Hello boys and girls! Welcome to story time with Marge! Today I will take you through a little journey, and let you decide the ending. Thanks for turning in.

This morning, at 10 minutes past 8am, I dialed my doctor’s office after a wonderful 2 1/2 hours sleep. More than usual. I described my last four days to the receptionist, then the nurse. Dr. Cole is on vacation this week, but he was reviewing calls and emails, and she would get back to me.

Knowing medical facilities only slightly (?), I calculated that I had enough time for a shower and to get dressed. And to make the bed. And have breakfast. And email both bosses. I was just pouring my tea when they called back.

Apparently Dr. Cole deferred my questions to his associate, Dr. Kielbasa (that’s not his name but I can’t pronounce it). Dr. K directed that I should go to the emergency room, describe my symptoms and distresses, and they would take it from there. Despite the dollar signs floating in my mind, I agreed reluctantly. Seems like those doctors and nurses had better things to do than deal with someone who wasn’t sleeping all night. I went to work in Jeannette and finished up there, not knowing what would transpire in the next 24 hours.

The nurse had suggested Frick Hospital, as Westmoreland was overly crowded and Latrobe was very busy. So I headed over there and hesitantly told my story (they were very nice) and began my wait for diagnosis and treatment. Bear in mind that Emergency Rooms are NOT there to give you a complete treatment plan. They get you through the next two or three days and refer you BACK to your primary care physician.

The nurse, the doctor, and the assistants were all very nice. My blood pressure was slightly elevated but that’s not surprising. That happens to me when I’m stressed. Why should I be stressed??? They took down all the information, and set a plan in action. First, I had a COVID test, the rapid one. It was negative (I figured it was). Then I had chest X-rays. After a considerable wait, I was told my lungs were clean, so no pneumonia or bronchitis. Good news! They did, however, think it would be a good idea to give me a breathing treatment. It wouldn’t help my cough, but would help clear my airways and possibly relax me. Hmmmm.

It was very warm in there, and after over two hours with nothing to drink and several tests (they administered the SLOW Covid test, apparently determined to prove COVID!) – not to mention the breathing treatment that made me shaky – I started to cough. I coughed like I usually do in the night, without stopping and making horrid sounds, and choking. There was a nurse with a patient in the bed to the right of me, but he never even asked if it was ok. I grabbed my purse and staggered out to the main station. The nurse there was very distressed and had me go back to my bed. Thankfully the doctor walked past with a patient and said to get me a drink.

For the next fifteen minutes I sipped water, coughed, and waited to be released. I had now listened to the stories of the uncomfortable patients on each side of me about four times each, and felt sorry for their pain and distress. I scribbled – literally – my discharge papers, got dressed, and again staggered out through the hallways. Two people pointed me in the right direction (never been to Frick before!), and was finally outside in the parking lot. Breathing deeply did not help, but I had learned that I had a viral infection which could not be cured but could be ‘tamed’ until it went away on its own in 7-10 days.

Still coughing, but at least able to breath in between, I made my way through the street of Mt. Pleasant. The view over the mountains cheered me, and I took a quick picture as I made my way the few miles to Walmart. I needed a few things including cough medicine and it did seem silly to go home and go back out.

Realizing that it was now well after 2pm and I hadn’t eaten since before 9am I grabbed a baby sandwich (slider?) from Arby’s and nibbled that in the parking lot. I was able to get the several things on my list (a miracle in itself since it WAS Walmart!), and headed home. Well, not home. I went directly to Walgreens to get the steroids prescribed. I hadn’t received a txt message that it was ready but chanced it anyway. Success! Came home, changed clothes, took a small nap. THEN I got a message that my prescription was ready….

So all in all, I still don’t have anything for my cough except over the counter meds and have little hope of a good night’s sleep, at least for tonight. But I know that I don’t have COVID or pneumonia or bronchitis and my airways are clear! That is somewhat of a comfort. I will reheat some potato soup shortly and actually not do anything the rest of the evening. It’s not like me to be stagnant, but I think under the circumstances I should just mull over the day. On Monday I will reach out to my PCP and see where we go from there.

And the icing on the cake (oh, if only it HAD been cake!) was that Rege told me before I headed to Frick that I just needed over the counter cough meds, a prescription for steroids, lots of water and rest. I txt him that was exactly the prognosis, and he said he should have been a doctor. I agree! What was he thinking???

Thanks to all who have been following this crazy journey. Hoping for good things over the next few days. And thanks for tuning in to story time with Marge. Stay tuned for more episodes! God bless!

July 7 – What kinds of rides and games were there? How much did they cost? “We would ride the Ferris Wheel & the Big Swings. Also the Merry-go-Round. The games were ring toss, pitching pennies, and throwing base balls. Most everything was around 5 cents.”

Calendar Inspiration – not sure this was a big story, though.

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TOMORROW July 9th is:

• National Dimples Day **
• National Sugar Cookie Day

I hope to keep a low key but happy weekend and look forward to spending time with Chase next week. I feel confident that it’s safe for him to be here and he’ll love having some time alone with — my internet! Love that little guy! God bless.

Today was a slow, lazy day – but I got everything done that I needed to do. I think I can feel the meds starting to work – but it’s only been 24 hours and I can’t hurry things. The cough is taking me down, mostly. Hoping for better sleep tonight.

Last night Autmn and Chrissy and two of Autmn’s friends went to a concert at Stage AE (I’ve never been there). The band was Dirty Heads (I’ve never heard to it). This was a first for them, because although Autmn and her 2 friends were all over 19 (and Chrissy is 16) this is the first time they’ve gone to a concert without a parent figure along. I know Nate was feeling a little tense – but I reminded him of the time he went to Ozz-fest with friends I didn’t know well and got a ride with someone I never met. It was an outdoor concert at a Pittsburgh arena and I was very nervous. And although it wasn’t quite the same, I went with my friend Di and her friend to a Bobby Vinton and Danny Thomas concert in Pittsburgh, and my parents didn’t know the people I went with. I was probably 16 or 17. Parenting isn’t for the faint of heart. But the girls seemed to have a wonderful time and sent me a bunch of pictures. Here are a few:

July 6 – Did you ever go to carnivals or amusement parks? Where? “The carnivals were part of our county fairs. We went to the Dayton Fair. Our neighbor took us to Kennywood. That is the only time I remember going to an amusement park until I was married.”

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TOMORROW July 7th is:

• National Dive Bar Day
• National Father Daughter Take a Walk Day
• National Macaroni Day
• National Strawberry Sundae Day

Let’s just find something fun and celebrate tomorrow. Life is short! God bless…

Day 5 with almost no sleep. I’m weary. But I heard back from Dr. Cole, and he called prescriptions for infection, cough, and breathing to the pharmacy. Two of the three were ready. I’ll buzz over later and get the third when I’m notified by txt. It’s just down the road so no problem. I’m excited to get on the right track.

I worked both stores and of course heard from Mike P – But was home a little after noon. Made an egg and toast and just finished when the message came through to pick up my meds. The weather has been crazy – cloudy to sunny to windy to rain. Right now it’s transitioning from sunny to clouds and wind. Rain is expected.

So I checked Hanna’s Town’s facebook page and noticed that Louise used a few of my photos! I was excited about that. She had other good ones posted, as well. I like this one of Captain Scott Henry with his small troop.

When we were locking up the site yesterday, I found a ‘Latrobe Rocks’ painted shell. I’m saving it for whichever grandchild claims it! They left shells around the site a few years ago, as well. I like finding them.

I was surprised at how many fireworks were visible since the huge tree was down. I stood on the deck for a while and watched them. Nice end to the day!

July 5 – Do you have a special July 4th that you remember most? “They all seemed special when I was a child. We didn’t have any extra chores to do as it was a holiday at our house.” As it should be!!

Calendar inspiration – Simples pleasures can ease a long journey. It doesn’t take much to renew your spirit and carry on.

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TOMORROW July 6th is:

• National Fried Chicken Day
• National Hand Roll Day

I plan to spend tomorrow mending my body and spirit – and feeling better. Have a great day – God Bless… (No chicken will be harmed in my day tomorrow!)

Again, not much sleep, but after a shower I felt pretty good so I headed as scheduled to Hanna’s Town for their Free Museum Independence Day Celebration. Louise and I interpreted the tavern; she did downstairs and I did upstairs. We were busy all day. Except for the 45 minute program of hearing the Declaration of Independence read and the ‘new’ flag raised at the fort, we both talked from 11am to 4:30pm. I can tell you I was ready for a break, and I know Louise was glad to be done. As she is part of Proctor’s Militia (her husband Scott is the captain and they stayed there last night), she’s been on site since late yesterday afternoon! They do such a terrific job!

When I arrived Louise was explaining the 18th century games to some of the guests. I was excited to see my friends Diane and Shannon come out. I did the tavern ‘tour’ – upstairs and down – then they went to explore. We were busy all day. About 1:30pm Kathy & Paul came out, and joined in the program. It’s very moving to hear those words read aloud, and know the price they paid to put those words to paper and signed their names. George Washington’s prayer was read, then the Declaration.

We walked to the fort, and the British flag was taken down and the ‘new’ United States flag was raised. The Militia did a salute, then demonstrated firing positions out in the field. They also fired the cannon. It was really a perfect way to celebrate – and remember – the founding of our nation.

Nate txt me that they were at the zoo. I’m glad they got to do something fun! I took down my red/white/blue decorations except didn’t get to the window stickees – they take a long time. May do that next; may wait until tomorrow!

July 4 – Tell about Independence Day traditions of your childhood. “We had a wire fence all the way around our yard. We would put the American flag in the wires next to each post. We had a couple dozen to put around the yard. Dad made sure we handled the flags with respect.”

Calendar inspiration – Like a complex quilt, our nation combines great variety to create a glorious unity, better than the sum of its parts.

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TOMORROW July 5th is:

• National Apple Turnover Day
• National Bikini Day
• National Graham Cracker Day
• National Hawaii Day
• National Workaholics Day

Tomorrow is ‘back to work’ after a nice break! And I’m thankful that – so far – I don’t have a full calendar for July! God bless — AMERICA!!!

Another night of little sleep – but as the day wears on I am improving. I think the cough syrup I’m taking makes me loopy. But then, I’m probably loopy already! I knew I wasn’t up to full steam when I wasn’t hungry for breakfast or lunch. I did eat a small bit. The welcome center at church had a pretty display of red, white, and blue. I was talking to the kids in Sunday School about American’s birthday and the Declaration of Independence. I was sort of surprised that they didn’t know about that – but then, they are ages 3 to 7 so I shouldn’t be surprised!

I hurried and cut the grass before it got too warm and I was glad to get that done. There was a nice breeze. I took my time, took a few breaks, and actually felt pretty good when it was done. I walked around and took a few photos of my flowers when I finished.

Di went to Idlewild today with her daughter Shannon, and sent me some photos. It looked like a lovely day to be there. My niece Sarah and her family plan to go tomorrow. Here are a few photos from Di.

July 3 – What kind of fireworks did people have when you were a youth? “Beautiful colored ones. Also sparklers. We had to go up into the cow pasture to put off the fire crackers. Some were very loud & disturbed our grandmother. I think it bothered our dad as it brought memories of the war that he wanted to forget.”

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TOMORROW July 4th is:

• Independence Day (USA)
• National Barbecued Spareribs Day
• National Caesar Salad Day

Let us truly reflect tomorrow on the birthday of our great nation – 246 years old – and all the blessings and freedoms that we enjoy. God bless America!

I took my time getting up this morning, as I didn’t sleep well last night. I spent all day cleaning and doing laundry, which is to say that I lolly-gaged around and it TOOK all day. So this is short. I noticed that there was a leaf stuck to my door from the storm last night. Looks like it’s on the deck floor, but it’s actually on the door.

Kathy sent me a picture of the sunset from their porch. It’s so beautiful. Great view.

OK – that’s it. I’m going to chill the rest of the night!

July 2 – Describe an inside game you made up. “Jim, Hazel & I would line up the kitchen chairs & put our big wooden rocker in the front. We would pretend we were on a train. Our poor mother & grandma were very patient with us!”

Calendar Inspiration – A touch of gracious living makes every day special.

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TOMORROW July 3rd is:

• National Chocolate Wafer Day
• National Compliment Your Mirror Day
• National Eat Your Beans Day
• National Fried Clam Day

Have a great day – God bless!

Chrissy and I left this morning a little before 8am and met Kelly at the condos where we had to finish weeding. Chris was a big help, and she kept finding unique stones and rocks. We were teasing her that instead of paying her in money we’d use rocks! She took a few minutes before we left to climb down into the creek bed and look for little fun ones down there. We cut the top off a water bottle and she put the small ones in that. She was pleased with her collection when we got home.

She actually ended up getting a terrible headache – I think the sun was too much for her. For all of us, really. But we were all careful to stay in the shade as much as possible and to drink lots of water. We didn’t stay at Kelly’s as late as we planned – we were just exhausted. Today is Chase’s 13th birthday and Matt was bringing pizza home but it would have made it about 10pm until we got home – and I think we were just worn out. Glad to be home – and she’s feeling better after a shower and food. But we did a great job and all the beds looked wonderful!

Happy 13th birthday to my youngest grand! A teenager already! Love you Chase!

July 1 – Describe an outside game you made up. “We used our small play wagon, put ropes from the handle. One of us would play being a horse & pull the other one around in the wagon. We always tried to find one of our cats to ride along.”

I think I am temporarily not going to post a vacation destination – I’ll take a break for a while. It’s a lot of work and research and I feel like summer needs to be a little freer! I’ll just post a random picture from my archives!

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TOMORROW July 2nd is:

• National Wildland Firefighter Day
• National Anisette Day
• Hop-a-Park Day

The plan for tomorrow is to stay at home ALL DAY – putzy, clean, laundry, organize. Just STAY HOME! Can’t wait! God bless…

TODAY was a tough day to get through. So many silly little things throwing me off track. But here I am, safe at home in a cool house, happy with the last little bowl of homemade soup, basically finished with today’s obligations. It was a long day – didn’t get home until 6pm. They pulled my KIA because a customer was coming in to test drive it this afternoon. So now I’m back in a sedan, and it’s a bigger vehicle. There isn’t an inch to spare in the garage!

I did tours at Hanna’s Town this morning, and while I was waiting I sat on a bench by the tavern garden. I looked down and a little snake was slithering under the bench right by my feet. I just stared at it, then jumped up to see where it went. Never did find out. About that time a family came for a tour so the rest of my morning was busy. Worked both jobs, got stuck in traffic coming home, stopped to help Mike P, and had to put an entire tank of gas in the Nissan. $$$. But I’m home now and set for tomorrow’s adventures and that’s that.

SO — let’s get us home! Wednesday evening after we checked into our motel in Budd Lake we drove up to the top of the hill and had supper at Panera Bread. I added a chocolate chip bagel to my supper order so that’s what I had for breakfast; Kathy finished the scones. We set out about 8:30am to head out toward I-80 West. ‘Cordelia’ (Kathy’s GPS system) kept re-routing us to I-80 East, and we went in circles for about 15 minutes until we figured it out; she was trying to have us avoid an accident. We ignored the re-route and by the time we got to the spot, the tangle was untangled and we had an open route.

The trip home was basically uneventful, except that it poured down rain for the first several hours, and was cloudy and windy. We did finally drive out of it and the skies cleared up with about 2 hours of the trip left. We had some beautiful vistas coming down the mountains. We make a quick stop at the Dillweed in Dilltown, close to Ebensburg, just for a break. The Dillweed Bed and Breakfast and Trail Shop is our destination for a sleepover for the Skunk Hollow girls at the end of July. That’s the next fun thing to look forward to with the cousins.

I dropped Kathy off and went straight to Pinnacle to explain about the ‘bump’ in the road to the car. They were not at all concerned and said they’d handle it … whenever! So I guess if it gets sold – that will be the whenever! It took me all evening to unload the car, put everything away, get organized, and do laundry. I was glad to have it all in order so I could run errands, get some groceries, go to work, and cut the grass on Friday. Also gave Chrissy a ride to her mom’s in West Newton. Now — time to get back to real life. We had such a great trip and had so much fun and saw some wonderful, impressive sights. It will live in our memories for a long time to come. How blessed we are!

June 30 – Tell about seeing something you thought was very beautiful. “Ruth’s father took us to the ‘mountains’ 40 or 50 miles north of Plumville. It was in the fall when the trees were turning color. There was a field cleared in the middle of the forest & that was so pretty.” Sounds like Mom had some great travel memories, too!

Calendar inspiration is to slow down and practice patience!

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TOMORROW July 1st is:

• National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
• National Gingersnap Day
• National Postal Worker Day
• National U.S. Postage Stamp Day

July already! Well, tomorrow really can be celebrated. I love to be creative with ice cream, and I have gingersnaps in my desk drawer at work. I need to get a book of stamps at the post office! So – we’re set. And tomorrow I am going with Chrissy to West Virginia to help Matt finish weeding that condo landscaping. Have a great day! God bless…

Here on Wren Drive, Kelly and I started the day discussing our VBS details. Their church’s is the end of July. They have a lot of really neat activities and crafts planned; their lessons are basically the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. We did some laundry and made hamburger sliders for lunch, then made strawberry shortcake and mixed up scones for the freezer. She’s taking a ‘nap’ and Chase was watching YouTube videos. He just went upstairs and back to his XBox. I took advantage earlier of Kelly being here, and we put up the 4th of July red/white/blue decorations. All done!

Back to Newport! We packed up everything and said goodbye to the Lafayette Air B&B – then headed straight into Newport. We stopped first at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, where JFK married Jackie. It’s a beautiful church. Jackie was from Newport.

From there we went over to the beginning of the Cliff Walk near Easton’s Beach. We spent about an hour on the Walk, soaking in some sun and watching the waves crash against the rocks. We went as far as we could on the first section; back in February part of it slid down the cliffs into the ocean so it’s blocked off. But it was a beautiful walk. We stopped at Forty Steps – which was where the ‘common’ people and servants in Newport accessed the beaches. Kathy walked down but I stayed on the trail, taking photos.

When we got back to the street and headed back to the car, we decided to stick our feet in the water at Easton’s Beach. The water felt cold at first but we got used to it quickly. There was a red-colored seaweed that was washing up on the shore, and the waves were making wavy lines in the sand. We both found an oyster shell to bring home as a souvenir.

We had a history tour (Golden to Gilded) scheduled at 11:00am so we headed into town and found a parking space. The tour guide had a lot of information, but was fairly unorganized and seldom hit the actual topic. We still enjoyed learning bits of history and seeing older buildings. We did glean an interesting and exciting bit of fact: Rough Point (a mansion NOT owned by the Preservation Society) was actually open that day for tours! THAT was exciting.

We thanked our tour guide and made a b-line for the car, and drove down Bellevue (of COURSE it was on Bellevue!) to Rough Point. It was really the most imposing mansion we visited. Rough Point was owned by Doris Duke, who was once termed America’s richest girl! Her parents owned Duke Energy and she was worth millions. She was a philanthropist and spent most of her fortune restoring historic Newport buildings, contributing to very worthy causes, and supporting needy organizations. The house is basically like she left it in the late 1990’s. Kathy was SO thrilled to tour Rough Point (it was on her ‘favorite’ list) and it ended our stay in Newport perfectly.

We said a sad but contented goodbye to Newport and headed back to Budd Lake New Jersey, where we had reserved a room in the same hotel we stayed in on Sunday night. We will not soon forget our vacation in Newport, June of 2022. It was very fun despite the ‘bump’ in the road on Sunday, and I would go back in a heartbeat. Tomorrow we’ll take it on home!

June 29 – Did you ever have or make a swing? “Dad & Uncle Edd made us a very nice wooden swing. It was on a steel pipe between two apple trees. It had room for 2 kids. It had a foot rest. We could really make it ‘fly.’ We also had our grapevine swings.” We cousins liked to swing on grapevines, too!

Calendar inspiration is to keep exploring and discover something wonderful! We discovered Rough Point!

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TOMORROW June 30 is:

• National Meteor Watch Day
• Social Media Day
• National Bomb Pop Day – Last Thursday in June
• National Handshake Day 

Tomorrow I’m scheduled to be on call as a tour guide at Hanna’s Town from 10:30am to 1:30pm. Then work. Kelly is leaving today after supper so the house will be quiet and lonely. I’ll miss her and Chase! God bless…

First things first – We made pancakes for Chase for breakfast, but Kelly and I couldn’t resist sampling one. That is was after 12:00 noon meant we were having breakfast for lunch but it was still fun. I worked some on my VBS lesson, and I took time to snap a few pictures at the church before class. I taught three classes back to back: K & 1st grade; 2nd & 3rd grade; 4th & 5th grade. They all listened to the lesson and really seemed to absorb the focus points. It went very well – God is good, all the time!

Back to Newport! After our mansion tours we drove up to the Green Animal Topiary Gardens. They were so fun to see! After admiring the sculptures and the flower/vegetable gardens, we sat on the front porch in the shade and just looked out over the water. There were two topiaries down on the lawn, and the breeze off the water was cool and relaxing. The site guide took our picture, stating she was sending it to their media director to include in their next newsletter. We hope we get a copy of it – we were wearing our Gilded Girls shirts.

Refreshed and hungry, we drove back into Newport and had dinner on the wharf – fish and chips! They were very good. I took pictures of the boats and yachts. Several went in and out while we were sitting there. We drove over the the Marriott to meet our tour group for the Ghost Tour of Newport, and Rachel proved to be very fun and very good at calling in the ghosts. The teens on the tour were totally sure they saw several, and even captured ‘orbs’ on their phones. It was a late night, but the tour was fun, entertaining, and we even learned some history in the process. We were ready for bed when we got back to Lafayette Place at about 10:30pm. We were also happy to have our new blankets to snuggle with!

Tomorrow morning will start with the Cliff Walk – I’ve waited three years for that! See you then!

June 28 – As a youth, did you ever learn any sewing, stitching, or needlework? “That was something I learned very young & sewed just about all my clothes. When we were very young, around 8 years old, we would get our own sewing kit & embroidery hoop. That was very important to a young girl.” Mom sewed her whole life – and made Kathy’s and my wedding dresses.

Calendar inspiration is to make the most of every situation with good cheer & a grateful heart. THAT was what our Newport trip was all about – and we were grateful, blessed, and happy to be there!

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TOMORROW June 29 is:

• National Almond Buttercrunch Day
• National Camera Day
• National Waffle Iron Day
• National Parchment Day

Now that VBS is over and a success, I can concentrate on my other projects for the week! Have a happy hump day! God bless…