Raf

Jeremiah was a bullfrog.

Eric Carmen, who later made "Hungry Eyes" on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and "Make Me Lose Control," a misnamed song that's better (and incorrectly) known as "Turn the Radio Up."

I'll be back.

Looks like I'm going to have to start putting my findraising goals in pencil. Doubled the goal again, to $2,000 after a handful of very generous donations over the last couple of days. Just FYI: Here's the breakdown so far... Greasespot friends: $500 Diane's friends: $425 College paper buddies: $200 NAHJ buddies: $25 Way to go Greasespot!

Happy to report that what's-her-name will be joining us in April for the walk!

Noni, As a former JW myself, I say, celebrate any way you want. Enjoy the season.

You would think I'd know my own sister's name! My mother calls her Diana. I've always called her Diana and introduced her as Diana. Everyone I know in my family has always called her Diana. So how am I supposed to know her name is actually Diane? She informed me today, after seeing the walk page for the first time. I personally think this is hilarious. God bless family life, eh?

A great weekend on the fundraising front, thanks to the Greasespot Cafe. I will have to increase my fundraising goal very soon to account for the success you guys made possible. Thank you all, again. I'll be chatting this one up a lot more, as the walk itself is April 12. And on occasion I'll re-post the link in case anyone else wants to climb on board.

Yesterday I woke up and I was 20% of the way to my (modest) fundraising goal. Today I woke up and I was 80% of the way there. Go Greasespot! Seriously, thank you all.

Greasespotters continue coming through. I'm truly touched. You guys are going to move me to tears!

An impressive debut for the Greasespot Cafe. Many thanks to those who've already made their gifts. I hope as the day draws nearer, I can count on some more support. I sent the link to Diana today, but I haven't heard back from her. When I do, I'll let you know.

Traveling salesman walks up to a house and knocks on the door. When it opens, he sees a 12-year-old boy holding a half-consumed bottle of whiskey in one hand and a lit cigar in the other. "Excuse me, young man, but are your parents home?" the salesman asks. The kid responds: "Does it f-ing look like it?"

Well, folks, this is the part where I start asking for your help and your generosity. http://web.alsa.org/goto/Rafael.Olmeda

Fabulous quotes.

I was going to write an intro to this, but I think it's better if you just watch... Augie’s quest to combat ALS

Nip/Tuck ?

"You can call me Al" by Paul Simon. A long, long time ago, I can still remember

Is this like an "easy Name that Tune" thread? That last one is "Taxi" by Harry Chapin. The next one is: "It's nine o'clock on a Saturday. The regular crowd shuffles in."

So yesterday I mustered up the strength to call the ALS association chapter in Florida. They're organizing a walkathon in April and I wanted to know how I can sign up and maybe even help organize. I was fine until the woman I was speaking to asked me what my personal connection to ALS was. She was so patient with me, because I couldn't answer. She asked again, and I told her I heard the question but I was having trouble answering it. The very words I was speaking couldn't get out of my mouth in more than a whisper. When I finally could speak, there were more tears than sounds. She understood. I told her I was in a position to be quite a bit of help, and asked her to google my name rather than try to explain. She did, and then she promised to connect me to the local planning group. She also urged me to get Diana involved with the ALS chapter in New Jersey. I think she's already connected with them, but I'll check. Anyway, the woman I spoke to, her name is Dileep. I'm sure mine was not the first tear-filled call she ever received. She then sent me a bunch of e-mails with tons of local info. I won't be Diana's caregiver for the most part, although I do expect I will need to go to New Jersey at some point with my wife to give Paul a bit of a break from all he's doing. Someone told that to my wife yesterday. They said Diana will need help, but Paul will, too, and anything we can do to help ease his "burden" is going to be a help to both him and her. I never thought about that, and that leads me to think about all the help caregivers need. So that's a bit of today's journey: there is help for caregivers out there. Paul didn't volunteer for this. Neither did any of us. So we'll have to be in it together. All of us (and there's an awful lot of us). George, Suda, and Dooj, thank you all for your words of encouragement and support. DWBH: Knowing that you're praying with us helps me much. Thank you.

So the other day my wife and I were at a craft fair, and as is the case with these things, there are dozens and dozens of booths lining the path. My stepdaughter is one of those "gimme gimme gimme I wanna I wanna I wanna" types, so as soon as we walked in, I pretended to be interested in every single booth. "I wanna rescue greyhound, mommy! I wanna ice cream! I wanna..." Well, I didn't get very far, because I was stunned back into reality by the third booth, a sale of wristbands and other knick-knacks to support the study and treatment of ALS. We bought a few wristbands and gathered some info on the foundation. We ended up giving one of the wristbands to my sister, who cried (as did we). Looking for more info and opportunities to help this foundation. I'll keep you all posted.

Saw Diana for the first time since hearing the news. Her condition has noticeably deteriorated. She's lost muscle on her hands and legs and has trouble walking. She was in good spirits, but I'm told I caught her on a good weekend. Naturally, there are days when she sinks into a deep depression. I also spent some time with her husband, Paul, getting to know him really for the first time. He is a wonderful man, and we're all honored to include him in our family, even more than before. The wheelchair is tough to get used to, for all of us. This was a fitness instructor for years. More later.

The Year Without a Santa Claus I could actually see them making a musicl of that one! I'm Mr.Green Christmas I'm Mr. Sun...

My favorite is 7 x 13 = 28. Hard to type: you've really got to see it, but I'll try: Division. Seven into 28. Well, seven doesn't go into two, so hold onto that two for a second. Seven into eight goes one time, with one left over. Now give that two back, put it next to the 1: seven into 21 goes three times. One, three: 13. Wanna try multiplication? Suuuure. Seven times three? 21. Seven times one? 7. 21 plus 7? 28. Okay, we'll add them. 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13. Add the right numbers first: Three, six, nine, 12, 15, 18, 21. Now add the left numbers: 22, 23, 24, 25,26,27,28! Classic.

SNORT!

Dude, that was funny. :) Hey, I'm poking around the web looking for where and how this guy honors Christ. Can't seem to find it. Great page honoring that Wierwille guy, though.