Holiday Letter 2019

2019 Blaesing Thompson Holiday Letter

Okay holiday notes are supposed to be bright and shiny but if I’m being honest the last 15 months have been full of as many downs as ups so mixing things up this year.  This year was full of perpetual health setbacks for me with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (fancy name for food sensitivities searing the inside of my esophagus), followed my MS fatigue, shingles, more MS fatigue, severe weight loss, thyroid issues and wrapped up in a bow with MS Dysethesia.  Short answer is my body doesn’t like me much… and half the time neither does my teenager.  

   

The whole family is working hard on having stable mental health with the great support of professionals, friends and family.  The last round of heavy things included the dissolution of my 22-year relationship with Joe, a split into two households and adjusting to new normal.  And finally, the passing of my last two grandparents Barb and Bill Wilson (my mom’s amazing parents).  All of these things are rough on their own but whew… so felt it best to be honest about things and for those who have followed along in daily life or on my blog (http://blaesing-thompson.blogspot.com/) I feel like we have handled things with as much grace and patience as we could muster.  So with that I will segue to the high points as it really has been a pretty good year too despite all of this…

Abby has had a lot of growth opportunities with Team Neutrino (the school’s 4H robotics team), Soccer and X-Country at the high school level, as well as band and choir.  We raised our last round of goats for the fair, plus Abby refurbished furniture and submitted photography.  We hosted a German exchange student for two weeks.  Abby had her first summer job working as a lifeguard and swim instructor.  She got to spend part of a week on a F.L.O.A.T. trip with Story County Conservation, backpacking Rocky Mountain NP.  She also made it through the first four ranks (Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class) with her founding female troop with Scouts BSA and was elected Senior Patrol Leader of her troop. She is pushing hard through the last three ranks with the goal of Eagle.  Through all of these activities she is learning valuable life lessons about leadership and teamwork, just to name a couple.  Other than that she is a typical HS Sophomore.

 

Joshua is keeping busy with soccer and baseball.  He aged up in soccer and has had a lot to learn about positions and playing a larger field.  He retired the cello for the trombone and is still playing the piano beautifully.  He loves creating things and singing, whistling, and dancing.  He is also active in scouts and will age up from Arrow of Light to Abby’s brother Scout BSA troop in March.  He refurbished a chair and showed a photo at the fair for 4H and we are working to get him transitioned to a new 4H group in our county.

As a family we did manage to go on a few adventures including a trip to Chicago to see the Cubs and Milwaukee for my dad’s mom’s family reunion with a stop on the beach along the way.  Both kids went to scout camp. We made trips to see both sets of the kids grandparents at the lake and Nebraska.  And spent a lot of the spring, summer and fall getting the acreage cleared out, building chicken coop 2.0 and moving the girls to town with us.  We also continued the Broadway series for more shows and attended a bunch of live music with friends and family.

 

Shawn (me) is still with the Iowa DOT and with the never-ending winter was traveling to get technology classes for the field crews in across the districts from late March into mid-May.  I traveled to DC and Florida for conferences and am still active in national level work.  I am still helping with both kids scout groups, and playing in the alumni band.  Through all the crazy I thought it sounded like a good idea to do another ½ Ironman triathlon out in Boulder, Colorado in August which went way better than expected. 

And in an awesome turn in July I started seeing Steve who is a work and triathlon training friend.  Turns out we have a lot in common and are really enjoying our time together through music, meals, geocaching, disc golf (yikes) and other adventures.  I am still working to make my house a home (my folks and friends have been a big help this year) and stabilize my health, but I am grateful and happy and REALLY looking forward to the start of 2020.  Wishing you all peace, happiness and good health in the coming year. 

Dad's family reunion in Milwakee

Sending our love! Shawn, Abby and Joshua