#77 - Good Times

This past weekend was wonderful. I made it to my husband's brother's house for a beautiful afternoon visiting with a family that I've known since I was about 15 years old.

I looked around and found myself giggling to myself at how we're all getting older. I'm the youngest out of the bunch, at 43 years of age, as of this month, yet I've had incredible health problems. Still, I am joyful and full of happy bubblings within me. Most often, I am in a lot of pain, but I've learned to push it aside with the distraction of life. Some days it's easier than others. It makes me think about how we have to FIGHT our yucky labels.

Most people, even my doctors, tell me that they'd never imagine I'd look so vibrant after all of my health issues. Every time I'm in the hospital, I get a new doctor here or there walking through the door of my room and they end up with a shocked expression after they see me --- they start fumbling through my chart to make sure they are looking at the right patient. Then, I get the comments about how they just learned a valuable lesson about the mistake of pre-determining how a patient should look based upon their chart. A person's condition might not dictate their appearance. Some people can wear the mask well. The same goes for the opposite truth, a person may be as healthy as the sun, but they might look like a walking disaster.


My husband and I catching a shot together.

As I sat there visiting with my husband's family, I realized that each of us has faced big hurdles; we all make an interesting bunch. There was a brief moment, in the middle of us all telling jokes and sharing stories that I had to fight back a secret tear of realization that even though we each have struggled, we are here, and we are laughing.

The two sisters share a May birthday. We're there to celebrate!

I've faced imminent death too many times and have been under the knife for serious surgeries, more than I can count, but I'm here. One brother-in-law of mine has had cancer, a skin cancer that was surgically removed early, Thank God! Another brother-in-law has had back surgeries and does his best to keep moving forward. One of us in the group had a hip and knee replacement right around the age of 40. A good friend sitting with us has gone through her husband committing suicide last summer and the list goes on and on. Still, we sit together and find every reason imaginable to laugh and to celebrate life with each other.

In May I began another blog to balance this one. My Addison's disease has been life-changing for me. I've been sharing my experiences about the past ten years that I've lived with this condition. Addison's disease has complicated my life, it is not always easy. So, I decided to write with raw honesty about my daily life to hopefully let others know that they are not alone in their battles. My journey in Finding Lana was underway in a huge way. But, as the months of writing about Addison's passed by, I found that I needed to give myself some balance and freedom to write about the other part of my life...the part that keeps me motivated to move through difficult days. So, I write about our experiences on our acreage. Having land to cultivate and to prepare for our future home and farm is exciting and rewarding.


David "solving" the Rubics Cube.

Since we live just outside of Houston and have worked in the Houston area for most of our lives, we are city people through and through. To contrast this life, our acreage is a couple of hours outside of Houston and is smack in the middle of wooded forest...wilderness. The difference between our weekday way of life and our weekend way of life is huge. So, I decided to write about these experiences that are most often humorous in a wacky sort of way.

My brother-in-law Mark's family. Beautiful.

Hence, www.FarmLifeLessons.blogspot.com has become another outlet for the weird, funny happenings in my life. This blog reveals a lighter side to my little corner of the world and it helps to remind me that my Addison's disease is not my boss!

And, no, I don't smoke or drink, but I sure do love a lot of people who do!

Come visit me any time at the other blog and if you know anything at all about farming, I sure hope you share your knowledge with us!