Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14
This week turned out a lot differently than I expected. Oh, it started out normal enough. I got up on Monday morning (Labor Day) and decided since it was such a nice day, I would go outside and work in my gardens. The weather was perfect and I worked with great contentment and joy for 3 hours. I only quit then because my upper back was hurting from bending over that long. I came in the house and took my shower and since it was only mid-morning, I was delighted to have the whole rest of the day to do some housework because we wouldn't be home on Tuesday.
But as I was finishing up my hair, I started feeling extremely tired. Tired enough to lie down and sleep. Hmmm ~ very unusual. So I lay on the bed and actually fell asleep. When I woke up, I felt no better, in fact, on top of being lethargic, my skin hurt to touch, and I was getting cramping in my intestines. So the rest of the day, I lounged on the couch and even slept again.
While I was feeling poorly, Andy was working on his current project. He had decided to build a new ramp into our shed. It was getting pretty rickety. He did get it finished. He also plans to replace the doors. As you can see, they look pretty bad.
We had planned to go to C & C's on Tuesday for Andy to help Christian put in a new countertop in their kitchen. I was wondering if I should stay home, but I felt pretty good when I woke up so I decided to go along. It was a good day, seeing everyone again. Amy, Chase & Joanna came down, and so did Dawn and Kira. The girls and I had lively conversation, the kids enjoyed seeing their newest cousin, and I read books to Grace & Naomi and even got a couple of games of Dutch Blitz in with Grace.
Andy and Christian made good progress on the countertop. It's in, along with a new faucet. Grace & Aiden were good helpers, and I mean that. I'm not saying it tongue in cheek. As an example, Andy was trying to read the instructions that came with the faucet, but the words and numbers were much too small, and he didn't have his reading glasses along. So Grace wrote out numbers on another piece of paper large enough for him to read. Then she also went next door to her other grandpa's house and got his reading glasses! What a helper.
Christy served us all lunch and we all stayed until around 3:00 pm. I felt fine all day.
Well, that night was a different story. I had only been asleep about an hour, when I woke up with sharp abdominal pains. I spent the next 5 hours or so visiting the bathroom (that's as graphic as I'll get here). I estimate I had about 2-3 hours of sleep the whole night. But I got up and went to work because I hadn't been in the office on Monday and it was a busy Sunday coming up.
Around 11:00, I got a call from Tommy to say Dawn had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance. She had been at the doctor's office for her 6 week check-up, but started hemorraging during the exam. He asked if I could go to the hospital to take care of Kira. Of course, no question about that. I closed up my computer and as soon as he got to the church, I followed him in my car to the hospital.
Oh, poor Dawn. When I saw her, I couldn't believe it was her. She was hooked up to tubes, with a bag of blood and another of IV fluids being pumped into her. Nurses and doctors were bustling in and out of her room. So there I sat, holding her baby and looking at my dear daughter in such agony, wondering what would happen to her.
I was reminded of Psalm 103:13 ~
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. But here's the difference: my own compassion and love is finite, God's is infinite and perfect for his children. What a comfort. I really was incapable of helping Dawn in this situation, but God is the Great Physician and chose to heal her and bring her through.
You can read all the details of
Dawn's ordeal on her blog. I stayed with her until after she came from the recovery room at 5:00 pm, then left and came home around 7:15 pm. Believe it or not, I felt fine all day.
Thursday and Friday were crazy at work, playing catch-up. But amazingly, I got everything done. Friday afternoon, Andy and I bought 4 salads at SaladWorks and took them over to Dawn & Tommy's. We ate dinner with them and visited just a little before coming back home.
Now today, Andy's not feeling well. What next!
One morning, bright & early, we rode our bikes to the boardwalk, then all the way to the end to treat ourselves to some freshly baked donuts. Yummmmm. That was a 7 mile ride - not sure that was enough to burn all those donut calories, but it helped with the guilt! Amy probably burned the most since she pulled her 2 kids in the trailer.
Several mornings the weather was cloudy and even drizzly, but we were able to find things to do till the sun came out in the afternoon. One morning we played with the kids in the park.
Another morning we went to the Atlantic City Aquarium. We ate a picnic lunch before entering the building. All my inside pictures of the aquarium turned out fuzzy. I must not have had the correct setting on. I think I need to start wearing my reading glasses all the time, because I constantly need to read, but can't without the bifocals...sigh!
And another outing was to the Cape May Zoo.
The kids enjoyed being together. Chase & Naomi played well together. We caught them once sitting on the floor of the bedroom looking at a book - two little heads together...
I got to read a lot of books to the kids.
I really wanted a picture of all 8 grandkids together. Well, that was a challenge to get them all to pose and look happy.
What a blessing it is to have a family that enjoys being together. It was the best of vacations. 
