Taking everything into consideration, this has been one of the best weeks! Just in the comfortable, enjoyable normal progression of days.

Wednesday night I had the party to go to at Don Wassel’s house. So fun chatting with long-time friends as well as new friends.

Thursday morning early Kelly came up, and we spent all day baking cookies, shopping, having lunch, running errands, and watching a Christmas movie on Hallmark. Before she left Friday morning I made her two new rice bags and a Christmas Pillow Case.

Saturday was the Three Centuries program at Hanna’s Town and it was very fun, as well. Several long-time friends there to share the afternoon with.

Today was my last day of teaching Sunday School. I started helping my mom when I was in High School, and taught Sunday School, Sunday night and Wednesday night classes – as well as YEARS of VBS – from that point forward. I have been teaching Kindergarten since around 1976, so a long stretch. It feels strange to think about being done.

Todd’s message today was ‘God’s protection and delight.’ Talking about what we look forward to: conflict will vanish; it’s easy to get angry. Words crush the soul. The more you praise, the happier you get. Our punishment has been removed – HE will bring us home. God battles for us.

After church today my cousin Mark gathered up a bunch of our family, in addition to my friend Mary, and we all went to lunch at Chili’s. I haven’t done that in years and years. It was very fun to spend time with Deb, Jim, and Mike, Kim and Brian, Mark, and Mary. Good conversation, some laughs, and yummy food. I even have leftovers to have for supper. So far no plans at all except for work this week.

This evening I cleaned out my carry bags – the one I always took to church with my Sunday School materials in it, and the one I had for work with PENNDOT information. So that’s done! Quiet but fun day!

My blessing today was family lunch. We need more of these.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 16th is:

Barbie and Barney Backlash Day; Day of Reconciliation; National Chocolate Covered Anything Day; National Hose Day; National Underdog Day; National Wreaths Across America Day; Stupid Toy Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Garland Day; Tomorrow: Chocolate covered anything! I could check out some stupid toys. God bless.

Today is Jen’s birthday – Happy, happy birthday, Jen! Have a wonderful day! Wishing you a great year ahead. Love you!

So today was the Three Centuries of Christmas at Hanna’s Town. It was – first of all – nice to see some of my fellow tour guides and those who volunteer or work there. They do such a great job with the programs.

My tour started at 11am. Kelton took us to our first century – the 18th – at it was in the Tavern. Joanna explained about celebrating Christmas and some of the customs. Most of the decorations (when there were any at all) were from nature. Pine boughs, holly, fruit. The pine symbolized eternal life. The holly was considered magical, and kept away evil spirits. The word Holidays is derived from Holly Days. Christmas was banned and considered illegal for many years, by order of Oliver Cromwell. He, I guess, was the original Grinch!

The bearer of ‘tidings’ during that time was the formidable Belsnickel. He visited all the houses; pounded the door and demanded entry. If the children were ‘bad’ he rattled his heavy chain, and the kids got coal or wax or punishment with a switch. If they were ‘good’ he rang bells and they got nice treats. I got a piece of coal, but he said it was a small one because I was just a little bit bad! But Santa gave me a candy cane because he didn’t agree!

Moving on to the 19th century, we were led to the LeFevre House by Belsnickel. Lisa welcomed us inside and Carol explained traditions and customs. Most of the early 19th century celebrations were of German origin. Trees were decorated with cookies, candles, nuts, popcorn, ribbons. Several figures would visit different neighborhoods. Kriss Kringle, represented by young boys dressed up as well known characters (like George Washington) who performed antics and sang carols loudly, even performing tricks. They wouldn’t leave the property until those in the house would give them coins or food, which they distributed to the poor. That’s where the 2nd and 3rd verses from ‘We Wish you a Merry Christmas’ come into play: “Bring us some figgy pudding” and “We won’t go until we get some.”

The next visitor would be Christ Kingle (Christ Child) who would come at night an bring candy for the kids, who left hay for the reindeer. Kriss Kringle didn’t come down the chimney; he came in through the keyhole!

Now to the 19th century. Mistletoe was very popular and gave reason for a lot of kissing! Each time a couple would kiss under the mistletoe, they would pull a white berry off the sprig. Once the white berries were done, so was the kissing! Poinsettias were very popular – originating in Mexico – but kept in the house as decorations and symbol of friendship.

There were several versions of ‘Santa’, but the one then was most widely accepted was the one described in The Night Before Christmas (Clement C Moore). The illustrator for that was Thomas Nast, which met the descriptions in the poem. Several years later ‘Coke’ created a new image of Santa and that is the most widely recognized.

(This is a long post, isn’t it???)

The second half of the 19th century is deemed the Victorian age. Christmas Carols and caroling became very popular. The first Christmas Carol brought to the US was not even written for Christmas – Jingle Bells. During the years of the Civil War times were sad and hard. President Lincoln visited soldiers, and Mrs. Jefferson Davis visited the hospitals on Christmas Eve. President Grant declared Christmas an official holiday.

In 1867 Macy’s decided to stay open very late to keep up with the shopping and commercialism. Before this time most gifts were hand made; now they were mass produced and shopping because more popular. This is also when the elves were introduced as workers in Santa’s toy workshop. Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day Parade was 15 cars, 50 people, and a fireman dressed as Santa.

Christmas cards and post cards became so popular that the post office had to implore people to ‘mail early.’ Also, store windows competed for popularity as decorating them became a competition, including animation.

Now, here we are at last to the 20th century. There were a lot of familiar items in this display. Artificial lights on trees, glass bulb ornaments, handmade ornaments, candy canes, and trains underneath. Indiana PA became the Christmas Tree Capital of the World in 1956. President Coolidge instituted the first official National Christmas Tree.

The second half of the century – Victorian Age. Trees had electric light and commercially produced ornaments and decorations, as well as toys and clothing.

When children because older and began to doubt the existence of Santa, several things happened. The most famous was the letter written by Virginia O’Hanlon to the NY Sun – Is there really a Santa. The answer by editor Francis Church was one of the most published single articles ever in any newspaper. Also, one of the astronauts said ‘Santa comes through the Heart, not the chimney.’ Ugly sweaters became vastly popular.

The program was lovely, with different kids of cookies in several locations. The gift shop and the history display was open to browse through. Hanna’s Town does this program every December. It’s really worth checking out! Lots of fun and information and I didn’t nearly share even a tenth of it!

My blessing today was the Three Centuries of Christmas program!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW December 15th is:

Bill of Rights Day; Cat Herders Day; International Tea Day; National Garland Day; National Cupcake Day; National Regifting Day; National Wear Your Pearls Day; Ugly Sweater day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Crumb Day. Tomorrow: Jen will need help hearing cats. I love having my hot tea! Kelly is the Cupcake queen. I have a few ugly sweaters/sweatshirts, and I don’t own pearls! Well, maybe I have Grama Crooks’s but they are probably imitation! God bless. OH! And tomorrow is mine and Mary’s last day to teach. We are officially done! Hard to believe….

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…