My intentional pause

Here it is mid-October, and I find myself taking an intentional pause.  Life has been on a crazy roll since we sold our home and moved to Boiling Springs, PA.  My body and mind desperately need REST.  I cannot go on without renewal and restoration. 

I remain excited about my book publication and the positive reviews from migraine sufferers as well as from my dear friends and family who have been so encouraging along the way.  I know I need to be on top of marketing to a greater degree, but my energy has drained right out of me at a most in opportune time.  I humbly ask my wonderful readers to help by spreading awareness of my book to friends and family.  Thank you.

September 3 was such a joyous day from beginning to end. Our celebration in Illinois was marked by Patrick and Emily's wedding, and I believe there was no greater witness of love.  There was a small scare of a Covid situation right up until the special day, but all turned out well and nothing had to be cancelled.   We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Now true to my usual medical drama, the Saturday before we were to fly out on Tuesday, my lower back decided to go into horrible spams, and I could NOT walk.  I couldn't even turn in bed.  So, long story short, I had to take a little trip to our local ER by ambulance! I felt ridiculous but nothing was giving me relief and I knew I needed intervention or I wouldn't be able to fly.  Talk about an emotional freak out----yep---I had one.  Tests were ordered and thankfully I wasn't brewing anything weird.   I was basically diagnosed with bad muscle spasms.  I gave my sob story of needing "drugs" to anyone who would listen because my son was getting married and I had to fly!!  I got my way, and I went loaded with a pharmacy of pain meds in addition to my pharmacy of migraine meds. I sometimes wonder why traveling can't be EASY.  I look in awe of the people who jump out of bed, pack a suitcase, and then just go!  We laugh at our precarious scenario now, but we were not laughing then.  

The greatest gift was being able to enjoy a long day of celebration without having a M attack.  Not even the hint of one.  Of course, my body was happy on steroids which helped a great deal. Praise God. 

The other medical annoyance I have been dealing with for months has been a very unhappy gallbladder.  I certainly did not want that to act up during our week of celebration, but God kept me strong.  I knew time was ticking before it had to be dealt with, but I tried to ignore it.  I should know by now that approach never works for me.  So, two weeks ago I had another little trip to our local ER to have it removed.  It wasn't waiting for me to decide.  I was so tired from the past few months that I just did not want to deal with another thing.  Oh well...

I am healing, but as I wrote in my Climbing My Matterhorn book, healing is not linear.  It is up and down with what I can eat or not.  As far as post op pain, I really do not have any now.  I had excellent hospital care both stays.  I could not have been more pleased.  

Currently, Mike and I are enjoying watching our house come together with colors, some lighting, and some structural details that make customizing a pleasure.  Now Mike and I feel like our structure certainly looks more like a home.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding as well as our house.  I will continue to update as it continues to make progress.  We still think it may be early December before move in.  I imagine Christmas will be a bit chaotic unpacking boxes and not knowing which end is up.  Just moving into our home will be the greatest gift we could have this year with family around our table. 

A Book, A Move, A Wedding, Oh My!

Three exciting and wonderful events are happening in the Aleo household over the course of weeks and months.  I am in disbelief in a way.  So many "big feels" that it is difficult to process.  

The release of my first book, Climbing My Matterhorn, is a memoir about living with chronic migraine. I collected content from my journals over the past decade. This project took me several years to write, and my main purpose for writing it is to give encouragement and hope for those who suffer not only from migraine disease but any kind of chronic illness while still finding finding joy and fulfillment in one's life.   

The other adventure is our move back to PA after  having lived on the beautiful shoreline of CT.  Saying goodbye to dear friends is emotional, but saying hello to familiar faces and comfort places is heart-warming.  This is our first time building a home, and we are a "tad" bit overwhelmed with the process.  It is exciting to visit the house daily and literally watch every board, nail, and wire, carefully put into place.  There definitely have been glitches along the way but that is to be expected.  Fortunately, we are grateful to be living with my mother who is close to five minutes away from our new community.  This gives us the ability to check on the home easily.

The sale of our lovely CT home went smoothly, and a new young family has chosen to reside there. We are pleased that the process was not complicated which many sellers have to deal with. They will now put their mark on it and make it their own.

Our third anticipated event is our youngest son's wedding in early September, and we could not be more pleased with his beautiful fiancee' and her very lovely family.  We had the pleasure of flying to Illinois recently to spend time with the happy couple and meet her family.  What a blessing! We had a fun time, and were able to share in their lives for a few days. Their wedding date will be our 34th wedding anniversary as well as Patrick's 27th birthday.  Triple celebration for us!

This is by far one of the busiest season of our lives.  Thanking God for His good gifts and blessings! 

https://a.co/d/7gwSMmA

link for book on Amazon

If you would like to order my book for yourself or for someone you know who might need hope and encouragement for their particular chronic illness journey, you can find it on Amazon.  

I would like to offer a special thank you for all my wonderful people who have climbed this mountain with me and who never let me fall for one minute.  The climb has been grueling at times, but I am stronger for it.

 

From Digs to Dreams

 

Last year around this time we purchased new property in central PA to build our retirement dream home.  It has been an exciting year to plan and design a future dwelling place.  It has not been easy to wait for the actual start of the ground breaking because of so many delays and sorting out details, but the slow, unfolding  reality has given us more energy for reflection every step of the way. This is good. In a world where everything and everyone are in a hurry, our personal building process has its own rhythm and flow which is just right for us.  When we set our minds to it, the waiting is doable.

  We wait for the long, dark days of winter to finally move into the lighter days of spring where we can be transformed by nature's beautiful display of rebirth and renewal.  It is always a miracle to witness.  May we never take life of any kind for granted.  Ever.  

We, Christians, wait forty long days of Lent while fasting and praying for the Easter Season to begin.  We are preparing our hearts in different ways to celebrate Jesus' way to the cross and His Rising from the dead so that we may have eternal life.  May we never take this for granted.  Ever. 

Waiting can be a season of darkness and sometimes loneliness, but the gift on the other end of that waiting is full of beauty.  

What dreams are you waiting to come to fulfillment?  More importantly, when have you last allowed yourself to dream?  If so, have you shared those dreams with anyone? 

Take a few moments to dream today...

Hurry and Wait

 I have taken quite the hiatus from blogging and can't believe it has been almost three full months since my last post.  Life happens... Excuse number one---The busyness of the holiday activities keeps my mind and body overstimulated, and I don't have the energy to write.  Excuse number two---I walk into the beginning of the new year  exhausted from the holidays, so I end up not having much of a mind to blog.  Excuse number three---chronic migraine generally rules the day.  Excuse number four---my husband and I are completing house projects to prep it for sale which is still targeted for the spring.  Excuse number five---I am close to finishing a major project that has been in the making for years, and I plan on seeing it come to fruition in the spring as well.

First, I will relay our house building progress which has been, let's say, STALLED.  For various reasons, everything is delayed.  We are not in a hurry, but our excitement and momentum of planning and building has waned a "tad."  We are waiting for the permit, but our property has been staked out.   Yay!  This is at least positive.  Our exciting designs are pretty much completed, but they remain on paper at the present.  My husband and I feel like we are the race horses running out of the gate and made to come to a complete stop after half way around the race track.  This has been challenging to say the least.  We are trying our best to keep a good perspective while practicing a lot of patience!!

When people kindly ask about "how the house is coming along," they look at us as if we have six eyes because we give them our update and they aren't quite sure what to comment after that.  It is both amusing and awkward. 

My big project is a surprise for some but not for others.  This big baby has been growing for many years, and I soon want to birth it into the world.  The timing is crazy with what we have going on in our personal lives, but God's Hands are upon this, and His timing is perfect.  It has taken determination and a lot of grace to get this far.   

More updates to come with time...

Happy Valentine's month to all.

LOVE 

"There is a lovely idea in the Celtic tradition that if you send out goodness from yourself, or if you share that which is happy or good within you, it will all come back to you multiplied ten thousand times.  In the kingdom of love there is no competition, there is no possessiveness or control.  The more love you give away, the more love you will have."        John O'Donohue---excerpt from the book Anam Cara.