Great Concert, But I hate Philly!

Went to Philadelphia to see the Trans Siberia Orchestra. The concert was great! Getting there was another matter! We had decided to make a day of it in Philly. We did the Duck tour which was nice and then went to the Franklin museum.

Now for those of you that don't live in the east let me explain to you what an incredible screwed up mess Philly is. First if you hesitate for a second at any light or God forbid try to be a a defensive driver you will get honked at. If you are at a four way stop and don't jeopardize your car or your life you will never get across the street!

Then there is parking! We parked in four different places yesterday for a sum of $100! You have no choice, the places we went to were not close enough for walking. I have two new big time blemishes on my car, as out of frustration I tried to park too close to a concrete post, and yes I did have to listen to "I tried to tell you"!

But I digress, we went to a Mexican restaurant before the concert and had a great meal. Then proceeded to get lost in Philadelphia for the next 45 minutes, which included stupidity on my part. I ran a red light into not one, not two, not even three, but six lanes of traffic! Suffice it to say God had his angels watching out for us! Other then idiots driving around us because heaven forbid they may have to wait a few more seconds, and the accompanying horn honking, we made it to the concert unscathed other then nerves!

The concert itself was absolutely worth it. The music, the lights and special effects were all outstanding. It was a typically loud concert, but since my hearing isn't what it used to be it was just fine for me.

Memory Photo

This is a photo taken about 25 years ago. It's one of my favorites. Although I need to fix the eyes where the camera flashed.

Our blond haired, blue-eyed boy and our dog, Chesai. She was a poodle/terrier mix. She loved being herself. I thought I was smart back then. Looking back, I think she was the wise one.

--Cheryl

John Deere Green

Believe it or not, for the first time in a couple of months, I finally feel like I have a few minutes to sit down and post. It's been kind of a rough few months for me. I think I'm getting old! It has never taken me this long to get used to a job. But I think I'm almost there. Things have calmed down at work quite a bit. Now I have two full days off a week. For a while there, I was beginning to think I might not have what it takes anymore. It's still and always will be a really busy office, but I now see light at the end of the tunnel. Thank goodness for Don's encouragement. "You're new. It will get easier," he said. He was right.

I bought Don an I-Phone for his birthday. He wasn't sure about it at first, but loves it now. He took it with him to Minnesota to visit our children and grandchildren. I couldn't go - I was working :-( Anyway, he surprised them all by showing up unannounced. No one knew except for our daughter-in-law, Stephanie. Apparently, she's pretty good at keeping secrets. Many a tear was shed when he arrived, and the grandkids were thrilled.

Our two year old grandson, Michael, had a birthday party. It was a John Deere tractor theme party. Don got lucky and found a few John Deere gifts at a local department store. No one else was quite as fortunate. The cake turned out great thanks to the wonderful effort Stephanie put into it. Way to go Stephanie! You can go to "The Brandt Blog" under our blog list and view her August 24th post to see pictures.

Frodo and I missed Don a lot while he was gone. We're glad he's back now, and we're looking forward to Labor Day weekend. (It's an extra day off! Although, the work only piles up when I'm not there). Still, it's nice to be together.