Happy New Year

to everyone. Thanks for all your cards, messages and letters this holiday season. I have had so many thoughts of what I want to write in this blog since Christmas that I can't get them all organized. I hope to do that soon.

In the meantime, my best to you for a great New Year.

Happy Holidays!

From our family to yours!

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and we have just finished a great meal with Alan's fiance, her sister, and her parents. It's nice they were able to share some time with us.

Tomorrow, our Christmas morning, will be the last one with just the three of us. Next year, Alan will be a married man and he will be starting his own Christmas traditions.

To all of our friends and family -- we say -- the happiest of holidays to you. Thanks for reading my blog this year and your sincere comments, support and love you have shown me and my family. I love you all.

Long post!

I have tried to sit down and write something all week but every time I do I have so many thoughts that I can't sift through them all. So, I get up from the computer desk and don't post anything. But this morning, I decided to post even if some of the things I am writing don't seem to make sense. I just need to get them written down.

1. My son came home this week. It is so nice to have him home. We laugh a lot when he is here and I miss that. It's a little harder for me to concentrate when he is around because that is one more person in the house that I am not used to having around, but I'll take it anyday if I can be with him.

2. I have been amazed at some of the cards, notes and gifts that have been appearing on our doorstep. I love getting cards at Christmas and yes, I am one of those people that love getting the Christmas letters from everyone. I forget what is happening in their lives during the year and it is always so nice to catch up with what they have going on. This year, when I sent out my Christmas letter, I decided to spare some people from reading it, so I didn't enclose a letter in many cards because I just figured that they might not care what is going on in our household. How wrong I was -- I have gotten several cards and notes from people saying, "we missed your letter this year and what is happening in your life". That kind of shocked me but I should be pleased that friends are interested in us. I suppose many thought perhaps my illness prevented me from writing something this year. And, it was definitely hard for me to come up with something but I did. I will follow up with these friends later. And, thoughtful gifts, from people I never expected to get something from have arrived, with basically, a thinking of you message. Friends are so important and I love everyone of mine!

3. My on going struggle with Social Security is back in the picture. The social security office is now ready to work my case. I got a letter from them and my attorney asking for all this information "immediately". Of course, getting it over the Christmas holiday and trying to track down the records "immediately" might prove to be a little difficult. And, I certainly would have appreciated them looking at my files "immediately" instead of almost 30 months after they were submitted!

4. I've got to try to get into the dentist today. There is definitely something wrong with my teeth -- it is very weird -- I can't pinpoint the problem but I feel like all of my teeth hurt. I know that sounds funny, but that is the only way to describe it. I'm not sure if he can help me, but I'm hoping maybe he can give me something for the pain to get me through Christmas.

5. Going back to the cards -- one thing that certainly humbled me, was that an agent I used to work with when I booked performances sent me a card. She left the business several years ago when she had a baby. But, on the back of the envelope of her card, she put a note saying that I had inspired her and to read her Christmas letter - she hoped I didn't mind. After opening the envelope and reading her first paragraph, I was touched. She told her friends that she wasn't going to write a Christmas letter this year, but after reading mine and realizing how important mine was to her, that she decided to write one. We became friends even in our crazy business days that I truly admire her.

6. Tomorrow, I am going to meet my two "surrogate sons" as I have called them in previous blogs. These two young men worked for me and I went to one of their weddings this year. I had posted a photo of them on my site last summer. One is in the army in Texas and another works in Pennsylvania. They will both be home for Christmas and we are getting together for lunch. They are about a year older than my son and I have really enjoyed getting to know them not only as employees but as individuals. We have shared many a laugh together. The other one is getting married this year, and unfortunately he is getting married the same day that my nephew is gettng married in Illinois so I won't be able to get to his wedding. The Army is sending one to Iraq come July. It will probably be a long time before the three of us are together again since I won't be at the wedding. Just like my son, I hate that they are not close by. I enjoy being around them and I am grateful they have kept me in their life.

OK -- Ineed to stop now. I realize much of what I have written probably doesn't mean much to most people but it does to me. But thanks for reading. If I don't get a chance to post again before Christmas --- my very best to everyone for a safe and happy holiday!

This week I was in Atlanta. I went to speak to some donors of the Alzheimer's Association. While there, my husband and I stopped at one of the malls since it was the middle of the week and not as crowded as usual. The decorations were up, but it was 75 degrees outside. It just didn't feel like Christmas. Not that we usually have snow or anything here in the south for Christmas, but it usually isn't 75 degrees either. A cold front is suppose to move in tomorrow. That will help.

I have a conference call this week for our Early Stage Advisory Group and my son will be home on Tuesday. It's time for him to be home for awhile. That will make it seem more like Christmas.

Disability

My friend Rich from LA sent this article regarding Social Security Disability. It's so sad that people are having to go through this!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/us/10disability.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

On a lighter note -- next week my son will be home for Christmas. I'm looking forward to the laughter he brings to the household.

Slowing Down

I'm here -- I've just had to slow down a little. I have managed to wind up with pneumonia so I've been resting. The doctor gave me some antibiotics and some cough medicine which I think have helped. I've certainly been sleeping a lot. I'm trying to push myself a little to do a few things, but I get tired very quickly. I was due for some down time, but I'm not sure this is what I thought it would be!

American Public Radio

has a great program called "The Infinite Mind". A friend that is on our Early Stage Advocacy Group is interviewed as well as Peter Reed from the National Alzheimer's Association. The program is an hour long, but worth listening to if you have the time.

James is a great person. He and I have spoken a couple of times together at conferences. He was in charge of the IT program for American Express when he was diagnosed with Early Stage Alzheimer's. James has two daughters that go to Northwestern University. He has a great sense of humor, and although we consider him a "techie", he is very outgoing and a great speaker. I love his analogies when he speaks and I think -- why couldn't I have thought of that!

Here is a link to the program http://lcmedia.com/mindprgm.htm

The weekend

My trip to South Carolina for the Town Hall meeting was good. I got to meet some new people but, as always there is never enough time to talk to everyone. There were about 100 people at the Town Hall meeting.

One of the speakers, was a lady from South Carolina who has early stage Alzheimer's. I enjoyed laughing with her as she talked about her ways of coping. One thing she said she did as soon as she was diagnosed was to go and put names on the back of all of her photographs so everyone would know who they were. I did that exact same thing! That is what led me into doing scrapbooking. We are all so different in how the Alzheimer's affects us but it seems like we respond in so many like ways.

Before I left on Saturday I was writing some notes to people, and I just couldn't spell. Every five minutes I was asking my husband how to spell things -- and I am a good speller. I haven't figured out how to use the spell check in the blog program and since I have such a problem with synonyms (sp?) it wouldn't tell me if I was using the right word. How frustrating this is to me. It's getting much worse. I have to write and re-write just to make sense of what I am trying to say. And, if you are reading this I am sure at times you become just as confused as I do. I've also noticed that it is getting more difficult to type correctly. I've always been a very fast typist and I realize I make a lot more mistakes now. It's so frustrating I tend to scream about it at times!

I've managed to catch a pretty good cold. I've been sleeping most of the day. A few more days of rest is what I need.

More soon -- thanks for reading!

Memory Walk Team

Here is a photo of our Memory Walk Team. Thanks to everyone, we raised over $15,000.00!