Where's Waddle?

Yes, you read that right.  I do not mean, "Where's Waldo?"  

I do mean, "Where's Waddle?" 

If you should happen to leave the Walmart at the north end of State College and want to go the short distance to the highway, Route 322, you would most likely take Waddle Road to get there. You may need to click on this picture to see it, but that street sign does indeed say Waddle Road.  One would think that Waddle Road probably takes you to Waddle, right?

And if you would get onto 322 West you would certainly think that Waddle must be quite an important place, because it is named on big green overhead signs no less than four times in the space of a mile or so.

No, this is not the same sign as above.  Notice the arrow is now slanted to the right.

If you were to follow that arrow it would lead you to a right turn onto Stevenson Road.

Stevenson Road is only a couple of miles long, very rural and full of sharp turns, eventually ending at the greatly advertised Route 550.  Now Route 550 is also very rural and full of sharp turns and hills and valleys, and it is the road that our community is along.  Several times a week I travel Route 550, then Stevenson Road, then Business 322 to go to Walmart or our bank or Target or Kohls.  It occurred to me the other day that just before I turn left onto Stevenson Road there is this sign.

So at each end of Stevenson Road there is a sign for Waddle.  But there is no Waddle.  I even Mapquested it this evening and it's on the map, pretty much right here where I took this picture today.  Maybe this farm is Waddle.  

So I'm sure you could care less where Waddle is, but now you know the deep things I ponder as I drive, hahahaha!

Master bedroom and bath

Little by little we're getting some pictures hung and finishing touches done. Here are a few pictures of our master bath and bedroom. Nothing grand, but just right for us.

Yes, we do have a toilet and a shower in the bathroom. They're on the left and I can't get them in the same picture! I love the skylight above the tub. One night the full moon was shining right through it. Just beautiful.

On the one wall of our bedroom, just like in our Lititz house, I have a collection of paintings by Dick's mother. The one in the middle is a painting of the home farm where Dick grew up.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Mary!

Today my sweet stepmother turned 83. I'm so sorry that I had to miss being with some of the "Zimwits" this evening when they took her out to eat at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord. I know they had so much fun. This picture of her and me was taken last winter. I wish I could have put my arm around her today.

We love to reminisce about the time we met each other for the first time. She and my dad had been dating just a few weeks when Dick's parents invited them and us to come to their place for a hot dog roast. During the evening we also gathered in the basement to watch my dad's slides of his recent trip to Israel. Jeremy was a very affectionate three-year-old and wanted to sit next to her. Just after the lights were turned off and the slides had begun, Jeremy looked up at Mary and whispered, "Are you our new grandma?" Both Mary and I pretended we didn't hear what he said, but in the years since then we each admitted we had indeed heard him. And we laugh about it every time we remember it!

Only the oldest grandchildren in my family remember my mother. Many of them were not born yet when she died. So Mary has been the only Grandma Witmer they have known. And they all love her so much. She's on Facebook to keep up with her children and grandchildren. Her home page was filled up with "Happy Birthday, Grandma" messages today. Technology is wonderful, and even 83-year-old grandmas can make use of it!

A spectacular drive

As I went walking that ribbon of highway

 I saw above me that endless skyway.

I saw below me those golden valleys.

This land was made for you and me! 

Remember that old Peter, Paul, and Mary song?  I used to sing it with my school kids sometimes, and they just loved it.  I thought of it today as we drove from State College to Altoona and back.  It is the most spectacular drive.  You feel like you're driving on top of the world!  Everything - the sky, the mountain ranges, the valleys are so VAST and beautiful.  

Where were we going?  And what is Dick looking at in the pictures below?

Why the rides he was about to experience at Del Grosso Amusement Park, of course!  He, Lori, Anthony, and Austin spent a few hours there today.  

I had a headache and wasn't in the mood for it, so I instead drove a little further to the Ashley Furniture Home Store to have a look around.  Somebody we know is going to be able to get us a good deal on some new living room furniture!

My Labor Day Sunday

So this is Labor Day weekend, a weekend when many people go away for the weekend. But it was Dick's weekend to work, to Labor, hahaha!

Both of my assistant worship leaders at church were going away this weekend, so I left home a little before 8 AM and made the trip down, getting there about 10 minutes before service time at 10:30. We obviously did not have a practice, but there wasn't much of a team anyway. No guitars or extra vocalists - just me and the two trumpet players.

I had a good time catching up with my dear friend Betty Martin after church. I think we must have talked for at least 45 minutes until I got a phone call from my sister Mary Ellen who was expecting me for lunch. Betty said, "Tell her it's my fault!"

I went to Mary Ellen's for lunch, delicious chicken corn noodle soup with chow chow. Now that's as Lancaster County as you can get, and I LOVE it!!

I took a nap at Mary Ellen's, then went to Lancaster City to pick up Destiny from Frank. He had had her for the weekend. I told her we could do something special before I took her home to Reading, and she decided she wanted to play in the park near her house in Reading. It's a beautiful park with a really fun playground. She had a great time.

This was the best part of her time at the park! So cute!!

From there we went to her mom's boyfriend's house where they were having a big family Labor Day gathering. It's a very warm, friendly, multi-generational family that I have come to know over the past two years, and they welcome me in like family whenever I drop Destiny off there. This time they insisted I stay for some food. Oh my!! Over the years that my life has intersected with the Puerto Rican culture, I have learned to love their food and the very smell of the house where the food has been cooked. Pork chops, rice and beans, chicken, fried plantains. I love it all.

It was 8 PM when I left there, and I knew I could have slept at Mary Ellen's for the night, but I just felt like going home to my own bed. I had had a nap, and I always have good music to listen to, so I hit the road for home. My bed felt great, and now this morning I'm home and can relax. Dick even has off work today, which is just wonderful.

A Saturday at home

We have been living in our new house for a month now, and today I finally got to spend a Saturday at home!  The first Saturday after we moved was our friend Kati's wedding, the next one was our regular weekend in Lancaster County which we spent at my stepmother's house, the next one I spent in Philadelphia with Anthony and Lori, and the next was our weekend in Lancaster County for the joint service.

Today Lori and some of her friends went to a spa in Altoona in celebration of her birthday.  Anthony had to take Lori's brother to the train station in Lewistown this morning, so I picked up Austin, took him with me to buy more curtains, then brought him here.  Oh my!  This house is not childproof.  The first thing he did was proceed to unlock and open the front door.  Later in the morning when I was in the kitchen and he was playing in the living room, I checked on him and found the front door wide open and he was on the porch!  He was delighted to find my piano here, and he immediately insisted on hearing his favorite programed-in song, to which he started dancing.  He checked out all my kitchen cupboards, pretty much ignored the box of toys I have for him, and finally contented himself with my collection of lids.  At first he tried spinning one of them on the carpet, which did not work at all.

 

So he brought it out to the kitchen where it worked great!  

I fed him lunch, then took him home for his nap.  Anthony was home by then, so I came back home and worked on ironing and hanging the rest of my kitchen curtains.  Look at the view from my bedroom window where I was ironing. Imagine what that will look like in the fall!

Here's my breakfast nook with the new curtains.  We don't own two tables anymore, so for now I just have the card table set up here.  

I took this picture from the living room.  For some reason the walls look kind of yellow.  I think I like it!

I made BLT's this evening.  A co-worker of Dick's gave him a couple of ripe home-grown tomatoes, and then my friend Kat mentioned on her blog the BLT's they had, and I've had BLT's on the brain ever since!  I think this was the first meal I've made in this house!  I always cook supper at Lori's and then either eat there or bring some home to eat. 

My kitchen and my grandchildren

We've survived another extremely hot week, and just this evening some wonderfully cool breezes started to blow.  It felt so refreshing.

I've been agonizing over finding towels, curtains, and rug for my kitchen.  The vinyl floor is grayish tan, and the counter tops are pinkish mauve.  The windows had mauve lace curtains.  To me it just seemed bland, and I have hunted in so many stores to find towels and rug to match those colors.  They don't exist.  Except at Sears, where they have one pathetic mat and some towels with some gray and mauve in them.  I ordered one of each, waited an entire week for them to arrive, and they made the kitchen look even more bland.  So I have finally decided to give up trying to coordinate my accessories with the floor and counter tops. It goes against my grain, but I need color.  So here's what I've decided on.

 

I'm starting to think these walls are awfully white around here.  Don't tell Dick I'm thinking that!  

Here's a collage I made this week of our beautiful grandchildren.  Yes, it is up on my header, but I know some of you read my posts without ever actually going to my blog, so I wanted to make sure you saw it.

And now here's a video showing how Austin entertains himself on the occasions when I need to put him in the pack and play in order to get some cooking done.  This is actually mild.  I truly thought he was going to rock the thing right over the other day!

 

Belated Happy Birthday, Lori!

Lori's birthday was on Tuesday, so this is belated. Happy Birthday, Lori!!

Not many women have the opportunity to observe their daughter-in-law day in and day out for a year like I have just done. For some, such an experience could indeed be annoying, maybe even painful.

Not so for me. Not even close. I can say in all honesty that Lori and I are better friends than we've ever been. I love and admire her even more than I did a year ago. She is truly beautiful inside and out and is the most patient, gentle mother I have ever known. Anthony is a lucky man to have her for his wife and the mother of his son. Austin is BLESSED to have her for his mother. And I am very proud to call her my daughter-in-law.

A packed two days

This was a PACKED two-day weekend, seeing many, many people we know and love. We left home at 6:30 AM Saturday heading southeast toward Lancaster County. We quickly remembered why we like to travel Friday evenings instead as we immediately faced blinding sun.

I was glad Dick was driving. At least he's tall enough for his eyes to be above the sun visor. There was some fog as well, and lots of beauty.

We went to Reading first to pick up Destiny, then headed to Boscov's in Reading to return some curtains I had ordered online and did not like after all. A late breakfast at McDonalds was very necessary for all of us after that.

Once we got to Lancaster County we went to our church first to pick up some things for the joint worship service and to copy the lyric sheets I had made for the service. Then we headed to Manheim Christian Day School where the service would be held Sunday morning. Dick set up the sound system, I practiced on the piano I had loved so much when I taught there, and Destiny played inside and out.

By 3:00 we were very ready for a nap, so we headed to my sister Doris's house where we were staying for the weekend. It was very tempting to just sit and talk when we got there, but I knew if I didn't nap when I was feeling very sleepy, I would get a second wind, so I quickly retreated to the very lovely air-conditioned livingroom (which Doris had graciously turned into a bedroom for us) and took a good nap. So did Dick.

Doris was slaving away preparing a meal for us. I tried to help her when I woke up, but I mostly just got in her way as we talked. Bless her heart. I did manage to wash a few dishes for her. They have the most lovely, big deck where we ate, and I desperately wanted to just STAY and hang out with them. But that was not to be this time. Hopefully we'll get time to do that some other less-busy weekend.

We had to rush off to go back to the school for practice for Sunday morning. First of all I practiced with Dick's brother Steve and my former student Hillary. We were doing a special trio number for the offertory - Martin Smith's Majesty. Then the rest of the worship team arrived and we went through the songs for praise and worship without a hitch. We've all worked together before at our previous joint services, so it seemed pretty familiar this time.

After a time of prayer together, we parted ways and Dick and I headed to Dick's alma matter - Hempfield High School, where our son Frank's semi-pro football team, the Lancaster Lightnings, were playing a game. We got there during half-time so were able to get in free.

Now get this!! Jeremy also came to the game!! He had been setting up a new store in Baltimore last week and needed to stay over to finish it today, so he drove up to Lancaster to see us and some of his many friends. What an unexpected treat!

And where was my camera during all these many events all day long? Why right in my purse! Where was my brain? I have no idea.

We were SO READY for the good beds in Doris's livingroom when we finally got back at nearly 11 PM.

Sunday morning's joint service was awesome. There were so many people there that I have known my entire life. One of the churches involved, Hernley Mennonite, is the one I grew up in and which my dad pastored. The other, Kauffman Mennonite, is the one Dick grew up in and where we attended the first 15 years of our marriage. And then of course, our own church family at Grace Community. And the presence of the Lord. Very, very precious. Here's a picture of the worship team as we were doing the instrumental opening.

Following the service was a fellowship meal during which we had time to catch up with many friends and family. Most special of all was to finally have time to sit with my dear, life-long friend Elta Nissley. I could write an entire blog post on how our lives have intersected for over 50 years. But not now. In the past couple of months Elta's husband Jay was found to have a malignant brain tumor. It was removed during surgery at Johns Hopkins, and he has recovered incredibly. This week he starts a six-week regimen of chemo and radiation. Jay and Elta have one married son who was a childhood friend of Anthony. They also have two precious, adopted teenagers who were my music students from kindergarten through grade eight. I LOVE this family. Please pray for them as they face the unknowns ahead. Here are very cropped pictures of Elta and Jay, taken from a Christmas choir photo a few years ago.

We spent the afternoon hanging out with Jeremy at Doris's house. Doris and Dale weren't even home, because they were at their granddaughter's birthday party. But we just made ourselves at home, thank you very much, Doris!! Sometime maybe we can actually spend some time together, hahahaha!

Jeremy had to head back to Baltimore and we packed up and left to take Destiny back to Reading and then drove back home, arriving about 11 PM. Oh, our bed felt good!

Here are two cute pictures of Austin I took last Friday. He loves having toes for dessert. But not when he accidentally bites them!!

Hershey Park, Worship prep, Austin's little dance

Wow, the days just fly by!  I am just loving our house more every day.  I am so thankful for it, and I hope someday I will have the time to write the story of how God led us to it.  I promise I'll post more pictures as I get things picture-ready!

This week I'm busy getting things ready for the annual joint worship service we will be having on Sunday in Lancaster County.  Our church and two others will be having a service together in the gym at Manheim Christian where I used to teach.  Last year when I led worship at that service I assumed it was the last time I would be doing it.  However, the search for a minister of music to replace me has not been successful so far, so we'll still be making the trip to Lancaster County twice a month for a while longer.  Besides, Destiny counts on being with us on those weekends anyway.  

Speaking of Destiny, earlier this summer our niece Krista gave us several tickets for Hershey Park.  I don't know  how she came upon free tickets, but we gladly accepted them!  Of course, our summer has been a bit full, and last week it occurred to me that we had not yet used those tickets.  I was feeling kind of bad that I got to go to Philly with Anthony and Lori while Dick had to stay home and work, so I suggested that maybe on one of his days off this week he could go to Hershey Park with Destiny and Frank.  

He had Monday off, so Sunday evening after work he drove to his parents' house to sleep.  Monday morning he made his rounds to pick up Frank and Destiny, and they had a great day together.  She was delighted to be a Twizzler, which meant she was tall enough for a number of rides she was never allowed to be on before.  Here's the only picture Dick took that day.  He wanted to prove that she had gone on The Great Bear - a ride I would NEVER go on!!

Austin continues to provide laughs and challenges.  He just loves being outside, and the weather this week was good for playing outdoors because it wasn't so hot.  Here's a short video Anthony took that cracks me up.  It looks like he's gettin' his praise on, hahahaha!

My trip to Philly

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent several days in Philadelphia with Anthony, Lori, and Austin.  We left Thursday after Lori came home from work.  Anthony and I did most of the driving while Lori entertained Austin in the back seat, with the help of the DVD player.  He did really well most of the way.  Lori drove after we got into the city, since she's had a lot more experience with city driving.

It was pretty late when I got to my room, but I was hungry, so I ordered take-out sesame chicken and fried rice.  It was AWESOME, but way too much, and the next day I was sorry I had eaten as much of it as I had so late at night.

On Friday Lori had to be at her conference early.  Anthony and I took Austin to the most wonderful museum EVER!!  It's called the Please Touch Museum and it is a children's heaven.  There's just no other way to describe it.  I'm going to post the pictures I took without much comment, starting with the beautiful outdoors, then the amazing architecture of the building, then the fun stuff.

On Saturday we just stayed closer to their hotel, since we needed to check out by 3:00 when Lori's conference was over.  We were downtown near a lot of historic sight seeing attractions.  I took Austin for a walk and found one of many beautiful fountains in the area.

Austin playing with his daddy.  It brought back memories of when Dick used to play on the floor like this with our children.

I spent a lot of time with Austin on the hotel's little patio.  He had a good time rearranging the iron furniture,

playing with his belly button (!) while he watched the traffic go by,

and picking leaves off the plants and handing them to me.  (Don't worry, he didn't pick enough to do any damage!)

This was one of the views from the patio!

The trip home was interesting.  Austin had more trouble staying happy than he had on Thursday, but he still didn't do bad at all for such a long trip.  Anthony accidently went to the wrong turnpike booth and we couldn't get a ticket (it was for Easy Pass customers only!)  That caused some frustration and eventually some belly laughs as we made up stories we could possibly tell the ticket person at the other end.  As it turned out, the cost wasn't nearly as outragious as we had feared.   One time we had to make an unplanned stop when Austin needed a diaper change, if you know what I mean!  

We got home just as Dick was getting off work, so he came to their place and had some fun with Austin while we unpacked the car, then he went with Anthony to take the rental car back.  And then we went "home."