Bothell (10/23/2005)

I had the Stress Echocardiogram on Monday afternoon to confirm or rule out the presence of Coronary Artery Disease. As a result we delayed leaving Seattle. It was an interesting test. First I had an EKG while I was laying down on my back, then she did an ultrasound while I was laying on my left side (there was a hole in the table), then I walked on the treadmill (as they increased the speed and slope every few minutes) and then when I had to stop (I felt like I was in that the old cartoon, just about to fly off the back), I had to rush over to the bed where they did another ultrasound. Holding my breath after excercising so she could take a picture was a real challenge. On Tuesday my Dr called, my test was normal, no heart disease, hurray! So I got a clean bill of health for the next 4 months.
Wednesday we left for Portland. Both my sisters live in Portland but they both work odd schedules. This week Sandy worked Thursday through Saturday, and Chris worked Monday through Thursday. Rich and I had dinner with Sandy and Dale Wednesday night and I went home with them. The plan was for me to sew at Sandy’s house Thursday and have Rich pick me up to spend Friday with Chris. Instead Dale and I spent the Thursday afternoon watching critters in their backyard and talking. Their backyard is alive with squirrels, chipmunks, and birds - very cool. Chris and I picked up my new sewing machine on Friday and spent time at the shop learning about it. It’s a cool machine, even has a stitch regulator to help get an even stitch when quilting. I am really excited about it.
Sunday Chris, Sandy and I worked on one of the two quilts I am working on for the new babies in the family. I used my new machine at Sandy’s house. We pretty much finished building one of the tops. I still have a little more to do on the top and then I will have to do the actual quilting, but at least now I have my own machine. Monday Rich and I begin heading southeast to Tucson to make the selections for the house.