MS Update (and a bunch of other health s@#t) - Navigating out of Murky Waters.

So I think I have had a post already (https://blaesing-thompson.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-weird-of-ms.html) about my slew of not great health and stressors in my life over the last 17 months.  The latest adventures involve the edition of two new physicians, more tests, more MRIs and a new game plan.

I had mentioned about having Parathesia, a mild tingling sensation kind of like touching a low voltage electric fence, or a tuning fork after its humming, since 2007.  I also mentioned Dysesthesia that was just in my left foot for several years which makes my foot feel like it’s tender and sunburned. 

Most of the time I didn’t notice it except in the evenings or when I’d get over tired or stressed. The dysethesia spread in November of 2019 so my MS doc, who was too busy to see me, gave me a huge dose of Gabapentin and told me to ramp up and call me if I had new symptoms (uh hello... this is a new symptom).  My regular doc, who is great but out of her element with me and my health adventures added a super low dose of Cymbalta as it is also supposed to help block nerve sensations.  I had been seeing her regularly because my thyroid numbers have been all over the place too the last year.  Well it did not work and it made my Eosinophilic Esophagitis worse, and so did adding a T3 med for my thyroid!

In my November post I was working through my medical professionals and finding life to be very frustrating.  Because of my Eosinophilic Esophagitis (fancy name for food sensitivities searing the inside of my esophagus) I spent part of 2018 and all of 2019 navigating what foods upset my system and what was seemingly benign.  I worked with a very expensive dietitian who ran food sensitivity tests, as well as two allergists, and had an esophageal scope and saw a ENT specialist none of which really helped me figure out what I can and can't eat to keep from burning the inside of my esophagus and upper GI track.  The one allergist said this is normally a disease that comes up in children and by cutting out gluten they grow out of it.  He also said they are setting up a clinic to study it in children (that's super helpful) but also that it is becoming more common in adults as well.

When it is unmanaged I get a sensation of having something stuck in my throat when I swallow things especially late in the day.  If it gets totally unmanaged I get severe chest pain in the middle of my chest and back.  Once they figured out what it was and I cut out processed foods especially things with gluten (every damn thing) I started doing better but was still experiencing a hoarseness caused by mild reflux in my esophagus.  I've been a walking talking science experiment as I work through things.  Here is what I've learned... I can eat cooked cabbage but not coleslaw.  I can have baked eggs or hard boiled eggs but eggs in any other format give me horrible heartburn.  I can have super small doses of things with wheat, but add barley or some other grains like that and horrible heartburn again.  I can't have almonds or strawberries but blueberries, peanuts and cashews are fine.  These are just a few examples of me attempting to navigate things. I also have sensitivities to some of the additives that go in foods which sucks because they are in everything and reading labels is no fun and going out to eat just depresses me.  Yeah I have cried a lot, over all the food I've lost from my life because I really like food and I hate being different especially at family gatherings!!  My dietitian did her best but with the long line of issues noted in my 2019 holiday letter intro (https://blaesing-thompson.blogspot.com/2020/02/holiday-letter-2019.html) she was fighting an uphill battle.

My mom, who was back from Florida to be there for grandpa's passing right after Thanksgiving, demanded I call the Ruan MS doctor and make an appointment right then and there (took two weeks but finally navigated that process) and my dietitian and my therapist both agreed working with a highly recommended functional health internal medicine doc in Ankeny was also a good plan as they look at whole health outside of pharmaceutical based treating of symptoms that most MDs are stuck with.  So at the end of January I finally saw Dr Hughes who is amazing and incredibly knowledgeable on all things MS.  He ran labs and did double MRIs to see what is going on as my last MS doc was against that and hadn't run one in over two years.  We found out my oral med may have been a huge contributor to my GI issues as well as not working all that well since we found a new active lesion on my left lobe which is probably the cause of my dysethesia.  I nearly cried when left his office because it was such a different experience then I'd had with an MS doc the last seven years.  We are now working through the paperwork to get me on Ocrevus which is a newer infusion based med.  It may be pretty expensive out of pocket to start to working through all that (single mom, high debt load from divorce = no money).

I also saw Dr Lorentzen in Ankeny this week and she ran a bunch more tests to look at deficiencies and things we can adjust with herbs and diet to calm everything back down.  So for the first time in two years I have hope my health is finally going to get better.  I suspect there is still a bit of an uphill climb as we work through meds and such over the coming months, but HOPE FEELS SO GREAT!! 

My folks have been awesome through this as well as my great friends Adri, Lee, Bob, Lisa, Bonnie, my therapist, ad my running group, and of course my honey Steve (I probably missed a couple more but know I appreciate all of you).  One of them has lifted me up every time I fell down in despair the last year and I am so very grateful for each and every one of them.

I know that is a giant pile of blog posts in the last couple of days but thanks as always for reading.  I appreciate the positive energy each and every one of you sends me.  It makes a difference!  I love you guys and gals!!

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

 

Working to find my badass self

Well races last year were a bit of a bust.  I signed up to do Drake Half Marathon in April and has a slew of health issues all winter and spring in 2019.  Then did the Hope Run with the boy and got second in my age group (getting old so that helps). Missed the MS bike ride in Minneapolis because it was 40 degrees and raining so no thanks. I signed up for the Ames Triathlon a couple days in advance and it was a great race.  Then didn't race Midnight Madness due to lack of children and a leg injury that cropped up on the group run that morning.  I had to dial way back on running after that and was worried going in to the Boulder Half Ironman but my leg didn't malfunction until the last mile of the run and by then I was in a grove to finish.  After that I missed Bluff Creek because I hadn't had any down time with my kids most of the summer weekends and we just hung out and watched movies and spent time together instead.  And that pretty much wrapped up my lack luster season of missing half the races I signed up for which was a bummer as money is tight.

So this season here is my super tentative plan.  I am tentatively shaping up my season to look like this: 

• Drake half marathon (April 19th)
• MS Bike Ride?? (May 16th)
• Clear Lake sprint triathlon (May 30), 
• Hope run (early June)
• Grandmas marathon - eek first one (June 20),
• Ames tri (June 28 but may do the aquabike depends on my legs), 
• Midnight Madness
• Maybe bluff creek oly (aug 16), 
• Hiking trip (Early August)
• Square Lake half (sept 12) going back to a course I did five years ago to keep the long distance training going as I have my sights set on doing an Ironman once my health is stable.
• Hillbilly half marathon (Nov)

A lot of this depends on the stability of my health as I had a lot of health setback throughout 2019 (I'll have a blog on that soon). I need to see how far behind I am in run training already but keeping up on swimming and strength work with some shorter runs.  I hope to bike a lot more this year (so call if you are looking for a buddy). And need some long run buddies in April and May!  I start bike training tomorrow so here goes another season!

The Weird of MS

I have had parathesia in my feet and hands most of the time since my MS diagnosis.  Parathesia is a mild tingling sensation kind of like touching a low voltage electric fence, or a tuning fork after its humming.  I also have had Dysesthesia in my left foot for several years which makes my foot feel like it’s tender and sunburned.  Most of the time I didn’t notice it except in the evenings or when I’d get over tired or stressed.  A month ago it reared up in my left hand.  I get the throbbing and burning and if it is bad more of an electric buzzing.  Washing my hand hurt as well as picking up some things. Thursday I woke up and the burning and pain had spread to 90% of my body and is more intense.

Putting on clothes and shoes, carrying things in my hand, even sitting on hard certain surfaces suddenly became intense enough to bring me to tears.  Thursdays I drive my son to band so he doesn’t have to tote his trombone to school.  So I loaded myself up which brought me to tears that I quickly managed so I could be happy mommy when I picked him up.  I got him dropped off at school and he realized he forgot his book which he set down to put on shoes, so I ran back to Joes and grabbed that which put me to tears again.  I dropped off his book and headed to my office.  I knew I wasn’t staying, but had left my laptop on my desk so it could update for a couple days.  I collected what I needed and shuffled out.

Once home I Sent a note to my primary doc and waited.  I’d had a similar pain on my lower half in 2012-13 timeframe before my official MS diagnosis which she thought was shingles. (Always suspected it was my MS looking back).  She passed the buck and sent me to my neurologist who quickly confirmed my fears.  Dysesthesia!  No real treatment just Gabapenten which is a nerve blocker of sorts.  I had some from when I had shingles last spring so started taking it Thursday hoping it helped.  So far it’s taking the edge off, but little things like a hug, or putting clothes on and off, sitting all make me cringe.  I’ll still willingly take on any hugs (don’t worry if I cringe) 



I did go swim on Friday as I needed a little fresh air, and ran 4.4 miles on Saturday.  I noticed however that not only is my skin sensitive and burning, but it’s making my muscle response in my left leg feel different when I exercise for more than 20 minutes or so. It’s Almost like that leg is fatiguing faster and I have less control of it.  I'm also noticing my recognition of being cold on that side is also limited since the skin feels like it’s burning warm. Neurologic signals in my body often lie and that lying is running rampant on my left side now.

So what does that mean for the future?  I’ll keep praying each day that the symptoms subside (MS is weird like that as symptoms can rear for weeks or months and then disappear again like a sleeping dragon).  I’m increasing my gabapenten dosage per my neurologists recommendation, and I’ll start a several month round of CBD oils once my supply arrives.  I’m also planning to cut out excess sugar and the last of the processed foods o still eat between thanksgiving and Christmas to see if that helps too. Hopefully with that, regular exercise and better sleep things will calm back down.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with a nice article about Dysesthesia.  I’ll be okay either way because there are so many great reasons to keep on moving. 

Hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving!

https://www.healthline.com/health/dysesthesia

The Feels, Crawling Towards the Light

Lately I've been pretty introspective.  Challenges and changes in my life have been stressing me out and I find myself sad, frustrated or over critical of myself.  

Am I doing everything I can for my kids? Am I volunteering enough, feeding them right, keeping them away from too much screen time, making sure I spend enough time with them?  Keeping them from over allocating themselves?  Am I providing a nurturing environment? Do they have enough gratitude?

Am I doing my best to move my projects forward at work?  Am I being a good mentor?  Am I doing enough outreach in my geospatial community?  Am I communicating my personal career goals to myself and my leadership?




Am I being a good partner?  Am I creating too much of a burden for my partner, friends and family?  Do I ask too much or not enough?  Am I being a good friend to the people and family that mean the most to me?

Am I managing the money I have for the right things?  Does it make sense to find a second job?  Does it make sense to turn part of my home into an income space? What do I need to do to meet my financial goals?

Am I taking care of myself?  Do I need to keep seeing a counselor to talk through things?  How broken am I today?  Am I getting enough quality sleep?  Am I getting enough exercise?  Am I staying away from the foods I know make me feel crappy?  Am I making downtime so I can rest?  Am I making time for friends and fun?  Am I doing my part to make the world a better place?  What do I want to be when I grow up (life goals)?

These are the many questions that some days make me want to go back home and crawl into bed.  But I don't... I get up and put on my best face.  I download my insecurities to my closest friends and my counselor but letting them also know I am okay because I acknowledge I do not have all the answers, and I make mistakes, and I am a bit broken but I feel good about who I am and where I am going even if sometimes I am VERY impatient with myself.

Last night I went to an Indigo Girls concert.  It was money spent I really didn't have but I wanted to take the three most important people to me (who aren't blood relations) out to do something that would lighten our loads and be fun.  The great thing about the IG is that they are wonderful story tellers, and wise women.  There were several songs they sang that talked about embracing the light.  From Prince of Darkness "I tried to make this place my place, I asked for Providence to smile upon me with his sweet face, But I'll tell you My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark (By grace, my sight grows stronger and I will not
be a pawn for the Prince of Darkness any longer)"

Another song that caught my ear was It's Alright "And for everything I learn there are two I don't understand, That's why I'm still on a search through the weather strewn church, I'm doing the best I can and it's alright, And it's alright though we worry and fuss, we can't get over the hump or get over us, It seems easier to push than to let go and trust but it's alright, When we get a little distance some things get clearer"

So I continue to wander down the path with a vision of where I want to go, but no clear idea of the steps to take to get there.  So sometimes I get jammed up pushing things along when I should really let go and trust that the small decisions along the way really will be fine.




I know I am pretty lucky (and extremely grateful) I have a wonderful family and extended family who have been with me from the start.  I have a handful of really amazing friends who get me and love me and pick me up when I feel like lying down on the ground and letting the river of life flow over me.  

This past year has made me more humble I hope, and probably not less stubborn, however more willing to ask for and receive help, and more accepting of others and the things they are fighting through (still working on that part with my ex but it helps my honey give me good perspective.)

                                                                          So I leave you with a few things I am grateful for... I am grateful for the hardships

Which reminds me of the Andy Grammer song I wish you pain "It's hard to say
But I wish you pain, I love you more than you could even know, Been here before and I just wanna see you grow"
I am grateful for a good job, a nice house, the ability to support my family and take care of us even when times feel tight.  I am grateful for the adventures we get to have together.  I am grateful to have an amazing love that is helping me grow into the person I want to become and growing with me.  I am grateful for the nature Iowa provides (despite the weather) with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, trees, stars in the night sky, and the promise of another day. So I leave you with the quote (above left) and ask you to be kind to each other, and support each other, and love, because tomorrow is another day and we can try again.

As always, thanks for reading.

Boulder 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Yes me.. the whole race.

Leading up to this race I had an "oh shit" moment.  I'd spent the last few month packing a house finding a new house, dealing with health issues, moving Joe, moving me, and clearing things out on the acreage.  In June when the dust settled I realized I only had about six weeks to get my training in to go do my fourth Ironman in Boulder the first week of August.

I had a decent base of running, and has been hitting the pool and doing spin class unto May.  I just needed to ramp up the mileage and not get hurt.  I got my bike out of my crammed full garage and did a total of three longish rides, plus riding to work and the gym/pool.  I started ramping up my weekend run distance, and morning pool time started after memorial day in the 50 meter.  About two weeks out from Boulder I had a minor malfunction.  Every muscle in my body got really tight and caused a fair bit of discomfort in my neck and legs making running and road riding challenging.  I dialed back the run and decided to just go race and see what happened.

I love having my name on my race number

I drove out on my own with a stopover to visit my friend Lisa overnight and got to Boulder to pick up my packet on Friday.  It was warm but not ridiculous.  I got my packet, checked my bike and surveyed transition fully prepared to make the best of things.

I met up with Galen and got checked into the AirBnB we were sharing and then we walked down to the local grocer for some dinner and made a plan for the morning.

Water exit compliments
race photographer

We were staying near the venue and left with plenty of time to get there and set up, and as we walked across the parking area I realized I forgot my cooling sleeves which drop my arm temperature up to five degrees when I race on hot days.  There wasn't anything I could do as traffic was only coming in and we were all there already so I had to just go with the flow and figure things out on the run course to keep me cool.  I had some nice chats with my neighbors and we found out the water temp was 75.9 degrees so wetsuit legal.  In the past I might of thought about what to do, but any advantage I can muster these days I take so wetsuit it was.

bike compliments of race photog.

Hung out in the potty line, and then waited for the race to start while I ate a banana.  It was a rolling start and I figured I'd park in the 30-33 minute group but got to chatting and ended up in the 35 minute group with no hope of moving closer to where I should have been. I swam through a lot of people during the swim as a result and that likely slowed me down but I made the best of it and just kept swimming with a time right on target.  The amazing wetsuit strippers and the sunscreen goddesses got me squared away and out onto the bike course.

had to stop on the run and get a picture of this
awesome sign

Then to start my worst leg... As I mentioned above I was a wee behind getting training miles in, and I'd been having some issues with my legs as well as my shoulder and neck and they all came into play at some point on the bike, but so did something else bigger than myself.  This was the first race where I could feel the support and love of friends and family in spirit with me.  I've lost two friends in tri in the last couple of years and one friend earlier this summer who I was supposed to visit on this trip and recently lost his battle with cancer.  I reflected on what amazing people they each were how proud they would be that I was here doing what I love on that beautiful day.  I knew my new love was also cheering me on from back home such that people on FB were wondering if he was there with me.  I also had friends and family from running, tri and life also tracking me and sending their love and support and you know what it lifted me up in the hardest parts of that 56 miles.  For that I was incredibly grateful.  It was a pretty powerful feeling, but inevitably the sneaky bastard hills that you didn't know you were going up but for the drop in speed and the burn in your legs, and the aches of my body made the last ten miles pretty grueling, but fortunately they were all within sight of the venue so that gave me the strength I needed to gut it out and get my ass off the bike.

finish photo compliments of race photg

So on to the run.  As I noted my legs had been a bit of a crap shoot so I'd grately reduced my mileage the last two weeks before the race, and it was sunny and low 80s and I'd forgotten my cooling sleeves so my plan was to go easy on the first loop, and then see how I was doing for the second loop.  I had walked most of a half marathon before so I was fully prepared to do that again.  I got out on the course and they had ice, blessed ice in great abundance.  I wore my hat so I could put ice in it, and I also put ice in the sports bra front and back which gave me a stead stream of core cooling throughout the run.  I can't take on nutrition on the course due to food and gut sensitivities to the offerings so I had a couple ninjxias from Young Living on me, as well as taking one leaving transition.  I figured out within the first couple miles that I felt decent and that I could carry ice in a cup to suck on while I ran.  I also figured out they had potato chips which I could eat at most of the aid stations so every aid stations after mile three I took on ice, water and walked through.  Then had chips as needed as they were available.

Coming into the last couple miles of the first loop/out and back I was running with another mom about my age and we were keeping each other company and still running.  I couldn't believe it so I decided to keep running, and just walk the aid stations and the miles slowly ticked away.  I saw Galen and Lara along the way on the run, and I kept feeling better and better. My running friend dropped off around mile nine and I still felt good so I picked up the pace and ultimately ended up with a significant negative split for the last 5k and looking at my watch realized I still had a chance to be under my goal time of 7 hours so I kicked it in and really pushed the last mile to the point where my angry leg kicked in and I was limping but damit I wasn't going to slow down because I was in the zone.  I ended up finishing with my second fastest of the four half ironman races I have done.  Oh I forgot... 1/2 Ironman - 1.2 mile open water swim, 56 mile rolling hills bike, and 13.1 mile crushed gravel run.

Had to buy this finish picture and plan to print
and frame it to remind me of all the things I
overcame to get here.

With all the adversity I'd dealt with related to my food sensitivities, shingles, MS, divorce and move, falling in love again, I somehow found myself overcoming everything to finish the race strong and feel great in the end.  I am super grateful for my friends and family and teammates who kept me moving the last year encouraging me, handing me tissues, moving all my crap, again... And while I'm never going to be fast, I know I don't plan to quit anytime soon.  Next up, a half marathon in April 2020 and my first marathon in June 2020 and then who knows what the future holds.  All I know is I am ready to face it all head on.  Thanks as always for reading.  Love you all.

Sweet swag pile from the race

One last thought.  I read this article after the race and it really captures what I was feeling that day.  When training, or racing or life get tough do a gratitude mile and be grateful for all the good you have in your life.  Gratitude mile https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a29321193/gratitude-tips-for-long-run/

The summer of unexpected

Well, as you all know it's been a bit of year for me so far.  Looking back at my summer I certainly had some expectations for how things were going to shake out.  Do some races to keep busy, move into my new place, and settle into a routine with the kids coming and going.

My race plans had a lot of hiccups.  I couldn't run the Drake Half-Marathon after a weeks of battle with MS fatigue mixed with food sensitivity issues and a bout of shingles.  I ran the Hope Run with Joshua and Joe, but couldn't run Midnight Madness due to leg issues I am still  working through.  I raced in the Ames triathlon which I signed up for at the last minute, only to opt out of Bluff Creek to spend time with my kids after either being on the road with them or not having them with me for many summer weeks.

My place still barely feels like home with mostly new (to me) furniture, new venue, and just a lizard to keep me company half the time.  I got moved into my new place and for weeks upon weeks I had totes and boxes and piles (still do really) on my porch, and in my parlor and bedroom.  We just got things hung on the walls a few weeks ago with the help of my folks and Steve.

Then there is the yard.  We got the trampoline moved out of necessity and spent several intense weeks building chicken coop 2.0 (there will be a separate blog on that) but neither of those are completely assembled in their normal functional state.  Then add the buckets and bags of plants I dug up from the old house, and all the plants I ordered with the hope of having a vegetable garden this year that languished most of the summer in place, only to get dumped out as water filled the totes they were hanging out in.

And the summer routine I thought would be simple ended up being a tad complex with mini vacation travels, Abby's first job (she taught swim lessons and life guarded at the local pool), an intermittent nanny, both kids off to scout camp, and grandma's house, loss of a friend, and a work trip plus travel for a big race (yet another blog), which left my head spinning and no real routine to be seen.


However, through all the crazy, and changes and reinventing I built some new friendships, conquered a few of the goals I set off to tackle, reintroduced myself to a new love that is constantly filling my bucket and I his, and started doing some of the things I've always wanted to do but for which I never had a willing partner.  All in all the last eight months have been a roller coaster of ups and downs but the driving force for me was hope for doing more than just surviving... finding my way to thriving.

So just know while I still struggle, and life it a chaotic and crazy most of the time, that I have found my way to thriving and I am loving it.  As always thanks for reading.

I leave you with the following quotes that I am aspiring to...

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.
~ Eddie Cantor

In an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.
~ Pico Iyer