Fibromyalgia, a cold, a cough and no sun

What do they all have in common?  They all put you right down for the count.  After a week and a half, I finally am coming out of the cold.  The sun is out today and it will be a productive one for me. With Fibromyalgia I cannot function without the sunshine and warm weather.  This last week was a very difficult one.  I am sure all of you fibro sufferers will agree, certain things aggravate the condition and sun deprivation is one of them for sure.  I don't know exactly how I will survive another Wisconsin weather at this rate. At least burning with wood helps warm me a little better.  Anybody else have tips how to deal with cold and dark ole' winter?

Prologue to Acres of Bitterness

PROLOGUE:

Everyone has a certain curiosity about their heritage and I have decided that the time has come for me to investigate mine.  I believed it would be an enjoyable pursuit back into the archives of my genealogy, little did I know how far removed from the simple realm of things this adventure would be.

There has always been something missing, I have always felt, both in my heart and in my mind.  Especially in my heart, I have had painful, pinching twinges shoot through my delicate life sustaining organ that began almost to the hour that we left our beloved home on Allison Creek.  And I would experience flashes of light and unfamiliar scenes quite often throughout my life, quite often interrupting my normal thought processes and terrifying me in my slumber.

My birth name was Josephine Anna LeClaire.  I am the result of a French-Canadian father and a Native American mother.  My first name stems from a two-fold admiration; my father’s to the Emperess Josephine, wife to Napoleon Bonaparte and my mother’s to Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, who was her uncle. 

To begin tracing my mother’s history appeared to be the logical point of origin; she was born in White Bird, Idaho and was a member of the Nez Perce tribe.  As for my father’s origin, he was born in Alberta, Canada in the wilderness area known as Gregoire Lake Provincial Park. The two met as young adults by mere happenstance and believed that they were fated to meet and fall in love.  My mother’s family had moved down to Riggins, just a short distance south of White Bird, and my father relocated there from British Columbia to work in the mill to be closer to her.

 You are always taking a chance when you attempt to learn the complete story, that, you may also be made aware of things that were not revealed for a reason.  Which is why it is now, only after both of my parents are deceased, and all of my own children are grown and on their own that I am putting aside my present family life in search of my lineage.  My father would always say, however, when my inquiring mind asked, that, “you know all that you need to know, Josie.”

My children, of course, met my decision with much skepticism and began strictly analyzing my motive and my need for closure in these matters. The general conception was that their mother and the grandmother to their children had “lost her mind.”  They thought I certainly must be mentally inept to even think of undertaking such a task.  “But you could get hurt, or lost or worse yet, be killed.”  I responded by telling them that they are viewing it in the incorrect context; I will not be trudging through the mountains or careening down the river in a canoe searching for clues.  Rather I am looking for the untold story.  It has become my mission in life, my duty, to discover life lines to pass on to their children’s children. Our history as it stands, based on the information I was given, is not complete and certainly not truthful.  And now that I have reached this point in time, I have been presented with the opportunity to discover all of the pieces of the puzzle that are my life.

twitter link

Now I do not see the to twitter come up, where did I find that?

missing blog entry

Last week I posted a heartfelt entry. Then I saw a link to twitter. After I posted to twitter, my blog post disappeared and now it's lost. It was good too.  I am disappointed.

Breast Cancer Survivor

I am proud and happy to announce that I am a one year survivor of breast cancer.  It is quite a shock to learn that you have breast cancer. We all react in different ways and survive it in different manners.  I was a lucky one, it was caught in early stage one and I was fortunate enough to not have chemotherapy or radiation treatments.  Even though the mass was removed, I will always have that worry that it will come back around the area removed or surface in the other breast.  Now with routine mammograms your chances are at least somewhat better than they were in earlier years.

It does have positive effects on you though, you want to spend every moment with those that you love.  And truly appreciate being here to have those time with them.  You never know when it may be taken away from you.  I participated in the Breast Cancer Walk again this year and meeting the other survivors and listening to their stories was amazing.  The woman who spoke had a mother, sister and cousins who all had or have breast cancer, and she feared for her granddaughter now.   I also have three girls and a granddaughter to worry that someday they may face the same diagnosis.  I hope that prevention and a cure will happen in their lifetimes and they will be free from facing what so many women have.

Chippewa Valley Book Festival

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Well, my Author's Group known as "The Devious Minds," held an event at The Local Store last evening and the audience was pretty thin. I posted press releases in four newspapers, all the community venues I could think of and hung up 15 posters. Tina from Vol. One and I scheduled the group to showcase their books and read a short blurb from them during Chippewa Valley Book Festival Week thinking people would be coming out for this opportunity for authors to get our names and books out there. Michael Perry was scheduled to be on deck at the University. Who can compete against that?

My Authors Group

I belong to a great authors group and we are very supportive of each other.  So I decided to list them all for you here. Perhaps you have even read some of their work as I have and if you haven't, I strongly recommend that you do.  Here they are:

Marjorie Swift Doering with 'Dear Crossing' and 'Shadow Tag'

Donna White Glaser with A Letty Whittaker 12 Step Mystery Series of ‘The Enemy We Know’ #1; ‘The One We Love’ #2; and ‘The Secrets We Keep’ #3-5 (currently working on The Blood We Spill)

Darren Kirby with ‘Coordinates for Murder’ and is working on a sequel.

Marla Madison with ‘She’s Not There’ and ‘Relative Malice’ (working on untitled)

Katie Mettner with ‘Sugar’s Dance’ and ‘Sugar’s Song (currently working on Sugar’s Night)

Debra A. Patrow with ‘Acres of Bitterness’ (currently working on Bittersweet Reunions)

Dave Tindell with ‘The White Vixen’