Mon.-Looked at pictures of Naomi's 50th birthday party on face book. I wish I could have been there celebrating this special day with her and her friends and family. Caught up on correspondence and phone calls. Exercised to History DVD's that we'll be using for American history this year. Fascinating. Drive Thru History, I think they're called. He makes me laugh and Susan just rolls her eyes at his silly jokes. Made stir-fry for supper and cornbread. Susan practiced her basketball skills and rode bike with Lucy running beside her on a leash. Michael went over to the guy's house to do some work on his computer with high speed Internet.Philip joined him there later. Phil went out to Farmville for a meeting. Michelle and I tried to figure things out over the phone about what's right and Susan cleaned her room. Today, I went back into my bedroom to hold a private conversation on the phone. It had begun storming earlier and I began to run some water into the tub in case we would lose electricity. I forgot all about it. But, much later, I remembered, as soon as I went back into my room. It had probably been overflowing for less than a minute. I caught it before it went down into the airconditioning ducts. I soaked up about 6 towels worth of water. I am so thankful it wasn't worse!
Tues.-Happy 2nd Anniversary to Freeman and Alli! I'm so glad he married her. Not flesh of my flesh, but soul of my soul, Alli. Took Lucy to get her shots and ran errands in Appomattox. Susan is gathering the soda pop bottles and cleaning them up to be sold. Practicing basketball skills and running, too. I left for the KNIT group just as the men got home for supper. Danielle and I were the only ones who could come. We spent a lovely 2+ hours together, talking and listening. We made the best s'mores I've ever eaten. This is how to do it without a fire. Put some chocolate on a graham cracker and a marshmallow on top. Broil until brown and then turn the oven and leave the s'more in the oven until the chocolate and marshmallow insides are melted. Take out of oven. Put graham cracker on top. Use napkins and take a shower afterwards.
Wed.-Did odds and ends of different things today. Have a terrible headache. Phil brought home cantaloupe and I am making canned spiced cantaloupe for him this eve. Susan went to CC for youth group. Michael went to bed. He's not feeling well. Sinus problem and tiredness.
Thurs.-To Farmville with Susan. Dropped her off at Kelly's so she could swim with Kelly and Jasmine. Had a catch up lunch with DDF at Riverside and she entrusted me with her printed prized possession to read. Stopped at Helen's to get tomatoes and a kiss from Grammy Doss. Made 7 quart of tomato juice using the juicer. I won't do that again. Didn't use the pulp. Made quiche and had Hugh's sweet corn and tomatoes to go with it. Michael still not feeling well. Susan tired with pool water in her ears. Phil and I making anniversary plans. Thankful for Naomi's call this morning and her thought provoking question about life-'What do you want your legacy to be?' Thankful to hear Betty's exciting vacation plans and for the precious friendship of DDF.
Fri.-Ps. 16:11-"You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Made salsa with Michael and Susan's help. Processed a bag of peaches. Packed. Left for a Bed and Breakfast in Appomattox-Spring Grove Farm. Stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream cones and stopped in to visit the Confederate Museum. Then to Elliot's where Phil disappeared inside. He came out with a preordered huge bouquet of spring flowers. Beautiful. Popped in to visit the owners after we checked out our little cottage. Then we headed to Pino's for salad, bread, chicken Parmesan, and lasagna for supper. Read and relaxed for an hour in the perfect jacuzzi. The bed was so high I had to run and jump to get in it. Three storms woke me up during the night in spite of the loud air conditioner at my ear. Forgot to mention that Phil and I are away to celebrate our 30th anniversary.
Sat.-Breakfast at 7:30. Coffee, fresh fruit salad, Western omelet, English muffins, and blackberry cobbler. Emily and Joe, the owners, served us and then asked if they could sit down and join us for breakfast. She was a teacher for 30 years. And they both can talk about anything intellectually and factually and they are both warm and dear. They have dogs, large ones, who love people as much as they do. One in particular, actually hugged me with his body. He was a golden retriever. Joe and Emily had a picture taken with Jerry Falwell. Doug Oldham's daughter was married on their premises and Jerry had come to the wedding. They sent us away with bread and butter pickles, tomato soup, and black raspberry jam that they had canned this summer.
Phil texted Susan about his calf and Susan texted back, "Relax. I got it. Have fun." We went on our way, rather full, towards Williamsburg, to meet Eldon, Sandy, and their daughter, Kireh, for lunch at the Shields Tavern. On the way there, we stopped at a not-so-modern country store and as I walked in towards the bathroom, I noticed that the meat counter had bacon in it. Right beside it, on display, were boxes of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. The bathroom had all kinds of Biblical graffiti written around the mirror. The comment that stood out to me, perhaps because of it's miss-spelling, of maybe it was what the writer truly meant, were the words, "Watch out 4 the New Word Order."
After a lunch in the dark-(In the basement of the tavern, the only light was candle light) (which makes me suspicious from the get-go), we walked around Colonial Williamsburg, taking pictures of each other in the gardens and catching up on what all the kids are doing. Eldon is an architect and we hope that someday, when we build our house, he will be the designer. Sandy works at the hospital and Kireh, their daughter, is quite the photographer. She's 22. Eldon and Sandy were with us when we were going to church in Downingtown, Pa. After we said our good-byes, Phil and I headed to Denbigh, where his grandfather had worked at clearing the land when he was 17. Another relative talked the Hertzler family to come up to Morgantown, where the land was already cleared and a house was already built. Grandpa Hertzler-Phil's grandpa, bought the farm that Phil grew up on. It is still in the family and Phil's younger brothers own and run the farm to this day. We drove around looking at street names and took a picture of Hertzler Lane, named after his relatives. A Mennonite colony grew there many years ago and the names of the streets reflect that era. Yoder, Miller, and Hertzler Street, to name a few. On the way there, we got caught in several horrific rain storms. The sky had been making its threats all day and we were glad not to be walking on the streets on Williamsburg when it hit. We're quite sure Eldon and Sandy were caught in it because it began to pour just as we got on the main drag.
It was nice to be back home again. It was good to be away. We made lots of plans and shared some of them with the kids. Susan and Michael had done a good job at cleaning up the house. Philip and Susan went to Jeremy's party in the afternoon/eve. They came home pretty early. I left my pillow, notebook, and farming magazine at the cottage. Helen was at the Bed and Breakfast returning some Victorian Hats when I called them and she brought them back for me. We met at Olive Branch Church. She was late in coming and I was about ready to go out to 460 to see if she had an accident. Then, she and her mother pulled in. They had gotten to talking and completely forgot about meeting me until they were almost home. It was funny once I knew she was safe.
Sun.-We have an interim pastor at church. His name is Jerry and his wife is Laura. Susan says that he reminds her of Mr. Rogers. His sermon was about Abraham and he challenged us to have the courage to obey God. "The direction I'm looking is the direction I'm going." It's important to be looking in the right direction, isn't it? No reason to be looking back or we'll be going backward. Had a relaxing 'last supper' with Michael. He made spaghetti's yesterday with Old Shippey's remains (sausage). I added some salsa to juice it up and Mike brought home some garlic bread. Delicious. Phil, Susan, and I watched some Monk, and the guys were in and out. Freeman stopped over for a little. Alli's on vacation this week to the shore with a friend who invited her along. Had a meeting in the eve. and it was a short one. Got home early. That was nice. Watched another Monk and hit the sack.
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