Mon.-All night long I kept hearing a song in my mind-"Keep me safe till the storm passes by...for I know He is with me and tomorrow I'll rise...where the storms never darken the sky." Ollie, our turkey, is running around of the top of our roof. It is fun having a turkey around the house. It is not fun that he is not potty trained. Once we took a power washer to the porch. It's about time to do that again. Susan and I have homeschool chapel Mon. Wed., and Fridays. I read from Egermeir's Bible Story Book, Henri Nouwen's short devotional book. a segment from 'Every Body Matters' by Gary Thomas, a logic question, and a review of an old vocab word and an intro to a new. Susan read an inspiring segment on health from Pinterest by Dr. Oz. I'm taking areas of interest for Susan's college study-health, fitness, etc. for this year. Next year, Lord willing, we'll focus on another interest-photo-journalism. And then, perhaps, business. We shall see. This way she is exposed in depth to areas she is considering for future study. Exhausted. Washed. Packed. Made a nice supper of chicken and salad and homemade mac and cheese. Got to bed before 9. Am re-reading Chaim Potik's books-'The Chosen', 'The Promise'. Tomorrow, I'll start, 'In the Beginning.'
Tues.-Finished packing. Susan drove us to homeschool co-op in Farmville. Took car to Baileys. Had lunch with Michelle M. at Riverside. Went to Belk. Talked with a lady there who lost her son 5 years ago. Dear soul. Came home. Made supper. Ready to go.
Wed.-Happy Birthday! 56 for Phil and 21 for Michael. So thankful for both of their lives. Took Susan to Jenny's. Left there by 8. Phil took barrels of goods up towards Baltimore to ship to the Fishers in Africa. I travelled up 15 for a change. Stopped to buy some Mum's from 'Freda Mae' I think her name was. Put a yellow mum near Abie's black gravestone. It looked nice beside the red geraniums and purple flowers Rosalee had planted there. In the back of his gravestone are etched the words, "In His presence is fullness of joy." Rosalee took me to Weaver's where I bought a pressure cooker and some lantern supplies. Rosalee had a wonderful supper of turkey ham, potatoes, green beans from her garden, salad, and applesauce. I picked out another box of books from her ping pong table-mostly George MacDonalds. Jim was working on his dissertation and Benji, Mother's cat, was sitting on the table. He loves to be talked to and petted. She wouldn't believe how friendly he is now. I tried to make my voice sound like mother's and he looked up at me hopefully and then looked away with a look of sad disgust. Rosalee showed me her curriculum that she assembled for Release time. She and some other's teach a large group of children from the public schools. It covers the Bible from start to finish. I think it should be published so others can benefit from it as well. I was learning things just paging through it. I had a nice time with Katrina, too. Got to Naomi's around 8 and had fun with Ashley and Krissy whom I've known all of their 24 years of life. Naomi gave me a beautiful purse for my birthday (May) and we got to bed around 11.
I opened my little NIV NT that Mother gave me years ago just to catch a verse to sleep on and I read Philemon 6-"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." I tend to think that I should have a full understanding in Christ before I share my faith but here Paul is saying that as we are active in sharing our faith, we will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Thurs.-Slept well in Morgan's bed. She's off to college at Temple studying hotel management. Rosa came. It didn't suit Bev this year. Naomi served a lovely breakfast of vanilla yogurt, granola, and fruit, and coffee. Headed to the shore shortly after 9. Stopped on the way and bought some soggy fries just so we could use the bathrooms. Checked in at Scarborough Inn around noon.Went to the boardwalk to get lunch-salad with chicken and pizza and salad for Naomi and Rosa. Enjoyed the beach and came back to the Inn for Tea Time. Sat on the porch and enjoyed our snacks. Walked up to Sindia Restaurant for supper. Had salmon and a baked potato which had seen a better day. Nice music though. Some older instrumental worship songs. Our server was from Russia. They have alot of exchange students at the shore. We met one at the jewelry store from Thailand, studying business in the states so she can go back and help her family's business. Also met a girl from Turkey at the Inn while she served our breakfast. We watched 'Failure to Launch' and hit the sack pretty early. Naomi and I have twin beds and Rosa has a queen size bed and there is a bathroom in between.
Fri.-Decided to go to Atlantic City and shop for 5 hours! Great buys and great fun! I am not a big shopper but I really enjoyed this day.We had lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant. Wow. Stopped at Acme on the way home and bought groceries for dinner on the beach. Cashews, grapes, gluten free pretzels, a roll, sharp cheese, ring balogna, and sparkling cider. The girls told me to go ask that older gentleman, who was fishing on the beach, if he had a can opener or anything we could use to open up the sparkling cider. We thought it had a screw off lid. So I asked him. He scrambled around looking for something and said, "I didn't expect a nice-looking woman to come up and ask me for a can opener to open some bubbly when I put together my boy scout kit today." He gave me a thumbs up later when he saw that we had gotten it opened. We use the table knife that we had used to cut the cheese and ring bologna. We watched the sunset and the wind picked up and it became dark and we went back up and settled in for the night and watched a chick flick-"13 Going on 30". We won't have to go to Block Buster's this year. They have a library of DVD's for us to pick from.
Sat.-For up early and walked the boardwalk myself and got a pumpkin spice coffee. Had another lovely breakfast and then walked up to Asbury Street to do some shopping. I bought a bracelet and a scarf at Ta-Da's and found socks and a nail file with boxers on them for Susan. Spent the afternoon at the beach and later walked back to Asbury and ate at an authentic Italian Restaurant where I had the best food ever-chicken cordonbleu with roasted potatoes and a very fresh salad. It was owned by this big family and they were working together. We went back up to the boardwalk amidst some flying metal and signs. High winds. Loved it. Came back and watched 'Miss Pettigrew' something or other. Naomi fell asleep. Rosa yawned. And I hung in there.
Sun.-Naomi and I got up in the dark and headed out to the boardwalk. We grabbed some coffee and sat on the beach and watched the brave surfers take the early morning waves. We watched the infinite sun come up in all its red beauty. I took a few very good pictures which I think I'll enlarge. Breakfast included an egg fratata but the best thing of all was our company. To the table next to us, sat a young family including a very pregnant mother, an attentive father, and a little 3 year old boy named Bryce. He was beyond adorable. 'You have a very good vocabulary,' I said. "Thank you," said he. We all took turns talking to him and when we left, he seemed to be coming off his seat and I said, "I feel a hug coming on, " and he hugged me and I told him I loved him. He said, "I love you too." And as we walked away, he said to his mother, "I love her. I love her." And it made me happy all day. God bless that dear little family and that precious little boy. May He always know you love him and may he always love.
We checked out of the Inn and packed up the car and everything fit in it even thought it was full before we shopped till we dropped. Thanks to Naomi's skill and a miracle from God. We walked out to Asbury again and got a few more last minute gifts. I got some candy for the folks at home and I bought a plaque that reads, "Enjoy the little things in life for someday you will realize that they were the big things."
Went out to the beach and Naomi improvised a swimsuit and that's all I should really say about that. This was the second day in a row that she did this.( I forgot to say that yesterday, we saw a wedding on the beach.) We were watching surfers and suddenly the water came up and hit the bottom of my chair and needless to say, I was a bit damp for the rest of the day. We went to Crab Trap on the way home where I got potato crusted salmon and salad. On the way home, we went through lots of Philly traffic because there was a game. Got warm and dry after a hot shower at Naomi's and she and I watched 'The Lucky One' when Mabe took Krissy out to the Honeybrook Diner for her favorite hotdog. Talked with Phil for awhile and got to bed by 10.
We had a lovely week together. Naomi says we have been doing this longer than 16 years. She and I started going by ourselves and then we started to invite Bev and Rosa. We found music CD's at the Cricket Box and each of us got one and we sent one to Bev along with a funny birthday card with four older ladies in the front and inside it says, "We will be friends until we're blue in the hair." Oh-when I used my card to check out, the older lady who was waiting on me said, "Hertzler?" Yes, says I. "My sister married a Hertzler from Lancaster County!" That's where I'm from, says I. "I'm going to call him as soon as you leave," she said. "He's 87." Well, what do you know. We have to be related. I think she said his name was Norman. I am writing this up nearly a week after everything took place. (Sept. 28) I didn't take my computer along to the shore but I jotted down little notes in my blog book.
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