Middle-of-the-week catch-up

 I had to take a picture at 5:05 pm today because I was delighted that it was not dark!  We've had a very dreary, rainy week, so this bit of clearing was a welcome sight!

I'm going to do a quick post here so that my next one isn't so terribly long.

Yesterday I spent a good bit of time prepping choir music.  Gotta tell you a funny one.  I told Siri to add "Prep music for choir practice" to my to-do list.  Siri wrote, "Prep music for chiropractor."  Hmmm.  Wonder what that would sound like.  Snap, crackle, pop??

I also checked out Aldi's yesterday for the first time.  First off, I couldn't figure out how to disconnect a cart from the other carts.  I waited until a guy was returning his cart and asked him.  He gave me his quarter and explained the method.  I will need to remember a quarter when I go there!  Since you get your quarter back when you return the cart, I should find a secret place in my van to keep a quarter, lol!

I browsed for quite a while, wondering why I did not go there to get my food for the charcuterie boards!  Much less expensive than Wegmans!

Later in the evening Destiny came here with her mom and her younger sister Jada.   They ate some more of my Christmas day leftovers, thankfully!  The girls did a round puzzle in 15 minutes flat! It was fun to have them here.

Meanwhile, down at my sister Mary Ellen's house she was having a short visit from our nephew Scott Peifer and his family.  They live in California and were spending Christmas with Sherri's parents near Philadelphia.  Yesterday they visited Scott's stepmother Pauline at Grantham, and then they stopped in at Mary Ellen's to see her.  How I would have loved to see them!  It is now a year that Scott's dad, our brother-in-law Elvin Peifer passed away.  

While I was at home prepping choir music there was a whole lot of work going on at our new church building.   The Amish call it a "Frolic."  Our general contractor is Amish, so quite a few of the workers have been Amish.  We wanted a cross for the front of the sanctuary, and they built it and donated it to us.  That went up yesterday.  

Of course there was lots of fun too!

And food!!

Today I got my laundry done and went to the bank, the PO, and a few other places.  Speaking of the post office ... 

Last Friday I took the time to write notes and put money gifts into cards for our family members in Florida and Oregon. I knew they would be late, but not too late I thought.  WELL!!

Yesterday I found this pack of envelopes in my mail box.  I had forgotten postage and they all came back to me.  UGH!!  I even had nice Christmas postage stamps to put on them.   

So now they are in the mail again.  

We're soon heading off to choir practice.  Elizer is still at his daddy and grandpa's house in Lancaster.   I miss him so much, but I did need a break, and it's just longer than I had expected.  I'm trying to enjoy having a bit more uninterrupted time.  But I feel lazy.  I definitely do better with some pressure!

On Saturday we will be having our annual family fondue.  We will again hold it at our home church in Lancaster County, Grace Community Fellowship.   So tomorrow I will be shopping for all that stuff.  Actually, some of the kids are bringing some of the food this year.  

Gotta run!

Our Christmas 2023 Week

 This is the day after Christmas, and I am SO sleepy!!!  But I have the day to myself and I'm determined to get altogether caught up here.  I'm not even taking the time to make picture collages, so there will be a LOT of pictures!!

Last MONDAY Dick took a vacation day, his last of 2023.  We had a big day!  We picked up Destiny, then drove to Lancaster to pick up Elizer at his Grandpa Orlando's house where he had spent the weekend.  Then we made the trip to the Philadelphia International Airport.  They were going to be flying to Puerto Rico to visit family! (Destiny's mom had been staying there for a month or so.)

  There had been really heavy rain and flooding at places between Lancaster and Philly, so some of the drive was quite slow.  But we had prepared for that possibility by leaving early enough.  

I had discovered the evening before that Dick and I could apply for free "Wingmate" passes, which I did.  On Monday morning we each received an email with our pass.  It meant that we could go through security and all the way to the gate from which they were leaving and stay with them until they boarded!  

You can see he was wearing the little backpack/leash we had gotten him the day before.  

We had plenty of time to take Elizer for walks and to watch out the big window at the airplanes loading and unloading.  

And eventually it was time for them to board.  There they go!

Destiny sent us this from the plane!  Does he look a bit pleased with himself, or what??

Dick and I drove to the Lancaster area to spend the night at my sister Mary Ellen's house.  We arrived at this beautiful, welcoming sight at 9 pm.  

Dick went right to bed.  He'd had a long day of driving.  I sat with Mary Ellen for maybe an hour as we caught up on some things in our lives.  It was so nice to be with her in person.

We got up at 4:30 am TUESDAY morning and left her house before 5:00.  When we got to Seven Mountains, which is the big mountain range we cross into Centre County, we got into snow.  

We didn't have any problems driving.  But about half an hour after we got home, Dick left for work and he encountered untreated hilly roads - ones we had just driven on -  that were now very slippery, with cars sitting sideways.  He was able to turn around and go a different way to work.  

I was getting myself ready for a 10:00 hair appointment, hoping roads would be treated by the time I had to go.  At 9:30, as I was hurrying to get ready to leave, I got a text message from my hairdresser that she had been expecting me at 9:00, and she hoped I was alright.  What??  I looked at my calendar on my phone, and sure enough my appointment had been at 9:00!  I apologized profusely, and we agreed upon a Thursday appointment.  Then I breathed a BIG sigh of relief.  (Don't tell her, haha!) 

I got necessary things done here at home that day.  And I got these gorgeous pictures from Destiny.  

Destiny's mom, Enid, with Elizer. 

On WEDNESDAY, if anything could go wrong, it did.  I had issues with my water cooler, a spill of cold ice water onto some music on my dining room table, and printer issues.  

I was working on prepping a song I wanted to introduce to the choir that evening, and was pleased when I was finished.  I hit "print" and discovered that the virtual Windows computer inside my MAC computer, which is where my music notation software is located, was not synced up with my new printer.  Nothing I did worked.  Ugh!!  

Dick and I went to church for our last soup and bread supper, Advent service, and choir practice.

At least I had one really good laugh that day.  Lisa posted a picture of their 13-year-old dog Nilla Bean.  My first thought was, "Oh no! Did she die?"  As I started reading I had the beginnings of tears, and then I CRACKED UP!!!

"We were pretty sure we were going to have to say goodbye to Nilla Bean this morning… she was throwing up for 24 hours, was lethargic, slow and had very labored breathing .. and then she pooped out an entire pair of underwear and our “Little Old Lady Bean”  lives to see another day. This is NOT the first time she has done this.

We know that time is just around the corner but hopefully by more natural causes."

 Can you believe it??

Here's a pretty picture of Christmas lights in our neighborhood that we saw on our way home that evening. 

On THURSDAY I cooked Jamaican Rice and Peas and Curried Chicken and took most of it to Anthony and Lori's.  And I got lots of errands accomplished - my hair appointment, shopping for some necessary things (like my coffee pods) at Ollie's, and my MANY family Christmas cards at Dollar Tree.  

FRIDAY  I got cards and money gifts in the mail to our family members that we would not be seeing at Christmas, did our laundry, finally finished my previous blog post, and went shopping.  Elizer had told Santa at the mall a few weeks prior that he wanted a bigger bike for Christmas.  I was not sure if we could actually afford that, and I had been looking on Facebook Marketplace.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Walmart had some 16 inch bikes that were very reduced!   So into my shopping cart it went!

On my way home later I stopped to take a picture of our new church building.  It's looking really, really nice!  

On SATURDAY afternoon I went shopping at Wegmans for the food for Christmas day.  It was PACKED with people.  I made the mistake of not eating before I went.  My shopping took so long, I was so hot and hungry, and I started to feel like I was getting shaky.  I finally resorted to grabbing a bag of peanut M&M's, opening it, and eating!  

Then I felt so much better!

SUNDAY was a really full day - three church services, two shopping trips! But I did take time to enjoy this view from my kitchen early in the morning. 

We had a full house at our morning service!  The choir sang Casting Crown's version of "I Heard the Bells."  I love it so much!

Right after church we made a quick run to Sam's Club and Walmart for a few things.  We saw this adorable truck, straight off a Christmas card!!

Then we went home, I changed into last year's comfortable Christmas pajamas, all ready to do some quick cleaning.  But I got a phone call from Destiny with a list of items she would need for making her Coquito on Monday.  (She was on her way home from PR, but would not get home until 3 AM.)

So Dick and I took off for Walmart again.  I just threw my white coat over my pajamas and hoped I wouldn't see anybody I knew.  WELL!!  I discovered later that Dick had taken a picture of me and posted it on Facebook with the caption "People you see at Walmart."  Of course he got many good laughs.  What am I gonna do with this man???  Hahahaha!!

As soon as we got back home I swept and washed the vinyl floors in the house - kitchen and bathrooms.  Dick cleaned the tub, toilet, and sink in "his" bathroom - the one off the hallway that guests are most likely to use.  

Then we got dressed up again and went to Calvary's 4:00 Christmas Eve service.  We had found out that Anthony and Lori were going to that service, and I really, really wanted to go.  We had not been there together since 2019! 

It was PACKED.  They had multiple Christmas Eve services, but I think 4:00 was the most popular time slot.  And it was beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed singing without leading. 

And finally, the chance to once again have our picture taken in front of Calvary's big Christmas tree.  

Meanwhile, this picture of the travelers!

Then we went to our 7:00 pm Christmas Eve service.  It was so beautiful and well-attended. 

We took time to put our new Christmas pajamas on for a picture when we got home!  

On MONDAY morning I got up in time to finish cleaning the house.  I put a big roast, carrots, and potatoes in the oven at 250 degrees.  And we started prepping some things for our charcuterie boards.  

Around 1:00 Destiny, her mom, and Elizer arrived.  We were so excited to see him!  The first thing he noticed when he came inside was that the star was on top of the Christmas tree.  That was supposed to be his job!  He wondered who put it up there?  So Dick took it down, then hoisted him up to put it back up there again!  He was happy!

They came in their matching pajamas, so Dick and I put ours back on again.  

Then it was gift-giving time.  So much fun, and he was so cute I could hardly stand it. 

We had covered his bike with a red sheet and had it in our bedroom.  We told him to go back there and see what he can find.  He could hardly wait to take it outside.  But Dick didn't want to go outside in his pajamas, so we had to get our "matching pajama picture" first!

So we quickly stood in front of the tree, and Destiny's mom snapped away!

Then Dick took Elizer and his bike outside for a spin!  He put the seat a bit lower, and he was good to go!

Meanwhile Destiny arranged the charcuterie boards.  She's so good at it!

Anthony and Lori said they would be late because Anthony was assembling his Christmas gift - a smoker grill.  This was the finished product!

So we went ahead and feasted on the goodies on our charcuterie boards as well as the falling-apart pot roast that had been in the oven.  

Meanwhile, Alex was very much wanting Elizer for Christmas too, so we said our goodbyes to him all too soon, and Destiny and her mom hit the road to go meet Alex and his dad.

While they were gone, Anthony and Lori and the boys came.  She had brought more food and desserts for our spread.  And we sat down and ate with them too!  Everything was so delicious, and it was easy to just keep picking at this and that endlessly!  We also had long phone conversations with Miki in Sweden and Jeremy's family in Portland.  

When Destiny and Enid returned it was game time!  I had gotten a new game called "Grounded for Life" which was hilarious, especially with Hunter helping.  There was a good bit of juvenile potty humor, (oops, I didn't know that when I bought the game!) and his giggles were contagious.   He is so funny and cute!   

We also played a new game Destiny had bought - Junior Detective.  That took a bit more brains than I had left at that stage of day! 

I was so full and so sleepy!!  After everyone had left for home I got ready for bed, and guess what??  I could not fall asleep!!  Ugh!!  At some point I did, I guess.  Probably too much food.  

So I'm thankful for this wonderfully laid back day here at home, especially since it's raining and so dreary.

And now I'm all caught up!!