... am I doing on Livejournal? I haven't posted here since July 4th. The first thing I did when logging in was edit my last post to add the paragraph breaks I couldn't make in July.

The weather is fabulous! Sunny and 70 all week. Monday was the only work day this week so I've been able to enjoy the mild temps. Jeff is home for the holiday. His ( Read more... )

I started writing this during my recent trip to Venice Beach, Los Angeles, but I never finished it. I discovered my draft when writing my last post. It will require some rewriting, especially the tenses, so here it is.

My son Jeffrey graduated UCLA last week. College is done, the real world beckons, or does it?

We had no vacation in 2011. Cheryl was ( Read more... )

My youngest son Jeffrey graduates college in three weeks. We're driving to the coast to spend a week at Venice Beach to make a vacation of it. We'll commute between the beach and UCLA for commencement and other activities planned for the week. I'm looking forward to the trip. I need the break.

I haven't had a vacation since September of '10. Cheryl ( Read more... )

It appears this week will be the third consecutive 60+ hour work week. I'm not complaining. The O.T. money is helpful but it's hard to get other things done when you spend all daylight hours at work. I leave home before dawn and return well after dusk. If I could just tilt the axis of the earth a few degrees toward the sun I might get some outdoor ( Read more... )

I never knew calling 911 meant you'd have eleven people in your house, 9+1+1. And they don't arrive in the order you necessarily need them. The cops showed up first but the closest ambulance crew had been on call so it took them much longer to arrive. The fire engine got there second. As our pants-on-pants-off conflict raged on, firemen walked into ( Read more... )

In the early winter of 1990 it seemed to snow every day. We had several storms and many dustings in January. The temps remained near or below freezing. Snow was piling up. My driveway in Cranston, Rhode Island was a tunnel, a wall of white on both sides. We could barely open our car doors in the narrow passage.

The due date for my second son was ( Read more... )

I have the Scrooge gene, the direct antithesis of the Christmas gene. I also have a soft spot for my sons, people I love and some of the traditions I grew up with. Sure it was indoctrination, but it was mine.

In a previous edition of this blog I mentioned something about decorating. Last weekend came. Nothing was happening. I assumed Cheryl read my ( Read more... )

I've been a in funk most of this week. They claim the holidays are the worst time of year for depression as we miss the people we've lost, we reflect back on a year, or we judge where we are in life. As we take year end inventory of our lives, the introspection can be sobering.

Jeffrey flew home Wednesday evening. Having my boys home feels good. ( Read more... )

It seems to be a theme of some recent LJ posts. November 3rd was a busy blogging day for my LJ friends and I replied to every one of them. Your timing was perfect. I'm having one of those up all nights and I needed something to do. Reading and replying to your stuff was perfect. Thank you ( Read more... )

Jeff is home with four college buddies. They drove in from LA late last night, eight hours, it usually takes six. They popped in to drop off travel gear, killed a couple of pizzas I had waiting from them and went off to ASU to visit some of Jeff's local friends. They got to bed around 3:30 am.  Every bedroom, the living room and family room are ( Read more... )