Cha-Ching!

(I've been start-stopping this over the past 2 weeks. Ignore the choppy thoughts.)

You know that place you sometimes reach, where you're just a bit numb and aren't sure which way to move? I dont mean your leg fell asleep while sitting too long or that you had one beer to many and feel off balance, its more the like the feeling you may have after checking out with cash at the grocery store and receiving a penny back in change. You had just enough to cover what you needed. It's all good!

If you really slow to think about it, that's a 'wow'. Did you plan well? Divine? Scripted? Does it matter? It worked out well. But, when you DO stop to think about it, WOW. How many things lined up just in time? What situation presented itself so that you you had that amount of cash available? What did you pick off the shelf and why? Were you swayed by a discount for the store brand? Was someone standing between you and the item you really wanted, and you settled for something else? Did you take a coupon off the shelf? Lots to take in...

This week has really been on of those weeks. SOOO many 'wows' that it really does overwhelm me to try and think about it all. Many things seem to line up without my doing much, so I'm doing my best to stay out of the way. To know me, you know it's tough for me to sit quietly and observe. To that point, I've had several of the "why me" days lately, and not because of a large pity party, but more because I'm curious. Why me? Why now? My brain is alive and curious! ..again..trying to avoid influencing or being controling.

We enjoyed an awesome trip to Maine, and I'm still vacationing in my mind. On this trip we were blessed to meet two wonderful ladies, Lee and Tammy. Lee and Tammy and Lee and Rachel, had a crazy fun time meeting each other "after all these years." (New-Lee, I stole that from you, thank you.) The bond we all forged very quickly, began after we flew into Maine on the same connecting plane (same row; didn't meet here), then proceded to run into each other 4 times, over as many days, in different locations of this vacation destination, covered in tourist. No, we weren't part of the same tour group, nor were we staying in the same hotel. Anywho, collectively, we finally accepted something bigger was at work, and it was time to officially meet. Our lives overlap on sooo many levels; more than I'll go into out here. Sufice it to say, we know the same fight in life, we know the same motivations, we share the same passions, we love to live life. Why? ..because we can!

I dont know 'why' Myasthenia Gravis or Multiple Sclerosis or freckles or long toes or type B+ blood or a love for fried chicken livers, are parts of my life. I'll never understand it, nor should I. My job is to appreciate that I DO have these gifts in life, and to learn how to live with them. Appreciate all that you have and celebrate that with others; share your experience. Our encounter with Lee and Tammy overwhelmed me in a way I can't really explain with words, but I can say it bolstered my core at the right time. Feels like a single penny in change.

Adventure Awesomeness

What an adventure this HoneyVersaryCation has been! I looked up the word 'adventure' this morning to see how it is Merriam-Webster was actually defining the word (these days), and it fits this trip:
Definition of ADVENTURE
1a : an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks
1b : the encountering of risks
2: an exciting or remarkable experience
3: an enterprise involving financial risk

Indiana Jones comes to mind right now. The week has been awesome! With the start of the week, I shared how peaceful it is around our cabin, and that remains. The past two days we've had rain, and OH WHAT A BLESSING to be able to see, feel, smell rain on the leaves, grass, my face.. its awesome! (can't smell the rain on my face, but you get my point)

We have found our way to numerous points of interest and learned so much. We've hiked (it was a walk, that became a hike - dang #21!) within the Acadia National Park, we were able to see the amazing work done to preserve the very impressive forest and vistas, the carriage roads created to limit destruction through out, the leaves which have begun to turn this week, the wild life (squirrels...lots..), and the ponds/lakes. Jordan Pond popovers were yummy! We've visited Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Observatory which has an awesome few 420 ft up in the air! Yes, there was an elevator. We drove into Camden, and walked atop Mount Battie. We've watched the sunrise atop Cadillac mountain. We've hopped a boat and toured around several lighthouses on the coast. We've walked through the Asticou Azalea Gardens. We've...shopped, we've made new friends, and we've enjoyed a few lobsters (Lob-stah)! If we are 'friends' on Facebook, you've now seen each of my lobsters..oh yum..

This trip has been awesome! Awesome is really the word I'm struck and stuck with, because there is so much more happening than simply a trip to celebrate our HoneyVersaryCation (trust me, M-W.com wont find that word for ya). In a nutshell, this Adventure has been awesome because of the risk we've taken, chosen or not; the remarkable experiences we continue to be presented with, both planned and unplanned; and the people we are guided to meet and learn from, either expected or unexpected.

So much awesomeness going on right now, that it will require another blog, on another day, with another breath of fresh air. The school bus just drove by for the neighborhood kids, and I have double vision...it must be time to watch the rain, and get my 2nd cup of coffee.

....Shhhhhhh, listen...

Happy Honeymoon! Lee and I have made our way to Maine, for our next adventure. It's beautiful. SO green..but then again, any color other than burnt is beautiful these days. A few fall colors have begun to arrive here, but its 'mainely' green. Har Har Har

I'm up with the sun again today, and soaking up this perfectly crisp morning air. Looks like North Georgia, feels like Colorado. My coffee is hot, my feet are bare, the weather allows for shorts and a a fleece pullover. Can you picture this yet? OH, bonus round, I'm sitting on the back porch with my feet up, overlooking a large yard and big trees, listening to the crickets harmonize with the gravel road and Loretta Lynn. NOW you can see it, yes? Peace. What do you do with this kind of peace and quiet...well, you sit still and think of course, or you make a lot of noise and try to avoid yourself. I'm difficult to ignore..for good or bad..even I admit that.

So I says to myself, "Self, hush. Listen" ..and we did. No joke, first, I listened to two crickets tune up. They had a fascinating sound pattern, before they settled on the standard tune "chirp, chirp". I just imagined how much work their tiny wings were doing to create the sounds, and then how much fun they must be having staring at each other, saying "oh yeah, well try this..." Then within that quiet, I hear the breeze ramp the leaves up with what would be similar to a high point in an song. It was well timed. Next, was a very brief accent of a truck on gravel road. Maybe the start of the 2nd verse, with added mystery or grit. Lastly, the neighbor tuned in an old radio (or so I thought) and we added Loretta Lynn to the orchestra. For those who understand my past, it felt like a Sunday morning at WHNE. All this and the sun is shining down, through the big ole mass of trees.

Hush. Peace. Quiet. This lasted for maybe 30 minutes, before traffic picked up and the crickets started to fade. But it happened. I was there. I can still hear it..in my mind.

What does this blog post have to do with Myasthenia or MS or health related matters in general...not much, and yet everything. Peace be with you.

Blah, blah, blah....

We hiked! We lived..I lived. These other rascals are all in wonderful shape of course. I've let my exercise program fall by the way side, which is not suggested. I don't care what your fighting, if you can lift an arm, a finger, a toe...exercise it! NO excuses!! (Yes, there will be a few examples out there that slam me to the mat with that emphatic statement. I concede)

Hike and all, we really did enjoy a wonderful trip into Telluride with a great group of friends. Spent a day in Denver managing business and seeing a few other friendly faces! Once back in Austin, TX, we were tired. Time for treatment! Yes indeed, it was time to spin the blood.

Symptoms were not horrible, but my vision had doubled and my swallow had slowed. Since I'm only on prednisone at this time, I still like to wait and see what my body will do. Living Science experiment! Wait until you see my at the next Science fair. My demonstration *will* take 1st prize! ...or not... :)

Oil change was Thursday, and now after this single pheresis treatment, I'm feeling very good. It takes a few days and a few naps, for my body to really absorb/accept/acknowledge/calm down/fall in line/stop fighting the benefits of the treatment. Yesterday, while getting up early to help out at church, and while driving ahead of the sun, and then while watching the sunrise and reading the sale ads (not the paper, needed more coffee), I really realized I was seeing clearly and felt good.

Blah, blah, blah....I bore me with this stuff...I can imagine you've gotten up to reheat the coffee by now. I should do the same.

All in all, I feel good! We will schedule a next oil change for me this week, just ahead of Lee and I taking off for our next adventure: Maine! That's right, we have a honeymoon date with a really big lobster and a stick of butter. Not sure they've officially met yet, but they will...in my belly....

Take That!

I did it for me! Today, we hike a hill/mountain/roadside. Call it whatever you like, but we did it. This weekend, we are vacationing in Telluride, CO. This is my first trip! Yes, after having lived in amazing Colorado for ten years, I never made it to Telluride, and I am so happy to share this new experience with my husband. Honestly, for me, this weekend, began as a talk about flying into Denver for a Saturday AM hike up a nearby 14er (fourteener = 14,000+ foot mountain). I was feeling really strong when the idea struck me. More than anything, I wanted..no, needed..to strike this event off my bucket list and my body was working with me when talks began, so why not!

Ok, a few months down the road, the body isn't quite as strong, we're not around Denver, and we didn't do a 14ner. It soooo doesn't matter!!! We are in the beautiful Colorado San Juan mountains, we DID hike a mountain, and we DID reach our goal today, which resided at roughly 10,000 ft. Wow! My chest is tight just typing that.

This southern Colorado mountain destination is literally tucked into the in the San Juan mountains. The scene ray is absolutely amazing, and something that my little pictures do no justice. So I must say, now post hike, I feel good!!! I hiked...at altitude..and survived!! My feet and hand muscles are twitching like crazy. That's the Multiple Sclerosis at work. My speech and neck are a bit weak. That's the Myasthenia Gravis at work. My chest is reminding me that I am very much out of shape and have converted to the 489ft altitude of Austin, TX. That's my pride at work.

A fellow MGer, Ron, recently hiked all over the east coast and lived to tell the tale too. Thanks for providing inspirations Ron!! We may have MG, but MG doesn't have me! Take that auto immune crap-ola. :)