Lucky Number 7

Two weeks before I head to Aconcagua,my gear is almost ready, I have been in MEC buying my gear and I spent more time trying day packs than I ever did trying wedding dresses when i was planning my wedding. :-)

I have a publisher interested a book that I have been writing, I thought of the tittle, Lucky Number 7, when Karl was diagnosed with BBS the Doctor explained the odds of my ex and I both been carriers and both passing the gene to Karl, infinite, he just said, really bad luck. Yes, bad luck for Karl but for me I am extremely lucky to be his mother.

Although the last few weeks with my niece breaking her ankle, I feel that the title of my book should be Murphy's Law. It has been challenging to keep my training schedule and keep my house functioning. Luckily I have as usual try to use the challenges as motivation to keep me focus. Wednesday I broke down crying, my niece was in pain, teachers were calling me to come to school right away because one of my kids had assignments missing, I had a short window to accomplish it all so it looked like I was going to have to push training until everybody went to bed, I was already tired from my first workout early morning and it was looking like I wasn't going to bed early, I was so mad that evening that I added 10 extra kilos to make it 40k in total to my pack and used a 15% incline on my treadmill to hike for a couple of hours. it feel sooooo good afterwards, life keeps telling me, this is a far you are possibly going and I just keep saying, i don't think so, you think that was hard, how about I make it even harder!. I have a blog follower Ana that sent me a link of her website it's a great place to gather information if you want to buy a treadmill, I use mine a lot, specially when life gets really busy, since my niece was in so much pain I couldn't leave her alone in the house for too long, I run for a couple of hours in the treadmill stopping when she needed me to adjust the pillows or more painkillers and run the last two outdoors. Also with flu season is a great way to make sure I don't skip workouts or shorten them.

I did a couple of talks on behalf of Foundation Fighting Blindness and Operation Eyesight, I loved the energy, I get nervous because i always think i have no business been there, specially when I have broke down crying numerous times in the last few weeks. but when I am there it just feels natural, not motivational speaker natural but as a regular person who is facing daily challenges but chooses to see the positive kind of a way, My message is always that as a mother of a son who is loosing his sight,I am learning that it is us the ones that are not, that see limits.

I am inspired by Karl every single day. He teaches me to not dwell on the pass and to not worry about the future, it's the now that matters. Karl doesn't worry about perfection either, waiting for the perfect time, or perfect weather is just an excuse to delay making a decision. he also teaches me that if you aren't willing to make a fool out of yourself you are cheating yourself of learning something new.

I have been approached by a daytime US talk show to possibly appear,not sure since I will already be in Aconcagua when the show is been taped, such are the exciting times, but I can't think of why i should stand there, it's Karl who, with his grace is guiding us all, like the captain of a rowing team, I am rowing the boat but it's him with his directions that is making sure we get to finish line. But like any amazing person, he doesn't think what he is doing is such a big deal. the cnib is training him on their ambassador club to be a community leader, Karl doesn't understand why. He asked me why do everybody think is amazing that he doesn't think is a big deal what he is going through,it just simply isn't, I am sure there are far worse things in life, he simply said. His teachers also told me how much of a positive influence he is in the classroom, his willingness to participate in class rubs off, at 15 years of age most kids disengage in class since it's not cool to be into school, Karl for some reason was born with his own manual, what's the point of going to school if ti's not to learn, even if working your hardest ends on just a C or worse.

Every single day there is not a moment i don't count my blessings, my kids are teaching me to have fun, to play fair, to always give your best and to never be afraid to get your hands dirty.