Yesterday was my birthday and I was 61.It was a day of reckoning for me.I awoke and i felt good.I went to starbucks and got my usual.I never get the sunday paper..because it is mostly ads.But this sunday was different.When I came home,Brad was up and he took to me to Best Buy.I won 2 fantastic CDs on line.I got Appettite for Destruction by Guns N Roses and I got the Best of Glenn Miller Cd because I answered a survey on line.I went to Best Buy with the 50.00 gift card and I brought a cd player and two new phones.It was a quiet birthday.I did not have cake..The last time that I had cake Frank and grandpa were alive.I came home and Frank made me a chocolate cake from his own recipe.Then he put candles on it and went to get grandpa.It was my 35th birthday because my beloved grandpa died in April of 1983 at the age of 97.He was in the hospital when my father found him..he wasnt ansering the phone and my dad went in.Frank was upset..we all were.Grandpa was from Italy and he was from the North and he was a very clean man.He did not tolerate mens magazines in the house and he would threw them away if the boys came home with them.He taught himself English by doing something that noone did years ago.He read the paper and then he decided to learn more and he took a course in writing.He also made his own beer and wine( which is illegal in the city of New York) noone could make wine like grandpa.It was so good.Grandpa also loved sports and one year he surprized the boys..he took my father,my brother and my uncle to see Joe Dimaggio and they never forgot it! They were the only ones in the family to go to the original Yankee stadium..it was just different in Brooklyn then and he missed the old neighborhood.Frank loved sports also and he would watch all of the games with my dad.They even had books and a cheering chair and would have loud discussions about The Yankees.Grandpa you had to talk loud..because he was losing his hearing.And he loved books and he taught me to read and he taught me the basics of writing as a kid.Frank was just an all round guy and he missed so much being in that home.But nooone really knew how sick Frank was..not even me and he asked the head nurse at the home not to contact me if anything did happen.He told the head nurse that I was a good sister and he wanted me to live my life.He wanted me to sing and act and dance again because taking care of the 2 of them..I gave it all up..but the lessons are far and they are a bit expensive..but as of February of 2009..I am going back to the choir and sing one last concert.This will be one last concert for my brother and then I will never sing again.Basically,I am a astrologer and in seattle,they are a dime a dozen..so I will just do charts and such for people that I know and that will be it.In October of 2009...I cant wait! I will be 62 years old and I am making all plans now to retire and have to go down next year.I never taught that I would be 62 and such..but life is what you make it.I also promised my sainted father and grandpa..that I would go to Ireland and play golf.So I will do 2 promises as of next year and in 2011..I am going to go back to New York..It will be 45 years that I graduated high school and it will be our last reunion.So my years are plenty.I have to go now.Tuffy has been bad again.She just did number two across the street.That lady is trying to sell the house and it was being shown again today.My cats have been stinky since Brad is on sick leave and he will return to work in NOvember and then I will be able to do all of the cleaning again..He doesnt like the way I clean.I have to go now and I will write again and if anyone doesnt hear from me..do not worry.Seattle is going to have another bad storm.And when that happens..things do happen.We had a power outage that lasted for 6 hours and everything was done.I lost a lot of my reports and such and I just cannot relive then.Brad lost his reports and he is furious.But what can a person do? It was pouring and it was really thundering also and all of the cats were scared.Kramer is under my bed again..she hates the thunder and rain.Tuffy is on a blanket that I brought for just her and little Tooey is sound asleep.Cats have got a good life.I have to go now.The storm in starting.Vader