Mon.-Alli spent the night since Freeman was away. We made candles with white wax flakes and crayons. I went to town for a meeting and errands. The girls watched 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding.' Alli took Susan to meet Ashley for BB practice. Michael worked on the farm and ran to Richmond to pick up chain saw and wood splitter from the Abbey. After I put the groceries away I called Rosalee. She sounded better.
Tues.-Got up really early. Glad that we have internet service again. Missed face book especially. It's a good way to keep in touch. Have been listening to 'Handel's Messiah' several times a day. It fills me. And helps me pray. 'Behold the Lamb of God.' I pray without words because sometimes, what more can be said, than, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world."
Kept my appt. with the doctor today to check lungs and toe. I'm glad I did. Have a sinus infection and my toe is infected also. She gave me a $48 dollar prescription for an antibiotic and scheduled me to have surgery this Friday to remove the nail to aid healing and to allow me to wear shoes. Feel relieved and that I don't have to keep being strong. There's a reason I'm so weary. Found Michael's airplane ornament at an antique store. I'm pretty tickled with an old Walt Disney toy that I can make into an ornament. I am getting each of the kids an ornament to symbolize something about their year. Hope they don't read this. Also got my shore girls some cute...Oh, I can't say this here. Naomi will read it!
Finished up the candle I made for Mom yesterday. I melted blue crayons in white wax and poured the results into a large empty raw honey jar. Then I glued glittery snowflakes around the outside and cut out a circle from a Christmas card that matched and glued it on the lid. It looks really nice and I realized how happy I am when I'm making something.
Went to Dr. Forand's with Susan and then we met Alli at Trinity and took her to Farmville with us. We dropped Susan off at New Life to prepare for her game and Alli and I went to the bank and to Discount Fabrics where I bought burgundy material to back The Last Supper piece. Then we got take out at Golden Palace and ate in the car in the parking lot. Then we headed to the game. Susan's team won their first game! I was sitting beside the wife of one of the refs. She is a professional coach and video tapes the games and they watch them in slow motion together and she tells him what he missed. It was educational and fun to be sitting beside her and I apologized to the ref for all the comments and loud noises coming out of my mouth that he will have to listen to as they hit 'replay.' I told her that Susan was my daughter and she said, "She is strong." Then I told her that it is her first year playing and she said, "I would never have guessed." The refs told Susan and Jenny that they were power houses out there.
The guys teams were a lot tougher. There were some injuries. Ron and Kathy's Travis hurt his ankle. Meredith was there and was checking it out. April was taking good care of him. Poor guy.
Most of the kids on the teams are homeschooled and it was fun to see the homeschool community rally together to watch their kids play. They could not be involved without New Life School and the School could not be involved without these kids. It's a win-win situation.
It was nice to see Sarah W. and her brother tonight. She's a real sweetheart.
Wed.-Busy day. Got haircut and ran errands in Appomattox. Stayed home in eve. with Michael and Susan and watched a movie, I think. All tired today. Wrapped gifts, made peanut butter fudge and caramel corn. Guys came home around 9. ( Rosalee's procedure to reopen the stitched ureter was successful today. When I got the news, I couldn't stop crying. So relieved.)
Thurs.-Guys left this morning at 3 to head to Fort Washington. Brought Dave P. home yesterday. He's not going back with them this week. Took Susan to cardiologist. He spent 6 months from the ages of 14-16 with the Amish Mennonites near Lanc. Pa. She's all clear. Asthma and perhaps anemic. Iron supplements recommended and better hydration. Should relieve symptoms. Took her to basketball practice and then I went to Belk and bought Phil his Christmas gifts. Another man and I were helping each other pick out ties to match the shirts we were buying. We both bought the tie the other recommended. I love the friendliness among southern Christmas celebrators. Sometimes it still surprises me. (Rosalee's having a rough go and is in a lot of pain. Still has fever.)
Susan and I watched her play 'Get Smart' when we got home on DVD. Guys surprised us (I found out at Belk) and came home this eve. instead of tomorrow eve. Freeman called Alli while he was walking in their lane and asked her to do him a favor. 'Please open the front door.' What a nice surprise!
Fri.-Getting ready for Christmas weekend with family. Went out to Appomattox, ran errands, (Naomi-keep your eye out for a pair of 'shoes' that are coming in the mail) and had surgery to remove more poor banged up toe nail. It just did not want to numb up and it was rough for awhile. She prescribed hefty pain meds and I should be feeling pretty good even though I'll have to wear flip flops for a few more days. The thought of wearing shoes again isn't appealing even in this cold weather. The nurse was very sweet. She helped me go to my happy place-the shore with my shore girls and her happy place-resting in a hammock beside a stream with a book in hand, birds chirping- during the worst bit of the surgery.
Philip worked on farm projects, Phil worked on paper work, Michael and Susan did lots of things. Philip and Susan went to the Lapp Christmas youth party in the eve. taking Lucy with them. Two more pictures for our Christmas newsletter were taken today. Now we need to print them and write a little under each picture. Then we'll get them mailed out some time after Christmas.
This week at Salvation Army, I bought Phil 3 pairs of jeans and 6 Ivy Crew shirts and also got a number of 1-2 dollar movies and DVD's. Pretty satisfying.
{Haven't been able to write for over a week. Internet people came out yesterday and discovered something had been fried during a storm. Glad to know the reason and forgive me if my
catch-up is disjointed. I'll be writing from previous hurriedly jotted notes. Wrote this on Jan. 1, 2013}
Sat.-Up at 4:40 AM. Had taken an oxycodone last eve at 8. It relaxed me but I didn't really sleep. On the trip up to Pa. I got very nauseated. Felt like my mind was leaving my body. Disoriented. Laid down in back seat unstrapped and felt better. Not taking that ever again. Arrived at Hertzler's in time for lunch-turkey, gravy, filling, green beans, corn, oriental salad, lettuce salad, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, rolls, strawberry and peach jam, cookies, coffee, and fruit salad. (We had the leftovers for supper along with caramel corn and ginger tea.) After lunch, we migrated upstairs and exchanged gifts and sang Christmas songs. Then we visited and played games all afternoon. Hit the sack over at Joe and Karen's around 8:30. I love this family.
Sun.-Leisurely breakfast of cinnamon and brown sugar coffee cake, homemade yogurt, fruit salad, grape juice, coffee, and homemade mozzarella cheese. They had made little loaf pans of mozzarella cheese and given them out to their elderly neighbors who rent them their land. I want to order the kit and make some. Gave us another reason to get a milk cow. Jonathan let me hold him all snugly and warm when he got up.
Great to be back at Hopewell where God's Spirit is moving in a new and different way. Visited with friends for an hour at church and came back to have lunch with Mom and Dad. The kids had all gone their different ways. Alli, Freeman, and Susan, had lunch at Anne and Dave's. Philip was with some other friends at Petra and Michael was with Logan at Living Rock. We all met at my brother, Abe's, around 4. My sister, Rosalee, Jim, and Katrina, were there. I had to cry when I saw Rosalee. It's such a relief to see her up and about although she is still running a temp. Kendra and Eric were there as well as Abby. Abby made us a DVD of movies Abie had taken in Christmas of '90 and Fourth of July, '91. They're great. Seth and Karisten came with their three children and Ethan, the youngest, warmed up to me and I flipped him around until I ran out of energy. We had such a relaxing visit with them. I love this family, too.
I have to mention the food that was there. Lindsay says that 100 years from now, people will be reading my blog to see what life was like 'back then.' We probably are not a true representative of mainstream America what with all our butchering chickens and canning soup, etc. but we represent some sort of America-land of the brave, perhaps.
For appetizers, we had a big circle of warm Brie cheese with crackers, Abe's homemade ham salad, cheese, and sweet pickles. For supper we had clam chowder, salad, regular filling, chestnut filling, regular scalloped potatoes, ham and parsnip scalloped potatoes, roasted halved carrots and parsnips, harvard beets, my mixed vegetables, red beet eggs, cranberry salad, Rosalee's pumpkin pie and cool whip, cookies, cakes, unusual popcorn, etc.
Before we ate, we sang 'Joy to the World' together, and I remembered last Christmas, when Mother was with us, and determined to remember her present constant joy, and that kept back the tears.
Philip and Michael left for home around 6 and got there at 11:30. Freeman and Alli went back to Annie's to spend the night, and Susan, Phil, and I, left around 7:30, and spent the night at a motel in Chambersburg. We slept soundly through the night and had a nice continental breakfast in the morning, and left for home around 7:30 and got home by noon.
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