Third Time is the Charm (Almost)

Well, Steve and I decided to make another trip to New York City to the U.S. Open Tennis over the weekend. If you wonder why this is momentous, you can read about last year's experience here and the previous year's experience (with my friend Becky) here. Surely this year would be hassle-free.

It all started out well. We boarded our train in Lancaster and arrived in Penn Station in New York City three hours later. We had no problem finding the subway, purchasing our metro cards (we got two, one for each of us), swiping our cards at the turnstile, and boarding the E train headed for Jackson Height-Roosevelt Avenue where we would make our transfer to the 7 train. We watched all the stations go by and then when the subway screeched to a halt at Queens Plaza which was the one before Jackson, the announcement was made over the intercom that the next stop was something else, not Jackson Height-Roosevelt Avenue! Steve and I looked at each other a little concerned and I asked the woman sitting beside me, "is this train not going to Jackson Height-Roosevelt?" She explained to us that because it was a holiday weekend, the express subway was shut down for work on the tracks and the train we were on was the local train. It would still end up where we wanted it to, but it was just making a lot of other stops in between. We were quite relieved and Raquel was so friendly and helpful. She wondered where we were going and when we told her Flushing to our motel, she said that she lived in Flushing so we could just follow her through the transfer station when we needed to switch to the 7 train. We were very grateful for her concern for our welfare and accepted her offer. Whoever said that New Yorkers are not friendly?

We got to our motel without any more stress and the following morning navigated our way over to the tennis center without any problems at all. Our metro cards worked fine. We enjoyed the day and around 7:00 left the tennis to go back to our motel in Flushing. I swiped my metro card and went through the turnstile. Steve swiped his and the turnstile stayed locked. He tried again and again. After several tries, I said, "you might as well just go under. It's not like you haven't done it before." He squeezed through and nobody said anything or stopped us. It was deja vu all over again. We were irritated and angry but what were we supposed to do? We went back to our motel and tried to put it out of our mind and enjoy the rest of our evening.

We walked to a Chinese restaurant that we had eaten at before and liked. It's a little adventuresome ordering because you are not quite sure what you are getting but it was always good food when it arrived. I looked at the menu and saw something that looked like onion rings. The English translation was "calamari."  I probably should have known what that was but I didn't. I also should have googled it but my phone was low on battery so I had turned it off. I figured whatever it was it would be good. The calamari came and looked yummy. I took a bite of one and it was awful. The fried outside part was okay but whatever was in the middle was chewy and had a taste that I didn't like. Steve was not impressed either. We left the huge bowl of them sitting, uneaten. The poor waiter came back when we were finished with our other food and pointed to the untouched calamari and said "box?" I shook my head no. In hindsight, I probably should have said yes and then just thrown them out in the nearest dumpster. He looked a little crestfallen that I didn't want to take them with me. After we got back to our motel, I plugged my phone in and looked up calamari and found out that they are squids. Obviously, some people like them but not me. I will chalk that up as a learning experience.

The next morning, we went to the booth in the subway and asked for $2.75 to be put on each of our  metro cards. That would be enough to get us one more ride back to Penn Station. I swiped myself through without any problem, but again the turnstile stayed locked for Steve. We looked at each other in exasperation and said "not again." He tried one more time and low and behold it worked! He came through and we breathed a huge sigh of relief. I don't know what it is with Steve and metro cards but we were extremely thankful that that was the last time (on this trip), he would need to use one.

We arrived back in Lancaster County without any more mishaps and all in all it was a nice little vacation for us. Our travel experience was definitely better than the previous two years, but we learned that metro cards still don't like Steve and neither of us care for the taste of squid. Maybe next year we will go somewhere else and stay away from that busy place called New York City.

This Old House

I asked my children if they knew whose place this was? Shawn and Megan looked at it for awhile and then shook their heads. They had no idea. Josh knew I was digging out old pictures so his response didn't count. Jay looked at it for awhile and then said, "wow, that's our place! That is so cool. Where did you find this picture? I've never seen it."

This picture was taken in 1982, the year we first moved here. I have recently started going through old pictures (it is one of my goals for this year), and I came upon this treasure. I couldn't have even said that I had it. A few weeks ago, we were discussing and remembering how this place used to look and we commented that we wished we would have taken pictures, but I didn't think I had any. Imagine my delight when I found this. It's hard to believe that there were so many barns and sheds with this property. If you blow the picture up, you can even see the roof of a tiny chicken coop that sat behind the house. I think that was one of the first things we took down. I remember that the property was so filled with trees and bushes and stone walls (which housed snakes!) that there was hardly even any grass. Also the stream ran right through the back yard. It reminded me of a jungle. And there was white board fence everywhere!

You have to look closely to see Douts Hill Road. The white barn on the right of the picture is actually on the other side of the road. As you can see, behind it was a nice big corn field. Sadly, we had to sell the land for money as we had a hard time making ends meet when we first lived here. One of the first things the developer did was tear down the barn before he built the houses across the road from us. We have often wished that we could have hung on to those acres and kept it as farmland, but at the time, there didn't seem to be any other option and once we sold it, we couldn't go back and undo it.

We spent many hours (and a lot of money) transforming this place into what it is today. When I look at this old picture I realize just how far we have come. Honestly, when we first moved here, I hated this house and property. Everything about it was old and ugly and I wasn't sure we would ever be capable of or able to afford to fix it up. Improvements came slowly but surely and gradually it became a place that I was happy to call home. I'm not sure that I can say I ever fell in love with it, but over thirty-five years it has left me with many happy memories (sad ones too). I am grateful for this big, old house that watched over our family and listened to children laugh and cry and tell stories and provided all of us a haven that we could come home to and know that when we were within its walls we were safe and protected from the world outside.

Here is a picture of what our place looks like today. I tried to take it from the same angle, but I'm not sure I got it exactly right. I would love to find some more pictures of the property as it looked in 1982, especially one of the front of the house. I'll keep sorting through my stacks of photos and maybe I will get lucky. I'm sure I'll find a few more that will be blog worthy!

Home Again

I am happy to report that Steve's dad is back home again after his stay at Hershey Medical Center and then Lancaster Rehabilitation Hospital. Tests revealed a small cancerous tumor in his brain that caused the seizures. Medication stopped the seizures and a gamma-knife radiation treatment will be done in the near future to eradicate the tumor. It is too early to tell if there will be further repercussions and if the cancer is present in another part of his body. The kind of tumor that it was, indicates that it is a secondary tumor from another one somewhere else in his body. Body scans did not pick up any other tumors so we will have to wait and see if future tests reveal one. The seizures caused weakness in his left side very similar to stroke symptoms. However, he did very well in therapy and recovered a lot of the motor skills that he temporarily lost. His walking is still a little slow and he is prone to drifting to the left, but overall everyone is very pleased with his progress. 

Over the past two weeks, I have been amazed with the quiet faith and acceptance that both Mom and Dad have showed during this unexpected turn in their lives. Dad has been incredibly upbeat and has not had any signs of depression. Mom has been constantly by his side, doing what she can for him. It is difficult to say just how much this will change their lives, but I have the feeling they will have to adjust to a new normal. As I said before, life can change in an instant, but it is how we handle the obstacle that is thrown at us that makes all the difference. I appreciate the way Mom and Dad are just taking one day at a time and that they are willing to make the adjustments necessary to help them through this phase in their lives. We will see how the future unfolds, but I am thankful for their steadfast faith in Jesus and their love for each other that will carry them through whatever lies ahead.

Happy 6th Birthday Alexis!

I can hardly believe that we have been grandparents for six years already. We had heard from others how special being a grandparent was, but until we actually experienced it for ourselves we didn't know just how wonderful it really would be. We have this little girl to thank for starting us on our grandparenting journey.

Alexis is growing so fast. She is still a little girl, but not a little, little girl. She is fast entering into preadolescence (although she still has a few more years before that). One of the things I most enjoy doing with Alexis is just talking with her. She is such a conversationalist. It's amazing the knowledge that a six year old can have. Of course, growing up in this day and age, she is efficient with technology. Often when we are together, she is now the one to take the video of whatever we are doing. I enjoy spending time with her and hearing about what she is learning and doing. She is a joy to all of us who know and love her. Kristen made a beautiful cake for her (pink is Alexis' favorite color).

 

And here is the birthday video :)

Happy birthday Alexis!!!!!

Oh You of Little Faith

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Steve and I recently purchased the old Mt. Nebo Store. The biggest reason that this property was on the market for so long and did not sell was because of the underground gas tanks. The horror stories that abound of the money that people had to spend when they had tanks removed and there was contamination of the soil found around the tanks is enough to make even the brave cringe. Banks will not give a mortgage for any property that has underground tanks and most insurance companies want nothing to do with them either. Steve watched the price on the property come down lower and lower and thought it was a chance worth taking. I protested that if everyone else thought it was too risky, why would we be stupid enough to try it.

 

The tanks came out on July 22 and the excavator told us he thought we had a 50/50 chance of passing the soil tests that DEP  required. While I'm envisioning hundreds of thousands of dollars being needed to bring the area around the tanks into compliance which would probably eventually bankrupt us, Steve was quietly confident that they would pass. He did not feel that God would bring us this far to fail us now.

 

Yesterday we received the results. Under the Site Assessment Results an x was placed in the square that read, "No Obvious Contamination - Sample Results Meet Standards/Levels."

 

More and more I am realizing that I just need to give this project up and leave it in God's hands. My faith has been very weak, but slowly I am getting more and more excited about the possibilities of this property that we have purchased. Onward we go.

 

PS: We now have a name for the business: The entire facility will be known as the "Mt. Nebo Center." The discount grocery store will be called "Martic Store," and the food bank will be known as "Martic Pantry."

How Quickly Things Can Change

One phone call can change your life in a heartbeat. This morning Steve's dad was taken by ambulance to the hospital because he had a seizure at home. He had another seizure about six hours later in the hospital and we are still waiting for an MRI that will hopefully shed some light on the reason why. As I am writing this, he is resting comfortably and chatting with family. This picture was taken about a week ago when the children from church went to Jay and Kristen's place to fish. I love the way Mark is peeking out between his great-grandfather's arms. Marlin Lehman is loved by many and we can't help but pray that he has a few more good years left to enjoy here on this earth, but if God has another plan I trust that He will give us the peace to accept whatever lies ahead.

Summer Days

Good old summer. There is always so much to do and often it seems so little time to do it. If only all of life could be as peaceful and tranquil as this picture makes me feel. We took the Kid's Club from church fishing at Jay and Kristen's place and Steve's parents were there as well. This picture is of Steve's dad and Mark. I love the way Mark is looking toward his great-grandpa. It looks like they are having some kind of a discussion. It always touches my heart to see a little person keeping an older person company and to see how much they enjoy each other. May we never get rid of inter-generational relationships!

The night was perfect for fishing and the children caught quite a few fish and some were fairly big. Here are a few pictures:

I had some grandkid days too. Alexis and Lydia spent a night and Mark and Hannah were also here for part of a Saturday. I invited Awstin to come as well so he and Mark could have some cousin time. Here are some pictures and videos of things we did. I know some of the videos are too long, and will only be appreciated by a very few, but oh well, I'm just posting this mostly for my own pleasure and I like watching videos of my grandkids. After all, there are no kids that are cuter!

The girls wanted to play with Megan's cat Fluffers. He wanted nothing to do with them.

However, when we ignored him and went down to the park to play in the stream, he showed up on the creek bank to watch.

The hammock was a big hit.

I can't believe I left Alexis videotape this one :)


Alexis enjoys videotaping now too. When did she get so grown-up?


The boys :) What is more fun than a puddle of water?


Little sweetheart Hannah!


Such a pretty little girl!

Awstin just loves to run. He must have ran around the kitchen table at least 25 times, laughing the entire time.


Till next time!