Ready, Set, Reading Challenges 2017

All this week I'll be posting my introductory posts for the reading challenges I am planning to complete this year. I'll add links to those posts into the 2017 Reading Challenges page above once they are live.

I plan on taking part in 11 year long reading challenges, as well as other mini challenges or read-alongs throughout the year. I am really looking forward to reading all the books and I am hoping the challenges help motivate me to stay on track.

I'm going to kick off the year by taking part in Bout of Books 18. Join me and others taking part. A bit about Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 2nd and runs through Sunday, January 8th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 18 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Blog Reboot, Now With More Books

It's been 2 years since I last posted anything on this blog. I didn't think I'd ever start here again, but the time has come for that to change. I have decided to get more intentional about my reading and I want a place to keep my thoughts organized. I don't know if anyone else will read any of it, but even if that is the case, writing it for me and being able to refer back is exactly what I need right now.

I've gotten into two bad reading habits. One is starting many books, but finishing few. I was already someone who always had 6-10 books on the go at any given moment, ever since I was a child. Now I am a grown up and I have three kids who are all old enough to be listening to me read or buddy reading novels of many lengths, so I have their books "on the go" as well. It's become a logistical nightmare and I can't help but think we may have started books that we like, but we've totally forgotten about them because we have so many on the go. I want to come up with a more reasonable number of books to be reading at any given time, so that we get to enjoy all of the books we want to enjoy.

The second habit is even worse though. I have gotten into a rut of reading the next thing, whatever that is. I am reading things I don't even like, just because it was recommended to me somewhere. I want to break that habit and make sure I am asking myself if I really am interested in the book at all before I begin. I also will be working on giving myself permission to abandon books more freely if they aren't my thing after I start them.

A few years ago I did a bunch of reading challenges and it was a great year of reading. I am going to do several of them again this year, since I know I will read a lot of books either way, but doing the challenges gives a sense of community doing them with other readers. Plus some of them have prizes and that's cool too! ;)

That's the plan. Read. Read some more. Maybe some reviews. Challenges with the online reading community. Read even more. Starting January 1st it's go time. Read all the books!

Mitochondrial Disease... What's That?

Source: Saving Savannah Facebook Page

Mitochondrial disease awareness week is almost over for 2014 and I have been quiet throughout although I've read through every last post on my feed about it, looked at every picture, watched every video, and prayed over every person who has asked for prayers. I have cried over the losses, so many losses, of people who battled this disease and died because of it. Yet still I have been quiet. Not because it doesn't matter to me, but rather because it matters so much that I didn't know how to add my shaky small hurting voice to the choir of voices speaking out. Tonight though I'm digging to find those words because awareness is so key to the fight against mitochondrial disease.

What is Mitochondrial Disease you are probably asking... That's fair, most people have never heard of it even though it is present as frequently in children as cystic fibrosis as well as almost as frequently as all pediatric cancer types combined.

Mitochondria are the batteries of our body. They provide the energy and in people with mitochondrial disease they are not able to adequately turn oxygen and food that is taken into the body into energy. This can cause symptoms in any area at all of the body and is often misdiagnosed as other diseases or syndromes first because of the vast spectrum of symptoms that can present such as developmental delay, liver or kidney disease, poor growth, recurrent infections, lung disease, apnea, migraines, and many many more.

There is no cure for mitochondrial disease. In some babies symptoms are present from birth, some children are older when they start showing symptoms and sometimes it is not triggered until adulthood. Every 30 minutes someone is born who will develop mitochondrial disease by the age of ten. Every.thirty.minutes. Because it is genetic it can effect whole families, sometimes the diagnosis of one person will lead to diagnosis in others where previously symptoms had be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

There are parents losing their children, children losing their parents, siblings losing their siblings... Every single day. I didn't know what I didn't know until I became friends with someone who has mito, and knowing that at any time I could lose her to this awful disease is part of the reason my heart is full of hurt when I hear the words mitochondrial disease. Since learning about mito I've made friends with others who are living with mitochondrial disease in themselves or their children and even in the short three years it's been on my radar I've cried over more losses than can ever possibly be fair or reasonable.

Three years ago I'd never even heard of mito, now I love multiple people with it, and we now know that it has become a diagnosis of likely hood within our own house. We are facing the testing for answers that we aren't even sure we want but no answers just means that we can't fight effectively without knowing the name of the opponent.

Please if you are reading this take some time to learn a little bit more about mitochondrial disease. I'll include some links at the end. Please donate if you can to research into finding a cure. Please share and make others aware. Put faces to this disease that is still not well understood by nearly enough medical professionals which hinders the care of those who are living with mito. Please pray if you do, or send positive thoughts and lift up those of us who are at any point in the timeline of prediagnosis through to grief after losing a loved one.

Also please take the time to watch this video put together by Saving Savannah (you can find them on Facebook!). Its not an easy video to watch but it's even less easy to be a family living it.

http://youtu.be/8PApuJs_vPA

More Links:
www.umdf.org (United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation)

www.mitoaction.org

www.mitocanada.org

She is Going to Change Your World

13 years ago today I sat in a house waiting for some of the most exciting news one can get... the news that a new member of the family has arrived safe and sound. The new family member was my cousin and I waited with some family members at their home while my Aunt and Uncle were at the hospital.

It was a beautiful summer day in Courtice, Ontario and we waited happily filled with anticipation. Finally the call came. It's a girl. She is perfect. Her name is Taylor.

I found myself in a bit of a happy daydreamy fog at this point. One of the family members I was waiting with was my cousin Stephanie, six years my junior and born on my birthday. She was newly 9 the day her sister was born, nearly exactly the same age I was when my sister had been born six years earlier. Like me, she had a brother as well born a few years after her. 

I was overwhelmed with love and excitement and amazement most of all for Stephanie. My younger brother is one of my best friends, and I can't imagine my life without him but there was something special about being old enough to really participate in all of the stages my younger sister went through. To be old enough to take her to do things without our parents. To be old enough to remember her very first days. I knew Steph had all of this to look forward to and more. She was ecstatic. I looked at her and I didn't know how to put all of what I was feeling into words. How do you tell someone all of the amazingness that is having a little sister? I couldn't. Congratulations, I told her, and I meant it with every fibre of my being. Just like my own did for me, she is going to change your world.

Soccer Close to Home

Today it was threatning rain all day so we stuck close to home but the boys did get to go out for a trip to the park near our house with Daddy.

Soccer and swings. What could be better?

Good Times in Brooklin

This morning when I woke up I wasn't sure we were going to make it anywhere. We had planned a fun day starting in the morning but I was having a bad morning pain wise and we had to come up with a new plan. It took a few hours before we could make it out of the house to make some fun.

We started at Vipond Park in Brooklin. This park is amazing and I don't know why it has been a couple of years since we'd been. When we got there there was a baseball game in progress on the diamond and we could hear them playing as we enjoyed the playground.

There was lots to do at the park but one of the highlights for me was getting on a swing myself for the first time in forever. The feel of the wind in my hair and the sun on my face was amazing <3

All of the boys successfully scaled the mini rock wall.

They loved the bridge cross over and the two big boys both conquered the monkey bars. Linus was thrilled to be tall enough to reach by himself!

When we had played for a while Malachi started to need a break from the direct sun so we went over to my Dads house. The kids were thrilled to see Grandpa and they got to spend a nice couple of hours playing (one of the kids from the neighborhood even came over to play!). They also got to spend some time with the largest of the critters, Angus and Farley the dogs, and Annie the pig. 

Such a good ending to a day. Needless to say I had three boys asleep as their heads hit the pillow tonight. That's what I call success!

A New Direction

When I started this blog three years ago I really just started as a way to get some of my thoughts down in writing, post some pictures with memories I wanted to remember, and motivate myself to read more. I have done all of those things though I havn't been as regular about it as I would have liked.

The last three years have seen us go through some unbelievable changes as a family. I usually have great big long updates for family and friends when we talk on the phone, especially if it has been a long time since we spoke. I've been asked for regular updates, but it's hard to find the time and energy to call every person as often as I would like when dealing with a house full of people with special needs. I am going to try and change the direction of my blog into a more regular update of what is happening with the kids, with James, and with me. Some of it will be interesting, some will likely be boring, and emotion wise it's apt to be all over the map.

Still for those who would like to be able to keep better tabs on what is going on with us, for our family and friends who we don't get to see nearly as much as we'd like because of time and distance, this blog will hopefully bridge some of the gap. As always James and I can both be reached on Facebook at any time, and phone calls are always appreciated. This blog will also serve as a memory jog for me because lots of times I feel like moments slip away that I wanted to remember and if I don't record them as them happen they are gone in a flash. Also some of our medical journey may be helpful to beyond our immediate network of family and friends as we know that sometimes this road can feel awfully lonely and sometimes it helps to know what is working or not working with other families dealing with medical special needs.

Let me know if there is anything in specific you'd like to see on the blog, any questions or anything that might be helpful to you. Looking forward to sharing more of our journey :)