Odds & Ends

March has been a really crazy, busy month for us so just thought I'd catch everybody up.  We started the month off by celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans with the family especially enjoyed our out of town visitors, my sister Shannon and her family and my cousin Lynette and her husband Ron.  The hi light of the day at the parades was Queen Thoth bringing Flat Kyle up on the float for pictures.  (Kyle is our son stationed in Afghanistan, Brigid created Flat Kyle so he wouldn't miss out on the family fun.)

Next up was my birthday, yep, I turned 51 this year and it was a very happy day.  Funny how getting older doesn't seem so bad when you're staring at the alternative.  My nephew Mitch had a baseball tournament in town so Kieran came over and we went to three games in two days. The weather was great, the boys went 2-2 and we found a score book ap on the iPad. Baseball rocks!
Through a program with the state of Louisiana which the ALS Association worked to get spots set aside for PALS, we found out last week that I will receive 50 hours a week of home health care.  What a relief for Gina to know that I will not be home alone everyday while she's at work.  Hope for some really good caregivers, it will be a little weird since G has done pretty much all of the care giving herself so far.

My quarterly visit to the ALS clinic (clinic brings all the specialist together so I see pulmonologist, neurologist, psychologist, OT, PT, respiratory therapist etc) last Monday went very well.  Since we weren't the new kids this time, we had more interaction with the other PALS in the waiting area and enjoyed that very much.  I was looking forward to my return visit with the respiratory therapist because my FVC (Forced Vital Capacity) last time was 59% and it needs to be above 50% for the clinical trial. After some good natured ribbing, I blew a 74% FVC!  The PT noted only minimal change in strength from December and the ALSA is arranging a loaner power chair for me to use at Jazz Fest in May. A very good visit indeed!
Last weekend brought a visit to Houston to see our youngest son, Nolan, and his fiance, Sarah, and our new grandson, Caleb.  It was nice to have some alone time with my sweetie on Friday, then spent Saturday with good friends Linda and Carlos before heading to the Valle's house.  Every parent has had the thought when raising their children along side good friends "Wouldn't it be cool if my boy married your daughter one day?"  That's exactly what is happening here, David and I worked together in the mid 80's and we've remained close friends; we each have three sons in the military, share a deep faith in Jesus Christ and now will be family!

Next weekend we'll be heading back to Slidell for the Jumping 4 PALS Cajun Style fund raiser for ALS TDI.  Brigid & Jared will be skydiving with people who have been affected by ALS, I'll be on the ground catching!  ALS TDI is dedicated to researching and finding a cure for ALS and every dollar raised will help them in their pursuit. Donations are needed, please give if you can to  :

http://community.als.net/jumping4pals

If you're in the New Orleans area come on out Saturday, March 26th at 9:00am to meet some awesome PALS and CALS, enjoy some jambalaya and see more than twenty sky divers!