This post will be the start of our trip. We left my house about 1pm. Paul and Kathy had kept Millie overnight so they just picked me up on the way home from church and we headed out. The sky was bright and beautiful and we felt happy and excited.

There is a place right after you get off the turnpike at Breezewood and jump onto Route 70 that you can see a beautiful vista – mountains and the valley, with farms and churches and houses. It’s beautiful!

We could tell when we started to get close to D. C….

The first place we went was to drive past Gerald Ford’s former home in D.C. Kathy was very excited, since she could now add that Presidential home to her list. We couldn’t go closer than the sidewalk but it was fun just to be there.

Poor Kath – I cut off her head! Just like Aunt Hazel always used to do!!! 🙂 The little plaque to the right of the door designates the house as Gerald Ford’s home before he became President.

We left there and were driving into the city. Snapped a picture of the Pentagon and the Washington Monument across the river.

Paul was good at navigating the streets. He got us over to the Lincoln Memorial and we even parked decently close. We could see the Washington Monument through the trees, and then the Reflection Pool, the monument and the Capitol building. I was so excited to be there!

We climbed the steps to get pictures, and read all the plaques on the walls.

We left Lincoln and drove around to the Jefferson Memorial. So many impressive, amazing things to see.

The airport is so close the city! I think planes were taking off about every 4 or 5 minutes. The were huge and loud and all different shapes and colors. I loved watching them fly over, especially coming in for landings, the way they banked and tipped their wings. So low!

Once we left there, we tried to drive close to the White House but couldn’t get on the right street. We’ll try again tomorrow.

Once we got out of D.C., we headed to our motel. Millie was desperate to swim and was convinced the pool would be closed til we got there. Thankfully we got checked in and changed in time for Kathy and Millie to have a lovely swim! The pool was crowded but Millie seemed to enjoy the other kids. While they were swimming, I cozied up on a comfy chair with my book, and Paul went to get us supper. We were all ready to call it a day and sleep quickly so we could start again tomorrow. Mt. Vernon!

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW April 18th is:

Good Friday; International Day of Monuments and Sites; International Jugglers Day; Lineman Appreciation Day; National Animal Crackers Day; National Exercise Day; World Marbles Day; Cleaning for a Reason Day; National Clean out your Medicine Cabinet Day; National Poem in your Pocket Day.

I always have a reason to clean! We had our share of monuments in DC and Baltimore and it was wonderful! We will celebrate in remembrance of Good Friday. I think I still have a few marbles left. 🙂 God bless…

Well, here we are, back from DC and Baltimore. We had a great time. Vacations with young children are very different than when Kathy and I (and sometimes Paul) go together. But Millie was amazing and I have to say I’ve never seen a child to engrossed in historic facts! She loved the videos and listened intently to everything. She was more patient than I was.

I will describe our little mini-trip starting tomorrow, but today I will begin at the end! I walked in the door about 5pm on Tuesday, and found this flyer, along with a tiny Jesus, on my couch. Three Hundred mini-Jesus figurines hidden in my house!

Everywhere I turned, there were one or more mini-Jesus. Some of them were in such unique places that I just had to laugh! I didn’t take pictures of them all, but I did take a few of my favorite to share. So far I’ve found about 225. Every once in a while I open a cupboard or drawer and there He is! I took 10 over to Kathy so she could share with the kids. I’ll take a few to the guys at work, and also to some friends at church. What an absolutely amazing thing to do. You never know what your going to find next.

SCRIPTURE of the Day:

PEANUTS:

TOMORROW April 17th is:

World Circus Day; National High Five Day; Ford Mustang Day; Herbalist day; Holy Thursday; International Bat Appreciation Day; International Pizza Cake Day; National Cheese Ball Day; National Crawfish Day; National Haiku Day; National Kickball Day; No Limits for Deaf Children Day.

Life is often a circus! I took cheeseballs on vacation but we never even opened them. Tomorrow is the perfect day to reflect on what Jesus has done for us. God bless….

First off, a big congratulations to Jen and her Ninth Life Rescue. Today is the 10th anniversary! They’ve accomplished so much and done amazing things in the community and for the animals. Support them any way you can!

I hit the floor running this morning, determined to keep up with everything and keep on schedule. I changed and washed the sheets, then washed the towels from the week. Since I needed vacation cash I left early for the HCC egg hunt and stopped at the bank. I was still early at church. As usual the committee did an eggs-cellant job decorating and setting up games and crafts.

My job was to be story lady, and to read The Easter Story to the kids. There was a rather small percentage of kids who were interested in setting still, but the ones who came over to listen seemed very engaged.

There were snacks – hot dogs, chips, cookies, and cotton candy, the latter of which was the biggest hit with the little ones. I think the adults gravitated to the cookies. There were 3 choices: Chocolate chip, chocolate chip, or chocolate chip. Hmmmm.

A lot of my friends were helpers today, and I was glad to have a few minutes to catch up and talk to them. That is, of course, if you could hear anyone above the noise. Everything was very loud. That’s what happens when you have bunches of kids scampering around with adults chasing after them!

This will be the last post until Wednesday. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW April 13th is:

International Plant Appreciation Day; National Make Lunch Count Day; National Peach Cobbler Day; National Scrabble Day; National Silly Earrings Day; Palm Sunday; Passover; Thomas Jefferson Day; Holy Week.

Lunch is fun any day, and I like silly earrings. Take time tomorrow to think about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and what it meant – and the week coming up. Have a great day, and God bless…

My dog swallowed up my entire bag of Scrabble tiles, so I took him to Vet to get him checked out. No word yet.

I finally have something to write about, but it’s 9pm and I’m almost too tired to write. But I will do a quick catchup and be ready for tomorrow. Kelly and I had homemade bread toasted, as we had mixed up the bread and baked it yesterday. We also did two double batches of pie dough cinnamon rolls – Peyton and Chrissy both requested them for Easter, but Peyton requested them for NOW!

Yesterday we ran a few errands, bought some of the food for Easter that could be bought ahead of time, and stopped at Miller’s Crossing. She was looking for a globe but ended up getting one on loan.

After breakfast today we started a load of laundry, then buzzed over to Target. She needed a few things that she always buys at Target, so it didn’t require decisions or searching. I got Cameron a baby ‘cow’ duckie. He’s getting quite the collection and I love the cow!

After Kelly and Chase left (I sent as many leftovers with them as I could!) I tidied up the family room, threw in a load of sheets, and headed to WORK! Rege called me this morning and they had POWER! and HEAT! and INTERNET! and DEALS! They also had extension cords everywhere. Disaster Restoration Services are in charge of the restoration and they have done a wonderful job so far. The building is shored up and secured. The Township stopped by just when I arrived and took the WARNING sign off the building. Up to that point only owners and employees were allowed inside but now it’s officially open. I was there FOUR HOURS! It’s been a long time since there has been so much to do. I feel better now!

I stopped at Kathy’s on the way home. She had some skin cancer removed on her forehead and I stopped to drop some things off. She was feeling hazy and lazy, but Paul was bringing supper home so she didn’t have to do anything. She’s hoping to feel back to normal tomorrow.

From there I went on to the Greensburg Civic Theater. Their junior actors were doing the play ‘Elephant & Piggie’s – We Are In a Play’. I did not stay for the performance. I helped usher, caught up with my friends Cathy, Bruce, and Bear, then came home. By then it was almost 8pm and I was hungry.

So now it’s time to finish this post and get organized for tomorrow – I’m the Story Lady for the HCC Easter Egg Hunt.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW April 12th is:

Passover Begins; National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day: National Licorice Day; National Big Wind Day; Barbershop Quartet Day; Day of Silence; Dog Therapy Appreciation Day; International Cheese Fondue Day; National Clean up your Pantry Day; National Eight Track Tape Day; National Fast and Prayer Day; National Pet Day; National Submarine Day; Poet in a Cupcake Day; National Only Child Day.

Yesterday – which I missed posting for – was National Siblings Day. Can’t pass up a chance to send hugs to my wonderful Sister!

So celebrate any or all – or pick something of your own. Be happy! God bless..

Kelly and I had a busy day – in fact I’ve had a busy past 3 days. I need to spend this evening with Kelly and Chase, as they are leaving at noon tomorrow. So I’ll catch up as soon as I can. All is well! God bless…

Since these three days will be sort of low key, I just lazed around this morning. I finished book 3 in my Meadowood Inn series. It took a strange turn about 3/4 of the way through, but I managed to get around that and finish book 4 this afternoon. Now on to something else.

One I got the laundry started, I called the bank with questions about my older home equity loan. So that’s straightened out. Then I called Mike P to catch them up on my schedule, and promised to stop down in the afternoon to help with a deal. I stopped and got my Diet Pepsi and banana popsicles, then came home. Now I just have to post this and answer a few emails and that’s it for the day.

I bought 4 of these little containers for snacks on the trip. It’s hard to hold potato chips or pretzels in your hand in the car without crumbing. Hope this helps. They’re cute, anyway!

I was getting stressed out with the yard – the rain and sun caused it to get out of control over night. So I got the whole yard mowed. I really should have weed whacked, too, but that was too much. First cutting is always exhausting. If it doesn’t rain or snow in the morning I might be able to get that done.

My Bleeding Heart keeps growing. I knew it was bigger last year!

I have a few things going on in the next several days so I may not be able to post until Thursday or Friday. Don’t be concerned! Kelly is coming up so she’ll be keeping me busy — or I’ll be keeping her busy! Either way, it’s all good.

SCRIPTURE of the day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW April 8th is:

Baby Massage Day; Draw a Bird Day; International Be Kind to Lawyers Day; International Kids Yoga day; National All is Ours Day; National Zoo Lovers Day; Grand National; Texas Sandfest; National Library Workers Day.

I like libraries and zoos and I only know one lawyer to be kind to. I can’t draw anything. So — have a great day and God Bless…

Today was our last class on HCC and what we believe for Sunday School. It was a good class. It took me back to the days of Raldo Cook (our first minister) and the endless lessons and songs we learned from him. It was nice having a refresher course.

I actually came home after Sunday School, as the girls were to come about noon. As is typical, they were both running ‘behind their time’. But it gave me time to set the table, start the soup, prep the fruit and the desserts, and secure the breakables (Cameron-proof!). He always heads directly for anything shiny and glass.

He did surprise me today — They walked in the door, and he headed straight for the giant Snoopy and the little Snoopy bucket with the Snoopy eggs. They fit just right in his hand.

He really did like the baskets of eggs best, and we spent the whole 4 hours tip-toeing around plastic eggs and prying his little fingers off of glass bunnies!

The girls were very excited to be together. Chrissy brought her friend Hope, who hadn’t been to our historic tea before. We had Cream of Potato soup, Jack’s Pizza, Grapes, Strawberries, Cheese, two kinds of crackers, Three kinds of M&M’s. For dessert we had the little pre-made sugar cookies with pink bunnies on the front. Autmn brought a loaf of her homemade banana bread and I sliced some of that up, as well. So we had plenty to eat!

Cameron kept us entertained, and ate almost everything Autmn put on his tray. He even scooped a few spoon fulls of soup. I think the cheese and crackers – and possibly pizza – were his favorite. And the cookies!

Autmn stuck Cameron in the pack n play after lunch, and the three girls went downstairs to play Peanuts Monopoly. Cameron, however, didn’t ‘feel’ the nap, and managed to climb out of the pack n play and stood pounding on the door of the bedroom! After he took about a dozen or so items off the shelves and scattered them all over the floor. I was so thankful there wasn’t anything that he could get hurt on.

I really feel blessed to have had this day with the girls. We had good conversations and lots of laughs and fun with Cameron. He really loved all the attention. And he liked dancing to our Easter Beagle bounce! He can really shake his little butt! What a sweet, wonderful afternoon with precious family.

Work update: I just txt Rege. There’s currently no power turned on in the building so the dealership won’t be open for a few days. So he’ll keep me posted.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS:

TOMORROW April 7th is:

World Health Day; Community Garden Week; International Beaver Day; Make the First Move Day; Metric System Day; Motherhood and Beauty Day; National Coffee cake Day; National No Housework Day; Public Television Day.

I like coffee cake, and I try to be focused on good health. Not a big fan of beavers. Don’t think I can keep myself from doing housework on ANY day. Have a great week – and God Bless…

After the routine Saturday morning chores, I left the house at about 10:45am. First I popped over to the bank and deposited a check, then went on to pick Kathy up. We drove over to Delmont for the history program presented by Ken Serfass who portrays General Ulysses S Grant. He does an Excellent job! He knows so much about Grant and about history – Civil War. We sat for 2 hours to listen to his presentation. I always learn something and there’s always facts that are very insightful and unique. He touched on so many things that were in my book (Letters to Mary) that I ran out to the car and got one for him. He seemed excited and likes to read books with actual letters and researched facts. I hope he gets in touch with me after he reads it. Today’s presentation was ‘Lee’s Surrender, April 1865’.

I feel like I should have my own room at Walmart. I have been there so often these last few weeks. There is always some special event that I have to prepare for. Today I picked up a few items for our Crocus Tea tomorrow. Autmn and Cameron, and Chrissy and her friend Hope are all coming. So tomorrow will be our 13th annual Crocus Tea! That’s quite a record!

I have been seeing a lot of beautiful trees in bloom – most of them white blossoms. I tried to get a few pictures but without the bright sun they don’t look as impressive. I’m afraid to wait in case the sun doesn’t shine before they are done blooming.

In the mail today I got a Trip Tik from Gen for our trip to her house in June. Kath and I will have to sit down and study it together so we both know where we are going!

As for yesterday afternoon, there was a community Volunteer Fair at the Civic Center. There was an entire room full of tables representing organizations that basically survive on volunteer participation. I was there with Ligonier Valley Writers. My friend Teresa Baughman from the theatre was there, as well as Lisa and Mary Ann from Hanna’s Town. I don’t know how anyone can be bored in Westmoreland County with so many wonderful organizations that are constantly looking for helping hands!

While I was there, Bear called me to ask me to usher next weekend. I will try to go Friday night if I can. He sent me pictures of their new puppies – Furguson and Winnie. They are very cute French Bulldogs.

I intend on spending the rest of the evening watching HGTV, finding something for dinner, and reading my book.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW April 6th is:

Army Day; California Poppy Day; Drowsy Driver Awareness Day; Fresh Tomato Day; Geologist Day; Good Deeds Day; Jump over Things Day; National Caramel Popcorn Day; National Employee Benefits Day; National Library Day; National Pajama Day; National Siamese Cat Day; National Teflon Day; National Twinkie Day; Plan your Epitaph Day.

I love home-grown tomatoes! It’s really nice to do a good deed whenever you can. I’d rather do chocolate covered popcorn than caramel. Growing up, my friend Gen had Siamese cats. We could never get near them. They lived in her basement, mostly. Enjoy a Twinkie if you like; I prefer to stick with the tomatoes. God bless…

I slept better than I though I would. I did wake up at 6:30 and was wide awake. I’ve just been putsying around all morning, and just finished a load of laundry. My birdhouse barn fell down, so I put on a raincoat and put it back up – as well as the wooden Snoopy that is forever taking a dive!

I walked around the house on the way to the mailbox and took a few pictures. The warmer weather and the rain has made them really pop up.

About 9pm – last night – Barry txt me to see if I was OK. Of course I was, and I ask him if he was doing alright. They all seem to be all holding up, even the building. I found out this morning that Barry was on the Channel 11 news, so I watched that and took some pictures. They did finally get the car out.

This morning first thing I txt Rege and asked him to call me. He said that everyone had a positive attitude and would take things one at a time, but would keep operating with whatever limits there are. They own a huge house on the same lot so they could work out of that building if necessary. So that’s my update.

My sister stopped and dropped off a booster seat for Cameron to use. She also brought me a bouquet of beautiful flowers — thankful that I got through unscathed yesterday when so many other things could have happened. God is good! Thank you, sweet sister!

Today is the community Volunteer Fair at the Greensburg Civic Center. I offered to help at the Ligonier Valley Writer’s booth, so I’ll head over there a little before 3pm. The fair is from 3pm to 6pm.

Today is the 9th Anniversary of B&B Window Cleaning – so a huge congratulation to Nate and Dave. Great job, guys. I’m SO proud of you both (and Jen for keeping you straight)!

And I think I’ll just leave you for now with the SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS:

TOMORROW April 5th is:

National Handmade Day; National Flash Drive Day; National Deep Dish Pizza Day; National Dandelion Day; National Caramel Day; International Firewalk Day; International Pillow Fight Day; Go for Broke Day; First Contact Day; Every Day is Tag Day; Bell Bottoms Day; National Love our Children Day; National PEEPS Day; Read a Road Map Day; National Play Outside Day.

Pizza is good. No dandelions, although the bees like them! Can’t go broke if you’re already there! I used to wear bell bottoms. Now we leave it to Lainie Wilson! God Bless.

I got a lot of things done today, and I felt good about that, but that was all superseded but this afternoon’s adventure. When I went to work this morning the internet was down. Ken called Comcast and they were sending someone out between 2 and 4pm. So I said I’d be back at 4pm to finish what I couldn’t do early. It was the adventure at 4:30pm that shook up the day – quite literally.

I was sitting at my desk in the front of the building – which is directly in front of the window. I couldn’t get the USPS site to work, so I asked Ken to help. We went into Rege’s desk in the back, and still had trouble. I was looking over his shoulder when the loudest explosion-type noise that I every heard hit the building. I grabbed his shoulders and buried my head in his back. He yelled and jumped up – Barry came flying into the front room and yelled, ‘A car just drove through the building.’

It missed my window by a few feet and knocked the porch completely down, and crashed into the outside wall by the stairwell. We couldn’t even open the door to get out, and the stairs were blocked. Apparently a guy went through the intersection, straight across 6 lanes of Route 30, and full throttle hit the building. A man in a pickup who was behind him followed him over, jumped out and called 9-1-1. The first responder on the scene made us come out of the building in case it was compromised. I grabbed the checkbook and what I was working on, as well as my purse and phone. (Can’t leave my work undone!)

Once we were out, we weren’t allowed to go back in. So Ken, Barry and I stood outside and watched the parking lot fill up with police, fire trucks, rescue squad, ambulance – whatever could fit. The ambulance personnel did get the guy out, and took him to the hospital. The car was holding up the building so they couldn’t move it at that point. One of the fire crew secured the porch roof with wooden posts. The police and the fire department took our names and contact information and asked us what we saw. I didn’t see anything until it was over, but I sure heard it.

The temperature fell and the wind kicked up and it started to sprinkle rain. When I left the house it was sunny and balmy so I didn’t have a jacket. The parking lot was full of emergency vehicles, so finally the officer accompanied Ken into the building to get the keys for all the cars. Ken and Barry moved a few and opened up a place to get out onto Route 30. Rege came about 15 minutes later, trying to make sense of everything. I left there about 6pm, came home and took two Tylenol and had a cup of tea. It’s something I won’t forget in a long time. NO idea how long it will take to sure up the building or when they will let us back in, or what it will take to repair it.

Right before I left a new helicopter hovered over the site, and then a reporter was walking around. I was glad I left before I had to talk to him. Business has been slow through fall and winter, and had just started to pick up, and now this. I feel so bad for everyone – the man in the car, the owners, those of us who work there. So now, we wait. But I am very thankful none of us were hurt and that so many caring, efficient people came as first responders to make sure we were safe. God bless them, every one!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW April 4th is:

404 Day; Discover National Parks Fortnight; International Carrot Day; Jeep 4×4 Day (I just got a Cherokee to drive this morning!); National Hug a Newsperson Day (And here I was trying to avoid one!); National Picky Eaters Day; National Walk Around Things Day; School Librarian Day; Tell a Lie Day (um, not!); Vitamin C Day; Walk to Work Day.

I’m not sure I’ll have a job to walk to for a while. It’s better to walk around things than to trip over them. I’m glad to have a few days off after the trauma this afternoon. God bless — us all!