Tom's Diary

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.  Executing my daily morning chores.  It’s the twins’ birthday today.

10:00 AM: Added several posts from personal email to the blogs from 1997.  These outline my reasons for leaving Ohio for Philadelphia.

12:30 PM: Wrote 800 words into the   My First Pillow Kiss   post, which is upcoming. 

12:35 PM: Nap time.

03:00 PM: Decided on a metal halide fixture to buy for the   Christmas lighting, 2009  project; if I buy some at all that is, and that’s not yet been decided for sure.

04:15 PM: Sister Diane stopped by with her dog, Mia, to let Mom see her.  They just came from the grooming shop.

04:45 PM: Then, sister Christine came by.  She and Rich are meeting another couple and going out for dinner.  Today’s the twins’ birthday. 

05:30 PM: Then, nephew Tyler and two of his friends stopped by.  They’re going to the restaurant down the street in a little while and thought they’d come and visit their grandmother for a few minutes.   Wow, lots of visitors today!

07:45 PM: Wrote 900 more words into the upcoming   My First Pillow Kiss   post. This gives a total of 1700 words for today. 

08:40 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless.

10:30 PM: Talked with [Emmy]. 

11:00 PM: Got a note from [Vee], which is discussed in more detail   here.  Though I have no plans to respond, her email did inspire me to go through all the posts in the   Tom’s Love Quest   blog that pertain to her, and make sure they show up in the search results when someone searches for [Vee].  I’m also changing every mention of [Vee] in each and every one of those posts in that blog, into a link that runs the said search. 

01:50 AM: All the [Vee] work is complete.  Now, I’m off to bed.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting, 2009  Project
• Diary Revisions: 2009-11-06
• January, 1997 Done
• Mom’s Status: 2009-11-06
• Tom’s Love Quest –> Heard From [Vee] Again
• Tom’s Love Quest –> My First Pillow Kiss

06:15 AM: I’m up.  Today’s plan: Finish installing all ridge shingles, as part of the   Shed Roof Replacement Project.  Then late this afternoon, pick up an additional piece of ridge vent at Lowe’s, and make sure I have the means to trim it to size.  Then if I don’t run out of daylight, install the new vent.

07:00 AM: Journaled for an hour or so.  Today, I discovered and discussed hidden memories of [Molly], in preps for writing the next   Tom’s Love Quest   post.  [Molly] represented a positive, influential force during the early years of my love quest — one of the few such forces.  So uncovering every thought, feeling, and event I can is essential to telling my whole love story.

08:05 AM: Sister JoJo stopped by to visit Mom.  I visited with them for a half-hour.

09:30 AM: Heard from the bride for this weekend’s   DJ wedding reception gig.   So far, all is well, and the gig is still on.

12:30 PM: Worked on the   Shed Roof Replacement Project.  Installed the last of the shingles.

03:30 PM: Continued with sealing all exposed nail heads on the   Shed Roof Replacement Project.

04:45 PM: Hung out for a bit with Mom and her friend Pat.  Sister Diane stopped by too, and so did brother-in-law Richard.  Grand Central Station this afternoon.  But I love it.  Yes, I do.

06:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of The Young and the Restless and the October 12th edition of NBC Nightly News.

07:00 PM: Processed all grocery and materials receipts for the various projects going on; figured out how much Mom owes me and vice versa.

08:00 PM: Cleaned up some of the old shingles by the shed.

09:00 PM: Talked with [Emmy], but got so tired after 45 minutes that I had to say good night to her.

09:30 PM: [Jack] called.  He said that he saw [Terra] at the last foot party and that she asked about me.  Hopefully, she’ll respond to my comments to her made  here, in the  Tom’s Love Quest   blog.  Also, there’s been a rumour that [LizDee] passed away, but [Jack] hasn’t heard anything definitive about that yet.

11:05 PM: Well, I’m bushed.  Haven’t been this busy for so many consecutive days in quite a while.  But I like this early-to-bed, early-to-rise sleep pattern I’ve gotten into lately.  So, it’s my bedtime now.  Good night, and sleep well.  I’ll see you tomorrow.

Tom

06:50 AM: Looks like it’s drizzling today.  No outdoor work today, at least for the morning anyhow.

07:00 AM: Revised the  Dreams of BT   post a bit.

07:30 AM: Journaled for a while. 

08:20 AM: Listened to the Dr. Joy Browne podcast.

09:12 AM: Sister JoJo can’t go to Wal Mart today since her kids are home from school due to an in-service day.  No problem though, as I have lots of milk and stuff in the freezer to eat.  We’ll probably get there sometime next week.  However, she’ll be unavailable for shopping for the next two Fridays. 

09:20 AM: Mom called and we talked for nearly an hour.  Click   here   for more details.

10:17 AM: Added and revised the   Can Loving from Afar Survive?   post to the   Tom’s Love Quest   blog. 

12:00 PM: A late breakfast today that consisted of a big bowl of Cocoa Wheats and two big mugs of green tea.

02:00 PM: Listened to two more episodes of Dr. Joy Browne.  She’s become such a positive, insightful, and informative force for me these days, that I’d spend all day with her show if I had the time. 

04:06 PM: Listened to music on the iPod for two hours, in an attempt to untangle the jumble of thoughts that the   letter to [BT]   yesterday inspired.  I came away from this with an idea for my next letter which I’m setting to work on right now.

06:54 PM: Wrote 1900 words of a new post for the   Tom’s Love Quest   blog.  This is a letter to [Prism], a counselor at camp.  It should be ready for posting in the next day or two.

07:00 PM: Chicken and stars soup with lots of vegetables, and a bowl of Cheerios with raisins and skim milk for supper.

08:37 PM: Just got off the phone with [Emmy].  She’s feeling better today though she still has some light cramping. 

09:30 PM: Sister Mary Ann’s husband called to say that they’d be over here tomorrow morning at 9:15 to move the furniture around here to make this place easier for Mom to get around in, with her scooter. 

11:58 PM: Watched The Young and the Restless and all pending episodes of NBC Nightly News.

The weather today: Rainy and cool with highs in the low 60s.  The sun appeared for just a minuscule moment this afternoon.  Otherwise, gray skies dominated the landscape outside the window here in the office.

Tom

07:20 AM: Listened to an episode of Dr. Joy Browne.  My back is quite sore today after all that digging and rock heaving in the flower box yesterday.  A day of lighter physical fare is definitely in order. 

09:25 AM: Journaled for an hour or two.

11:13 AM: Added a post called   Gram Jewell Died   to this blog.

11:53 AM: Updated the   Shed Roof Replacement Project   document with the latest accomplishments and information I’ve acquired about roof replacement.

04:00 PM: Added a post called   Dreams of BT   to the   Tom’s Love Quest   blog. 

04:15 PM: Heard from [Emmy].  she’s got nasty cramps and just needed to hear a cheery voice. I hope I was cheerful enough; I usually am when I’m writing, as I have been most of today.

05:00 PM: Went to Lowe’s to get the new shingles for the   Shed Roof Replacement Project, and then Richard showed me how to measure and cut them to specs for this particular roof.

06:45 PM: Sister Christine stopped by to drop off some clean clothes for sister JoJo and I to take up to Mom tomorrow.

09:15 PM: Just finished a couple hours of revisions to the   Dreams of BT   post. 

10:35 PM: Talked with [Emmy], and we listened to the end of the third period of the Penguins Vs. Flyers game.  The Pens beat the flyers 5 to 4.

11:00 PM: Watched The Young and the Restless and a bit of CNN’s AC360.

Mostly cloudy today with the sun making only brief appearances in the morning.  High temperatures reached the upper 50s.

Tom

[Emmy], [Mentat], and I went to our favorite Indian restaurant for the lunch buffet, before heading to the school for the social.  We decided to forgo the food being served at the school, figuring that we’d enjoy Indian more.  Well, we were right.  The restaurant opened a half-hour later than expected, at 12:00.  So this delayed our arrival at the school.  But we didn’t miss much and still had plenty of time to get around to socializing with all the people we wanted to see. 

We arrived at the social at 1:00 PM, just as everyone there was sitting down to lunch.

[Tad's] wife [Morra] accompanied him to the social.  She looks much healthier and stronger.  She’s had a rough go of it the past few years.  But with her back surgery this summer along with the gastric bypass, she’s lost considerable weight and her voice is noticeably stronger.  Hope you health continues to improve, [Morra].

Saw [Ron].  He’s already looking forward to attending camp next summer.

Once lunch was over, I sold 50-50 tickets to help offset the alumni association’s expenses for this event.  We sold $111 in tickets and so we made $55.50 for the alumni treasury. 

Much of the afternoon, the three of us spent roaming around the Janet Simon building grounds, hearing familiar voices and stopping here and there to greet them.

During my wanderings, I ran into my former gym, swimming, wrestling, and greenhouse teacher.  Hadn’t seen him in over 30 years.  His hair is all which now and he has much less of it.  But his voice was still the same and it brought to mind memories I hadn’t thought of in nearly three decades.  He stayed the whole afternoon; he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

[BT]   didn’t show up this time.  She also missed the 2008 alumni convention last year. Too bad, because I enjoy helping her to her table and fetching her food for her in regal fashion; she likes the royal treatment, and I like treating her as a queen.  Regrettable that she and I don’t interact more than just at these alumni gatherings.  But that’s her choice apparently, and I respect it.  Still though, I wish things could be different.

The event ended at 5:00 PM and we headed back to [Emmy's], where we spent the evening talking about it and reminiscing. 

Tom

I spent several hours on the telephone, social networking, where I argued why a disabled person might choose, legitimately, not to work.

Still nursing the cold I picked up at camp. The slight cough remains, though it is getting better; slowly.

Watched NBC Nightly News and several episodes of the Young and the Restless.

Talked with [Emmy]. We’re in the process of selecting a new anti-virus software package for her computer. So far, the top contenders are Avast, AVG, and Nod32.

Mom is still in the hospital from having a toe on her left foot amputated yesterday. Talked with her on the phone this afternoon. Her spirits seem good and she’s looking forward to coming home tomorrow.

Received a letter from [Vee], in which she apologizes for her transgressions when she and I were dating some eight years ago. She claims to have found God and that He has changed her life such that now, she feels that she would treat me much better. She’s asking for my forgiveness.  But I’m not buying however.  I started over with her a few times between 1997 and 2001, only to be disappointed each and every time I tried.

Upgraded all blogs to WordPress 2.8.4.  No problems discovered so far, although the upgrades have overwritten my code modifications that display more posts in the Recent Posts section of each page.  The code layout has changed sufficiently enough that I can’t just copy the files I modified back into the installation.  I’ll have to figure out where to make these changes in this latest WordPress version, as the routines I modified before have been eliminated.

Weather today: Mostly cloudy, rainy, and humid. High temperatures were in the mid 80s here on the back porch.

Tom Hesley

I just added the following piece to the  Tom’s Love Quest blog:

• http://tomslovequest.com/2009/07/06/foot-party-wrapup-2/

This summarizes the foot party I just attended. Emjoy.

Tom Hesley

Added the following post to the Tom’s Love Quest blog:

• http://tomslovequest.com/2009/06/16/fast-love-can-be-true-love/

Here I argue that love at first sight (LAFS) can be as equally significant and laudable a love as the slower-growing, take-years-to-get-to-know-you sort of love. 

Enjoy.

Tom Hesley

Added the following post to the   Tom’s Love Quest   blog:

http://tomslovequest.com/2009/06/13/you-can-predict-love/

Here I argue that one can significantly increase the odds of finding the deepest and most enduring love if one knows well his  truest desires, and then refuses to settle for less when selecting lovers.  Picking wisely in the first place is key to making sure that he can stay in love for an indefinitely long time.

Enjoy.

Tom Hesley

Today, I’ve posted a new letter to the  Tom’s Love Quest  blog. See it at the following link:

• http://tomslovequest.com/2009/06/09/dear-miss-independent/

Enjoy.

Tom Hesley