It been a while!

Wow, it has been longer than I planned on writing here. I have been trying to get some more control over my health and some inspiration. I have been trying to spend time outside (Weather Permitting). I have a vegetable garden that I have been expanding and learning how to preserve the goodies grown there. I am also trying to figure out how to figure out my worth. Everyone seems to want you to know exactly who you are and what you want from life, but what happens when you don’t know?!

As this website is titled I am trying to discover who I am. I am learning that I really have changed over the years in good and bad ways. I changed to try to make people around me happy, but I lost myself in the process. Some of the changes I think happen naturally as part of being a parent and a mother. Without really trying to I lost myself in being a parent. Don’t get me wrong it should happen, but when you are at the point when your child becomes an adult and doesn’t need you the same it leaves you wondering about what is next in your life. I am left trying to figure out what is important to me and how to feel like I am valuable now. I can look back on who I have been through the years and the different stages of my life. I have been and I am a daughter, sister, college student, ex-wife, single, married, wife, mother, woman, but who am I as a person besides those titles. I don’t always feel I am a great friend and I get lost in books and gardening. I am trying to get better at cooking and listening to my body, mind and soul. I feel lost most of the time, set astray in the world. In life everyone wants you to feel certain ways and in this day and age want you to be more in touch with who we are, but I find that there isn’t really a guide on how. There are therapists and counselors even life coaches, but feel like no-one reminds people that you don’t have to settle for any of them. I have seen my share of counseling and therapists in my life. When I was younger I just felt confused by them and didn’t find them that helpful, but I hadn’t learned how to actually use talking to someone. I always let them guide the topics. Now I know what I need more than I did before. I still don’t have answers for what I want in my life, but I have a list of what I don’t want. I am hoping that by keep addressing my thoughts here that maybe it will help me. I learned years ago that you never know how you can help someone. Sometimes simply telling your story helps others. You never know what someone is going through. Some of the things that you say can inspire or make someone look at things differently. The first time I had it happen to me I was dumbfounded. I had been in a doctor’s waiting room. I don’t even remember how the conversation started with the gentleman, but we were talking about why we were there. It happened to be a Hematologist/Oncologist office. I was in my thirties and there for my routine bloodwork for my treatment (an Immune disease). He got called back and I was still waiting. He went back and then a few minutes later he came back to the door and said to me that I had helped him and he wanted to thank me. He then went on the tell me that he had just been diagnosed with cancer and he was in his late fifties. He had felt defeated and was thinking that he wasn’t going to fight it, but after talking to me and what I was going through at my age that he decided that it was worth a shot or to at least to look into fighting it. He told me that I helped him in a time he didn’t think that anyone could, just by telling him my story. I never realized how much just simply sharing my story could help others. There have now been many times over the years where I have had similar situations happen. I have been to many hospitals in a few states for different specialist and talked with people in the waiting rooms. I have also had my own doctors ask if I minded then giving my number to other patients as I am willing to talk about my journey. I am always willing as I hope that maybe I can help someone not feel so alone or overwhelmed. As I write this I am sitting here thinking that maybe that is something that I never thought about, I felt so overwhelmed when I started with my health issues. I didn’t have someone there who could understand what it felt like to be told no one knew or understood why the things were happening to me. I guess that part of me likes to feel helpful. I can only hope that the things I have been and am going through are happening to me so that maybe I can help someone else.

Maine

A new state that I got to add to my list of East Coast states over these last few years was Maine. I have fallen in love with the state and the town of Castine. The history that is in this area is unbelievable. It has such a long history that involves a few countries occupying the area. It is a summer tourist place so everything closes down in the middle of October and doesn’t open again until about May. If you ever get the chance to go to visit Maine you should definitely check out Castine.

There are a few places to stay near Castine or in it. One of the places that I found and love is The Pentagoët Inn. The Inn is a beautiful Historic building. Rooms are very nice and comfortable. The owners are extremely friendly and make you feel so welcome. I truly enjoyed getting to meet them and know them. They make their guests feel so at ease. There is also restaurant on site, that unfortunately I did not get to try, but hope to on a future visit. The views from the front room of the waterfront are amazing, even in October when the leaves are falling it is still beautiful to look at. The area is a nice place to explore. It is not far from Acadia National Park, about an hour drive. There are a lot of antique stores near by to visit that you can just wonder and shop. It is a nice way to take time to remember to slow down and enjoy life around you. It is definitely a place that I will go back and visit. I could just sit at the waterfront all day and listen to the water and watch the boats and birds.

I am sorry that I didn’t post this sooner. As life throws just daily health challenges, I haven’t wanted to post things. I want to try to get better at posting here. I have still got New Hampshire and Delaware left to stay in on the East Coast. I am hoping to be able to go for a weekend to these states soon. I always worry that I won’t be able to see these places if I wait too long. I am still learning to not be scared about living life. I find that I spend my time worrying about what might happen in the future and put off going to see places. I think that is one of the reasons that I enjoyed visiting Maine. It made it so I could calm myself and sit back and just be in the moment.

Things I am doing to figure myself out!

Well, I have started a new chapter of my life. My son has gone away to college and now I am left to realize that I really don’t know where I want my life to go. I have been traveling to see him at college and forgot how much I love to travel and see new places. I think I will start to try and travel as much as my health will allow. I want to write about the places that I have been here so that anyone that is interested can look into them.

I have also been trying to learn recipes that meet all of my food allergies (corn, soy, all nuts and gluten free). This is a major challenge. Foods that are gluten free usually have corn or soy in them, or they use almond flour, so I am learning that in order to avoid all these things I am having to make a lot of things from scratch. So I started a page on her for recipes so I will start to post recipes that I found and like.

I also am going to post about places that I have been or want to go. I am going to use this as a way to track my goals. I have been to every state on the East coast, but never spent 1 night in Delaware or New Hampshire. So those are my first travel goals. I would like to eventually go to all 50 states. There are countries that I want to go too also, but I want to get the East Coast done first before I branch out further. I have been to a total of 22 states, but 2 of those I have only been to, but not stayed the night in.

So here goes to a new chapter in my life! I am nervous and excited all at the same time.

It’s time to be me!

Everyday life reminds us that it is constantly changing. It makes you constantly reevaluate things. You can either change with life or hold firm to where you are and hope that it’s the right place. I find myself in a constant place where life is changing. I am constantly trying to figure out if I can deal with the new things around me.

I am learning that changing yourself to hope that it makes people like you more or life easier is only selling yourself short. The only person that you are truly hurting is yourself. We live in a world where it seems we should be free to be our true selves, but really it’s about being your true self according to what current society says is ok. We are still judged by what we say, how we dress or what we think. I want to be truly free to be me and not have to worry about what others think. I don’t want a world where I still have to watch what I say and not be able to truly be the person I am. Even though as a world that is in constant change we are told we can be true to ourselves, but that is only true if you fit into the world that is around you now. A woman who wants to be sexy once she is over 40 is still judged by what she wears. Society tells us that we as women, or anyone really, that once you reach a certain age you have to look and dress and act certain ways. That because you have reached an age over 40 you are not supposed to have wildness still in you. That the zest for life is only for the 20 year olds. Romance books are geared to the 20-30 year olds. Why because we don’t want love, great sex and adventure when we are over 40? IWANT TO BE ME!! I want to not feel judged because some of my opinions don’t match the current societal view. I want great sex and adventure and to dress the way that makes me feel sexy or pretty! I am over 40 and life has not stopped. Yes, I am a mom, but I am still that same person that I was inside in my 20’s. I still love life. So life has thrown curve ball my way. I have faced some major health issues so I have had to change for those things, but I can still live life and experience love and passion! I can still want to learn and help others when they need it. I am still worth while! I am on a constant adventure and I know I will be in a constant changing world and I will need to make adjustments, but I am determined to find me again and not be this person I have become to make society and the people around me comfortable. I want to be free to be a woman over 40 who still has a zest for life and adventure! I might not be there right now but I will be damned for not trying my hardest to be the person I know I am inside. I will be true to myself! Yes, it is going to be a struggle with some steps forward and some steps backward, but I am determined to get there, where ever there is, and enjoy the journey to getting there!

Life keeps throwing things!

Life has thrown me a curve ball, as usual.
I am going to try to start to write on this blog to help me process all that has happened to me and hopefully help me find my strength to keep my chin up through life. I will start with saying what has been happening recently in my life and then in other posts I will try and explain the past things. I have been told to try to blog to see if it helps and to maybe be able to reach out to others going through something similar. I think that how I write at first might be a bit all over, but as I get my thoughts together I will be able to sort them. So here goes what been going on recently.

I had a stroke this past October (2020). It was not a normal stroke that people think of. I woke up with a grey blob in my right eye. I went to bed with normaI vision and woke up with a blob. I ended up going to Wills Eye Hospitals ER in Philadelphia to be seen. After spending the day in the ER with different specialist looking at my case, it turned out that I had a Branch Retinal Artery Occlusion. This turns out to be a type of a stoke.
Well, this turned my life upside down, again!
It took me a few years to get my life, sort of, in order after I lost my vision (overnight also) in my left eye (I will explain that in another blog post sometime). I have spent the last few months with doctor appointments and tests and a procedure to have a heart loop monitor put in. I am emotional drained.
My vision in my left eye never came back (2012 it went due to, they think, NMOSD), so now with a blob in my right eye I was not able to drive. This was very hard to deal with. I am usually independent as much as I can be. I was not allowed to drive for 3 months. My right eye did improve to the point that I was cleared to drive. Yes, I still have some vision loss in that eye, but luckily it is not enough to stop me from driving. I did have to give up driving at night. I am still trying to get used to that. I find that I have days that are emotionally draining and sometimes hard for me with vertigo.
Today is a rough day for me. I am not really sure why today is a tough day, but I am on edge and emotional. I would think that I would be in a better mood as the stoke specialist, that I have been seeing, cleared me for normal activity and I don’t have to go back for a year unless something changes with me. So now I have been cleared by the cardiologist for normal activity and the stroke specialists, but no-one has an answer as to why I had a stroke. This seems to be the way that my life goes. I have a medical issue no-one has an answer to why and then life goes to a new normal. This can be very frustrating. It is a challenge to get used to the way i see the world now. Watching TV is hard for me, but hopefully I will be able to watch it again. I am able to watch things on my phone or a mini iPad, but nothing bigger or it makes me sick from the motion. I am going to have to stop at this point as even writing this is hard for me to do. I will be back soon.

A Wake Up Call…

February 5, 2018

So I have decided that I will start to write in here about how I am changing my life.  Last week I went to the doctors and got told some scary news for me.  She told me that my weight was too much (which I knew) and that my blood work was not good.  I had known that I had some issues because I go to her regularly for my Thyroid and for pre-diabetes and she had told me that my cholesterol was high a few visits before.  This visit though she told me that my Triglycerides were EXTREMELY high and that she thinks that I am starting with pancreatitis based on the blood work and a trip to the ER I had a few weeks before.  She is a very nice doctor who is very thorough.  She asked me to really look at my food and lifestyle and try to bring as much plant-based whole foods into it.

After learning more about both the health issues and the food choices I decided I don’t want to go through the pain and future issues my life choices were taking me.  So now I am trying to eat a healthier way.  I went food shopping the next day and then spent the day prepping the food for the week ahead.  It was actually fun to put on music and just be left alone in the kitchen to wash veggies and cut up them up for the week.  It felt good to look in my fridge and see healthy snack all ready to just take out and eat not need to do anything.  As my week continued I have had some struggles, but I decided that I wasn’t just going to throw out all the food I had just because it wasn’t healthy (It was still money that had been spent).  I decided that we were going to eat it like we normally would, but start to incorporate the health food in.  Next time I go grocery shopping I just won’t buy them.  This way I don’t feel like I have wasted money by throwing out the food and it makes it so that as a family we move slowly into a healthier lifestyle.

I have to say that I generally am beginning to feel better.  It has been almost a week and today I actually have more energy then I have had and I am more alert.

Here is to seeing what the future holds.  I hope that they are positive things.

Graphic Novel

December 11, 2017

This project was REALLY hard for me.  I have NO faith in my drawing. I did procrastinate a little with starting the actually design.  In stead of doing drawings and thinking about what I could do, I spent a lot of time the first week looking at different graphic novels. I have looked at them briefly before, but not with a learning eye.  It really is interesting to see how different people think about them.  The videos were interesting that were posted with the project.  I just couldn’t find the creative part of me to start more then the basic layout. I still don’t really faith in the project. Apparently, I need to work on my drawing skills.  Maybe then I would have more faith in a project like this. I had issues with the my computer not wanting to work with the tablet pressure so everything is the same pen weight and the stroke is heavier then I would like it to be.  I like the overall story and the idea behind the pictures, but REALLY don’t like how it looks in drawing style.  That I don’t think I will ever be able to change.  I just don’t have the talent in drawing. I will attach to here the different steps that I took to get to my final product (at least to the point when I am posting this).

Here are the last 2 steps that I got to as of this post.  I don’t think that my graphic Novel will get past this point before the final class.

Final Class Thoughts

December 11, 2017

I am sad to have it come to an end. I REALLY did like the class.  I learned a lot! The only thing that I would have liked to have changed is how much time I had to work on projects at home.  Every time I would block time to work on my projects I would start and then have interruptions that I couldn’t say no to.  I am really glad that I took this class though.  I learned a lot about myself through it. I learned that I like Graphic Design a lot more then I realized.  I am really going to have to think about what career I want to pursue. I learned that I would like to take more classes about Graphic Design.  Another fun thing that came from this class is that my son and I have something in common that we both like as a result. It showed me a side of him that I thought was there, but that he hadn’t really realized. Hopefully, over time he will develop confidence in himself to further pursue. I hope that in the future that I get to do more things with Illustrator, just as I am now using InDesign in my daily life.  I also learned that I don’t have confidence ing myself and my lack of belief in myself really effects how things turn out and how I am about reviewing the things that I have done. I really am glad that I came back to college now that I am a non traditional student.  I feel that I look at college differently then I did when I was younger.  I also have to say that I love the professors that I have had so far in all my classes at Middlesex.

Class Thoughts

December 5, 2017

In class we worked on our Graphic Novels.  I learned that someways are easier to think then others.  I found that drawing in a sketch book doesn’t help my thoughts flow as well as drawing on a white erase board.  I also learned that it is more fun for me to draw on a white erase board then in a sketch book.  Again I am amazed at how talented everyone in class is.  They really are gifted.  I know that that is a talent that will never be my strong point.

Harmonies & Contast

November 28, 2017

We handed in our projects today.  I really like how mine turned out.  It was fun to make them, and see how different they all look just by changing the colours. Everyones turned out so well.  In looking at everyones there are somethings that I will play with in the future to make look different.  Things like zooming in to the circles. Here are the final versions of mine.Harmonies and Contrast - touch-up