Sunday, July 29, 2007

This past week we went over to visit my son in Atlanta. We wanted to see the law firm he is working in and had a nice lunch. He only has about four more weeks before he heads back to Stanford for his final year in law school. Hopefully, my health will still be good that I will get to see him graduate next May.

I have a couple of days of meetings planned in Atlanta this week and that usually takes its toll on me -- fatigue sets in so quickly these days. I think I'm going to get a lot accomplished and then by the end of the day I wonder where the day went.

Next week, my 11 year old great niece is visiting us. Her father lives not far from here and when she comes to visit him, she comes to see us. We aren't used to having someone so young around so it is refreshing. I'm planning a trip back home to Illinois in September. It has been almost a year and a half since I have been home to visit my brothers. It's a trip long overdue.

More later this week when I return from Atlanta.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

More New Friends

I wrote several weeks ago about my acceptance into an Early Stage Advocacy Group out of the national office of the Alzheimer's Association. Well, last week, we had our first conference call that consisted of Alzheimer's staff as well as the fourteen people that comprise the group. All of us have Early Stage Alzheimer's and the majority are Early on-set (under the age of 65). It was interesting to hear their stories and to share our thoughts. We will be meeting face to face at the end of August at a meeting in Chicago. I'm anxious to meet all of them as we all share the passion to do what we can to help fight this dreaded disease.

Our role will be to act as advisors to the Association as well as to be national spokespeople for the cause. It seems we are all rather out spoken and we each have our own little niches that we interested in. Many are interested in helping to educate the medical field more about what we go through, some are intersted in lobbying congress for more money, everyone wants to help educate the public and raise awareness to help get funds for research.

It's a very diverse group and I am honored to be one of the fourteen.

One major initiative this year for the Association is to have regional town meetings to discuss Alzheimer's. There will be one in Chicago while we are there, state chapters will have them and there will also be virtual town meetings. If you are interested in any of these, you can check out more information on the National Alzheimer's website at www.alz.org.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

New Friends

Last night my husband and I went out to dinner with a couple from the Atlanta area. The man has early on-set alzheimer's and is close to my age. We had a good time over dinner getting to know them and learning more about what they have been through. I hope this is a start of a new friendship for us.....we really enjoyed being with them and we certainly can relate to their situation.

I've been playing golf a few times over the last week and got some tennis in with my son over the weekend. Didn't do real well at either but at least it is exercise! It's amazing how quick my concentration can go. But, I try to hang in there.

Things have been a little slow. I'll post more soon.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Time to Vote Again

Thanks to all who voted in the American Express Members Project. The "Cure for Alzheimer's" project has made it into the top 25. There are four days left to vote again to make it to the tope 5 projects. I'm reposting this information for you to vote again -- but please note -- there are two projects for Alzheimer's listed. The "Cure for Alzheimer's" is the initiative sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association that I am encouraging you to vote for. Here is the information again --

Help Make Alzheimer's the American Express Members Project

TAKE ACTION!

All you have to do to cast your vote is visit www.membersproject.com. Users who have already registered can search for CURE for ALZHEIMERS or Project ID 01909.

You'll be directed to the project details page, where you can click "Vote For This Project" at the top of the page. That's all there is to it!

If you haven't already registered, have your American Express card number ready and go to www.membersproject.com. From there, you'll be asked a series of questions, and after completing them you'll be able to vote.

Spread the word to make sure we advance to the next round: Forward this information to your family, friends and colleagues and ask them to help more the cause forward today by registering and voting for our project.

Someone new develops this disease every 72 seconds in the United States alone. A few clicks of your mouse can help us move closer to a world without Alzheimer's -- vote today!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Feedback

I've been getting lots of feedback from some of my posts. Some of them have been added to this blog -- others not for various reasons. Thanks to all who have taken the time to submit a comment. Lots of interest in the Early Stage advisory group I described recently. Many have specific questions and if you would like to email me at krisbga@hotmail.com I would be more than happy to answer them individually. This is the second year of the Association having the advisory group and many areas were identified last year that need to be addressed. The whole group will be meeting in Chicago at the end of August for our first meeting I will have more to report at that time.

In the mean time if you check out the alz.org website you find some events that are upcoming relating to this group. Specifically, there will be a series of town hall meetings held across the country to open up the dialogue on Alzheimer's. I would encourage you to go if there is one in your area.

Monday, July 09, 2007

America Express Member Project

If you have seen the American Express television commercials touting the "members project" you'll know what this blog entry is about. American Express is asking people to name their top projects they would like to see funded and American Express will donate up to $5 million to a project selected by card holders. "Cure For Alzheimer's" has made it into the top 50 projects and needs to make the next cut to 25. If you have an American Express card, I urge you to go vote for the Alzheimer's cause.

Here is more information from the Alzheimer's Association.

Help Make Alzheimer's the American Express Members Project

Thanks to hundreds of American Express cardholders who are champions for our cause, the Alzheimer's Association has been chosen as one of the top 50 projects in The Members Project, a new initiative from American Express that will award up to $5 million to a project selected by American Express cardholders.

Now is your chance to put your VOICE into action again: Vote from now until July 15 to make sure the Cure for Alzheimer's Project is selected as one of the top 25 projects!


TAKE ACTION!

All you have to do to cast your vote is visit www.membersproject.com. Users who have already registered can search for CURE for ALZHEIMERS or Project ID 01909.

You'll be directed to the project details page, where you can click "Vote For This Project" at the top of the page. That's all there is to it!

If you haven't already registered, have your American Express card number ready and go to www.membersproject.com. From there, you'll be asked a series of questions, and after completing them you'll be able to vote.

Spread the word to make sure we advance to the next round: Forward this information to your family, friends and colleagues and ask them to help more the cause forward today by registering and voting for our project.

Someone new develops this disease every 72 seconds in the United States alone. A few clicks of your mouse can help us move closer to a world without Alzheimer's -- vote today!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy Fourth

to everyone. My week has been kind of quiet -- which is a good thing since we have been on the go. It has been good to rest for awhile. We don't have any major plans to travel any more this summer, until the end of August.

My son is now in California only to return in a couple of days to Atlanta. He just ended his first "summer associate" program in Washington DC and will be started a second one next week at a law firm in Atlanta. Although I know I won't see him much while he is here -- it will be like when he was at Georgia Tech for four years -- I knew that he was close enough that I "could touch him if I needed to". When he moved to California to Stanford that was a little harder for me to take.

I've been trying to play golf and tennis. My concentration lags a good bit but I keep at it. I love being outdoors and I'm getting some exercise to boot. I'm so competitive that I hate losing -- so that is the hardest part! I'm getting over it though -- or trying to at least.