Spring Will Come

On March 25, Paul will be admitted to the PICU for a short stay. The purpose: to begin taking steps to wean him from the ventilator.

We believe we have excellent reason to be hopeful that Paul can come off the vent during the day. Paul was trached due to chronic apnea (stop-breathing episodes) which he no longer seems to have, at least when awake.

And his scary desaturations, which still do happen if we are not very careful, are related to his need for supplemental oxygen, something he can get without the help of the ventilator. These episodes - due we believe to something called pulmonary hypertension, which was caused by his lung disease of prematurity, which was caused by the inflammation and scarring from being on the ventilator - might also be treated with medication.

I don't know what the process will look like. But we know what our goal is: The picture above is our little Paulie lookalike, ripped from the pages of a magazine. A little peanut just like Paulie, and if you can't tell, he's got a nasal canula which is how Paul would get O2 if he was both off the vent AND could get rid of his trach.

Please hold Paul in your prayers, and ask his patron saints to pray for him as well. St. Francis de Sales said the Memorare every day, and now so do we:

Remember oh most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee oh Virgin of virgins my mother. To thee to I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Oh Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

One Year Later

We've got a wedding in three weeks, and we're all going to be there. And this time Clare doesn't even have to worry about Mary stealing her hair appointment.

God is so good.

Fundraiser Outtakes

I wish I took more family pictures or group pictures, but this is pretty much it.

Davo showed up!!

And so did Annie!

Grrrrrrrr

Airborn! But Clare, I don't quite remember there being a fiddle in Mony, Mony?

Oh, I am sad it's over. I'm guessing the day after my wedding will be one of the saddest in my life. It was so much fun!

Thank you!!

I don't have the cord to post my pictures from last night (at Mike's) but OMG I had such a great time!! Thank you guys so, so, SO much for all of your help. It should have been a really stressful and hard to put the fundraiser together, but it really wasn't. Mom and Maureen were champs, doing so many errands for me, and all the raffle items were terrific. I'm pretty sure DJ Jazzman hates me now, and I'm very sore from dancing (also, I am incredibly hungover) but my gosh was it worth it. I passed my goal for what I wanted to raise, and now I'm starting to get really pumped for next month, if not a bit sad to leave.

Some highlights from last night:
- Group dancing, most specifically to Bad Romance and Everlasting Love
- Airborn's performance
- Annie showing up!
- Davo surprising me and coming! What a guy, that Davo.
- Introducing everyone to my college friends -- Maddog's going to get such a big head.
- Martha pulled me aside and said, "You cannot get too drunk -- people donated!" Then, once some people cleared out, I was delivered 3 shots in a row.
- Staying until 1 am instead of 11. ANIMALS!

Low points:
- Biting it.. hard.. ouch it still hurts.
- DJ Jazzman not liking me no mo
- No one in our family won a raffle prize, how did that happen? Our numbers put us at such good odds.
- There are now rumors that Martha is the best dancer of the family, which REALLY gets me going!
- Mary and Cy! We missed you!

Thank you, for reals. This trip is so important to me and it felt really great last night having everyone there. I'll post pictures soon!

Annucio!

Many of you already know this, but for those who don't I'm going to do an awkward blog post (since I find it even more awkward to announce it in person). After a lot of thought, and a strong desire to do it for years, I'm going to volunteer in Kenya for four months, starting March 15th. I've been researching doing this since I graduated college, but it's a wee expensive and I never really found the right time. I decided back in August to apply to the Global Volunteers Network, but with so much going on I put off telling everyone. Also, there is just something funny about telling others. Like when I told my dentist that I couldn't schedule my next check-up in six months because I'd be in Africa. Chicky, say whaaat?

Anyway, like I said, I start March 15th and I won't know what my placement or village will be until about a month before. I have requested to spend two months in an orphanage and two months in a school, but ultimately they'll place me wherever I'm most needed at the time. I'm in contact with two other volunteers who have been super helpful and encouraging. To be honest, I've been really excited about it but also a tad panicky. In August, March seemed very far away, but now it's becoming a lot more real. Me no likey not showering. I also need to remember that Simba won't be prowling around in my backyard, more like a few chickens. However, one of the volunteers I am speaking with DID spend her birthday in a cottage in the Ngong Hills. I hope all of you are mentally reciting the first line to Out of Africa right now.

So, folks, that's my big news. But wait! There's more! In order to afford doing this, I am throwing a fundraiser on either January 30th or February 6th. Martha, Annie, and Frank have been helping me plan (awww, roomies!!) but it will take place in some sort of hall with a bar and lots of food and dancing. My bff from Fairfield is making a website for it where people can get information about where their money is going and pay for their ticket via Paypall (Annie's brilliant idea). Sounds pretty legit, eh? Yeah, I guess I am pretty legit.

So, hurray hurrah! Africa, here I come!

Welcome back

We've been sitting here........waiting and waiting............
and you're finally coming home!!!

We're Listed - And Under Contract!

Can you believe it? We finally got our condo on the market on September 8th (actually, kind of got shoved onto the market - but well, that's kind of best for people like me and Frank.)

Underpriced? Who's to say. We'd say YES! The market doesn't agree, and that's a-ok. We got a solid offer from a showing on Day 2 (!?!), and by St. Joseph, we pray it goes through.

Muchas muchas gracias to all the kind souls who helped us get the place together over these many months! I can SMELL the freedom of first-floor living, Yes I can!

I'll Have a Farm, part 2

From Front Porch Republic today: "I Did Taste!"

“What’s the big deal [with the gigantism that defines today’s food economy]?” ... declining health; an obesity epidemic; the collapse of the family meal; environmental degradation; a food system that will eventually tumble leading to food shortage and political unrest; the loss of joy and beauty in eating; the forgetfulness of a people bereft of one of the most basic pillars of tradition–grandma’s recipes; and ultimately, the loss of freedom for a people incapable of the ordinary work of self-provisioning. ...

Food rots. If it doesn’t rot, it’s not food. That’s a good principle to live by.

Or try this one: if your ancestors wouldn’t recognize it as something good to eat, it’s not food. ...

...if one can penetrate beneath the glitzy plastic wrappers, the know-nothing food pyramids, and the seemingly interminable processing of our foodstuff, we are in reality little more than a nation of beasts in a continuous state of mastication at a Babelesque pile of corn so massive it stretches to the carbon infused heavens.

I'll Have a Farm in Somers

Ok, not a farm. A garden. But the title's better.

In any event, I don't know what most of you all dream about (besides a trip to Disneyworld for Mojo). But I dream of growing an organic garden, of canning and fermenting and preserving and freezing.


Bell peppers, celery, carrots, onions, zucchini, Italian green beans, broccoli and broccoli rabe. Probably not kale, because who really eats that. But spinach yes, and lettuces. And definitely tomatoes, perhaps potatoes, sweet if they'll grow (these are the things I need to learn.) Fall veggies too, pumpkin and winter squash. No gords, by edict of the Duke of Brooklyn.


The kids will help weed and pick our loot, and we'll work hard to preserve it for winters' use. Because organic produce is just so expensive, and everyone knows that local produce is the gentlest for this earth and our bellies.

Oh, and did I mention the raspberry and blueberry bushes?


And the deep freezer? Yes, there will be a deep freezer. But that's the easy part, so that will probably come first. Call me my father's daughter, I'll be proud of it.

You're all invited for supper. We'll have a big table. I dreamt of that before I dreamt of the garden.



p.s. I won't go so far to dream of egg-laying hens. The garden has to come first.

Hello!

I am as excited to be here as I know you all are to have me.

Thanks for the invite Mary.