Food Inc.

Last night we sat down and watched Food Inc. for the first time. Let me just say this movie is a shocking wake up call to our country to change the way we think about our food. There are parts of the movie that are just flat out mind numbing, seeing the truth that we really aren't meant to see. If we all don't wake up and start doing something about this, I believe things are just going to get worse for us and especially our children and their children and so on. I urge everyone to see this as soon as possible and take what action they can on a local level. There are lots of informative sites out there to help you take part however you can wherever you may be. Takepart.com is a very good site with plenty of good information for everyone. One of my personal favorites is the push to make lunches healthier in our schools. I can't tell you the number of times the kids come home and are hungry because they don't like what the school is feeding them. Their options are very limited and also very repetitious.



Hopefully, if awareness becomes more widespread and people stop taking the easy option everyday we can make some kind of difference. Please feel free to let me know what you think, or at least check out some of these sites and see what you can do to be a part of the solution. I don't like to think that we will eventually get to the point of "too late to make a difference", but if something isn't done soon, that could very well be the case.

Down the Road

Wow, it has really been a long time since I have gotten on to the Blog. I intended to keep going with it, but as soon as school starts, everything goes into high gear. I'm sure there are a few folks out there who are curious and might say to themselves, "I wonder what ever happened to the Gallaghers?" Well, I guess you are about to find out. As you can already tell, we've all been really busy in the past 6 months. Between holidays and school and work, it's enough just to focus on our everyday routines. The kids are doing really well. Meghan won the terrific kid award at school, which Noah has won his first 2 years there, and there might be one to close out this year. We are very proud of the two of them. I don't think there's really a day that goes by that we don't think of Daniel, but to be honest, if you spend more than a few moments on it, it makes it difficult to go into the day well focused. Eventually I plan to do more with some slideshows and video, but that will probably have to wait until the summer. It's very easy to start remembering what we we're doing last year and what we went through. I still believe if we could go through some of the tougher moments there again, we would in a hearbeat, just to have him back with us. Somethings things just don't turn out like we think they will, for I guess a reason unbeknownest to us. The holidays were good around here, it seemed kind of like a last hurrah in a way, if you've been following the impending doom themes in the media recently. Maybe in some way Daniel was spared to not have to go through what the rest of us will shortly go through. Anyway, the bottom line is he's in a better place than we are, wherever or whatever that might be. We would love to hear from everyone at some point as we did meet so many wonderful people that will always be near and dear to are hearts. All of us would like to come up there, especially Laura and I, because believe it or not, Cincinnati was a city we came to love to. I know that's strange to say but for all those months it was our safe haven, in comparison to other health care providers out there. We have developed some kind of phobia down here of the medical field because we know how it should be. Laura does start the Nursing program here in the fall, so baring any great depressions, she will be helping to get them in shape down here in no time. I personally feel like I could work in some kind of medical field even though I am not certified. It is indeed a teaching hospital, both for doctors and patients. By the way, the picture at the top is probably the most recent taken of all of us, somwhere in middle December. In case anyone doesn't have them, both of our email addresses are 2 the right of the blog. Even if you just shoot us a quick hello, please let us know things are well for you. In the comings month's (which I hope to still be blogging still, we'll see) everyone needs to remember something we've learned the hard way. It could always be worse, and I mean that in the most optimistic way possible. It's kind of like there's a lot more phish in sea, but in a different way. I think this Valentine's Day will be one of the best one's ever, another last hurrah type thing, where people really appreciate each other more than they have in the past, or at least my hope. Up next, the Nursing Teaching household?........

The Beach

Laura and I finally had an opportunity to escape last weekend just the two of us for a quick 3 day getaway to Myrtle Beach. It was the first time just the two of us had gone away as stress free as we can be, in quite a long time. The first night we were there we hit Angelo's which is supposedly home of the best steaks in the universe. I'm not sure I can confirm that as I have not tried all of the steaks in the universe, but I must say it was a really good steak. Later that evening we took in a show at the Carolina Opry, which is currently doing a show called Good Vibrations. They basically recreate songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's and have dancers and visuals, laser lights and other assorted entertaining props. We really enjoyed this although being that most schools are back in, we seemed to be by far the youngest folks there, although we probably knew more of the music than the majority of people there. We spent the next couple of days relaxing, people watching, and actually never made it down to the actual beach as we had such a great view of the beach and ocean from our room. We were on the 9th floor and enjoyed a spectacular view both eastward and westward. All in all a nice little getaway before we really get thick into both school and work the next few months.

First Day of School

Noah started 2nd grade and Meghan started Kindergarten yesterday. They both seemed to be pretty excited, although maybe a little apprehensive starting the new year. This is Meghan's first year in public schools and she seemed to do pretty well, even going so far as telling us that we could go ahead and take Noah to his class and she could take of herself. Well, of course we didn't do that. After the day was over it appeared that they both had a great day at the first day of school.

Hannah Montana Party

This past Saturday, Laura and I decided to have a Hannah Montana sleepover. We ended up having 9 kids including our 2. The kids played pretty hard outside, and then came inside to watch some Hannah Montana. Although it wasn't in 3d, the kids were decked out in their glasses like it was. Later on in the evening we broke out the fog machine and disco lights to give our own unique spin on Hannah Montana 3d. I believe all the kids had a great time and were going just as strong when they woke up the next morning. I believe the ages of the kids ranged from 3 to 9 years old so we had a little bit of everything.

BIke Riding

Yesterday both of the kids road their bikes without training wheels for the first time. They made a few attempts last summer in the grass to do this, but never on the road for that long. Each of them pretty much took off as soon as we let go. Of course they still need to work on starting and stopping, although mostly just getting started. Laura and I are both so proud of the kids to just take off like that and keep going.

Donations

We've had several requests for other ways to Donate in Memory of Daniel, so we are offering another way that people might make a difference for families that will come to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for the same thing we did. Please visit this sight for different options on making donations. You can either do it online or print out a form to mail in. Under comments it wouldn't hurt to request that your contribution go to the RCNIC where Daniel spent the majority of his life. I'm going to post this on both sites to make sure anyone who wants to see it, sees it. Once again we'd like to tell everyone how much we appreciate the incredible response of love, support, prayers, thoughts, etc. in these difficult times. Here is the link to the Hospital's contribution sight. Once again, thank you.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Donation Site

Western NC Getaway

This weekend, since I had the weekend off, we made one final attempt to get out of town before school starts back up in a week. We decided we'd take a trip to one of our favorite places to go when we want to get away....the mountains. We headed up to Brevard on Friday and had a very uneventful dinner at the Pisgah Fish Camp. We made it back to the hotel just in time to catch what I believe to be one of the most spectacular opening ceremonies ever, at least as I recall it. If you didn't get a chance to see this, I strongly suggest you seach this out either online or on the TV. We woke up Saturday morning and headed to Headwater Outfitters on the French Broad River where we had canoeing reservations. We had signed up for the 4 hours, 10 mile trip down the river. What a great choice of things to do! All I can say is that if you have never been, now might be the time to go. Not only is it a great way to have a great time with your family, I would also consider it to have some therapeutic value. There's nothing like paddling down the river with only you and the river, especially when you play the quiet game and get to really appreciate the meaning of silence. It's very relaxing and the kids did really well, both wanting to do it again when we finished up. The weather could not have been more perfect, hovering right around 80 the whole day. We definitely look forward to possibly doing it again once the leaves start changing. We made our way over from the outfitters in Rosman back over to Brevard and went to Sliding Rock. None of us had ever done this before although we were fully aware of what it was all about. Basically you slide down a 60 ft waterfall into an 8 foot pool of water that's around 45-50 degrees. Meghan and I did it first and I must say, this is quite a shock to the system, I think I was still gasping while Meghan had already made her way back to the rocks. Next Laura and Noah went and it went down about the same way. Lots of fun, although not quite a pretty sight as people don't exaclty come prepared to get wet, although they do anyway, and there's probably a few people out there who have no business being wet in public as it is! Although what matters most is everyone was having a great time. After a great day of water activities, we made our way downtown Brevard to enjoy what we all agreed was some of the best Mexican we had ever had. Not only was the service incredible, the food was perfect. Everyone crashed pretty hard after this day, but woke up ready to take one more adventure. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway back over to Asheville and headed into the Biltmore Estate. I must say this is a very impressive residence, although the House is actually much more like a museum and if it wasn't for the gardens, we agreed, we might have felt a little ripped off. But the gardens did not dissapoint. The variety of plant life blew away any other botanical garden I've ever seen. And for the most part the bloom were in great shape considering most of the southeast is in a drought. I would definitely recommend going to Biltmore if you haven't been, but be sure to hit the gardens while you're there. The easiest way to do it seemed to be as you are exiting you actually drive through part of the gardens and can park behind them afterwards. On the way out the road is lined for about a quarter of a mile at least of sunflowers which is quite a sight. All in all, this trip was a satisfying way to get prepared for the impending craziness which is the school year. At some point I'm going to try and put together a little slideshow from this weekend as well.

Another One of Us

I thought I'd take a moment to introduce everyone to another family member that some of you out there might be unfamiliar with.......Liza! Liza is our 12 year old Siberian Husky who has been with us through thick and thin. She unfortunately has gotten little mention because there's been so much going on, but we couldn't ask for a better dog. She's got one of the most amazing personalities of any dog I've ever come in contact. She's done really well with both the kids even when they were just weeks old. She rarely barks and if anything she might howl with the sirens should some come by the neighborhood. Anyway, I just thought we should share one our unseen members of the family that hasn't gotten her share of attention for quite some time.

Moving Forward.....

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since Daniel was diagnosed as having CDH, and it's even harder to believe what we've all been through the past year. Since I was blogging before this time last year and have been ever since, I see no reason to stop now. Although this time after hearing a lot of feedback, I'll be sharing our lives with anyone who cares to check up on us. We'd really like to be able to stay in touch in some sort of way with all the people who's lives we've touched and who's lives have been touched by our family. Please don't hesitate to let us know how you are doing out there, be it the nurses, the doctors, the friends, the family, we want to know you are doing well just as much as you'd like to see us doing well. We left last Wednesday to go down to the beach to get away for a few days and try and start the healing process the best we could. Although we couldn't have asked for a better family trip, it was more like pausing all of our feelings and emotions for what's been going on until we got home. It's now been almost a week since we laid Daniel to rest, and I can't help but look back at one of the most powerful spiritual moments I've ever had as the Pastor spoke during the commital. It was truely a moving experience that words alone cannot describe. The most comforting thought in trying to move on is in knowing that all of Daniel's pain and suffering is now over and he is in a much better place now than you and I. But at the same time it's hard to move past that smile that lit up the room that Daniel would share with us as he heard Mom and Dad's voices come into the room. I keep that smiling face as my permanent memory of how Daniel was. So, with that said, please keep in touch, and we will be keeping in touch letting everyon know what's going on through our blog. I hope this finds everyone well......