The Island Of The Long White Cloud

We stopped by Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand on our round about way home.

Even though my body seemed to be wacky, my husband and I went on our mission to New Zealand which was indescribably fantastic and that is a whole other incredible story. Back to RP, my hip, ribs, pelvic bone and sternum really hurt at different times. The pain in my side was so strong that we went to several doctors in New Zealand to address what was wrong with my hip or back. The medical care there wasn’t what we had hoped for. Symptoms would come and go. I tried not to dwell on it and focus on our mission.


I would break out in sweats periodically, no matter what activity I was doing, then I would have the shivers like I just broke a fever. My eyes were red and I noticed in our pictures that my eyes were always squinty and I looked like I was in pain. That is totally not me. Looking back at those pictures I can tell that my face hurt that day. Several of my days were spent in bed in pain and total exhaustion. The problem was that my body had just stopped keeping up with my ambition and drive. No matter how much I willed myself that I was using mind over matter, my matter would not mind. We had a successful mission and returned home to about three semi-healthy weeks.

"No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must
turn us aside from following the light
unflinchingly.” 

-:- J. R. R. Tolkien -:-