Doing what I love most

Quick rundown here of my weekend.  

On Friday, after finishing up my work at the office and at Anthony and Lori's, I left at 4:00 for Sam and Jenn's.  I should have had my camera ready for Sammy's face when I walked in the house.  Oh, I love how much he loves me!  We adults had so much catching up to do, and Sam and Jenn were planning to go out to dinner.  By the time they were getting their coats on, Sammy was practically pushing them out the door!!  

We read books, we played with toys I'd never seen before, we played drums and saxophone, we ate blue corn chips and the guacamole I had made, and when Sam and Jenn returned he was still awake and put on a show for all of us.  He'd run into the living room and yell,  "TaDA!" over and over again.  

Saturday morning Jenn had to leave by 6 am for her drill weekend.  When Sam and Sammy came downstairs later, I told Sam to feel free to get a little more sleep.  I made a cup of coffee and Sammy and I settled in for some snuggling and Mickey Mouse.  Can a Saturday morning get any better than that?

Sam and I were talking "house" endlessly.  There is some very exciting progress in their search for a house.   

Here are some pics I took while there.

I left their place around 11:30 and drove to Reading to pick up Destiny and her brother.  We went to see The Lego Movie and ate a whole lot of popcorn.  I didn't know you could get free refills of popcorn, but Destiny did.  I never, ever tire of popcorn!  

After the movie we went to the Fairground Mall food court to eat some more!  We had a lot of fun together, but I did not take one picture.  :-(    But I do have this picture of Destiny.  She's growing up TOOOO fast and I can hardly stand it.  I'm just glad she still likes to spend time with me.  

I left Reading at 5:00 and was home by shortly after 8.  I hate driving by myself after dark.  Thankfully it stays light longer now, and in just two weeks (March 9) we switch to Daylight Savings time.  Hallelujah!!!!

Sunday morning I led the music at Fillmore and Houserville, as usual.  At Fillmore, the choir sang "Taste and See" with guest soloist Melanie Fisher.  It was really, really beautiful.

Austin came here for the afternoon, as usual.  I don't know which is sweeter - this chocolate "saw" he was about to eat after his nap, or his precious face.

Because Dick and I were getting ready to go away for the evening, we did not have time to go outside with him when he woke up, but Anthony had promised they would go to the park after he came home.  The weather had changed quite a bit during the afternoon hours and I wondered if they really would go.  Sure enough, later I saw this awesome picture on Anthony's Facebook!

Dick and I and the rest of the Houserville Praise Team went to New Hope UMC to lead worship last evening.  It was a great evening and we felt very welcomed.  Again, I wish I had thought to have someone take a picture of us. 

I need to seriously thank the Lord for giving me opportunities to do what I love to do most (besides being a grandma) - lead people into the presence of the Lord with worship.   Leaving Manheim Christian Day School and then Grace Community Fellowship, due to our move, were very, very difficult experiences for me a few years ago.  But the Lord heard my cries and is restoring to me the desires of my heart. 

Just a quick update this time

Not much to write home about this week.  Just cramming every day and evening full of work since we got back from DC on Monday evening.  

We got quite a bit more snow on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday terrible ice in the morning, and then sunshine.  What a beautiful sight.  Now we're dealing with rain and lots of melting snow and puddles.  

I'm trying to get things wrapped up today so I can hit the road for Lancaster County later this afternoon.  It's TIME to see my Sammy boy.  And tomorrow I'll take Destiny to see a movie and catch up with her.  I'll be back tomorrow evening.

Our weekend in DC for Jeremy's birthday

Saturday was Jeremy's 34th birthday, and we were heading to DC to spend the weekend with him.  When I got up at 5 AM, the weather forecast was calling for a dusting to an inch of snow.  But by the time we left shortly after 7:00, it was coming down fast and furious.  I couldn't believe it.  Nothing at all had been done to the roads at that point, and we did a lot of praying.  Thankfully, the further south we drove the lighter the snow became and the more treated the roads were.  Here are some pics I took along the way.

 We were very delighted to arrive at Jeremy's house around 11:30 am.

 When we got there, he was ready to go check on his "project house" - a remodeling job he is overseeing.  HUGE project with way too much room for human error and frustration.  But I'm sure it will be amazing when it's finished.

In addition to us, also visiting Jeremy was his friend Amber, as well as George.  George had been at a conference and was scheduled to fly home on Thursday when EVERYTHING was cancelled due to the snow storm.  He and Lisa decided he should spend the weekend with Jeremy and fly home Sunday.  He didn't even realize that we were coming too, so it was a nice surprise for all of us to be able to be together.  Of course, we wished Lisa and Sophie were there too.

After Jeremy and I got back from the project house, we all loaded into the car and drove to one of Jeremy's stores.  His friend Amber is also an interior designer, and there were lots of things to show her.  And I was, as always, snapping picture after picture.  Just can't help myself.

George, Mike, and I took advantage of the amazing massage chairs.  Wow!!!!  I was in the cheapest of the three ($2000) and it was more than awesome.  One of the ladies that works at the store said she uses one of those chairs every day she's there.  That would almost make it worth it to work there, haha!

  

I promise I wasn't mad!  My mouth just curves down when I'm relaxed.  At least it wasn't hanging open!

For Jeremy's birthday dinner we went to their favorite little Indian restaurant three doors from their house,  Indigo DC.   Here's our crew, including the owner's daughter Gracie who entertained us the entire time we were there.  

Mike, Dick, good friend Kim, Gracie, Amber, George, and Jeremy.

Then we went to the house and had cake and ice cream, watched Olympics and a movie, and were amused by the dogs Molly and Watson, as well as Kim's big gentle puppy Wynne.  A good, good time.

I guess Jeremy was really getting into his own happy birthday song, hahaha!

Good night, Kim and Wynne.

On Sunday morning we went to Capital Hill UMC's worship service.  We just love that place.  The pastor is such a dynamic speaker, their choir is AMAZING, and they have a tremendous outreach in their urban neighborhood.  

From there we drove to Reagan airport and said our goodbyes to George.  He had been away from his girls for a whole week and was very eager to get home.  Here's a great shot of Jeremy and George.

The rest of us went back to Jeremy's house and then walked a few blocks to Union Station's food court for lunch.  

We did some projects around the house and later went to H & Pizza for dinner.  What a great pizza place!!  Each person orders their own pizza assembly line style.  SO MANY choices!!  Mine even had eggplant on it - a first for me.   Back at the house we watched more of the Olympics until bedtime.

This morning we slept in, then worked on some more house projects.  I was painting.  Mike had already painted the guest bedroom, but had not painted the edges at the ceiling, around the doors, and against the trim.  So that's the part I did.  When I finished that room, I started edging the master bedroom, even though the walls have not yet been done in that room.  

The finished walls.  Next will be new curtains.

I was too busy painting to get many pictures of all that Dick was doing.  But I did get one of him caulking the tub.

Around 2:30 this afternoon we had our stuff packed up and were ready to hit the road for home.  We said our goodbyes and took parting pictures.

Beautiful Amber.

Mike and Jeremy with their dogs Watson and Molly.   Please pray for Mike.  He's battling a cold, which is difficult with his compromised immune system due to the kidney transplant he had three years ago.  Also, many of the normal remedies are off limits for him.  

And old mom and dad!

Leaving the city is always such a beautiful drive.  Of course, I had to get my shot of the capital as we rounded a corner. 

Our drive home went well, and we stopped for groceries before going home.  I think we got here around 8:00.  There is another little snow storm on its way here, so we were glad to get home before its arrival.  

The big news of the day is that my sister Rose became a grandma for the first time.  Her daughter Christy had a BIG baby boy, Elijah David, as we were driving home.  We are loving the pictures.  Here's the new grandma!

  

More snow; a repurposed necklace; leaving for DC

Another week almost over.  But the best part is still to come.  We are planning to leave early tomorrow morning for DC.  Jeremy's birthday is tomorrow.   Unfortunately there is another little snow storm coming through at the very time we plan to leave, so we're not feeling too excited about that.  Dick's not afraid of the driving, he's just afraid of my reactions to his driving.  Sigh.  We plan to stay until Monday.  I'm really looking forward to it. 

Yesterday was the big blizzard, not as severe for us as further east and south of us.  We got about 8 inches I suppose.  On top of all the snow we got on last Sunday and Wednesday and …..  I can't remember anymore.  I decided yesterday was as good a day as any to get my winter shot of the view from the church office. 

I did the things that needed to be done there (copying, etc) then brought home the rest.  The snow was coming down so fast I just wanted to be at home.  As I sat at the dining room table working, I wished I could look out the sliding glass doors behind the love seat.  There's no deck out there like there should be, so I always keep them closed.  I investigated and discovered that there was a hook for a tieback on one side and a hole where a hook used to be on the other side.  Trying to think where I might have put that missing hook, I went to the junk drawer in the kitchen and rooted around and found it!!  I twisted it into the hole, then went on a search through the house to find something I could use as tie backs.  No string in the house.  No ropes.  I didn't feel like cutting anything into strips.  I considered extension cords!!  As I walked through our bedroom I noticed my necklaces hanging in my jewelry box.  Hmmm.  I looked for longer ones and came up with two that would definitely work.  How about this one???  I never even wore it.  Looks like this is where it belongs!

I enjoyed my view as I worked.

We found out that Sam and Jenn's method of surviving the big snow day was by putting up their tent inside the house!!  Is this too cute or what???  She said Sammy even took his nap in the tent yesterday, haha!

Today the sun was out sometimes and our roads were clear.  I had a normal day of work.  Late this afternoon I noticed sun shining on the snow on Anthony and Lori's deck, so I took a peek out the door. This is what I saw!

(Actually, I'm very frustrated with the way my pictures are appearing on this blog lately.  Every picture I post looks lighter than the way I saved it in Picasa.  I wonder what's up.  It used to be that when I saved a file on Picasa it posted just the way I saved it.  I'm not having that problem when I post to Facebook, just when I post here on Blogger.  Anyone else noticing that little problem?)

We're enjoying watching the Olympics when we get a chance to.  How bizarre that the weather is too warm over there!

Thirty-four years ago I was in the beginning stages of labor.  As I probably say every year, Jeremy was born at home, something Dick and I wanted very much.  It was an absolutely beautiful experience.  He was born at 12:45 am, just missing Valentines Day.  

Well, time to pack my bags and get some sleep.

Sunday lunch and snow; pics from Florida

It's hard to write a post without talking about snow.  It started coming down again this morning as we were leaving for Fillmore before 8 and has continued all day.  Because both the Fillmore church and the Houserville church have stained glass windows, it's easy to be completely oblivious to what it going on outside until the service is over.

We stayed at Houserville for a light lunch and council meeting, then found out that Anthony and Lori were eating at the Gardens restaurant at the Penn Stater.  They invited us to meet them there.  Wow!  What a spread that was!  Impossible to do it justice.  We had fun together, because it wasn't crowded at all.

When we left with Austin in tow, the snow was really coming down.  Here are some pics from the drive home.

As soon as our naps were over, Austin wanted to go outside.  He loves being outside and doesn't seem to mind the cold.  So I bundled up and we had fun for about 20 minutes, shoveling and walking on top of snow banks.

We're really enjoying the winter Olympics on TV.   I saw on the news that it could possibly get warm enough there this week to cause some problems for some of the events.  How crazy is that?  They should have had them here!!  Plenty of cold weather and snow in the USA this winter!  I do hate to hear that there is a possibility of snow and ice for Atlanta again this week.  Hopefully they can avoid the issues they had a few weeks ago.

Here are a few pics from Florida to warm you up.  No snow there today!  It was warm enough for them to sit poolside and play fetch with Nilla.  I know she loved that.

On Friday evening George and Sophie went to the Daddy-Daughter Dance at her school.  I'm sure they were the most adorable couple there, don't you think?  I can hardly stand how big she is getting.

Today would have been my dad's 91st birthday.  Someday I'll do a daddy-daughter dance with him in heaven.  I never, ever tire of this picture of him from 2006.