I had a full day, but I scaled the pace down a bit. I took my time getting up and changed/washed the bed sheets. I had to lecture myself to be motivated to go outside and mow. But I got it done!

I came in and showered, then Kathy brought Suzie Squirrel over for her 6 month residency at my place. She’s all decked out for a road trip – complete with goggles, driving gloves, and vintage license plate! We will have a great time together.

My next chore was to get supper together for Mary. I made a big batch of Stuffed Pepper Soup and grabbed a loaf of Italian bread. Then I baked the scones and packed everything in the box (along with icing for the scones) and took it over to Mary. She looks great! She’s up and moving around, and said she already feels better. I’m happy for her!

My stomach is still unsettled and my leg keeps throbbing. It just goes from one ailment to another! Hoping that settles down; if I have to go back to the doctor’s he’ll think I’m a total wimp!

My blessing today was seeing Mary up and moving and so happy! And her little dog Poppy, too!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 16th is:

National Forgiveness Week; Father’s Day; Fresh Veggies Day; International Waterfall Day; National Fudge Day; National Be Low Key Day; National Turkey Lovers Day; World Sea Turtle Day; Youth Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Horse Day. Father’s day is a wonderful celebration! Enjoy – God bless…

Flag Day! Worth celebrating…

Busy day! Here’s a recap: Right out of bed I popped into my yard clothes, then went out and spent over an hour weed-whacking and blowing everything clean. Shower, breakfast, then a load of laundry. I made potato soup after that.

Got a txt from my friend Mary – she had a hip replacement this morning. Everything went well and she was coming home this afternoon. I took a few minutes to run to Walmart and get what I needed to make stuffed pepper soup and bake scones in the morning, then I’ll run them to her in the afternoon. I took time today to cut the peppers up and mix the scones – they need to be in the fridge overnight.

I got two cards in the mail today. One from Gen, thanking me for a card I sent when Rainy passed.

Another was from Diane, who is vacationing in New Jersey – hers is generally the first birthday card I receive!

I picked up Kath at 5pm and we went to a program in Delmont. Ken Serfass portrays Ulysses S Grant and does it very well. We’ve seen his presentations several times. He knows more about Grant than I know about myself. I don’t know how he has all that information on the tip of his tongue. Great program.

My blessing today was being able to accomplish things on my own schedule!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 15th is:

Global Winds Day; National Horse Day; International Surfing day; National Dog Dad Day; National Prune Day; National Smile Power Day; Nature Photography Day; Sneak a Kiss Day; World Juggling Day; National Big Boy Day; National Foam Party Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Travel Day. Tomorrow let’s celebrate smiles and photography. God bless…

Tonight is going to be all about VBS. The last night, and it was a success. Tonight was the highest night of attendance and we had 24 kids. Plus teachers and staff. And the snack tonight was popcorn!!! Yea!

I worked both stores, stopped to grab a few cards at the Dollar Tree, then got salad makings on the way home. After lunch I spent about 3 hours pulling weeds and cutting back things that did not belong. It was pretty hot so I took a shower and changed before heading to VBS.

The last lesson in the series was Samson. It has been a LOT of years since I taught Samson, and I’m not sure why it hasn’t been in the lesson series’ rotation that we use. I took my new little baby doll and wrapped him in a towel and he made a very convincing Samson. All the kids wanted to take turns holding him, even the boys!

They had a lot of good answers to my questions and had a great time learning. Samson made mistakes but God can forgive if we ask him to. We wrote on a paper with ink, but we couldn’t make it go away on our own. Then we used pencil, and when we asked God to forgive our mistake, He ‘erased’ it from our lives.

Here are some random Circus VBS photos:

I was happy to meet Lia’s parents, and they ARE taking her to church. I’m so glad, because she loves learning!

My blessing today was feeling the satisfaction of a week well done, with God’s blessing.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 14th is:

Army Birthday; Flag Day; International Bath Day; Monkey Around Day; National Pop Goes the Weasel Day; National Travel Day; National Strawberry Shortcake Day; World Blood Donor Day; National Cucumber Day; National Movie Night; Wear Blue Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Curly Hair Day. Tomorrow let’s do FLAG day, Movie Night, and maybe take a bath. God bless…

I did very well at staying on the cleaning track and didn’t get distracted by my book or other projects. I cleaned and did laundry until about 4pm, and then I did a whole week’s worth of ironing. All done!

So Day Four of VBS is in the books. We had 3 students again — Lia, Braelyn, and Aaron. Aaron never said a word the entire time. All he did was shake his head. But he did listen. Our lesson was Daniel in the Lion’s Den and the kids were good listeners. I told them if they were careful to listen to the story we’d have time for a fun game. I had Kathy’s bean-bag lion toss with me. They loved it. I asked them a question and then they got to toss the bean bag. Braelyn’s answer to every question was ‘lion’. Lia would jump up and down and whisper the right answer in her ear!

This afternoon Mary sent me pictures from Sunday school last weekend. I guess Max’s shoe was untied and Gracie was kind enough to tie it. I hope he marries well….

My blessing today was a full night’s sleep. I went to bed at 10:30pm and woke up this morning at 8:35am! That is a lot of sleep! I guess I must have needed it.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 13th is:

International Axe Throwing Day; National Sewing Machine Day; National Weed Your Garden Day; National Curly Hair Day; Random Acts of Light; World Softball Day; National Clay Week; National Golf Cart Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Vase Day. Tomorrow I will celebrate my sewing machine and weeding my garden. It needs some weeding done! God bless…

Each day I feel a bit improved – and today like I’ve climbed out of the hole. However, my energy is still down there! But I was able to get my work done in both Jeannette and Greensburg, then make it to the chiropractor on time. I felt better when I was done there. After a sandwich at lunch I washed the car. I’m so thankful it’s swept out and shining now. I was embarrassed.

I got some moth balls and placed them along the sidewalk in the mulch. I’m hoping the rabbits (or whatever!) is done spreading mulch onto the walk.

The monkeys were busy swinging on the branches in their cages tonight.

I was excited about teaching Esther tonight. It’s one of my favorite Bible stories and is impactful at any age. I had 3 little girls tonight, which was perfect. They loved the ‘queen’ and ‘princess’ images. We talked about God having a special job for each of them and a place that God wants them to be. After we finished the story, I let them try on the crown and hold out the scepter, which lights up when it’s tapped on the table. They totally loved it! Lia is the student, and soaks up every single word of each lesson. Precious students. That’s why I teach.

The clouds from the parking lot were amazing. Total inspiration.

My blessing tonight was watching Lia’s face as I taught. She’s a very sober child and the smile on her face with the crown and scepter was priceless.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 12th is:

Child Labor Day; National Great Dane Day; National Jerky Day; National Loving Day; National Peanut Butter Cookie Day; National Vase Day; Raggedy Ann and Andy Day; Red Rose Day; National Superman Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Flood Insurance Day. Tomorrow, let’s do roses. God bless…

I’m just going to do a short recap. Last night I had too much to do and stayed up too late. Not tonight!

I worked both stores and that went well. Stopped at Walmart to grab a few items. I found that I should have packed a lunch and taken a map! That place is chaos. I can’t wait until the remodel is finished. I can’t find anything.

I managed to get a load of laundry done, but no ironing yet. I got a call from the doctor’s office and one of the test results came back below normal. They want to wait a month and do it again.

VBS was good tonight. Just two little girls from last night (one was sick). They listened well and loved the story of Noah and the flood and the animals and the rainbow. After the lesson they had a huge card-stock ark and a large page of stickers and created their own ark. That was where their creativity came through. They loved all the animals.

I stayed long enough to grab a quick snack – apple crisp and buffalo dip with chips. Now I’m going to prep for tomorrow’s lesson and be done.

My blessing today was a comfortable day at work and seeing my Pinnacle guys!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 11th is:

National Call Your Doctor Day; National Corn on the Cob Day; National Fork Lift Safety Day; National German Chocolate Cake Day; National Flood Insurance Day; National Making Life Beautiful Day; Say Hi Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Train Station Day. Tomorrow I don’t need to call my doctor – he called me today. My friend Jim from Smail Auto loved German Chocolate cake. I think this is the wrong month for corn on the cob. God bless…

I spent most of the day trying to ease myself back into being a productive part of society. It wasn’t easy. My muscles still ache and I have trouble relaxing and sleeping. I went outside a bit after breakfast, which were pancakes. It took me almost an hour and a half to get dressed, mix up the pancake batter, cook them, eat, and clean everything up!

Then, about 11:30am, I ventured outside a while. I knew the new grass needed watered and some of the plants. Of course later this evening, it rained! But the rain brought beautiful skies and an amazing rainbow. Tomorrow night’s lesson is Noah, so good timing, God!

Two of my neighbors (Sharon and her dog Daisy, and Karen) were outside and we stood on the lawn and chatted for a while. I found out that Mr. G’s son Michael is moving home from Florida to take a local teaching and coaching position. And I hated to hear that a friendly neighbor dog Max crossed the rainbow bridge and the family is grieving. I sent them sympathy email. So I’m sort of caught up.

Once I came back inside I got a shower and put on better clothes to be ready for teaching Jonah at VBS tonight. I still had an hour and a half so I balanced my checkbook (finally got it!), re-read tonight’s lesson, and organized my carry bag.

I’ll share a few pictures each evening. The decorating gang really did a great job, and all the ‘kids’ spaces looked like the Big Top! If you attend this week, don’t forget to stop and pick up your tickets at the front booth!

Dianne warned me that a lot of the kids’ families were out of town for the weekend, so I’d have a crowd tomorrow night and forward. Tonight there were 3 little ones, all non-members. Two of them were 3 years old and we had a 2 year old as well. I think the lesson was a little long for them – we’ll see what tomorrow night brings. They listened and sat better than I expected, but it took a little more time than I had budgeted. They had time to catch their four fish and collect their bags before they went to do their crafts and get their snacks. The one little girl seemed to really get it – the other two were more impressed that their table was red! One successful night; four more to go!

PS – it was strange to finally mix with society after five days of seclusion!

My blessing today was being out in the sunshine, fresh air, and just feeling myself smile!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW June 10th is:

National Frosted Cookie Day; Belmont Stakes; National Train Station Day; National Ballpoint Pen Day; National Black Cow Day; National Egg Roll Day; National Iced Tea Day; National Email Week; National Pet Wedding Week; Superman Week.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Light a Candle day. Tomorrow I’ll celebrate iced tea and emails! I don’t know anybody marrying their pet. God bless!

Well I’ve finally crawled out from my couch cocoon into the light of day. It’s been a hard climb.

I knew on Tuesday that something was definitely off. I got up early – while it was still cool – and cut my grass – cleaned up, showered, and headed to work. I had a few stops to make on my way home, including gas for the Mazda and stamps.

It took all afternoon to get the chairs and food ready for the evening as I was having the PEEPS (Previously Employed/Employed People from Smails) over for a fire pit night. I dug all the picnic stuff out, lugged wood from behind the shed, put up the deck umbrella – which all seemed to be draining on my energy level. It took all my efforts to get through the evening, serving and cleaning up the food. But we had a great evening.

About an hour before the girls were to arrive I heard the Thunder, and went outside to see the dark clouds moving across the sky. So I brought everything back in and prepared to move the evening inside. Before the girls actually arrived it cleaned up, and it was warm enough to dry everything out.

We opted to eat inside, and sat around the table talking for a few hours, eating hot dogs and fries and chips. Since s’mores was the dessert, I went out and started a fire after all, and got it going well enough to toast the marshmallows. We sat outside on deck chairs the rest of the evening. Joelyn was excited about spending time with her daughter last week (who lives in AZ), Liz is going to be an aunt again – two of her siblings are expecting!- and April just came back from a cruise, and she does love her cruises! So it was fun to catch up.

I did end up going to the doctor but it appeared to be just a flu of some sort. Still knocked me for a loop. One of the things that has been hard is the nausea. I could not eat anything, and what I did try (toast, crackers) tasted like straw. Even this morning my toast was bland and tasteless. I tried ice cream but it soured my stomach – and taste buds. So I ate a pretzel and I’m done for the day.

I was supposed to go the the Dillweed B&B this morning for their annual Herb Fair. It’s always such a wonderful event, but I knew I couldn’t manage it. Kathy went anyway and brought me back some honey.

Then she stopped and bought the dowel rods and magnets I needed to make my fishing poles for Bible School tomorrow night. She spent about an hour here helping me finish up with that project and I really appreciated her help! Super-sister to the rescue.

My blessings for today were my sister and finally walking outside my house!

PEANUTS (true) though for the day:

TOMORROW June 9th is:

Donald Duck Day; National Light a Candle Day; National Kids Day; National Meal Prep Day; National Sex Day; National Flag Week.

WAY BACK on my last post the Fake day was National Nail Day. Tomorrow is also the start of Vacation Bible School week – I’m teaching pre-K. I’ll celebrate the Flag! Flag day is Friday. God bless…

Whatever this bug is that I’m dealing with keeps taking strange turns. This morning I emailed my PCP and they suggested I come in. By the time I got there I felt considerably improved. I got bloodwork done, picked up a prescription, and grabbed a box of Lipton soup.

By the time 5pm came around, I again had the chills and a fever and my stomach was not happy. I’m going to take my prescription for nausea and keep drinking water. I also had a COVID test and it came back negative.

So hopefully in the morning I’ll feel better but I’ll keep everyone posted! God bless…

I can’t believe this. Somehow I ended up sick – fever and upset stomach and exhaustion. I’ll post as soon as possible!!!