I got a pretty good night’s sleep last night, but was wide awake a little after 6am. That was ok – I felt rested and got started with my day, changing the sheets, getting a shower, and having breakfast.

When I got up and looked out the window this morning, there was a big orange cat in my driveway. I’ve never seen it in the neighborhood before. In fact, we NEVER see cats or dogs loose in the ‘hood. I walked out on the deck and it took off.

After a cup of hot tea, I decided to go to a rummage sale that Di told me about at a church she sometimes attends. I really enjoyed looking around at everything – they really did have a lot there! But I didn’t find anything I felt had to come home with me.

I picked up my prescription at Giant Eagle, then stopped at Dollar General for … no apparent reason! I did find a cool plate, plus the one I found at Giant Eagle.

I took a little walk around the yard. I found a lone little bloom, the last rose of summer, and what looked like the perfect place for a bird on a wire.

Before I ate lunch (a salad from Di), I trimmed the Pinky Winky bush and pulled a few weeds up near the white fence. Once I got settled, I got Chrissy’s package ready to mail on Monday, and did the ironing. Tomorrow if I can I will cut the grass and read stories.

My blessing for today was that I felt like doing a few unnecessary things!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 22nd is:

National White Chocolate Day; National States and Capitals Day; National Scissors Day; American Business Womens Day; Car Free Sunday; Dear Diary Day; Elephant Appreciation Day; Fall Equinox/First day of Autumn; Fall Prevention Awareness Day; Hobbit Day; National Ice Cream Cone Day; National Legwear Day; National Temperature Control Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Tape Day. Tomorrow – I’ll go for the chocolate and first day of Autumn. And Ice Cream Cone. But I need my car. And I never stopped to appreciate an elephant before. God bless…

This has been a busy day, so I’m going to save my post for tomorrow. I did laundry this morning, popped over to Di’s to pick up a few things and take her some scones, and came back home. From that point I got all the fall decorations out and spent the rest of the day until now (8:10pm) putting things in place. Tomorrow I will add window stickees and battery lights and be done!

Please take a minute to say prayers for Tonia and her family. She was put back in the ICU after a major setback. This is a tough step to take, but they are thankful they found the problem and can address it quickly. Thank you!

So my blessing for today was to get so much done!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 21st is:

Batman Day; Escapology Day; International Day of Peace Day; International Eat an Apple Day; Miniature Golf Day; National Clean Up Day; National Gymnastics Day; National Multivitamin Day; National Pecan Cookie Day; National Singles Day; Puppy Mill Awareness Day; National Tape Day; Telephone Pole Appreciation Day; National Alzheimer’s Day; Responsible Dog Ownership Day; World Gratitude Day; National Seat Check Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Star Day. Tomorrow, seek peace. I can’t really appreciate telephone poles, although I probably should. God bless!

I had a few things to do at the Jeannette store, then went to my Well Visit with Dr. Cole. I always love the tree they have decorated in the waiting room!

Dr. Cole looked at my charts and the results of my tests, and we talked about how to move forward. I got my flu shot, and I described my issues and what the other doctors had told me. He set me up with a referral with another specialist and also recommended that I give the double medication another 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference. I really can’t move forward until after Monday’s appointment with the pulmonologist. I don’t cough as much, but it does sound horrid when I do cough. He’s determined to get to the bottom of this, especially after hearing my cough!

I had a scrambled egg on a piece of toast for lunch, changed clothes, and went outside. It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze, so I lugged the empty bins up from the shed, gathered all the lawn ornaments, and packed everything away. I used the garden cart to get the bins back to the shed.

Once I did that, I took the deck furniture down and stored it for the winter. I took my time and made lots of trips so nothing was heavy. I was outside all afternoon – except for a short break that I spent chatting on the phone with my favorite sister! I finally came in at about 6pm and got a shower, PJ’s and here I am.

Kathy said that Millie has a part in their church’s Christmas play. She is bird #3. She was so excited she fell asleep last night holding the script!

Teresa posted a few pictures from her Scotland trip. I chose two to share!

My blessing today was getting the yard and deck items stored away.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 20th is:

National Care for Kids Day; National Star Day; National Fried Rice Day; National Punch Day; National String Cheese Day; National Queso Day; Pepperoni Pizza Day; National Tradesman Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Sunflower Day. Looks like a lot of tomorrow will be spent eating! I’ll take the pizza. God bless….

I made a point of getting up early this morning so I was completely ready for the tree guys. I wasn’t sure what time they would get here and didn’t want to be in the shower! They arrived about 9:20am and were quick to get set up.

I was really trying to clean, but kept being drawn to the window to watch the branches fall. There was one guy in the bucket cutting the branches, and the others were feeding the branches into the shredder. I told them I wanted the trees to be nude and they did it! He said when he left he’d see me in 5-7 years! They did a good job cleaning up, raking and blowing the yard, street and driveways clean.

They even cut the old cherry tree stump in the bottom yard down to dirt level for me!

After they left, I went out and straightened up the decorative stones that lined the trees and made them neat, and put the little sheep, etc, back around the base. Ironically, it was cloudy but dry while they were here – about half hour after they left it started to rain, and rained all afternoon. About 6pm or so it cleared up and we even got a little sun! I got the rest of the house cleaned and laundry done and this is my last major chore for the day.

Autmn just sent me a picture of Cameron eating pizza. Sitting in the kitchen sink!!! How cute is THAT??

And here is a sliver of the Harvest moon – big and bright!

My blessing today was having the trees done and that all were safe!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 19th is:

National Butterscotch Pudding Day; National Cat DNA Day; National Meow Like A Pirate Day; National Pawpaw Day; National Woman Road Warrior Day; Talk Like a Pirate Day; National Sunflower Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Weather Vane Day. Nothing too much to get excited about for tomorrow, unless you like pirates. Oh – and Nathan loves butterscotch pudding pie! Celebrate that! God bless…

Started out this morning talking to my cousin John. He’s looking at a classic car at a dealer in Ohio, and needed some information about title and registration. We talked about half an hour – and he got the information that he needed. Then I got a message from my niece who was having problems with a license plate. So today was family day!

I had to stop at the bank and at Dollar Tree on the way home. I got home just in time to make a good salad for lunch, then spent about half an hour clearing the weeds off the risers of the back steps. Looks nice now. It’s a much cooler day today! I came inside and read about a dozen Flash Fiction stories. For some reason this last cluster of stories were much better written than the first ones I read.

So back to the Flax festival – Here is Sunday’s recap. Kelly and I went up early enough to attend the worship service. There were four worship songs, then a group reading of the 23rd Psalm, then special music by Wayne Shaffer. The pastor, Vickie Lynch, spoke on Christ, the Hope of the World. The base of the message was that God’s Word is not to chastise, but to draw us closer. And that is good news! There were two more praise songs to close out the service.

Kelly and I set up our booth again, and we were again busy all day. The weaving and the puppy kisses were very popular, and when we spoke with Merilee later in the day we assured her we would include those activities next year. I already have the dates blocked in my 2025 calendar, and we even have some ideas about how to make things just different enough that it will draw the kids back.

We packed leftover pizza for our lunch and used our food coupons for a funnel cake and Kelly’s milkshake. I didn’t even need supper as that was enough food for the whole day! We got permission to take pictures of a few of the kids with their projects.

Kelly left as soon as we got home. She had been away all weekend and if you use your imagination you can picture what she was going home to, with four guys in charge of the house! I did absolutely nothing else once I got settled inside – because once the new week starts there’s not much down time!

My blessing today was being able to help my family navigate the treacherous waters of PENNDOT!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 18th is:

Chiropractor Founder’s Day; Hug a Greeting Card Writer Day; National Weather Vane Day; International Equal Pay Day; Locate An Old Friend Day; National Cheeseburger Day; National First Love day; National Respect Day; National School Backpack Awareness Day; Purple Bra Day; Read An eBook Day; Rice Krispie Treat Day; U.S. Air Force Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Ink Day. Tomorrow – read an eBook. Don’t think I’ll do the first love thing. Nope. I never had a purple bra. It would be really cool if you could locate an old friend! God bless…

It was a beautiful day today! I even got to spend a little time outside this afternoon after I finished laundry and ironing. I was so far behind on my ironing! I got gas in the Mazda on the way home but didn’t have any other errands and I was glad about that. I pulled down the last of the Morning Glories and finished cleaning out the little section of the hill, then took a shower.

So I’ll go back and recap the weekend at the Flax Festival in Stahlstown. Wow, we were super busy! The kids absolutely loved doing the crafts, weaving, making pictures. They also loved the tic-tac-toe, especially with the adorable little orange and white pumpkins Kelly crocheted. Dozens of people stopped to ask if the pumpkins were for sale! She could have raked in the cash if she would have had a bunch to sell. But then again, we weren’t a ‘vendor’ – we were giving away fun! I had Fields of Blue and Letters to Mary there, and did have a great deal of interest, and sold three Fields of Blue books.

We also had our little ‘Puppers’ – if you stopped to pet him he would give out free (Hershey) kisses! The kids took it very seriously!

Cathi Rhodes singing Patsy Cline opened up the festival as the first performer. I love listening to her perform! I’m clad we were close and had a good view of the stage – and could listen to the music!

There was also a candy corn ring toss, a scavenger hunt just for fun, a word search, and bunches of kids books to look through.

It was fun walking around, looking at the crafts and seeing the people. There were several reenactors camped there for the weekend, and at one point the native Americans captured a Colonial and took her back to their camp.

And of course there were Flax Scutching demonstrations several times throughout the day.

‘Vendors’ always get meal tickets, so we had burgers for lunch, then split a funnel cake mid-afternoon. Everything was very good!

We had so many kids we had to stop on the way home and purchase more supplies. We were all set and had plenty for the Sunday kids to do crafts. Saturday was a fun, busy day but more successful than anyone could have guessed! The parents were making comments about how great it was for the kids to have something (free) to do!

By the time we picked up the extra supplies we were too tired to figure out supper, so we ordered a pizza and picked it up on the way home. We prepped some of the weaving plates and cut some yarn, and fell into bed happy but exhausted! I’ll recap Sunday tomorrow.

My blessing for TODAY was getting caught up on a few important tasks!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 17th is:

National Voter’s Registration Day; National Professional House Cleaners Day; Constitution Day; Get Ready Day; National Ink Day; International Country Music Day; International Patient Safety Day; National Apple Dumpling Day; National IT Professionals Day; National Pet Bird Day.

Friday’s fake day was National Moth Day. Tomorrow – I shall celebrate the constitution! And Country Music, of course. Logan is taking college classes to be an IT professional so let’s do that too! God bless…

This will be a really full, busy day. So if I don’t post anything this evening don’t be alarmed. I’ll try to catch up tomorrow, or at the latest on Monday, to fill you in on the Flax festival! Enjoy your weekend!!!

Happy birthday Matt! I know Matt, Logan, Chase, Ma, Kim and Greg are at the Pirate game tonight. Kelly is here. So here’s hoping the Pirates bring home a win in honor of Matt’s exciting day!

I baked the scones and had a warm one for breakfast, then went outside and started organizing for the weekend. I got the garden cart and scrubbed it – that will be perfect to haul things from the car to our table at the festival. Then I loaded everything but the cooler into the car. So we’re set for tomorrow.

I needed to get some groceries, so while I was out I stopped at Pinnacle and made copies of two of the word games for the kids’ table. Also got a mum at Aldi.

Then I stopped at McDonalds and got a chocolate milkshake because I missed the ‘National’ day yesterday. I ordered a small chocolate milkshake with no whipped cream or cherry. I got handed a shake with whipped cream… So I told her to just spoon it off and I’d drink it. I got in the car and was half-way to Walmart when I realized it was vanilla. Ugh. And they are not cheap these days!

Kelly was pulling in just as I finished getting organized. She needed something from the Dollar Tree that their store didn’t have, so we went over there. We made sliders, French fries, and Aunt Joan’s corn for supper, and now I am posting this and she is working on a project.

My friend Teresa is in London with her Women Traveling Together group – they are headed to Scotland for 10 days or so. She sent me two pictures so far.

My blessing today is having Kelly here for the whole weekend!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 14th is:

National Parents Day Off; Drive your Studebaker Day; Farmers’ Consumer Awareness Day; Free Dental Day; German Language Day; Gobstopper Day; National Coloring Day; National Cream Filled Donut Day; National Eat A Hoagie Day; National Sober Day; National Moth Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Toast Day. Tomorrow, if you’re a parent, just TRY to take the day off! We’ll have the kids coloring tomorrow to celebrate. God bless…

Yesterday when I went for my test the city was tearing down the old parking garage. It was condemned a few years ago, and they can’t move forward with any new projects until that building is gone. It was amazing to see all the equipment and huge chunks of concrete being thrown over the side. But — on to today.

Dr. Tammy had FAXed a request for me to be excused from Jury duty today, because of the disruption of the cough and everything that went with it. They don’t notify you if they accepted your requests so I had to prepare for the day and get up there and park (no easy feat sometimes!). When I checked in they sent me across the hall and pulled up my record and told me kindly (yes, really!) that I was excused. I was so relieved. I am very tired of dealing with this cough, and avoid situations (when I can) that put me in a public situation. I was very thankful.

I stopped at work and handled two titles, then came home. I just took my time doing my chores. I told Kelly I would try to make cookies (which I did, but not my best offering). I also mixed up scones to bake in the morning. Kelly loves scones and we were all out and she’ll be up all weekend.

By late afternoon it was cooler and the back yard was in the shade, so I pulled the dead morning glories off the fence. It’s a tedious job, but once they die off and turn ugly yellow and brown they need to come down. It’s not a bad job to do because I don’t have to climb around in the plants or weeds.

Tomorrow I will get ready for the weekend and Kelly’s visit. Also need to pick up some food. And do some laundry. But I have the whole day and can space things out.

My blessing today was not having to disrupt a jury trial with my coughing!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 13th is:

Bald is Beautiful Day (?); Defy Superstition Day; International Chocolate Day; National Blame Someone Else Day; National Doodle Day; National Hug Your Boss Day; National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day; National Peanut Day (not the Snoopy gang Peanuts. The food!); Positive Thinking Day; Supernatural Day; Uncle Sam Day; National Toast Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Test Day. Tomorrow I’ll go for the Chocolate. I hate to blame anyone for anything. I’d for sure hug my bosses if I was working tomorrow. I am trying very hard to think positive about getting to the bottom of this ailment! Uncle Sam day reminds me of Dan Rice. Tomorrow is also Matt’s birthday!! Have a happy Friday. God bless…

The big question of the day would be — where were you when the planes went into the Twin Towers, and Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville? I was at work, and my friend Donna came into the office and said a plane flew into one of the towers. It wasn’t until the second one crashed that we realized something enormous was happening. After the plane crashed in Shanksville, it got eerily quiet. Route 30 was almost empty except for dozens of emergency vehicles racing toward the mountain. I walked outside to go next door and there wasn’t a plane or the sound of one in sight.

And by the way, if you have never visited the Flight 93 Memorial you really should. You walk away from there a changed person.

Kelly was working at Troutmans and she came down to be in the office with us. I think everyone I talked to had called their mom. Everyone just wondered what would be next. It was a horror to think about, and I slipped upstairs to the executive conference room to watch the TV up there whenever I could. The coverage shook everyone to the bone. How thankful I am for the relative peace and calm in which we are currently living. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s America!

So, today I spent the morning cleaning the upstairs, then went for my pulmonary challenge test. I knew it would be stressful because I already had issues catching my breath when I coughed (which is frequent!). The first thing the tech did was do a base-line test to get my breathing numbers without medication or restriction. They were too low! The test is too risky if the numbers are below a certain level. She called the pulmonologist who confirmed that I couldn’t have the test. That just means that I probably am already experiencing what they were trying to see if I had! But now we need to decide if I should have other tests, different meds, or which way to go…

I came home and cleaned the rest of the house and did a load of towels. Nate stopped over a bit and it was good to have an unhurried visit from him. I called the Jury ‘hotline’ and there were no jurors excused – so I have to report in the morning. I can see me coughing and choking and gasping for air in the middle of a trial! Hopefully they will let me leave if I explain – I’ve heard they do that. (I do have a letter from my doctor…)

I was sitting here typing and a United Healthcare commercial came on. The background music was Wouldn’t it be Nice. A little ray of sunshine in a crazy day!

My blessing today – despite the obvious down side – was that I did NOT have to have that stressful breathing challenge test!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW September 12th is:

Are You OK Day; National Chocolate Milkshake Day; National Day of Encouragement; National Police Woman Day; National School Picture Day; National Test Day; National Video Game Day; National Hug and High 5 Day; National Just One Human Family Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Cricket Day. Tomorrow? I’m ALL ABOUT the Chocolate Milkshake! Encouragement is always great, and I appreciate people being so supportive with all my crazy issues this summer. Chase will (of COURSE) celebrate video games, and we should all share a hug! God bless…