SISTERS GET-AWAY TO LANCASTER COUNTY -- DAY ONE

 

Hello, friends!  I'm back from my couple of days away with my sister for her birthday.  Our past Sisters Week has gone into 1 1/2 days this year.  And what a time we had!

Elaine drove two hours from her house to mine.  We expected to leave right away, but things kept holding us back.  It was about 45 minutes before we actually got on the road.

I always love driving through Center City.  I truly am a city girl and love looking at all of the tall buildings and seeing the people.  I don't even mind lots of traffic.  OK, I may seem crazy, but I promise you I'm not.  It's not for everyone, but a lot of people like the city.  It all seems so energizing to me and always has.  I loved it when I worked in Center City and could be a part of that great mass of people.  Since Elaine was driving, I was able to get some pictures of the skyline from the car.

And here is the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall.  The story of the statue is interesting and I must tell it to you sometime.

We were moving along pretty well and making good time until we got to Gladwyn on I-76.  Then the traffic slowed.  But as Elaine said, at least we were moving.  It got slower and slower until it finally stopped.  Then we saw a State Trooper police car go past us.  It was followed by an ambulance.  Then a fire truck.  After about 15 minutes there was another State Trooper and ambulance go by.  We sat there for a little over an hour.  We watched birds.  We looked at trees.  I even took a couple of pictures of the scenery next to the highway.

As I was downloading these pictures I wondered why everything had a blue tinge to it.  Then I realized that the car windows were probably tinted.  I should have rolled down the window to take the pictures.  The highway was created by going through some hills.  (Not tall enough to be called mountains.) When it was built, they blasted through the rock.  It made for some interesting scenery.

It was very, very hot so Elaine left the car running to have the air conditioning on.  At least she had an almost full tank of gas.

Finally a truck with a loud speaker came through on the side of the road.  The driver said, "Y'all get ready to move now."  We were sooo happy to hear that!

There had been a six car accident and some people had to be cut out of their cars.  By the time we got to the Conhohocken exit where it happened the only thing on the road was one wheel well piece.  Those people were good cleaning everything up so quickly.

We were so happy to be moving again.  But we took the time to thank God that we didn't leave when we wanted to because we could have been the ones in that accident!  The rest of the trip was uneventful and before we knew it we were seeing cornfields and farmland.  We were in Lancaster County!  Our favorite place in the world.

We were both hungry and needed to use the restroom.  It was still a little ways to get to the hotel, so we decided to stop and get something to eat.  It was about 4:00 p.m. by now.  So much for that day.  We stopped to eat at Dienner's.  I have been there twice before and I wasn't impressed although lots of people love it.  Elaine had never been there.  It's hard to find a place where we haven't been.  We have been going to Lancaster for her birthday for over 30 years now.

I saw the special of the day was ham loaf.  I love ham loaf, so I got that along with mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans.  They gave me a roll too.  I had lemonade to drink.  I haven't had lemonade all summer and it was good.  Elaine got the smorgasbord.  She started with a salad and then got the ham loaf and loads of veggies.  She got sweet tea.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good everything was.  What happened from the last time I was there?  Now I will definitely be going back.  Yum!  I'm so glad we stopped there.

When we were finished, we went on to the hotel.  We stayed at LaQuinta in Ronks.  It was a nice room but the beds were so high.  It honestly was as high as my hips and very hard to get into.

We thought about going out shopping, but I was just too tired.  And my legs were hurting.  So we ended up watching some TV and going to bed.  I know we didn't do much on day one, but we made up for it on day two.  I'll tell you about that either tomorrow or Monday.  Probably Monday because I want to do my Sunday Praise actually on Sunday!

If you want to see a video of our get away and a video of what I bought, visit my YouTube page.  It's Kathy's Happy Home. 

See you all later.  I'm hungry and going to go get some breakfast.

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE (A DAY LATE AGAIN)

 

Hello, friends!  How are you all today?  Hope it is a wonderful day for you.  I really had every intention of getting this up yesterday, but after church we had to stop at Target. It took so long to get through the store and at the end my legs, feet and back were hurting so much that I was in tears.  I had to sit down at the pharmacy before we could even go to check out.  I was hurting before we went in but walking around the store did not make things better.  We ate when we got home and then I took some pain medication, laid down and slept the rest of the day.  I got up in time to make dinner (a really easy dinner that took only 15 minutes to make), take my medicine and go back to sleep.  I didn't even get the dishes done!

I had four little girls yesterday.  I wish I had some boys too, but they are very happy it is an all girl class.  😉  After all girls rule and boys drool.  Ha, ha!  We had the story of Elijah and Elisha.  I find the stories with them hard to teach because I'm forever mixing up their names!  But here is the story of Elijah and Elisha.

Elijah was God's prophet.  He knew that he would go to Heaven one day and would need someone to take his place.  "God," he prayed.  "Who shall I choose to take my place?"

"Go find Elisha," God told him.  "He will take your place as prophet."

Elijah found Elisha in the field.  He had twelve yoke of oxen pulling his plow.  When Elijah got close to Elisha, he took his own colak and threw it over Elisha's shoulders.

Elisha bowed his head.  He loved Elijah and was honored to take his place.  "I don't feel worthy," he whispered.  With the prophet's cloak around his shoulders, he left his plow and followed Elijah to become a prophet.

One day after Elijah had gone to Heaven, Elisha went to Shunem.  While he was there he met a rich man and woman.  "Come, eat with us," they invited.

Elisha went to their home.  "Thank you," he said after eating the delicious fruits and other good food.  "The meal was so good."

"Come anytime," the couple urged.  "We have an extra room just for you."

They gave Elisha his own room on the cool roof.  The room had a bed, a stool, a table, and a lamp.  It was a special place for Elisha to rest.

"This Shunemite couple is so loving," said Elisha.  "I wish I knew what I could do to show my love for them."

"I know," a friend told Elisha.  "This lady would like to have a son."

Elisha told the woman, "You shall have a son."  God gave them a son.

What a joy the son was to the Shunemite woman.  She and her husband loved a prophet of God.  In return, Elisha was loving to them.  They were God's children.

(based on 2 Kings 4:8-17)

Do you think being loving encourages others to show love to you?  How can you show love to those who have shown love to you?

I understand where this story was going with the preschool children, but I thought for myself, do I show love to those who do NOT show love to me?  That is so much harder.  John 3:16 tells me that God loves the world.  He loves the world so much that He sent His Son into the world to die for us.  So this gives me a hint that we should love everyone, even if they are not loveable.  So very hard to do!  I'm not there yet, but I hope I am a work in progress.

Have a wonderful day.  The next two days are my annual trek to Lancaster for my Sisters Get-Away.  So I will not be around for a few days, but I will for sure be taking pictures to show you what we got up to.  See you all later.

Kathy

WHAT'S GOING ON

 Hello, friends!  How has your weekend been going?  Does it seem to you that the weeks are flying by?  We are halfway through the summer already.

This has been a busy week.  All my weeks seem busy these days.

On Tuesday I taught Bible Study.  And for the second week in a row I was late.  I pick up three ladies at opposite ends of the city.  I'm actually driving almost an hour to get all of them and get them to the home of the lady who hosts the study.  But the study was good (we are in Hebrews 4) and we ended up staying afterwards and talking for almost an hour.  It was great, but then I got nothing done around the house.

On Wednesday I went to Mane Connection and got my hair trimmed.  My new hairdresser Lisa is the best.  I asked for it to be up to my chin and layered and she gave me exactly what I wanted.  I think it's so cute.

Then I went to pick up my friend Donna and we headed for Rite Aid.  She had a discount card with a huge balance and wanted to share it with me.  We went around the store and gathered what we needed.  I saved half of my total and Donna saved almost everything.  We came back to my house, watched a Hallmark movie (Donna doesn't have the Hallmark channel) and then had dinner.  Barbecued pork chops done in the air fryer, mixed veggies, and grilled asparagus.  It was very good.

Yesterday Joe and I took our friend, Dorothea, to Yamato's for her birthday.  We all like Japanese food and she had never been there.  Everything was so good!  I got chicken yaki soba.  There was so much that I brought half of it home and had it for dinner tonight.

And through all of this I have been in pain in my left shoulder and arm and have been fighting major mouth pain.  Fortunately the antibiotics I got from the emergency dentist finally kicked in and I am doing much better.

Next week is my sister's birthday and as always we are going away for a few days.  If you look back in this blog, you will see that we used to take the entire week to spend together.  Those days are gone since she changed jobs.  But we always make sure we are together at least part of the week.  Joe will have to fend for himself for a couple of days.  Of course I will take you along.

Sunday School and church tomorrow.  And now I have to get off of here and get the bulletin and the coloring pages printed.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Kathy

WHAT I'M READING -- DANCING FROM DARKNESS by Eleanor Isaacson (2021/6)

 Hello, friends!  How is your day going?  Hope you are doing wonderful.

I went to see the doctor the other day.  My usual Nurse Practitioner was not in so I saw a new one.  She was very nice and very good.  She is almost positive I have a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder.  I have to get an x-ray and then see an orthopedist.  *sigh*  If it's not one thing, it's another.  She was also very concerned about the abscess on my tooth and my reaction to the anti-biotics.

And this tooth of mine!  It started hurting again.  I have been calling and calling my regular dentist and no one ever calls me back.  Last night I asked my neighborhood facebook page group to suggest someone.  I have two suggestions.  Both have major pros and cons.  I don't know what to do.  But Joe and I talked it over and thought we would try one over the other first.  So I will call to get an appointment with them.

But enough of that.  Here's what I have been reading.  Actually, I have finished another book after that and am almost finished a second.  But this is the one I will tell you about today.

This is the true story of Eleanor Isaacson who grew up in Nazi Germany.  She was born in New Jersey, but her parents were from Germany.  They were going through a hard time and so her mother took her and abandoned her with her aunt in Germany when she was two years old.  Her aunt raised her as her own.  The only thing she really missed was affection.  She was never hugged, kissed or told she did well in school or anything else for that matter.  All her life Eleanor was looking for the "someone" that she felt was taking care of her and protecting her.  She finally found that her "someone" was God.

This is an awesome book.  You just cannot imagine the things this young girl went through.  The bombings.  The starvation.  All the things in school and with her family.  It is an amazing story.  And all true.  She was even a smuggler!

When she was 15 years old she returned to the United States and lived with her mother (her parents were divorced and her father remarried by this time.)  Then there was all the things she endured from this woman.  Oh my!  So much to this story.

I don't want to ruin it for anyone who wants to read this book.  But I will say please read this book.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.  And it is a quick read.  I read it in less than a week.  And I don't have much time to read.  (For my friends who live near me, I will let you borrow my copy if you ask.)

In 2019 my friends Donna and Carol and I at the invitation of my friend Sharon got a chance to meet her.  She gave a talk at the church Sharon attends.  I still remember everything about it and about her.  She was 82 years old at the time but you would have thought she was in her 50s or 60s.  She has more energy than I will ever have.  Or probably ever did have.  A lovely lady and I was so privileged to be there.

And now it's off to get this day started.  I have so much to do today.  The last few days I have been feeling badly and got nothing done.  Nothing.  As in nada, nil, nope.  So much to do and so little time.  The one thing I plan to do today is get my hair trimmed.  It's time when my bangs are hanging into my eyes.

So see you all next time.

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE (A DAY LATE)

 Hello, friends.  Hope you have had a good day.  It is pretty late, but I wanted to get a post up for you.  I was all set to publish something yesterday, and then I fell asleep.  I slept for hours.  I didn't even get to eat dinner.  😮

But I did want to get a Sunday Praise in so here it is today.  I had two little girls in my class.  I was so glad to get back since I was so sick last week and my friend Kathy (Miss K) took over for me.  (I'm known as Miss Kathy and there couldn't be two of us so we came up with Miss K.)

Last week Miss K taught the story of David and Goliath.  She had four girls.  One of the girls said to her that making that sling go around and around would have made her dizzy.  Ha, ha!  You gotta love the way kids think.

This week the story was DAVID FORGIVES KING SAUL.

Saul was king when David killed Goliath.  Saul was happy to win the battle.  When King Saul returned home, the women were singing and dancing.

    "King Saul has killed his thousands," the women sang.  "But David has killed his ten thousands."  From that day on, King Saul was angry and jealous of David.  He was afraid David would take the kingdom away from him.

    David had to hide from King Saul.  So he took some of his men and they hid in caves and forests.

    One day, David heard that King Saul and his army were looking for him.  He hid deep in a cave.

    As David waited, he saw that King Saul had grown tired and was lying on the ground near the entrance of the cave.  There were no soldiers near him.

    "Hurry," whispered one of David's men.  "Here's your chance to kill him."

    But David knew God would not be pleased if he was mean back at King Saul.  Instead David just snuck up behind King Saul and carefully cut off a piece of King Saul's robe.

    When King Saul awoke and left the cave, David secretly followed him.  King Saul was carefully walking among the rocks on the hillside.  David stood high above him and called, "King Saul!"

    King Saul spun around in surprise.  He watched as David bowed in respect.  "Is that you, David?" the king asked.

    "Yes," answered David.  "Today I was close enough to kill you, but I couldn't kill the Lord's chosen king.  I have chosen to forgive you instead."

    King Saul never admitted his jealousy toward David.  But David had chosen forgiveness and did not harm him.

(based on 1 Samuel 24)

Can you forgive a friend who is angry with you?  Or can you forgive a friend who you are angry with?  Forgiveness is a difficult thing for a lot of people.  I think we all have trouble with forgiveness at one point or another.  But it is so important in our lives.  God tells us in the Lord's Prayer to ask God to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  We want forgiveness but are we always willing to forgive?  Hmm.  Something to think about this week.

I'll be back soon.  See you then.

Kathy

I HAVE BEEN SO SICK

 This is going to be a quick post, friends.  I am not doing so well these days.  I started last weekend with a toothache and earache.  I thought it might be an absess and I was right.  My dentist is not available so I went to one in my neighborhood.  I will tell you the entire story later, but I really did not like her.  But she gave me antibiotics which are making me better.

At the same time I am in a lot of pain in my left shoulder.  I think I may have bursitis or a torn rotator cuff.  Either way, I can barely move my arm.  I have a doctor's appointment for Friday.

I am falling apart.  Don't get old, friends.  When I look back to when I retired five years ago, there is a big difference in my health.  I am glad I got out when I did.

Joe went to the store for me.  I asked him for an ice cream bar and this is what he got me.

He said this was all they had.  It is very good as well as being cute.

Not feeling well has put me way back on my cleaning and yard work.  I am tired all the time and have run a fever off and on all week.  I have to get well quickly to go on Sister's Week in two weeks.  I will NOT miss that or be sick for it.

But now my eyes are closing and I must go to bed.  I will be back soon.

Kathy

INDEPENDENCE DAY

 Hello, friends!  Welcome back to my blog.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.  Things in my life are hectic (as always).

I thought I would tell you about my Fourth of July today and get you caught up.  It really wasn't much of a day.  Since it was Sunday, I began by going to church.

My friend Donna was supposed to come over for lunch after church, but she got sick and wasn't able to make it.  So I just made myself a sandwich and fries for lunch.  Joe didn't want anything to eat and went to bed.  I had so many plans for the day.  I wanted to work out in the yard, clean up a bit, work on my crafts.  But I ended up sleeping from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  Wow!  I guess I needed it, but it sure wasn't conducive to getting things done.

I made a barbecued pork roast and macaroni salad for dinner.  It was so good.  Not what I had planned, but still good.  I will definitely be buying this roast again.

In the evening there were fireworks set off in the neighborhood.  I was able to stand on the front step and watch them being set off.  Joe is not fond of fireworks because of his epilepsy, so he stayed inside.  Here are a couple of videos I took for my YouTube channel.

And if you would like to see my entire post, you can watch it here.

And now I have to get off of here and get some things done.  One thing is call the dentist.  I started with a bad toothache last night.  I think I have an abscess and need some antibiotics.  It's always something!

See you next time!

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE

 Happy Sunday, friends.  And Happy Independence Day.  I am sitting in my living room looking out of the window and watching the beautiful fireworks.  When I was outside to take pictures of course there weren't any.  I could hear them, but not see them.  Now, of course....  But I am not going out again.  I am just going to enjoy them from here.  I'll do a post on today tomorrow.  Does that make sense?

But today I will tell you the lesson I gave my kids.

DAVID THE SHEPHERD BOY

          David was a shepherd boy.  He took his father's sheep to the hills around Bethlehem and watched over them.  David watched the sheep on sunny days and rainy days, too.

          Being a shepherd was a lonely life.  And sometimes it was scary, too.  One day David heard, "Baa, baa."  It sounded like a lamb was saying, "Help me, help me."  When David turned around he saw a bear carrying a lamb in his teeth.

          "Stop," shouted David.  He quickly put a smooth stone in his sling and whirled it around his head.  As he let go of one end of the sling, the stone flew through the air and hit the bear.

          David ran toward the stunned bear and grabbed the lamb out of the bear's mouth.  Furious, the bear ran toward David.  "Help me, Father God," David must have prayed.  He grabbed the bear, hit it, and watched as the bear fell to the ground.  It was dead!  "Thank you, God, thank you," David said.

          Even when David was afraid or lonely, he knew God was with him.  He wrote many songs to sing to God.  One day when all of the lambs were lying quietly on the green grass, David played his harp and sang, "The LORD is my shepherd.  He gives me everything I need."  (Psalm 23:1).

          David was a happy shepherd boy.  He was God's child.

          (based on Psalm 23)

Do you like to sing?  Many of us can't carry a tune but we are all able to make a joyful noise to the Lord.  Do you sing when you are happy?  Sad?  Afraid?  I sing lots of the time and many days I wake up with a praise song in my head.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday and I will be back tomorrow, Lord willing, to tell you about today -- as uneventful as it was.

Kathy