I'll have a blue Christmas without you...

So, my husband and I just finished putting up our first Christmas tree in our new house! We have a fire place to hang the stockings, a big living room for the tree and a beautiful mantel for the nativity scene. We are beyond blessed and I am very much looking forward to Christmas. Yet, I find myself feeling homesick every Christmas.

Perhaps this little joke will explain it:

"How do you tell which people are Newfoundlanders in Heaven?"

"They are the only ones who want to go home."

It's certainly not logical to long for a place that is 3000 miles away. It is cold and windy and damp and dreary. It costs more than 1000$ to get there and the journey is treacherous but every Christmas I miss "home."

I guess if you do the same thing every year for Christmas for 25 years then no matter what you do its just different, not bad but different.

They say that once you leave home you can never really go back and I guess its true. 

Even if I were to go home now its not the same, time has passed, and people near and dear to me have passed away. 

One of the things that bothers me the most is the main reason why we don't travel to Newfoundland for Christmas is because of my Hemophilia. 

One year we travelled home and I had a cyst rupture and bleed. I was in pain, I was bleeding internally and all the doctor in Stephenville would do, and this is the honest to gods truth, is give me a shot of vitamin K. It did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It was a nightmare. 

It was very scary for both me and Zane and thus we haven't returned to Newfoundland for Christmas since.

This year, has also been challenging,we've had two family members diagnosed with illnesses and of course my health hasn't been perfect either.

I am praying that Christmas will be wonderful and continue on into the new year! In the meantime I am gonna focus on all the good things we have in our lives.

A picture of Zane and I during our last visit to Stephenville for Christmas.

Glorious and FREE

So, today I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Matti Vann. She is an mother of a hemophiliac and is doing an amazing job to raise awareness about Hemophilia! You can read and hear all about her and what she is working on at her website at ManyMiniMods.com. 

We discussed so many things and I feel like I could write 20 blog posts about our conversation but one thing that certainly stood out for me today was our heath care here in Canada.

Today is of course Remembrance Day here in Canada and I did find myself bragging about our medical system a little bit. I know that our system isn't person and I will admit that I know very little about the Medical system in the US but I will say that knowing I can get the medical care I need without worry of how I will pay for it is a blessing. 

I have many Hemophiliac friends in the US and it seems to me that if you have insurance you are good to go but if you are a Hemophiliac without insurance is can be very difficult. 

I hate the thought of Hemophiliacs suffering especially when they are suffering just because they don't have money.

I have heard horror stories from Hemophiliacs all over the world and I have my own,No health care systems are perfect but hopefully we will one day live in a world where all Hemophiliacs have access to care.

I must say talking to Matti really fired me up and got me excited about volunteering and all that good stuff. 

I was feeling a bit burnt out there for a while but I'm starting to think I'm ready to get back into soon. 

I look forward to sharing the finished product of the pod cast with y'all soon.

Winter Blues

So, Winter has begun here in Calgary. Heavy, sloppy, wet snow starting falling on Saturday and hasn't stopped until late Sunday afternoon. Winter is a difficult time for me. Every time I leave the house I feel like I am at risk of falling, which for me is a big deal. Last winter I fell down when I was in Newfoundland and I ended up with a very bad, very painful calf bleed. 

I try to be as careful as I can I wear heavy duty winter boots but sometimes it just isn't enough. Even just slipping can cause muscle pain for a long time for me. 

The winter can also be isolating and depressing. Its harder for everyone to get out and the nights are longer. 

Most Hemophiliacs that I know say their health is worse in the wintertime and I have to say my visits to the hospital go up quite a bit in the winter.

This year I am trying to be a bit more proactive I am starting a diet tomorrow and a workout routine that I hope will keep me healthier mentally and physically over the winter. 

If that doesn't work I guess I will just have to move to Hawaii!