various wakes and funerals, have taken my daughter for surgery to fix her knee and for surgery to unfix her knee and have made at least 57 trips up and down the stairs to fill a bucket with ice. Yup, they have this new dohickey which looks like a lemonade thermos container but has a hose at the bottom which connects to a knee brace that has a bladder in it which fills up with cold water from the ice and water filled thermos. After a while the ice melts so the water boy has to go up to get the bucket, empty out the melted ice, fill it up with a little water and a lot of ice, bring it back up the stairs and reconnect it to my daughter who had yet to even throw me a few bucks for a beer. Thats ok though, thats what dads do. Wait on their daughters like slaves. Did I mention I have a very serious heart condition? The up side of all of this is that nobody expects me to spend time outside because it is summer. I can't wait until next week when I will be going to the doctor to find out just how lousy my heart is. I probably need a transplant but don't worry about me. The week after that my daughter and granddaughter will be visiting from San Fran so that Maeve can sit in my car and pee, poop and vomit on the new upholstery. Life is good. Does anybody know when school starts again?

Here Is The New Car

God Bless Brad Benson. This is the 4th car we have bought since we moved to this house. We better go to NC soon or we will be broke!

This Is How You Know Its June

Well, its that time of the year again. Yesterday was my last day of school so I did what I always do in June. I bought a car. Yup! 2009 Hyundai Sonata. Loved the Santa Fe but 17 miles per gallon is not enough. Besides, it was getting dirty. If anyone wants rides it will cost you $2.50 for the first 1/2 mile and $.35 for each additional 1/4 mile. Appointments are necessary.

Finally Home!

Before I begin just a shout out to the Petura Patrol Pals, Kim, Stacy, Jen, Christina and Hana. You are always welcome on my blog (even though you should probably be taking care of your kids or something)!

Ok, after getting home from the beach you come into the house and because of total exhaustion you drop your cooler, kick off your deck shoes (which are still crunchy inside from sand), drop your bag with the sunbloc, the book you did not read, your sunglasses which somehow have lost one of the lenses and your camera which only has two beach pictures because you did not check the batteries before leaving and your SD card was already filled anyway. Hopefully, those pictures are of the girl with the wedgie and no top. You go up to shower and even the cool water seems like needles hitting your hot pink, soon to be fire engine red, skin. Once showered you feel a little better but your skin is very hot. Slumping onto the sofa you pass out cold and sleep for about 3/4 of an hour only to be wakened by your cell phone. You look but don't answer and realize that the movement to look at the phone is excruciating. Your whole body is stiff as well as hot. There are great streaks on your face from where you laid your head on the arm of the sofa and you realize you look like a racoon because you left your sunglasses on at the beach. Little blisters are forming on you shoulders and the tops of your feet look like raw London broils. Ah summer! Did you ever notice that whenever you have bad sunburn everyone seems to slap you on the back, step on your foot and say stuff like, "Were you out in the sun?" or "Boy, you look like a lobster!" to which I always answer, "No" and "Yeah, you should see my tail"! When you are sunburn aren't all other people idiots? When you are sunburn don't you want to hurt your children when they climb on you? Doesn't getting into the great outdoors really lift your spirits? NOT!!! My problem with Summer is that I hate everything about being outside and everyone else thinks we should always be outside because it is summer. The catch is that since I work in a high school that is when we have off. It seems much smarter to me to have winter off and go to school in the summer. In the winter when weather is bad and it is real cold outside how great would it be to just stay in bed and not go to work? If we had school in the summer we would get off at 2 or 3 PM and still have 5 or 6 hours of sunlight to "enjoy". Well, that's not how it is so I guess I have to live with it. Have a great summer. If you need me I'll be in the living room enjoying the air conditioning and watching Dr. Phil.

Can't Wait For Summer!!

Its that time of the year again. School is almost over for me and then we will begin the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Oh the fun we will have grilling our food out back when it is 97 degrees and 90% humidity. Let's not forget the extra plus that huge bees and hornets will be dive bombing at our head, arms, legs and face while we are enjoying the grilling experience. It also gives me the opportunity to pick up whatever I drop on the grass and patio blocks as quickly as I can so that YOU never know it hit the ground. Of course, I will strategically place it on the platter (whatever it is) so that I know where it is and it will be you who eats that one!

Then there will be the days we go to the shore to "enjoy" the beach on hot days. We will pack wonderful lunches and fill a cooler with cold drinks and head to Cape May or some other acceptable place. If we are really lucky, lots of grandchildren who will be quickly disenchanted with the 2 hour ride will come with us. Then we can "enjoy" spending time with them as they yell in the car, "Are we almost there?" When we finally get to the beach the real fun will begin. We can spend about 20 minutes looking for a parking space close to the beach only to park where we should have in the first place. Then we can carry all the great stuff we brought for 10 minutes as we make our final approach to the sand. Oh yeah, the sand. When we finally get to it it will be incredibly hot and burn our feet as we prepare to have fun and find the perfect spot to drop all our crap on the floor. Finally we arrive! Ok spread out the blanket (which will keep folding from the gale winds which are always at the beach). When we finally get that done the blanket will be sprinkled with sand like measles on a 2 year old. Now we can sit (so that some of that sand will stick to our legs and get into that sadistic mesh thing that put inside mens' bathing suits to make sure we are never comfortable when we wear them). Ok, now the real fun begins. Once seated we get to look around at all the others on the beach. There's the 5'9" man who weighs 225 and is wearing the speedo. He has a tatoo of Jane Fonda on his thigh. There is the 72 year old guy who has obviously hit the tanning booths before the beach season began. Lots of stuff is hanging from his extremities in the form of skin tabs and hair is growing on things that should not have hair (eg top of his ears, elbows etc.). He also has volumes of grey hair on his chest and legs. And then there's the ladies. Many are wearing bikinis or two piece bathing suits and are spending all their time trying to cover themselves. And lets not forget the twentysomethings who lay on their stomach, get a wedgie, unhook their tops and then cop an attitude when you look at them! About 20 minutes have passed and I am thinking about when we are going to leave. I can't mention that though because everyone will yell at me (I know that from previous years when we went there to have fun). Some dope says, "Lets go into the water". We do and that is another serious error. It is freezing. Also there are various forms of algae floating everywhere and unusual, never before seen things are biting our toes. And let's not forget the jelly fish. We had enough and head back to the blanket to dry off. OK, lets eat. We unpack the lunch and drinks and cannot figure out why there is sand all over the soda cans. We never opened the cooler! The first bite of the sandwich makes a crunching sound. Ham and cheese is not supposed to crunch. More sand. How did that happen? I can only eat one sandwich because sand fills me up. I don't know about anyone else but I think I'm getting a little red. Why? I put lots of sunblock on. (That's another story. Slimy, greasy sunblock that never goes away and always makes you feel like you work at Jiffy Lube). I guess I missed the part behind my legs, my ears, the top of my head, my neck and especially my ankles and the top of my feet. After about 2 hours (seems like 10 to me) we get ready to leave. The gear is not as heavy because we have consumed the food but we are all feeling a little skeevy so the journey back to the car is no more fun than the trip to the sand. Finally we get into the car and I blast the air conditioning. This is what summer is all about...air conditioning. Now we can drive home burnt, with chills, itchy from the sand stuck in our butts. We spend about $15 per day to air condition our house and we just went to the hot, humid beach so that we could enjoy a summer day. Yeah, summer's coming. Get ready for the fun.

Can't Get A Break

Even on my birthday I can't catch a break! All I wanted to do was blow out my candles. Four little faces show up and not only blow out the candles but probably deposited a huge amount of kid spit all over the icing! As if that wasn't bad enough, they ate most of the cake too. What they didn't eat they left on the chairs and floor. Aren't kids really cute?

And The Beat Goes On

Thirty-eight years ago right now I was a single man. I knew the night would not bring much sleep and I was right. I just laid awake and had short naps because all I could think about was my wedding tomorrow. We planned for that for over 2 years and suddenly it was our time. Thinking back it seems that those two years were longer than the following 38! Where has the time gone? What an adventure! Who in their right mind has 7 kids? I think the key word there is "right". Neither one of us is really mentally OK. But that old saying has come true for us. You know the one about grandchildren being the reward for putting up with your rotten kids!

We have really been blessed in our marriage. There have been a minimum amount of emergencies in our lives and the lives of our kids. Except for an occasional bunch of stitches, broken bones and a surgery here and there things have pretty tame. For the most part, we all have enjoyed good health (not counting hearts).

I think all young couples getting married have stars in their eyes. That's the way it should be. But 38 years later, in this moment of reflection, the stars still twinkle. I look forward to the next 38 years with my bride (hopefully, 35 of them will be in NC).

Coming To A Close

Today is April 27, 2008. That probably does not mean anything special to most of you but what that means to me is I have exactly 10 days of teaching left before our latest batch of senior pagans leaves St. Joes. That's right, all of you at Freehold Boro HS and Immaculata HS, this boy just goes to work after that to schmooze! It is fitting because the last day of school for the seniors is my birthday. Doesn't get any better than that!

The Pope Sends His Love

It was a beautiful morning. Sun shining, blue sky, warm with a cool breeze. I went to St. Joes to await the arrival of the bus which would bring 55 of us to the St. Joseph Seminary at Dunwoodie, NY to see the Pope interact with the youth of the area parishes. Everything was great but we had one hitch. One young girl forgot her identification so we had to leave her behind. Security would be tight and she would not have been admitted without it. We gave her ample time to go home to get it but she never came back.

What a shame. This is a once in a lifetime chance for most people. We got on our way and arrived at Yonkers Race Track about 1 hour and 15 minutes later. That was where they were parking the busses. We were shuttled to the seminary after chanting and taunting other dioceses who had less of a turnout and after being interviewed by various reporters and tv commentators. When we finally arrived it was about 11:15. The day's activities were to begin at noon. It was mostly loud Christian rap and various types of popular Christian music. After about an hour and a half my head exploded! Then it came time to get lunch which was provided. Our whole group went up to the vendor's area and found the lines to be really long but that was the only option. We actually waited on line for 2 hours and 40 minutes in the hot son only to find out that the first step in getting food was to be handed a cardboard tray. Once we got the tray we went onto the food line and waited another 40 minutes to get a hamburger which was certainly used the previous night as a hockey puck in the playoff games. Unfortunately, this was the only place they had water so many of our group was getting a little dizzy and dehydrated because the sun was pretty warm and the water was hard to come by. We were not permitted to bring anything in. This helped time pass though and around 5:30PM (after spending time in a hospital tent with one of the girls in my charge) the Pope finally arrived. This is when everything turned around. The Pope spoke directly to the teens with warmth and was genuinely connected with them. The teenage girls said, "he is so cute. I just want to hug him". The guys said, "he is a really cool guy". Never thought of the Pope as cute and cool but there you have it from the mouth of babes.. More later

Does She Float?

Did you ever see the bit on Letterman, "Does it float?" Well we caught Kenyon looking at Maeve and that began to worry all of us at the Baptism.

We caught him just in time and made sure he did not do it. (I think she would have floated, do you?)

Snatched from Satan

On March 29 this beautiful young child was carried into St. Augustine Church as a little pagan baby. Because of the extreme holiness of the minister and the miracle of the water this little girl was snatched from the snares of Satan! The ultimate condition and disposition of the other four people in the picture is still in question. I simply cannot vouch for any of them.

Click to Hear Top Praise Songs for Jesus

Down Time

This past Christmas our lovely daughter, Bean, gave us a gift of a stay at the Queen Victoria bed and breakfast in Cape May. Cape May is one of our favorite spots for relaxation. We decided to go the day after Easter. At first the weather was supposed to be really bad but that worked out OK. Apparently, this is a great place for "down time". If you have ever been to Cape May in the summer season you know that there are horse and carts which transport people around the cape (for a fee, of course). I never paid much attention to the Hansom Cabs since I have seen so many in Manhattan. As it turns out, the hardest working creatures in the Cape are the horses. Well, just as we needed some down time after a busy run in school and Church, so do the horses. I realized that when I drove by a horse ranch and my wife pointed out something I have never seen before. If you look closely you can see it too! Just to the left of center, behind the fence, you can see one of the horses lying down, sound asleep. This is my assumption because I really don't want to think that I may have just put a picture of a dead horse on my blog.

For those of you who have been to the Cape I have added some other familiar images to help you look forward to your next visit.

IT IS EASY TO SEE WHY BRIAN IS SO SCARED

Hey, who is that kid in the SHAZAM shirt? It's Sargent Rich crime fighter! Brian is thinking, "Dear God, please don't let me grow up like that"! Meanwhile, Kevin is totally afraid to look to his right. He just puts on that smile with the hope that everything will be OK.

Double Trouble

How great is technology? I just received a call and found (much to my excitement) both of my daughters on the other end of the phone. It is so exciting to be able to talk with both at the same time! One in NJ and the other in San Fran. The only problem is that they both continuously spoke at the same time also! It is tough to have two daughters but way over the top to have them talking to you simultaneously. What did I ever do to deserve that? I try to be a good person. They just wont leave me alone and now I am getting double teamed. For those of you who knew me 30 years ago, remember how I had a full head of hair? Not any more. Daughters make that happen. Wanna have kids? Be careful you just might have daughters.

Suddenly Summer

Many of you have "regular" jobs which require you to work all year around except for a little vacation in the summer. Even my public school teacher friends, like my wife and all her English teacher co-conspirators in Freehold, think they have it pretty good as far as vacation goes. Well listen to this. I now have 40 days left with my students. Yes, I have to continue to go to work but I will have all my days at work free to contemplate visions like the one right here. Cape May is looking pretty good and looking like it is not so far in the distant future. In the meantime, I would not turn down another snow day.

HAS ANYONE SEEN SUE?

Last night when it began to snow my bride went outside to look at the beauty of the quiet snow falling upon our own little Christmas tree just beyond our deck. She sat on the chair and decided to stay a while. We haven't seen here since! The chair is still there but Susie is gone!!! I guess I'll just have to retire by myself unless someone can find her and return her to me. I would appreciate any info you might have.

Snapshot of Retirement

Silence is Golden

Wednesday morning, 8:20 AM and not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. (Fish don't count). This is the middle of the week which is known as "Winter Break" at St. Joes HS. It is the time for all of us at St. Joes to reconnect with some old friends ( Regis, Meredith, Matt, Dr. Phil, Jack McCoy) and many other people we have neglected because of the work thing. Don't get me wrong. The week is not a total waste. I did some things which you would consider productive. I repainted the kitchen cabinets (and then I sat down for several hours). Today (later on) I am going to stand up for a while. I can't wait until we move to NC. Once there, I plan to putter around the garden, do a little painting (still life, which is what I will be living), and, perhaps, build some cabinetry for several rooms in our new house. Just kidding! I do, however, plan to stand up down there now and then.

Once I go back to work my students have about 48 days of school left before they finish. I hope I have the stamina to hold up that long.

What's Love Got To Do With It?

EVERYTHING!!! It is because I loved my wife that I always said, "yes" whenever she begged to have another child. I just wanted a dog. But Noooo we had to have 7 kids!!! It was my husbandly duty to keep my wife happy. It was worth it. So what if we are now eating cat food? So what if we had only a dog we would be living in Manhattan or Cape Cod or the Riviera or Beverly Hills? So what if we have 9 grandkids (with how many more possible) who all make sure that we do not get rich in our old age?

In the end all we have is faith hope and love and the greatest of these is love!!!!!!!

PS. Somebody get me candy.

physical

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Progress Report

Ok, so far so good. Since Sunday I have only had 3 devils food chocolate donuts. I think I lost about 15 pounds today.

A Good Idea

I was thinking yesterday that it would be nice to lose weight. The problem is that to do that you have to eat less and exercise. Last year I thought exercise was a good idea but I had so little time to do that so I hired a guy to go to the gym for me 4 times a week. I felt mentally better knowing that I was doing something but I found out that this method does not actually work for you physically. So I guess I'll have to suck it up and eat less this week! I would like to lose 40 pounds by Friday, Feb. 15th. I'll let you know how that works out.

Nobody's Perfect

NOW do you all believe? Don't forget to look at my last posting where I was saying prayers of thanksgiving for the GIANTS VICTORY.

I am available for congratulations whenever you man up to it.

The Holy Deacon of Metuchen prays a prayer of thanksgiving for the upcoming Giants victory over the Patriots. Prayers were also included for the immortal souls of Tom Brady, his illigitimate child and his concubine.

(By the way, Maeve called and she told me that she is a GIANTS fan. Her dad does not know so keep this between us).

GO BIG BLUE!!!!!

Early Retirement

I think I found a way for us to retire early. If our children would send us $1,000 per month each we could probably do ok. Of course, this would have to be done with lawyers involved just in case any of the maggots would try to back out of the agreement. This could begin in March of this year. This would give us time to draw up the contracts and get them signed. There is plenty of space for all of you to make affirming comments for this suggestion.

Chewing Tobacco?

We went to see Coco and Mikey and when we got there Coco was chewing tobacco! What's up with that? He is way too young to be doing that. Call dyfs. As you can see, Mikey (at left) is just as shocked as we are. The one saving grace is that they are BOTH GIANTS fans. Go big blue!!!!

GOOOOOO BIG BLUE NFC CHAMPS

Everyone counted them out. They just aren't a playoff team. Last week against the Cowboys every commentator picked Dallas. This week they were underdogs against the Pack. Watching them you would never have known it was -4 degrees. They even had to stay out in the cold a little longer than they would have liked but, in the end, skill and fortitude saved the day.

Prediction for 2/3 GIANTS 31 PATS 27

Oh and at the end of the game not one single Packer cried.

Hey God, where's the snow???

As you know, my place of employment has a reputation for pulling the trigger on days off when snow is in the forecast. So, like that commercial of long ago, "Where's the flakes?" When I worked in NYC we used to get tons of snow and as I fought my way to work all I heard on the radio were school closings. Now that I am in a school all I hear is cloudy with showers, high in the 40's. What's the deal? ITS WINTER!!! Everyone, take the Blessed Mother statue you have (I know you all have one) and put it in the window facing in. Wear you pajamas inside out and keep your windows closed so that the heat from your house does not contribute to warming the air outside. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

About Christmas

The best thing about Christmas is not peace on earth and good will toward men. The best thing is that it is over! This was certainly an unusual Christmas for us. We don't usually spend Christmas in San Fran. We were a little late (hahaha) getting the tree up and as soon as it was done we left. Now that nuisance season has passed we are really dragging taking down the damn tree. The fact of the matter is that it provides really good light in that corner of the room which is usually lit by only one lamp. I am thinking that if I can equate the tree simply as something that provides light rather than a symbol of the season maybe I will stop hating it (the tree) and just leave it up all year. Just a thought.

What I live with!!!!

Well, now you all know just what it is I have to put up with! Not a maggot is so very funny that I have a hard time not spending all my time at home just laughing. I am at St. Joes but I have been instructing parents on how to raise children (something I did in an exemplary manner in spite of not a maggot's constant interruptions) and working with a couple who are to receive the holy Sacrament of Matrimony administered by an exceptional Deacon, one who is too humble to brag.

Waszzzzuuuup?

So here it is, January 2008 and it was 96 degrees today. We closed the school and went out for slurpies and then went to the beach. Tonight we are going up to the pool with the blender and making Pina Coladas. Pretty soon we have to take down the Christmas tree.

Don't Worry Maeve

Poor Maeve was seen on that other blog wearing Eagles apparel. Don't worry honey Regular Pop Pop Richie Grandpa Jersey...the end will get you a good Giants Shirt.

Larvae

I like the classification. Larvae it is. Patrick is Larvae-1 etc.....

Maggot Clarification

OK, so for those of you who are not married it goes this way. You get the A but with an asterisk. For example, Victor would be Maggot 6-A*, Melody would be 7-A*. The Asterisk will be removed at the appropriate time (after the exchange of vows).

Maggots

Ok, lets clear this up. Maggot #1=Rick Maggot #1-A=Dawn Maggot #2=Kevin Maggot #2-A= Kim, etc...Got it?

My OLDEST daughter-in-law

Happy Birthday to the very old Dawn. Certain days in life are very special for each of us. Today is one of those days for Dawn. The next important special day is Rick's birthday but the really important one just happens to be Kenyon's birthday but more importantly, GROUND HOG DAY...Feb. 2nd. We all look forward to celebrating with you.

Old Phart

31 years ago today I witnessed my first live birth. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERENCE.

JMJ

It is about 5:15 PM on January 2, 2008. Tomorrow is the day. I have to go back to school and that is not a pleasant thought. Mom went back today and she was wiped out when she got home from work.

Fact is that there is nothing I can do about it. Tomorrow will begin in 12 hours. To help ease that pain I have invited a friend from Scotland (Mr. Dewars) to spend some time with me to blur the images in my mind. The good news is that tomorrow is Thursday and in two days I will be off for the weekend. Then, I have only one week with my current students ( I teach a semester course ) and then I will get a whole new batch of pagans to save from the snares of Satan.

PRAY FOR SERIOUS SNOW!!!!

Happy New Year

We had our usual New Year's Eve celebration. We went to the 5:00PM Mass and after Mass we had dinner at Sir John's. We decided to take a drive into the city to be in Times Square when the ball dropped at midnight. Boy it was crowded. We ran into Ryan Seacrest and he brought us up to meet with Dick Clark (although I doubt if Dick knew we were there) and then we watched the ball drop from the obsevation area at the Marriott Marquis. Oh, for those of you who are wondering, Carrie Underwood is very nice to talk with. Then we hopped back into the car and came home. We are pretty tired today.

Oh wait! I made a mistake. We came home from dinner and watched Law & Order until 3:30PM. I always get those two things confused.