MORNING COFFEE

I ate too much, drank too much, and stayed up way past my bedtime all week. That is what your do on vacations and holidays!!!

The 26th, I had a lumbar transforaminal steroid injection into my back. It felt sooooo good. I don't know what UPMC is trying to do at Horizon Farrell, but it stinks. I have had this procedure done several times over the last 4 years and never has the experience been what it was on Monday. You had to change into a gown (lovely hospital attire) and walk to the Cath Lab in front of all to see while you carried a plastic bag with your clothes. Once in the holding area of the lab, I sat on the edge of a cart with 3 other patients while we waited our turn. What ever happened to privacy and being able to relax for the big moment? We may as well have been awaiting the firing line! And after the shot.......You got up from the table and put on your clothes and left, all in a matter of minutes. Now, granted, the old way of doing this procedure may have been over kill. An IV with fluids and once in the lab, verced to relax you for the injection. After, you were able to lay quietly and rest while they monitored your vitals until you were stable enough to get dressed and leave. To me, the most important part of the experience is to relax and allow the injection to take effect without jarring and moving too much. Just what would they have done had I not been able to stand afterward? I had such an experience last year and I was at the hospital for over 4 hours and had to walk with a cane for two days. What do you want to bet, the price is not any less with less care, and possibly will be more expensive! You can be sure that I have complained and will continue to complain for the foreseeable future! I feel very sad for the employees at the hospital, as they kept apologizing for the way things were handled. It was a most unfortunate situation. I am going to seriously consider going to Edgewood Surgical to have this done in the future. Edgewood is not in our network, but I know the procedure will be much more patient oriented and worth the increased cost.

On Christmas Eve I lost a filing in a front tooth. Always at Christmas. Once in NYC over the holidays, and once in Florida. Unfortunately, that kept me from jumping in the car and driving to Minnesooooota on Monday. Maybe next time.

The bedroom is coming along. The final coat of paint is on the walls and ceiling. Tomorrow, the trim is being delivered. I am so happy to have a new room and also happy to be able to clean up the dust!

Joe & I went to see Borat last evening. What a waste of time! Poor, poor, poor. You should not have to pay to see such crap.

Our New Year's Eve plans at C'est si Bon fell through. Not enough people made reservations. We will find someplace to go because I refuse to sit at home while Joe reads and falls asleep at 9. Not my idea of a fun time. They say "What you do on New Year's is what you do all year long." I love NYC. Maybe I will get the pots and pans outside and bang on them like we did with Emily & Tess when they were younger.

Today, I took my Oreck to Niles to get a yearly check up and cleaning. The day was beautiful.... 52 and sunny. I rode around with the sunroof open. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice, so that means another ride with the sky above my head and the Sirius radio blarring. Oh, my newest favorite channel is 14. Classic Vinyl. It is even better than the 60's & 70's.

Tomorrow when I go to pick up the sweeper, I will go to Goldstein's and look at bedroom furniture. I think I want something plain and maybe Mission style. The room will appear larger without a footboard.

MORNING COFFEE





JEFFREY & COOKIE
12/17/06




It has been the usual busy month before Christmas. Packages to wrap. Packages to mail. Packages to deliver. Christmas concerts, Christmas parties, Christmas cards. On top of all that, the landlord finally got someone to come and gut the back bedroom (that had been ravaged by water and then mold for the last 28 years).

I had been so looking forward to a NEW bedroom, that I purchased the bedding back in November when I was finishing up my Christmas shopping. I just wasn't expecting to have the place torn up during December. Oh, well. The drywall is drying as I write this. Next will be the paint and a new wood floor. After New Year's, I will go pick out a new bedroom furniture. I haven't the faintest idea what I would like. Guess I will start with a new mattress and box spring on a frame until I see what I can't live without.

Last Sunday, Cookie & Debby had their annual Christmas party. We went to the Phipps Conservatory winter flower show first thing in the morning. It was beautiful, as usual. The newest addition and expansion to the Phipps is the Thailand tropical forest. It is a must see on your list of Pittsburgh attractions.
http://www.phipps.conservatory.org/index.html
Within five minutes of arriving at the party, Jeffrey (our friend from Florida) came calling. We were all so happy to see him after several years of email. We had a most delightful afternoon of drinking, eating and telling lies.

Last evening (12/23/06) I talked to Leslie & John in Albuquerque. They got new computer cameras that have excellent pictures and sound. I went straight to Staples and purchased a new web cam when we logged off. It is a Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000. The picture is like being in the same room!!! Just goes to show you that you get what you pay for. I think my last one was around $25.00. Since this is my Christmas present, I won't tell you what I paid for it. I just hope that others will get the same......

I had a picture of Jacob & Luke made into postage stamps. I am only sorry that I did not do it in time for Tricia to use them on her Christmas cards.

JACOB & LUKE 10/06

http://photo.stamps.com:80/Store/?source=si10975038

Check out this site, maybe you would like some photo stamps.

We had our first measurable snow of the season 2 weeks ago. Luckily, with the lovely, warm weather we have enjoyed in November & December, it did not last long. I will take the 50's any December! And January, and February, and March!!!

Trey came down on Saturday to spend the weekend. We went to Billy's today to watch the Steelers game. What a waste! Now, Joe & Trey are watching 24 hours of A Christmas Story on tbs. I guess I will be going into the bedroom to watch television. Maybe I will go for a ride and check out the Christmas lights and all the inflatable displays that have become very popular this year. They look like dead bodies and trash laying in yards during the day. I think they will loose favor when people find out how expensive it is to keep them running. (There is a big inflatable ball at Billy's with a Steeler player, goal post & a referee signaling touchdown with snow falling all around. Too bad they didn't score enough touchdowns today!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS

MORNING COFFEE

Where do I start? I guess with my new car....A silver (silver steel, to be exact) Chrysler 300 Limited. I have longed for this car since 2004 when they were reinvented to look like a touring car. I remember being in Minnesota in October 2oo4 and driving up to one in a school parking lot and drooling. I decided to wait two years until some little old man who buys a new car every couple of years, traded his 2005 in for a 2007. Didn't happen. Used 300s are very hard to find. I have combed used car lots and dealers for the last 3 months, along with the internet. Finally, I decided I just had to have one, so I left home on a Saturday morning (November 4th) and stopped at every Chrysler dealer and used car lot between here and Pittsburgh. I was about to give up when I spotted 4 cars in Mick's lot on McKnight Road in Pittsburgh. There was a white, a cream, a magnesium, and a steel... I did not want a white car because you have to clean the tar off them every week...Been there, done that. I love shiny black, but you have to rub on them constantly. I have had dark cars and they chip and look like they have the chicken pox. My choice was grey or silver.
The salesman was out in the lot before I got my car door shut! He got the keys and I sat in the driver's seat. I knew I had to have it. The rational was, I had been looking for two years and had no luck. If I waited until spring there would be even less to choose from and I would still be without a 300. Plus, my Intrepid had 140,000 plus miles on it and it was starting to rust. I signed the papers and drove away in my brand new silver steel metallic Chrysler 300! It has a sunroof, Sirius radio and heated seats! I am still figuring out how to work all the bells and whistles. The weather here has been exceptionally great this month and I have been able to open my sunroof almost everyday. I called the 800 number for the satellite radio from the parking lot of Starbuck's in Cranberry on Saturday evening after I got done shopping. It was on in a flash and I have been listening to Radio Margaritaville and Real Jazz ever since.

I am done with Christmas shopping but still have to wrap everything. Presents are all over the dining room waiting to get wrapped. The gifts that have to be mailed will get done first since I want to get them on their way by Monday. I have been trying to have my purchases online mailed directly to the recipient. Sure does save a lot of hassles. I have even been to the liquor store and made my purchases.


Trey was here for Thanksgiving. He came down on Wednesday and stopped at Bert's to visit on his way here. When I told him that we were going to go out to eat, he was disappointed because there would be no left overs. I cooked a turkey breast with stuffing and gravy and made scalloped corn on Wednesday after work so we could have turkey sandwiches the rest of the week and Trey could take some home.

We went to Quaker Steak & Lube for dinner on Thursday. Joe was not thrilled, but I was able to make the decision to eat out last Thanksgiving when Leslie moved to ABQ and we were no longer eating at her house. It was less expensive than cooking a turkey and all the trimmings. I could never have presented all the goodies they had available. Thanksgiving will be an eat out
day from now on! After all, it is National Fat Day! The one and only day where we just eat and eat and eat.

Sunday evening we went to TARA to hear the Madrigal Singers. It was very enjoyable. The food was quite good, with my favorite being the beef stew (porridge).

Deal and No Deal are doing well. Every once in a while, I move the divider between the 2 tanks and watch them try to attack each other. They are beautiful when the get all puffed out.

The Christmas tree at our house this year is my lighted palm tree. Since it is too tall and there is no room for it in the livingroom, it is on the redneck patio. Next summer, I just might have to cut about 6 inches from the bottom of the pole so the palm tree can be inside.

It's bedtime. Tomorrow is another day.......

MORNING COFFEE

Would somebody P-L-E-A-S-E tell me why women take their husbands to Pat Catan's? They wonder the isles just looking.....For what??? They have no idea what to do with what they see. There should be a law about men in craft stores...Unless, of course, they are gay! For God's sake, woman...If you must take him with you, hold onto his hand and keep him out of my way!!!

MORNING COFFEE
Finally, I have a few minutes to post. After having a sinus infection with drainage and a cough, I am feeling much better. The only thing now is that if I talk for awhile, I get hoarse! Not necessarily a bad thing....
I have two new Betta fish. I had so much fun with Luke's fish when we were in MN, I decided to get myself a couple. Luke got 2 Bettas from a neighbor for his birthday. Along with the fish was a divided tank with a light. He had a red fish and a blue fish. Being the sports fanatic that he is, he named the red one SOX & the blue one YANKS. If you know anything about baseball, those are his 2 favorite teams! Sox expired the week before we arrived in MN, so we had to get a replacement while we were there. It took a good 2 hours for him to make up his mind. Finally, he settled on a green fish that he named WILD. The Minnesota Wild, get it? (hockey for you sports challenged out there)
My fish were without names for a week until Luke decided to name them after our favorite game show, DEAL (on left) & NO DEAL (on right). I keep them on a shelf above my computer desk. They are at eye level so I can watch them.

While we were in MN, we went to football practice, a football game with snow and 45 mile per hour winds, the Zoo, tennis lessons, shopping for clothes for the boys, a circus at Target Center, the boys got flu shots, and Luke had another endoscopy for his complications from chemo. We also ate dinner at the Lafayette Club and Poppy, Jake & Luke went swimming there one evening.
A great time was had by all (I hope) and I can't wait to see them again in May.

MORNING COFFEE

I know....it is way past time to write again. We had a wonderful time in Minnesota with Jake & Luke. Joe had a cough and congestion before we left and I got it when we came home. I have been trying to sleep it (congestion) off. I promise to write about our trip and post pictures in a few days.

MORNING COFFEE

We are off to Minnesooooota in the morning. The bags are packed and we are ready. I am excited to see Tricia, Merv, Jake & Luke. Tricia & Merv are going to Mexico on Thursday and returning on Sunday. That means Mema & Poppy are in charge!!!! We have a full week with football, tennis, a football game on Friday evening and the Zoo on Saturday. It will be a fun time. We are going to eat out and play hard. I will post pictures later.

MORNING COFFEE



ALL THE UNHAPPY TRAINEES ON A NICE DAY!




If this just ain't fine and dandy.......Bank training on Columbus Day, the last nice day of fall!!!! It is supposed to be in the 70's today. I will be spending it inside listening to boring speakers.
Couldn't have training on Martin Luther King Day. Oh, no! The NAACP would get after us. What about Presidents' Day in February? It is cold and crappy in February. I vote for February!

MORNING COFFEE
This is a busy time for Joe, getting the garden ready for winter.
He has moved bulbs from one spot to another. He has pulled out most of the "dead" plants (I hate to see anything in the garden that isn't pretty) and filled in with mulch.
I need help getting some of my larger house plants into the house. That will be a weekend project. The porch furniture must come inside along with the cafe table and chairs. That will be what I do tomorrow.
Sunday, I will wash clothes and iron them for out trip to Minnesoooota on Wednesday. And, we will watch the Steeler game on Sunday evening!
Monday, the bank is closed, but we have training at the Radisson until 4. Whoopee!!! Monday at 5, all the tellers are going to Harmony (Zelienople) to eat at the Harmony Inn that was featured in this month's Views & Voices. I will give you a run down on the menu at a later date. I know it will be good.
Jacobs 12th birthday was yesterday (5th). I can't wait to see him and hug and kiss him. It won't be long before he won't want his old Mema to do that! Luke has never been the huggie, kissy type. One or two and he is gone. I will still try to squeeze them both as long as I am able.
Halloween costumes will be high priority when we take the boys shopping. I have no idea what they want to be, so I will be just as excited as they. The Zoo is on the agenda, as is the Children's Museum and Mickey's Diner.
Oh, I forgot to mention, Tricia & Merv are going to Mexico so Mema & Poppy get the boys to ourselves for a few days! We will spoil them rotten and feed them whatever they want. And probably take them to a bar or two (to eat)!!! That is, if there is time after football practice, football games, and tennis lessons.
I will be in good shape after running up and down all their steps all day long. Last visit, I lost 12 pounds!
I bought an air mattress to put up in the playroom since the boys like to sleep in there on the weekends and watch movies. Poppy & I are too old to sleep on the floor anymore.
More when we return on the 22nd.

MORNING COFFEE

Did you ever have to lay completely still for an entire day. Twenty four hours without moving your legs, hips, back, or raising your head. I don't know what the heck I was thinking of when I decided to have an ablation done on my heart. All the literature I was provided stated that you were not put to sleep, but were awake to "help" with the leads and cameras. Turns out, that since I decided to try this procedure to burn the nerves that emit the bad electrical impulses in the heart, my doctor changed his modus operandi. Everyone always assured him that they could remain still and quiet. Yea, right. It should take 4 to 6 hours to complete the ablation, but it was turning into an 8 to 12 hour job with people not being able to remain still.
Now, he doesn't take any chances. He does it his way with the patient out like a light! I despise being put to sleep.
I feel miserable upon waking up and have thrown up in the past. The nurses promised lots of Verced and something to help with nausea. The sleep culprit was fentanol. Upon awaking, they keep after you to breathe, breathe, breathe. I just want to be left alone to sleep. To boot, I have a sinus infection and all the gunk was running down the back of my throat and I could not sit up to clear it away! I felt like I was choking and then someone decides it is time for me to take some pills. On my back, unable to move and with the gunk in my throat! I already felt like I was slowly smothering. The pills just sort of laid on my chest and I could feel them slowly melting down into my esophagus.
The good doctor knew about my back problems and left orders for what ever pain meds I would like
along with sleeping pills. I had a chat with a very nice nurse that evening about what could be given to me through a needle so I didn't have to swallow pills. She fixed me right up with a couple vials of goodies.
When you are under an anesthetic, you have no control over what they do to your body. I am very sensitive to the adhesive on tape and monitor lead patches. I was asleep, what did they care. RIP......off came the leads and off came the tape. Thank you. Now I have large raw areas all over my body that hurt. A very sweet nurse got me some vaseline soaked gauze and covered the raw spots. It helped! Next, she went over to Children's and picked up some patches for sensitive skin. Maybe next time, I will just go to Children's. (I don't plan on ever being put to sleep again.)
I went into the hospital on Monday for some pre op tests. Immediately, they descended upon me with IV's for both arms. Yes, you do need two. After surgery, I look and I see 4! Plus 3 purple spots where they tried to insert the needle but failed and a place on my hand where they did put an IV but it must have blown. People pay big bucks to get these tattoos! I am guessing it will take 3 to 4 weeks for my arms to return to normal.
Tuesday evening was made quite tolerable with the sleeping meds and pain killers that Lori put in my arm. Wednesday morning I was rolled back to the cath lab to have the leads taken out of my groin. It took about an hour and I couldn't have moved had I tried. These 2 bruisers of men were removing the wires, and holding the incisions closed with all their body weight so they would clot over and not bleed. After that, it was back to the room to continue flat on my back until 6 hours later. It could not come soon enough. When 3 o'clock rolled around, I dashed from my bed. I combed my hair and brushed my teeth. Ah, much better. From that moment on, I was out of that bed and sitting in a recliner to read, eat, watch TV (horrible channels picked be Pitt students).
On Wednesday, I had an MRI to make sure my heart was healing as it should and did not contain any fluids. That was cool, but a nodule was found on my lung and my thyroid. Holy crap! Scared the daylights out of Joe & me. The nurse practicioner blamed second hand smoke. Poor Joe felt so bad. Claims he will stop smoking.....We will see. (He went to light up in the diningroom last night and I hollered. It will be mighty cold outside this winter.)
There was a beautiful outdoor garden on my floor. It contained a water display, flowers, planters, and lovely teak benches and tables with market umbrellas. It was quiet to go there and read. At night, it was lit with lights hidden in the shrubs. Cool.

MORNING COFFEE

THANK YOU, MOTHER NATURE!!! Why don't you keep your hurricanes where they belong. You don't send our snowstorms to Florida...... I was hoping for a beautiful September Saturday. Instead, it rained and was grey and windy most of the day. Shot going to the fair today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day for the Canfield Fair. Candied apples, French fries with vinegar, hot sausage sandwiches and sliced apples on ice cream with caramel sauce...great fair food!
If you have ever been to the Canfield Fair, you know how large it is. My theory is to eat something in each row so you walk it off in between! Plus, it is only once a year. I almost forgot the fresh squeezed lemonade. You have to look for the stand that is really squeezing the lemons, not cheating with flavored powder.
My brother Tom and his wife Becky (of Albuquerque) became grandparents for the first time today. Laura, their oldest, gave birth to Troy Douglas in Idaho. Congratulations to all!

I had coffee at Panera with my long time friend Cricket this morning. We usually meet on the first Saturday of each month just to keep in touch. Six years ago, we decided to set aside a Saturday morning for Linda Mattocks(Watson), Carol Stephan(Holman), Carolyn Adderty(Cricket Durisko) and me to get together. We were all good friends through high school and we never seemed to spend time with each other, so it became a fixed "date". I am eternally grateful that we did that...
we got to share the last two years of Carol Stephan's life with her before she passed away.
Today was a pleasant surprise. Linda Rhoads Cileska, another friend from school, was in Mercer this week and joined us at Panera on her way back to Michigan. I saw her last about five years ago, so it was nice to sit and chat. Over the years, we have added my friend Kathy Lapcevich to the "date". I took her for show and tell one Saturday, and she has been part of the crew ever since. She and her husband have been in Italy for the past two weeks so she did not make it today. Another addition is Bernie Harry. Bernie was Cricket's neighbor from our previous lives. (I only lived on the next block from Cricket and Bernie.) We are open to anyone who would like to join us. We even invite our husbands at Christmas time!

Well, here's to Mother Nature, Old Friends & New Babies!

MORNING COFFEE

Our old friend, R Bass stopped by on Saturday. We haven't seen him in probably two years. He and Joe talked non-stop (except for sleeping about 7 hours) from two on Saturday afternoon until noon today. It was good to see him. R Bass has seen and done just about anything you can think of, or he knows someone who has! Any question you want answered, ask R Bass. He is such a free spirit. Having lived just under the radar of life, he has had many jobs that provide great stories. One time, he lived in his van for a year and another time he lived in the rear of the Subaru garage in Hermitage. Interesting chap!

MORNING COFFEE

OOPS!!! I found crepes. In Sharon!
Yesterday, Joe & I went downtown to hear the Lettermen sing in the Columbia Theater. It is dusty, dirty, no seats, with scaffolding from the main floor to the ceiling. There is, of course, no sound system, but they sounded just as good as ever. We climbed up to the balcony....I remember watching movies up there 30 years ago. Hopefully, everything will come together to enable Tony Butala to complete the restoration of the theater. He also purchased the Phoenix and is planning a banquet hall and a piano bar. My favorite....A piano bar! Sip a beverage and listen to the music.....
The occasion was Sharon's annual car show. There were lots of fancy and expensive cars along with constant musical entertainment on the main stage. Vendors were selling jewelry, paintings, pottery, you name it. There were also food booths and games that made it look like a carnival or a mini Funfest. I do miss the Funfest.
We were on a mission to hear the Lettermen and go to a little cafe on State Street. Turns out that C'Est Si Bon is owned by Danielle Hayduk. Joe met her at a party at Leslie's house two years ago. She spent her teenage years in France and was married to a Frenchman at one time. There is a crepe bar that was not open yesterday....I have to go back when there is no car show. The menu is four pages of salads, sandwiches, coffee beverages and desserts...Beautiful, fancy desserts to enjoy with a cup of coffee. There are also two computers! Wow!!! Probably more that downtown Sharon can handle.

MORNING COFFEE

This is my favorite picture of my dear friend, Bert. His memorial service was this past Sunday in Latrobe. We attended Mass at Saint Vincent Basilica on the campus of St Vincent College. It was beautiful. I recommend a visit to the Basilica to see the how pretty it is.
After the service, we went to a luncheon at Mountain View Lodge. Superb, of course. It was great to see old friends and Bert's family. Everyone had pictures and memories to share. I just know Bert enjoyed all of us being together and sharing stories of him and his life. He is deeply missed and loved.

MORNING COFFEE
The engagement party for Delee & Kent was a huge success. There was a ton of food for every taste. My favorite was the "death by chocolate" cake. It was truely sinful, but we all ate it anyway! There was cheese, olives, pickles, potato chips, Mexican dip and Scoopers. Of course, there were brats and potato salad and pineapple salsa. Oh, my....so much food and so little time to eat it all. CONGRATULATIONS, Delee & Kent.

MORNING COFFEE

It's the weekend!!! We are off to Pittsburgh in the morning. To the Strip, Costco, and where ever else we decide to stop. I could go for some crepes. Can't find any in this valley.
Delee's engagement party is on Saturday evening. We will finally get to meet her beau. I have seen pictures of him and we have sent a few emails to each other, so I can't wait to see them both.
Delee and her bridesmaids are going looking for dresses in the afternoon. Hopefully they find something that all agree on without much hassle.
Joe & I will be spending the night on Saturday in Greensburg. Sunday morning is the memorial service for my dear friend Bert Michaels. I can't believe he is no longer with us. I miss him so......After the service at St Vincent's, we are going to Mountain View Inn for a get together to remember Bert.
We will be toasting Bert at 11:30 am, so no matter where you are, you can join us. It will be fun to see his family, several of whom I have met previously. We plan to share stories and photos and remember Bert. It will be sad and happy. I know Bert would want us to be happy and party hardy!
On the way home, I want to stop at Delallo's in Jeanette. We have not been there in several years. They have the yummiest prepared foods and great tiramisu. Once, Cookie, Deb & I bought a whole tiramisu and took it home and ate all of it! Yummy....

MORNING COFFEE

The Hermitage Art Festival was this past weekend. All our hard work was pretty much washed away with the rain on Saturday.... It poured most of the day. We had to set up our booths on the roads because the grass was a mud hole! Over all, we had a good time even though we did not sell much. I mainly blame it on the crappy weather. Sunday was a much nicer day although there were a couple showers and some strong winds that picked the tent straight up off the ground!
We learned alot from our first endeavor. Maybe we will do it again closer to Christmas.

MORNING COFFEE

Finally, the Hermitage Art Festival is upon us. Tonight, the Hern Brothers played at the beautiful park behind the city building. Food vendors were selling their wares....people were having a good time. All in little Hermitage. I was impressed with the park and how nice it is. Can't wait to take some pictures and post them on here for all to see.
Kathy & I will be setting up at 7 am. I can't wait. It is going to be soooooo fun! There are bands playing all day tomorrow. A couple of them are playing right beside our tent. That should bring lots of lookers to see all our stained glass. I sure hope we sell lots of glass.
We had a fun time making all our projects this past winter when you could not do much else. If nothing else, we have all our Christmas presents for this year!
Got to get some sleep. 5 am is creeping up on me as I type.

MORNING COFFEE

All is right with the world....Terry Shea has surfaced, alive and well! Praise God! Thank all of you for your prayers and concern. I spent last evening with Cookie and she is so happy, as we all are.

I am attaching a picture of my brother, Tom and his daughters, Laura & Robin. This is the Mentos/Diet Coke experiment.
As you see, it does work. WHAT FUN!

MORNING COFFEE

At last! The stained glass is finished with a with a week to spare. It is cleaned and polished and priced. I have very little to sell compared to Kathy & Mike. But, the name of this game is to have a good time at the art festival.
Still no word on Terry Shea. Please pray for his safe return.

MORNING COFFEE

It has been a horrible weekend, not knowing where my friend's son is. We are looking for Terry Shea. Please go to the attached link and help us find Terry.

www.healthsentinel.com/terry

MORNING COFFEE

We are actually up AND drinking coffee early on this beautiful Saturday morning. This whole week has been lovely, although a tad chilly in the early mornings. The humidity has been at an all time low...48% for the last 3 days! What great, crystal clear weather!
Had some frightening news from my friend Cookie on Thursday. Turns out, her son, Terry Shea, has gone missing. He left home on Wednesday morning to take their (wife, Natalia) VW to get it inspected at the local VW dealership near their little town of Sheffield, Mass. He has not been heard from since. We are all praying for his safe return, and hope you will also.

Today, I plan on finishing the rest of my stained glass for the Art Festival which is July 21 & 22. I still have soldering to do and then clean and polish everything. Next year when Kathy asks me if I want to do the art show, it will be a big, loud, NO!

MORNING COFFEE

The 4th started out wet and dreary. By dinner time, the sun was shining and things dried up. Didn't even have to leave the comforts of home to watch fireworks. Everyone in Farrell must have purchased them for our enjoyment. I took a chair and sat in the drive behind my car and watched for over an hour....until I was being eaten alive by bugs!
In the am, we went to Kathy McBride's for the annual Independence Day breakfast. The food was yummy, as usual. The talk was interesting with Dave & Ruth Miller, Mark & Linda Brown, and Nancy Albert & her beau. After we cleaned up, Joe & I stayed and talked to Kathy & Fred for a couple of hours. It was a very pleasant day, and congratulations to Kathy & Fred on their
engagement!

MORNING COFFEE


Here are those handsome grandsons!!!!
Love you, love you, love you.

MORNING COFFEE

Forgot to say that yesterday, we took a ride to Brookville and ate at a cute little restaurant called the Meeting Place. Next, we stopped in Hazen at the flea market. Lots of fleas! How many pair of socks can one buy? How many lemonades can one drink? (I drank two!) Then, it was on to Clear Creek where we used to camp when Trey & Tricia were in school. It still looks the same, and we picked out the cabins we have stayed in. We also drove up to Beartown Rocks. Once upon a time, we used to climb those rocks, but not anymore. Check out that view of the Pennsylvania mountains.

MORNING COFFEE

2006 garden & yard

MORNING COFFEE Boy, has Leslie put me to shame! I don't know what happened to May, except that we went to Minnesota on the 24th (Luke's birthday) and returned home on the 31st. We had a wonderful time as usual. The boys both play baseball, so most days there was practice or a game or both.
When we weren't at one of the boys' games, we went to see the St Paul Saints play! Minor league games are the best to go see. You sit practically on the field and the players are real friendly and like to sign autographs.
We did a little shopping for the boys, but not as much as usual. Summer is less than fall school clothes.
All of us went to this really neat minature golf course not far from Mound. It is the strangest, but nicest course I have ever seen. It is a work in progress, so it will be interesting to return next year.
Joe's garden is flowering as we speak. He does so much work, it better turn out nice. This year, he converted the weed covered bank at the rear of the apartment into a bank of flowers.
June was also a lost month. Returning to work after a vacation is not fun! I don't know how much more of this *#@* I can take. The back and neck are not meant to work this long.

My dear friend, Bert, passed away on May 8th. That is probably part of the reason I have not been keeping up on my blog. I miss him terribly and think about him constantly.

The Hermitage Arts Festival is coming up on the 22nd & 23rd of June. Kathy talked me into doing the show! Why I agreed is beyond me. I still don't have all my glass finished. I will be busy the next 2 weeks. As long as it is not 100% humitity that weekend, we should have fun even if we don't sell anything.

Awoke to a beautiful, sunny morning! It is just lovely outside. Joe is working in his garden, tending to his plants. I am going to repot some house plants that got too large for their pots. Hopefully, we will be able to sit and relax on the porch or patio later in the afternoon.

Yesterday, I spent the day in Pittsburgh and met Cookie & Deb for dinner at On The Border in Cranberry. We sat outside on the patio, drank a pitcher of margaritas, ate nachos and salsa, and a great appetizer sample platter that just kept getting larger as we ate from it! By the time our dinners came, we were stuffed. It was fun!

It was Trey's birthday on Wednesday and Beth's birthday on Friday. Hope they both had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Boy, do I wish we all lived closer together. Like people used to......and you could walk to see each other, or drive a couple minutes to visit..........

Enough of my wining. I am going out to enjoy the day. You enjoy it. too!

MORNING COFFEE
Saturday morning, we will have a new table & chairs on the back patio where we can sit & drink our morning java. Providing, there is no rain. Of course, it was beautiful all week and now that it is the weekend it is raining.

I don't have the faintest idea why I named this blog MORNING COFFEE. I do like coffee, but I never have time to write on weekday mornings. I should have called it WEEKEND COFFEE!!!!! I certainly don't drink any coffee at night.

I am finally getting around to a few pictures from my Albuquerque trip. Check out the 3 cables that transport the cars up and down the mountain. Wow! You know you are in New Mexico when you see the adorned motel. John & Leslie look cold at Sandia Peak. The Indian ruins are at Bandelier National Monument http://www.nps.gov/band/ I had a very nice time with Leslie &John and Tom & Becky.

Ah, Easter morning....The birds are chirping and the sun is shining. All is right with the world and I have a sinus infection!

My good friend Bert has had some serious health problems. Please keep him in your prayers. I wish we lived closer, along with Trey, Tricia, Merv, Jake, Luke, Leslie & John. I should not be so selfish, but I AM!

Last Saturday, Beth, Mary, Kathy & I went to The Strip to shop all the little junk & treasure stores along with the expensive boutiques and food stores. I hope everyone had a good time. In the afternoon, we went to the Church Brew Works for a bite to eat. www.churchbrew.com
It is not sacrilegious to eat in a former church! Chris missed the fun because Rich had shoulder surgery on Thursday. Poor guy, I can relate!

Joe spent all day yesterday working in his flower gardens. He dug up tulips and moved other plants into that space. He is puttering again today while I am sniffling and watching the Hour of Power. I have always loved to watch the services in the Crystal Cathedral. It is so beautiful.

Joe will go to visit at his sister's house later this afternoon. I will remain at home resting up for the Monday morning craziness at the salt mine.

The Easter Bunny brought Jake & Luke tickets to the Twins-Yankees ball game this afternoon. They are so excited. Those tickets were better than any chocolate rabbit (just kidding, Bunny).

CHECK OUT THE SIZE OF THAT BUNNY!!! (thanks, Chris)

Well, here it is....the day before I go to Albuquerque. I should be ironing and packing and getting ready for work. I am so excited!!! Sure wish I could take Jake & Luke with me to visit Aunt Leslie. Maybe next time. I will post pictures and more when I return.