It’s HOT!!!!

Yes, that’s multiple exclamation marks! It has been awful here for the last four days. This is what the temperature said in my car on Wednesday. Do you see the "feels like" temperature? 119F! It has said basically the same thing since Sunday, and I’m sure it will be at least that again today according to the weatherman. And guess what? We woke up yesterday to our AC not working. Oh my goodness, it was hot sleeping last night. The humidity was up to 97% and only down to 80F during the night. But, we had a miracle happen, a repairman was out about 10:00 this morning and it's running again. We're down to 81 in the condo now. Apparently, the capacitator gave out. He said it's happening all over town because the A/C's are built for 95F and 50% humidity. We have been running much higher than that for both.

Right after we woke up to the broken A/C, Mom called and said her holter monitor was beeping. I dressed quickly and went over there to check it out. The battery was low so I had to sit there for 1 1/2 hours while it charged.  Sunday we were almost to church when Mandy called and said Grandma told her it fell off and she was holding it to her chest. We turned around and drove back across town to find that it had come off in the shower. I placed a new adhesive patch for her and re-attached everything, but by then it was too late to go to Sunday School. Just another day in our lives.

But the A/C and monitor batteries  weren't the only things that happened yesterday. I was on my way to pick up prescriptions for Mom when I had a flat tire. At 3:00 in the afternoon. It was SO HOT! I got the tire changed at a tire shop down the street and got the RX's, but oh my goodness what a day!

In addition to that, Dennis had his appointment yesterday with the surgeon about his hand and they scheduled the next surgery for November 2. He will basically have to have his thumb cut off and put back together with screws and plates. Not great news since it was the person who made the original splint that caused it to heal wrong.

Monday my entire morning was spent with Mom buying shoes. The salesman was amazing. Her feet have really been bothering her because of neuropathy and swelling. She desperately needed new shoes.

Look at these piles of boxes. She tried EVERYTHING on several times because she didn't remember trying them on. He just patiently put them on her and tied the laces again and again. Probably at least 100 times, maybe more.  She just couldn't remember anything and was getting frazzled. We ended up getting her three pairs and hopefully it will help her feet be less painful. We were there 2 1/2 hours! This kind of thing is partially why I don't get much knitting or crocheting done anymore, but it's okay. She needs us and we do love her. I admit to getting frustrated at times, but I think that's only human. I hope it is.

Here's Dennis's newly released hand from the splint, for a couple of months anyway. He's having trouble moving it after so long in a splint but I think it will eventually improve.

And I finally remembered to take a picture of my shawl for the wedding. It looks black, but it's really a very dark navy and cream with a few places of a lighter blue. The original design was knit and only went to just before the lacey part. It was way too small, so I added the big crochet border. 

This shows the crochet border and beads in both sections, knit and crochet.

Another angle. I think I have a few thousand beads in this thing. What do you all think? Do you think it will it be okay with my dress I put in a previous post? I'm glad to have something to cover my back and my front too.

I've worked on this a bit since I finished the shawl. It's to hot to pick it up right now though. It will be a baby blanket for charity.

And finally, I know I'm late to the game, but I wanted to say how saddened we both are about the devastation on Maui. We love the island and have been there several times. Here we are with our photo under the beautiful and historical Banyan Tree that's been on the news so much. It was a gorgeous tree. We went to the elementary school's craft fair there under the tree and bought Christmas ornaments that I cherish. Such great memories. We spent a lot of time on Maui and had a couple of favorite restaurants in Lahaina that we went to many times. 

The harbor at Lahaina. Our hearts go out to everyone there who lost relatives and friends, as well as those who lost their homes, businesses and jobs in the fires. Dennis has clients that he worked with for years that live on Maui near Haiku. One of their homes just missed being destroyed in the upcountry fire.

As if this all isn't enough. Our beautiful Spokane is surrounded by fires right now. I mean CLOSE. The Medical Lake, or Gray Fire, is just west of Spokane. We have lots of friends that worked in Medical Lake and our kids went to college very close by. Over 185 homes have been destroyed there so far and it's only 15% contained. Many of you may remember Jeremy and Alicia who live at the base of Mt. Spokane. They were evacuated on Friday and are still under evacuation orders. They don't know if their home is still there or not. We have lots of friends who live and have been evacuated from the fire north of Spokane, the Oregon Road Fire.  It's really awful and the air quality has been very bad for those in town. Please pray for all of them

Boy howdy, this seems like a downer of a post. I didn't mean it that way. So many are suffering because of fires. We had one bad day with lots go wrong, but it's not usually like that. We're normally pretty happy campers and one bad day isn't enough to bring us down. Try our patience? Yes. But bring us down? Nope.

We're doing great! Especially now that the AC is on again. It's still warm in here but it will get better. I never want to leave you on a low note. We know that God is with us and cares for each one of us. 

Take care my friends. Stay cool if it's hot where you are too. We're told we have another couple of days of this and then the weekend will be better. Thumbs up to that! :-)

Blessings and love.

Betsy