Heed the siren’s call

The past few weeks sea bathing conditions have been a joy. The weather has been good and the sea calm. Last week we enjoyed a wonderful dip with friends from Craigavon and Fermànagh. My wee sea bathing bestie was away in Portnoo swimming with seals, but a different motley crew stepped in take her place! Great friends, great people, great times :)

The siren has called us to the sea and we have followed.

This week my wee bestie was back, hubby was by our side as always,  and we had another addition in the form of a friend back from Leeds for the weekend. A former lifeguard, his pride was at stake so he ran from Coleraine to Portrush..... yes, ran......on his feet......like Forrest flippin’ Gump...... and then got into the ice cold sea!! What a legend! Like so many others, he completely ‘got it’. He felt the same exhilaration we keep describing and came out saying he felt quite proud of himself. I feel like that almost every week! I still get a feeling of mild hysteria when I first get fully immersed...... it manifests in shrieks of laughter and overwhelmed tears in my eyes. There’s nothing quite like it...... a mix of being freezing, miserable, delighted and proud all at once. My senses heightened by the cold water and the beauty all around me. Seemingly conflicting emotions roll together to leave me feeling wide awake and ALIVE! 

Portrush is absolutely buzzing at the moment. Today is the final day of the Open Golf Championship; the first time is has been held here since 1951. After a week of our beautiful coastline being showcased to visitors and TV viewers from across the world, today it comes to an end. Yesterday afternoon hubby and I went down and soaked up some of the atmosphere and the place was still full of energy this morning. 

I have a Neurology appointment on Thursday that is nagging slightly at the back of my mind, but i already know my scan results show everything is ‘very settled and very quiet’ so that takes some of the anxiety away. My aim now is to try and get my driving licence back. I’m almost a year seizure free and feel generally good. It’d be great to get my independence back a bit more. I like my life the way it is. I like spending quality time with hubby, family and friends. I can get to and from work and I’m fit enough to get buses and trains when hubby or friends can’t take me places. But it can be surprisingly annoying when you can’t jump into the car when you want to. 

My pedometer is starting to build up the steps..... to my annoyance my record day remains the day before my grand mal seizure, but my top weeks are now within the past few months. I’m continuing to build physical strength, I think I’ve more or less found my way at work again, and I’m more happy and relaxed than I think I’ve ever been in my life. I know who my tribe are. I know who has my back. I know who I want to be around and what I want to spend my time doing. It’s taken serious trauma, but I think I finally know who I am. 

Living with? You betcha. Living with and dancing like there’s a Bruno Mars song constantly playing in my head lol  xx