Applefest in Mars

Here's a shot of Dee next the the famous space ship in the Mars business district on the day of Applefest.

Friday was an overcast and damp day, so we decided to go to lunch and a movie. After Dee went to Contours, we went to a chinese restaurant - buffet - that we enjoy, and then to the movie. We saw IGOR. An animated movie about these creatures that invented "evil monsters." There was a contest to see who could invent the most evil one. The Igors were the lower class creatures who waited on the master race of creatures. However, one of the masters was killed by his own invention, so his Igor invented a monster for the contest. Unfortunately, when he inserted the "one evil bone" and then had her brainwashed, someone changed the channel and she came out loving life. Interesting story line. Enjoyable to watch.

On Saturday, Dee had to work, so I did some house chores, then went to the Applefest in Mars. There were thousands of people there. It was enjoyable. There were crafters, food vendors, entertainment and much more. I had breakfast at the local Methodist church. I went home, about 1:00 PM and got Bonz. I took him to the "Doggy Polooza" at the Cranberry Dog Park. There were lots of vendors there to letting you know of the dog services they provide. Even got Bonz a new toy. He enjoyed running loose on the other side of the fence from the vendors.

When Dee finished work, I took Bonz home, and picked up Dee and took her to the Applefest. This time, I met a fireman who gave ma a Fire Department Patch I'd been looking for for a friend.

We saw some people we knew, walked through the town of Mars again. I took this photo of Dee standing near the spaceship at the center of Mars' business district.

Afterward, we enjoyed a coffee at Starbucks, and then home for dinner. Later in the evening we enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio in the hot tub. VERY RELAXING. I finished off the evening reading more of the book, The Shack. A very nice day.

Burrr! It's a Bit Nippy Out There.

Burrrr! Yesterday was in the low 50s all day. I'd put more bird food in the feeder and we saw some beautiful red breasted woodpeckers and downy woodpeckers up close. My mother got so see them when she was here too. She said she'd never seen anything like that. They are fun to watch.

We continued to empty cardboard boxes, take useful and no longer wanted or needed things to the large bins to be used by helping agencies in the area for people in need. I talked with Earl C. about some shelves we have but can't use because the separator spindles are missing. He said he couldn't use them either, so we'll just have to get rid of them. We went to a couple of stores to pick up needed items, and had a nice lunch at a Chinese buffet in the area. It was a good meal at good value. I worked on the new songs I have to learn for the Barbershop Chorus. Memorizing words and notes seems to take me longer that I'd like, but it's still good brain exercise. I've also been working on memorizing my scripture text for this Sunday's sermons, Luke 15:11-32.

Tomorrow is the Mars Applefest. There are to be about 8-9,000 people there. It's a big deal and takes place on the main street in Mars. I'm looking forward to seeing it as next year the local clergy have agreed to oversee it.

Dee talked with Kerri during the day. It seems her class work (online) has begun to become receive a certificate as a "project manager". We checked out the coupon books "the enjoy book" and the "entertainment" book and decided on the entertainment book. It should be fin using it to try out new restaurants. I noticed too it has lots of coupons for golf courses of buy one round and get a second round for free. I also continues to look at various GPS Navigation units to see if I could find one in my price range. I think I'm going to settle on the GArmin 260w that has turn by turn directions with street names included. The "w" in the model number indicates it's the "wide 4x3" model.

Later in the evening we watched to vice presidential debates and followed that up with a recorded episode of "Monk".

Mom Still Has Some "Firsts"

On Monday and Tuesday we had my mother up to the house for a visit. She hadn't been here since before we moved in with furniture. On Monday night I took her to hear our Barbershop Harmony Chorus practice for our Open House. She seemed to enjoy listening to the music. On Tuesday, I took her for a ride on a golf cart around one of the courses at Treesdale so she could see the great views and lovely homes on the hillsides. She'd never been on a golf course or golf cart before! She also got to see some golfers hit drives on a couple of the holes. Several times during the day she commented on enjoying the trees turn colors during the Fall.We also showed her where Dee works. She enjoyed sitting out on our deck in the dark watching the stars, lights on the houses and listening to the night sounds. It was a good visit. On the way home from Monongahela, Dee and I stopped at the Commissary and picked up some groceries.

ABCOPAD Weekend of Re-acquaintances

Well, Friday and Saturday was the Annual meeting of the Pittsburgh Area of the ABCOPAD (American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware). They met in the North Hills Baptist Church on Friday night with a dinner sponsored by our pension board, and then on Saturday at the Franklin Park Baptist Church. Dr. Manfred Brauch (former president of Eastern Bpatist Theological Seminary) spoke briefly on Friday night and then four times (75 minutes each time) on the topic of The Abuse of Scripture and It's Consequences. Here's photo of Dr. Brauch...

The Friday night dinner was a great time to re-connect with old friends we'd known from fifteen years ago when we served churches here in the Pittsburgh area. Nate Wiliams brought me up to date on things happening in the PBA churches from his perspective as former interim Area Minister. It was good to see Gary Denning again from FBC of Pittsburgh and others we hadn't seen in a long time. I spoke with several pastors about their churches and how they'd changed over the years. It was disheartening to hear of the way things are now as compared to how they were when I left. Much has gone down hill. As a result of this downward spiral, the Pittsburgh Region had to merge with the Pennsylvania Region. Now Pittsburgh is just a part of the larger ABCOPAD region. It was nice to meet the executive minister of the region, Rev. Frank Fischcorn and other area clergy. Also, re-connecting with Denise at the PBA office was nice. She's doing her best to keep me preaching in area PBA churches. (Next week at Aliquippa.)

Dee went with me on Friday night to the dinner, but had to work on Saturday for the store's open house. Saturday night we had a nice dinner at the Longhorn Steak House. Their burgers and chopped steaks are just the right size for us. I'm still looking for a GPS navigation unit for the car. If you have one you like, let me know the model and what you like about it. I think the wide screen ones would be best for my eyes...

It was a busy weekend, but it was great seeing lots of old friends. We also saw our old neighbor from Blackridge at Barnes and Nobel Bookstore on Friday afternoon. Chris S. lived next to us for several years on Orlando Place. We had no idea he moved to the Wexford area with his family. I recognized him, and he me right away. I'd forgotten his name, but he seemed to remember mind. Looks pretty much the same after 13 years. We're hoping to get together with him and Linda sometime in the near future. What a nice surprise!