Jorritsma's Journal
2006 August Newsletter from Harmon and Betty Jorritsma
By Betty Jorritsma
Aug 1, 2006

Dear Family & Friends,

I’ve just got this P.C. back from a computer repair man.  I have asked him to copy everything that was on the old machine & make sure it’s all transferred into the new computer.  Tina is so very busy with her oldest daughter, Natalia’s wedding Aug. 12th I just couldn’t ask her to spend time she doesn’t have working on my computer.  So I answered an add in the local paper & the young man that came was one of Tina’s former students when he was in the 7th grade.  Small world.

Yes, the wedding is the most important event coming up.  I got a new dress for it but we’re still working on what Harmon will wear.  I’ve been to a couple showers for Natalia & they have got a good start for housekeeping.  They bought a little house & fixed it up in nearby Rockville.  She had asked Harmon to decorate & he has a big bouqet & greenery plus the pew marker arrangements all finished & ready for the big day.  They are soooo pretty – he hasn’t lost his artistic touch!

Boy oh boy did July ever speed right on by.  If you are like us – we stayed inside most of the time to avoid the awful temperatures.  Harmon has trouble  with hot spells so we keep the  air conditioner turned pretty low.  Mitzi &  I both have cold noses from the thermostat being set so low.  I gave Mitzi a bath yesterday & after drying her as much as I could with the hair dryer I put her winter sweater on her  until she got completely dry to keep her from getting pneumonia!

From the news it sounds like Arizona & So. Calif. are having some pretty awful heat waves like we are.  Records have been broken here too.  The storms that adjust the temperatures are  so severe we follow the forecasters instructions and head for the basement when bad storms are predicted.  We do have a lot of big glass windows  that are targets for tree limbs to take out.  We’ve been lucky so far – the storm we had a couple nights ago the lightning seemed to come inside the house & then the thunder would boom & we thought we were going to get blown off our hilltop.

This morning I went down to our pond to check on the fish & fed them some bread.  The level of the pond is staying up because we have had several showers & rain storms. You should see how tall the corn is in the fields!  They are such a pretty green  & are so tall you can’t see around the many curves in our country roads so we have to drive very carefully.  Our birds are really keeping me busy filling their feeders – we have the usual doves, woodpeckers, robins, sparrows, cardinals, many many beautiful yellow finches & more hummingbirds than you can count.  I have to fill their feeders 3 times a day (good thing they just drink sugar water!)

Thanks for all the Birthday cards & notes.  Debi knows how much I like to receive mail from her so she made & sent about 15 greeting cards with notes & letters.  She couldn’t have made me happier.  I’m now only one year older (76 to be exact) but the aches & pains are way out ahead .  I had to go to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis which was quite an ordeal and now tomorrow (Aug. 1st) I go for still more tests  in Terre Haute to help them decide what they will do to me.  From the tests so far they have determined that the upper half of my heart is not functioning right and this last test will  tell them what to do about it.  Yesterday, Harmon’s doctor at the VA Clinic in Danville, Illinois made some adjustments to his dosage of medication  and advised him to try to find another doctor as he would really benefit from the second implant.  After the summer is over we may look into it a little more since the tremor in his left hand has worsened.

HAPPY AUGUST BIRTHDAYS TO:  4- Dave West; 10-Walt Clark; 12-Bob Moore; 13-Irene Ruecker; 24-Allan Paynter; 25-Shirlie Heryford; & 27-Ann Manley.  And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY  TO:  1-Kotecki; 5-Dillon; 11-Troy; 15-Hosler; 16-Guerin; 20-Morse; & 31-Evans!  There will be lots of celebrating this month!!!  

Hope this finds you well & keep those notes coming about your lives!

Lotsa Love,  Betty, Harmon & Mitzi