AWESOME  AUTUMN

Last Day of September 2014

* The above pic makes me laugh for some reason.  Also makes me feel  slightly  less upset when 

   I look in the mirror. 

*  A couple of the blogs that I follow are listed below [ for those who are  dying  to know ]:

~  DIAREEZOFASIMPLEWHITEWOMAN

     www.diareezofasimplewhitewoman.wordpress.com  Zena Horaibi is, well, um let me see, she's            unique - that's it. Unique. She is eons younger than I am, in fact we have adopted one 

    another as Uncle / Niece .   Her perspective on life is somewhat refreshing to me [ even though

    she uses "that word" I detest (esp. from a lady...I know, I know,,, how terribly non P.C. of me to

    think that let alone write it.)   OH, and that word does not begin with the letter  F .] 

~  DOG HAIR IN MY COFFEE

    Now I know who this writer is but choose not to name her. [ No she isn't in the witness protection

    program or any such thing.]  She doesn't post often but when she does it sure brings a smile to my

    face.  Thank you friend.

~  On facebook I keep track of quite a few places but a couple that come immediately to mind are:

     Belmont Betterment Association  and also  Green Circle Grove .

     Just thought I'd share this info with you ,,, good places / people each & every one.

*  Some of you have asked via email or FB PM about that situation I was dreading.  Well we began

    to deal with it yesterday, but no response from the main source yet.  Hang on, it shouldn't be long

    now.

*  Today's w8 was 235.6  This brings the September average to 234.39 which is down 3.65 pounds

    from July BUTT July was 234.98, sooooooo we really haven't made much of a dent.  Stats don't 

    lie.

*  This coming Sunday at 3:00pm is thee final Service at St. Philip's Episcopal Church here in

    Belmont.  Bishop Singh will be here from the Rochester Diocese to help celebrate.  It is also the

    retiring of Peter Bryant [ Mill Stone Farms ] as priest.  Not looking forward to yet another farewell

    to what might have been ......

*  I have a "Dear O" that I just discovered is NOT anti-fracking.  She has done tons of research and

    we  ARE  going to discuss this on the phone in the not to distant future.  Also, she is a staunch 

    Democrat so this really, Really, REALLY concerns me.  Lord, have mercy !

* Had some GREAT responses to yesterday's blog post about "What would your current CHAPTER

   of life be entitled? "

   ~ Lynn Manning -    " A NEW BEGINNING "

   ~ Meredith Chilson - " NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN "

   ~ Marcine Delo -      " GRATITUDE & LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT "

   ~ Leslie Keesler -     " A  WORK  IN  PROGRESS "

   ~ Kris Young  -        " IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER "

  ~ Kylene Lewis  -      " POURING GAS ON A BOMB FIRE "

   ~ Bob Dorsey    _     " SUMMER IN MY STEP " [ Rather than a Spring in my step, get it ? ]

   ~ Sarah Elizabeth  -  " THE  ULTIMATE  SHIFT "

Thank you for your responses.  Knowing most of you as I do, it was intriguing to see your answers.

This is it for right now folks.  10 to 1 after I post this I will think of something I'd wished I'd mentioned but I can always come back, hit edit and add it.  Sooooooo ,,,,,,,

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TIME TILL NEXT TIME

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

    

AWESOME  AUTUMN ~ DAY SEVEN

NOT a good w8 day but am trying to keep it in perspective and not let it completely ruin my day. Today's w8:  236.6

If you recall I must have mentioned at some point that my wonderful SARAH and I have the best talks.  Our topics are eclectic at best,,, just crazy.  I usually start with..." So Sarah......" and she almost immediately knows that we shall soon be  off  on another tangent that will lead to God only knows where.  This works in reverse also..." So Greg ......"  and were off to the races.  Rare are the times this doesn't happen when we are together and can often transpire when we are on the phone too.

Saturday last whilst riding to Iron Kettle Farms I asked the following " So Sarah, this past week I was contemplating life and whether the "best days" are behind me [ collectively speaking ] or in front of me."  She interjected " Well, I hope mine are in front of me! "  to which I replied " Me too.  But when one gets to be of my 'seasoning', the answer could be much different.  At any rate, this thought led me to the different  'Seasons of Life.   If indeed life were broken into seasons like our weather, lined-up as follows: 'Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter'....what season do you see yourself in ? "  Her answer was " I would think Spring."  I found that interesting as I would place her in early Summer as I shared with her.  She said " .... And you're in ? ....."  I said "Well, we never know exactly do we, but I would like to think early Winter....."    I brought this up for more reasons than I could ever begin to count including [but not limited to] the fact that sometimes Sar has a difficult time even contemplating her Mother or I not being here.   I don't believe Connie or I are heading Home soon, but you never know. I also like to hear Sar's response on these deeper questions of life.   We share a lot concerning our faith in God, struggles and concerns with the same, etc.  She is indeed such a blessing to me.  [Note: Sometime there are those around us who just don't "get it" even though they "try" they simply aren't "where we are" so so speak]

At any rate, if your life were a book

what would the CHAPTER you are living right now be entitled ?

Without a great deal of thought I tend to think I would use my current  CHAPTER  title as the saying I put under my senior picture in the 1972 yearbook ...

" Yesterday is experience,

Tomorrow is Hope,

Today is getting from one to the other the best I can."

Too long of a title for just a  CHAPTER  ?

Then I'd use the last four words:

" The Best I Can "

Think about it.  If you can't post a reply on here [ I disabled immediate replies back when I stated this blog and danged if I can figured out how to rectify that ....] then just FaceBook your answer.  Your current  CHAPTER  of life would be entitled: __________________________________________

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TIME TILL NEXT TIME.

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

AWESOME  AUTUMN   ~   DAY SIX

The above pic was taken yesterday at Iron Kettle Farms.  What a CrackerJAX is this kid whom I adore.  We had the BEST time.  The weather was PERFECT.  And his battery was FULLY CHARGED ... ALL  DAY LONG !

JAXSON & MOMMY

JAXSON helping UNCLE MIKE

JAXSON and his GaGa

on the hayride

Poppa G  &  JAXSON

on the hayride

 JAXSON likes cider !

What vintage was this cider ?

VERY tasty indeed ! 

There are many more pics [ thanks Uncle Mike ] but can't put them all on here.  It is SUCH a JOY spending time with this boy.   GOD is good all the time --- all the time GOD is good.

Today's tonnage:  235.4

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TILL NEXT TIME.

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART! 

! GOOD MORNING !

AWESOME  AUTUMN  ~  DAY FIVE

Only have the briefest amount of time here as we are soon off with in the truck with GaGa to go spend the day with that child whom I adore.

W8 this morning is plump 233.2

Weekend again, see a patter?

I think weekends are like "my time of month" if you catch my drift.

Be that as it may, am VERY excited about seeing JAXSON today and we are heading to a place he and his Momma have been before, but GaGa, PopG & UncMike have not.

I'll give you a hint:

Hopefully I will have a report to you tomorrow about today's excursion.

Looks to be a GREAT PUMPKIN day !

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TILL NEXT TIME.

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART !

It's

FLASHBACK  FRIDAY

Since Friday last was a flashback to a time of intense unpleasantness, this week we shall go back even further in time to a time of naivete, youthfulness and total belief of nigh onto every word that a certain individual uttered. [ That time has passed btw ! ]   Our regular / daily details will be at the very end of this post in case you're interested.  Let us proceed .

****************************************

MIKE   and   GREG

The early years

If you've been paying attention [a regular reader] or you know us quite well, you realize that we have been in each others lives for over half a century AND that we were not "fast & furious" friends.  That took time [ and unfortunately two deaths to bring us together.]  Words fail me as to how to adequately describe what we had pre-1969.  We were in each others sphere [ along with Mary Kay and Donna D, etc.] , but more than a little cautious of one another.  At any rate, we grew closer post summer of 1969 [ after his mother passed in June and my brother in July ] and became true friends, setting differences aside [ he Catholic / me Baptist...him an athlete[jock] / me NOT and on and on and on ...] 

One weekend in the summer of 1970 MJ proposes we go on a hike, "Not far mind you" he says, "just outside of town a bit".  Now when you're sixteen ANY reason to be off from under your parents eternal gaze is a good thing.  I agreed to the hike.  And I had the best guide in the world, the all American Boy Scout who had been to Philmont AZ for the B.S. Jamboree, etc.   Off we went.

We walked up State Route 244 and we about across from the Snyder Farm when MJ said " Okay, let's head towards 'Giants Grave'.  You locals [ or deserters of the same ] know whereof I speak.  For those who don't, the GVCS is there now, or much of it is, some is still a hiking trail in fact.  It was a beautiful, warm summer day, not a cloud in the sky.  We hiked quite a while but were talking a great deal so the time passed quickly.  It wasn't a stroll through the village, but it was fun none-the-less.

After quite some time we came to a small pond & MJ suggested we go swimming as it had grown VERY hot.  Here's where things get rather interesting.

MJ:  "Hey, let's take a dip & cool off ! "

GK:  " In what? "

MJ:   With look of 'ya gotta be kidding me'  " IN THE POND."

GK.  " No I mean what would we wear?  I didn't bring a swimsuit."

MJ:  " Neither did I.  So what? " [ Starts undressing ]

GK:  " No way ! "

MJ:  " You'd never survive in my house." [ Laughs, continues undressing ]

GK:  " You are NOT going to strip out here in front of God & EVERYONE are you ? "

MJ    " Who would 'EVERYONE' be exactly?   Come on Baptist, live a little." 

GK:   " No way Catholic ,,, ain't gonna happen."

MJ:   " Greg, we've seen each other in the locker room for y-e-a-r-s,,,, get over yourself.,   

               come on, it'll be FUN!"

GK:   " THIS is not the locker room and I prefer to have my fun clothed! "

MJ:   " Suit yourself " and he wanders into the pond.  Starkers.

 I was standing there and eventually sat on the grass as he swam around having 'fun'.  It was hotter than hot and I so wanted to join him but [2] I couldn't swim (still can't) and [ 1 ] One has to be properly attired !   So after a bit we start talking again, him in the pond, me...not.  A short while later a rather annoying bug dive bombs me... more than once.

GK:  " That's annoying "  swats at bug.

MJ:   " What ? "  say he from the pond.

GK:  " This long bug keeps dive bombing me."

MJ:   " Come in the water, it might leave you alone."

GK:   "  Nice try."

MJ:   " Wait.  A    l--o--n--g    bug ?

GK:   " Yeah.  It goes backwards & forwards in a flash & has either a long nose or a long 

               butt."

MJ:   " SHHHHH ! "

GK:   " WHAT? "

MJ:   " Quiet !"

GK:   Sits quite but wide eyed.  Finally that bug seems to disappear.

MJ    Quietly from the ponds says: "You know what that is, right ? "

GK:  Starting to be more than a little afraid.  Still wide eyed. "No"

MJ:   ' It has a technical name I can't recall but they are attracted to sound & if annoyed 

               too much they have been known to sow a human's lips SHUT in no time flat."

READER:  You need to realize that at this point in our relationship I believed EVERYthing that came out of MJ's mouth, especially if he was acting serious [ as he was at this moment]. AND he was a Boy Scout, so he should know such things, right ?

GK:   " Can we talk yet ? "

MJ:   " Yeah, but if it reappears you need to be quiet, okay? "

GK:   " Yep."

Welllllll, you can imagine everytime that bug appeared I was nigh onto sucking my lips inside my mouth and MJ never let on any different.  He eventually got out of the pond, let the sun dry him off, got dressed and after a bit we headed back towards State Route 244.  I was paranoid heading back, of that   #$&)&^(*%$&%#^   lip-sowing bug re-appearing.   

It looked something like the bug below.

 

I was absolutely SURE that this bug/insect/ mysterious lip-sower was lurking SOME where waiting for a moment to seal my lips SHUT !

This is a 100% TRUE story and the "best" or "worst" part of it is ... MJ claims he didn't realize he'd done so BUT he forgot to tell me this wasn't true until YEARS later.  Y--E--A--R--S  later.

We were discussing this in the kitchen Tuesday[?] eve whilst fixing supper & he still thinks this is soooooo very funny.  He can't believe I was so trusting.  [Note: Not so today btw ]  I hate to admit it but there are still times he can fool me, especially when he is using his Dad's voice and mannerisms. But at least I am more cautious now days.  Although STILL somewhat quiet around dragonflies !

*************************************

Today's w8:  232

STILL have yet to deal with the AVOIDANCE ISSUE but not totally my fault .

Something went amiss yesterday that we didn't anticipate.

And so it goes.

AWESOME   AUTUMN   ~    DAY FOUR

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TIME TILL NEXT TIME.

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

AWESOME  AUTUMN   ~   DAY THREE

Another wonder-filled autumn day here in Belmont, NY.  It does not get much better than this folks. Of course I took the above photo from my private helicopter a few minutes ago, that's the mighty Genesee River there on the right.  [ Last two sentences true in my imagination only.]

Today's topic: 

AVOIDANCE & THE FAIRY

   Do you avoid unpleasant tasks or set out to conquer them and be rid of them asap?  Many [ most ?] books/ blogs on procrastination say we needs must attack that "monster" [unpleasant task(s)] and be done with it, we will feel soooooo much better.  Well of course we'll feel better, it's like pain....does it feel better when the pain is gone or when the pain still lingers? [ Geeeesh, for this people get paid money to write books or become councilors ?  ]  We all KNOW that when an unpleasant yet unavoidable task is  done  we will feel better, but some of us [ME!] still put it off,,,and Off,,,and OFF.  I never used to be like this, it must have arrived with "seasoning" [passing of years].  There are ways [besides the obvious] that I can tell I am avoiding something: when I find myself doing some other [yet not as intense] unpleasant tasks instead of attacking thee unpleasant task.  Do you follow?

I used to be kind of a neat freak.  Kind of.  Dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed, mopped, etc. nearly every day. Sinks were shiny. You could eat off the floors [ you should be able to, as I was on my hands & knees S.O.S.padding them ... well not the carpets but....].  AND I still smoked back them soooo I had to scrub the walls OFTEN, wash all curtains, etc. at least weekly ... it was exhausting but exhilarating.  I would actually remove switch plates and  scrub them  and underneath them [ who knew a semi-wet rag and behind the switch plate can give you one heck of a tingle ? ]I actually gave myself points off [mentally, although a few times I wrote things down in my daily task list = how I could/should do better ] if I fell short of my ever increasing "need to improve myself" list.   It was like there was a "Good Housekeeping Fairy" constantly hovering with a checklist in its hand.     Freaking Fairy! [ Hey Robin Dean Smith = see the f's ? ]

I am no longer fearful of that Fairy.  In fact I think I smothered it long ago in dust bunnies or drowned it in used Pine Sol.  My point, I still clean [ every season or two ] but it sure isn't every day [week, month,,,,,] .  So what have I done the last two days in a row?  Cleaned this house.  Not top to bottom mind you, but cleaned none-the-less.  And why might you ask?  Today's topic:  AVOIDANCE.  I came to the conclusion this morning that I am so dreading a certain "task" that I'd rather revert to the days of the G.H.F. [Good Housekeeping Fairy] than to complete this other [ bigger in my mind] task.  

It's not even that big of a task.  It starts with an email.  It may all be accomplished in an email OR it may go into numerous phones calls, could cost people $$$, upset some people, lead to gnashing of teeth, screaming, Anger, devouring of the young..... SEE how my mind works ?  I need to be brave  right now and just conquer this task.  Either that OR I could clean another room  and wait the arrival of the next [ reincarnated ? ] G.H.F. to arrive.  

Conclusion: 

STOP  AVOIDING  THINGS   or   DEAL  WITH  YOUR  FAIRY!

Today's w8:  231.2

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME TILL NEXT TIME

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

AWESOME  AUTUMN  -  DAY TWO

Not a great deal to report or to write about this morning

so will get right to the

WONDERFUL WORLD of WEIGHT

[ Be still my heart ]

Today's w8  231.6

Lowest w8 so far this month

Lowest w8  in August was 233.6

Lowest w8 2 months ago in July was 231.6

Lowest w8 in June was 232

Lowest w8 in May was 225

Lowest w8 in April was 221.4

Lowest w8 in March was 221

Lowest w8 in February 226

Lowest w8 in January 225

When for various health reasons I  had  to lose weight back in 1999 [ or make my foes very happy ] I went from approx 275 down to [let's just say] 150.  I wrote about this last autumn I believe, it's somewhere in this blog.  Anyway the weight stayed down for quite some time until there was a heart problem [ insert stents this time ]  at the end of 2006.

I can tell you that I have been thin and I have been" Shelley, Shelley, rubber belly" [like now] and thin is better.  ALTHOUGH I was chatting with my darling Sarah the other day & mentioned to her that when I was thin thin [ PAUSE:  Moment of scared silence please.......] finding clothes that fit right was still a challenge. [ Another PAUSE: Oh Gosh those were the days]....as my weight hadn't "settled" yet and I didn't want to buy a bunch of new clothes until it had.  So dressing and not looking "too thin" [ I might as well just linger here with this PAUSE: O Dear God those were the days ] was not always easy. [ I'll take that once again please.  PLEASE !] 

 And there was yet another "challenge" when one looses quite a LOT of weight....what I call the "Italian Drapery" .  Excess skin.  Have a BIG tummy, lose the tummy?  The tummy covering is still there ..... They SAY it tightens and goes away after a while.  THEY LIE.  Whilst some of it may be less obvious, IT.IS.STILL.THERE.  I could write an entire blog post on that issue.  Even when my weight dropped below 130 [ oh shut up, I loved me then...] I still had the Italian Drapery issue.  [  I adore my Italian friends, but I use this term as when I was younger (& sometimes not so young) Italians seemed to have those thick, lush drapes at their windows....you figure it out...]  And NO that is not me in the pic above, also no actual " Italian Drapery " was hurt during the posting of this blog.  WHY do I feel my Italian friends [ of which I have a lot ] are going to be all over me about this?

At any rate the point Sarah & I were sharing was, for some of us at least, it seems to be a "Body Issue" problem not just a weight problem.  True.  I agree.  But{T} I will take the thin challenges over the other side of the issue  ANY ol' day.  

These are two pics of me above.  One is about how I look now although I may have been slightly heavier then and the other one is when MJ says I was "too thin".  [  Yeah right and I had too much money too .....]  I would take that 2nd picture body in a heartbeat.   Now just below here is a weight of about 20 pounds heavier than the last picture, this is when we were in Hawaii in 2010.

When I was thin [ read = happier ] I vowed NEVER to be near let alone over 200 pounds ever again.  Yeah, about that ,,,,,,,

This is it for now.  I am tired of this malarkey so you must have already left me by now for sure . I must go find something else to concentrate on as a distraction  OR  I could go hide behind some

thick, lush " Italian Drapery " !

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TIME TILL NEXT TIME.

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

Exactly as it says above, today will be a hodge podge of the Good Lord only knows what.  I had planned on telling you a true story that occurred some 44 years ago, but I need to check on a couple of facts before I do so.

First let's get to the wonderful world of weight.  Oh yippee.  A wee bit of a Crohn's situation throughout the night last night so weight is lower than it would be had that not shown itself.  232.2 is what the scale showed.  Could probably add a pound or so had it not been the night it was.

It is a beautiful but rather cool mid-morning here in Belmont, NY.  Temp is 48 degrees as I write this post but sunny with skies a blue.  Yeah God !

I have some things I needs must do today and tomorrow that I am   not  looking forward to & the outcome of at least one of them will affect many lives.  Prayers appreciated.

I finally found some pants that just  MIGHT  be the answer to my  BIG GUT  issue and my drawers falling down at any moment in time.  What do you think ?

AND because I have such a HIGH  " R-Factor" [ = lots of insulation] and get so warm all the time, they even have their own cooling effect  Derned near perfect I'd be sayin'.     :-)

Still a boatload & a half of work left to be done on  9 to 5 The Musical.  It will get done but it is detail work and there is absolutely no way it can be rushed.  And I'm not even close to blocking yet. Lord, have mercy.

HAPPY  AUTUMN

My FAV time of year

and that of many of you also from what I've been told.

In this neck of the woods there are phrases one seems to hear  every  year, such as "We never even HAD a summer and now it's over?"  [Usually VERY false.  Some people seem to forget the hot, 

humid, days we have & instead concentrate on]. "All we've had is rain, rain, rain,,, I'm just SO sick of it!"  [ Again not true, but THIS year I will admit we must have had a fair amount of it as the hillsides were / are SO foliage flush. ]  And a ga-zillion other phrases we hear every year.  What's my point ?  The next one on the roster: "The leaves just didn't have the color they had last year / in years past / ....."  [ Now this does vary of course, depending on so many factors, I will agree to that...] but to me EVERY Autumn is WONDER-FILLED whether the leaves are brilliant reds, oranges and yellows or the more subdued rust, gold and tan,   LOVE IT !  It's the nip in the air [ like this morning], going for a walk & the rustle of the dried leaves under your feet, the cool evenings where one can actually snuggle down and sleep, the multitude of emotions that autumn seems to bring, usually in my case of decades past - school starting, sports games, Halloween coming, followed by [in my estimation] one of the BEST holidays ever: Thanksgiving....  oh the emotions fall provokes.  How could anyone NOT love it ?    [ I am going to admit here & now that the "more seasoned" I become the less I care for old man winter .... but that's another post for another day].   Autumn, sweet autumn, how I love you.

Enough.  There's work to be done " tote that barge, lift that bail.." and all that.

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS TIME TILL NEXT TIME

KEEP A SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

Good Morning

I might be having one of those days that I call "My battery is on charge", meaning nothing is amiss, just can't quite "get up to speed" no matter how much I try.   BUT it's early [ well not really early ] and it is Monday ,,, so maybe later the Energizer Bunny will zap me.

Not a great weight weekend, but as stated yesterday, I am not that freaked out about it [at the moment].  Yesterday's w8:  235.6   and today's w8: 235.2   And so it goes.   I did exercise [if you can call it that = quite piddly ] twice last week = Monday & Thursday.  Had no problems on Thursday but did have some Monday [ the 15th ] and again last evening.  What does that mean ?  Nothing too big, just had to take some nitro to calm things down a bit.  I  am  keeping an eye on it, trust me.

Plans for today include starting to dissect  9 to 5  The Musical .  If you don't know what the means, count your blessings ;-)    I will take the play not only Act by Act but Scene by Scene [ and sometimes page by page ] and break it down to its simplest form so that  everything  therein makes perfect sense to me ,,, and that makes it much easier to explain to the actors/actresses later on.  There is a great book out there, the title of which s I believe " Backwards - Forwards" or something like that [I have the book here somewhere] and it is written so to encourage Directors to look at a play from the BACK of the script to the FRONT of the script.  [ This would be  after  I do what I will start doing today].  Reason for Backwards - Forwards ?   Well, the ending of the play happened because of what transpired JUST before the ending.  What happened "just before the ending" was propelled by what happened just before that ,,,,, get it ?  It's another way of doing what I always do but it puts your concentration on each proceeding event.  I'm probably not explaining correctly, but it does make sense in the long run.   The book itself is in the Drama section of books in our dining room ... I'll find it but probably not today.

Okay, that's it for now.  I'm outta here.  Think I'll do the treadmill first then carry on from there.  I have an 11:00am phone appt. with the choreographer for  9 to 5  The Musical  which should be fun, she's a great gal [ Heidi Mangels ] from Wellsville, NY.

Thanking you for your time this time till next time

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

I could have resisted, but chose not to.

[ And I doctored this up by removing three letters ]

YESTERDAY'S POST was so very serious that I just HAD to go in a completely different direction today.   The response I had from people on yesterday's post left me [ US actually ] so pleasantly shocked and humbled, words fail me/us.  One [private] response left me in tears [of happiness] and even MJ was tearful when he read it.  We deserve you not.

I never posted the weight for yesterday, so will do that along with today's weight before I get side tracked.

Friday, September 19, 2014 w8 =  232.6

Saturday, September 20, 2014 w8 = 233.4

Up nearly a pound from yesterday.  Deal.

I am not deeply depressed about the weight issue at the moment.  It IS what it IS [ a fav phrase of Connie Arlene's ].  I will share with you that for the last 8.5+ YEARS I have kept charts of my daily weight. How informative they have turned out to be.  IF I had the inclination I could probably look up the weight going back to 1999 in my Food Journals, but haven't the energy for that [ as of yet].  So at a glance I could tell you [ right now] what I weighed on any given day from 2006 through today.  I can also tell you the average weight for any given week / month or year in that time span.  It's not obsessive, just detailed.  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. [ We also have receipts for every purchase made by either one of us , labeled by month in stacks of years, going back to ... the Good Lord only knows how long  Again = not obsessive just detailed.]    If / when I feel so inclined I may share some of that weight info with you.  I can now SEE where the "major jump" in weight occurred and it coincides with an injury or two that I had at the time.  I cannot and will not use that as an excuse, but it is informative.

At any rate, I needs must go now.  MJ is home and we have much to accomplish this weekend.  He sometimes needs to see  me  accomplishing things in order for he himself to follow suit, if you catch my drift.    :-)

Thanking you for  your time this time till next time.

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

Today's post on this blog will be quite personal.

It concerns an event that happened  10 years  ago today.

Although MJ & I were at the epicenter of this event, it affected many lives.

It.  Still.  Does.

I am giving you a chance to  not  read this post by putting a "break" below.

It is your choice to go beyond the "break" and read today's post.

If you choose to go beyond this "break" I will be writing about

Sunday, September 19, 2004

 ~ St. Mary's R.C. Church ~ 

Belmont, New York

TOP of the MORNIN' to YA !

T'is  a foggy September morn here in Allegany County, NY, must be a good sunny day on its way.

Lest I go any further I need to add a post script to yesterday's blog entry concerning "Every little thing becomes a THING! "  There is an acceptable reason why a "HP" [Home Project ] could be delayed.  A reason both MJ & I agree on:  If someone else needs assistance.  Especially [but not solely] if said help has already been promised.  AND in this current case that exception applies. Hence TBP [ The Bathroom Project] will be delayed a bit[?]. 

The scripts / music/ etc. for  9 to 5 The Musical arrived yesterday.  Of course now there isn't time enough to prepare the musical.  We cannot keep the materials longer than eight weeks [ plus one week to mail them back ] AND the musical in the contract is set for Oct. 30, 31 and Nov.1.  Not going to happen.  The next opening available for the musical at GVCS is the last three days of February.  That means I need to communicate this fact to MTI in NYC and see what we can come up with as an arrangement.  At any rate, the materials will have to be sent back to MTI in NYC asap.

That's all I'd best say about that at the moment.

I am SO blessed to have the friends I have.  Kindly feel free to remind me of that as needed.  The responses to some of these blog posts have truly been inspiring,,, and in some cases side-splitting.

 Robin Dean Smith gets after me for using the " f word "  as in fat and failure.  Now THAT'S funny to me considering the past I share with Robin.  She remains a friend & comrade after all these years.

Leslie Mapes Keesler [ daughter of Dave Mapes & Georgia Scott Mapes ] continually cracks me up. I've worked with her daughter Sydney in the Drama Dept. at GVCS in the past and am FB friends with Leslie.  I very much pray that she could see herself as others do.  She is a delight to all who know her.

Kimberly Carter who came into my life as Kim Trask whilst directing  Joseph and the Amazing TechnoColor Dreamcoat  for The Players of Allegany County back in 2004.  Kim was in the Camelot Choraleers for a while also, has a wonderful husband Rob and two very involved little girls.  Kim has been through a LOT in her young life ,,, but remains "on call" for any one who needs her, night or day.

Laura Zema-Mead wife of Joe Mead, lives just down the street from us.  I smile at the very thought of Laurie.  When we talk on the tele or in person, I just PRAY no one else can hear us  Not to mention our secret food craving ,,, and how we eat it, right Laurie ?

Beverly Mulson  a blast from the past.  "Buzz" & her hubby Gary live in Texas now, but through FB we have re-connected.  She is one of those people who are in your life for just a brief while in the grand scheme of things, yet leave wonderful footprints on the sands of time  f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  She and I are worlds apart politically, but together in our hearts, right Buzzerly ?

Lynne Faecke ... Have known Lynn since kindergarten I believe, correct Lynn ?  We are fellow "Class of '72ers of BCS  and again, we have reconnected through the strange world of FB.  By the way Lynn I can't recall who lived at 26 Milton before we bought it.  I'll have to ask around.

Dottie Graham ,,, O Dear Lord,,, I simply ADORE this lady.  Have known her best through The Camelot Choraleers and love her s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o much.  She is a joy FILLED Christian with a smile for darned near everyone.  We are no longer in regular touch [ mainly through FB or CC issues] but I would be there for her in a heartbeat and she for me I'm sure.

Meredith McNinch Chilson ... Again most of my connections with Mer come through The Camelot Choraleers.  Like Dottie she is / was/ always has been  sooooooo much more than just a member of the CC's.  She is a true friend in EVERY sense of the word.  Currently my " Merry Mer" is going through some family concerns and my heart goes out to her as I've been there.  Not easy.  My love is with you Meredith.  [ Oh, and it helps that BOTH Dottie Graham AND Meredith Chilson are plumb crazy ... gosh I love them! ]

I cannot even begin to mention Donna Dawson-DiGirolamo and Mary Kay Presutti  BECAUSE they deserve a separate blog post all together.  So many years, so many memories, so joined in our hearts. We were nigh onto "The Fearsome Foursome" at one point in our  lives , , , , , , ,

I'd best stop, there are just so many friends that I am blessed with,,, Donna Holmes,  Bob Dorsey, Steve Harris [ and his BEAUTIFUL wife Patti ! ],  Jackie Greene, Marcine Delo [ I've written about her in the past I think ], Sue & Dana Ross,  Nancy [always] Wright Brown = Happy 15th Anniversary to her& her hubby Josh TODAY, Terri Ross, LaLaLaLinda Ross, Ray and Noelle DeTine [ MUCH more than even the word friend can cover...], and on and On and ON .

I  AM

WOW.  Never even saw that one comin'.  Had no idea what today's post would encompass.  Must have just "been there".  There may be more later, who knows?  In the meantime folks .... today's w8 remains the same as yesterday = 234 .  And so it goes.

Thanking you for your time this time till next time,

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR  HEART!

Every little thing becomes a 

THING!

LOVED the responses to yesterday's post about VISION BOARDS.  You people are as crazy as I am ... which is one of the reasons we're friends of course.  More on VB's later but for now I am onto another topic... you will soon see why.

Picture it.  Noble Street, Belmont, NY, almost autumn 2014, a lovely sunny September morn.  Our subject goes to prepare his coffee [ in boxers & a T-shirt ] at the Keureg  and discovers only ONE caffeinated K-cup left..  Hmm.  Must be more in the coffee cupboard.  Checks.  Nope.  Hmmmmm, must be more in the antique jelly cupboard ... Checks.  Nope.  Note to self:  Need more K-cups asap. Thankful he doesn't drink anywhere near as much caffeine as in years past.  Makes the last K-cup of coffee, takes morning meds and heads to computer.

Upon entering the WWW our subject goes to check his Verizon email only to discover that the Verizon email and ONLY the Verizon email, is acting odd.  Attempts to access email and cannot.  Finally seeing an announcement that he has tried TOO MANY TIMES to access his email and has been LOCKED OUT.  Fine.  Now he needs a CODE in order to get back into his email.  Following instructions our now [mildly annoyed] subject finds that he must put down his HOME phone number. This is a "challenge" as the home phone number is used for internet access  alone  and  only  for internet access.  So our subject marks the " NO home phone number" box and proceeds.  Next he is instructed to write down his Verizon account number ,,, which he does...only to be "told" our records show you DO have a home phone number so PLEASE enter it below.  Rolling his eyes & already desiring another cup of caffeinated coffee our friend enters the "home phone number" and hits the "Continue" button.   

The next page pops up:  " Verizon will send you your code needed to enter your email one of three ways: 

[1] By  EMAIL at g_ _ _ _ _ _ _@Verizon.net [How the h _ _ _ am I suppose to get email when I can't GET email ? ]

[2.] By phone at 585-268-5374  [ Which is used ONLY for internet but I have no way of letting them know this.  In fact NO PHONES are hocked up to that phone number = just internet ].

[3] By snail mail which can take up to seven to ten days.

Our [ now slightly disturbed ] subject decides he will pull down the attic door, enter the attic [ still in boxers & t-shirt ], enter the attic [ sometimes creepy up there ] and look for a land-line phone.  This takes nigh onto an act of congress [ and you KNOW how well THEY act now days], but after some searching our friend finds a phone, climbs back down the pull down / fold up stairs puts the staqirs back and now ... he can mark box number TWO as soon as he plugs phone in.

Phone plugged in [ in another room of course ], runs back to office, checks box number two and waits for the phone to ring.  Phone does not ring.  Goes back to phone and checks for a dial tone.  Nada.  When all else fails [ our now quite unhappy ] subject uses his cell phone & calls MJ [ the one who can solve any problem] at work and gets his voice mail [but of course] and hears " You have reached the desk of Michael Feldbauer, ......please leave a detailed message ......... "   Our subject replies: " Oh you truly don't want me to leave a detailed message right now as it might not be totally Christian in nature."  Our friend's cell rings a few minutes later with MJ asking "What's up?"

Here it becomes VERY interesting.  After explaining what is happening to MJ, our subject hears the following " Well of course you didn't get a dial tone ,,, I disconnected all the land line phone jacks EXCEPT the one that gives internet access.  Don't you remember?  It gave us better internet access / speed, etc. "  STILL not being totally thwarted ... our [now semi-fuming] friend decides [ in his never-ending brilliance ] that perhaps he can get this "code" via email on his cell phone or kindle so he goes back and re-does the entire "Get your code" Verizon process and chooses number ONE as his option.  He waits.  And waits.  And WAITS.  AND WAITS ,,,,, and is STILL WAITING.  Other new emails come into his cell phone & kindle, but nothing from Verizon.

Now in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing.  It will be dealt with later and fixed I'm sure.  But it does lead me to yet another interesting note... along the same lines.

When I propose a project around "the palace" here.... I almost immediately hear " Well Gregory, things aren't as 'easy' as you seem to think they are. .  First we'd have to .......... then we need to ......... and that's not to mention .......... "  By the time I listen to the spiel I am either [1] Sorry I brought it up or [2] In awe that someone can almost immediately find a few [hundred] reasons it wouldn't be an easy project OR [3] Realize why I go ahead and start something then surprise him with it when he gets home from work.  [[ Many years ago whist he was at work I tore down a wall and threw it (well the pieces of it - we lived at 26 Milton Street at the time ) in the back yard.  When he came in a WALL was GONE.  I was so pleased with myself.  MJ never even smiled but instead said " Where's the wall that was here this morning?"  I said " Ta Da...in the back yard!"   His next words [still no smile]......" Gregory (always my full first name denotes 'Now this is serious') WHAT

did you do with the electrical wires that were in the wall? "   To which I honestly [ and still joy filled] replied " In the basement silly .... I couldn't yank them out as they're connected to some type of box or something....."   MJ said " Did you at least turn the electric off ? "  I answered..." Electric off?  Good God no,,,, how would I SEE what I was doing ? " ]]

But do ANY of you GET what I am saying ?  I mention this now because we had one of those discussions last night.  We need to remove bathtub in the bathroom and want to replace it with a shower enclosure.  It is a project L--O--N--G  overdue.  So last night as I was doing dishes HRH entered the palace kitchen and I said " Ok, I know you won't want to hear this and please I BEG of you don't give me all the reasons it can't happen now,,,, in other words kindly don't make it into a THING  but we have GOT to work on the bathroom.........."   HRH just looked at me.  In his thinking mode.  I continued " We have a brief window here where we are not working on a production at GVCS, etc.  Now would be a good time.  Let's take it in steps.  We can do this." [ Translation I will be on your 'cheer team'.]  I showed him the things I'd found on Home Depot sight.  He looked them over.  And THAT is as far as THAT went.  We later discussed other things, but never really in depth discussed TBP = The Bathroom Project. I choose to believe he is considering it.  That's what I choose to believe.  If not, who knows, perhaps he will come home and find a little remodeling done in advance just for him ... just to help out mind you.

Does every little thing become a

THING!

at your house too ?

Thanking you for your time this time till next time,

KEEP  A  SONG

IN

YOUR HEART!
Whoops!  Today's w8 = 234

MY YOUNGEST SISTER and I

at Eric & Jessica Case's Wedding

August 9th 2014

SHE looks GREAT!

I look FAT

[ of course ]

Below is a pic of Emily May Whitbeck

Daughter of Jill [Case] & Darrell Whitbeck

Granddaughter of Mike & Delnore [Cline] Case

Emily is one of my Great Great Nieces

She was two weeks old at this time.

What a DOLL !

And below is a picture of the Mother of the Groom 
Delnore [Cline] Case
dancing with her son Eric Case.

And that's it for now, just wanted to share a few a pics.

Thanking you for your time till next time...

KEEP  A  SONG
IN
YOUR  HEART!