Spokane part 2

OK, first of all let me thank my wonderful sister and her hubby for putting up with almost the whole fam-damily!! You guys are amazing hosts and I love you so much!



Spokane was beautiful. I think the hottest day hit 77*, which was nice considering the 103*+
we have had here!! Although I think I have acclimated some to Texas, because at night it hit the 50's and I had to turn on a space heater and get out blankets!!



On my next to last day there, we had a lovely girlie day and went to the park.....THERE WAS WATER IN THE RIVER!!! (foreign concept for us drought ridden folk in Boerne.) to prove it I took pictures.

Now..on to other Spokane excitement. My mom and I were driving and we passed a business establishment that made me do a double (and then triple) take....in fact I was so taken with the name of the business, I had to be taken back so I could take pictures of it.

Does anyone else see a problem with the name of this establishment?? The first thought though my head is "that picture seriously is being sent to http://www.failblog.org/ !! I will leave further comments alone for now. =)

Spokane part 1

Well, here are a few of the pictures from PJ's 1 year birthday party today. I cant figure out my sisters photo program or I would share more.....so Gran, be patient...more are incomming!!!

Spokane is beautiful, but it sure is cold!! 55* yesterday with rain!! Big change from the 101-105* it was when I left San Antonio.

My biggest regret for my trip.....I didnt get to meet Amy L. =(
This makes me sad!!

Anyway, more about my Spokane trip when I get home.


PJ getting his birthday cake rinsed off.

Mom and Nate enjoying the day.

Nate and Rebecca with Maiden and Cricket.

My new tattoo!

I know I know...some of you are freaking out by the title of this blog...(take a breath mom and gran!!)

I decided quite some time ago, that if I had to have a huge ugly scar down the middle of my chest, I was going to decorate it pretty.

I have pondered numerous designs and patterns...Ivy vines, zippers, dragons, geckos....anything to blend in the big pink scar I know I am going to be sporting post surgery.
Finally a friend of mine (yes Steve, I consider you a friend!!) said he would send me some of his glyphs.
Now...to be honest I had no idea what a glyph was, but he knew I was looking at different Celtic/tribal patterns so he sorta had an idea what I was leaning towards.
He said in his Email and I quote "none of these will probably be what you are looking for, but possibly can make one that is"

He was SO wrong!!!

As I was looking through the patterns he sent me, my eye was immediately drawn to a particular one...I love its "yin and yang gone modern" look!!!
With his permission, I have posted it here for you all to see.
I think its the perfect way to blend in my scar to kind of "hide" it.

Steve told me when the time comes, he will make it as big or small as I want it, and be able to "reshape" it some to fit where and how I want it to fit.

THANK YOU SO MUCH STEVE!!! (since I know you read this)

Feel free to give me your input, but please don't bother trying to talk me out of it. It is going to happen.

4th of July

Well, Mom and I decided to wander out to Luckenbach, TX to see the goings on for the 4th of July. We had a great lunch, there was some good music, and mom met a man!


Miss Olivia, I know you wanted her to find a cowboy, but there weren't too many there, so here is mom and her hot Texas man!!


There were lots of people out enjoying the music, beer and lots of shade!

Here is the old barn that is the gift shop and beer counter

Snail Creek Hat Co. sits on grounds as well...we checked out the hats and boots, but didnt see anything we couldnt live without!

After Luckenbach, we went to Fredericksburg for a quick dash into a gift shop mom had found on her last trip there, and stopped at a little produce stand for some fresh peach ice cream along the way. It was a great day!! Even though it was sooo hot (about 102*) for this time of year, Mom and I managed to stay cool!!

Boot Kickin for Health Walk

Enchanted Springs Ranch

This weekend, mom and I went to a 5k walk to benefit the Hill Country Mission for Health. The mission for health is a medical clinic that sees adults who have no insurance and are low income. They run completely on donations and volunteers.
http://missionforhealth.org/

It was a great cause, and a fun day! The walk was held at Enchanted Springs Ranch, which was featured on Oprah.com http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/relationships/family/20090220_orig_family-attractions-parks/5

Here is mom all wind blown on the tractor ride around the grounds.

awwww a wallaby! He liked me a lot...kept following me up and down the fenceline!

A view from along the walking path

Mom and Elizabeth ready to start walking.

Open heart surgery and me

Ok....so, Yesterday at the cardiologist, I really didnt hear what I wanted to hear about my heart. He has been tracking it for about 4 years, due to an aortic stenosis.

Yesterday his first words were "well, you need to start getting mentally prepared, because we are looking at surgery in a matter of months."

WOW!

Seriously...how do you "mentally prepare" for having someone saw your chest open, break your rib cage and play with your heart?? I havent figured out quite how to do that, but will let you know when I do.

I was born with a Bicuspid aortic valve. This means that the little flap that pumps oxegenated blood from my heart into the rest of my body. I have two problems with said valve:

regurgitation: The valve(s) does not close completely, causing the blood to flow backward instead of forward through the valve.

stenosis: The valve(s) opening becomes narrowed or valves become damaged or scarred (stiff), inhibiting the flow of blood out of the ventricles or atria. The heart is forced to pump blood with increased force in order to move blood through the narrowed or stiff (stenotic) valve(s).

So, here is some information on why and all that stuff, for those of you who have asked what it is and why i got it. Basically, there is NOTHING that I could have done to prevent it, keep it at bay, or to prevent surgery....it moves at it's own pace and when it's ready, it's ready. Mine is almost ready.

This is from wikipedia and has a link to bicuspid aortic valves.

Major causes and predisposing conditions of aortic stenosis include acute rheumatic fever and bicuspid aortic valve. As individuals age, calcification of the aortic valve may occur and result in stenosis. This is especially likely to occur in people with a bicuspid aortic valve, but also occurs in the setting of perfectly normal valves as a result of age-induced 'wear and tear'. Typically, aortic stenosis due to calcification of a bicuspid valve occurs in the 4th or 5th decade of life, whereas that due to calcification of a normal valve tends to occur later - around the 7th or 8th decade.

This is a link to mayo clinic and its really easy to understand and stuff. http://mayoclinic.com/health/aortic-valve-stenosis/DS00418

My little cabana

For those of you who were worried about my "tool shed" "back yard shack" and other various names I have heard....relax!!!
Here are some pictures, and I think if I might say so myself, mom and I did a darn fine job!! The room isnt done quite yet, but you can see its pretty cute and definately livable!!!
The pics of the inside are taken almost in a circle of the entire room.