The suspense must be KILLING you, huh? We’re flashing all the way back to…drum roll please! SUNDAY! 😀 Since I hadn’t even been home from the hospital 2 days when Monday rolled around, I let myself take a break. Hope you all don’t mind. I’m not quite ready to post at full speed 3 times a week yet, but I’m getting better everyday!

First of all, let’s talk about Carson. He finally got his turn saying, “Previously, on When Calls the Heart…” 🙂 . And it was really nice seeing the poor man have positive interactions with members of his late wife’s family. I do wonder, though: I saw several posts on the fanpage expressing confusion as to why the sister was being so overly friendly when she’d been so angry; or something to that effect. Apparently there were several #Hearties who thought Rhonda was Marliese. I can’t figure out why. Different actress, she’s repeatedly addressed as “Rhonda”, and she mentions Marliese. But I guess if a person is multi-tasking, the way so many of us do, it could be missed.

While we’re on Rhonda, why was there an uproar about the surgery? I saw several posts complaining that there was no way that could happen. My friend and I looked it up, and the first brain surgery was in the 1800’s. And Carson himself kept saying how experimental the operation is. Besides, Dr. Quinn removed tumors in the 1860’s and 1870’s with little to no trouble, so what are we squabbling about? 😉

I thought it very sweet that Lee and Rosemary sat outside to await news of the operation’s outcome, not to mention Lee’s panicked reaction to Rhonda’s collapse, and his jump to action for the chloroform and carbolic acid. Did anyone else notice that those two didn’t come into the picture until 30 minutes into the episode (if watching on Hallmark with commercials)? I was shocked it took so long for them to appear; but they sure did steal the show when they were onscreen.

Let’s move to Greta. Probably her best line was about the coffee somehow being burnt and cold. Am I being silly if I admit how much I loved her saying the word “fella” instead of “guy”? The former just seems so much more appropriate for the time period, but hardly anyone on the show says it anymore. I liked that she said it! And what a tough act she put on for Henry and Abigail! The dirty side look she gave Gowen when she talked about being a woman in a (look) man’s world…made me giggle!

On a more heartfelt note: the whole name scenario with the children. I started sobbing at this point! My husband and I gave Baby Jack my father’s name for his middle name, so I found that very poignant

Bill’s turn! So, the question of the hour: DID a certain horse a wander away because a lady named AJ loosened the reins? Methinks the lady did indeed. Either that, or she was just REALLY happy at the coincidence. Well, one thing can be said without question: this episode produced some of the best acting I’ve ever seen from Jack Wagner. It makes me wonder what kind of research he did. His reactions were impeccable! I’m terrified of snakes, so I didn’t actually watch the bite happen; but the heavy breathing, holding the mouth open, raspy voice, drooping eyes, stumbling, trembling…it was just fabulous! And in that dreadful state, Bill mustered enough romance to utter AJ’s full name. Admit it, you let out a very audible “Aww!” On a side note for Canadian Hearties, are there doctors in the Mounties like in the US Armed Forces? AJ said she brought a doctor, but I only saw red serge jackets. I was under the impression that the Mounties were more like the police force. So could someone please answer that?

Finally, the title. Of course it was in incredibly clever; i.e. the double meaning of the town getting through the storm of the bank closing, and Elizabeth literally teaching the children about weather. I was curious as to why Harper was the one being lazy. He’s always been such a good boy, and a hard worker. I guess he was just having one of those weeks. One thing I really liked about how Elizabeth handled it was she didn’t let him off the hook. So often today, I hear about parents and teachers afraid to give consequences. Elizabeth gave him an incomplete, but then she also gave him words of encouragement, and the chance to make it up. Well handled, Mrs. Thornton!

One final note from the end: when Abigail and Elizabeth said goodbye to Greta, Elizabeth said, “This day is full of reasons to celebrate.” Then Abigail looks off in the distance…that would have been PERFECT timing to have Jack ride in, and for a moment, I thought that’s what they were going to do. Darn it! But there are still 2 episodes left, so I refuse to get upset. EGBOK, right, everybody?

Have a great night! Hopefully, I will be back on Monday!

Good morning, Hearties! And for real, this time! I wanted to make sure I got this out to all of you! How was Easter for everyone? Mine was thrilling! In addition to Easter and a fabulous Easter lunch, we had a birthday cake for my daughter. She’ll be 4 soon, and we wanted to make sure we did something before I went to the hospital. We also watched our church’s worldwide semi-annual broadcast this weekend. We received lots of amazing counsel, plus heard several new announcements. So, it was an exciting time!

So, “Heart of the Matter”. How did everyone like it? It wasn’t emotionally gripping, and it didn’t have us gasping for breath, but it was really sweet. Plus, hey, it had quite a cliffhanger there at the end. And if you saw the preview for next week, that looks like it will be rather exciting! I won’t give anything away in case you want to watch it yourself, or if you don’t like spoilers.

Let’s start with the kids. I was wondering when they were going to have one of them flub Elizabeth’s name, and call her Miss Thatcher. The episode after the wedding, “Love and Marriage”, NO ONE made that mistake. I was glad someone reverted to old habits; it’s only natural. That was also such a cute story having them observe the businessmen and women of the town! I know several fans have been a little disappointed that the plots haven’t involved the children more, so this one was the perfect one to bring things around again. I found it very humorous that not only did the children pick the area of their choice, but they took on their personas as well. I’m sure you noticed Emily adopting Rosemary’s flair, and Cody assuming Lee’s mannerisms. To quote Anne of Avonlea, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” And of course, Opal just snacked on everything in sight.

I wouldn’t have pegged Robert as a doctor, but I liked how they told the story. A young boy wants the exciting job of an important doctor with lots of money, then sees how things really are: long hours, blood, and not a whole lot of currency. I’m just glad Carson caught him before he banged his head. It was also so sweet of the good doctor to be so reassuring to Robert that he could be a doctor one day, if it’s what he wants.

AJ came back! Kind of weird to have Bill find her sleeping in the jail. Shall we start taking bets as to whether Josie Bisset becomes a regular on the show? It’s looking that way, but we know better than to make assumptions, don’t we? I really liked AJ having the confrontation with Henry. Obviously we knew he was involved with her being pursued, but they didn’t actually share any screen time. It tied up a knot quite nicely.

The funniest part about AJ coming back was the reactions of Bill’s “former women”, shall we say. Abigail is giving him the eye, and bringing picnic baskets full of food for them to share. Dottie is dolling her up, and trying to get Bill to say she looks “stunning.” That frustrated groan, and, “I don’t know why I bother!” made me shake my head with laughter. He DID look very starry-eyed, though, didn’t he?

The sweetest part of the episode was Cody latching onto Lee, and Lee assuming the role of the father figure in his life. Lee’s such a good guy! I mean, when Elizabeth got off the stage, he was the only man on the platform to meet her. Now he’s being the man in Cody’s life, and he HAS stepped up the romance with Rosemary so she doesn’t feel neglected! What a man!

Well, my friends, sorry to cut this short. I know there’s a lot more to talk about in the episode, but I can’t be late for my doctor appointment, right? And yes, I promise to let you know if the baby comes today! Ta ta!