My first grandchild, little Chloe, was born after only 1½ hours of labor and nearly not getting to the hospital on time (the drive to the hospital is nothing I would ever care to repeat ). She weighed in at 5 lb 3oz, although she was only two weeks early. It was very special for me, because my only pregnancy ended in miscarriage. I was there for the whole thing, holding my daughter’s hand through her mercifully short labor. She had not intended to go completely natural, but the baby came so fast there wasn’t time for an epidural. Since the father was not present, the doctor even let me cut the cord.

I know I haven’t been around all that much the last few months. There were a number of personal and work related issues that have kept me away from my computer. Some of my friends might remember that I had problems with my daughter a few months ago, and I asked for prayer for decisions she had to make. The main decision was an unplanned pregnancy, which she only found out about after she broke up with her boyfriend. I feared that she would choose abortion. Before anyone gets too upset, I uphold a woman’s right to make the choice for themselves, even though I also firmly believe that abortion is rarely the right choice.

My daughter made what I considered to be the moral decision and chose to carry the baby full term. I didn’t say anything about it here or in my blog because she asked me not to mention it. For most of the pregnancy she was on the fence about keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption. My daughter is adopted herself and has strong feelings about that issue. It’s been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me because I was afraid to get too emotionally involved. I didn't want to say anything about it until I knew she was going to keep the baby. Considering that my daughter has never been very responsible about much of anything before this, I’m still a little worried. However, she is behaving very responsibly so far, and I ask for your prayers that becoming a mother has finally made her grow up.

I also hope the father of the baby will come around eventually. He knows about the birth, but he’s remained silent since then. I believe he still doesn’t believe the baby could possibly be his, although she resembles him and my daughter claims there was no one else. He’s not a bad young man, but just a little spoiled. I pray he changes his mind. Every child deserves to have an active father.

Anyway, haven’t been able to find the time until now to let all of you know because I’ve had family visiting the last week or so. To top it all off, I sat down last night after everyone had gone and found I was having ISP issues.

Also, I’m working on an autumn feature that I hope to post shortly along with a bunch of fractals I worked on during the brief quiet times I’ve had through this whirlwind of activity.

Here are a few pics of my precious little granddaughter.

I got the pathology report back from biopsy. Praise the Lord, the mass in my breast was benign!

Many many thanks to everyone who prayed for me and kept me thinking positively the last few weeks. You don't know how much that meant to me. I love you all. Considering how many people I know that are battling cancer at the moment, not to mention the friends and family already lost to that insidious disease, I have to admit it was a little scary.

I had a wonderful vacation visiting family in PA. Hubby and I took a little side trip up into N.Y. state just to get away and unwind. I took lots of pictures the first day, but my digital camera was malfunctioning. Instead of trying to download the horribly lined pictures, I decided to share our little trip by featuring pics that other DA members had taken. I hope you all enjoy this little feature.

The first day of our two-day trip to Upstate New York, we went to Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes region. In the morning we walked the 1.5 mile trail of the narrow gorge at Watkins Glen State Park.



In the afternoon we drove up the shores of Lake Seneca and sampled some of the lovely locally grown wines. That evening we had dinner on Lake Keuka while we watched the sunset over the water.



The next day we drove to Letchworth State Park, the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi. With its breathtaking views, it is often called the Grand Canyon of the East. The Genesee River winds between the high walls, dropping from the Allegheny Mountains and eventually emptying into Lake Ontario. At the very lowest end of the gorge, the Arm Corp of Engineers build a flood control dam that has protected the farmland beyond and the city of Rochester N.Y. It is well worth stopping for a day at the picnic grounds that dot the countryside or even staying in the campground or lodge. We plan to go back there again someday (once we have grandkids )




Now I have to get busy and start looking at all the lovely art that accumulated in my deviant watch while I was gone. (Not to mention getting back to making my own art)

My appologies for vanishing. I’ve been away on vacation without much in the way of internet access. I meant to write a little journal entry before I left, but work was busier than I anticipated and I ran out of time. Evening thundershowers nearly every day didn’t help any. I’m happy to be back online (I am such an internet addict ) I tried twice to upload a journal entry, but the wireless signals at the motels were poor and kept timing out, and my sister's computer was acting up too.

Thanks so very much for those who have been praying for me, and for all the lovely thoughts and well wishes. The radiologist believes the lump in my breast is what is known as a complex cyst, which was quite a relief to me. Still, they are going to perform a needle biopsy tomorrow just as a precaution. I will hopefully get the results this Thursday. My mother has had three cysts aspirated and all were benign, but I’ll be so happy when this whole thing is behind me.

I’ll update you all when I get the news. I’m also eager to talk about my very refreshing trip to Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Unfortunately, my digital camera was acting up and the pictures I took all have thin lines through them. Maybe I’ll do a search at DA and feature pictures of the places we visited. Here's just one sample:

I wasn't going to say anything until afterward, but I firmly believe in (and have seen first hand) the power of prayer. I found a lump in my breast a couple weeks ago and I go in for a mammogram and an ultrasound tomorrow. My doctor is hopeful that it's nothing bad. It's in on the side where it could be a swollen lymph gland. Seeing how hot it was the week of camp and how much sweating I did, it's conceivable I have a a small infection. The lump is tender and wasn't there a couple months ago, so that's another plus (according to my doctor anyway). I was trying not to worry, I find I'm getting a little nervous.

I have been through so much physically - endometriosis, asthma, allergies and then diabetes, among other things. Add chemo and radiation to all my body has already endured, I'm not sure how well I would do.

I trust that God is in control, but I also know he listens when his children pray. I really want to live to see my daughter get married and have children. I may not get anything definitive tomorrow, but if you are a praying person, I would sure appreciate your petitions.