I can't believe it has been so long. However, the past couple of weeks have been very hectic both professionally and personally.

There are two important things I must update: I have written my first letter for the fundraising campaign, and this coming weekend I will be running the San Francisco Half Marathon.

Completing that letter was a big deal for me. I felt like it was hovering over me every time I sat down to write something else. In fact, the weekend I wrote it I had to begin a rewrite on one of my scripts (for some producers who optioned it... long story), but I felt I HAD to get the letter done. It just so happens that the day provided me with enough inspiration to put down into words what I have been feeling for the past couple of months. The whole process was very cathartic and I only need to type it up and mail it out. Easier said than done. However, that's my goal for this week.

My motivation that day was hearing about a girl I mentioned last year, Jessica Strisower, whom we met at a CF function I gave a speech at last year. This past winter, her condition was grave due to a deadly bacterium called B. cepacia. She caught the bacteria and it deteriorated her lungs so badly that she needed a lung transplant. Two live donors saved her life and now she has a bright future again.

The news that rattled me, though, was her doctors telling Jessica's mother that the lung transplant is only good for 5-10 years, and then she may die. The girl is in her early teens. She hasn't lived a full life! And of course, I grappled with the thought of Jacob ever having to face this news; how we as a family would face this news.

You can see where I was able to draw inspiration from this story. Finding a cure is more important now than it ever was. It is the ONLY way that people afflicted with CF will be given the same opportunities to live out their life like the rest of us.

And I don't buy into that crap like "well, you could walk into the street and be hit by a bus tomorrow". Yes, that type of tragedy could happen, but the odds aren't already against you in that situation.

I'm not trying to be a pessimist. Hardly. I'm just trying to drive home the pint to any of you out there trudging through my ramblings that this is serious business....


And then there was the half marathon.

We're leaving town on Thursday to go to SF in order for me to run the SF Half Marathon. I have to say that, physically, I feel great. I ran 8 miles on Saturday (after 12 last weekend) and my body has recovered splendidly. True, my damn knee continues to snap every time I walk, but I don't notice it when I'm in the middle of a run. I am really looking forward to the race. More importantly, I am thrilled that we're getting out of town for an extended weekend. Once Sophie begins Kindergarten (!!) in less than a month, the opportunities to skip town for a couple of extr4a days will be slim.

That's all for now. It feels good to be back at the blog. With my formal marathon training beginning a week from Saturday, I feel like I've done enough blog training to jump right back into the daily bore...er... entries like I did last year.

Aloha.