March 18, 2012: Bella would be Proud...

Heaveno!

Bella would have been so proud of her big sister tonight.  Ali danced to "Real in Rio," the title track from the animated movie "Rio" at our church talent show fundraiser tonight.  Mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, and Julian were in attendance to support her, and she simply blossomed.  Her nanny sent her this ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS flamenco dress from Madrid, Spain last year, and, well, see for yourself...



I woke Ali up from her nap this afternoon in the middle of a deep, sweaty sleep.  We spent the night at grandma and grandpa's last night, and Ali didn't get much sleep... too much fun to be had!  Anyway, she was cranky and groggy when she left with mommy for call time.  I wasn't sure if she would be into it, or clam up and get scared.  Guess that got answered, huh?

Thanks to grandma and grandpa, I got to take Angelique to see Jerry Seinfeld perform live at the famous Pantages Theater in Hollywood last night, hence the stay over.  What a gorgeous theater!  Home to the Academy Awards from '39 to '49 I believe, this theater is absolute stunning beauty... and super easy to get to and out of!  Jerry was absolutely hilarious, and it was a treat to treat Ang to this as a surprise stocking stuffer at Christmas.  She LOVES the series Seinfeld, and has probably seen every episode multiple times.  I love the show, too, but do not possess her depth of passion or knowledge for the series.    With our travel and work schedules being so intense right now, laughing our asses off for over an hour straight was GOOD therapy last night!

The conference I am chairing starts in the morning, so please say a prayer that all goes smoothly.  I can't get in till Wed night, so I hope everything goes smoothly in my absence.  I have an amazing local committee in Utah that have been rocking it all the way up to this point, so all should be well.  Still, last year when I chaired conference, it was here in socal, so I could be first on the scene and last to leave, which is the way I like it.  I will be able to be last to leave on Sunday, so I just have to trust all will run smooth on the front end.  I have been working like 30 hours up to 40 hours a week for the past month on this conference... whew!  I am beat.

Julian moved out of his car seat today!  Yay!  Into the stroller and into the big car seat that stays in the car now!  He's getting so big so quick, and what a cutie.  He was smiling and BEAMING at all the ladies at church tonight.  At one point, a young girl in the church came up to say hi to him, and he was looking the other way.  I had to straighten him out and explain when a young lady comes to pay you some attention... buddy, you better return that favor!  LOL.

Alright.  Gotta run.  The video took up a lot of time editing and posting.  Sorry it's so blurry... stabilization feature didn't really help.   I'll be writing from Salt Lake City next Sunday!  Wish mommy support while I'm gone (I leave Wed night and will come home late next Monday night), and wish me health and peace as I power through the home stretch on this puppy!

God night.

March 11, 2012: Long one...

Heaveno!

Thank you to those who commented on my last post.  I really appreciate the support.  I laughed when one commenter wondered how many words I had typed in the past 3 years on this blog... good question!  I wouldn't wanna count.  Throughout this journey, the so-called reason for this blog has evolved.  Before Bella was born, I knew of blogging, but had no interest in doing it myself.  Main reason was that I considered myself too busy living my life to take the time to write about it.  Besides, who would even care?  Lord knows how many blogs are out there, why would anyone or how would anyone find me and wanna read my ramblings?

Then Bella arrived.

It was after three days of insanity in the hospital trying to get cell reception, watching my battery get sapped from trying to get a signal all the time, trying to return calls that went straight to voicemail, etc... that our social worker told us about carepages.org, which is a lot like caringbridge.org.  We set our little page up the next day to let friends and family know what was happening in the hospital, since voice to voice and email to email communication was just too complicated and time consuming.

Then, people started writing back, and a conversation started.  It became this cycle of love, support, information, and inspiration.  I wrote, people read, people wrote back, Ang and I read.  Every night, the last thing we did in those early days was read the comments.  It gave us the spiritual energy to allow our minds to switch off and let our bodies rest up for the next big day.  Then, we tackled that day with love, partnership, faith, and trust, and came home and told you about it.  Then, you wrote back, and we read.  Filled back up, we slept, and awoke readier than we would have been without you, and did it all over again.

It has always been a conversation.  Sometimes, when there are only a few comments, I have to admit, I get a little sad.  It's as if I'm talking to someone and they just aren't replying.  Combine that with the fact that there are more than a couple of people reading, and I began to think, "Hey, wait a minute.  I'm reaching out, but who's reaching back?"  For those that have been reading since Bella died, you'll remember I was really pushing and exploring the social boundaries of the blogosphere when we were on the road traveling the country looking to meet Bella's followers.  I think the blogosphere is a fascinating social evolution.  I think we are still in its infancy, and establishing what are the norms for the 'rules of engagement.'  I know I've said all along, "Hey, I'm new at this.  I don't know if there is "a right way" that we are all supposed to act on here, but this is how I'm gonna do it, and I hope you stick around."

Thank you to all of you who have stuck around, and thank you particularly to those who have talked back.  I've always said, "It's not what you say, it's THAT you say anything in the first place."  I used to say it a little blunter... Don't be a lurker! LOL

Moving on...

Well, family Ringgold has survived week one of three on the road... Ang was in New Jersey this past week and leaves for Florida tomorrow morning.  She comes home on Thursday, and then we have a week together, then I leave for Utah for 5 days.  Our work schedules have been so intense, we haven't been able to talk much about or work on a MASSIVE new campaign in the EB world...

Apology...


I apologize; I have been asked to not talk about the news just yet.  I jumped the gun last night and shouldn't have.  I posted details that I have been asked to remove at this time and I happy to do so.  I apologize to all parties!   Sometimes I get myself in trouble with this thing (my mouth...).

Much love to you.

God night.

March 4, 2012: Sorry...

Heaveno!

Sorry gang.  I disappeared I think longer than I ever have since I started this blog almost three years ago.  Truth is, I think I'm a burned out blogger/social mediayte.  (I'm pretty sure that's not a real word, but I don't know how else to label it!)  I've been staying off blog(s) and facebook lately, and I have to be honest, it's been great.  Even right now, I'm tired and want to go put away my laundry and get a good night's sleep for what will be a busy next three weeks,  and just typing away on my computer, well... I kinda feel... over it.

Still, life is good here.  Julian continues to grow into a chunkster.  He's 75th percentile height, weight, and head, and still happy and pleasant through the day.  When I pick him up, I slowly bring him down and plant my nose in his cheek and wiggle it, and the smile he makes as he's looking out over the world... melts my heart every time.

Ali grows and matures by the day it feels like.  She is so articulate and expressive that sometimes it's hard to figure out how to relate to her, because in some ways she is beyond the almost 6 years age, but in many ways, she's still just an almost 6 year old... I know that makes sense to you parents out there!

Ang hits the road for business 4 days this week and 4 days next week.  Work is busy/intense for her lately, but we are blessed to both have great jobs that provide so much for us.  She's been enjoying taking weekly Zumba classes, while I get out on the soccer field once a week to still mix it up.  Both of us are so grateful to get some "me time" to burn off stress and stay fit and healthy.

I am conference chair for my professional association's regional conference coming up in three weeks (yeah, the week after Ang gets back) in Salt Lake City, and running that event is a part time job in itself. Last year, I wasn't working when I ran the conference and it took up all my free time.  This year, I am balancing staying home with Julian 2 days a week, working the other three, and still running the event... oh, and directing PUCK on the side...  now you can see why I've been offline... I'm stretched pretty darn thin... even for me... right now.

The fantasy of the terminally busy is that "after [insert date or event here], things will slow down."

LOL.

I remember saying that in September about October, then about December, then it was January 15 (after Wings of Hope), now I hear myself saying, "after conference..."  but then we are in full swing for Time To Fly in June followed by Bella's Smash, our first golf tournament out here in October.  It never ends.

Too much?

God night.