OLD LONG SYNE

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Another year has come and gone, and yet we still stand. Given our grievances and concerns, we will brave the crest of tidal apprehensions and look forward toward the horizon.

Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,
and never thought upon;
The flames of Love extinguished,
and fully past and gone:
Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,
that loving Breast of thine;
That thou canst never once reflect
On Old long syne.

CHORUS:

On Old long syne my Jo,
On Old long syne,
That thou canst never once reflect,
On Old long syne.

This year DELBLOGGOLO has had his ups and downs, and an old adage that when one dies, one comes to take his place, and so it has. My beautiful daughter-in-law gave me a beautiful granddaughter in little Darby Shea, a 50th High School Reunion, all while the ravages of both time and illness took my 96-year old mom.

But I can’t complain, Mom lived a long time, and longer than most people do, and so I say Thank you God, but also thank you for Darby Shea.

This year has seen a lot of things change that I need not go into about, but will say everything is for the better, and so look out tomorrow, here we all come.

I hope that you can wrap your old year up in a neat package and store it in the closet of your mind where you keep only good memories and evry once-in-a-while pull out 2014 and smile.

Starting in 2015, I will be adding a little thought or joke or even a small story to the blogue for your amusement. This will supplement the usual chatter in the keyboard symphony that plays from this keyboard.

I will you all a happy and safe New Year, filled with love and joy, drive safely and avoid hypocrites at all cost!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

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Now that's a NEW YEAR'S resolution!

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY

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As I write this, I am about to attend a marriage of a certain gentleman who has always been special to people with heart. It is not everyday you can find a person like that but when you do you want the heart to beat and the soul to sing.

This young man of whom I write has always left light in the room then when he entered. He is a generous man; his humor is matched by his willingness to give cheer and carry one’s own cross, but always stop and smile. He is humble by nature and has never boasted as far as I know.

There was once a time where he was in a dark place, but through the grace of God found the strength to believe in himself and fight on. He had his angels and he had prayers, and he had his good heart.

He has married a beautiful girl and hopefully he will always be happy.

So today I will be happy, finding him smile once again, lifting not only his heart but the hearts of those who love him. It is the fitting end to a beautiful but sad year. Beautiful in that I have now a beautiful granddaughter, yet so sad that Mom has passed and with it the end of my family as I knew it from childhood.

But that young man, in his fight and attitude, has raised me up to walk on stormy mountains and seas, and count the blessings that I do have in my life, and rid the hypocrisy that once existed.

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My Daddy says its good for you!!

NOW I KNOW

To all you housewives who work and care for your family, I salute you. Being how God has called me to serve beyond my capacity, I have discovered that it ain’t easy being a good housewife. There are all kinds of housewives, the good ones who work all day, and some without complaining too much and the bad bom boms eating ones who do very little and lay on the couch.

When TLW (The Little Woman) hurt herself, I stepped forward to fill in and do what I needed to make things as normal as possible. It meant doing the unthinkable, housework that would require all the things I did and the little secret things that she did without telling me about.

I have developed new techniques for doing these things that never occurred to TLW that you could do. Dancing to the rthym of Motown as I sweep across the floor, climbing the scales of hi-operatic intonation as I wash the dishes and even doing the Limbo Rock by myself with a broom. (This causes severe back pain and a shortage of blood to the brain that has reduced me to this present state.

As your basic run of the mill husband, to step up meant that I needed to prepare myself psychologically, to be able to complain that ‘she never listens’, and somehow find a way to win an argument but be right and convincing. Tough tasks if you ask me.

The cleaning, cooking and shopping, the maintenance of the house, the banking and the laundry have all fallen under my domain, with the singular attitude that TLW is watching me, like a hawk as she wonders: Will that damned old fool ever do it right?

Of course this all sounds easy, but there is still one more thing we need to do, and that is taking care of my patient, the one that lives with me, and can figure out nice ways to motivate me when she needs things done, all legitimate, directing her big baby to the tasks at hand. “Joe I hate to bother you but…” is her mantra, the driving force behind my dedication to my vows as a husband/’wife’ and service to TLW.

And so as the new year approaches, you will find me behind a mop, cleaning and washing and maybe even sewing and mending, because of the word that keeps popping out of my mouth: “Darn”. Let’s hope there are not too many socks to do at once.

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You should, I get hungry a lot!

I FIGURE IT OUT…

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Actually someone else did and finally a mystery is cleared up! Way back in August, TLW (The Little Woman) and I met

The lovely Noelle

this lovely couple from France, she Noelle, her name because she was born on Christmas Day, and her handsome husband: What’s His Name! I couldn’t quite remember his name and so I think it was: What’s His Name, since that is the only name coming to mind.

This Christmas, my sister-in-law Maureen and her husband Steve visited for the day and got around to Noelle and What’s His Name. Since they were so charming a couple I inquired about their well being and was told they were coming to America! Then Maureen related that What’s His Name actually was using an alias now: Ludwig!

Now Dear Reader, I don’t truly know how long What’s His Name will go by this new alias, my only hope is it is for a while, since I am so bad at remembering names. As you know the French people have been allies of America since the Revolutionary War, and not once did they change their name to anything but used the old standby: France. Nice name, easy to remember and when filling out a travel form for going overseas, the French put in a nice easy name to remember: ‘France’! If you are traveling there, filling out the destination box on your passport: ‘France’ comes in handy and is easy to spell. Not only that: but both the American and French sides can read it and know what is meant. This is what I am hoping for the so-called ‘Ludwig’. After all, Ludwig can be tricky at times, I mean what do really call him now with this new moniker ?

What's His Name AKA 'Ludwig'

We Americans like to be friendly and use nicknames to shorten our conversations and put in as little effort as we can in conversing (Even ‘conversing is too long for Americans, we like to chat.) So what nickname will I use for Ludwig? Lud, Luddy, Wig? No, none of these seem right for Ludwig, he needs something special, dynamic and ‘cool’! What’s His Name has a ring to it. I know, how about Noelle’s husband? No, not respectful enough, besides it needs to be short. We do have a TLW (The Little Woman) how about WHN? I like it.

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You should!

I’M FULLY ACCESSORIZED

You know that once you commit to something you give it all you have, right? If you are a fireman you get a fireman’s hat, coat and gloves, maybe even a nice long hose and ladder. A policeman? Well you just go out there a grab yourself a badge and a gun with a nice night stick and a blue tie, you DO want to look your best for those you apprehended. A cheap hooker… well you get the picture, if not I’ll send you one.

It should go without saying, if you are an exerciser, attending the gym every other day, you need to look like one too, or else people will shun you on the gym floor. Being a gym rat now, I have to strut around the floor, fist clenched and looking like I can bench-press my lunch. Now all the good looking young ladies have complete ensembles, tights, suits and even, yes dare I say it: sports bras! The fact that they can lift more than me is not important, what is important is that they work out, and in front of me!

But enough about others, let’s discuss me; after all it is my blogue. All the young guys when they strut around, they are strutting chic, up to date finery, only the best in gym wear. Why just the fingerless gloves say it all, I’m can bench-press DelBloggolo’s lunch! They show up in a hoodie, gym pants and muscle shirts, gloves and water bottle. The water bottle is somewhat like a policeman’s badge, something that you sport.

Then there is yours truly, I show up the first day in street clothes, repleat with brown shoes and an attitude. I try out the first piece of equipment and am told to please not do that to the fire extinguisher! Who knew?

So I decided to go out and get myself accessorized, get with it, look like one of them, do the wild thing. Mind you no sport’s bra but the manly garb, the fingerless gloves, the hoodie and gym sweat pants, even down to the water bottle! I even bought a combination lock to use a locker and stick in my travel bag so I can exercise or work out, with just a water bottle. Now if you see me, you will see a man who is strutting along on the gym floor, sweating and grunting, with an eye out for the ladies. I decided maybe it is a good idea to leave the fire extinguisher alone.

  

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You should, my Daddy needs the work!

THE STRAINS OF CHRISTMAS PAST…

Or what have you done for me lately.

Every post-Christmas day, my kids would gravitate to their new toys and play for a while and then start to look elsewhere for their amusement. TLW (The Little Woman) in her robe and I in my undershirt would feed them their breakfast while we chomped down on homemade buttered walnut bread, toasted would commiserate over the day before.

When we looked again, #1 Son would be off playing with his new toys and we would be happy. Then once the shine wore off, you’d see some of the old favorites re-appear as it they were the only toys he owned. I guess loyalty went a long way in those days. I can remember as a child finding my old toys and re-discovering them too a few days after Christmas.

The Holidays left us all as adults tired of eating and vowing to diet, the thought of eating ANYTHING almost seemed repulsive. Not only were we tired of eating, we were tired of talking, sitting for hours eating and drinking and chatting, did wear you out, and you kind of wished the decorations were down and put away, and that there were no leftovers.

The college football season was almost over with the bowl games and the Super Bowl seemed just around the corner, and the thought of only hockey or basketball looming for the rest of the winter was sad.

Then by February 1^st, you were missing a holiday, looking forward to Spring and Easter, it seemed that we thought only a few more weeks till Spring training. But you looked once more and it was Labor Day and the holidays seemed to be bunching up and right on top of you.

The funny thing is we as a nation are doers, wanting to make change for change sake, yet the holidays and all the rituals and traditions stay in place, and in some cases the children are embracing them even more so. The idea of: What have you done for me lately then becomes; Let’s do it again!

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My Daddy & Dr. Sheldon Cooper think you should!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From the Del Bloggolo clan to you and yours, may the peace of the season, the spirit that resides in all of us and the power of love be in your hearts today.

These past few days prior to Christmas Day have been beautiful, my little granddaughter Darby Shea has seen to that! She shyly smiles and then takes the house by storm: smiling at everyone and making us all feel so great. She is the spirit of the season. It is with that feeling I hope you have and share with those you love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE! AGAIN!

It is hard to believe that it is Christmas Eve again, or as you non-believers say: “December 24^th.” It seems like only yesterday I had said that but it was 2013.

This year is interesting in that there is nothing to say about it except before you know it, it will be Christmas Eve, 2015, or as you non-believers say: “December 24^th, 2015”!

Years ago this was a day for self-recrimination on my part. Santa was coming, and suddenly all those things I thought were fun were coming to haunt me, as Santa would have the last laugh. It was then that I turned to God, promising a better person in the coming year, more attention to Mom and Dad, and less torturing of my sisters. The hope was that God would intercede on my behalf and sway jolly old St. Nick to laugh it off and give the kid a break.

Mom was in total command, giving me orders and I faithfully carrying them out, avoiding my sisters where possible and throwing out the garbage without being asked. I even took the live eel heads that were eating through the brown paper bag down to the trash can two flights down!

Dad had an inside connection with Santa, he seemed to have conversations with him that had uncertainties to them, saying things like: “I spoke to Santa today, he asked if you were a good boy, I had to tell him the truth, you can’t lie to Santa!” He never told me what the truth was, but it played in my head as a disappointing morning of my siblings getting toys and me coal, coal to be put in my stocking, even though we didn’t have stocking hanging.

I would start to feel sorry for myself, look at my sister and think: “Why did I do that? She had it coming, I’m sorry God, I won’t do it again if Santa comes tomorrow for me and I get my train set.”

Somehow, Santa did come for me too, every year, and left me toys, and no coal. While Mom went to church, I would go to Dad while he was in bed and thank him for talking to Santa for me. This was not a good idea since Mom had gone to mid-night Mass!

FROM ME TO YOU...

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

 

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Watch Wolowitz try to earn his doctorates!

YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT THEY FOUND HIDING IN YOUR STOMACH!

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OK, that is a headline to an ad I saw recently. I can answer the ad question with aplomb: some donuts; cheese and for sure: pork chops.

Now don’t get me wrong, I eat other things, also: pasta and salami of various Italian names, and maybe some sausages and meatballs. My diet is extensive and varied just like yours, but deep down in my stomach somewhere lays a few of these choices on the dietary pyramid. I ascribe to the 4 food groups, for a balanced diet, they being pork chops, pasta, cheese and donuts. My doctor asked me if I eat a balanced meal and I can honestly say: Yes Doctor, very balanced, I can eat on one foot or the other while standing and can change feet at a moments notice. 

I used to be a picky eater, I’d pick at this and that but eat it all, maintaining my philosophy of you can’t pick your family but you can pick at your food!

Grandma in the black dress

As a small child, I was encouraged by my grandmother and aunts to eat. They felt I was too skinny so: “Mangia Joe-Joe” was the order of the day. Mom on the other hand felt I was a human vacuum, and to keep her budget in check: would hide some of the stuff, like cookies and donuts. Fortunately, I never ate a pork chop that wasn’t cooked. But between the two camps, I agreed with my grandmother and aunts, after all, there were more of them than of my mother: FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN CAN’T BE WRONG!

There are other things besides eating though; after all you have to cook it. I like to cook and will experiment, sometimes grandly, sometimes subtly, slipping by plates of test kitchen foods on TLW (The Little Woman) on a regular basis. Most of my experiments have been a success: the problem is I forget to record how I made something so the same thing is hardly made more than once.

And so I will leave you with this question: What’s for dinner?

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DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should!

LESSONS LEARNED

Once upon a time, many years ago, I became a father for the first time. Ellen my daughter was born late in the day about 4:30 PM. It was a Tuesday, and I was in my office in NYC at 11:30 AM when my wife called to say she was going to the hospital. It was a cold day with snow on the ground and it took about 5 hours from the phone call I got at my office until I got to the hospital via subway train, Long Island Rail Road and cab to where she was born.

Soon after my daughter’s birth, about a year and a half later, we got the awful news that she had brain damage from birth, and that was why she was developing slowly, confirming our suspicions and fears, and devastating us completely. We were young and unaccustomed to the world of developmental disabilities, or as it was called in those days: metal retardation.

The reason I bring it up at this time of the year amidst the hoopla and joy of the holidays is that it is because of my daughter’s affliction, that I have the joy of the season in my heart. I now dress as Santa twice a year and do it for people with disabilities. The agency that I volunteer for, the AHRC Suffolk chapter sponsors a holiday dance every December where about 300 folks get their picture taken with Santa and a home for individuals with disabilities has a little Christmas party with presents for about 8 people. As Santa, I come to their home and give out the presents and try to cheer them up.

In all these individuals: each has his or her own disability, some mental and some physical and almost all with both. I engage them as best I can, compliment them on their dress, or their smile or something. I make sure when I visit their home that I greet each and every one of the residents, and try to be respectful of their presence and their home.

But there is something else that shines through with all the visits, something happens when I acknowledge them. Suddenly a break through occurs, a sudden light goes off in their eyes, and they bring this smile to their face, like I was digging for gold and found some!

Every time I do such a thing, every time they feel good, I have to thank the agency for the privilege and my daughter Ellen especially. The agency asks me to do it and my daughter makes it possible for me to do it. Her life is happy now under the daily care of her home and her houseparent, and I strike a inner core of someone’s heart and bring it alive for so many. Like someone said about it all: “I think you live all year for this”

They reminded me that I am neither Christian nor Jew, Muslim or other, but that I AM a child of God’s, steeped in his love with the innocence of these wonderful people. They asked for nothing and give so much, they say little and teach me acceptance. Most importantly, when I appeared there was no cynicism, no doubt, not fear, just an extension of their being saying: :Welcome and be happy. I like you!” Could I do that?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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If not, Sheldon won't appreciate the sarcasm!!

I’M BECOMING A SENTIMENTAL OLD FOOL!

Yes, just like that I have become a sentimental old fool, as I head into the holiday season, the take charge in me has taken charge-fully!

It seems that now that TLW (The Little Woman) is incapacitated from her ruptured tendon, I have taken on all her previous responsibilities and as such am now think like her. Recently I started to bake cookies for the holidays, and why, because #2 Son expects them as a tradition and so I felt bad that he wouldn’t have any if he relied: on me and any excuses that I may have. Tradition is important to me, and so tradition dictates that there be homemade cookies about for snacking by #2 Son.

Then I started thinking about dinner for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The fare will be the same: Lobster sauce and spaghetti with side dishes of shrimp and scallops and calamari, for Christmas Eve and Lasagna and prime rib for Christmas Day. The traditional carols will not be sung again, as will the stockings be stuffed. This is a tradition started by TLW: a little stocking gift for everyone, the not singing carols is my idea.

Being how I hate to decorate for the holidays, doing it was a chore, under a lot of pressure for the kids to have on Christmas day, and the driving force was coming from a sweet little girl named Darby Shea, my first grandchild in the midst of her first Christmas ever. SHE had to have everything, a stocking holder with her name on it, a stocking with her name on it and a Christmas tree where I will be placing an ornament or two about her among all the family ornaments.

In my den there is a wall where we have family pictures, some of my youth as well as TLW’s, photos of my career and of my children at different ages. I will be getting rid f the career photos so Ms. Darby Shea and her mommy will have adequate space to appear as part of the family. It is all sentiment and now excitement. No one ever conveyed the feeling of excitement that comes with grandchildren and sentimentality!

 

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GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS!

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DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, Penny needs you to!