Time Flies!

 This is what was on our lawn yesterday morning when we got up!!

This was all arranged by our GD Kelsey and her mom, our DIL Rhonda. It was all set up by the company at 6:00am and would be removed at 6:00am the next morning. I knew about them arranging this but Garry was totally shocked, surprised and thrilled! There were so many people coming by and taking pictures, cars slowing down and all the walkers stopping. Lots of neighbours came over. It was the talk of the street!

Books 13-19

 Tribute by Nora Roberts 

Cilla McGowan, a former child star, has found a more satisfying life restoring homes. So she comes to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to save the dilapidated farmhouse of her grandmother—a legendary actress who died of an overdose there more than thirty years ago.
Plunging into the project with gusto, Cilla’s almost too busy and exhausted to notice her neighbor, graphic novelist Ford Sawyer. Determined not to carry on the family tradition of ill-fated romances, Cilla steels herself against Ford’s quirky charm, though she can’t help indulging in a little fantasy.
But it’s reality that holds its share of dangers for Cilla. A cache of unsigned letters found in the attic points to a mysterious romance in her grandmother’s life, and may be what sparks a frightening, violent assault. Now, if Cilla and Ford are unable to sort out who is targeting her and why, she may, just like her world-famous grandmother, be cut down in the prime of her life

This was a good book. It kept me guessing right to the end. I thought I had it figured out several times and I was wrong every time!!!!

The Girl Who Lied by Shannon Hollinger

Rain hammers the earth and a vicious wind rattles the trees. Then lightning strikes, the flash illuminating a young girl staggering out of the woods, her brown eyes wide with fright, a silent scream on her lips…
There’s a storm approaching the tiny Maine town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley comes across the body of a man, blood seeping from stab wounds into the damp forest floor. As she desperately struggles to secure the evidence before the rain hits, Heather , a local teenage girl, emerges from the woods, shivering and unable to talk.
Maggie, once a high flying big-city detective, lost everything when her four-year-old brother went missing five years ago. Heart-broken, she’s never stopped searching for but now she is plunged back into the world she left behind.
The victim, Maggie discovers, knew secrets about everyone in isolated Coyote Cove. It seems there are more local suspects in this case than people she can rule out. And with Heather still traumatised, Maggie struggles to unravel her strange appearance at the crime scene. Until, following a faint, bloody trail deep into the forest, she’s horrified to unearth what the terrified girl’s been hiding…
But when Heather is kidnapped, the battle to identify the killer becomes a race to save an innocent girl’s life. And with the whole town terrified, Maggie is shocked to uncover that this twisted killer is much closer to home than she’d ever imagined. Battling her own demons and memories of her missing brother, how far will Maggie have to go to save Heather? Or will another innocent young life be lost forever...?

I did enjoy this book. There were lots of twists and turns. I didn't like the ending though. It was almost like the author remembered she had to write more than one book so lets wind this up pretty quick and not tell the reader too much.

Can't Go Home by Melinda Di Lorenzo

Two decades ago, Trinity Calhoun‘s best friend—18-year-old Savannah Stuart—went missing. Just weeks later, Savannah’s body was found brutally slain outside the mountain town. With no suspects or leads, the local authorities dismissed the murder as a tragic one-off, likely perpetrated by a tourist. But Trinity wasn’t convinced.
Determined to do better for other victims, she left town and settled in Vancouver, rising through the ranks to become a detective. She’s never looked back. But now, an unexpected phone call from her former lover has her barreling down the highway to face the past.
Another young woman has disappeared under eerily similar circumstances. Allegedly. But the local police are disinterested. Trinity’s ex has a tenuous—at best—hold on his mental and physical health. And Savannah’s secretive and handsome brother is in town, asking an awful lot of questions.
Trinity’s focus is clouded. Maybe her judgment, too. As she wades through her past, she needs to answer a potentially life-threatening question: is there a dangerous, repeat criminal on the loose, or is she just desperate for closure?

I wasn't crazy about this book.  I didn't think Trinity was much of a cop. Some of the things she did were just ridiculous.  It really dragged in parts. I had a good idea right from the beginning 'who done it' but it took an age to get there!!

The Librarian by Judith A. Barrett

Maggie Sloan survives an explosion and begins the slow process of healing with the help of her unusual team. When her world is shattered by a heart-wrenching murder, Maggie's team trains her to fight to win, whatever the cost.
Her grief and rage transform her from prey to relentless hunter, and her brilliant observational talents threaten a complex criminal scheme.
As Maggie closes in on the truth, she realizes she's on the trail of a mastermind, a dark puppeteer of serial killers, whose intellect threatens to match her own. It all comes down to kill or be killed.

This was quite a crazy story.  I think Maggie is on the autism spectrum, which explains a lot of her behaviours. It was a bit far fetched in parts.  Amazing how she always turned out to be an expert at everything they wanted her to do. I think it stepped over the line when the imaginary friends were even talking to the detectives and others!!

Echoes by Maeve Binchy

Clare and David--divided as children by a rigid social code that branded her as shanty Irish and him as gentry...brought together as adults by a desire that knew no class, no barriers, only the urgent hunger of two people destined to love--and ready to defy a world determined to keep them apart.
Even at fifteen, David Power knew the echo would answer eleven-year-old Clare O'Brien's dearest wish, to win a school prize. But it was years before Dr. Power's cherished only son saw in the huckster's daughter the answer to his own heart's desire.
Here in Castlebay, perched precariously on the seaside cliffs, the lines between them were clearly drawn. Clare's only hope is to leave the town where time stopped, propelled by scholarships to Dublin, fueled by her own drive and brilliance, far from the insular, gossipy world of Castlebay and those in its thrall... Angela O'Hara, beautiful, isolated, a teacher trapped in the convent school, who risks everything to help Clare escape... Gerry Doyle, the town charmer who finds in Clare the woman he vows to have at any price... Caroline Nolan, the beautiful, rich outsider who comes to plunder...
For Clare, that was before the wild freedom of Dublin, and love. And David.  Before fate drove them back to Castlebay, and the past...

Her Silent Bones by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Fifteen years ago I watched my father’s murder. Now, having never truly recovered from losing her father all those years ago, Detective Delaney Pace is devastated when her brother and sister-in-law are killed in a car crash. Packing up her life she heads back to the rugged cowboy town of Kearney, Wyoming. Her niece Kateena is just eleven years old and Delaney will do anything to keep her safe…Now there’s another killer on the loose, and he’s already taken his first victim. New to the local police force, when a body is found on a secluded mountain trail Delaney is called to the scene. Surrounded by imposing pine trees, a young woman lies still in the moonlight. Gazing into her dark, unblinking eyes Delaney’s heart pounds wildly in her chest as she recognises the victim. It’s her beloved Kateena’s mother, Lila. But she died weeks before. Didn’t she? There’s evil lurking in this town and I’ll stop at nothing to hunt down the truth and deliver justice. With Kateena traumatised all over again, when Delaney links Lila’s murder back to the place where her own father was killed she realizes she must face her own dark past to catch the man responsible. But little does she know that the killer has already made their next deadly move. Back at home, Kateena should be in bed sleeping soundly, but her room is empty. Kateena is missing…Can Delaney uncover the truth behind the killings and save Kateena before it’s too late?

Secret Sins by Jasmine Cresswell

Twenty-seven years ago. A cold, snowy night in Cleveland...
And a traffic pileup that left eight cars wrecked, at least four people dead. But in the midst of this ugliness and pain, a small miracle. A little girl was alive. Her parents weren't so lucky.
Gene Zajak, a cop who'd seen more than his share of dead bodies, took the toddler home. Jessica Marie Pazmany became Jessica Marie Zajak.
Now--twenty-seven years later--Jessica's fascinating, if less than faithful, ex-husband has come to see her, armed with some terrifying evidence. Jessica Marie Pazmany is dead. And she'd died seven months before the car crash.
There are answers, and they're out there. He's determined to find them. She may not live to find them..

The Boys

We have had deer on our street for many many years but I don't remember ever seeing two bucks together.  Usually just one with his ladies. No ladies today, just the boys! 

They were snacking on the fallen fruit from the crab apple tree across the street.

They've moved on down the street to eat another neighbours flowers! Oh dear, she won't be happy!!

Books 9-12

Out of Sight by Morgan James

Ainsley Layne is running from something—or someone. Sheriff Dare Jensen can see it in the way she watches her surroundings, the way she flinches away from him every time he comes near. Though she tries to hide the shadows in her eyes, the dark bruises that riddle her body tell their own dark tale.
Dare knows that winning her trust won't be easy. She's been hurt too many times and, despite his offer of a safe haven, she refuses to confide in him. Until the killings begin…
When a young woman is found strangled to death and left posed on a park bench, the murder rocks the small town of Brookhaven. Coinciding so closely with Ainsley's arrival, Dare can't help but wonder… Is it a coincidence? Or is it somehow connected to the woman residing under his roof?
Ainsley stirs his protective instincts in a way no other woman ever has, and Dare soon finds himself caught between love and duty. As sheriff, he takes pride in his strong moral compass. Taking advantage of the woman in his care goes against everything he believes in. But as a man, he can't deny the passion that blazes between them…
When Ainsley is drawn into a sinister plan for revenge, Dare must rely on every ounce of training to save the woman he loves—before she becomes the next victim in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

 Ainsley has been held captive by an abusive boyfriend and is so frightened that she can not think straight! She finally makes a plan and escapes to her hometown. She meets 

Sheriff Dare Jensen who offers her a place to stay on his property as she needed a new place to live and stay safe. He has a feeling that there is something wrong and he needed to protect and help her.  Things start to happen in the town, death and a shooting which haven't happened in years. I enjoyed this book, except for the cliff hanger at the end!!

Silent Boy by Janet Fix & Cheryl Bradshaw

Private Investigator Sloane Monroe is about to face the most challenging case of her life, and this time, it hits a little too close to home.
In the dirty hallway of a local tavern, six-year-old Louie Alvarez plays with his race cars, waiting for his mother to take him home. A scream rips through the air. Louie freezes, then turns, staring at the room at the end of the hallway where the sound had come from.
His mom was in that room.
Louie inches toward the door and peeks through the crack. Inside, his mother begs for her life, but it’s far too late. Her fate has already been sealed. As a gunshot sounds off, a terrified Louie drops his race cars. In an instant, all eyes are on him, and there’s only one thing he can do now—run.

This is a short, fast paced story and was kind of surprising when I found out the motives behind what happened.

Angels Fall by Nora Roberts

Reece Gilmore has come a long way to see the stunning view below her. As the sole survivor of a brutal crime back East, she has been on the run, desperately fighting the nightmares and panic attacks that haunt her. Reece settles in Angel's Fist, Wyoming-temporarily, at least-and takes a job at a local diner. And now she's hiked this mountain all by herself. It was glorious, she thought, as she peered through her binoculars at the Snake River churning below.
Then Reece saw the man and woman on the opposite bank. Arguing. Fighting. And suddenly, the man was on top of the woman, his hands around her throat . . .
Enjoying a moment of solitude a bit farther down the trail is a gruff loner named Brody. But by the time Reece reaches him and brings him to the scene, the pair has vanished. When authorities comb the area where she saw the attack, they find nothing. No signs of struggle. No freshly turned earth. Not even a tire track.
And no one in Angel's Fist seems to believe her. After all, she's a newcomer in town, with a reputation for being jumpy and jittery-maybe even a little fragile. Maybe it's time to run again, to move on . . .
Reece Gilmore knows there's a killer in Angel's Fist, even if Brody, despite his seeming impatience and desire to keep her at arm's length, is the only one willing to believe her. When a series of menacing events makes it clear that someone wants her out of the way, Reece must put her trust in Brody-and herself-to find out if there is a killer in Angel's Fist before it's too late.

This was a good story although I was pretty sure who did it, fairly early on.

Lola is Missing by Alison James

Six-year-old Lola Jade Harper is taken from her bedroom. Her mother is distraught. She is convinced her estranged husband, Gavin Harper, has abducted their daughter.
Detective Rachel Prince is leading the investigation but is soon out of her depth as she searches for the most high-profile missing child in the country. To uncover the truth about Lola’s disappearance, Rachel must untangle the Harper family’s complicated web of secrets and lies.
As the case progresses, the body of a local woman is found. The death at first seems unrelated, until a trail of social media posts lead Rachel to a chilling discovery.
And then another little girl is taken…
With growing pressure from the public and the appearance of someone from her past she’d rather forget, will Rachel be able to solve the connection between the two missing children and the murder - before it’s too late?

Good story. It was easy to figure out who but the how was more complicated!!

The Final Chapter!

 Continuing on from the last installment! 

 April 29th I had to go in for a review of the tests I had had so far.  I saw a different Internal Medicine doctor this time.  He said all my results were in the normal range.  No problems at all with anything-except the sleep test. I told him everything that had happened with the sleep clinic and he wasn't very pleased with how I had been treated. I told him I was using the dental splint and I had had no sleep apnea incidents. He wanted me to go back and see someone else at the clinic. I declined and so he asked me to think about it and we would talk again when I come back again. Come back again? Yes, they had forgotten to order a Pulmonary Function test for me!

May 15th I went for the P.F. test which was a lot of huffing and puffing and then some more huffing and puffing and that was that. 

June 23rd I had to go back to see the Endocrinologist.  She was very pleased with all the bloodwork again and the weight loss. She increased the dose of Metformin and in a month increase again to 3tabs twice a day and go from there. I'm on that last dose now for the last week and no adverse affects. 

July 16th I had to go back to see the Internal Medicine doctor again to get the results of the P.F. test. Once again everything is fine. He said I am very healthy! Well that's good to know! He also mentioned that he had had several other complaints about the sleep clinic I had gone to. He will no longer refer to that clinic (It is a chain of many) and is now referring to 2 other clinics.  He said that if I was still fine with the splint, to continue with it. If anything changes, come back to see him.

The only thing I have to do now is go back to see the Endocrinologist in December for a follow up.

So after 187 days, (6months) the 'I want you to go for a stress test' is finally complete. I hate to think what all those tests and specialist visits cost! Thank goodness for our healthcare system!

Some pictures of Walker, the birthday boy.

With his best friend, Cooper.

Cleaning for the party.

Books 4-8

 Double Agent by Jack Mars

At the outset of the Cold War, in the ruins of postwar Europe, rookie CIA Agent Tyler Wolf must navigate a precarious partnership with the captivating Anya Fedorov, dazzled by her beauty and intellect, and unsure if he can truly trust her. Their first stop a Nazi extremist from exposing state secrets and reigniting a war. Can they stop him before he ignites an inferno between two superpowers?

This had a lot of tense moments and the hero got shot, several times! I really liked the interaction between Anya, an older and much more experienced KGB spy and Tyler, a younger and very inexperienced CIA agent. On the whole though the story has quite a few elements of improbability.

Remember the Fear by Molly Black

FBI Agent Clara Pike uses her photographic memory to catch killers, recalling the tiniest details that make a difference. But when a killer dredges up victims' darkest memories, Clara’s own perfect memory wavers in a haunting game of past and present. Can she piece together the fractured clues before it’s too late?

I did enjoy the story but it was far too repetitive and wordy.  Could have been much shorter.  

Stolen Innocence by Julia Derek

Haunted by her brother's brutal murder, FBI Agent Sidney Stone races against time to unravel a chilling wave of child abductions that mirror her own traumatic past, pushing her to the brink of sanity as she confronts both ruthless criminals and her own demons.
FBI Agent Sidney Stone has dedicated her life to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, determined to prevent others from suffering the same fate as her kid brother, Ben. They were abducted when she was 16 and he seven. He was killed while she was let go. His death fuels her relentless pursuit of justice while struggling with PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
A wave of child abductions bears an eerie resemblance to the patterns of Sidney’s own abduction, pulling her deeper into a psychological battle. Partnering with Special Agent Alex Kane to co-lead the investigation, Sidney must navigate a complex web of clues and confront a network of sadistic criminals.
With the support of a dedicated team and her therapist Dr. Emma Blake, Sidney fights to balance her personal demons with her drive to save others. Each breakthrough brings her closer to dismantling the abductors’ sinister operation, but also to her own breaking point.

This is a book about a child trafficking ring.  A group of pedophiles that had no regard for the children, it was all about the money. There was torture, rape and children dying.  Parts were not easy to read, and some parts were a bit unbelievable.  It was a good read.

Death in Provence by Serena Kent

It's love at first sight when Penelope Kite sees Le Chant d’Eau—The Song of Water—the stone farmhouse tucked high in the hills above the Luberon valley, complete with a garden, swimming pool, and sweeping mountain vistas. For years, Penelope put her unfaithful ex-husband and her ungrateful stepchildren first. Since taking early retirement from her job in forensics at the Home Office in England, she’s been an unpaid babysitter and chauffeur for her grandchildren. Now, she’s going to start living for herself. Though her dream house needs major renovations, Penelope impulsively buys the property and moves to St. Merlot.
But Penelope’s daydreams of an adventurous life in Provence didn’t include finding a corpse floating face down in her swimming pool. The discovery of the dead man plunges her headlong into a Provençal stew of intrigue and lingering resentments simmering beneath the deceptively sunny village. Having worked in the forensics office, Penelope knows a thing or two about murder investigations. To find answers, she must carefully navigate between her seemingly ubiquitous, supercilious (and enviably chic) estate agent, the disdainful chief of police, and the devilishly handsome mayor—even as she finds herself tempted by all the delicacies the region has to offer. Thank goodness her old friend Frankie is just a flight away . . . and that Penelope is not quite as naïve as her new neighbors in St. Merlot believe.

I felt this story dragged on and on and there were so many silly, and dangerous, situations that Penelope got herself into that it was laughable and induced eye rolling. It is the start of a series but I don't think I would read any more of the books.

Hidden Sins by Stacy Abrams

Mara Reed has been stirring up trouble since she was eighteen—running scams, living on the edge, always on the run. Now, when two thugs are after her with murder on their minds, she’s forced into hiding in her small Texas hometown. But as she’s cornered in an alley, only seconds from death, an unexpected rescuer comes to her aid… A forensic anthropologist, Dr. Ethan Stuart is investigating a gruesome discovery—nearly one hundred dead bodies dating back fifty years—a mystery linked to the church once headed by Mara’s father. Ethan needs Mara’s help; she needs his protection. Their search for a shocking, devastating truth could lead them to forgiveness and salvation... if they survive.

I did want to see how the mystery was solved but I found most of the story very far fetched and quite ridiculous at times.

 

The Saga Continues

 Keeping in mind the 'event' happened on January 11th.

 My first appointment was on January 27th. This was what I thought was going to be the stress test. When I arrived I first saw a paramedic (apparently they work in cardiac places like this where someone could actually have a heart attack while having the tests and they have the best emergency training in those situations-who knew!!) He did all the basics-weight, height, bp, asked a million questions and then did an ECG. Then an internal medicine doctor came in. Very, very nice man but he was from the middle east somewhere and was so hard to understand!  It's really hard to take in all the information when you are concentrated so hard to understand what he is saying. Anyway, I got some of what he was saying and then was sent back to the reception area and spoke to someone there.  She was also from the middle east but her accent wasn't quite as hard to understand as the doctors. It was exhausting and I was more stressed when I left than when I went in there. Anyway she is my contact person and will set everything up for me. I had a list of I think 9 appointments!!

February 5 I had to go back and have a Holter monitor fitted to monitor my heart. I went in the afternoon and had it fitted. It's like a fanny pack strapped around my chest with a bunch of leads stuck all over me. Not great to sleep with but not too bad.  Took it back the next day.

February 25 was an appointment to go to the sleep clinic for the sleep monitor. You just go to the clinic and they give you a package and tell you to watch a video at home. Not much help! Anyway I wore it that night and hardly got any sleep, took it back the next day. A couple of days later the tech phones me and says 'You need a c-pap machine, you stopped breathing 63 times an hour, every hour', you have sleep apnea.  I said 'Well, I find that hard to believe because I was awake a large amount of time'. She said 'Oh, everyone says that, you need a c-pap'. I said I really was awake a lot so I doubt I stopped breathing 63 times an hour, every hour.  So she said, well you probably had light breathing. I said well, I think there's a big difference between not breathing and light breathing!! No comment to that.  Anyway, to make a long story short she said I should come and buy the machine for $2,500. When I said I wasn't going to do that she said I should rent one by the month for $350 a month and then buy one. I said that I wasn't going to do that either.  So she got really rude and aggressive.  I said before getting a c-pap machine what else could I do? So she kept going on about 'Well, at your age' there was no chance of losing weight or maintaining it and there were no alternatives!! So I said well I will be doing some of my own research and she said 'Fine, I'll phone you in 2 weeks and hung up. It was very evident that her goal was to sell a machine. So I did do some research and I also talked to my friend, who has a c-pap machine, and DIL who went to a sleep clinic overnight for testing.  Both were shocked that I hadn't had it at the sleep clinic and that they didn't call me in to go over the results. After some research I learnt that there are mouth appliances that you can wear instead of the c-pap and dentists usually supply them. I had an appointment booked with my dentist for cleaning so when I went I talked to them.  My dentist has made hundreds of these over the years and he wanted to see the report from the clinic.  I said I didn't even get an in person meeting, never mind a report.  Everybody thought that the main objective was for her to sell a c-pap. I already had a hard splint from the dentist and he said that would work. I've been wearing it ever since.  Also I have the sleep app on my phone that tracks my sleep and there have been no episodes of sleep apnea!!  The tech phoned me again a couple of weeks later and she wanted to know when I was coming in to get a machine.  Well, I was very calm and polite, but I let her know that IF I was getting a c-pap machine it certainly wouldn't be from her clinic.  I told her I thought she was rude and aggressive and definitely working the hard sell for the machines. She didn't disagree with anything I said and when I told her I talked to my dentist and had a mouth splint and the app on my phone she just said 'Well I'm glad you found something to helps you' and then she hung up!! So what do you think of all that?!

I have been wearing the splint every night and have had no episodes of sleep apnea!!

Moving on. Next was to see the Endocrinologist on Feb 27th.  I had a ton of bloodwork prior to this visit so she would have all the results.  Very nice lady.  She said that all my bloodwork was in the normal ranges, no exceptions. No diabetes or pre-diabetes. She said I was in great shape for my age. There's that 'for your age' thing again, but this time on a positive note. I asked her about taking Metformin to help with weight loss and she said that was a good plan.  This is a drug that she advises people to try before going to the injectables.  I said I wasn't interested in the injectables but the pills I would try. It takes a long time to work up to an effective dose but I'm okay with that. I started on half a pill twice a day for a week and then 1 pill twice a day until I see her again in June. She thinks over time I can work up to 3 pills twice a day but she doesn't want me to go higher. She said you can go up to 5 but that would be too hard on my stomach. I had already lost 15lbs since 'the event' mainly from stress I'm sure. Then 1lb. a week since, so total of 21.

Finally, the stress test!! I was told that there would be 2 parts to the stress test. On March 17th I went for the Rest part of the stress test. They injected a dye into me and then I had to go into this big machine that was like a small MRI and had pictures of my heart taken laying on my stomach and then on my back.

Next was an Echocardiogram on March 21. That took an hour, but uneventful.

Then, on March 26th I went for the Tread Mill part of the stress test.  Wasn't looking forward to that!  I wasn't worried about not being able to do it  because of my heart, I was worried about my knee.  Another paramedic looked after me. I had to first get on a stretcher that was pretty high and the stool was high. I asked if I could use his arm, as there was nothing to hang onto, to get on the stretcher.  He said as I needed help to get on the stretcher there was no way he was going to let me do the treadmill and have the chance of falling and damaging my knee.  Instead I got an IV and had a drug injected that would stress my heart. Wait 6 minutes and then they inject the reversal.  I just felt a bit weird and tingly but no other effects. Then I had to go into the same machine I went into for the resting stress test and again had the pictures taken front and back.

 AND I AM DONE!! To celebrate we went to The Keg Steak House for supper. I just have to wait 2-6 weeks to see the Internal Medicine doctor to go over all the test results. I am so glad that is all over. So far it has been 3 weeks but haven't heard anything yet.

So far it has been 96 days from when the event took place.   I can only think that there is nothing serious, if there was I would hope I would have heard something from them a lot sooner than 96 days!

So, sending me for a stress test turned out to be a heck of a lot more than I expected!!!

To be continued.