my life with mom

We have been going to such fun places with mom this week. Tues. afternoon I took her to school with me and she met some of my favorite people. I help with fourth grade for a little while on Tues. We had some time after I was done before school got out so we went to the bookstore. She bought a Cesar Milan video (the Dog Whisperer). It is quite interesting, but I thought it was funny that she bought it, picked the one out that she wanted and hadn't seen and then said it was for me! No, we don't have any dogs and probably never will. My husband does NOT want a dog or any pet for that matter. Wed. afternoon after I got home from picking up the kids (they had a half day),we drove down to the beach. It was gorgeous! I thought it was going to be a lot colder than it was, but it was beautiful. It wasn't too windy and perfect for jeans and t-shirt and bare feet. Of course, the kids had to pull up their pant legs and stick their feet in the water, but it was really cold. Thurs. was our big day in Washington,D.C. We drove to the beltway and then took the train right to the Capital. We had scheduled a tour through our former congressman, Joe Pitts. He went to our church in PA. Joel and Melinda are also in his district. He and his wife are wonderful people. He is older with grown children. His daughter and her husband were Katelyn's small group leaders when we were at Willowdale. He was actually in the house chamber when we got there and came out and talked to us and took us to a couple of places that are not on the regular tour. One place was called the speakers balcony. It overlooks the mall with the Washington Mon. and then Lincoln Mem. all the way at the other end. The White House at the end of Pennsylvania Ave. is on your right and Smithsonian is on the left. It was so cool. We went into the House Chamber and sat and listened to them discuss some bill. The farm bill was being debated and voted on the night before. Our tour guide said that she was in there and it was crazy with all 435 (or however many there are in the House) Reps. in there yelling and the speaker banging her gavel trying to get order. She said it was so fun. You know I always thought it would be so fun to be an intern or a page at the Capital. I wonder if they hire 40 year olds. It seems like mostly college kids. We had a great tour and perfect weather...not too hot and not too cold.
Friday was a rest day. I worked at the school in the afternoon. We had chicken quesidillas for dinner and watched the movie "Perfect Harmony" after dinner.
Today we went back to one of our favorite towns (Chestertown, MD). They reenact the Tea Party off of a schooner that is a replica of a schooner that was a part of the royal navy. We stopped at our friends (who we saw on Mon.) and had a hot dog and a funnel cake. yummy! BTW, Kate's funnel cake totally disappeared in about one minute! It was amazing! That girl can put the food away and burn it off as fast as she eats it.
I will try to put pictures on here as soon as possible. I don't really know how to do it. I just get Kate to do it. I tried to figure it out...I guess I'm just not smart enough for this thing...
Tonight's dinner was a huge hit with Mama (after she figured out that you are supposed to peel the shrimp BEFORE you eat them). I made Beaufort Stew. David showed her how to peel the shrimp. :) That was funny. Then we got to talking about rednecks. I was trying to explain what a redneck is to mom. Any tips on that?? Kate has all these redneck quotes "You might be a redneck if you think the last four words of the national anthem are 'Gentlemen,start your engines' " or "you might be a redneck if your truck won't fit through the drive through at the bank". So how would you define a redneck??
We are having a cookout on Mon. Everyone is invited. Come one, come all! Just give me a call and bring some side dish or dessert...See ya then! I think we will have new grand nephew by then!

The countryside

Today after mom made bread, we traveled over to Chestertown, MD.
It is a lovely town with big old houses. Washington College is there which was founded in 1790something. I have a good friend who lives there and has all her life. Her husband grew up in the house across the street. The houses on their street are so cute and welcoming. It is the kind of town where you would like to spend your whole summer. It is on the Chester river. My friend has a wonderful front porch with rocking chairs and all. She is getting ready to be a grandma and has sewed her fingers off making all kinds of cute things (toys and quilts) for the new baby that is due next month. She showed us everything she had made and it was quite a show! I wish I had taken some pictures.
When we got home, David had put together the lasagna that I had started and had it in the oven!! yeah! So tonight we had chicken cheese lasagna and homemade bread and salad. David wanted to go drive around Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge after dinner. So we watched a magnificent sunset out there. We didn't see much interesting wildlife...just a fox and two blue herons.
Sat. Melinda and mom met me at a women's brunch for our church. It was at a lady's house in Landenberg, PA. It was in the hills and the woods! The road looked like it really wasn't meant for two lanes...maybe one and a half and we don't have ditches like they do in Iowa! There is no room for error on these roads. I happened to be the speaker. This was a scary thing to me. I have led many women's groups but I think of myself as more of a facilitator than a "get up front and speak". The night before I was complaining to David and telling him how I never want to do anything like this again! Of course, it went great and God was so good to help me organize my thoughts and get them all written down. I spoke on resting in the work of Christ, giving my own personal testimony along the way.
We went to Longwood after that and then came home.

Protocol

We do this really cool thing at our school called Protocol. It is our formal event of the year for the 9-12 grade. They have a protocol class where they learn proper etiquette and how to function at a nice dinner with local dignitaries. This is to prepare them for business dinners or any kind of formal dinner they go to...you learn what to do with your napkin, which fork to use, how to place them when you are done with your meal, etc. They have a 45 min. reception with local dignitaries (politicians, CEO's, etc.) They receive a bio on each person and they have to mingle with them and talk to them. Then they have dinner (which is at The Gables in Chadds Ford for those of you who know the area). After dinner they are going to a wonderful concert at the Kimmel Center. I wish I could have gone!! The guys are each assigned an escort for the evening. While they are at the school preparing to leave, they receive an envelope with the name of their escort. Kate's escort said to her, "Hey, Kate, I'm taking you tonight." She laughed because she thought he was joking! :) poor guy! She actually was happy about it. She is such a crazy girl. It was Greg Baumann and he is such a sweetheart. They are going to have a blast. Her best friend is the escort of Greg's best friend so they will have a great time together. I love the whole idea of assigning the escort. It takes all the pressure off everyone and they just go out and enjoy the evening! The kids have so much fun together. I am so jealous... I would have totally LOVED something like this in high school....oh well I guess that is why I enjoyed college so much! I was watching all the kids all dressed up and mingling before they left, and they all looked so beautiful and handsome. I just LOVE these kids!! We have had the privilege of getting to know some of them this year through coaching, running club and tutoring. They are just a fun, fun group of kids. After the concert in Philly they are all going back to one of the student's house and having the informal party until 2 AM...The parents were actually invited to come to that. I don't think I will be making the trek up there (it's an hour away from here, in Kennett Square)! Then the girls are spending the night at someone's house and the guys are spending the night at one their friend's house. I took tons of pictures and will post them later so you can see all of Kate's wonderful friends. Katelyn was so pretty. I took her to a friend's house this morning to have her hair done and it was so pretty. I wish mom could have come down from Melinda's and seen her. She is getting so grown up!! aaaarrrrgh!! I have had a couple of freaking out moments these past couple of weeks where I just look at her and think, "Where has the time gone!" She has grown up so much this past year. Okay that's it for now.
BTW, chicken sandwiches from McD's for dinner tonight. They were free with a purchase of a medium drink...some nationwide promo today. Also go to Dunkin Donuts today for a free small
ice coffee. I know, I know, not that nutritious but David wasn't coming home for dinner and it was easy!

Brand New

Hello Everyone! My AMAZING daughter Katelyn has started this up for me, & I'm very eager and excited to begin this blogging adventure. So... What's for dinner? This is the favorite question around my house. My family loves to eat and I love to try new things for them to eat! Most importantly, I pray that everyday we are feasting on the unmeasurable mercies of God which are new every morning. He carries us day by day, moment by moment, always sustaining and upholding us.
This blogging thing is sort of scary to me...I'm not sure why. I guess sometimes I feel like I have something to say and don't know who to say it to. So now I will say it to you....whoever you are. But you know my greatest weakness is that I worry about what others think too much. That has kept me from blogging because it is so public and open to criticism.
I was talking to my sister one day about writing and telling her how much I hated it. My sister was telling me how I should be writing all my wanderings and wonderings...or something like that. I just don't want to have to worry about always being grammatically correct and spelling all my words correctly,etc. So I won't. You will just have to take it for what it is worth.
So this is my little space to write and not worry about all that. I love reading blogs and have thought many times in the last few weeks, "Now if I had a blog, I would write about this." So here it goes. (I am a little intimidated by my sisters and niece who are all so smart).
Speaking of dinner, I better go fix some for the family. Nothing fancy tonight...tuna melts and pear salad.