As promised, here is a picture of the SWEET rental car I had for one week. I didn't have it long enough to name it, but still, I loved that car! 2008 Dodge Charger, Dark Blue. Oh yeah!
Still, I am glad to have Nellie back, and operational. I hope she stays that way for many years to come! I am a bit discouraged with the gas mileage she gets...right at 17 mpg! C'mon Nellie! Ya gotta do better than that! At least gas prices aren't quite as high as they were.
As some of you know, I celebrated my birthday on October 16th. Thanks for all the well-wishes that I received from many of you. I decided to take a trip to Pennsylvania for my birthday, so I was able to buy my plane ticket with birthday money! I flew out October 15th, and came home October 19th. I had a wonderful trip! It was nice to be away from the routine for awhile, and especially nice to celebrate my special day with special friends. Mark picked me up from the airport, and treated me to supper before taking me to Fred and Elizabeth's home. On Thursday, which was my birthday, Mark took Elizabeth and I to Lancaster County, Pa. First, we went to the Choo-choo Barn in Strasburg, Pa. I absolutely loved it there! I have always been a real fan of doll houses, and miniture stuff, even railroads. So it was a special treat for me. It is a huge room, full of trains that run, homes and business that are lit up, etc. It is so cool! There is even a home that catches fire, and the firemen come and put out the fire. I have truly never seen anything quite like it. We spent a good deal of time there, and you see something different every time you look at it. If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it! We also stopped at a unique shop called The Outhouse. It is full of funny stuff, and we enjoyed our visit there, despite my being squirted in the head with water! The lady at the fudge counter thought she was too funny. Even though she squirted me with water, I did buy some Tiger Butter fudge from her, and it was scrumptious! We then proceeded to the Shady Maple and ate our fill from this delicious Amish Buffet. I got to eat for free since it was my birthday. We then stopped at the Kitchen Kettle Village and did some shopping at these unique shops. I bought some rhubarb jam for my friends and family, and we are really enjoying it! I haven't gotten into the cherry jam yet :) I want to go back around Christmas time and spend more time at these shops. What a fun place! Afterwards, we hit the outlets in Lancaster, and that was fun as well! On the way home, Mark stopped near the Capital building in Harrisburg, and we got some pictures of this beautiful building at night. Here are a few pics from my birthday.
On Friday, Elizabeth and I spent quite a lot of time cleaning her house, as she was hosting extra company that night. They had a Penn View Service at their church, and were responsible for putting up 5 extra people. So we cleaned the house, and the church. PVBI did a really good job, and we enjoyed their fellowship that evening, even though we were tired enough to drop in our tracks :)
On Saturday, Mark picked me up and we went to Gettysburg. Fred and Elizabeth met us there and we spent part of the day together. We spent a good deal of time in an art gallery, where someone(names are withheld to protect the innocent) spent some money on civil war art prints. I have to admit that it was a very good deal, as they were 75% off! I just had to give this individual a hard time, as I know he reads my blog :) We then walked to Friendly's where we enjoyed a very good lunch, topped off with some awesome ice cream! Afterwards, we drove around a bit on the battlefield, and took some pictures on Little Round Top. We visited the new visitor's center, but didn't spend much time there, as all the tickets had been sold for the day to various attractions there. We also went to Boyd's Bears, where Mark bought me a very sweet bear for my birthday. Her name is Mrs. Appleton, and she is completely adorable!
AFter Fred and Elizabeth went home, Mark took me to The Dobbin House in Gettysburg. No, we didn't eat there, but it was a station for the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. There is a little museum there that you can tour for free. That was really neat. I had never been in there before. Then we took in the Gettysburg Outlets, and I was able to find a sweet little outfit for Fred and Elizabeth's baby that is due in December.
On Sunday, I enjoyed attending church with my friends, and listening to Fred preach. I played the organ for the service..didn't want to get rusty on my musical skills while away from home :) After church, Mark and I enjoyed a delicious dinner with Fred and Elizabeth, and then Mark took me back to the airport. I was sad to go, but duty calls. My flights were smooth and unremarkable. The only fly in the ointment was a 3.5 hour layover in Detroit. But I had the newest Karen Kingsbury book, so the time passed pretty quickly. Dad picked me up at the airport in Indianapolis, and we got home a little after 12 midnight.
Last week, it was school/work as normal, but I was so tired I could hardly function at times. I thought maybe it was just from my trip, but then realized yesterday that I had come down with a terrible cold. I have felt miserable for the past couple of days. Not that you care, but still, I need to whine to somebody. My head is stuffy, my nose is runny, my eyes are watery, and my appetite is poor. So there...you've heard my complaints. I'm sitting here blogging in my robe. Unfortunately, I had to answer the door a minute ago in my robe! It was the neighbor boy, selling popcorn. So I bought some and apologized for my appearance. I think I'll curl up with some hot tea here in a bit, and maybe that will help set me to rights. As will the Nyquil that I live on when I'm ill.
Prior to my trip east, my family celebrated my birthday the weekend before. We grilled out( the weather was still nice at that time) and had birthday cake. Here is a picture of me with my nephews and niece. The were a little wound up, and I was tired from working at the hospital all day, but here you go.
Other than getting another year older, I have been staying busy with school. We are full-force into Christmas program stuff already. In fact, the program is 6 weeks from right now! Yikes! So we are busy learning lines and songs, talking about props and costumes, etc. I am also working with both bands on Christmas music, and with the Jr. High/Sr. High Choir. That is a daunting task, let me tell you. Some of the kids can sing really well, and then there's the others. I'm not sure that they're all going to get it, but we're certainly going to make a joyful noise :) May the Lord help me. The chime choir is also preparing their Christmas piece, and it looks to be fairly promising. I have most of my piano students busy with Christmas music as well. I know it seems a bit early, but I like for them to have plenty of songs they can play for the season.
My grandmother who lives with us has been quite ill the last couple of weeks. She has been in and out of the hospital, and required a pacemaker shortly before my trip to Pa. She is home now, but very weak. We have home health care coming in and helping with her bathing and with physical therapy. But we are unable to leave her alone now due to her extreme weakness. She is more often than not unable to get out of a chair unassisted. She does have a lift chair now, so this helps, but not with meals. My uncle Joe sat with her yesterday so that we could all attend church as a family. This week is revival, but I know we are going to have to miss out on part of it, due to not being able to leave her. The therapist feels that she can regain her strength, but we are not real optimistic at this point. If you think about it, please remember my family in prayer at this time. It's very difficult to see her like this, and to realize that she is suffering physically and mentally.
Well, I'm sure there are things I've forgotten to include in this blog. When one blogs only periodically, it is a sure thing to forget something. But I hope I have given you enough to satisfy you, and keep the blog police at bay. So for now, ta ta :)
