I had such a hard time sleeping last night . I finally fell asleep around 3 : 30 or 4 : 00 this morning . And I had to get up at 7 : 00 to go to work . Needless to say I am pretty tired right now . But I did get to see a beautiful sunrise . I always seem to get those birds sitting on the wire though , don 't I ? It was a very busy day at work . The people just didn 't stop coming in . I didn 't get nearly as much done as I thought I would . I have piles of books waiting for me on my desk . And I made a mistake ringing up a fine on the cash drawer . I have to call downtown tomorrow and I don 't know how it 's going to be fixed . I sure hope I am not in trouble over this . There is a young couple that came into the library on Saturday and again today . They lay down on one of the window seats and he sleeps while she reads him a Stephen King book rather loudly . I was on my lunch hour today and people were coming up to me and complaining about them . I went over and told him for the second time he had to wake up and told her to get her feet off of the cushions and keep her voice down . She reads in a monotone for hours . And I do mean hours . Today it was four hours straight . I am not exaggerating . She read from 11 : 30 to 3 : 30 with no breaks . No wonder the guy falls asleep . On the way home from work I saw the most beautiful sunset . I couldn 't wait to get home to take a picture . I was praying that the sun wouldn 't set before I got a chance to get it . God answered my prayer and I got several really great pictures . Here 's one of them . Bible study tomorrow morning and I still have to make cookies for it . I am making oatmeal cookies with craisins . Hope they turn out . Posted by I don 't really have much to say today . I woke up with another migraine . Joe wanted to go to church so I got ready and took him . But I felt bad the whole time I was there . I just wanted to go home and take a nap . We stayed later too because Joe was trying to fix the stoves at church . We smelled gas the other week at our Tuesday morning Bible study and so turned the gas off . He thought it was just that the pilots were out or that it needed cleaning . It turned out to be much more than that and he couldn 't fix it . So we are looking this week for one new stove . Then when the church saves up enough money we will buy a second one . We need to do it quickly because we are having a Valentine 's luncheon at church in two weeks . Joe said ( and rightly so ) that by the time we pay someone to fix the 30 year old stove we can buy a new one with a warranty . I finally got home and was able to lay down for awhile this afternoon . I cannot figure out why I am getting so many headaches . I am thinking it has something to do with the bacon we got this time . It seems they always come on me after I have eaten some of that bacon . It is a low sodium , low sugar bacon and maybe there is something in it that I am allergic to . I have to go read the label . I was feeling better tonight so I made a pork roast with mashed potatoes , gravy and green bean casserole . It turned out really good . Well , to bed I go . Monday morning comes early . I am still taking my sunrise photos and that sun seems to rise earlier each day . Hmm . . . I think it actually does . Good night everyone ! After several days of the skies looking like this : I was really happy to see this morning 's sunrise looking like this : Of course today was my Saturday to work . I didn 't really mind because even though the day was busy , Saturdays are never as busy as weekdays . I was able to get so much done . I am actually beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and am getting much less stressed with my job . That 's a good thing . The librarian had to leave the building for an hour to go to a meeting which made me the senior person . I was in charge of the place for the time he was gone . I had to sit at his desk and do the librarian job . This was the first time that has happened and it was scary , but kind of cool too . After work I stopped at the dollar store and got some more of the feather roses . Joe wanted to give them to the ladies in his Bible study on Valentine 's Day . I also got some small packages of Hershey 's kisses for the guys . As I was driving there , I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw the sunset . It was magnificent . When I parked in the lot at the store , I pulled out my camera ( I never go anywhere without one ) and took this shot . The picture does not do it justice . I am glad I am always prepared because you just do not know where or when the next good picture is coming from . When I got home I made fried rice for dinner and now I am getting sleepy ( even though it is only 8 : 30 p . m . ) and am thinking about heading for bed soon . Goodnight everyone ! Hope you have a good Sunday ! Posted by I am working tomorrow so had today off from work . I wanted a nice sunny day to get some things done , but it decided to rain instead . At least the temperatures were nice and warm . Joe and I had lunch with my new friend Donna . I met her because she comes in the library for books all the time . She also delivers Avon that her cousin sells . We all buy off of her cousin . She and I started talking one day and hit it off . I have told her about Joe and Joe about Donna , so I wanted them to meet . We picked her up at her house and had lunch at our favorite little dive " Andy and Nancy 's Deli " . It is a hole in the wall but the food is wonderful . We had such a good time talking and getting to know each other better . We kept seeing people we knew and saying hello . Donna said to me that I know everyone . I really don 't . After we ate we went to the dollar store . I can 't resist a dollar store . I automatically grab a cart when I go in because I know I can 't get just one thing . I found these pretty fake calla lilies with Easter eggs attached to the stem . So nice . I got them to put away for Easter decorating . I also found a red rose made out of feathers . I had to get it . Even the leaves are feathers . I will have to take a picture to show you . We came out and Donna mentioned that she was making stuffed peppers for dinner and needed to go to the store when she got home to get some ground meat . Joe said that Shop - Rite was right there so we took her over there and I also got a few things that I had forgotten to buy the other night . After that we took her home . I was tired and laid down for a few minutes . Well I fell asleep and didn 't wake up for 4 hours ! I guess I needed the sleep . I was feeling a little nauseous and I am always tired any more . I don 't know what 's wrong with me . I 'm feeling much better now , so I think I will go make dinner . Flounder , rice and squash with mushrooms and shallots tonight . I do like to cook . Back to work tomorrow . Hopefully it will be slow enough for me to finish up all the paperwork and reports on my desk . Time flies . It 's hard to imagine , but today is the one year anniversary of the death of Joe 's dad and the six year anniversary of the death of his mom . I remember what a terrible time it was a year ago . All of the fighting . All of the tears . All of the name calling and hard feelings . ( Take a look back at last year 's entries if you don 't know what I am talking about . ) At that time I thought it would never end . That it would always be bad . But time heals a lot of things . Even so , it was a sad day . And a hard one . I had such a nice long sleep last night . I really needed it after having almost nothing the night before . I felt so good when I got up this morning , but I missed the sunrise . Oh well . By the way , here is the sunrise I wanted to show you yesterday . I found my camera in my bed . How did it get there ? I went into work late today because I took Joe to the doctor 's for his regular visit . With all his ailments he has to see several specialists on a regular basis . Sometimes someone else will take him , but other times I just want to be the one to go with him . It 's according which doctor he is seeing . But I especially wanted to be with him today . His appointment was for 11 : 00 a . m . but the doctor was running late and he didn 't get in until 11 : 30 . The doctor took a lot of time with him , so we didn 't get out until noon . Then we had to get something to eat . So I didn 't get in to work until 2 : 00 p . m . I worked until 5 : 00 p . m . so I had a 3 hour day . I could get used to 3 hour days . Ha , ha . Because Diane had been on the front desk for four hours , I took the next two hours and then Marquita came in for the last hour . Even so , I got an awful lot accomplished . I finally finished the filing that I 've been doing for the last 6 months , ever since I took over Donna 's job . I can actually see my desk now ! I still have some more sorting to do of some paperwork , but the worst is over with . Hooray ! We went food shopping tonight . We were out of everything so it was a little expensive . But we haven 't been in three weeks , so I guess it 's notPosted by Happy Chinese New Year . This is the year of the Dragon . Guess what Joe and I did for dinner . I stopped on the way home at this great Chinese take - out that Joe and I love . We celebrated by having " lucky " food for dinner . Pork , long noodles and dumplings ( money bags ) mean moving forward , long life and wealth in the new year . We had pork lo mein , egg rolls and almond cookies . I had a really pretty picture of the sunrise today that I wanted to share with you but I can 't find my camera ! I know it is around here somewhere . When I find it , I will share it with you . Fortunately , I know where my other camera is so I can take the sunrise tomorrow . Sigh . I am so disorganized . At least I have an excuse today . I spent last night in the emergency room ( from midnight to 3 : 00 a . m . ) . I was OK until I ate dinner . Then I started feeling nauseous . I laid down and had a hard time breathing . Then I got chest pain and pain in my shoulder and arm . By this time I started panicking which made everything worse . I know that since my surgery last year I have gas pockets in my chest . Usually if I burp it relieves the pressure and the pain goes away . This time , though , nothing was helping and the pain was getting worse . Then I started gagging and retching . So Joe took me to the hospital . After some tests and an exam the doctor determined that it was not my heart , it was a severe case of trapped gas . While I was in the waiting room , the pain started to slowly go away . But I was still very sick to my stomach and felt like I was going to throw up any minute . My blood pressure and heart beat were up also . They gave me some medication for the nausea and when I felt better , they sent me home . After 3 hours sleep we got up to go teach our Bible Study . We had four ladies show up today . Joe is on part 2 of " Searching for God 's Will " . The ladies really got into it and the two newest ones are just eating it up and telling him what a good teacher he is . Joe is really into leading this group , but likes me to help out because it is mainly women that show up . I Posted by See my pretty car ? Just a little snow on it right ? Wrong . It had a slick coating of solid ice also . The mailman came knocking at the door early this morning and told me to be very careful outside . He then proceeded to slide down the sidewalk and almost fell . I put out some salt , waited awhile and then took the shovel to it . Fortunately the salt had done its job and the ice came right up . I made chicken noodle soup for dinner . The other night I got a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket for dinner . Yesterday I took some of the leftovers for lunch . And today the rest of it went into soup . Since I paid only $ 2 . 50 for the chicken ( it was the end of the night and they wanted to get rid of their chickens ) , I think this was a really good deal . I got the recipe from the City Tavern cookbook my brother gave me for Christmas . It was a soup Thomas Jefferson enjoyed . I understand why . It was good ! Remove and discard the thyme and add the chicken and egg noodles . Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes , until heated . Season with salt and pepper to taste . If I knew how to add music to this entry I would be playing the song Send in the Clowns sung by Judy Collins . I 'm sure most of you have heard it , so just hum it softly in the background as you read . We had the special treat of having two of the clowns from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus come to the library . I am not a big fan of clowns , but Mike ( on the left ) and Rob ( on the right were really good . They were funny , engaging and actually talked and interacted with the kids , parents and staff . Here Mike is spinning a dish on top of a very tall pole . Incredible . He also lined up 5 kids and had them all spinning a dish too . Rob had what he called a " Chinese Yo - yo " . It was like a regular yo - yo except not attached to the string . He was throwing it into the air and catching it on the string and doing all kinds of tricks with it . I took over 100 pictures , but these guys moved so fast that a lot of them turned out blurry and I just deleted them . I got about 60 really good ones , though . ( Don 't worry , I 'm not showing you all 60 ! ) There were some good ones of Mike juggling , but every one looked as if he had no arms because he was moving so fast they were just blurry lines next to him . These guys were the perfect foil for each other . Mike was the sensible , level - headed one and Rob was the goof . Rob took Mike 's hat and ran all over the library with it . Mike tried to get Rob to throw it back to him . He finally did . And Mike caught the hat with his head . After the show they gave out autographs , answered questions , and had their picture taken with the kids . Some adults had their pictures taken with them also . I wonder who this is . Before they left , everyone from the staff who wanted to had their picture taken with them . It was a fun day . ON WHAT GROUNDS by Cleo CoyleAbout the book : Clare Cosi used to manage the historic Village Blend coffeehouse . . . until she opted for quieter pastures and a more suburban life . But after ten years and a little friendly cajoling from the owner ( a fresh pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain was all it took ) , she 's back to the grind , serving coffee and solving crime - - one cup at a time . . . With a sprawling rent - free apartment directly above The Village Blend , her cat Java by her side , and plenty of coffeehouse redecorating ideas , Clare is thrilled to return to work . Until she discovers the assistant manager unconscious in the back of the store , coffee grounds strewn everywhere . Police arrive on the scene to investigate . But when they find no sign of forced entry or foul play , they deem it an accident . Case closed . But Clare is not convinced . And after the police leave , there are a few things she just can 't get out of her mind . . . Why was the trash bin in the wrong place ? If this wasn 't an accident , is Clare in danger ? And . . . are all detectives this handsome ? My thoughts : Haven 't read a good mystery in a long time . This is a good one . I have never read Cleo Coyle before , but now I want to read the rest of this series . I like the character of Clare . I dislike the character of her ex - husband , but hey , that 's the sign of a good author , right ? A fast read if you have time to just sit and read . Short chapters , which I like because I can pick it up and put it down without losing the story . Also , lots of tips for making great coffee . I recommend it . Yes , that about describes my day . It started out OK . Well , no , it really didn 't . Let me start at the beginning . Tuesday morning is our Bible Study . Joe was trying to print out the handout for this morning . But we had run out of black ink . So we put a new cartridge in the printer which it refused to accept . We tried over and over and it still kept saying there was no black ink cartridge in even though there was . We tried for over 20 minutes and by this time I was so frustrated I was crying . Fortunately I had bought two cartridges so I put in the other one and it worked right away . Unfortunately we were now late for the study and Joe is the teacher ! When we got to church we found there were 7 people there . They had started the coffee and brought the brownies . The most we have ever had before was 3 people . So this was great . Joe is doing a three part series on the search for God 's will . Everyone really got into it . There was lots of discussion , prayer requests , and people rallying around and supporting the two people who were really hurting . Then we ran home and I got ready for work and left . But I hit every red light and was late getting there . Well , that 's how that started . People were asking for the newspaper and I hadn 't even gotten it onto the rack yet . The IT people are doing an upgrade for the next two days and so because we won 't be able to add books or make new library cards , I was hustling to get those things done . On top of that , it was wall - to - wall people all day . It 's not even worth having a day off because it is so bad the next day . My feet hurt so badly ! The day ended great though because Joe made me dinner . It was all done and waiting for me when I got home from work . What a guy ! So now it 's time to get some rest so I can start the whole thing over tomorrow . Good night ! Posted by I had off from work today for Martin Luther King Day . I had all kinds of plans for what I was going to accomplish . I even made up a list of what I was going to do . Well , the day did not go as planned . I got a few things done this morning and then Joe got up and decided he wanted to go to the Sprint store and ask about wi - fi . We really wanted wi - fi but had so much trouble with Comcast . As it turned out , we were able to buy a wi - fi network router for $ 120 . I took the modem with us because we were having trouble making connections and they gave us a new 6G card and lowered our monthly payment by $ 10 . So in a year the router will have paid for itself . My favorite so far , though , is this morning 's . I was a little late getting up to the third floor to get it , so the sun is actually in this picture . But I think it turned out great . Well off to start dinner . I 'm making an apple tart , roasted chicken , broccoli , and buttered corn . Anyone want to join us ? Posted by I have never been tagged before , but recently I was tagged by Angie at Life of a Housewife . She has such a sweet , friendly blog . You should really check it out . I am to share 11 random things about myself , so here goes . 1 . I am the oldest of 10 kids . My mom had two girls and two boys and my dad had four girls and four boys . I know that sounds like 12 kids , but my sister and I are from my mom and dad 's marriage . 2 . I got married for the first time when I was 52 years old . I 'm glad I waited because I had my own life for a long time and really knew who I was before I shared my life with another . 3 . Even though I know they are really good for me , I hate blueberries . 4 . I knew at age 12 that I wanted to work in a library . And now I am . 5 . I met my friend Marion in elementary school and my friend Debbie in middle school ( used to be called junior high ) . They comment on this blog regularly . 6 . I started this blog to let my family and friends know what was going on with my upcoming surgery . Instead it has taken on a life of its own and I love writing and photographing for it . 7 . I am 19 months older than my oldest sibling ( Elaine ) and 16 years older than my youngest sibling ( Larry ) . 8 . I am not a good housekeeper and have never claimed to be . ( I used to pay my sister to clean off my desk for me when I was a kid . ) 9 . I am , however , a great cook . 10 . I accepted Christ as my savior at age 9 when one of the men in my church used a magic trick to explain how Christ 's blood covers all of our sins and makes us clean . He made what looked like a glass of water turn red and then put something else in that turned it clear again . 11 . When I was a young teenager I had 45 penpals from all over the world . Now here are Angie 's questions for me : 1 . What is your favorite place that you have ever visited ? A . That would have to be San Francisco . When the song says you leave your heart in San Francisco it is not just words . If I could afford to move there , I would . 2 . If money were no object , what is the first extravagant thing you would purchase ? A . A branPosted by I have been having problems with my teeth since before Christmas . The molars on the top left side are extremely sensitive . Both heat and cold bother them a lot . I have had this before and it was an abscess and I had to have root canal . I was NOT looking forward to that . Four times is enough already . I went to my regular dentist before Christmas . She couldn 't find anything wrong - - to abscess , no cracks , nothing . So she sent me to a specialist . I have made three separate appointments with this dentist and none of them worked out until today . I finally got there . He was really nice and I liked him a lot . He has a super modern office . When the x - ray was taken , it was immediately put onto a computer screen . No films for him . And he even had a microscope to examine my teeth . He also found nothing wrong . No fractures , no abscess , the fillings were fine . He did a test where he put cold and hot on my teeth and tested the reaction . What he came up with is I am allergic to the toothpaste I have been using . Who is allergic to toothpaste ? Apparently I am . Chalk that up to another of my many allergies . He gave me a sample of Sensodyne and told me to get a tube and brush with it 3 to 4 times a day . Really scrub . He will see me in 4 weeks and see how I am getting along . He told me that sometimes even if the tooth is good he will have to do a root canal just to relieve the pain . But he always starts out simple . I like that about him . It 's been raining off and on all day today . When I got out of work , it wasn 't raining , but the fog was so thick that you couldn 't see more than half a block . It was tricky driving home . I took some pictures , but haven 't uploaded them yet , so maybe tomorrow I can show them to you . We stopped and got Chinese food on the way home . It was really good . Usually we have some left over , but none this time . We have been going to a new take - out place and they are much better than the place we went to before . The Library Assistant that was supposed to work on Saturday is sick . My co - worker that usually works every Kathy My brother Larry has begun a new thing . He is taking a photograph of the sunrise every day for a year . He started on January 1 . Larry takes wonderful pictures . I think he should be a pro . This first picture he took on his birthday , January 3 . He has inspired me to try to do this for the rest of this month . Although my pictures are not as dramatically beautiful as his are . There is too much pollution and too many houses . But here are two days to show you . This is January 8 : We 'll see how long I can keep this up . I have a feeling that one day I will oversleep and break my streak . But until then . . . But mine will never be as good as Larry 's . The farm had one of its rare winter farmers ' markets today . My friend Debbie and I headed down there this morning to see what they had . I really miss going there . There wasn 't a whole lot , but I got some brussels sprouts , organic potatoes , smoke signal cheese and pink lady apples . I talked Debbie into trying a pink lady so I hope she likes it . They are one of my favorites . I didn 't get much done today . I had such high hopes , but things just didn 't work out . Joe says he will help me with the kitchen after church tomorrow . And I am determined to get the tree down and things put away . Christmas is over . We had another good dinner tonight . I like the dinner menus that my diet plan is coming up with . Baked chicken thighs , mashed potatoes ( made with the ones I just got today ) , and mixed veggies . When we were at the store tonight Joe found Swiss Miss hot chocolate for the Keurig so I tried that and it was really good . We are enjoying the Keurig a lot . I just saw tonight that Ballykissangel is back on PBS . I used to watch it years and years ago . A dear friend of mine who was from Scotland turned me on to it . It was her favorite show . I know Joe has never seen it , so I am recording it for him . I think he will like it . And it has been so long since I 've seen it that it will be all new to me too . Church tomorrow . The morning comes so quickly . The weekend is half over already . Finally the week is over . For being such a short work week it has been a very long week . It seemed to go on and on . Remember we were going to get cable TV and internet instead of the satellite ? Well , the guy never showed up . He finally called , said he was running late , would be here in a couple of hours ( he was supposed to come between 1 - 3 and by this time it was 3 : 45 ) but he didn 't have the right boxes or internet hook - up so would we just be satisfied with what he had ? He couldn 't give us a lower rate , though . Joe told him to forget it , called the company and cancelled everything . He then called the satellite company and had everything reconnected . We are keeping what we have for now . I have been very good on my diet . Then why , oh why , did I gain 4 pounds ? At least I have been eating healthier , no snacking , etc . But now I am getting sick from the salad I ate at dinner . Ever since the stomach surgery last year I don 't tolerate roughage very well . But besides a small salad , I had turkey burgers and 3 potato salad ( a very small portion of that ) . Joe does not like turkey burgers , but he liked these . They were really good ! I added salt , pepper and Italian seasoning , then topped them with American cheese and put them on a kaiser roll . You really thought you were eating beef . It was a good dinner . I 've also been cleaning the house this week and throwing lots of stuff out . The recycling people must hate us because every week we are giving them three or four containers to haul away . On the other hand , the trash men must like us because they get only two bags . Ha , ha . As you can tell I love the idea of recycling . I 've also been " undecorating " the house and putting up snowflakes and snowmen . Here is my Friday view for you . The December window : Has been changed to the January window : You can 't really see it , but the snowflakes are all glittery . I got them in Williamsburg last September . I think it 's a pretty window . Last year when I put up a snowflake window we got a blizzard . Hope that doesn 't happen this time ! So the end of Kathy I was puzzled this morning at work when my boss called for a staff meeting . He usually tells me the day before that he is going to have one and what the agenda will cover . We all gathered around a table , me with pad and pen in hand and he said , " I have something to tell you . " My probation is just about up and I wondered what I had done . Then he opened a bag , put a soft pretzel on a napkin , stuck a candle in it , lit it and they all sang " Happy Belated Birthday " to me . How cool ! It was a real Philly " cake " . I am so sick of cake , cookies , etc . from the holidays that this was a really nice treat . And it was still warm . Yum . There is no mustard on it in this picture , but there was when I ate it ! Posted by What a busy day today . We were closed for just two days , but you would think we had been closed for two years ! Everyone was coming in and dumping loads of books and DVDs on the counter . " Oh , thank goodness you are open " they would say . Huh ? ? ? We had a school class in too which added to the general confusion . Of course everyone had a problem . " But I returned that book ! " " What do you mean there 's no DVD in the case ? " " I already paid that fine but I threw out my receipt . " People are so funny . But at least there were no people yelling at us or being mean . Probably because they were all frozen . Yes , the temperatures here have dropped dramatically . Yesterday in the high 40s . Today in the low 20s and it feels like 10 degrees . It was OK in the library while the sun was up , but as it set and night came on it got colder and colder in there . By the time we left at 8 : 00 p . m . it was downright chilly . Even so , it was quite a shock when I left the building and stepped out into that cold air . And it took some time for my car to warm up . I am so grateful for my car and that I don 't have to wait in the cold for a bus to show up like I used to do when I worked downtown . See the gratitude journal is already working . I have started a diet today . I am trying to lose 10 pounds by Easter . It 's not a lot of weight , but if I can do that , then my next goal is another 10 pounds by summer . A little bit at a time . I joined the Special K diet plan which my sister told me about . It is online and free . It gives you a meal plan for each day which is actually so much food I can 't eat it all . And you can switch out to another meal if it is something you don 't like or can 't eat . For instance , I was supposed to have a salmon dinner tonight , but I knew I had leftover pork roast and it was easier to do that on my late night . So I went through the list , found the pork dinner and switched it out . Still good and still on the diet . So by writing this in my blog I am committing myself to TRYING . Will I make it ? Only time will tell . But it 's better than doingKathy The second day of the year and it seems just like the old one . I ended up getting a lot of housework done , phone calls made and watched some TV . I am feeling so much happier because the house is looking better and better each day . I am trying to follow the schedule I set up for myself , but I gave myself too much to do today so didn 't get through my list . But I got over half of it done , so that 's not too shabby . My goal this year is to get organized . I think it would make my life so much easier . I realized that I really must get myself together when I was flustered and left so many things at home when I went to see my sister at Christmas . Leaving gifts behind is one thing . Leaving my heart , high blood pressure and cancer medication is something else . It could have become very serious very quickly . I also started a gratitude journal today . A friend of mine at church gave it to me . Someone had given it to her , but she said she knew she would never use it and thought I might like it . I love it . Each day there is a place to write the weather and news events , how you feel , what you are grateful for , people in your thoughts , things that brought you joy that day , acts of kindness either you do or done to you , and your goals . On the other side of the page is a place to write your thoughts which I am using to make notes on my daily devotions . It is a very thick book and I think it will last more than a year . Time for bed . Back to work tomorrow . At least it 's a short week . Posted by Isn 't this the truth ? I don 't know about you , but I have really overdone it this holiday season . Of course having Christmas , my birthday and New Year 's all within one week doesn 't help . Isn 't this a cute calendar ? My sister gave it to me at Christmas . I love it and have it hanging in the kitchen . It sort of reminds me of Mary Englebreit 's drawings . Last night Joe and I watched the fireworks from Penn 's Landing . It was really neat seeing them reflected in the water . I took lots of pictures . Here are a few of them . We ended up going to bed around 2 : 00 a . m . As a result I got up and went to church , but Joe wasn 't able to . The message was very interesting and taken from Revelation 21 : 1 - 8 - - our future with the Lord . As usual , I took notes and will look over them a few times this week . I had made cookies , put them into zip - lock bags , and took them to church with me . After church I gave them out to whoever was there . People were very happy to get them . I do this each year and each year different people get the cookies . I still have to get some to my neighbors down the street . Hope I can do that tomorrow . Otherwise it was a sort of lazy day . I did some cleaning up from last night and watched the Mummers Parade . Here 's some pictures of the Mummers . The string bands are always my favorite and they did not disappoint today . Every year they get more and more elaborate . It is almost like watching a series of Broadway shows . There is music , of course , but backgrounds , special effects , dancing , story telling . So wonderful ! We were going to have Carole and Walt over for dinner , but because Joe has been sick and Walt has just gotten out of the hospital , they opted to wait for another time . I still went ahead and made the pork roast I had and roasted some carrots , potatoes and onions . Oh did it turn out good ! I 'm glad there is some left over for later in the week . I ate too much , though , and my stomach hurt for several hours . I am trying to get more organized . Last summer my sister helped me to make out a schedule of things to do around the house each day . ( Less on days where I work until 8 : 00 p . m . and more on the days I only work until 5 : 00 p . m . ) I made up a list of things to do each day all week and think I can probably get things under control in one week . We will see . Hi , I 'm Kathy and I live in historic Philadelphia , PA . I 've been married for 10 years to Joe , my best friend . Being the oldest of 10 children I have lots of family and absolutely love it . I retired in January 2016 so I am finding my way through being a stay - at - home wife after spending 20 years working for a public library system . Come along with me as I explore my new role as a homemaker . It is never dull in my world .