Content.

"I like my life," she thought, as she slathered on face cream and climbed high up into her IKEA bed with her Macbook. "I fought for this." With forty degrees and dropping outside, and four layers of fleece on her bed, she would warm up quickly. Two suitcases' worth of t-shirts from charity events and radio stations occupied the floor at the foot of the bed. In two weeks, they would be sliced and pinned, ready to become another quilt. It was something Dad always said: "You know how to do that. You've been there, done that, got the tshirt." This family story evolved into, "Sounds like you're earning another tshirt," anytime something went haywire. With years of SURVIVOR shirts, radio stations up and down the dial all over the country, and a few extra charitable organizations in between, she had, in fact, earned the tshirt.

Let's talk about Love

Let's talk about Thankfulness. Ya know, I always tell you I was thankful for life pre-social media, because maybe we were more responsible with our relationships then. Maybe we were wiser about our behavior (okaaay, maybe not, but I had a Promotions Team to look out for me). I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful for those friends who keep coming back. I'm thankful for the fact that you remember the song we yelled out loud as we cruised down the highway. I'm thankful for that time we went for dinner and grabbed one item at each fast food restaurant in town, because let's face it: they all had the best SOMETHING: I'm really thankful for the little things. The walks across town. The calls when you just "feel" like I need them, or when I call you and you say, "How did you know I needed you today?" Because of us.

Third Time's the Charm

I felt awesome after my second brain surgery. Awe. Some. I felt so awesome, I was ready to start businesses, nonprofit organizations, organize all of my friends' fundraising needs, and travel the world. I felt indestructible. I was unbreakable. I moved across the country and began new things, so unlimited was my potential. Then the echoes began. For a few years, they were like popcorn. Here. And there. Now it's an all-the-time worry. Again. Now, instead of just one medication, they've added another. And another. Now, since none of those work, I eat special food at certain times of day. I sleep a lot. My surgeon is waiting. There is no specialist in my part of the country. When they can schedule it, I'll get the call. I'll fly back. Scans and wires and hopefully he lets me have coffee. #OutOfMyHead

Got that tshirt

From a long-distant past, comes a tshirt I have to wear again. It's been hanging in my closet all my adult life, because as a woman, I keep important clothes. Every experience we go through, we get a tshirt. I have a tshirt from every Relay For Life, my Team Breakthrough race, every quarter theme at work, every radio station, and a tshirt for each important vacation. This tshirt is the experiential tshirt of seizures. Keeping a long story from getting too long, after my second brain surgery to stop the seizures several years ago, I hadn't had too much of a problem with them. Until a few years ago. Now what? A better doctor, more medicine, nutrition changes? Whatever it takes, I've never backed down from a challenge. That might be why my noggin is in trouble, but let's take one thing at a time. #outofmyhead #ketogenic #braintumor #seizures #seizuredisorder #josieblaine