I’m worn out – I worked all day yesterday and all day today after church getting boxes out. I did pace myself, but all day is all day. I think if I stuck my feet in water they would sizzle!

I will catch up on posting in the morning! (or SOMETIME tomorrow.)

TOMORROW is National Craft Jerky Day; National Bavarian Cream Pie Day, and Cyber Monday.

I have a CD I want to order online tomorrow. I hope to do that before work. OH! And today would have been Charles Schulz’s birthday! I DID celebrate that, spending some time with my Snoopys.

Have a great day and God bless…

I left the house this morning early to meet Matt in Bentleyville. He left his backpack at my place Thursday and needed it back. So halfway was good. I stopped on the way home and picked up Autmn and Cameron. He’s changing subtly each time I see him. We had fun with him and his buddy Snoopy!

At about 3pm I took A & C up to her mom’s; she only lives a mile up the road. She was spending the afternoon helping them decorate and the girls all love fussing over Cameron. I turned on the outside lights and realized that the Snoopy and the deer were not lit. I investigated and to my shock (!!!) I found that the bunnies had chewed through the wires on the extension cord! And yes, I did find out the hard way! I will stop tomorrow and get a new outdoor extension.

I was able to get a few more boxes emptied. I was surprised that I could so easily pick what I wanted to put out and what was staying tucked away. The kitchen is always the hardest. I have dozens and dozens of towels and dishes and little accessories. I got out the ones I knew I would use!

Time to cuddle down on the couch with the poinsettia blanket and pillow and chill. I’ll attack the boxes again tomorrow!

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TOMORROW November 26th is:

National Second Hand Sunday; National Cake Day.

Tomorrow it’s back to the boxes! I’ll be happy to get one or two done. God bless….

It was a strange day! I did sleep well after a long, busy, but fun Thanksgiving day. I started the day – after breakfast – sorting and putting away all the fall decorations. It took a lot longer than I presumed it would, but everything is tucked away where it belongs, safe and sound.

After a break for a snack – muffin! – I took all the Christmas boxes off of the shelves and spread them around the garage. I pretty much knew what was in each box, and am excited to start sorting things out tomorrow.

I started today by putting up the inside lights. Got everything except the lights on the stair railing. Just ran out of energy.

Tomorrow morning I have to meet Matt in Bentleyville (half-way point, more or less). He left his back pack here and will need it for the weekend. On the way back I’m going to pick up Autmn and Cameron to come and help me decorate. It will be a few years before Cameron can really ‘help’ but maybe he’ll notice the lights. One little thing after another just kept popping up!

Nate was cleaning gutters today and was next door at Mr. G’s. He took the ladder and checked out my roof – everything looks good. So I’m glad for that! My gutters have leaf guards so they are always ok.

I’m listening to Mystery on Mistletoe Lane – I watched it once so I can follow close enough just by listening. I’ll get supper and settle in, knowing I have a few early morning chores!

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Tomorrow November 25th is:

National Play Day with Dad; Small Business Saturday; National Parfait Day; Shopping Reminder Day; Blasé Day.

So, it’s OK to be blasé about anything you want. Oh, and tomorrow is 1 month until Christmas Day. It’s almost here! God bless…

I was up at 4:30am to do a final scrub on the turkey and make the stuffing, and get that bird in the oven. Once it was all done, I climbed back in bed and … couldn’t fall asleep! I was wide awake. So it’s 8:01pm and I’m out of steam. I can’t even get the Thanksgiving decorations put away. It will wait until morning!

I stuck a CD in and am watching a very old Christmas movie, THE GIFT OF LOVE, with Marie Osmond and Timothy Bottoms. I haven’t watched it in ages and it was fun to have on while I was working.

But the day was super nice – and fun to have everyone here. Cameron was a good little guy on his first Thanksgiving. He did NOT get to eat turkey but next year will be different. Everyone left early – about 3pm – as they had obligations of other places to go.

Nate just bought a new pre-owned car! An Acura SUV. He is very excited and happy. Chris likes driving that – and Jen is co-pilot! Congrats to all of them.

Before they left Peyton and his friend Kayden helped me take the fall lights down on the deck and put the Christmas ones up. Matt got the white deer out of the shed and we switched out the projector in the front yard to my red and green dots. I love them!

OH! And I found out that Christina got accepted to Point Park University to major in Photography and business. I really hope she can get her funding! She’s very excited! I’m proud of her!

I’m out of energy so I’ll sign off. Have a lovely weekend, and if you go out for Black Friday shopping I hope you find all the bargains you need!

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TOMORROW November 24th is:

You’re Welcomegiving Day; Maize Day; Buy Nothing Day; Black Friday; National Native American Heritage Day; National Day of Listening Day; National Flossing Day; National Sardines Day.

Let’s see. I will —- stay home and work on decorations! It will be a jungle out there. God bless!

I got up this morning and put the turkey to soak in cold water first thing. Then I got my shower and had breakfast. I set to cleaning the house and alternately bathing the turkey. It’s now tucked in the fridge, wrapped in Saran Wrap until 4am when I stuff it. I also put the onion and celery to simmer in oleo. The house is clean and the laundry is done.

I did pop over to the store and picked up a few items. What started as one thing on my list ended up as about 10 things! I had to get Chase a bag of Goldfish. Can’t have Thanksgiving in Chase’s world without Goldfish!

Ron sent me a few more pictures. He and his adventure buddy ended up on the AT for a few miles, which was nice memories for him. I’m sure they had a good time. This time they were in Georgia.

While the onions and celery were simmering I got my Christmas clothes out and stuck them in the closet. So that task is done!

Kelly got her oven fixed and was able to start baking. First batch done!

Snoopy’s calendar page today struck a note with me…

So tomorrow is the big day! However you celebrate, whatever you have at your meal, I hope you are surrounded by friends and family and good food!

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TOMORROW November 23rd is:

National Cashew Day; Wolfenoot; Fibonacci Day; National Expresso Day; Turkey Free Thanksgiving Day; National Day of Mourning; Thanksgiving Day; National Eat a Cranberry Day.

There are a lot of strange celebrations tomorrow. Look some of them up. I’ll stick with the obvious! God bless…

What a miserable day! I’m still climbing out of my funk – my planets were definitely not aligned today! But lots of good things so Hazard yet Forward! It HAS been cold and rainy all day which was good for staying inside!

Stopped to get gas in the Nissan and saw a purple Christmas tree truck! Cool! Then picked up Autmn’s friend Alex and took him to Mt. Pleasant. They are having friends-giving tonight. Nice to catch up – haven’t seen him since their high school graduation.

I got to see my baby for a minute when I dropped Alex off! He is such a sweetie! Can’t wait to see him on Thursday! I’ll let everyone else do the dishes and I’ll play with Cameron!

Kelly txt me a picture of the Christmas tree that we found but was out of stock. She ran over to Ohio and found it there and it is now decorated and set up, ready for their family Christmas tomorrow. She also found the earrings I was looking for yesterday. So she’s my hero!

Ron – from Florida – sent me photos of his four-day trip to North Carolina with his friend – little cabin in the woods; great for hiking and horseback riding. The horse decided to get in on the action!

Ginny – a long time friend that lives a few blocks away – txt me and we made a breakfast date for next week. It will be fun to catch up! She is the one with the twin black poodles.

I spent a busy afternoon getting a jump on Thanksgiving prep. Stuffing bread is pulled and ‘resting’, brownies are made, potato salad is done, as are the deviled eggs. Those are things I won’t be tempted to nibble on – except maybe the brownies and there are LOTS of those! Three containers!

I hope to finish the ironing tonight and get cleaning and more food prep done tomorrow. Looks like a 50% chance of a little sun peaking through tomorrow. I will like that!

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TOMORROW November 22nd is:

National Tie One On Day; National Jukebox Day; National Cranberry Relish Day.

Tie One On actually celebrates aprons, and the preparations for Thanksgiving meals. It’s also the anniversary of the assassination of JFK. What a dark day for our country. Choose something joyous to celebrate, like aprons! God bless…

I had a little issue pop up last evening (just a frustration) and I kept going over and over it in my mind. Then I couldn’t fall asleep! I know I’ll be ready to head to bed this evening. But I woke up and got a shower, and felt refreshed and ready for the day.

I loaded all the little items I needed to take to Kelly and headed down Interstate 70 about 8:30am. It was cold but sunny and nice and I made good time. Our first stop was Walmart, and she found a few things she needed. I stumbled (figuratively) across Snoopy window clings and was very excited! Also picked up a card of little star decorations to hang in the kitchen.

She surprised me with the shirt that she designed from a post card I got in Williamsburg back in April. I love it! And it’s a great color. It’s the coordinates for Williamsburg, my happy place!

We also stopped at Gabe’s. I had some ideas but nothing panned out. I did find a Christmas sparkle tee shirt that was less than $3. Just for fun!

We also stopped at Big Lots, which was in the same plaza as the tech school that Logan is attending. So now I got to see where is classes are!

Of course we picked Chick Fil-A for lunch. We had nugget meals, and Kelly got her requisite Peppermint milkshake! We went to Hobby Lobby next. That store is amazing! And all their Christmas things were 50% off. I did pick up a few small gifts there, and the Christmas colored sprinkles that I couldn’t find anywhere here.

When we were leaving I spotted a purple Mitsubishi in the parking lot. Maybe I could get Barry or Joe to find one for me! As I was heading home down I-70 it zoomed past me!

But we had a lovely day, shopping and talking and sharing ideas and info. It’s a great delight and privilege to spend the day with my sweet daughter! Blessings abound!

Kathy forwarded a copy of HDS (Hearing and Deaf Services) newsletter. She was featured employee! So proud of her!

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TOMORROW November 21st is:

World Television Day; World Hello Day; National Gingerbread Cookie Day; National Red Mitten Day; National Stuffing Day.

Stuffing day will be Thursday. Say hello all the time – that’s how friendships start! There is a red mitten in my Christmas story. God bless!!!

I was already in bed (reading) last night when Autmn sent me the photo of Cameron with Santa. Noah’s grandfather is a ‘professional’ Santa and agreed to let Cameron visit for photos. Cameron seemed to have made friends with Santa already!

Today was our Serve Sunday at Hempfield Church. There were several groups going out into the community after an early church service.

Some options of service were helping with the soup kitchen in Latrobe, yard clean up, minor home repair. Fixing a sidewalk and repairing a fence and helping seniors with home projects. Our group (headed by Patty Buschek) went to Mountain View Memory Care at Willow Crossing Road.

Many of the residents there gathered in the common room to listen and to sing along. Patty is amazing – she played and sang for an hour, and didn’t have a book or any music in front of her. Never ceases to amaze me. But the people gathered around loved the sing-along. There was one lady who reminded me of Mom. She had silver hair, a sweet smile, and knew every word to every song! She was even wearing Snoopy slippers!

We sang hymns, Thanksgiving songs, and Christmas Carols. It was fun seeing them so animated and participating. I was the photographer, and sent photos to Todd when I got home.

Todd’s message was about generosity from Acts 20:35. GIVE! Sometimes we have to give by grace because it’s difficult during trying times. 1) Joy is our best medicine, and giving produces joy. Be generous time and time again, with your time, talent, and money. 2) Be generous. Give more than you think you can. 3) Give because of what Christ did for us. Can we do less?

As mentioned, the month of December’s sermons will be Home for Christmas. It was delightful to see the Welcome Center and the Sanctuary decorated for Christmas; homey and warm and bright! I loved every little thing – even the twinkle lights on the stage. They were really flashy!

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TOMORROW November 20th is:

World Children’s Day; National Absurdity Day; National Peanut Butter Fudge Day; National Child’s Day.

Tomorrow for me is a short trip to Washington (PA) to shop with Kelly. Hope we can accomplish what we need to. Either way, we’ll have a great day just being together! God bless…

Normally I at least have one thing that I did during the day that I could document — today, not so much.

I did change my sheets and wash them. Oh, yea… After breakfast I drove down to the Grandview Fire Hall Flea Market. They had honey there – local, from Jeannette – so that saved me a trip to Irwin to get it. I bought a little Snoopy insulated bag and a very nice (brand new) canvas shopping bag. Still had the tags on.

The title work appointment I had went smoothly – the customers were impressed with the process compared to the last one they had. I guess it took forever and was very expensive. So they felt comfortable with today. I came home and had a little ham and cheese roll snack.

Every Skunk Hollow Cousin event that we have I try to write a little essay or story to share – it started back when we first started our Skunk Hollow Women’s Fest event. Susan always asked me to write something fun for us. So now I do it partly to honor Susan (and at Beth’s requests!) and partly because it always stirs up fun memories for us! So I just finished a little story today, and hope that it creates warmth for our cousin group.

We picked Beef Day – January 27th! Kelly’s birthday. So if she goes, we will have to sing to her!

Not much else to report. Have a lovely Sunday and enjoy!

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TOMORROW November 19th is:

World Toilet Day (??? Is this really necessary? The day, not the toilet…); National Play Monopoly Day; National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day.

I guess just celebrate the best you can and God bless!!!

I got up earlier than usual for a Friday, and the sunrise was beautiful. As usual my friend Tom posted a picture, as well!

Then I mixed up homemade bread. I let it rise the standard amount of times and just formed it into loaves. It’s resting now until ready to bake.

It’s pouring down rain – I knew we expected rain but did not realize it would rain hard all afternoon. It’s so dreary. I am glad Autmn, Cameron and I finished our shopping and are tucked inside. Noah is still at work.

Autmn is holding a sleeping baby and watching season six of THE CROWN. In the episode we are watching now Princess Diana just died in the car accident. It’s very sad, especially for the boys.

Autmn said that she baked a special cake for Noah’s 21st birthday. I should have posted it on Sunday but it got away from me. So happy belated birthday, Noah!!!

Cameron had an entertaining time in his play space after lunch. He likes his little book, and also the music in the pack n play. He was good today. Autmn and I stopped and got a few warm sleepers to get Cameron through the next few months. Then she made herself lunch while I finished feeding him.

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TOMORROW November 18th is:

National Princess Day; National Adoption Day; National Vichyssoise Day; European Antibiotic Awareness Day; Mickey Mouse Birthday.

Yea for Mickey Mouse – 95! And all of us (little girl or grown up girl) are a princess, so celebrate your life! YOU are special. God bless…