Today was a MOSTLY wonderful day! I layered up with long johns (top and bottom) and two pair of leggings, a turtleneck and a sweatshirt. Then my coat. I had a scarf, double gloves and a hat. So I was confident that I would be warm. And I was! It was a beautiful day with the sun shining, sparkling off the snow. Beautiful way to celebrate George Washington’s birthday!

We had time to walk around and look at the displays and have a cup of hot cider.

Maple Syrup display:

Our tour started at 11:30 and as luck would have it there were 4 adults on the tour – and the rest were scouts who were very young elementary age. They were mostly well behaved and listened well – except for their adult sponsors! Ha! Our guide took us through the woods on a snowy path, and explained why George Washington was in that area, who he was with, and what he hoped to accomplish. There was a ‘guide’ down by the bridge who demonstrated a rifle and explained some of what Washington and his guide experienced.

More creek pictures – frozen!

Once we went back into the building, we could trade in our raffle ticket for a piece of Cherry Pie. There was a huge crowd – more than I remember in other years. After I ate my pie I splurged and bought a Cherry Pie Hike T-Shirt just for fun as the red ones were on clearance!

Diane and I had a nice visit on the trip up and back, stopping part way home for lunch at a DQ. I haven’t eaten there in a while and I enjoyed the splurge. Diane had a bunch of coupons, in addition to the senior discount that we got as well.

The minor distress occurred when we got back to her house. There was a note on my windshield. Someone from the apartments building got too close to my car and put a bunch of pretty shallow scratches on the driver’s side. She left her name and phone number so I left her a message – no response yet. But I did call Pinnacle to let them know. We’re going to look at it on Monday – so apparently they weren’t panicked! I was really frustrated, but I realize things like that are bound to happen, and she DID leave her contact information. And Diane knows where she lives.

I got home (after getting a small bottle of OJ) and finished icing the cookies. I still have some emails to answer and a few other things to do. I did really enjoy the day and am thankful that Diane shared her day with me!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 23rd is:

Curling is Cool Day; Defender of the Fatherland Day; Diesel Engine Day; National Banana Bread Day; National Dog Biscuit Day; National Play Tennis Day; National Tile Day; National Tootsie Roll Day; Pinocchio Day.

We watched Pinocchio when we were very young – I don’t remember liking it. However, Kath and I LOVED Tootsie Rolls! Santa left them in our stocking every year! I still have banana bread in my freezer from Kelly and my marathon baking day. God bless!!

I am very tired tonight. I made a solemn vow to myself that I would NEVER again try to bake a whole batch of iced orange drop cookies by myself. It was a long day and a huge effort.

I started the day changing my sheets and washing them, and organizing my vitamins. That is usually a Saturday chore but Diane and I are going on a Cherry Pie Hike up by Slippery Rock tomorrow and I wanted to have plenty of time in the morning to get organized. So I did laundry and had breakfast.

Next, a trip to Walmart. I wanted to make the cookies and needed oranges. I used orange juice last time and was advised that they tasted better when you used real oranges. Not so, at least in my opinion. But I bought more oranges than called for so I could make the icing too.

I finally got the cookies all mixed (after squeezing the oranges by hand — hmmmm) but held off baking them. Kathy stopped over and it seemed we had a ton of things to discuss. Once we caught up, I started baking seven trays of cookies. When I mixed up the icing I realized that the oranges did not make enough icing. Bummer.

So after the cookies were baked, I drove down to Dollar General. All they had were half-gallons of orange juice which were $5. I only needed about half a cup of orange juice and the rest wouldn’t get used – I don’t drink orange juice. So I buzzed up to 7-11. They didn’t have orange juice at all. So I went home and made the decision to put the cookies in zip bags and get orange juice tomorrow on the way home, or even Sunday. The rest of the cookies – that were iced – were packed away in the freezer.

While I was waiting for my lunch to cook, I mixed up a batch of Trail Mix. I had honey roasted peanuts, walnuts, raisins, M&M’s, and tiny chocolate chips. Just a fun little snack.

SCRIPTURE of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 22nd is:

2Twenty2 Day; Be Humble Day; Founders Day Scouts; International Sword Swallowers Day; National Cook a Sweet Potato Day; National Walk your Dog Day; Play More Cards Day; Single Tasking Day; Woolworth’s Day; World Thinking Day; National Supermarket Employee Day; Washington’s Birthday.

Humble is hard. Agreed? I have 3 sweet potatoes so I should have one tomorrow. No dog. After today’s busy day I will definitely handle a single task ONLY! God bless…

Woke up to cold, snowy weather but thankfully didn’t have to shovel. Roads were clear despite the freezing temps.

Nate and Dave did a little touch up but ran out of the dark gray. So once he gets more of that he can finish up.

Once I left work, I had my chiropractor appointment. My regular doctor was tied up so I had an irregular one. Haha. I had her partner. Stopped at the bank, got gas in the Ford, and picked some things up from Diane.

By the time I got home and ate lunch it was 3pm. I had research to do, which I did while I was watching a favorite movie. Cooked some carrots for snack time later.

Now it’s time for supper and the delight of four days ahead of me for myself! Let’s see what I can get into by Tuesday!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 21st is:

Card Reading Day; Language Day; National Caregivers Day; National Grain Free day; National Sticky Bun Day; No One Eats Alone Day; National Boiled Peanuts Day.

I like sending and reading cards. And sticky buns! I always eat alone these days. Have a happy weekend and God bless…

It was a lazy start to my day – finished one book and dove into another one. Sorry to say I’m not a fan of either. I have to spend some time looking for some stellar authors! I’m waiting on Alyssa Maxwell’s newest Newport mystery, or Jan Karen’s 15th book release later this year.

I had a small frozen waffle, then started in on cleaning. I was able to get a load of laundry done, the trash taken out and put up at the road for early morning pickup. It’s 6:20pm and I’ll just putzie around the rest of the evening.

Nate and Dave are coming in the morning. Since I have to work I left them stickie notes all over the house as to what needs freshened up!

My computer wrist support had a flaw that irritated me, so I put a Snoopy sticker on it. Much better!

Joke of the day: Why did the man lose his job at the M&M factory? (answer below)

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 20th is:

National Muffin Day; No Politics Day; Women in Blue Jeans Day; National Chip Week; Clean out Your Bookcase Day; National Cherry Pie Day; National Comfy Day; National Handcuff Day; National Leadership Day; National Love Your Pet Day.

I like muffins; have a few in the freezer. I’m all for a NO POLITICS day – every day! I think my bookcase is as clean as it’s going to get. We’ll have Cherry Pie at the hike on Saturday. If you have a pet, give it a lot of love! God bless…

Answer: He kept throwing away the W’s!!!

Cold cold cold. I still have the faucet dripping a little in the laundry tub, and will probably let it drip until the weekend. Just a precaution. I had a little going on in Jeannette, then stopped and got my prescription at Giant Eagle. Nate was meeting me at the house so I buzzed right home. He and Dave are going to do some touchup work for me tomorrow and we were going over the strategy. I pulled out my paint supplies and didn’t have as much as I thought.

Once we got that squared away, I was able to take a few minutes to run a quick errand. I accomplished my task, and also found a Snoopy St. Patrick’s day shirt at the Big Lots store clearance, and….

….some storage containers at Gabes. These are very inexpensive and perfect for sending left-overs home with the kids after a holiday meal. Easter is coming!

So once I got home, I cleaned out the cupboard that I keep my containers in and cleaned/reorganized it. Looks neater and now I can find what I need. I also got rid of warped, hopelessly stained containers that I never used anyway.

I had bought store-bought cookies a few weeks ago, and decided to dress them up a bit. I took a few of my dark chocolate wafers and melted them down. Then I put a little dab of ‘icing’ on them. Only it won’t stay soft. It will harden, like Chocolate covered Oreos. Yum.

Since I finished my potato soup for supper yesterday and had a left-over pancake for a quick lunch today, I can have my President’s day leftovers for supper. I’ll do that after I finish this. Something to look forward to besides the ironing! Just one little pancake…

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 19th is:

Iwo Jima Day; National Airboat Day; National Arabian Horse Day; National Chocolate Mint Day; National Lash Day; National Vet Girls Rock Day; Tug of War Day.

Diane loves Horses and so does April. I like Chocolate Mint! I have almost no eye lashes. Bummer. Not tugging war with anyone! God bless…

ANSWERS to Yesterday’s Trivia: 1) Buchanan. 2) Lucy Hayes. 3) William Howard Taft. 4) Gerald Ford. 5) JFK.

Woke up to very cold temps, several inches of snow, and wind. I left my fleece PJ’s on and bundled up overtop, then went outside first thing. I got the driveway cleaned off and a little salt thrown. I was great to come in and get a hot shower and breakfast.

I did little chores around the house, then went to Kathy’s. There were four of us for the Presidential luncheon and we had such a great time! Everyone did their homework and we had a lot of interesting facts and trivia of our presidents. It was fun that everyone found something unique and even funny!

Yesterday when I stopped at Barbara Ann’s I amazingly found presidential coasters! I thought I would have to get flags or stars, but the clerk told me they had Lincoln and Washington. Everyone LOVED them! Kathy got one of each as our hostess, and the rest of us got Washington. I was surprised at how much everyone liked them.

Kathy really did a fabulous job with the food items. I think you can probably make out the menu items and why she chose them. Very unique and clever. And so delicious!

We had lunch, then sat in the living room to discuss our presidential trivia, then went back to the table for our dessert of ice cream and cookies. We even got to bring left-overs home! You all know me and my dislike of cooking – so this was perfect

I don’t know how we can top that! Great friends, good food, fun information, laughs, and desserts!

Just found out Autmn’s family has been under the weather. She sent me a few pictures of Cameron trying to recover!

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 18th is:

Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day; National Battery Day; National Crab Stuffed Flounder Day; National drink Wine Day; Pluto Day; Thumb Appreciation Day.

Here are a few tidbits of trivia from our presidential research. Answers tomorrow: 1) Who was the only bachelor president? 2) Which first lady was a total teetotaler? 3) Which president got stuck in a bathtub? 4) Which president was a professional model when he met his wife? 5) Which president was buried twice?

God Bless!

We started the day out with light rain, with a prediction of heavy rains and flooding. Right now it is snowing! I’m thankful I could stay in.

I got a txt message as I was ready to leave for church. One of the Sunday School teachers was ill and I was asked to fill in. Kim was teaching and had everything already organized. I was just crowd control! As there were only 3 kids it was not very crowded but I didn’t mind being back with the kids.

Todd’s message was about the CHURCH and how we’ve been called to make a difference. We all set out to make a difference but get distracted. We need to set our minds to praise God from our very waking thoughts. Remember that what you take into your mind molds who you are. Look for the goodness of God every day. We are servants of Jesus for others – we are the church.

Tomorrow is our presidential luncheon at Kathy’s. I’m excited – something different and fun to look forward to! I hope to remember to take picture to post tomorrow.

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 17th is:

Analog to Digital TV Day; Champion Crab Races Day; Family Day; Islander Day; My Way Day; National Cabbage Day; National Random Acts of Kindness Day; National Tennis Pro Day; Presidents Day; Who Shall I be Day; National Pancake Week; Take your Family to School Week.

I’m excited for our President’s Day luncheon with special friends! No cabbage will be served… It’s important to be kind, every day. I shall be who I shall be, every day. God bless!

It was a winter wonderland this morning when I woke up. The snow was falling fast, big puffy flakes, straight down. Everything was covered and beautiful! I’m usually not a fan of snow, but today I was happy seeing it.

Didn’t take long until the snow stopped and the plows went through. I know that’s important – couldn’t drive safely without them and I for one appreciate them and their drivers very much. But this morning when they went flying past they threw snow everywhere. My driveway was totally blocked in. There were chunks as big as snowmen all across the front. It started to rain, and most of the driveway started to clear off – but not the top. Once I got everything done inside I went out and cleared that off. Mostly it was like shoveling water, and it was very heavy.

I just came back in from clearing it off, and it’s raining again. I think it will be warm enough to be safe for the time being. I switched the flags from Valentine’s Day back to winter for now.

But this morning after breakfast I put all the valentine decorations away, including tea towels, coasters, lights, Snoopys, and window stickees. I was frustrated, because I have two valentine blankets (one was Mom’s) and I totally forgot about them! Too late for this year; I’ll undoubtedly remember next year after the ‘trauma’ of this year!

But it certainly is a wet, dingy, sloppy mess outside. I’m very thankful I don’t have to venture out this evening. Now to get back to my regularly scheduled day! And a cup of tea.

Quote from Diane:

SCRIPTURE of the Day: (not scripture; more a prayer)

PEANUTS ?

TOMORROW February 16th is:

Do a Grouch a Favor Day; Innovation Day; National Almond Day; World Whale Day; National No One Eats Alone Day.

I eat alone almost all the time! That could possibly make someone grouchy. I think it would be amazing to see a whale! God bless….

Why is it that on days that I don’t have any set schedule, I can pop right out of bed and get started with my day? After my shower I made those poppin’ fresh cinnamon rolls as a Valentine treat. I did a load of laundry and had a cup of tea. Read a chapter in the book I just started – The Christmas Coin. I’m enjoying that.

I made a grocery list (small – 6 items!) and then wrote out a list of things I have to do tomorrow. Seems like it will be stay-inside weather tomorrow so I wanted to handle the groceries today and the chores tomorrow. I was just ready to walk into the store when Kath called me. She wanted to drive around Greensburg to see if we could find Dad’s Hometown Heroes banner. So I got my errands done then drove over to pic her up. We drove all over Greensburg, etc, but did not find Dad! Missing! I will wait a few weeks, look again, then call the Go Greensburg office back and say we can’t find the banner.

Today, obviously, was Valentine’s Day. I’m not much on celebrating that but I did send the grandkids cards. I looked up the history of Valentine’s Day, planning to include it in my post today, but it was very vague and there are several different speculations. So I didn’t bother. I do know that the origins, whatever they are, stem from approximately the late 1200’s. So this is not a Hallmark scheme for financial gain. It may have even began earlier – in the 700’s – in celebration of a Martyr named St. Valentine. Either way – it’s all about love and romance these days!

Scripture for the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 15th is:

Annoy Squidward Day; Love Reset Day; National I Want Butterscotch Day; National Gumdrop Day; Remember the Maine Day; Susan B. Anthony Day; Make Mine Chocolate; National Red Sock Day; Singles Awareness Day.

I’ll take Chocolate, rather than butterscotch. I am wearing red socks today. And I’m extremely aware that I’m single! Have a great Saturday – stay warm and safe and happy. God bless…

I did work this morning – took a little Valentine treat to my Pinnacle guys and the mailman. I will term this my ‘cabin fever’ phase of winter, which is what my mom always called it. By mid February through March it was like there really wasn’t too much going on, at least not anything noteworthy to write about! I have been writing and reading and watching HGTV and Hallmark.

By the way, Happy Galentines Day to my gals! Have a wonderful day and know I am hugging you in my heart!

Right now I have my History Traveler playing on the TV in the background – he is at Buchenwald and other concentration camps and talking about the Holocaust. Such horror. So awful that it’s almost unthinkable. And just consider the fact that my parents were alive to hear about this as it was actually happening. I can’t even imagine. Just hearing that history leaves your stomach in knots. God bless them all.

It’s a little after 4pm. I made cream of potato soup and had some for lunch. I have some little things to do this evening to keep me occupied. Nothing worth sharing! So the scripture of the day is:

PEANUTS ?

TOMORROW February 14th is:

Cold Heart Day; Valentine’s Day; Have a Heart Day; International Winter Bike to Work Day; League of Women’s Voter’s Day; Library Lovers Day; National Organ Donor Day; Pet Theft Awareness Day; Read to your Child Day; National Ferris Wheel Day; Girl Scout Cookie Weekend.

I do have a heart but I don’t think it’s cold. I won’t be biking anywhere, for sure. I love reading, and reading to your child is vastly important. Let’s check out those Girl Scout Cookies! God bless…