I'm still here

It's been a crazy couple of weeks.

Janetts brother Si (for Silas) passed away Wednesday. Kim and Ross had a nice visit to N Carolina, and are thinking of hopping back on the baby train in a few weeks. They're very sweet.

Work's been demanding and is wearing me down a little but i'm getting to the end of the assignment.

A new neighbor has a tax prep service and wants to expand into bookkeeping. We're talking about working together.

ND opens up the football season next week-end. I think I posted my expectations here already.

Besides not blogging I've been ignoring my email. I opened a few things today, and thought I'd share.







Hmmm, they should be bigger. That happens someties. Any suggestions?

Home Alone

Tuesday night.

Janett's in Savannah GA. She often spoke of wishing to visit Savannah, but the circumstances aren't ideal. She's in Ga because her brother's ill, and had a little car trouble today on the way back to Macon from Wayross, where she visited Valerie.
So she's spening the night in Savannah, probably a steamy August night. She and her friend Carrrie were out walking around when I called her earlier. Maybe they'll find a nice sidewalk cafe where they can stop and have a coffee and a slice of some Savannah specialty. I don't know what that might be, but I'm sure they've got some good ones. I may be wrong but I imagine Savannah clinging to a shred of French culture, like sidewalk cafe's where they serve good coffee and fresh pastries.

I went to Steffy's house tonight and brought a birthday cake for a little celebration. Her birthday, her choice of cake; yellow with white butter-cream frosting. It was very nice but Mark and Mally and I threw a litle chocolate ice cream on our plates. Our tastes are just less refined.

I saw a little of Brady Quinn for Cleveland last night against the Giants. He played well. Not a tremedous deep threat, but very good at fifteen to twenty yards -and just oozing leadership qualities. Whatever you think of Charlie Weis, comparing Quinn after 2 years with Willinghan to Quinn after two years with Weis has got to tell you something.

So, what about ND this year? 8 and 4, or 9 and 3 seem the concensus on the Notre Dame boards. Allowings as how Michigan is in disarray and is probably a win for the irish, and we can predict a loss to USC, to go 8 and four we'd have to lose to MSU, UNC, and BC. I can imagine winning all those games.

Serious stuff

I think I mentioned Kim was going to have a baby. Well, that's not going to happen just yet. She suffered a miscarriage this week. The doctor told her the pictures indicated the baby had stopped growing a couple of weeks ago. We were all saddened and sorry Kim suffered such a loss. Kim and Ross had already planned to go to the Cangelosi family get together in N Carolina this weekend, and Kim pulled herself together to make the trip. Being at a lake in the mountains for a week with people who share your loss is probably the best thing you can do after such a sad event. I'm sure they'll come back renewed.

When we got home Thursday night, after being at the hospital with Kim, there was a call from Janett's sister in law Barb, John's wife. She told us Janett's brother Cy had suffered a very serious stoke while undergoing back surgery that day. Cy had called Janett last weekend and they spoke for quite a while. Now I wonder if he'd been apprehensive anout the surgery. Poor guy. Friday Janett caled the college to withdraw from upcoming classes and packed some things. This morning she left for Georgia with her friend Carrie co-piloting. It would be nice to hope she'll find Cy beginning to convalesce, but Barb seemesd to suggest hopes were slim that he would recover many of hs capacities. We'll pray and wait. We feel great sympathy for Cy's wife, Sally. Cy and Sally have been tgether since high school (fifty years?)and are a very devoted couple.

So I'm home alone for a week. Steffy's bithday is Wednesday; it'll be a small party, but Malachy will no doubt liven things up. I haven't seen the little guy all week. I think I'll go over there for dinner tonight.

Happy Birthday Lauren

I spoke with Noah last night and asked him to convey my greetings to Lauren, and he probably did.

I fled the office at 4:30 today. I sensed good feelings coming on and had to get away from that sometimes difficult environment to let them grow. I'll return tomorrow a more positive, dynamic person.

Arrived home a little early to an empty apartment. Janett may be visiting Kim, or with Steffie, or just out and about. For now I'm fine home alone. I want to nurture those good feelings, so I don't think I'll try to make investment decisions just now, or play Risk or read the news. I think I'll pull a book off the shelf, go out on the porch and read for a half hour, keeping my mind open to some beneficial realization.

I was thinking today about "will o the wisp", a term my mother used occasionally.
It's a nice way to refer to someone a little flighty; the phrase is now nearly anachronistic, but I like it just for the sound of it, as well as as a connection to times gone by. I hope the Irish never lose their love for words.

Libra

To offset the heavy tone of post below I thought I'd add a snap of me and my main man yuckin it up.

Thanks, Kim, for the photo.

The Bees

I've been observing some bees. At the plant where I've been working I noticed about six locations where bees were beginning the construction of little hives, usually on the underside of an overhanging roof, often on light bulbs recessed in the overhangs. I thought about the news articles I'd seen about bees disappearing, and imagined that these bees were unable to find their way home, and due to an ingrained compulsion were building where they were.
The Orkin man came and sprayed and knocked down the little hives. At one spot the bees, much fewer in number than before, buzzed around where they had been building and then began to build again nearby.
I felt bad for the bees, working so hard, knowing the Orkin man would be back.
I admired their artisanship. Then I thought, maybe their instinct to build wasn't linked in their bee consciousness to starting a hive and creating a home for hundreds of bees to come, maybe they just felt they had to be building, and were fulfilled by the activity regardless of the lack of a successful outcome.
Of course, I wondered if the same pattern of behavior was observed in people. Like Iraq now, or Germany during World War II, or in Africa during the slaughters. Millions of people trying to get to work each day to do their jobs, partly to earn an income, but maybe, in part to maintain the order they were familiar with in a world gone goofy.
I don't know, but two other conjectures: First, is it cell phone signals from all the towers and handsets, interfering with the bees' navigationl mechanism? Will anyone acknowlege that, if it is true. Which do we need more bees or cell phones? Who has the bigger lobby in DC?
The other, are politicians aware of this compulsion in people to try to go to work every day, maintain order and pretend that the world hasn't gone mad? Do they rely on that instinctve positivism among the populations when they're plotting their rape, pillage and plunder? Scary.