Home from Georgia

Just a quick update. We returned safe and sound from our trip to convention in Georgia. I got home today around 4 PM. We had wonderful days, and I hope to write some more about them and post some pictures of the last week.

It was a very sad experience, humanly speaking, to be given a note from Lily Chenault about 10 seconds before the Friday morning meeting at convention, that our dear Sally Clites was gone. We knew she was very low, and actually it was good news that her suffering was over. But I was unprepared for the flood of feeling that came over me and out my eyes! And, we were sitting in the center of the second row!

Joan H. and I are planning to go to her funeral tomorrow. We hope to leave here at 6:45 AM. I will write more when life gets back to "normal."

Convention and the Sunrise

My dear granddaughter Kirsten and I were walking from our campers on the hill to go to breakfast at Newry. The pink clouds of the sunrise were exceptionally beautiful that morning and I was glad we did not miss the spectacular view! I told Kirsten that conventions were like sunrises.

How are conventions like sunrises? If you want to see it, you have to make it your business to be there when it happens. It is all too soon over, and it will be a while until it comes around again!

For that reason, August is my favorite month of the year, because it means conventions for our household! And this year, I am getting an extra bonus convention! I am going with Donna C. to Georgia convention! How nice to have the month in between, too, to get "rested up" and ready to go again! I have never gone to a convention this late in the year.

Tomorrow Jeannette is coming and we are having a potluck supper here for the folks around here. We have so many good memories of Jeannette and we will be glad to see her!

Then Tuesday, Donna and I are leaving at 12:30. We just might make it to Gospel meeting near Charleston, WV, where we are planning to stay the night with Ethel and take her with us on Wednesday.

I am anticipating a beautiful sunrise!!

Another New Identity

For many years, I have been known as the "rug lady" by some in the community. I began weaving rugs in 1991 and have sold lots of them. Trouble is, they last too long. The last couple of years have seen my sales drop off, and I have been reluctant to go out of the area to larger shows to sell. So, my rug business is dying out, and I may declare it dead in the next couple of months.

I have loved being a stay-at-home mom and wife for many years, but I seemed to be developing a restlessness in myself. I began to feel like I had too much unstructured time. It was time for me to move on to something new. Since hearing Jill tell all about her studies at nursing school and her time in the hospital, I discovered I have a keen interest in the hospital environment. I decided in May to look into volunteer work at the local hospital, DuBois Regional Medical Center. It is about 8 miles away.

My first station to learn is in the Hahne Cancer Center, which is part of the hospital. I continue to go there on Fridays. I escort the patient from the waiting room to the area where they have their radiation treatment. After their treatment is done (appointments for treatments are scheduled every 15 minutes, so it doesn't take long), I take them to the area where they have their weekly time with the doctor, weigh them, and get their chart out for the nurse. In between patients, I make phone calls to remind people of their doctor appointments, and do other simple paper work.

I have learned several other stations, too. I have worked at the main desk, the triage desk of the ER, and the surgical waiting room. A couple of days ago I trained on the short-stay floor, where they get the patients back from cataract surgery, and other same day "drive-through" surgeries. I am hoping to get a regular shift at the short-stay unit.

Who knows where all this may lead? Perhaps a part-time job? Maybe even some schooling? Time will tell!! Maybe it will just be a two shift a week deal until I get tired of it!

On another subject, I actually managed to get a "Home Sweet Home" picture put up on the top of my blog! At first I couldn't figure out how to get my lettering of my title on it, but then I realized it was actually still there, but the color of the writing was white and did not show up on the sky! Duh! Oh, the things you learn in the mid-fifties!

And speaking of home, sweet home, I have been remembering a couple of workers quoting those words at convention from Home on the Range--"where seldom is heard a discouraging word". They said how nice it would be if we could say, "where never is heard a discouragin word". That's something I need to aim for!

Another picture

I had Ken take some pictures of me. I wanted to put this one at the top right of my blog, but couldn't seem to get it put there, but I have managed to put it here! Hopefully I will get picture savvy soon!

We had this bread machine bread for supper with chili. I made a big pot with my ripe tomatoes. I will soon have to can some.

We had a great Saturday with Leigh, Jill, and family at the antique tractor show in Centre Hall, PA. Sunday was Union Meeting at Jim and Nancy's. We had a nice meeting and dinner and visit. Brian told us all about his job at the peanut butter factory!

My dear mother-in-law, Martha, turned 94 on Friday, August 29. Ken and I took her to the Dutch Pantry for supper to celebrate! Later, the waitresses brought her a cake with candles (about 10!) and balloons, but this was a better picture of her, so I am posting it.

We also celebrated on Sunday at Jane's house with Jane's Allen and family, Teresa and family, and our Todd and family. That was a big cake that day!

Martha says she thinks she has lived longer than any of the others in her family. And, even more amazing, she still lives in her own home, takes care of her own bills, and does light household duties. She no longer drives, but is happy to ride along with others. She was able for all four days of Newry convention.

She got lots of cards, including one with a picture of the ugliest woman you ever saw on the front, and inside it was signed "From your secret admirer". So far, she hasn't found the sender, and neither have we!

She has been a good mother-in-law to me. Ken is her only surviving child. Her other son, Don, died of cancer three years ago in July. She has survived lots of bumps in the road of life! We go to her house every other Wednesday for Bible study, and Jane picks her up for Sunday morning meeting here. She seldom misses!

So, she has the distinction of being the first one to have her picture on my blog!

A New Identity

I am or have been a daughter, sister, sister-in-law, wife, mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. Now I am embracing a new identity--blogger!! Thanks to the influence of my dear daughter, Jill, and dear niece, Linda, I have decided to write about the days of my life. Linda reminded me about the newsletter emails I have sent out which I had named Beechwoods Musings and told me I already had a name for my blog, so here goes!

I looked for a picture of myself, but since I am usually behind the camera, the last picture I have was taken last February. So, we will make a beginning without a picture.

August was a very rich and special month with eight days of convention meetings at Freedom and Newry.

Yesterday was Labor Day, and supposedly the end of summer. We enjoyed a picnic at Cook Forest with friends and family. It has been a tradition for lots of years to go there! The beautiful weather was surpassed only by the company of our dear friends! And the food was fabulous, too!