HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TODD!

Todd at ten months wearing a special pin
"Kiss me. I am Norwegian"

I'll start my Sunday blog on Saturday so it will get done on time this week!  I am writing this from my office at the farm, surrounded by bags of "stuff" that need to be unpacked and put in their places.  I came home yesterday afternoon after visiting Howard in the morning and again before I left.  He had a rough day on Thursday when his pulse rate went up to 150. (normal is in the 60 to100 range)  He was on oxygen for a bit, then the Dr. prescribed  warfarin to prevent clots and digoxin to slow his heart rate and improve contraction of the heart.  His condition was diagnosed as atrial fibrillation so I have been reading about it on the Mayo Clinic website.  He was feeling much better on Friday.  When I came to see him in the afternoon, the nurses were just getting him out of the recliner and into his wheelchair.  When he saw me he commented "You caught me with all these women!"  They use a lift to move him so it usually takes two nurses to do this.  I'm planning to go back to Estevan after the morning service in Torquay tomorrow.

Today was a beautiful day, very warm with no wind, which was quite a change.  I spent a few hours outside raking the lawn.  The grass will soon need cutting so I had to get some of the leaves off before doing that.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot cooler so it was a good day to be outdoors.

Todd will be 35 on Sunday so I am now twice as old as our youngest son.  Last year we celebrated his birthday for a whole weekend and had to detour to get to town as the bridge on Long Creek was overflowing and closed for several days.  Quite a different story this year!  We'll be missing you tomorrow Todd and thinking back to the fun birthday party we had with you last year.

Todd's birthday in Canada, April 15, 2011

Clare and Todd are both Flyer fans so tomorrow they'll be watching the game together via Skype.  Technology certainly brings people closer together.  I can sit here in the office and see and talk to Todd and Kristy in their home in Norway.  I can't help but think of my grandparents who left Norway with their three young children.  The grandparents in Norway never saw those grandchildren again, or the five others who were born in America.  They never talked to each other again and letters were their only means of communication.  Letters are now almost a thing of the past, and that is sad too.  I have a box full of letters that my mother saved.  It's almost like a visit to the past to pull out one of Mom's letters to read. She had beautiful handwriting.   When Todd was home I gave him the copy of his birth announcement and the letter that I had written to Mom and Dad after his arrival.  Staying five days in the hospital was standard procedure then.  Dr. Inglis would not allow fathers in the delivery room either!

Tonight is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  My mother's uncle in Norway had planned to come to America on that ship but somehow those plans got changed.  He sent his sister (my grandma) a telegram to let them know that he wasn't on it.  Todd plans to talk to the family in Norway to see if they know why his plans changed.  Kirk's wife, Shauna, told us that her grandmother was supposed to be on the ship too but her plans also changed.  There have been many specials on TV dealing with this anniversary.  Many people, including our grandson Dawson,  are keenly interested in the Titanic story.

Well, I better sign off for now and will close with a couple pictures taken at Jenny and Troy's wedding in Cochrane, AB.  Kristy was the maid of honour and Todd proposed the toast to the bride.  Here they are posing outside the lodge near Cochrane.

Having fun after the wedding
(The hills are alive with the sound of music!)

Todd and Kristy, March 31, 2012
Kristy wearing her Norsk bunad