Where in the world is Izzy?

No, not in Germany.... yet! "Calgon take me away!" that's been uttered a few times recently. Life around here has been somewhat hectic, with a few ups and downs thrown in for good measure.

I left you with our wedding anniversary and my surprise birthday celebration.... We enjoyed a lovely evening out at the hotel Vancouver for our anniversary. The rest of the time turned into a full week of birthday celebrating. I'm not kidding it was not at birthDAY celebration, it turned into a birthWEEK celebration. I was out with friends for dinner almost every evening leading up to and following my actual birthday.

On top of all the "celebrating" there's been a rough patch too. My dear friend Charles was taken to emergency on the 24th, yup on my actual birthday. He was not feeling well, having difficulty breathing and his heart rate went through the roof. He had congestive heart failure. After 24 hours in emergency he was finally admitted and moved to a ward. Charles has a serious heart condition (ventricular tachycardia) and congestive heart failure, along with the fact that he has fluid on his lungs. The fluid is clearing, the medical team have started a treatment for his heart condition - but it remains to be seen how successful treatment will be. It's all a little unclear what the final prognosis will be. He almost passed away Monday night and again on Tuesday afternoon so all we can do is pray that the treatment will work and that he'll be fine. I saw him again yesterday and he did look better but I have no medical background to decipher what's going on with his heart.

So there's Charles, work, prepping/packing for Valdes and Germany and just trying to get through each day as it comes :) I'll see you when I get back at the end of the month! Until then... enjoy September :)

Here are some photos for you to enjoy.We rode the Canada Line on our anniversary.... it's great!Martini.... yup pure 100% vodka and vermouth with just a twist of lemon... shaken not stirred!
Dinner with Helen and Keith at the Salmon House on the Hill in West Vancouver. Yummy!"The Window to the Soul"... Keith's new design.Irish Heather - Long table dinner
En Vogue concert with JT at the PNEDinner at the Sandbar in Granville Island with Ann before a show at the Arts Club
Scrapaholic friends... wrap party at Kathy's!Taking Graham & Trish to YVR via the Canada Line...their Canadian vacation came to an end on Sunday.SooZeeQue made me this lovely card and took me for Sushi on Monday night :)