New-Klee-Ah

It's Nuclear not New-Q-La

Yes the nickname is Nuke.  Yes.  But you wouldn't call my son Frank, Frank-sis.  It's Francis.

Work with me here people.  I am trying to listen to your opinions, but once you say "New-Q-La" all I hear is "hee-haw, n'yuck, n'yuck".

Help Me With This

Mel Gibson, who made "The Passion of the Christ"  says some incredibly awful, anti-Semitic things.

Hollywood and the media come down on Gibson like a lead weight.

Chuck Hagel, repeatedly and supposedly in control of his faculties, says incredibly anti-Semitic things.

Hagel was just confirmed as SecDef.

Day One Of EPIIC----#Fail

I love going to the EPIIC Symposium.  I couldn't go the year of the transplant and last year I was in the midst of the whole Grave's disease nonsense.

But this year...........I was going! Thursday through Sunday, four days of panels and discussions.

This year's topic "2013 EPIIC Symposium: Global Health and Security at Tufts

Well first off, My Marine is making me go to a different symposium all day Saturday.  The 24th Annual New England College Symposium at Boston University

Ok, there was still Thursday, Friday and Sunday....right?

Well Frankie called, we hung out.  And talked and had supper and talked.

Thursday night's lecture "Food Insecurity: Hunger, the Environment, and Conflict"...., missed.

Wish my luck on getting to Tuft's Braker Lecture Hall by 9:30 am tomorrow's "Bystanders, Perpetrators and survivors: A Global Health Perspective on Sexual Violence".

Why Am I Awake?

Because the guy who lives upstairs decided it would be a good idea to arrange some furniture, lol!

You just know when a noise is wrong.  The wind has howled all night, but I slept right through.  And that could be dangerous with my bed hopping!  The other day someone stumbled on the stairs and I jumped up and started running for the......window?  Then I realized I was in Hull and not Charlestown.  So it was ok that there was a window where the door should be......and that person on the stairs wasn't my Dad.

My bed's made.  My teeth are brushed & face washed.  I'd get a jump on the gym, but I left my sneakers in Charlestown yesterday.  I was there to shovel the "minor" snowfall of 5".  Nothing compared to last Sunday.

So, I guess, I'll get some breakfast and head into Boston to reclaim my sneaks.

I Almost Sweated Them Off, But I Got My Ashes!

I made it to St. Francis with time to spare.  I like the ferry!  But when I left Mass to go down the hill to my parent's house, there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for me.

Let's back up a tiny bit.  I have a friend who spent the storm this past weekend in the hospital.  He asked my Frankie to keep his house shoveled.  No problem!  Frankie was spending the weekend in the room I got for Tommy's trip.  The blizzard cancelled the trip, (I was sooooo bummed) but you can't cancel hotel rooms you "Name Your Own Price" for.

So Monday, Frank went back down to his place and we were all set, right?

Wrong, some plow guy dumped a huge, and really I mean HUGE amount of snow where he had shoveled.  It blocked the storm drain.  It covered the handicap ramp from the sidewalk to the street.  It made me MAD!

So, I got my Dad's shovel and ice pick and rock salt.  I went back up the hill, took off the jacket and got to work.  I flagged a DPW worker who happened to be driving by.  I rarely suffer alone.

So, now it's all set, but a couple of times, I almost wiped my ashes off as I was sweating!

But, then I got a nice surprise.  My Dad made baked, stuffed haddock for lunch and it was delicious.

Later in the Walmart parking lot, some guy stopped me.  "Everywhere I've been today, people have had that." and he gestured at my forehead.  So I explained about Ash Wednesday.  He was grateful for the answer, but not impressed.  Then I explained that this was the point of Mardi Gras.  People partying hard leading up to Ash Wednesday and the forty days of Lent.  "Ahhh!" he got it!

I'm Awake!

In order to be at St. Francis for the 7:30 am Ash Wednesday service.....I'm awake & dressed at 5:30.
I will catch the shuttle up to Pemberton Point & board the 6 am ferry to Boston.  Much faster than going arrrrrround Hingham, Weymouth, Quincy.

I see an early bedtime in my future.

While there, I will pray for God to forgive me all the harsh thoughts I had about Mia Farrow & her ilk talking about the Pope and his retirement.  My thoughts were pretty mean, this may be a lot to ask.