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Ran this morning and it felt great for the first time in weeks. I mean, it felt like I remembered it feeling like all those months ago. I ran a 4/1 for the first half then switched to a 5/1 for the last part of my run. With Springsteen blaring in my ears (man, is it ever time to switch out the tunes on that MP3 player) I cruised home. Like I said, it felt great.



After I got home, well, that's a different story. Sophie had a dentist appointment and she WAS NOT happy about that. Poor Julie had to take Soph with Jake en tow. However, they all lived through it. I, on the other hand, had to suffer through some of the crappiest traffic in memory to get to work. I had randomly picked three albums for the ride this morning and made it 90% of the way through Bob Dylan Unplugged before Zimmerman's haggled voice drove me to the brink of smashing into the car in front of me.



Okay, it wasn't that bad, but close.



Work today was fine.



Sent off a nice big picture of Jake and some CF literature to Seann in Bowling Green. Sold another hat to a guy who just got a job at an animation studio in New York. He leaves this weekend to start on Monday. Man, I have no concept of what it would be like to just up and move on a moment's notice like that. Our lives are so settled here in Los Angeles that the notion is just beyond me.



Spoke with one of my other college roommates, Brad, this afternoon. I haven't talked to Brad since last year, Labor Day (Bob's wedding). He and his wife sound like they're doing very well. They're planning to come on out for the Bowling Green screening. It will be interesting to see who makes it. I'm getting kind of excited about the whole thing. I hope we get a nice turnout. There's a part of me that doesn't even want to know how many tickets get sold. Who knows, I may end up showing this thing for just family and friends. That would be cool, but in a way suck too.



Have to remain confident, though.



Feeling a little nervous about reaching my ultimate goal. I thought for sure that I'd receive more donations after the 2nd letter was sent out. I guess I should be patient.



Oh, and I received the coolest letter from my cousin Ed. Ed is notoriously quiet (but one of the coolest guys I know) and he wrote this really nice, compassionate letter when he sent a donation. I was blown away. It turns out that his college roommate his senior year was diagnosed with CF... that year. Crazy. The guy must have been, like, 21. I don't know the full details, but it just goes to show you how the disease is so varied.



On the other end of that spectrum, I was sent an email from my cousin Kenny, whose son, Brandon, died from CF. I don't remember Brandon that well, just that he was sick a lot. He passed away before they discovered the gene. Kenny was one of the first people to call us when we learned about Jacob's illness and he's been nothing but positive and so supportive since then. I know I don't take him up on his offer about calling and using his strong shoulders to lean on, but I know that he really means it when he says he's there for us. I can’t imagine what he must have gone through. I know that I live with the fear of losing Jacob, but I still have hope. You have to have hope.



Kenny wrote a quick but nice email and I was so glad he had checked out this journal. I don't know what will become of all of this writing when I'm finished, but at least for a short period of time I have gotten in contact with folks I haven't heard from in ages. That's been worth it.



Aloha

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