If you have not checked-out the new "ActiveRain Zoom Challenge" you need to, because it is an easy way to pick-up some quick AR Points.  First if you attend the ActiveRain Weekly ZOOM Meeting from start to finish every Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. EST, from now until the end of the year, you will be awarded 500 points every week you attend.  Second if you do the assignment given at the end of the meeting for that week, you will be awarded another 500 point.   That is an easy 1,000 points!!!The challenged started this past Tuesday, and the assignment for this week was to write a blog describing the type of podcast we would do if we have or started one.  I don't presently have a podcast, but if I was to do one it would be on a topic that I feel very strongly about, "Elections and Voting".Voting i... 10/05/2025

I have shared what I remember most about 9/11 here on ActiveRain since 2012, and have made a commitment to share this memory each and every year on September 11, so today once again I am honoring my commitment with this blog.September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget!  It is a day forever imprinted on my heart and mind.   September 11, 2001 is a day each of us has a special reason why this day will forever be remembered.  September 11, 2001 is a day we will not only forever remember the vicious attack on our country, but also a day to honor those who lost there lives.  It is a day for us to reflect on the memories, and thoughts which went through our mines as the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded 24 years ago. Below is my special memory of that day, it is an event which hit clo... 09/11/2025

Labor Day this year in CT is a bright, sunny day for a third year in a row, which means a great day for all the Labor Day plans that have been made.  For me the only thing I have planned for today is to just get some extra sleep and rest. Normally we plan on having the family over and putting some food on the grill.  But now that my two sons live in different states, it is just my wife and I.  So this year we are going to put a couple of thick filet mignons on the grill, and enjoy them with a baked potato and corn on the cob. I hope that each and everyone of you spend this Labor Day doing what you enjoy, you have earned it.  Whatever you do make sure this is a safe and happy Holiday for you and your family!!! Happy Labor Day 2025!!! 09/01/2025

Carol Williams and Ralph Gorgoglione are co-hosting the ActiveRain August Challenge, and they are asking us to "to dig deep and share the most heartfelt real estate transaction(s) you’ve ever been a part of."  I have had a number of what I consider very special and heartfelt mortgage loan transaction, BUT none more special and heartfelt then the one I am sharing today. This mortgage loan was probably the most difficult loan transaction I did in my 19+ years as a Mortgage Loan Originator.  I try to give each and every one of my Loans 100% of my attention, but every once in a while a Borrower comes along whose situation is such that I need to go beyond the 100%.  This usually happens when it is a Borrower that is of a lower income, and desperately trying to create a better living environm... 08/31/2025

Happy 4th of July 2025 to all my ActiveRain friends.  Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and my wife will be traveling to my nephew's house in RI for a family cookout.  My youngest son and his wife will also be becoming up from Mananas, VA, and will spend the weekend with us.We don't get many opportunities to get the family together, so these family get together's are very special.  Everyone brings a side dish or desert, and my nephew normally provides the hot dogs and hamburgers.  This year I will be bring pizza rolls from a nearby pizza restaurant.  They are called pizza rolls but are really like pizza balls.  They are round and donut hole size with pepperoni, and you dip them in a marinara sauce.Hopefully all of you will have a happy 4th of July, and get to spend quality time with your fam... 07/03/2025

Happy Father's Day to all fathers.  It was a very special day today even though both my son live far away.  It started with going to church, followed by lunch at a favorite places where I enjoyed one of my favorite meals, whole belly clams.  I then got a call from my youngest son letting me know I was getting 5 dozen golf balls with an icon that is a likeness of me printed on them.  Later in the evening I FaceTime with my oldest son, and gorgeous granddaughter.  It is not the same as all being with them, but it was still a very special day!!!I hope the rest of the fathers reading this blog get to spend their Father's Day in their own special way.  Enjoy it, and appreciate the blessings you are so fortunate to have.  06/15/2025

Today is 2025 Memorial Day In Middletown, CT.  Memorial Day is a day our Country has set aside to honor the fallen men and women who have served in our Armed Forces, and put their lives on the line to ensure the freedoms we have.Memorial Day has also become a time where families get together for picnics and family fun.  Some may even attend a local parades or participate in one.  Whatever you do today I hope a part of the day is spent on reflecting upon the meaning of this day, and those who we honor.  For my wife and I today will be a day of relaxing, and putting some ribs on the grill.  But for many today will involve traveling a fair distance to be with family and friends.  So my annual messages has become the one above, and hope today will be a day free of accidents and loss of live... 05/26/2025

It is a special day anytime we get to honor our mother's and thank them for all they do.  My mother passed away 17 years ago, so I can no longer get to thank her personally for everything she did for me, but I do get to thank my wife tomorrow for everything she has done for me and our two sons.  This is a day she gets to be treated like the queen she is, and shown how special she is to us. Happy Mother's Day 2025to all Mother's, and I hope tomorrow is a very special day for every Mother everywhere.  05/10/2025

Happy and Blessed Easter Sunday.  Today is a special day for my family and I.  It is a day we look forward to each year, however, this year will be different than in the past.  My wife and I will still start out the day by going to Church, and coming home after Church Services, and Bible Class for a special lunch/dinner.  But this year neither one of my two sons will be here to enjoy it with us.  My youngest son and his wife have relocated to Manassas, Virginia, also as many of you know my oldest son Matthew, his wife Ashley, and my gorgeous granddaughter Elizabeth are living in Bonney Lakes, WA.  So this year we have invited a special friend to have Easter lunch/dinner with us.  Then later this evening we will FaceTime with my oldest son Matthew, his wife Ashley, and my gorgeous grandd... 04/20/2025

Happy St Patrick's Day 2025.  I hope all of you have a very special and enjoyable day today, and have an opportunity to celebrate it with family and friends.  St. Patrick's Day is one of the more festive days of the year, and we all can use a little more fun in our lives.Hope everyone keeps safe and do not partake of TO MUCH GREEN of anything!!!AndMay your pot always be filled with GOLD!!!  03/17/2025

Tomorrow is Daylight Savings Time, so it's time to Spring Forward and lose an hour of sleep!  I don't know about everyone else, but as much as I like getting an extra hour of daylight, and moving closer to Spring, I hate losing an hour's sleep.  However, losing an hour's sleep in exchange for getting an extra hour of day light and moving closer to Spring makes it a little more acceptable since I have Spring Fever.This is also a good time to change the batteries in you smoke detectors, and anything else that requires batteries in your house.  Changing the batteries in the smoke detectors only takes a minute, and can make a life difference in case of a fire.So don't forget tomorrow is Daylight Savings Time.  That means it's time to Spring Forward and one day closer to Spring and warmer we... 03/08/2025

Happy Presidents Day 2025!!! Today is Presidents Day, and for most workers in the U.S. a day off from work.  Presidents Day was not always been known as Presidents Day, in fact up until 1968 there was no Presidents Day.Presidents Day was originally known as Washington's Birthday, and established in 1885 by President Chester Arthur.  Later many states decided that Abraham Lincoln was equally a great President, and started to celebrate his birthday as well.In 1968 Congress decided that both days should be combined into one Holiday, celebrated on the third Monday of February, and call it Presidents Day.  Today few remember the two separate celebrations in honor of Washington and Lincoln, and think that it is in honor of all Presidents, and special Sales Promotions.Today will be an off day ... 02/17/2025

Happy Valentine's Day 2025 to All My ActiveRain Friends!!!  This is my annual wish to all my friends here on ActiveRain.  Wishing you all a very happy and special Valentine's Day.  I hope all of you take the time today to tell everyone who is special to you how you feel about them, and spent quality time with them. Today my wife and I will have a special dinner at one of our local restaurants.  After 50 years of marriage it is no longer about what her and I do to celebrate Valentine's Day, it is about celebrating and enjoying the day together, and enjoying what is most important to us.  Happy Valentine's Day 2025!!! 02/14/2025

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who deserves to be honored and respected.  Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is a day very worthy of being celebrated.   Martin Luther King, Jr. deserves this honor and much, much more.  The opportunities many have today are a result of Martin Luther King, Jr. vision and work.Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream not for himself but for all mankind.  A dream of equality, freedom, and justice.  Nothing Martin Luther King, Jr. did centered on himself, it all centered on others.  His life was one of service to others unconditionally.As a young boy from a different country, Martin Luther King, Jr. taught me a major life lesson, one that I learned very early in my life.  He taught me not only to dream, but to fully expect the dream to be fulfilled.  No mat... 01/20/2025

I just want to take this opportunity to say Happy New Year 2025 to all my friends here on ActiveRain.  I have been blessed to know several of you for many years, and have been blessed with new ActiveRain friends this year as well.  I am all set to kick off 2025, and leave 2024 behind.  I am looking forward to the new challenges 2025 brings us, and hope the same for all of you. Life is to short to waist a precious minute of it.  Be thankful for what you have, and enjoy every minute of it. I look forward to reading each and everyone of your blogs, and hope you put up with my comments in 2025.  Stay Safe This New Years Eve&Party Safely!!!Happy New Year 2025!!!   12/31/2024

Merry Christmas To All My ActiveRain Friends In 2024 Today is Christmas, and Christmas has always been a day my wife and I have spent with our two sons, but now that my sons no longer live in CT we have had to get a little creative in celebrating Christmas.My youngest son and his wife now live in Manassas, VA. and drove to CT Monday.  They alternate Christmas Eve and Christmas between us, and his wife's parents.  This year is our year for Christmas Eve.  So yesterday we had our traditional Christmas or Christmas Eve meal with them of stuffed jumbo shrimp, filet mignon, and twice baked potatoes.After our meal we FaceTimed with my oldest son, and my gorgeous granddaughter, Elizabeth who live in Bonney Lake, WA.  While FaceTiming we opened Christmas present we sent each other.  This is not... 12/25/2024

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!I hope that everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving today.   Do not let the day go by without taking a few minutes to truly give thanks for all you have been blessed with, and if possible take the opportunity to be a blessing to someone else.  Today should not only be a day of giving thanks in word, but in giving thanks in deed as well.Happy Thanksgiving From My House To Yours!!!  11/28/2024

Fall Has come and gone in Connecticut, which means it is time for me to conclude  my Progression Of Fall Colors series I started twelve years ago.  This is a series I hoped to continue for many years, and have been able to do so far, however, this year I started about a week to late. The first two years of this series, the pictures were of a farm which is only about a minute walk from my house.  Ten years ago I decided to change the location for the 2014 Progression Of Fall Color Series to a lake about 5 minutes from my house on RT17.  I tried that location for two years, but the colors were not as good as I expected them to be.  So eight years ago I decided to change locations again to a site at Lyman's Orchards in Middlefield, CT.  But once again that site did not produce the colors I... 11/12/2024

Today is Veterans Day 2024, A Day To Honor Our Veterans, and our Men and Women who are serving in our Armed Forces.I hope that everyone takes a moment out of there day to say thank you to either a Veteran they know, or one of the Men and Women presently serving.  It only takes a minute to do this, but the impact and meaning it has on the one you say thank you to is greater than you can imagine. Those who have served our country did so willingly and without expectation of anything in return.  They did it for the honor of serving the land of opportunity, and to secure the freedoms we enjoy.Many restaurants throughout the Country will be honoring our Veterans with free meals, and discounts.  So let us join all the organization who are honoring our Veterans today and show our appreciation a... 11/11/2024

Fall Has arrived once again in Connecticut, which means it is time for me to begin my Progression Of Fall Colors series I started twelve years ago.  This is a series I hoped to continue for many years, and have been able to do so far, however, this year I have started maybe a week to late. The first two years of this series, the pictures were of a farm which is only about a minute walk from my house.  Ten years ago I decided to change the location for the 2014 Progression Of Fall Color Series to a lake about 5 minutes from my house on RT17.  I tried that location for two years, but the colors were not as good as I expected them to be.  So eight years ago I decided to change locations again to a site at Lyman's Orchards in Middlefield, CT.  But once again that site did not produce the co... 11/08/2024