I’m Back

I’m back after a well-deserved and much-needed hiatus from the blogosphere. Life has been quite busy especially with AEP over the past seven weeks. Since I last blogged, hockey season has been in full swing. Unfortunately, I missed a showcase and Thanksgiving tournament due to AEP. I did miss a couple of league games too. This year the Mayor is playing travel hockey and high school hockey as well. If you know me, you know I think high school hockey here is a complete abomination. The high school league is notorious for its huge disparity in both skill level and application of the rules. Teams have players that should be in learn to play on the bench with AAA and junior hockey players. Due to AEP, I missed most of the games. While I’m not in love with it, my player is having a great time playing with his friends.

It’s not just hockey that has kept me busy these past few months. In August, we started fostering the sweetest little puppy named Arrow. They believed him to be a husky mix. We, however, think he’s a border collie, Australian shepherd, and husky mix. I bought a DNA test, so we’ll see what breed that comes back with. Arrow is an absolute sweetheart, but also full of mischief. He’s quite the character. At eight months, he’s an avid chewer and loves to play with his siblings. Athena and Anakin have adjusted well, but they do tire of getting harassed by a puppy. Surprisingly, Arrow shares many characteristics with our sweet Maya girl, who passed in September of 2021. This, on top of his looks, is also why we think he may have some Australian shepherd in him.

In October, right before AEP, the Mayor and I traveled back to Charlotte for a showcase. He had a great weekend at the rink. This time the weather was absolutely beautiful. When we traveled to Charlotte two years ago, the weather was awful. It was freezing cold and it rained every day. There’s nothing worse than a cold winter rain especially if you’re from South Florida. This trip was great too because our team manager made arrangements for the players to eat at the hotel daily. While the players ate and watched videos, the parents could go enjoy a quiet lunch on their own. It was a really nice trip. Our next hockey trip takes us to Chicago in January.

One of the main reasons for the blogging hiatus was my health. Since joining Calibrate, I’ve lost all the post-RAI thyroid weight. Yay!! It’s been a huge year for reclaiming my health, but it hasn’t come without some hurdles. Since I don’t have a functioning thyroid anymore, I take both Synthroid (T4) and Cytomel (T3) as thyroid hormone replacements. My dose had been quite stable, however, when you lose 40lbs your dose has to change. In May, I found myself hyperthyroid again. Fortunately, my Apple watch allows me to easily track my heart rate. By the end of the month, I was getting high heart rate notifications when I was waking up. Since my heart rate wasn’t behaving, I had to stop working out. My Endo lowered my dose again and within two weeks I was feeling much better. I’m finally back to running and working out, which feels amazing.

As I type this, my oldest is on his way back to Florida for the holidays. I can’t wait to have all three of my boys home for Christmas. Last year Christmas was tough with Jake being down range. To add to the excitement, my parents will be joining us for the holiday as well. My folks haven’t been down for Christmas since 2018, so I’m super excited to have them here. My mom and I will be trying our hand at lefse again along with the smorgasbord of Christmas cookies we love to bake. In all actuality, there will be way more baked goods than necessary in my house over the next three weeks. We will be hosting our annual Christmas brunch, which is always a big hit. We’ve got it down to a science, no need to reinvent the wheel. And just like that, I’m back.