Sunny Monday

Happy Monday!  This is what the sky looks like right now behind our house looking toward Mt. Spokane.  Gorgeous!

 This is how it looked Friday night.  Looks ominous doesn't it?

We ended up with between 17-18 inches of snow at our house since I posted last Wednesday.  And it's -3F here right now.  Really?  I actually thought, silly me, that spring just might be on it's way.  Nope.  COLD, COLD, COLD is predicted all week.  After all, it is only mid-February.  What was I thinking?  I've had to snow-blow twice since I last wrote.  Dennis was so sick there was no way I was letting him out there.  I don't mind using the snow-blower, I'm just really afraid of falling again.

Dennis seems to be lots better today.  His voice still doesn't sound quite right but he's much better and at work.  However...Larry and Nita both got the flu while on their cruise.  They spent the last 3 days in bed in their room.  Apparently Carnival cruise's room service leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to Princess.  Oh my goodness they were miserable.  They flew home Saturday and they are both still sick.  I took Sophie to them yesterday along with some supplies.  I didn't go in, because after avoiding it so far with Dennis, I didn't want to be with the two of them.  I set everything on the floor of their laundry room and left!  Run, run like the wind~~~  :-)

On top of that, Larry stepped into a hole while on an excursion earlier in the week and twisted his knee.  It is twice as big as the other one and he came home in a wheelchair.  Nita was in one too because she's supposed to have her hip replaced next Tuesday.

I made her a welcome home present on Friday.  The poodle pattern was designed by a lady named Vicki.  All of the information is on "Stitchy McFloss" blog on my sidebar.  Nita reads a lot and so I made her this bookmark, even before I knew she was sick.  It looks a bit like Sophie.

In other news, the sweater fit Miss Piper!  Yippee!  She was so excited.  They face-timed with me while she opened the package.

 I also sent her the pin that says, "Very Special Person."  She wrote her name on the iPhone photo.

Mandy says she insisted on putting the sweater on when she woke up the next morning before she even got dressed and wore it to school that day.  That makes this Grandma very, very happy.

I finished another baby blanket for the Crisis Nursery.   Made with Caron Simply Soft, it was a great stash buster.  I think it will be good colors for a little boy.

 One pair of mittens done last night and another pair begun.

 Dennis' socks are coming along.  I only work on them at my Weight Watcher meetings and at church so the progress isn't very fast.  The yarn had some interesting pooling going on in the leg section. :-)

Yesterday was a day of not great news.  It started with a lady falling in the church parking lot.  We had gotten so much snow and ice on Saturday night and it was so cold the ice melt did nothing.  She thought she had dislocated her ankle but after being checked at the emergency room, she had broken the small bone in her leg just below the knee.  And dislocated her ankle.  She is in surgery as I write this having 4 screws put into her leg. She's only in her 40's and told me it happened so fast that she was on the ground before she knew she was falling.  Boy, do I know how that goes! 

Then, a wonderful friend from church passed away in the early evening.  She was 80 years young, but the youngest 80 year old you'll ever meet.  Three months ago she could literally run rings around most 30 year olds I know.  Vibrant, full of energy and loved by everyone.  She taught first grade for years and years.  She and Bill married when she was 18 and he was 19.  They both went on to get their Masters Degrees and PhD's. How unusual is that?   Married for 62 years and raised a wonderful family who we know very well.  Then she realized she was tired one day a few months ago.  Diagnoses was leukemia.  She did every treatment imaginable and kept on with all of her activities until last Thursday when she collapsed and ended up in the hospital.

Oh my goodness, Myrna will leave a HUGE hole in our church family.  Please keep her husband Bill in your prayers.  She was well known and well loved throughout the Spokane and Spokane Valley communities. 

THEN.  As if that all wasn't enough, I got a call about an hour after the news of Myrna's death, that my Aunt Joyce had also died.  She was in poor health but still it's hard.  She is the last of that generation.  Now all of the Aunts and Uncles on both sides of my family are gone.  My parents have been gone for years.  It's hard to think that now we are the older generation.  I'm only 58 for goodness sake!  I am so, so, so happy that when I was back in Omaha in October my sister Melanie and I drove the 100 miles to visit Aunt Joyce.  It was a great visit and I had no idea at the time that it would be the last one. 

I know we all hear it all of the time, but please don't take life for granted.  So many things happen so quickly.  The news is not all bad.  Both Myrna and my Aunt Joyce were Christians and I know they are now in Heaven with no more pain.  The difficulty is for the ones left behind in adjusting to a new normal.  Especially Bill.  I can't imagine being married 62 years and then being alone.  They did everything together.  He was a city councilman and she faithfully went to every one of his meetings with him.  They were the epitome of a happily married couple and it showed.

Evelyn is another story.  I think her road to recovery will be long.  The doctor has already told her there will be no weight bearing on that leg for three months.  I can imagine how frustrating that will be for her.

I don't mean to be a downer.  Life is full of ups and downs.  Birth and death.  We all know that.  It just seemed that yesterday was one thing after another.  I hope I haven't depressed anyone.  Most blogs I read are full of happy, happy, happy.  I just share my life with you all.  Most of you don't seem to mind....and if you do, well, just click on by and come back another day!  :-)

I'm hoping you all have a wonderful week full of God's blessings and love.

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for your are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."  Psalm 23:4

Blessings,
Betsy