FRANCO-AMERICAN FESTIVAL WEEK - 2013

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

COMING TO LOWELL FROM SUNDAY, JUNE 23 thru SUNDAY, JUNE 30 -

If you are of French decent, or simply enjoy the French language, foods, music & customs, then this is the place to go. An entire week of fun activities from start to finish. Check out the schedule which I've posted below. Don't think you can make all the events, that's okay, mark your calendar, or make yourself a reminder in your cell phone so you don't miss the ones that peak your interest the most. All events are "FREE" except where otherwise noted.

If you are able to come to our great city for any of these events, please make sure you sign our Guest Book. We shall do our best to keep you informed of any other Franco-American events being held throughout the year in the 6 New England states and possibly some events which are held in Canada.

The Franco-American Day Committee is a small non-profit organization located in Lowell, MA. We will never contact you without expression permission. Any information you supply will NEVER be sold or given out without your consent. If you do attend any of the events, please look me up and let me know where you are from, and how you found out about our events.

Hope to see many of you there!

SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013

8:30a --- French Mass - Ste. Marguerite d'Youville Parish (Ste. Therese Church, 1340 Lakeview Ave, Dracut, MA
FREE Pancake Breakfast in church hall after Mass - Naming of the Franco-American of the Year 2013 - The public is invited.

3:00p --- Talk, "Like Cajuns - Like Franco-Americans?" a comparison of two sociolinguistic fieldworks given by Dr. Carole Salmon, Franco-American School Auditorium, 357 Pawtucket St., Lowell, MA - Admission is FREE.

MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

9:15a --- Memorial ceremony at the "Little Canada Monument Corner of Aiken & Hall streets, Lowell, MA - FREE

10:00a --- Flag raising ceremony - Lowell City Hall (In case of inclement weather it will be held in the mayors reception room) - FREE

7:00p --- Vespers (Evening prayers) in honor of St. Jean Baptiste - Franco-American School Grotto. Cheese and wine social in the cafeteria following the prayers. - FREE

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013

Quebecois Film Festival, St. Rita's Parish Hall, 158 Mammoth Rd, Lowell. Films and times listed below. - FREE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013

4:30p to 6:30p --- Ham & Bean Supper, Ste. Marguerite d'Youville Parish (Ste. Therese Church, 1340 Lakeview Ave, Dracut, MA -
Adults - $7.00
Seniors - $6.00
Children under 10 - $2.00
Family Plan - $15.00

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

6:00p --- Learn How To Quadrille, Club Lafayette, 465 Fletcher St. Lowell, MA, No partners needed. FREE

FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2013

6:30p --- Family Bingo in French, Ste. Marguerite d'Youville Parish (Ste. Therese Church, 1340 Lakeview Ave, Dracut, MA - 1 card $2.00; 3 cards $5.00

SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2013

6:00p to 8:00p --- La Famille LeBlanc musical entertainment, Senior Center, 276 Broadway St, Lowell. - FREE - I also have raffle tickets, which may also be purchased at any of the events - $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00 (1st prize $500; 2nd prize $250; 3rd prize $100) Raffle drawing held this evening.

SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013

2:00p --- Old-Fashioned Game Party, St. Rita's Parish Hall, 158 Mammoth Rd, Lowell. Films and times listed below. - FREE

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LETTER FROM ME TO MYSELF!

Sunday, June 02, 2013

My dearest self, Ruby,

It's been a long time since we've REALLY had a nice chat. Well actually, I've been talking, but I almost feel as though you have been purposely ignoring me. I know we've had our differences, but I must confess that your ignoring me has really been causing me an enormous amount of distress. You seem to hear the words, but they go in one ear and out the other, so to speak. You are not digesting them.

What happened, Ruby? We were doing so well, and I know you were pretty excited for a while as you were becoming healthier, but all of a sudden you disappeared. Your old friends "old" friends, chips, potato sticks and mostly cheese twists, manged to get your attention and worked their way back into your life. They have convinced you that "tomorrow is another day" and you can always get back with ME "tomorrow". They have managed to dominate your life once again.

Ruby, I am so very disappointed. I miss all of those good times we spent together going for walks on the bike path, doing cardio and doing strength training, as well as dancing around the house. Remember when we'd go to Hampton Beach and walk from one end to the other, IN THE WATER, just so we'd get more resistance? We were doing that every single day after work. But once the colder weather started to set in and the beach was no longer viable, that's when your "Old" friends saw their opportunity to lead you astray and they've been hanging on ever since.

Have you REALLY noticed, how your old friends have been able to convince you that it's okay to sit in front of the boob tube when you get home after work,? You've allowed them to constantly reach out to you, afterall, you had another tough day so you deserve to vegge out and do absolutely nothing, at least for an hour or so, which then drags into 3, 4, 5 hours until it's time to go to bed. They've been able to convince you that your are tired and that by sitting doing nothing, you'll be resting and getting your zapped strength renewed. And to make matters worse they call out to you to join them in an unhealthy snack of some sort all the while you sit in front of the TV watching shows that you previously taped.

Do you remember what our daughter, Amy-Jean said when we first started getting healthy and going for walks all the time? She said, "It's great to see you getting into these things, Mom. I'm so very proud of you, and be honest, don't you feel better now that you're not sitting in front of the TV with your old friends, cheese twists & potato sticks?" You couldn't help but say, "Most definitely and I love it. I can't believe that I wasn't doing this before".

Ruby, I loved, and now miss, when we used to fix a wonderful salad for lunch, and sometimes chicken and loads of vegetables for dinner. I miss the times we'd sit and track on Spark People what we ate, and all the exercising we did. You have to admit, you were having fun. Don't you miss it, even a little bit? Is there anyway I can talk you into working on our relationship. I know that you love me, and always have, but I need more than just words, I need you to prove to me, by your actions, that you REALLY do love me.

I know there are alot of people who say that it's okay to have a cheat day, but Honey, you and I both know that it doesn't work for you. I know that you never mean to have more than one day of junk food and no exercising, but as soon as you let your old friends back into your life, BANG, that's the end of it. They ALWAYS end up staying for a LONG time. They tend to move in for days, weeks, months, and I've even known them to stay for over a year or two, and sadly you allow it. Believe me when I say, they are NOT looking out for our best interest.

Ruby, PLEASE, I am begging you to not let our relationship flounder any longer. PLEASE, open up and listen to me, I can help you. PLEASE don't continue to shut me out. Love me again as you use to. Maybe it will help you if you post "Before" and "After" pictures of us so we can keep it in the foreground of how things were when you had all those old friends in your life and then how you looked and were beginning to feel after our relationship started getting closer.

Well, Ruby, I do hope that I've been able to give you food for thought, and that you will keep this letter handy to use as a reference. You know I only want what is best for you, for both of us. I hope that my words will help you find your way back to my loving arms. You, Ruby, are a sweet, loving, giving person and now it's time to starting giving to US once again. You always tell people you are "FANTASTIC" whenever they ask, well now it's time to really live up to that and get our life back in the right direction.

I love you, Ruby, more than you realize, and I shall NEVER ever give up on us.
PLEASE TAKE ME BACK - TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS...WE REALLY CAN!

All my love, ALWAYS,

Me

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MOTHER'S DAY!!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

I had a fall this morning, landing on the knee that I injured a few years ago when leaving the motel at Cape Cod. I banged it up pretty badly, but that stand in the way of my having an awesome Mother's Day with my wonderful son, Charlie.

First we took a ride out to the cemetery, parked the car at my parents grave and then walked to visit her, my two Memeres, my 6 aunts and a few cousins, leaving a few flowers for each of them. In our walk, which was a bit tough but I did it, we also passed by an old friend's grave, Cecile Beaudoin so we left her a couple of flowers, too.

When we got back into the car, Charlie put on Wendy Rule singing my Mom's favorite song, La Vie en Rose. The other visitors didn't seem to mind that we were blasting it for they all smiled. For those of you who may not know, St. Joseph's is a French cemetery.

From there we went to a new restaurant, Jon Ryan's Pub. It was quite lovely. I order the pulled pork, but it needed a bit more bar-b-que sauce. When I told the waitress, she didn't hesitate to bring me some extra and it made a huge difference. Charlie ordered a Rueben, but only ate half of it and gave me the rest for me to bring to work tomorrow.

There was however, one sad turn of events today. Shortly after returning home, I got a phone call telling me that my cousin's husband, who had been very sick for a very long time had crossed-over. They had just moved back to New Hampshire because my cousin was no longer well enough to take care of her husband alone.

Well my dear friends, here's hoping that all you beautiful Moms and Memeres, (Grandmothers) including all you Moms who have babies of species other than in human form, had a wonderfully, Happy Mother's Day! I hope your day was filled with all the joys your hearts can hold. (((Hugs)))

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I HATE CENSORS, as much as Auto Correct!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

I was just trying to post a "Good morning" to my teams, and also tell everyone about a wonderful meal I enjoyed with a friend last night, but apparently the sensors must think that the ingredients in the meal are profane words. Ha, ha, ha. I will try posting it again by removing the ingredients to see if it will post. Spark People needs to do something to correct this situation, and then you KNOW there is nothing wrong with your words and so you have to try to figure out what the heck word, or words, they are meaning.

Well, that didn't work, they are still say there is profanity in my post. I really don't know what other words to eliminate

Original posting:

Good morning!

Yay, today is Saturday, April 13th and I am on vacation!

I've got a lot planned for the week, starting with today. I'm trying desperately to get back into my health conscious mind.

Last evening I went to dinner with a friend to a healthy, organic restaurant, called Life Alive. The meal I had was a mix of mushrooms, shredded carrots & beets, broccoli & dark greens, smothered in "SPECIAL" ginger Nama shoyu sauce over brown rice. Washed down with a bottle of a healthy drink called Kombucha. It was DELISH!!

Today, as I wrote in my status, I've got a full schedule:

1) SPARK WITH FRIENDS!!!

2) Find my W-2 so I can do my taxes (here in Massachusetts Monday, the 15th is a holiday, it's Patriots' Day so we have until April 16th)

3) Finish my dishes & cleaning my bathroom

4) Head to bike path on way to hair appointment for a quick walk

5) Go for haircut

6) Quick stop to say "Hi" to my friend while I'm in Leominster

7) Take my son to the airport

8) Do taxes or continue looking for tax papers

9) Bruins hockey game against Carolina


Whew, I'm wiped out just writing the list.

I do hope that everyone enjoys a fun-filled, HEALTHY day!

(((Hugs)))

It posted this time so I added back in the ingredients and figured I'd let you know the word they were "banning" was the name of the mushrooms. The beginning of the word is the same spelling of the word meaning "to defecate". OMG. so I will just tell you that the mushrooms are sh 'take.

I HATE CENSORS!! They are as bad as auto correct.

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YULE BLESSINGS!

Monday, December 17, 2012

One of my FB friends wrote that she is not stressed this holiday season because of all of her blessings. She then asks, "How are you blessed?"

My blessing are numerous, and not one more important, or more meaningful than another.

I am blessed to have a home which keeps me warm and protected from the elements, especially in New England at this time of year.

I am blessed to have the sense of taste, so I can enjoy the abundance of food at my finger tips. I am blessed to have the knowledge and foresight to not overindulge and the help of my many Spark friends.

I am blessed to have my hearing, so I can hear my grandchildren's laughter, my family and friends when they tell me they love me, the sounds of the holidays.

I am blessed with a voice, so I am able to express my love to my children, grandchildren, family and friends through spoken words.

I am blessed to have my sight, so I can enjoy my Yule tree, (pictured above) and all the decorations that help make our neighborhoods bright and festive.

I am blessed to have my job, which affords me all of the necessities of life, as well as a few luxuries, here and there.

I am blessed with fairly good health.

I am blessed with a good, caring heart, a sense of humor.

Now tell me, how do YOU feel blessed?

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY, BLESSED YULE!!

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