O.T.

Every day, seems like it's runnin' into the next. Working 'til 0230, up at 0630, walk the younger baby girl down to the corner bus stop. Try to catch some sleep during the day. Try to get at least the dishes done. Walk back down to the corner at 1510 to meet her bus again. That's when I see her exit the school bus. That's when I see her little face. That's when I don't feel so tired. back to work at 1600. Do it all again.

Went to the Pittsburgh Bird Show this Saturday past. It was just outside the city at the Washington County Fairgrounds. Lot a fun. We all had a good day. Ate at the Red Robbin in Washington. Stopped at the Cheese House in Blairsville on our way back home. Had an agument with my wife later on that night. Stupid me. Tension still up between us. Stupid me.

Okay.

So the first post is up on Fiction Squared. Not a lot of time right now. Will post here soon, maybe tonight? It depends on how things go down at The Dock. Lots-O-ot lately.

Fiction Squared.

Yeah so I went ahead and did it. I started another blog. Fiction Squared. You can link to it off my profile page. I'll put a link on this page too. Just a brief introduction up there now........

FictionSquared.blogspot.com

Now I have to fill it up, with fiction. Now I have to put my money where my mouth is. Actually, right now I have to jump in the shower and walk down to the store before I meet the little baby girl at the bus stop. After that, I have to go to work, that's reality...Realty sucks...Reality sucks too but I imagine that if realty were your reality then it would suck as much as any other job.......This is gettin' stupid.

Dancing.

So the little baby girl attended her first school dance this past Friday night. She said she danced and danced, had a real good time. She ate three slices of pizza at a buck per slice for the first two, fifty cents for the third 'cause the dance was almost over.

We all had a good weekend, got lots-o-stuff done around here. My wife and I were both up at five on Sunday morning. Had an early quiet breakfast together, took showers and headed out to Wal-Mart at seven. We don't really like Wal-Mart but these days it's not like we are availed of a plethora of affordable choices. Key word here is affordable. Even Wal-Mart ain't all that affordable any more.

We got some things for the living room that my wife painted over Labor Day weekend. We got some picture frames and a lamp with a funky old school looking lamp shade that actually goes. I know it goes 'cause my wife and girls say it goes. I have no decorating sense whatsoever. I like blue, black, green and sometimes chrome.

Made more jelly. Two batches over the weekend. Many more grapes still hanging on those vines waiting to be eaten by the birds or picked, squished, mashed and boiled by we humans. Was able to set another dozen or so patio stones yesterday. Got fourteen more waiting to be placed, then we'll have to buy some more. Probably need to pick up about fifteen to finish up the job.

I love walking the younger baby girl down the corner to catch the school bus in the morning. She loves the morning birds. We talk while we walk. Well, she talks and I listen. Every day she tells me something about something that I didn't know. She's a sponge, just soaks up the information. We got her PSSA testing scores from last year in the mail. She's hundreds of points above what they consider to be advanced in both math and reading. She's right there at the advanced level in writing. The girl is scary smart. We don't push her, we never have. We just always made sure that the homework is done on time. She's just like that, scary smart.

Every day I watch the older baby girl drive off to the campus, sometimes I drive her but usually she just takes the old Jeep. After classes, almost every day and most weekends, she goes to work at the pharmacy. She has over two grand saved up for a car. We told her to keep saving, get a better car that way. We are so proud of her. Last night I was looking at pictures from about fifteen years ago. Me and the older baby girl running on the beach down the shore. She would pick up every broken shell she could find. She loved to dance at the edge of the surf. We would go down the shore in the spring on weekdays, have the beach all to ourselves. Can't believe she's in college now.

Redundancy is everything, and repeating yourself is cool too. I know I've said all this before, just sometimes it overwhelms me with pride. These two girls, couldn't ask for more.

Hey Tommy. I went and checked out that car. It's a '99 Grand-Am, looks to be in great shape but, it needs tires and it has 143,000 miles on it. That's kind of high mileage for that little aluminium GM motor. I don't want her to have to be dumpin' money into the motor right away. I asked the guy why his son was sellin' the car. The guy said his son is a Marine gettin' sent back to Iraq for his second tour. He said his son also sold his other vehicle, an older 4x4 truck. He said his son figures if he makes it back this time then he's gonna treat himself to a brand new vehicle. I just said to him, God bless your son. He said thank you and that was it.

Dancin' on the beach. Dancin' in the gym. Dancin' on the head of a pin.

Seven.

Got to run in seven minutes. Got to meet the younger baby girl at the bus stop. Got to run into the one stop shop for everything corner store/gas station first. Got to get a dozen eggs, my wife likes a couple fried eggs before she goes in at midnight. Got no eggs right now.

Said nothing about 9-11 on this blog. Said nothing last year either. Got to say something, I guess. Got to say nothing, better still. Can't believe Osama is still out there. They need to get him. That's all I got to say.

Two minutes left, then I got to go.

Hey Tommy, weather broke. Nice and cool here the last couple days. Chilly in the morning. I was thinkin' Tommy. I was thinkin' about what to write on the other blog I'm thinkin' about startin'. Then it came to me. You'll like it.
Later bro.

Another Month. Almost.

So last week we went to the hospital and my wife saw the surgeon. He said some very positive things. She likes him. She said he's easy to talk to. She said he answers all her questions without an attitude. You know that attitude that some doctors will throw your way. She said that he said that he doesn't think she has breast cancer, yet. She said that he said he would put the odds at one in fifteen in her favor. She said that he said that she has those clusters that can lead to breast cancer, but he doesn't think she has it yet. He said they will biopsy the clusters. We have to wait until the first of October, of course. She said that he said that even if she does have breast cancer, it would be so very early on that treatment would be less invasive and very successful.

I waited in the waiting room while she was in with the doctor. I was really sucking wind. I knew it was better than the worst when I saw her smile light up the waiting room as she walked through the door after her visit.

So, the first of October before we know for sure. It for sure sounds better than it did before.

We had a great weekend. Busy as hell but a great weekend. The grapes are ready and my wife started picking and sorting. I started mashing them down and cooking them out, squeezing the juice through a cheesecloth. We made our first couple quarts of jelly.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. It's-a- so nice.

Got about six more quarts of juice sittin' in the fridge. I'll be making more jelly today before I go to work.

The younger baby girl started Middle School. She rides the bus. We walk down to the bus stop at about 0710. I walk down and meet her at about 1515 each afternoon. She likes the Middle School so far. They are having their first dance this Friday at 6:30. The older baby girl and one of her girlfriends will be helping her pick out an outfit and get ready for the dance. It's exciting, her first real school dance. I'll be at work but my wife said she'll call me down The Dock after she picks her up at 9:00, let me know how it went. My foreman will get me when the call comes in. He knows the deal. He knows how I feel about the baby girls. He's a dad too.

Hey Tommy. Yeah, so I've been thinkin' bro. I've been thinking about starting a second blog. It's goin' to be a total work of fiction, this second blog. I'm goin' to write a story, a little bit at a time. Maybe someone will enjoy it. Hell, I know I'll enjoy writing it.........Yeah, but I don't think people really do that so much. I mean stealing other peoples work like that. Besides, this blog is copyrighted and if I ever found out that someone stole my stuff? Well, they would have to pay me lots of money then wouldn't they? Besides, I think that's a lot of urban legend. Maybe I'm wrong, and I don't really care. If someone ever stole my stuff, well that means it's good enough I guess.........Yeah, based on that theory I got nothin' to worry about.....No man, I'm just lookin' to have some fun. You know I love to write, that's all that matters to me......Yeah, I'll let you know. Should be a link to it from my profile page. I just have to figure out how to do it 'cause I'm a moron when it comes to all this computer crap......Yeah Tommy.

Labor................Day.

Yeah, so I took the girls over to Jersey to see their grandfather over the weekend. My wife decided last minute that she didn't want to go. She got a call on Friday morning, a few hours before we left, from the doctor's office. They said she's supposed to see this surgeon on Tuesday at two o'clock for a consultation. The nurse who called told my wife that the two lumps in her left breast are cysts, probably nothing to worry about but..................The other breast, the one that does not bother her, the one that's not showing any lumps. That one has micro (something) clusters. Micro (something) clusters are not good.

Yeah, so, yeah...........................

Had a good time in Jersey, sort of. The girls had a ball. The grandfather and his girlfriend spoiled them rotten, tons of food, gifts, a little cash for their bank accounts......................

Saturday morning I took a ride. Said I had to get a few things at the store. Just drove around some of the old neighborhood. Thinking....................

Yeah, so on Saturday afternoon they take me and the girls down to Lyndhurst, Polito Avenue. Medieval Times is the place. It's very cool indeed. You stuff your face and watch these guys on horseback go at it with swords and lances in this large indoor arena. If you never heard of it then just look it up on-line. They got like ten of them all around the country............

Sunday morning I got up and went to the store again. I had to get Taylor Ham at the Shop-Rite. You can't get Taylor Ham in this part of Pennsylvania. It's criminal I know, but what are you gonna do. My old Jeep don't really fit in at the Shop-Rite, not so much these days. They got a friggin' Rolls Royce dealership out on 46 in Pine Brook. Things have changed. I mean Globe Mercedes was always there on Bloomfield Avenue. Montclair had the Rolls/Jaguar dealership, but Pine Brook? We used to go drinkin' at Dirty Jack's in Pine Brook...............

My wife spent the weekend painting the living room. The little baby girl knew all about it, she went to the store with my wife on Friday about an hour before we left for Jersey and picked out the paint. She's good at keepin' her mouth shut. Me and the older baby girl were completely surprised. The living room looks great. We just hung the curtains back up about an hour ago...

First day of school for the little baby girl tomorrow. She'll be takin' the bus. I'll walk her down to the bus stop at 0710. At 0900 I have to drop the older baby girl off up at the campus, she's got classes 'til 3 o'clock. At two I have to take my wife up to the hospital to see that surgeon. At a quarter after three I have to meet the bus and see how the little baby girl made out her first day of middle school then go back up to the campus and pick up the older baby girl who will then drive me to work at four................

Things just don't seem real lately, or maybe they seem a little too real. I know that micro (something) clusters are bad. Micro (somethings) alone ain't too bad, sometimes they can even remove them when they do the biopsy, but clusters are bad. Macro is less bad, or maybe it's micro that's not as bad, I don't know. The nurse said micro, my wife wrote it down..................

All the stupid shit I've done in my life, I should be dead at least five or six times already. It ain't right, but I ain't sayin' nothin' either...........

Early detection, all the medical advances and we have good insurance.................

We'll know more after tomorrow...................

Whatever it takes..............

If I have to I'll find me that Crossroad, get down on my knees.