Today is National Son’s Day! Couldn’t let the day go by without giving hugs to these two guys! Love you – you make my left better!

First thing this morning, Gen (from New York) answered my previous email with a phone call! It was so nice to catch up. She was sick last week but is improving. She’s still adjusting to her move, but loves the updated kitchen and enjoys cooking there.

Again today I spent almost an hour on the phone (two separate calls) with Aetna, trying to get this prescription issue resolved. My file is going to take up a whole file drawer, and I’ve only been a subscriber for a month! Ugh!

After breakfast I did the normal Wednesday housecleaning. Nothing interesting about that. I left early for church, since we were having tacos and hot dogs left over from the kids event on Saturday. We even had s’mores and cupcakes for dessert. We are still studying about ‘The Case for Heaven.’ Very interesting but you really have to keep up with everything! Lots of information.

Di sent me photos from our mutual friend Kendra who is in Martha’s Vineyard. The sunset pictures from this evening and yesterday’s cliff view – beautiful!

September 28 – Did you ever have a ‘good friend’ who did something mean to you? “No. Some of my friends did thoughtless things but I couldn’t say they were being mean.”

Calendar inspiration – Sharing your adventures with a cheerful companion doubles the pleasure.

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TOMORROW September 29th is:

• National Coffee Day
• Urban National Wildlife Refuge Day
• VFW Day

I’m not a coffee drinker and tomorrow isn’t going to change that! I have a medical test tomorrow, so I’ll celebrate the anticipated expected outcome from that! And seeing so many posts on facebook from those that have friends and family in Florida, take a minute to pray for safety and comfort. Some may be without power in the hot Florida temps for days! We’ll ask God’s blessings…..

First thing this morning I stepped out on the deck, and there was this brave little leaf standing straight up between the floor boards. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before!

Had several things to do in Jeannette, then stopped to help Mike P. Greensburg didn’t have anything until Thursday. I picked up a few cards, then went to Hanna’s Town. Spent about 45 minutes talking to Lisa and trying to organize the kitchen shelves. I’m sure I’ll have to do it again before the tea!

Our home-school group got stuck in traffic and were a little late, but we were able to do the complete program for them. I did tin punch, and even the adult parent/sponsors tried their hand at it. The weather was alternately sunny and rainy but it didn’t dampen the day’s spirit.

I left there a little before 4pm, and stopped at Lynch Field to walk the track. I was gong to do an extra loop, but just as I started the last one the thunder rumbled and we lost the sun. I decided to forgo that loop, and I was only about a mile down the road when the downpour hit! But it was a good day.

My early dinner was left over meatloaf and potatoes, and now I’m going to work on some projects. Jerome the Paint Guy called and as soon as we have a guaranteed 48 plus hours without rain they will do my deck!

September 27 – Tell about a memorable birthday cake. “I think my 16th birthday was an exciting one. Mom baked a cake & decorated with coconut shreds, which was very special back then.”

Calendar inspiration – Tackle huge projects by doing one thing at a time with patience and persistence.

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TOMORROW September 28th is:

• World Dense Breast Day
• National Drink Beer Day
• National Good Neighbor Day
• National North Carolina Day 
• National Strawberry Cream Pie Day
• National Women’s Health & Fitness Day
• National Sons Day

I have lots to do tomorrow – so I’ll celebrate the little things that make my day. As well as SON day! Have a wonderful Wednesday. God bless…

Worked both stores this morning, then came home and did chores. I grabbed half a piece of zucchini bread to hold me over, then put all the outdoor lawn ornaments away. Took me about two and a half hours, and I made a gazillion trips up and down the steps and around the outside of the house. I put the reindeer in the yard and packed the totes in the back of the shed. I had to wrestle them to get them back inside, but assured them it wouldn’t be long until they had their month in the sun — ah, er snow! I also gave the cow a bath before I packed it away. I always think of Uncle Gene when I see that cow – Beth gave it to me when they sold that house.

After a quick lunch, I switched out my summer and fall clothes. As usual, I have a big bag of clothes to pass along. I tucked the summer hanging clothes in the downstairs closet with the Christmas sweaters – which again will have to wait a while to make their way upstairs.

On my walk I took a picture of another neighborhood creek. Also gathered up some pine cones and acorns to arrange in a leaf bowl. It was a nice, brisk day to be outside.

I just put a meatloaf in the oven for supper – yum!

September 26- What was your school mascot? “We didn’t have a mascot.” Well, I’ll share Hempfield’s mascot, which was my alma mater and both of my kids’, as well as Autmn and Christina: Hempfield Spartans! Their colors are officially Royal Blue and Silver!

Calendar inspiration is from Peanuts, and well said!

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TOMORROW September 27the is:

• National Chocolate Milk Day
• National Corned Beef Hash Day
• National Crush a Can Day
• National Day of Forgiveness
• National Scarf Day

I haven’t had chocolate milk in decades, and I generally only wear scarves in the winter. I will forgive — but more hope that I am forgiven for anything thoughtless or intentional that I did to need it! God bless…

This day’s weather has been crazy – sun, clouds, rain, then sun again. But the sky has been beautifully dramatic.

I took a walk around the neighborhood and got a few interesting pics. I found a lilac bush totally in bloom, despite the fact that there was almost no leaves on it. The house that I always like to see decorated didn’t disappoint – had their windows and door decked out for fall. The little creek down the street from me was looking fresh and clear.

Church was great this morning. It was almost a full auditorium. It was the first official sermon for us from Todd Payton. He’s very engaging and energetic. I’m sure HCC will benefit from Todd and Heather, and we will all make every opportunity to serve the Lord together there.

Today is National Daughter’s Day – and here are the two beautiful ladies that share their lives with me! Love you guys!

September 25 – What were your school colors? “Each class picked the colors they wanted. Since uniforms were not a thing the school needed, it was not something the school had. Our class had red, white, and blue as it was war time. Blue & Gold is the colors our high school song sang about.” Red, white and Blue are perfect war-time colors.

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TOMORROW September 26th is:

• National Compliance Officer Day
• National Dumpling Day
• National Johnny Appleseed Day
• National Pancake Day
• National Shamu the Whale Day
• National Situational Awareness Day
• National Family Day 

Not a total fan of dumplings but I do like pancakes. And I love my family. Tomorrow will be a great day to celebrate that! Have a great week. God bless…

I stepped out of bed this morning to the most amazing sunrise! I just stood on the deck (shivering!) for several minutes, taking pictures of each little change. Awesome gift!

Today was the annual Ladies Retreat at Camp Christian in Mill Run, PA. Kathy and I left my house a little before 8:30am. She was filling in for a few people who were ill and wanted have time to get organized. I had the opportunity to sit next to Heather Payton, our new minister’s wife, and it was good to be able to chat – to get to know her a bit. This is the first ministry family in decades that was not in my ‘peer’ group. I guess that means I’d be considered in the ‘senior’ group. Heather was very fun, engaging, and friendly. She and my cousin Deb seemed to really hit it off and they seem close the same age group. My dear friend and teenage mentor Patty did background music, while HCC praise team of Tonia and Dianne led the singing.

The theme of the retreat was ‘Love is…’ and the main speaker was Lisa Jones. I’ve known Lisa for a very long time and she is a wonderful speaker and selfless worker for the Lord. She admonished us all to look at life through the lens of truth: God’s word. Love is a choice; GOD is love, and we need to focus on our first love. I know I left there inspired, motivated, and humbled by the amazing God who still in control of this crazy, mixed up world!

After lunch – which was very good! – we did a little Christmas ornament craft. Thankfully it was all pre-stick pieces. It’s no secret that I glue myself to things… There was a small break where you could take a walk, visit the prayer station, or purchase a camp ‘rock.’ When the retreat was over, we all circled around the flag poles and sang THE BELLS OF CAMP CHRISTIAN. It can evoke emotion in all of us, especially those of us who have been attending camp since childhood.

The camp store was open as we were leaving – Kelly’s PLC Design made all the shirts. There were more but they sold out! We got home a little after 5pm, and I listened to Greg Pelc’s message (from Vanderbilt church) and next I will review my Sunday School lesson for morning – the Prodigal Son. I’m ready but would like a quick refresher!

September 24 – Do you remember a special school custodian? “At Davis school the older boys helped the teacher carry in the wood & coal & us small ones ‘dusted’ the blackboard erasers. In high school I remember we had an older person fire the furnace & do the cleaning.”

Calendar inspiration – Take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

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TOMORROW September 25th is:

• Math Storytelling Day
• National Comic Book Day
• National Daughter’s Day
• National Lobster Day
• National One-Hit Wonder Day
• National Open the Magic Day
• National Quesadilla Day (Dia de la Quesadilla)
• National Research Administrator Day
• National Tune-Up Day
• National Gold Star Mother’s Day

Math storytelling seems like an oxymoron; take it from a word person! I love my sweet daughter so I will certainly celebrate her. And tomorrow it will be 3 months until Christmas. This year is flying by! God bless…

I woke up determined to finish the fall decorating tasks today, and I did. I took my time and tried to find new places for almost everything. Kept a few old favorites. The one distress I ran into was that I have been putting orange lights across the back of the couch. I only had one string and it was dead. I put purple up and it looks fine. When I totally finished, I drove over to Walmart for lights, but they did not have orange. I’ll have to check next June to find them before they get picked over. The Christmas stuff is jumping on the shelves, and will probably jump off just as quickly.

I decided I was not going to string the lights on the deck railings after it’s stained. It’s a lot of fuss, and although I love lights, it detracts from the deck and you can’t really hang on to the railings on the stairs. I purchased a lantern, put a string of fall lights in it, and sat it on the deck. I have another idea for one more string, but not until the stain gets on. Hope we get to that soon!

Last evening my friends Ginny and Glenn stopped with their poodles. It’s the first I’ve seen them and they are so big! And BLACK! Such fun to finally meet them. Gracie is a little smaller than Charlie, even though they are sister and brother. And they are so soft.

And THAT was my day! I’m reading a really good book by Rachel Hanna and it’s not a category romance; more like women’s fiction with a bit of mystery tucked in. Those are the types of books my friend Liz writes and they are my favorite. I’ve read over a dozen of Rachel’s books and this is the first one like this. It’s my favorite of hers, and I hope to finish it tonight!

September 23 – How did you get to and from school? “Walked the first 8 years to Davis school. Cousin Dora Burns taught music at our high school. We walked the mile up to the cement road & rode into Plumville with her.”

Calendar inspiration – Past experience provides good guidance as we move forward – you can make better choices in the future.

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TOMORROW September 24th is:

• National Cherries Jubilee Day
• National Punctuation Day
• Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving
• National Public Lands Day
• Save Your Photos Day–
• National Hunting and Fishing Day
• National Family Health and Fitness Day USA
• National Ghost Hunting Day
• National Seat Check Saturday
• National Singles Day

OK – I can celebrate punctuation – I love punctuation. Also I do really love a lot of my photos and I’m really happy to be single! Tomorrow is Ladies Retreat at Camp Christian so I will be spending the day there. Have a great weekend. God bless…

Fifty three years ago today Stoney asked me out on a date. FYI. I worked both stores then went grocery shopping – plus did a few non-food related errands. I spent about an hour on the phone trying to straighten out a few things with Aetna. Does anyone on their phone system team speak understandable English?? After lunch I put the Halloween projector out front and changed the flags for fall. It’s cold and raining now, so I’ll stay in.

Just got the totes out and after I post this I’ll work on transforming the house for autumn. I put out a few things but have way too much. Need to decide what to use and what to pass along. That will be my post for today. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting!

September 22 – What is the worst thing that you remember a teacher doing to a student? “Drawing a circle on the blackboard and making him stand for 10 minutes with his nose in that circle.”

Calendar Inspiration – Every day choices become part of us – choose well!

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TOMORROW September 23rd is:

• Celebrate Bisexuality Day
• National Checkers/Dogs in Politics Day
• National Great American Pot Pie Day
• National Snack Stick Day
• National Teal Talk Day
• Innergize Day
• National BRAVE DAY
• National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
• Restless Legs Awareness Day

I’ll try to be brave tomorrow. It’s the best I can do. Hope it’s a great start to your weekend! God bless…

I started out this morning by calling the mail order pharmacy – I got an overnight email that my prescription wouldn’t be filled until the end of November. OK. A dozen calls/stops to CVS and this is still an issue. I talked to Chris and she assured me that the problem was resolved and my order would be mailed by tomorrow. Then I received another email about 3pm that said my prescription wouldn’t be filled until the end of November. I called them again and ended up talking to a supervisor. She explained that she just had to call the CVS store and switch the prescription from their physical location to mail order. BUT — the pharmacy was closed. Their normal hours were until 10pm. Go figure! So hopefully, she’ll call as she promised in the morning and this will be finally straightened out. It’s a good thing this prescription wasn’t a matter of life or death!

As usual for Wednesday I cleaned the house – which is routine and nothing to post or report. I did pull a few weeds and cut down a few stalks, as well. Also took the trash up to the road for tomorrow morning. Other than that, a pretty uneventful day!

Wednesday night Bible study started back up today with Heaven: Is there life after death? It’s a combination Video presentation by Lee Strobel and class discussion led by Wayne Robertson. I think it’s going to be a great class, and give us a better understanding of why we believe what we believe.

September 21 – What is the worst trick that you remember a student playing on a teacher? “The kids were always bringing in toads, snakes & bugs of all kings & putting them on her chair or desk.” One snake and it would be all over!

Calendar inspiration – The hardest work gives the greatest satisfaction – take a well deserved rest.

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TOMORROW September 22nd is:

• National States and Capitals Day *
• American Business Women’s Day
• Car Free Day
• Dear Diary Day
• Elephant Appreciation Day
• Hobbit Day
• National Centenarian’s Day
• National Girls’ Night
• National Ice Cream Cone Day
• National Legwear Day
• National Online Recovery Day
• National White Chocolate Day
• Autumnal Equinox

I have never really appreciated an elephant – or a hobbit. I could do the Girls’ Night Out or the ice cream. Or the white chocolate. And tomorrow is (alas!) the first day of fall! Celebrate what you will! (I used to know all the state capitals; not sure I’d remember even half now!) God bless…

Rege and I had one of our typical morning conversations today. Barry comes in later since he’s still recovering, and Kevin is in Hawaii. So there was just the two of us. I did have several titles and a few other issues to deal with today. I txt Joe and he didn’t have anything — and anyway, he was off this morning. So I was home before 11am. I changed clothes and cut the grass, weed-whacked, used the outside blower, cut dead stalks, and pulled some weeds.

Mike P called and needed something done TODAY – so I got cleaned up about 2:30pm and ran over there. Since I was out and semi-sane, I drove over to L&L; haven’t been there in a few weeks. I found a cute little holiday board with a snowflake. And since I’m posting ‘new’ items, here is the magnet I got at the Flax Scutching (it sort of matches the cover picture of my Fields of Blue book!), and Beth gave me a star for my kitchen.

I talked to Teresa for a bit – we hadn’t talked since we went to Dan Rice Days the beginning of August. Her beloved cat passed away last Monday – she has her ‘remains’ in a beautiful wooden box with Zoomie’s paw prints on it. The vet’s office also made plaster of Paris prints of Zommie’s paws, too. Zoomie was almost 18 years old; that’s a great life for a cat.

We also talked about her upcoming trip with WOMEN TRAVELING TOGETHER – she’s going to Charleston and Savannah. I sent her some notes about what we liked when we were down there last year, and a few pictures. This was one of our favorite tours!

September 20 – Tell about your worst report card. “When I was sick for 3 weeks and didn’t get all the make-up school work completed. After I made up what was needed the teacher gave me my report card again with the grades filled in.” Three weeks is a lot of school to miss; that was a very compassionate teacher!

Calendar inspiration is from Peanuts today:

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TOMORROW September 21st is:

• National Chai Day
• National New York Day
• National Pecan Cookie Day

My friend Di likes Chai tea; Kathy loves pecan tassies. And I think New York is a pretty nice state. Have a great day whatever you celebrate! God bless…

Kelly left a little before 9am; I left for work after she left. I always hate to see my family leave. We enjoyed our time kid-free (but we DID miss the boys!). It’s very rare to have time together with just us. She brought my mums up (that I ordered) and was so excited that they survived her care! I’ll plant them when they are totally done blooming.

After work I went to the dentist to get my crown put on the implant. As you could almost expect – did not go well! Even through the tooth was tagged with the correct shade, it was not compatible with the other teeth! So now he has to re-order. I have the temporary one in and it will take some time to get used to. I haven’t had a tooth in that space for a pretty long time!

So finally – Skunk Hollow Bonfire at Beth’s! It was such a wonderful evening. All ten of us were there. Harold built the fire and kept it going for a while, then we took over. He also took some pictures for us. It was sunny and comfortable for the first part of the evening, and we could sit around the table and eat and chat. We can cover any topic of conversation from fender-benders (poor Beth!) to health issues to politics (which we try to avoid!)

There is always so much food. We had hot dogs (of course) and Harold heated sauerkraut inside on the stove for us. There was mountain pie fixings, and everything for some’mores. Crackers, chips, desserts, cider — M&M’s! Humus and carrots.

When we had eaten our fill we moved over to the fire pit (but carried snack plates with us!). Once the sun went down it was much cooler, and we bundled in jackets and blankets. I read my essay on flowers (each SH girl was a different flower and I researched their characteristics!), and then we went around the circle and shared updates in our lives and families. It was about 10:30pm when things broke up. The hour drive home was comfortable, as Kathy and I could chat and relive the evening as the moon followed us all the way. Love these girls, and so blessed to have them in my life and share precious time with each other. Already looking forward to the Christmas event at Colleen’s!

September 19 – If you were ever in a fight, tell about it. “I would fight with my sister Hazel. Dad made us put on Jim’s boxing gloves & fight each other until we decided we didn’t like to fight anymore.” Sounds effective to me!

Calendar inspiration – By helping others achieve their goals, we often achieve our own goals as well.

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TOMORROW September 20th is:

• National Care for Kids Day
• National Fried Rice Day
• National Pepperoni Pizza Day
• National Punch Day
• National String Cheese Day
• National Voter Registration Day
• National IT Professionals Day

Well, we had pepperoni pizza both Sunday and Monday – so I’ll just REMEMBER it! Other than work, tomorrow holds no obligations! How cool is THAT!!! Have a blessed day…