It was a pretty nice day for a Friday the 13th. I didn’t even realize the date until we were half way through it. Kelly stayed until about 11am. She worked on a small project and I made 2 rice bags for her and a winter pillowcase. I also sewed pillow shells for her to stuff with the foam filling.

We had a good time together – it’s so rare that she doesn’t have at least one of the boys with her. We went out to lunch, and went shopping all over the place. We also made and ate our potato soup for supper. We were going to watch Biltmore Christmas but I couldn’t log into the right app. It was nice to have Kelly to myself for a while! We even stopped at an antique store and strolled around for a while.

I used the rest of the day today to catch up on errands. I stopped at Giant Eagle and picked up a prescription refill. Then I stopped at the bank to get Christmas money, and that is all handled for the kids. I also stopped at T-Mobile as I had a question about my phone storage, but they couldn’t figure it out either.

From there I got a few groceries, then material for more rice bags. A quick stop to get another book of Christmas stamps at the post office (Hi, Dad!) and then got called to work. I was there for about an hour.

Spent the last bit of time finishing up my Christmas cards so I think I’m done with that now. It’s snowy and cold out so I’m happy to be inside.

Now – short recap on Don’s party Wednesday night. It was nice to see a few familiar faces. I hadn’t seen Ellen or Kelly Smail except for at the funeral home in years so it was nice to chat with them. Talked to an old friend, Dan (controller at Smail’s) and his wife Gail. Mike P and his wife were there, too. Don and Sharon have a beautiful house and it’s always so elegant and welcoming. Tons of good food, too!

Autmn sent me some photos of Cameron. She says he can give kisses, boop your nose, dance, climb, shake his head no, say ‘quack’, ‘duck’ and ‘knock’ (while knocking). And drink with a straw!

My blessing today was getting caught up on so many chores!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 14th is:

Free Shipping Day, National Crumb Day; Monkey Day; National Energy Conservation Day; Roast Chestnuts Day; Christmas Bird Count Week; National Wreaths Across America Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Holly Day. Tomorrow: Tomorrow is Jen’s birthday. And also the Three Centuries of Christmas day at Hanna’s Town, which I plan to attend. God Bless!

Kelly is here today – and neither of the boys actually came. They both had plans to go skating with friends. Logan and Clarice were going to see WICKED. So we went running around today, made potato soup for supper, and are going to watch Biltmore. So I’ll catch up tomorrow. Sorry for the delays.

My blessing today was spending the whole day with Kelly!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 13th is:

National Cocoa Day; National Cream Cheese Frosting Day; National Horse Day; National Ice Cream Day; National Violin Day; National Holly Day; St. Lucia National Day; National Guard Birthday; National Salesperson Day.

Yesterday there was no fake day. Tomorrow: Cocoa is good. My friends Diane and April love horses, and we had horses when I was in high school. I LOVE ice cream! I grew up with salespeople. My dad was one, my x-husband was one, and I’ve worked with them continually since I was 17! God bless…

To start with, here is a big happy birthday to my niece Hannah and my cousin Mark. Wishing you both a very happy day and a beautiful year ahead. Mark just became a grandfather so congrats to him! Love you guys!

I am going to forego posting anything else today and will catch up tomorrow. I was at a Christmas party tonight and I’m about done for the day.

My blessing today was Don’s party – saw some dear friends!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 12th is:

Choral Day; Gingerbread House Day; National Poinsettia Day; National Ding-a-ling Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Quiet Day. Tomorrow: I love poinsettias! Have a great day and God bless…

Jeannette was slow – they are waiting on funding and also have a few customer coming in later in the week. Hopefully we can close out the year strong! Maybe Santa will bring some car sales!

I stopped at Target on the way home to get a small gift for someone, and they had the mini rubber Christmas ducks I was looking for. Cameron loves his little duckies!

After lunch I did the ironing, wrapped two presents for the weekend, and started baking cookies. I made another batch of iced cinnamon rolls, and then made candy cane cookies. A lot of them broke, but they usually do. They still taste the same!

That took my whole day. Tomorrow I will clean and do some laundry, and then I plan to go to my friend’s annual Wassail party. Hoping the weather cooperates because I won’t go if the roads are icy.

Oh – and I had a call from the nurse at the pulmonologist’s office. She answered about half of my questions – and is going to get the rest of the answer and call me Thursday. She’s very nice. Dr. Cole (PCP) is going to put me in rotation for a new pulmonologist. May take a while…

My blessing for today was getting the two hardest cookies done and in the freezer!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 11th is:

Holiday Food Drive for Needy Animals Day; International Mountain Day; National Quiet Day; National App Day; Noodle Ring Day; National Stretching Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Snowman Day. Tomorrow: I like mountains, and John always called us noodle heads! Have a happy Wednesday. God bless…

First of all, today would have been my grandfather, Lloyd Steiner’s, birthday. He was born in 1904. He died very young but I spent a few fun years sharing Weekly Readers with him!

I worked a short time in Jeannette, then helped Mike P with something, then came home. Did laundry and spent a ton of time trying to clean out the excess mail and photos on my phone. I had a pulmonary follow up appointment in Latrobe at 2:20pm. Didn’t really get any worthwhile information. Time to make some decisions about a new pulmonologist! When I left the office I took a picture of the distant hills.

Had a little snack to get me through until supper.

Mark called me on my way home, and he was coming over to check my kitchen fan. The cord broke and it couldn’t turn off. He found a button that stopped it so that was a quick fix!

Now – yesterday’s HCC Christmas dinner. It was very nice. Yeager’s always do a great job, and the church board always serves. We had chicken, ham, pasta and meatballs, potatoes, squash, salad, appetizers, and tons of yummy desserts. I brought a chocolate covered pretzel home and it’s waiting for me in the fridge!

Mary and I got our picture taken in the photo op corner.

I talked to Gen for over an hour. We had such a nice chat. Her Colorado family was home for Thanksgiving and having the whole family in one place for a whole week was so wonderful for them. It was fun to share stories and again I wish her a happy birthday. She caught up – we are the same age now!

My blessing for today was certainly NOT the doctor’s visit! It was my phone visit with my dear friend!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 10th is:

Dewey Decimal System Day; Human Rights Day; National Snowman Day; Nobel Prize Day; Worldwide Candle Lighting Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Apple Day. Tomorrow: Light a candle! God bless…

It’s about 1:30pm and the sun is shining brightly and it’s all of 50* outside! How delightful. I know it won’t last; but it’s nice to see the ice melted off the driveway and the grass poking through the snow!

Sunday School went well – the lesson was that Jesus was born in a stable and then the angles told the shepherds to visit them. The boys had fun rearranging the nativity figures and explaining things in their own way.

Todd’s message was GOD IS AT WORK IN THE MESS! He knows what our world is like, and what we are dealing with in our lives. Don’t lose hope; we need God – we aren’t in control, but things are not hopeless. Wait on the Lord.

The welcome center is getting dressed for the holidays. Our all-church Christmas dinner is this evening and it’s always a nice event. The Yeagers, who always are in charge of that, do a great job with food and preparations.

I forgot to post of picture of the cute little fluffy skunks that Kathy gave all of the Skunk Hollow girls yesterday. I have mine hanging on my tree already.

I’m also enjoying the coaster that Beth and Harold gave us in the Christmas Cards. She knows that I love coasters. I will post pictures of the dinner on tomorrow’s Word Garden. In the meantime enjoy this beautiful day.

My blessing today was our cute little guys in our Sunday School class.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 9th is:

Christmas Card Day; National Apple Day; International Day of Veterinary Medicine; Lost and Found Day; National Llama Day; National Pastry Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was Paper Cup day. Tomorrow: Send a Christmas Card. I’m sure Jen is celebrating Veterinary medicine – she counts on their services all the time – and she works for one! Not sure about the llama day but pastry is fine by me! God bless…

Happy birthday, Gen! To my long-time friend – I’ve missed seeing you this past year or so. Hope your day was wonderful, and that the year ahead is full of love and happiness, faith and family! Love you!

Today was our annual Skunk Hollow Christmas. This year we all met at Kathy’s. Her house was so lovely and festive. She is always such a gracious hostess and makes us all comfortable and welcome. We even played a few games – which was fun, because none of us thought we would know how to play and we all did great! This was my ‘prize’!

Colleen brought down a box of the earrings that her granddaughter Alea makes and sells. I bought three delightful pair! They are so cute!

There was so much food. We always have too much. Kathy made chipped ham BBQ and had tea, soft drinks, and hot cider. Gail brought our favorite: Strawberry jello pretzel salad. We had fruit and dip, several kinds of cookies and snacks, including my favorite iced pumpkin chocolate chip (Thanks, Colleen!). We had egg salad and chicken salad and chips with salsa and buffalo chicken dip and cheesy potatoes. And cranberry sauce and other snacks. I know I’m forgetting something but it was all good. We ate all afternoon!

The first batch of photos I took didn’t come out very nice. Every time I tried to take a picture someone took a bite or started to say something.

I did a few other random photos while we were talking and playing games, and Beth took a picture while I was reading.

And here are two pictures of those of us who attended. We sure missed not having Holly and Gwen there. Next time!

Even the sky rejoiced in our beautiful day!

My blessing today was my dear cousins!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 8th is:

Christmas Jumper Day; National Blue Collar Day; National Brownie Day; National Lard Day (???); National Salesperson Day; National Paper Cup Day; Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day; National Crossword Solvers Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Stripes Day. TOMORROW – I’ll go with the brownies. I like several time travel movies. Enjoy! God bless…

The first strange thing that happened this morning was with my PEANUTS page-a-day calendar. I ripped off December 3rd on Tuesday and the next page was December 5th. I though I tore two off together in error but not so. Hmmm. So this morning when I ripped off December 5th I found December 4th!!! Yikes! Back on track now – I hope.

After breakfast I made the chicken salad and the egg salad for lunch tomorrow with the Skunk Hollow girls (at Kathy’s). I printed off the story to read for tomorrow, as well.

After I cleaned up the kitchen and got organized, the sun was shining. Kelly had told me that Belle Vernon Gabe’s had a ton of Christmas blankets, and I had a bit of a shopping list (about 8 items) that I couldn’t get yesterday. So I drove down there and walked around Gabe’s for a while. They DID have a ton of blankets – fall, winter, Christmas, and all season. But nothing that I felt I had to spend money on. I looked around at some other items. This store is much neater and seems bigger than ours. I was looking for Christmas storage containers. I had bought fall ones back in September and they worked so well and held up nicely. I used them over and over. I couldn’t find ones I liked, and was walking down the cup aisle and there was one lone little package of Snoopy Christmas ones! I think God put it there just for me! I’m very excited.

I managed to get most of what I wanted at Walmart, but believe it or not they did not have the vanilla ice cream I use to make Oreo Ice Cream. Peyton special requested that for Christmas so I was being proactive — but no vanilla! I have plenty of time to grab some later. I did, however, find dark chocolate Klondike bars! So, one plus and one minus!

Over the years (and I mean YEARS!) I had collected about a dozen holiday pens. Every year I would put them in my desk pen holder then put them away after Christmas. This year I decided to see if they actually worked. Only one did. So I stopped at Dollar General and bought 2 pens (for $1 each!). Trouble was, I couldn’t figure out how to get into the parking lot! Belle Vernon’s shopping area has a ton of traffic and restricted lanes and turns and I was always in the wrong place. So finally I parked on the side in the next parking lot and walked over! I also bought 2 small candy bowls. They say Merry Christmas and are perfect for small candies or cheese or something. They too were $1.00. Now I’m done!

I heard a new song on the radio coming home. It was by Cole Swindell and it was called FOREVER TO ME. Since I have free downloads (thanks to the Hancher family!) I came home and added it to my playlist.

Now I’m settled in, and am going to get my ironing done. I had a very late lunch so I won’t need supper. I’ll grab a quick snack in a few hours and be done.

My blessing today was the new song and finding Holiday pens!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

Extra though for the Day:

TOMORROW December 7th is:

Hanukkah; International Civil Aviation Day; National Cotton Candy Day; National Letter Writing Day; National Stripes Day; National Pearl Harbor Day of Remembrance; National Play Outside Day (NOPE! Too cold!!); National Slime Day; Skywarn Recognition Day (check it out – pretty interesting!).

Yesterday’s fake day was National Sleigh Day. Tomorrow: First of all, it’s Gen’s birthday! Happy birthday, sweet friend! Also, Skunk Hollow Christmas! We can also remember Pearl Harbor and write a letter. God bless…

It’s just super cold – and a layer of snow everywhere with fierce winds. Last night there were deep rumbles of thunder with lightening. I heard someone say it was a ‘thundersnow’. It just started to snow again right now. Autmn stopped on her way home to pick up a few things from Aunt Cordelia but didn’t get out of the car. I hope she makes it home before dark. Cameron was sleeping but opened his eyes for a quick photo. Love that little guy – I was delighted to just get to see him, but my heart was a little sad that I couldn’t hug and play. Next time!

A few more pictures, simply because I didn’t do anything else. I was going to mix up cookies but decided to wait until next week. Kelly is supposed to come up for a marathon baking day. And it’s a little to early to make fudge if I want it fresh for Christmas!

My blessing today is being inside, safe and warm!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 6th is:

National Microwave Oven Day; National Miners Day; National Pawnbrokers Day; National Sleigh Day; Put on your Own Shoes Day; St. Nicholas Day; Mitton Tree Day; Faux Fur Friday.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Sticker Day. Tomorrow: Microwave ovens are essential. I always put on my own shoes! And I don’t have a mitten TREE but I do wear mittens. God bless!

I hit the floor on the go this morning. After breakfast I started cleaning – the house was a mess. I know that’s hard to imagine but it certainly was! While I was scrubbing and dusting and sweeping I kept seeing things I didn’t like – so I moved things around all morning. Probably not the end of that, either! Here are some pictures:

The tree is finished. It’s so different than the other tree – this one is tall and thinner and the old one was very fat! But I like this one. The best thing about it: Pre-lit!

I got my Christmas clothes out. And there is really no room to put them, since I don’t put anything else away! I have tee-shirts and sweatshirts and sweaters and hoodies and leggings and socks and slippers and PJ’s and a rob and Santa hats. I’ll never wear them all. I have my favorites!

Tomorrow I will work in the morning, and then I think Autmn is coming up in the afternoon – unless it gets too snowy. I can start on the other part of my list now – like cookies and Christmas cards! Oh! I also started my advent calendar:

My blessing today was cleaning this messy house! And a phone chat with my sister:)

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 5th is:

Bathtub Party Day (???); Celebrate Shelter Pets Day: International Volunteer Day; Light up a Life Day; National Sticker Day; National Blue Jeans Day; Walt Disney Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Ice Day. Tomorrow: I never had a party in a bathtub! Not starting now! Blue Jeans, volunteering, and Shelter Pets (GO JEN!!!). God bless…