Currently...

The weather is absolutely gorgeous! Sunny and 75 degrees with a nice breeze. Tim and I went to the annual craft fair at the Westmoreland County Fairgrounds. 180 vendors were claimed to be there. I didn't count. 

We had a nice time. I spent, way too much on a couple of fall decorations, a fishing Santa figure for my collection, and some yummies from Pampered Chef. We both picked out a sort of windmill/sculpture thingy for the yard (it's unfinished metal so we can paint it how we want) and Tim finally listened to all of us who have been begging him, and talked to a man who seemed very knowledgeable about CBD oil. He ended up getting a bottle with a pretty high concentrate to try. I'll let you know how it works. We also enjoyed yummy bowls of mac 'n' cheese with barbecue pulled pork, coleslaw, scallions, and french fried onions. Soooo good!

I'm listening to/watching a marathon of Arnold Schwarzenegger movies that Tim has on. We've seen Commando and now Collateral Damage is on. Our tastes in movies do not match up, but if we watched my picks Tim would be asleep within minutes.

I'm reading the same book I have been, Forgiving What You Can't Forget. I haven't chosen my next just-fun book yet.

I'm praying that Colton's runny nose is just a runny nose, a cold, or allergies. He is really not feeling too well, but no fever. Megan felt sure it was just allergies or a cold, but she ran into Colton's teacher today and she said that while they are quite strict about wearing masks in his class, Covid is spreading in the school. He was also around his other grandfather the day he came home from the hospital. Hopefully, he didn't pick up something there and bring it home and pass it on.

I'm feeling thankful Tim had agreed to go to the small group kick-off with me last night. I signed up to go to the one meeting at the pastor's home. I thought it would be a good chance for Tim to meet the man and some others and see how different these folks are from our previous experiences with churches. 

Unfortunately, not all of the groups could start this week so they postponed it until next week. I'm hoping Tim will still be willing to go and that maybe it will lead to him coming to church with me. Life can be a bit difficult at times when you aren't both on the same page concerning God and church.

I'm cooking absolutely nothing at the moment, but later Tim is going to grill a couple of T-bones I picked up and I will toss a salad and fry some potatoes and onions. That's as close as we're getting to an end of summer cookout.

I'm celebrating the arrival of fall, fall colors, and pumpkin-spice flavored everything! Yes, I am aware that the true first day of fall isn't until the 22nd. I don't care. Fall is my favorite season and I shall enjoy a full 3 months of it. As far as I am concerned, fall begins when the kids go back to school. I got the house decorated inside this weekend and tomorrow I will put a few decorations outside.

I'm laughing at

Must pet all the doggies!!

Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Truth.

You'd think, but Tim works with a guy who's wife had the wrong
leg taken off. I am like, ask me 1000 questions, write all over
me with marker (they do that)...whatever it takes to get it right!

Saves on groceries.

Tim tells me no more pets all the time so I 
find this really funny.

Oops!

It's UPS and FedEx. Seriously.

Press conferences will never be the same.

Reallllly hoping this is photoshopped. 

If even Jesus is worried it's time to head to higher ground.

Nothing, Mr. Freeman, that's worth mentioning.

Pretty much.

 

Currently...

The weather...is back to normal for this time of year. Gray, chilly, a bit of rain. No rain today but no sunshine, either. A high temperature of 66 is forecast.

I'm reading...nothing, book-wise, at the moment. I finished up another cozy mystery from Guideposts yesterday and I haven't chosen my next read. I am reading Judges during my morning devotions.

I'm listening to...whatever is on in the car when I'm in it. Otherwise, I haven't really been listening to any music.

I'm watching...a lot of movies on PureFlix, the Christian streaming service. I signed up last weekend, but didn't really start watching anything until yesterday. Now I'm hooked. I've watched four! It is wonderful having so many clean, Christian themed movies at my fingertips. It's also been a surprise (a good one) how many well-known actors and actresses are showing up in Christian movies.

Feeling...a lot better today. I was feeling a bit off yesterday. I'm not sure what it was, but I suspect it was allergies. Everything is beginning to pop out and bloom here.

Thankful...for a new lawn tractor. We have a 15 year old John Deere. The tractor is in good working order, but the mower deck has rusted through. That results in a grass shower every time we mow. We wanted to just get a new mower deck, but our hunt on Saturday proved that John Deere has discontinued the one for our tractor. They have a newer one that can be used...if you buy all the parts to retro-fit it. It is not an inexpensive proposition. We ended up looking around and found a brand new Husqvarna for just a bit more than the parts would be. It's not a John Deere, which may cause my hubby to have a twitch, but since all we actually use it for is mowing grass it isn't really necessary to pay the extra for the Deere name.

Thinking...about covid vaccines. We have not been particularly onboard with them. I don't believe, as some do, that the vaccines are the mark of the beast. Our reservations have been over the safety. You hear so much about side effects and I don't see how they could possibly have been tested long term. Will there be any residual effects that won't show up until sometime in the future?

The company Tim works for is forcing the issue. They have offered a $250 bonus as an incentive for employees to get the shot. As further incentive they will give 2 days paid vacation time to any employee whose spouse/family also gets the vaccine. The amount isn't an incentive to Tim, but the men believe that after June 30 when the offer expires the company will make it mandatory for employment.

Now the thinking is that they may as well get the vaccine while they'll get paid for it rather than get it for nothing later on. Several men got their first dose yesterday or today. Tim scheduled his for tomorrow. He wants me to get one, too. There are openings where he is going. I can't go tomorrow. I have a dentist appointment in the morning and I have to take Mom to her physical therapy appointment in the afternoon. Saved by a full schedule. I am still really torn about the whole thing.

Something funny...

You know we're giving Jesus a headache.

If you believe, copy and paste!

THIS is some serious truth.

Haha! So me when I explained "Prison Ball"

to the youth group. 

And now I am off to babysit those grandkids for a little while. Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Let's Visit the Dentist! Said No One. Ever.

It's Monday, for sure. I know this because I went to the dentist this morning, right before lunch. It was going to be a quick and easy appointment...just getting fitted with a temporary crown while I wait for the permanent one to come.

My tooth, or what was left of it, had to be reshaped. My dentist is thorough and enthusiastic. It's a good thing you get those bib thingies to wear and sunglasses, because I'm telling you...when he gets going there is water, spit, pieces of filling, tooth dust, and heaven only knows what else flying everywhere! 

Appropriate protective gear for dental work.

Today, just for fun, a piece of the filling got wedged on my tonsil. It wouldn't rinse off with his assistant's hose. No matter how much she blasted it. Have you ever had your tonsils vacuumed? I can now say I have. But, hey, no more chunk of dental goop stuck there.

We did this other fun thing today, something new for me because the assistant said I wasn't in the system before. Hmm...I've been seeing my dentist for at least 10 years. Why am I not in the system? Anyway, this fun new thing was some kind of digital imaging scan. I guess it's supposed to be an improvement over x-rays, but I'm not feeling the love. The lovely assistant puts this wand-thingy in your mouth and rolls it around and over and under and back and forth and up and down and roughly 23,000 other directions to produce a "quick" in the moment of your tooth or teeth. It's big and invasive and involves a massive amount of lip stretching to accommodate it. We did it three different times. I feel something like this...

And then you'd think we'd be done. But, nope. When the dentist looked at the digital picture thingies...he didn't like what he saw. So, off came the temporary crown and it was back to grinding and stuff flying. 

Finally satisfied, he pronounced me done. His lovely assistant stuck the temporary back on, dried me off, and out the door I went. It was only an hour and 15 minutes after I first sat down in the chair.

Rebecca Jo, how did your appointment go? I didn't forget we were in the dental chair together (so to speak) today. I said a prayer for both of us. And maybe a mild cuss word or two.

There's not much else going on for a Monday. Or for Holy Week, for that matter. The sun is shining, but we're back to chilly weather. Only 50 for a high today. Tomorrow they say we'll see 74, but then...winter is coming back for a few days with temps only in the 30s. Yay.

My Bible study meets for class tomorrow night and Friday evening we are having our traditional middle eastern meal (we used to always have it on Maundy Thursday) and a night of games and fellowship. In years past we opened it up to any friends and family we wanted to invite, but since Covid came along we've limited it to the group and spouses if they want to come. Since a few can't be there, we'll only number about 15, I think. We've decided we like it smaller. The preparations and clean up are not so back-breaking and we can relax and enjoy the time.

We will have Easter dinner at our daughter's house, though I will be doing the cooking. I think my mom and stepdad will be there. Mom thinks she will be up to riding around the block in the car and walking into the house. We will see, I guess.

Currently

The Weather

A winter storm advisory went into effect at 1:00 this morning and stays in effect until 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday. We woke up to ice on everything on Sunday. That is still there. Over the next day and a half we are supposed to see freezing rain, sleet, snow, rain, and whatever else can be thrown at us. The total snow accumulation isn't supposed to be more than 5 or 6 inches, but all those lovely freezing layers...

Weekend Highlights

Colton and Leah spent Saturday night with us so their mommy and daddy could have a Valentine's date. We were excited to have them stay, but worried about how the actual sleeping would go. We hear so many stories of how they don't sleep that we expected to be up all night. Both kids went to bed with no trouble and Leah slept until 9:00 and we woke Colton up around 10:00. Colton even did a great job with potty training for us.

Megan and Cody came over to get the kids Sunday morning and I made cinnamon rolls and eggs for anyone who wanted them. Colton isn't a breakfast person, but boy, Leah sure liked it. She had a bowl of Captain Crunch, too.

It was 12:30 before everyone cleared out. We had decided not to go to Guy Fieri's restaurant for lunch because of the icy conditions (we'd have had to go a couple of hours early to try and get seated), but by the time everyone left the roads, at least, were clear. The same couldn't be said of the deck, sidewalks and driveway. We decided to brave Walmart to stock up (as did the majority of the people in the area) since we're going to have some nasty weather off and on all week. 

We were going to call for Mexican from Don Patron's and pick it up on the way home, but since it was an odd time (3:00 in the afternoon) we decided to see if we could get in. Apparently, Mexican is not a popular choice for Valentine's Day or everyone did their dinners out on Saturday, because we walked right in and there was hardly anyone there. We had a yummy meal and then came home and unloaded the groceries.

The rest of Sunday was uneventful except for a panicked call from Megan. She had been trimming Colton's nails and he was fighting her something awful. She ended up snipping the tip of his finger and he was screaming and crying and bleeding all over. We went flying over and Tim was able to get the bleeding stopped as soon as he convinced Megan to let him raise his hand up and to stop squeezing it (in putting pressure on it, she was actually squeezing his finger and forcing the blood out). Tim got him a little calmer and got some Neosporin on it and bandaged it up. Poor little guy was really upset. The finger will be sore for a while, but he'll be okay. It's possible that Megan was more upset than Colton was.

Today's To-Do List

Start figuring out the Instant Pot I got for Christmas. 

Laundry (always)

Dusting

On the Calendar 

Not much due to the weather and Covid.

Tuesday evening I have Bible study online.

I am supposed to go to the dentist's to finally get my crown on Thursday afternoon, but at this point the forecast is for freezing rain and snow. If it's bad enough I will be cancelling for the third time.

Get the lesson I am teaching to our Bible study group done for next week.

Other than that, it's possible that we will have to pick up our new mattress. We weren't given an exact day, just told it would probably be this week. The weather may change that, though. The new dryer is scheduled to come on Friday. Also possible this week, the kitchen island I ordered from Amazon may come. It's got a delivery date of the 19th-23rd. Any and all of those will mean some changing around of "stuff" will have to take place.

Reading

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Something New to Try

Getting kind of tired of TV. It all seems the same after all these months. I bought a couple of jigsaw puzzles at Goodwill and got a puzzle board on Amazon so I can keep pieces sorted and put it all away when I'm not working on it. With the kids around, I can't leave a puzzle sit out. Anyway, hoping it will prove to be a new way to pass some time. Others sure seem to enjoy them.

By the way, yes, I have become that woman who is driving her mailman crazy with all the Amazon packages.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Currently & the Recipe for City Chicken

In Latrobe...

The weather...is feeling pretty fall-like with a high of 42 predicted. There's a pretty good breeze still hanging around from yesterday's storms putting this morning's wind chills in the 20's.

On my mind...our daughter and her husband haven't been feeling well for the last day or two. Since there are several people out at our son-in-law's work with Covid they decided they should get tested. All of the local testing sites were booked solid yesterday so they have an appointment for 8:00 this morning. Being Mom, I'm worried about them and especially about the grandchildren's health.

Listening to...the morning news. ABC is reporting that Trump is done, his lawsuits are being tossed out everywhere, we need a smooth transition in the middle of the virus situation, etc. FOX reports that Trump tweeted that the lawsuits being dismissed all over the country are the lawsuits of individuals who witnessed fraud, that he and his team will be filing their big lawsuits very soon. It's like the news medias live in two different worlds. What a crazy, mixed-up world we are living in.

I need to...get busy and write Santa's letter to two of my grandnephews. Tim's sister, their NeNe, moved back in August and they have been very worried that Santa won't be able to find her. I have some very Santa-looking computer paper and official Santa's Workshop seals for the envelope. Hopefully, it will ease their fears.

Wondering...if we will be having Thanksgiving this year (and maybe even Christmas) with how widespread the virus is at the moment...and with the kids' condition in question now. Tim who has not been particularly careful and a big poo-poo'er of it all is now freaking out with fear it could keep him from work.

As for me, I'm more concerned we're heading toward another lockdown. I do not see how people are going to survive another one. States don't have the money for the extra unemployment payments. I worry the government doesn't have the funds for the stimulus. Businesses are closing daily as it is. On a more personal front, it is most likely going to delay our daughter's hysterectomy and therefore, my mom's knee replacement.

Praying...for all of these situations to be resolved and 2021 to be a much better year for all of us.

Thankful...that Tim put my new exercise bike together last night. I love it. It can be used either as an upright or a recumbent bike and also has bands to work the arms. It's not that big to begin with, but when not in use it can be folded up and moved out of the way. 

Sharing...the recipe for City Chicken that so many asked about on Saturday.

• Pork. Stores here often have it packaged, but you can use pork loin cut into 1-2 inch cubes.
• Wooden 6-inch skewers.
• Bread crumbs
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 or 2 chicken bullion cubes
• water

Place pork on skewers, filling skewer. Roll skewers in melted butter and then in bread crumbs.

Brown in deep-dish skillet over medium heat.

Meanwhile dissolve bullion cubes in 3/4 cup - 2 cups water. (Adjust the amount of water and number of bullion cubes according to your taste and how much juice you want to have to ladle over everything when serving.)

When meat skewers are browned on all sides, pour the broth over the meat. Lower the heat, cover the skillet, and simmer for 1 hour.

We eat it served with egg noodles and ladle the "sauce" over everything. It's very simple and yummy. Comfort food at its best!

And because we can all use a laugh...

Things have changed!

Noooooo!

He should. That would make it all

slightly better.

Me, trying on my new clothes.

It feels like it.

Sad truth.

Who me?

Mmm...maybe.

Leggings are pants. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Wine may very well be required to get us

through Thanksgiving this year.

I've got nothing to add.

Kinda scary that 2020 isn't over yet.

I'm olllllld!

Me as I get close to the end of Criminal Minds.