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Thankful Thursday: Sign Language & "Church"

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for my parents moving back. I think thankful is an understatement. We are so truly blessed to have them back in the same town with us. My parents are not only two of the very best parents in the world, but two of the very best people in the world. To get to spend more time in their company and for Mckenna to get to be around them more is a blessing beyond words. 

I'm thankful for my dad. This one is a bit of a piggy back on the last one, but oh well. My dad has decided to "retire" (although for someone like my dad who is absolutely crazy and for some reason LIKES to work, I'm certain he will be back at it before we know it. Who can retired and still chooses to work? Totally crazy to me, but hey, whatever floats your boat!). My dad is one of those guys who is the picture of a good guy who does well in business because he does the morally right thing, even if it means it's the "wrong thing" in business. He has modeled integrity and a love for people that I try to carry over into my own life. He has been blessed, and instead of feeling entitled and deserving, he just gives more. I am thankful for the man my dad is and the lessons he has taught me.

I'm thankful for sign language. We have taught Mckenna a little sign language and boy does it make things easier. She really only says "all done," "more," and sometimes "milk" (it's a new one we're working on), but holy cow is it nice. I am thinking we need to teach her even more! It helps keep frustration at bay for everyone. She is a good little talker already and says a lot of words and expresses herself pretty well, but when she doesn't know a word for something and all we get is "that" with a point...over and over and over and over again with more frustration each time, a quiet little sign would be nice! Ha!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for a wife who is never afraid to challenge me. Whether it's related to our faith, our family, our work or our hobbies - Mandi has never been afraid to say what she feels is right, even if it's something I don't necessarily agree with at first. Notice that I said at first, since I generally come around to her way of thinking :)

I'm thankful for new routines. I've started a new weight lifting routine at the gym and so far, so good. It's actually less exercises than I'm used to, but it is taking more energy because of the weight and reps required. Hopefully I'll start to see some changes in a few weeks, because I sure feel them right now!

I'm thankful for additional opportunities to "church". When I say church, I'm simply referring to hanging out with others that are Jesus freaks like me. Our church (the physical one) offers a myriad of ways to "do church" outside of just showing up on Sunday and sitting in some chairs. In fact, we get to do church every Thursday night with a small group of young families and really enjoy the time we get to spend with them.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Question from Reader: Relationship Roles and Boundaries

Question: 

Hi Ronnie! I didn't know where to ask this question and thought it would be one to hear your (and other CFer's) thoughts on! 

As we all know, having CF is not just an illness or an excuse to eat whatever we want, but also a responsibility. This responsibility is ours and our families burden and requires a lot of support. I'm having trouble with how much this responsibility spills onto other. Like friends, and let's be honest, mostly BOYfriends. I don't feel it's okay to place such a burden on someone you've just met, so I normally wait a while. But since being at college it's hard to find the balance between what I tell them (him) and what I don't. When it comes down to it, if you're spending a lot of time with me you're spending a lot of time with me at the doctor, doing my therapies and reminding me to take my enzymes. I'm wondering how you find the balance between what they should know/do for you/ worry about and how to stop it if you think they're over stepping? 

Answer:

Here's my rule-of-thumb: I only hide stuff I am embarrassed about. Since I've never been embarrassed about CF, I was always very open about it with anyone I thought I would spend more than a few days with.

As far as other people, "loving" or accepting this life, I've been there. What I always said to myself was "If I really loved them, I wouldn't bring them into this life with me". I mean, I love and embrace CF, but that doesn't mean they have to.

That changed when I met me wife. She told me that she fell in-love with me BECAUSE of CF not in spite of it. She's convinced it played a huge role in shaping me into the man that she fell in-love with. Frankly, I can't disagree with her on that.

To answer your questions...

1.  What should they know? If it's a serious relationship, everything. Not telling someone we care about everything about something that's such an integral part of our lives would be akin to lying. Just think about it this way, if the shoe were on the other foot, would you want him to leave anything out?

2.  What do I want someone who I'm in a relationship to do for me? Well, the answer might depend on wether you're a guy or a girl, but I know for me, I don't mind being "taken care of". Maybe my mom did too good of a job with me growing up or something, because I don't mind at all when my wife steps up to the plate and does "health stuff" for me. Mandi is great about putting my health #1 and reminding me that they need me to be healthy in order to best serve my family.

3.  We will never be in a place in which we're able to control what anybody else worries about. Mandi may say she's not worried about my health or about the future, but how do I really know? Here's what I do know however, the only way I can control any amount of worry is by showing her that I'm doing anything and everything to put myself in the best position to succeed with my health.

4.  How do we tell loved ones they're overstepping their role? As honestly, lovingly and straight-forward as possible :) I've found that with any sort of communication in a relationship that with those three things guiding your words, you can't go wrong!

Hope this helps a bit.

Recharged.

There are some times that I know I need to get recharged.

The need to be recharged is an obvious one - it feels like I'm running on fumes. I'm constantly tired and actually looking forward to putting my head on the pillow (very rare for me as I like "doing" rather than sleeping). My body starts to feel heavier. My legs feel like they are walking through sludge the whole day. My mind feels foggy. My brain feels fried.

So what's needed at a time like this? It's simple really...

SLEEP!

I started to feel very run down this past weekend. I wasn't all that eager to get to the gym and everything felt like it required more effort. Multiple times throughout the day I snuck in an espresso shot (or two) to try and give myself a little pick-me-up. I was running around quite a bit, but it felt more like sleep walking.

Now I'm a pretty scheduled guy. If you asked others, they'd probably say that I'm very scheduled. I wake up at the same time everyday (5:45am) and I go to sleep at the same time every night (9:30pm). Well, I lay in bed at 9:30pm. Actually falling asleep usually happens by 10:30pm. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time every day but Sunday. I email at the same time every day. I do social networking and web surfing during selected times. Anyway, you get the drift.

The only "flexible" part of my schedule is bed time. If I have family in town, want to hang with Mandi longer or I stay up to catch a certain game, my bed time gets bumped back. Yet, my wake-up time stays the same. (A baby tends to do that to you).

So, in the interest of keeping with my strategy of controlling what I can control, I did the only thing I could do in this situation. I went to bed earlier. I know, genius, right?

The last two nights my head has hit the pillow at 8:30pm instead of 9:30pm and I'll tell you what - I can feel the difference. I can feel the difference from when I first wake up, and the feeling stays with me for most of the day.

So here's to getting an additional hour of sleep while I can. I hoping a couple more nights of this will get my battery back in the "green" zone :)

Big Week. Big Changes!

This week is a week I've been waiting for ever since I graduated college and moved to AZ.

My parents moved to AZ while I was in college. My brother and I loved AZ so much that we both moved out here when we finished college (he moved out here 2 years before I did). But before the time I could get here, my parents had moved to Asia - first Shanghai and then Singapore. It was such a bummer. I had so looked forward to my whole family being in one spot again, and I was bummed I had missed out on the fun (when my brother and parents were here together). While my parents were gone, my brother got married, Ronnie and I got married, and we had Mckenna. Of course my parents came for visits, but I had always dreamed of the day when we would all be living in the same spot again.

Well that day is here!! My dad has "retired"....which is in quotes because if he weren't crazy, he'd be done working for good, but he is crazy, and therefore, I give him 3-4 months before he can't help himself and is back at it either through consulting or something full time. Anywhoo, he is "retired"and so they head back to Arizona on WEDNESDAY! Yup, TWO DAYS FROM NOW!! I could not be more excited. My parents are such a joy to be around, so the more time we can have together the better. I envision family runs, family dinners, family hikes, family activities, family chore days, you name it. I cannot wait to be able to say, "we don't have anything going on today, let's head up to see my folks." Or to get a call that says, "hey we are headed out to dinner in tempe, want to meet us there?" AH! Just typing the words makes me giddy.

Certainly it raises all new sorts of dynamics. We haven't all lived in one place as 3 separate families before. So how often and in what capacity we see each other is still a bit up in the air. My parents live 40 minutes away, so that will spare all 3 families from pop overs (well, except Josh and Chrissy and Ronnie and I who pop over to each others' houses since we live in the same neighborhood), but none of us will be popping over to mom and dad's...which I'm pretty sure they prefer! Ha! I am just excited to see what our new relationships look like and the great time we will be able to spend together!

The last HUGE plus in my mind - MCKENNA! No, I'm not talking about having built-in babysitters! I am of the opinion that they have raised their kids and them moving back isn't a time to raise mine! However, I am so excited that Mckenna gets to have her Nana and Papi close by. I think it will develop a different kind of relationship. She will spend more time with them just her and them. They're go on adventures. They'll have sleep overs. All of those times together without mom and dad there, I think, create a stronger bond. Am I looking forward to a couple of nights with Mckenna gone and getting to sleep in or a couple of days to ourselves? Sure. But I am mainly just excited that she will have her own relationship with her Nani and Papi, apart from mom and dad.

Here's to a big week! And here's to a great man who has worked hard, succeeded, and gets to take as long of a hiatus as he wants from the work world! Congrats, Dad! We are really proud of you.