Beautiful Bellefonte; wedding anniversary; my good man; SIX WEEKS!!

Yesterday I made a trip to the post office in Bellefonte.  I also had to deliver some brochures to a Hourserville friend who has a massage studio in Bellefonte.  I got a chance to see her serene location way up on the third floor of a huge old, historic building.  It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon, so I pulled out my camera to show you some of the wonderful architecture.  Each picture was taken as I stood on just one corner.

By now, unfortunately, you probably recognize this courthouse, having been in the national news so often.  I don't think you have seen the end of this scandal.  I'm afraid it's like peeling an onion. The layers just get deeper.   

On a much happier note, today was Lisa and George's 14th wedding anniversary.  Here's what our family looked like on that day!  Back - Ray, Sam, Dick, Lisa, George, Jeremy, Krister, Frank, Anthony.  Front - Katrina, me, Bjorn, Miki.  That was a wonderful day.

And here's one I took this evening.  I always take my peanut butter rice krispie treats to our Witmer weekend, but cannot possibly make them at this point.  So guess who made three batches of them this evening? 

It reminded me of the times he would make batches of jelly for me when I had babies that needed nursing half way through a batch.  If you've ever made jelly, you know that you do NOT stop the process half way through.  He's such a good man.

And I just have to say - TOMORROW I HIT THE SIX-WEEK MARK!!!  I AM OFFICIALLY FINISHED WITH THE SLING.   YEEEEEHAAAAW!!!  I had PT today and was given a bunch more exercises to do each day.  I'm going to have to start planning more time in my day to do them all.

Back to the present

Time to share a few current pictures and stories.  Two Sundays ago we had fun going out to lunch with some of our Houserville friends.  The little girl is Sabrina, one of my piano students.

Her mom, Dawn, must have been talking when I snapped the above photo.  Good thing I took two, because here's her beautiful smile!  Kevin and Dawn, Sabrina's mom and dad.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to lead worship at Houserville.  Lately the Lord's presence in our worship has been so real and felt.  It proves that it is not our holiness, but instead our desperation for Him that causes Him to show up.

Last week Dick and I helped at Houserville with some very necessary weeding as well as washing/sorting/folding clothing donations to the the church's Mommy Shoppe.  That ministry is new within the past year and is beginning to reach a lot of needy mothers and children.   I washed a huge garbage bag full of donated clothes, which turned out to be ADORABLE size four girl's clothes.  Dick folded every little piece of it.  Wow, it made me want a little girl again!

On Saturday evening Anthony and Austin came here for the evening while Lori had another event to attend.  Anthony and I had computer/website stuff to do while Austin and Grandpa hung out.  Oh, it just melts my heart to see them together. 

Last evening I babysat him at their house while Anthony and Lori went to a movie.  It was his bed time when I got there, so we read lots of books.  Then he pulled one of his tricks and decided he was hungry.  I figured it was a ploy to delay going to sleep, but hey?  What are grandmas for?  We went to the kitchen and had some cereal and milk, then did the teeth brushing and pottying/hand washing routine all over again.  

Yesterday afternoon I made several batches of spaghetti sauce in preparation for the lasagna I will be making this weekend at our annual Witmer reunion.  

I'm so excited!!  Lisa, George, and Sophie are visiting with his family in the Philly area this week and will be at our reunion this weekend.  Every time I see a picture of Sophie my heart aches at how big she's getting and how little time I'm able  to spend with her anymore.  Here's an adorable picture of the look on her face upon seeing herself with straightened hair!

I also took some pictures of some of our flowers the other day.  Dick has been in total charge of the flowers this year - buying (I didn't even go along, since it was the day after my surgery!),   planting, watering, spraying.  Didn't he do a good job with this planter?

 

The marigolds he bought are starting to grow.  I remember how big and beautiful they became last fall and how sad I felt when a hard frost killed them.

 

 A neighbor across the street gave us this hanging basket of colorful petunias.

I love summer.  And I admit I feel a twinge of sadness when I realize that August is just around the corner.  But oh, I'm SO GLAD I didn't wait until August to have my shoulder surgery, as I had planned!  I am hitting the six-week mark on Thursday!  At this point I wear the sling only for driving and to bed.  I supposedly do not need to use it at all at six weeks.  I went into the very crowded Giant supermarket on Friday without it on, and wow.  I felt very vulnerable.  Everyone seemed in such a rush and I was so afraid I'd get bumped into!  At PT on Friday I was told that I may now scale back to one visit per week, since I am faithfully doing all my exercises and routines at home.  That is WONDERFUL!  At a $40 co-pay per visit (which does not apply to our deductible) two or three visits a week gets crazy expensive!

Ressurecting some old funny sister stories

Since posting about our Witmers' first outdoorsy adventures last time, I remembered some sister stories I had posted once before.   Back in 2007 I had done what I called "Story Saturday".  I found that old label and discovered they were unreadable because I had done them in blue font.  Now that I usually have a dark background they did not show up.  So I changed each of them to a yellow font and put the Story Saturday label on my side bar.  If you're ever bored, there are some funny (and a sad or two) stories there.  Here are some funny ones:

SISTERS

Growing up in a family of girls (seven!) had many advantages, but the best one of all has been the tremendous friendship we have as adult sisters. When we get together from all over the country, it's like we were never apart. The conversation flows at a high rate of speed, the tears flow at times, but mostly the laughter, belly laughter, I-can't-catch-my-breath laughter, erupts at the slightest provocation.

Over the years we have done many sister overnights and weekends, and I have usually written diaries of those events. There's a certain amount of sadness that accompanies those memories now, because Janet, who caused so many of those laughs, is now gone. I have often contemplated why Janet did cause so many of our laughs. She was such a "together", accomplished person, the one we all looked up to and wanted to be like. Did her misadventures make us laugh so hard because we were so relieved that she was actually "normal" like the rest of us? I don't know. But who cares? Below are some of those memories.

On one of our road trips I decided to read aloud the Erma Bombeck column of why it takes women longer than men to use the rest room. One of the reasons was that women "settle in" after they find a place to put their belongings, slipcover the toilet seat, etc. Of course the reading of that column brought gales of laughter, but not nearly as many as we had at our next restroom stop. It was quite a dirty restroom, and as we all "went" in our separate stalls, we were commenting about the filth to each other. As we thoroughly washed our hands afterward, Janet came out of her stall completely unaware of the trail of toilet paper that was streaming from her waist in the back. I said, "Uh, Janet, your slipcover got stuck in your pants." Surely the other women in that restroom must have questioned our sanity as we laughed until we could hardly breathe.

At another stop we decided to eat at the Burger King that was a part of that rest stop. It was VERY crowded, and we sisters stood there in a group, continuing our animated conversation, completely unaware that we were standing in the "pick up" line instead of the "order" line. After a long wait, we discovered our mistake and went to the back of the "order" line. After another long wait, we finally ordered and switched back over to the "pick up' line. No problem, we still had lots to talk about. Eventually we discovered that they were calling numbers. We asked somebody about that, and were told that our receipts had numbers on them. I looked at the receipt in my hand, and sure enough, there was a number. Janet and Mary Ellen had ordered together, and Janet said, "We didn't even get a receipt." Then she looked at my hands and said, "Oh, here it is. Jeanie has it." I said, "No it's not. This is MY receipt." Janet looked completely bewildered as to why she would not have gotten a receipt if the rest of us did. Somebody asked her, "Did you get any change back? What did you do with that?" She looked in her wallet, of all places, and there was her receipt. I think you had to be there to appreciate the humor in that situation, but appreciate it we did!

And yet another "bust" on Janet. In our sightseeing of Gloucester and Newport, where our sister Betty lived at that time, Janet needed more cash. She was "modern" enough to have a MAC card. We went to Betty's bank, which was closed, but there was a MAC machine inside the lobby. Betty told her that there was a slot in the front door into which one could insert a MAC card, and it would unlock the door. Janet got out of the car while the rest of us sat and watched. To our great amusement we watched her insert her MAC card, not into the small slot that Betty was talking about, but rather into the slit between the two big double front doors. She turned around to us questioningly, because it obviously did not work. Oh, did we howl. If only I had been quick with the camera - a brilliant, dignified woman like Janet, standing there, trying to insert her MAC card between those two doors! We decided we were lucky that she did not set off some kind of burglar alarm!!

On another road trip I, the current driver, had trouble closing my seatbelt properly. Doris helped me out, shoving it "good and proper", and it stayed shut. Stay shut it did indeed! Several hours later we decided to switch drivers. We pulled over along this very busy interstate highway north of NYC to do so. My seat belt would not open. Several of my sisters tried to help, squatting beside my opened door, right along that busy highway. We pushed and pulled and pressed and shoved, all to no avail. SOOO, it seemed I was stuck forever - until we came up with this great idea. I reclined my seat as far back as it could possibly go, then right there in full view of all the people passing by, I wiggled out of that seatbelt up over the back of the seat and out the back passenger door - definitely not the most dignified position I've ever been in. Of course, the entire drama was accompanied by gut-wrenching laughter.

That night in Rose's house in Voluntown, CT I was sleeping next to Janet on a sofabed. We sisters had stayed up talking into the wee hours of the night and were finally trying to settle down and get some necessary sleep. I was just dozing off when Janet started that shaking that comes with laughter that one tries to keep inside. Before long, she could no longer 
keep the laughter inside. She said, "I'm sorry, I was almost sleeping when I got a sudden flashback of you trying to get out of that seatbelt." Did you ever try to go to sleep after the other person in your bed starts laughing? You both lie still, and then one of you starts shaking, or just outright laughing, and then you're both laughing again. And then you stop and try to lie still.....

Oh, God, we would just love to laugh with Janet again. And someday we will.

Witmers Try to be Outdoorsy (old pics)

I have no idea why, but this morning I have been in the mood for looking at OLD pictures.  What's to become of all these old pictures?  Who would ever have the time to look at them all?  So many wonderful memories.  I decided I'm going to do occasional posts of old pictures with a theme - hair styles, bus trips, car trips, Witmer trio dresses, etc.  Today's theme is "Witmers Try to be Outdoorsy".  Really, we never were cut out to be outdoorsy.  We were a family of girls (one older brother) and we were not athletically inclined, to put it nicely, or the woodsy type.   But somewhere along the line I became influenced by my boyfriend's family.  Those Stauffers had so much fun doing things outside, especially camping. 

Thus the Witmer family's first camping trip to Virginia in 1968.   Our oldest sister Janet and our brother Dick were already out of the nest, but we six sisters still at home and Mother and Dad piled in that station wagon with someone's borrowed pop-up tent in tow.  (Unfortunately, I tore a couple of these pics in my attempt to pry them lose from the photo album page.  I decided afterward that it's better to just scan the whole page, then crop.)

We felt so adventurous as we set up our campsite that first night!  (Dad, Mary Ellen, Doris, Barb, Mother)

I think we had a more primitive site the second night and it stormed.  As I recall, two of us slept in the back of the station wagon.  I don't know why we didn't stay at the same place both nights - probably because we didn't know you should make reservations ahead of time.

We felt so wonderfully pioneerish as we cooked and washed dishes.  That's me kneeling down, Doris in that cute triangle scarf, Mother standing behind me, and Mary Ellen at the door of the pop-up.

The next year, September 1969, we tried Camp Hebron instead, sleeping in a tiny rented mobile home, which was so small that two of us still needed to sleep in the station wagon!   But oh, we really tried new things!!  Boating  (Mother, Rosie, Dad, and Betty)......

....and horseback riding!!  (Betty, Mary Ellen, Doris, Barb, Dad and Rosie, and me).

In a little over a week many of the Witmers from all over the country will be together again for our annual weekend.   We had many years of Stauffer-influenced camping and cabin experiences over the years, but have gradually given in to the comfort of air-conditioning.  No matter the setting or the number of people, it is always fun.  I can hardly wait!

From sleepless nights to peace covering me

When a whole week goes by between blogging, I sometimes sit and think,  "What did I do all week?"  Hmmm.  What DID I do?

Monday brought us a beautiful sunrise with the promise of cooling, less humid temperatures - a WELCOME relief!! 

Unfortunately, I was feeling "foggy" after waking at 3 am due to pain in my shoulder and being unable to go back to sleep.  This was happening way too often.  But I managed to get through the day working at the church office, catching a quick nap, going to PT, then in the evening getting a new song ready for the Hourserville praise team.  

Tuesday was a longer day at the office.  And another short night.  I was awake Wednesday morning long before the sun peeked over the horizon.

Wednesday evening after praise team practice Pastor Renee prayed a simple prayer for me regarding my sleep problem.   I am not kidding when I say I have been able to sleep at least six or more hours every night since!  Thank you, Renee!  Thank you, Lord!

Thursday was another day at the office.  I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know our new Fillmore pastor Calvin and his wife Trina and daughters Kelsea (19) and Canaan (10).  Each day Trina and the girls bring lunch to the office for Calvin.  We had some good times together this week.

Friday morning was another PT session and running errands.  PT is going very well,  This week I have a new exercise to do at home.  I lie on my back, holding a cane above my chest with both hands.  Then I take that cane up over my head and down toward the bed as far as my right arm can go - ten times.   Everything feels so unbelievably tight, but I am just so happy to be doing everything they allow me to do.  There were times this week that I felt discouraged, wondering if I will ever get to the point where I won't have pain in my shoulder and arm.  But I guess four weeks isn't very long.  And they keep reminding me at PT that mine was a "massive tear."  

On my way to PT yesterday I started listening to my new SongDiscovery DC that arrived this week.  There is a song on it by Mark Condon called Cover Me.  I had a CD of his music years ago and was so blessed by it, so as soon as I saw his name on the line up, I went to that song immediately.  Wow, wow, wow!!  When I got home I looked it up on YouTube and found the video of the morning he first introduced it to his congregation, just days after he wrote it.  The things he says at the beginning ministered to me almost as much as the song itself.  Here is the video. 

This morning was the women's prayer breakfast.   I missed it the past two months due to other things going on those Saturdays, so I was especially happy to be back.  I shared this song with them.  We ALL need so very much to let God's peace cover us.

And FINALLY this evening I got my Austin fix!!  I had not seen him since July 4th.  We went to the Boalsburg People's Choice Artsfest.  There was a cloud cover, temps in the 70's, great  music, wonderful food, WAY too many arts and crafts vendors to visit, children's rides, bouncy houses.  We had a most delightful time.

Ahhhh!!  Such good medicine for my soul!

July 4th, my Sammy fix, a baby shower

Boy, do I have some catching up to do here!  

My shoulder

My shoulder recovery is right on schedule, according to my physical therapist.  However, the extreme heat wave has been an issue because of the size and weight of this sling.  It's getting harder and harder to keep it on as my arm feels fine without it a lot of the time.  I do feel unsafe without it on when I'm around people, however.  I took it off when I was at Houserville this morning, but felt like I had to warn people not to hug me or bump into me.  So I do keep it on in public (except for pictures, as you might notice later) and at night.  I'm 3.5 weeks post-surgery already, praise God!

July 4th

We spent the July 4th evening at Anthony and Lori's place, along with her brother Gary, his wife Liz, and son William.  Anthony made some awesome smoked ribs, hamburgers, and hot dogs.  Lori also had corn-on-the cob and baked beans, Liz brought a yummy dessert, and I brought the fruit. Even though it was hot, we had fun under the umbrellas on the deck.  

 Blurry picture, but I wanted to show you Gary's patriotic shirt!

Later we went to watch State College's amazing fireworks display.  Of course, Austin and Will were much more interested in the sparklers they could hold in their hands than the fireworks way off in the sky!

A little trip

On Friday I left here around 4:00 and went to Reading to pick up Destiny.  From there we went to Sam and Jenn's for my Sammy fix.  I HATE that my camera took such bad pictures while I was there.  (It seems to get into a bad mood from time to time!)  Also, it was at least 8:30 pm till we got there and Sammy was tired, plus all three of them are recovering from sore throats, so we didn't stay too long.

This is how he crawls!!  It looks so funny!  He also pulls himself up at things and lets himself down without falling, so he's a boy on the go.

I can't believe I didn't get any picture of their new kitten.  It is hilarious!  Sammy and Gus are best buds, both of them feisty and neither one intimidated by the other.

When he got fussy, Jenn put him on my lap and I was able to cuddle him and sing to him as he drank his bottle.  Still my favorite thing to do.

Destiny and I slept at Grandma Mary's overnight.  On Saturday morning we were able to just relax and take our time and enjoy being with Mary.  She lovingly fed us a delicious early lunch (her favorite thing to do!) before we left.

Then we went back to Reading for the main purpose of my little trip - a baby shower for Frank and Lauren.  They are expecting a baby girl in August. It was fun to meet some of Lauren's family and friends,  the setting at the restaurant at the Reading Airport where Lauren used to work was wonderful, and the food was excellent. We had a lot of fun, and I was glad Destiny and I could go.

 

I took Destiny home to her mom's place around 5:00, gassed up my car, filled my ice water mug, and hit the road.  The outdoor temp on my car said 104 degrees.  Before long I was driving through a very bad storm.  I started singing songs I could think of about God being my shelter, etc.  I was imagining trees falling on top of me.  In about ten minutes I was beyond it and very thankful.  This morning I read in the Reading Eagle Times about wires and trees coming down in that very section where I was driving and that a woman had been trapped when a tree fell on her car.  Believe me, I thanked the Lord for being my shelter!

This morning we had two good church services at Fillmore and Houserville, I got a good nap after lunch, then we went to a drop-in welcome party for our new Fillmore pastor, and now I can just "chill" for the rest of this hot day.  They say we're going to get a bit of a break from the extreme heat this week.  That would be welcome, indeed!

Stauffer Camping 2012 pictures

Camping - tent camping, no less, in humid 90 degree weather would be unthinkable to many.  But when you're part of this Stauffer family and you live in this general area of PA and you've been camping together every year for decades, you just do it no matter the weather, and you have fun anyway.  And that's just what we did this past weekend at Camp Hebron near Harrisburg.  Here's a picture of the 32 of us who were together.

This group includes Dick's dad and stepmother Arlene; his brother Steve (bright green shirt - next to Lori), his wife Faye and two of their children, their spouses and six grandchildren;  Dick's brother Jim (top row, dark green shirt), his wife Carolyn and four of their five young adult children;  Dick's brother Fred (lime green shirt and cast on his leg), his wife Deb, and two of their children plus their significant others and one grandchild; and of course us (Dick didn't get the green shirt memo, I guess!) and Anthony, Lori, and  Austin.  Now believe it or not, there were around 50 people missing!!  I guess that means this family now numbers in the 80's!! 

Don't worry, I was not crazy enough to sleep in a tent.  Last year, since Grandpa was recovering from his stroke,  Dick's parents rented a mobile home on the camp grounds.  They rented it again this year, but had to share it with the injured and recovering!  In addition to me and my shoulder, Dick's brother Fred broke his ankle last week playing softball.  We called this the infirmary!

And now, enjoy the pictures of the fun, the food, the children, the love.