I had several things to do in Jeannette. They got the estimate for the Ford and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The guy’s insurance will cover everything. So that’s one thing off the list. A big thanks to Barry for handling it in such a comfortable and gentlemanly way, and for Father Basil for being supportive and responsible for the damages.

Nate was doing touchup painting so I came straight home. He got the closet door done that we had to sand off last summer, and the big closet doors that were scratched and marked. Also got a first coat on the new door that goes to the garage. All good and very professional.

I decided I was going to get new shower curtains for the laundry room shelves. I went out for two hours — Ollies, TJMaxx, Marshalls, Walmart, Big Lots, Ross’s. Nothing. So not sure what I’ll do. Keep looking, I guess. I did find really cute Snoopy sheets at Marshalls but they didn’t have Full size. Bummer. Marshalls also had about 8 different styles of Snoopy fleece blankets. I couldn’t bring myself to purchase one since I have so many blankets already! Couldn’t make up my mind, anyway — too many to choose from!

I did find new gray rugs for the downstairs bathroom and laundry room. The old ones were threadbare. I couldn’t find burgundy anywhere so gray it was. They do look nice!

Autmn sent me a happy picture of Cameron. He’s getting so big! I really need to get a hug from this little guy — soon!

Chrissy found a few things at the thrift store that her mom worked at – Snoopy! So cute, and so sweet a granddaughter to think of me!

The sky this evening was beautiful. After having some light rain and clouds most of the day, this was most welcome!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY combined with PEANUTS?:

TOMORROW February 28th is:

228 Memorial Day; Car Keys and Small Change Day; Floral Design Day; National Chocolate Soufflé Day; National Essay Day; National Pancake day; National Public Sleeping Day; Skip the Straw Day; U.S. Snow Shoe Day; National Rare Disease day; National Tooth Fairy Day.

Tomorrow is the last day of February! I’m awful at floral design and soufflés. I’m ok with essays and pancakes, but I don’t normally sleep in public if I can avoid it. I’ve had my share of dental issues but haven’t seen that tooth fairy for decades. God bless…

Well today is a nothing-to-write-about day. I was even up earlier than normal for a stay at home Wednesday. I had a mini bagel for breakfast and started cleaning. I took a lot of breaks to read. It’s always fun to be part way though a book and realize it was a Hallmark movie that I’ve seen. All of the books are changed slightly but it doesn’t take long to figure it out. This one was the same premise but the characters had slightly different behavior. I’m almost done with it.

Dusting and scrubbing and sweeping is never a problem for me but seriously – what is there to write about? The most interesting thing I did was drag the trash up to the road in the rain. And I got the mail. Mark came over and helped me figure out how to scan and save documents from my printer. I wrote it all down this time. I gave him a bag of orange drop cookies as a thank you! Now I will make dinner and get ready for tomorrow.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 27th is:

Retro Day; The Big Breakfast Day; National Small Dog Day; Digital Learning Day; Fat Thursday; International Polar Bear Day; Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day; National Chili Day; National Pokémon Day; National Protein day; National Strawberry Day; National Toast Day; No Brainer Day.

I seldom eat a big breakfast unless we eat out at a restaurant – seldom! I don’t know any polar bears but I love both strawberries and toast! Those are no brainers! God bless…

I was scurrying around all day but not much to document. I just now finished submitting a story to our literary magazine, the Loyalhanna Review. It’s not their usual type of essay so I don’t hold out much hope. We will see in June when they choose the stories!

I had several things to do at work this morning, which was great. I also made a deposit for them at the bank, since Ken is still on vacation. From there I went to my chiropractor appointment, and when I was done I thought I’d had several muscles actually removed. Yikes. But I feel better now. On the way home I stopped to grab two things at WOW outlets for the Skunk Hollow event next month, and got gas for the Nissan. It was almost on empty.

I had chicken soup and trail mix for lunch, then did my ironing. I spent about 40 minutes on the phone with Westmoreland (Independence) Health billing department. They messed up a payment again and sent a paid bill to collections. It took all I had to not lose my temper with the poor guy who answered my call. It certainly wasn’t his fault! We’ll see – he assured me the issue was resolved.

That was about it for my exciting day! It was delightfully warmer today and even sunny a few time. Hoping for a little more of that.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 26th is:

For Pete’s Sake Day; Inconvenience Yourself Day; International Tongue Twister Contest Day; Levi Strauss Day; National Pistachio Day; Tell a Fairy Tale Day; Thermos Bottle Day; National Set A Good Example Day.

I’m not good at tongue twisters. I seem to always inconvenience myself. I love fairy tales! We should always strive to set a good example. God bless…

I’m not ready for that. I’m looking forward to the downside of Winter – Spring will be soon creeping up, which is fine with me! The sky was shouting with the Majesty of God this morning. Beautiful!

I’ve been spending some time planning (Mentally and hands-on) and organizing for our Spring Skunk Hollow event! I’m so excited to have everyone here. We have a few weeks and we’ll all be together. Food, fun, family – what could be better?

This morning I went first thing to Pinnacle so Barry and Rege could check out the car. It’s not horrid, and still drivable, but will need a little more repair that just buffing out. The people were so absolutely nice! We were very blessed with that, for sure. They switched me out cars so they can send the Ford over to get an estimate.

From there I went to the first Spring Tea meeting at Hanna’s Town. We got the menu and the schedule figured out. The next meeting will be who brings what food. Today was Priscilla’s birthday so we had gourmet cupcakes. I ate the whole thing and called it lunch. For sure it certainly wasn’t the healthiest choice. But who could resist??

The car I’m driving is a Nissan Rogue SL and it feels like I’m driving a Mercedes! I am almost intimidated driving it! The car is super dirty – all the cars on the lot are, including mine! I’m hoping I can get this new one washed off within the next few days.

Today is my step-daughter Nancy’s birthday. We don’t get together very often but we do keep connected on facebook. Wishing her a wonderful day and a very happy year ahead.

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 25th is:

Let’s all Eat Right Day; National Chocolate Covered Nut Day; Quiet Day; National Clam Chowder day.

I better eat right tomorrow after that cupcake today! The best place to get chocolate covered nuts is Smicksburg Country Store! Let’s GO! I might be able to be quiet if I really try. And tomorrow is 10 months until Christmas Day (as Bud would have said!) Have a lovely day. God bless…

We found out when we got to church that Todd was ill. Brandon Yeager was going to preach. I’ve known Brandon for years but have never heard him preach. I knew he was a good speaker so I was excited to hear the message.

His message was When God Calls, He Clears the Calendar. 1) Get wet. Expect the unexpected and step out when you don’t feel ready. Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s going forward despite it. God is with us. Why does God call us when we feel least prepared? So we will lean on Him. YOU cannot do these things, but God can. 2) Breakthroughs often come when you step into UNCOMFORTABLE, unexpected moments. The moment you decide to GET WET. God leads us. You cannot walk on water without getting wet. 3) Jesus catches you when you fall, especially in the unexpected. Let Go and Let God. God is not mad that you fell. He’s glad you stepped out of the boat. GET WET!

I finally got in touch with the person who scratched my car. We made arrangements to meet at my work tomorrow afternoon. It’s a relief to connect, finally.

Kathy txt me earlier and I drove over to her place for a vacation meeting. Paul was able to find pretty reasonable motel rooms for us near Mt. Vernon, so that was a plus. It will be a short trip but I think we can do what we want to in that time. Two month away!

Scripture of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW February 24th is:

DiscoverE Day; I hate Coriander Day; National Steakburger Day; National Tortilla Chip Day; National Trading Card Day; World Bartender Day; Museum Advocacy Day.

I like tortilla chips – and museums. Good place to start! God bless…

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.