Miscommunication and a News Flash.

Hello my friends!  It's still hot and dry here in Washington state and the 10-day forecast is still well into the 90's and 100's every day, so it doesn't look like it will change much.  Flooding down south drought up north.  It would be nice if we could share a bit with each other don't you think?

The miscommunication I mentioned in the title was about the 60th anniversary party we attended last weekend.  I guess I didn't say it was for friends of ours, NOT for Dennis and I.  Several people sent me emails congratulating us, and although we have been married 37 WoNdErFuL years come September 1, in the interest of full disclosure, since I'm a mere 55 years young, it would be a miracle to have been celebrating 60 years together.  I hope we can make it to 60 though.  I would consider myself to be truly blessed to have lived with my loving husband for that long.  I thank you all for the well wishes though.  :-)

I've been working on my "quilt as you go" squares this past week as they are much easier to work on in this heat than holding yarn in my lap.  Please do not look at my icky hand stitching.  I am not a quilter, but I'm trying to use up all of my little scraps of cotton.

The news flash is that during my test at the hospital yesterday they finally, (I hope), discovered the problem with my heart.  As I was told later, I passed out ten minutes into it and then my heart stopped beating for 31 seconds.  Now that doesn't sound very long, but I'm told it is quite a long time.  The nurse said she has people pass out quite often, but their heart doesn't stop.  The full story of what is actually happening is a long one involving my blood pressure, but the end result is that they are putting in a pacemaker next Wednesday, July 8, barring an emergency between now and then, when it would be done sooner.

I would appreciate prayers from you, my friends.  I feel fine today.  Yesterday...not so much.  According to the cardiologist, I have probably been having "little" heart attacks for awhile.  My heart would stop in my sleep and I wasn't aware of it.  Which would explain why I'm tired so often.  I expect to be a brand new woman, chock full of energy next week!  Look out world!  Betsy is on her way!  

And now, I'm off to bed.  It's been a long day and I have a dentist appointment tomorrow.  Then it's lake time until the 4th of July.  I'll have to come home then because I'm not allowed to stay at the lake by myself until after the surgery.  I'm not supposed to sleep alone right now in case I have an "episode".  I think that's strange.  Is Dennis supposed to just sit up all night and watch me sleep?  He has to go to work.  Craziness.  I'm just going to try to follow orders and let God do the rest.

This was my Mom's favorite verse and I think it's very applicable for me tonight.

"I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

Blessings,

Betsy

Dog Days of Summer

,It is HOT!  How hot you say?  Here is Mattie and Chloe at the lake.  Not moving much except to follow the shade around.

A screen shot of my phone at 7:30 p.m. Just a few moments ago.  100 F !!!!   Unbelievable.  The high was 109 F today.  106F yesterday.  We broke every record on file for both days.  In our 23 years in the northwest, I don't ever remember having this hot of weather before.  At least it's low humidity which helps somewhat.

This is the 10 day forecast.  Not much relief.

We had a 60th wedding anniversary party yesterday so we came home from the lake at noon.  I must admit that the air conditioning at home is very welcome.  After the party we went to the church to set up for the potluck today.  After setting up lots and lots of tables and chairs and doing all of the prep work we could, Dennis and I went to Larry and Nita's house to swim and cool down.  They have a 21 x 40 foot in ground pool.  It felt SO good to jump into that cool water.

After church today and the clean-up from the potluck, we again went to their house to swim.  We opted to stay home from the lake today because I have another test at the hospital tomorrow morning.  This way we both didn't have to make the drive back home tomorrow morning.  I'm planning to go out tomorrow after the test.  By the way...the good news is they haven't found anything wrong with me so far.  The bad news is I almost had a heart attack when I opened the latest bill on Friday.  Oh my goodness!!!  I may have to go back to work.  We have a HUGE deductible that has almost been met with all of these tests.  I'm not exaggerating my friends.  After this "tilt-table" test tomorrow and the one planned for next week, we should be maxed out on the deductible.  Then the insurance is supposed to  pay 70% of anything after the deductible is met.

We have another potluck planned with friends at the lake on Wednesday evening and then the resort owners are hosting a barbecue on the 4th of July for all of the residents.  That's us!  They provide hamburgers and hot dogs and fireworks.  We provide side dishes and dessert.  It's always a lot of fun but it will be SO hot this year.  Yuck!  I'm looking forward to jumping into the lake tomorrow afternoon.  Dennis bought me a new chair floaty thingy so I can just sit in the water for hours and stay cool. As long as I remember to put on my sunscreen. :-)

I've been reading a lot and the only crafty things I'm doing is my quilt-as-you-go squares.  It's just too hot for yarn right now.

I hope you're all having a lovely summer.  I'm enjoying reading all of your blogs and seeing the beautiful flowers, birds and vacations.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  John 1:5

Blessings,

Betsy

Technical Difficulties Abound!

I'm home!  I have been home since last Wednesday afternoon.  It was hard leaving this little girl who gives the absolute best hugs and kisses.  I miss her more than words can tell.  I miss her Mommy just the same.  It doesn't matter how old they are, leaving your kids is horrendous.

I loved my time with them.  And Piper loved Grandma to braid her hair.  It looks like Anna's in "Frozen". Look how long it's getting.

The girls took me to the airport Tuesday afternoon.  Three...three of my flights were cancelled.  They ended up driving all the way back to Baltimore to pick me up and then back to the airport early Wednesday.  Mandy had to get Piper out of bed to pick me up and out of bed to take me back after only a few hours.  I felt so bad.  I had terrible seats on both flights home since I was being rebooked.  I tried to be optimistic, but it was NOT fun.  The best part by far was seeing Dennis waiting at the end of the ramp at the airport.  I love that man with my entire being.

Gracie sent me a headband that she created with yarn I gave her that I bought on my last trip to Japan.  I love it.  The cute card was from Gracie's vacation in Oregon.  Isn't it a perfect reflection of what she wrote about it on her blog, One Saylor's Log?   (It's on my sidebar if you've never visited her before.)

This was what I returned home to.  My little Chloe was so happy to see me.  Notice open windows and doors.  That didn't happen in Maryland with the high temperatures and high humidity.  I love the northwest.

The lavendar that we bought last year at a farm on the base of Mt. Spokane is blooming profusely.  Purple is my favorite color and the smell of this is unbelievable.

It has grown 3 times it's size from when we bought it last summer.

I like my cute kids with their umbrella.  I've had them under this bush for 13 years now.

My Chloe.  She's such a sweetheart and never leaves my side when I'm home.  I honestly don't think I'll ever have another dog after her.  She would be impossible to replace.

The flowers at the lake.

More purple.

I have no idea what any of these flowes are though.  Lori planted them and has wonderful taste.

Pretty.

The guys put in a sprinkler system at the lake while I was gone.  Can you believe that?  They worked hard both Saturday's while I was gone and I was really surprised.  It is nice not to have to spend hours watering the grass every day while there, but a sprinkler system at the lake?  Crazy.

Now to the technical difficulties.  When I had to get a new phone in Annapolis last week, I apparently lost my unlimited data that I was grandfathered in with them for 14 years with Verizon.  I now have very little data considering I face time with my "girls" every day and with Alex in Japan once a week.  During the winter it's no problem because we have wifi at home but in the summer, I have to use my hotspot and phone at the lake.  In five days I used 3/4 of my monthly allowance!!!!  This was face-timing only about 15 minutes a day, not hours.  Apparently video takes tons of data.

All of this to say,  I had no data left to check blogs or anything else.  I'm supposed to get a call from Verizon on Wednesday to see how this can be resolved.  I hope all will be well.  I will definitely be checking all of your blogs whenever I come home and doing my posts then unless something changes.  Please don't give up on me.  I love you all and will be in communication whenever I can.

Meanwhile on the knitting front I've made three more sweaters like the one I made Piper.  They are all going to various charities.  I've also been working on the zig zag sock yarn blanket while sitting at the lake the past few days.  It's very tedious but I like the way it's turning out.  I'll try to remember to take a photo for you.

I hope all is well with every one of you and I'll be checking in again soon.

"Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life prosperity and honor." Proverbs 21:21

Blessings,

Betsy

Leaving

So here I am.  It's the night before I leave to fly home.  Although, since my flight doesn't leave until a little past 7:00 p.m., I have most of the day with my girls.  That doesn't help though.  I mean really, how easy would you find it to fly an entire continent away from this little girl and her wild hair?

So serious.  It's important business trying to decide what to color next.

And then there is a lot of cooking to do for Grandma.

All three of us girls had "Anna" hair one day.  You know, a french braid like the girl in the movie "Fozen".   Piper loves for me to braid her hair and we've done it a couple of times this week.

She decided Grandma needed a nap one day so here she is, tucking me in with Daddy's blanket.

Meanwhile, here's a view of Brad's BIG projects.  Although he works about 16 hours or more a day including most weekends, he put this beautiful fence in last month.  Since I've been here, he has built this deck. Yesterday they put the posts in.  Those are solar lights on the top of the posts.  You should have seen all of the weeds, dead trees and overgrowth where it is so clean looking now.  This was a vacant lot that had absolutely nothing ever done with it.  They brought in topsoil and roto-tilled and raked. And raked and raked and then planted grass seed a couple of weeks ago.  It's looking very good, isn't it?  They did the same with the front yard and it's huge.

When he got home tonight, in the dark, he put up two sections of the railing.  I think it will be beautiful when it's all done.  Nobody could ever say this boy is lazy.  He never stops working.

I did get three dishcloths made while Piper napped and after she went to bed.

I also made these red, white and blue pennants with the vague idea of making a banner for the 4th of July at the lake.

And I started another sweater on Sunday that will probably be finished on the flight home.  I don't know who the recipient will be yet.  Does anyone have a size 2-3 granddaughter who needs a summer sweater?  :-)

So tomorrow night I'll be home in Spokane, reunited with the love of my life.  He has had a terrible cold for a week now.  It's kinda strange.  He and Piper both got sick on the same day, an entire continent apart.  Then Alex face-timed from Tokyo Saturday night and he has a cold.  Then we face-time with our grandkids in Montana yesterday and Caleb has a cold!  My goodness!  Is everyone sick out there or is just my husband, kids and grandkids?

We have stayed home for the most part for the past week because Piper has been so sick.  That's okay though.  I didn't come to be a tourist. I came to be here.  With my family.  And tomorrow will be awful leaving them but I cannot wait to be with Dennis.  I've been away far too much lately.  I miss him and I adore him.

And now, I'm going to bed.  I hope you are all having a lovely summer and are enjoying days filled with sunshine and laughter and stars at their brightest.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." Psalm 19:1

Blessings,

Betsy

Saturday with my girls

Hello my friends.  Grandma is happy.

There have been lots of fun times to be enjoyed and many snuggles with my precious Piper since I arrived on the east coast on Tuesday.  You can tell Piper loves her new "Sofia the First" dress I brought to her.  Smiles from both of us.

Here we are "knitting" together.  That's a circular needle in Pipers hand that she's showing to Mama.  I'm winding yarn into a ball for her to use.

Concentration. It's important!

She loves the "choo-choo" blanket I made for her, much to Daddy's dismay.  Most of you know he's a pilot, hence the name "Piper".  For those of you who don't know the story, he proposed to Mandy while flying in a Piper airplane.  Piper loves airplanes, but for now she's equally entranced with trains.

Here we are on a walk today.  She's rockin those sunglasses isn't she?

Oh. My. Goodness!  I am so in love with this little girl

With her help I finished her sweater on Friday that I started Monday night.  Admittedly, for the most part, I only knitted during her nap time after I arrived.  There is too much playing and talking to do when she's awake.

I love this little sweater.  It was very easy and goes from newborn to size 5-6.  I'll try to remember to post the link to it when I get home. If I forget and you want it, please remind me.  It's free on Ravelry.

Aren't the little eyelets cute?  The buttons are "sparkly", which Piper loves.

An osprey nest a couple of blocks from the house in the Cheasapeake Bay.  Can you see the Mama sitting on the nest?

I was so happy that it was as if I had just seen Piper yesterday when I arrived.  She loves me.  Mandy NEVER leaves her because she doesn't really know anyone here.  And yet, she's left me with Piper several times in the past few days and it doesn't bother Piper at all.  I guess she feels safe with me and I'm so glad.  I always have the fear she will forget me and all of the time we've spent together since she was born.

Brad has been so busy since I arrived.  He works 13-14 hour days and then has come home every night and worked outside in the rain building the deck.  He's also put in a vinyl fence all around the property in the last month or so.  This morning he left for New Orleans for several days for work, so it's "girl time" here.  :-). I do hope he gets some extra sleep while he's there.  I think he works waaaay too hard.

Dennis is at the lake without me tonight.  He has called and FaceTimed several times today.  Gosh, I miss him and he seems to miss me too.  We never do very well apart, but I also need my Piper fix!

My phone died completely yesterday and so I ended up at Verizon in Annapolis getting a new IPhone 6.  It's always such a drawn out process in getting a new phone.  If I had been home, I think I would have just bought one online and activated it.  Now the contract has changed, blah, blah, blah, new rules of data usuage apply, blah, blah, blah.  I have to learn the limits since I had unlimited data before.  I do like the new phone though.

And now I need to go to sleep.  Days begin early around here with a toddler.  Have I told you lately how much I love this little girl-and her Mama too?

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground." Psalm 143:10

Blessings,

Betsy 

I'm Here!

A short post tonight to let you know I've arrived here at Mandy's house.  We got home from the airport just in time to make Piper dinner and give her a bedtime bath.  She helped grandma  unpack all of her goodies before she ate and then Mommy and I sang some bedtime songs to her.  I got REAL hugs and kisses tonight-not Facetime ones!  And now, this Grandma is going to bed.  I have lots of playing to do tomorow and it's been a long day of airports, plane rides and RAIN. Rain everywhere I go.  :-).   Stay tuned for Piper pictures.  ( I'm sure that's not unexpected, is it?)

Blessings,
Betsy