Skip to main content
So I'm laying in the middle of the living room with a two ton elephant standing on my chest, wondering, "How did this day turn so dark so fast."

Sophie's party last night was wonderful. She and her little girl friends all had a great time. At times, the laughter and screaming was like a group of banshees... But in a good way. A fun way. Julie did a fantastic job entertaining them most of the night. I checked in and kept Jake occupied with "Spider Man" on the mini DVD player.

Then, after waking up around 6 am, they played for another good four hours. Amazing, the amount of energy they had. Finally, I took Sophie to see "Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" with Max, Zach and Kyra (who had come down the mountain for the party).

So how did I end up curled in a ball in the living room? Well, I shouldn't have done the bills. The hoolidays have caught up with us. I get so stressed about money and I sometimes feel like it's a boulder I can;'t get out from under. I just feel so much dread and I'm tired of it. I tired of being so stressed. I'm tired of being bitter. But most of all, I just so damn tired of being scared.

Julie is torn about sending Jake to pre-school beginning tomorrow. He's nervous and I know that she is very sad that he's starting some kind of schooling away from home. Their lives will never be the same. It will never be just the two of them alone all of the time anymore. Even as I write this, I'm wiping tears away because it means that Jake is getting older.

There's a part of me that wants him to always remain our little boy. But there's also this part of me who wants him to grow up. I want Jake to grow old, to be a hundred. It's a defiant part of me. I want to prove all of these CF experts wrong. And I want to prove it to them sooner than later. I want him to grow up to be stronger and healthier than they ever could have expected. That's the optimistic side of me. That's the part of me that prays for the best. And then there's the other side... the darker side...

Maybe it's the reality of the race being this week and I'm just being sensitive. I'm burnt out. I need to step away from the big fundraising for a bit and get some perspective. But doing that will bring the guilt. Guilt that U''m not doing enough. Guilt that I should be helping find a damn cure. I hate the guilt, almost as much as I hate the dread.

Tonight, it's a no win situation. I'm going to have to go to bed and curl up next to Jake and pray for his little body to stay strong and healthy forever.

Aloha.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MARATHON FOOTNOTES (for those who didn't think I would really footnote a stream of consciousness thought): Footnote #1 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Films from 1969 to the Present: Midnight Cowboy, Patton, The French Connection, The Godfather, The Sting, The Godfather II, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon, The Last Emperor, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Footnote #2 Members of the band YES, from 1969 to the present: In 1969, Yes is formed with Jon Anderson on vocals Peter Banks on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Kaye on keyboards and Chris Squire playing bass. This group records...

100 and Counting: Introducing The Epic Playlist

It started as all playlists do, an occasion that justified music for entertainment. In this case, it was a couples weekend getaway back in February. Super Dave proposed that he and I provide the tunes and we started a Spotify playlist: three songs at a time, no song repeats, no artist repeats. Dave would add his three, then text me that it was my turn. I would then add my three text him back. This cycle repeated until three hundred songs were compiled, and we drove off to Mammoth with our wives. A funny thing happened, though, it turned out we both enjoyed the challenge of trying to surprise or outdo the other so much that we continued building the playlist. We made a new rule of just three songs each a day and still no artist repeats. Soon, we came up with amendments to allow duets (The Emmylou Exception), multiple songs by the same band if said band had multiple lead singers (The Beatles Exception), or if there was a lead singer replacement that changed the artistic direction of ...

A Trip Through the "My 90's Tapes" Collection Pt. 6: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts "Up Your Alley"

Column 1, Row 6: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Up Your Alley In 1988, hair metal was on the rise and straight forward rock and roll was losing radio airplay. If the music wasn't a little slick and the mix didn't sound like the record was recorded in a sports arena, there was little chance of getting heard. There were exceptions, of course (Tracy Chapman comes to mind), but for the most part, loud and echoey was the sound of the day. At that time, Joan Jett and her latest version of the Blackhearts had been together for a few years and were clicking. The band members were Ricky Byrd on lead guitar and vocals, Kasim Sulton on bass and vocals, and Thommy Price on drums. Jett was coming off of co-starring with Michael J. Fox in Paul Schrader's film, Light of Day . Although the film wasn't a hit, it was high profile enough to bring the rock legend back into the public eye after years working the road and trying to rebuild the success of her early 80s albums, including the s...