I woke up with an extremely sore throat…
Another Week in the Mountains
March 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
A Scandalous Story of Love: The Move
March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We spoke with a realtor in the Raleigh area. We scoured Apartment Finder magazines. We spotted an ad in the Boston Globe advertising leases on Honda Civics for a reasonable monthly payment. This is how the world worked back in 1995 before the internet had gone viral.
The only thing we didn’t have lined up yet…were jobs.
Cabin Fever
February 26, 2013 by 2 Comments
For the first six days of our mountain adventure we had nonstop illness.
It came in the form of raging fevers that lasted five days and a 48 hour stomach bug.
Makinley Hope: Waiting
February 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We were fully prepared to learn after our week of testing at NYU, that the seizure activity was bilateral, and surgery wasn’t an option for our daughter Gabrielle.
Duke University had already told us that this appeared to be the case.
We entered the doors of Langone Medical Center with guarded hope, knowing that without this surgery, daily seizures and suffering would become our new normal.
I honestly wasn’t sure I could accept that.
The First 24 Hours
February 22, 2013 by 1 Comment
Can I just capture for a moment what it’s sometimes like to travel with seven children… or maybe just any number of children at all?
Or perhaps this type of phenomenom is something specific to me and my little corner of chaos in this world.
We left our house at 8:00 in the morning, headed for the mountains of Tennessee, for a month long adventure.
We made a brief pit stop to have Gabby’s orthotic adjusted on the way out-of-town, and then of course it was time for breakfast.
Makinley Hope: Part One
February 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It was May 2008 and we found ourselves flying to NYC for a consult with a cutting-edge neurosurgeon. We were desperate to discover whether our daughter Gabrielle might be a candidate for a three-stage brain surgery. A surgery that could possibly extinguish the seizures that were robbing our child of normal development.
The plane sped down the runway and lifted into the air, when a sudden wave of intense nausea swept over me. I held 18-month-old Gabrielle on my lap, attempting to keep her calm, as I breathed deeply through my queasiness. I began feeling better, once we reached altitude, but the same sensation again overtook me as we descended for our landing at LaGuardia.
It was probably just a little motion sickness, I told myself. I needed to get some food.
A Scandalous Story of Love: The Year of the Rat
January 19, 2013 by 1 Comment
I had decided after taking several neuroscience/neuropsychology classes that the brain completely fascinated me.
I signed up for a two-semester independent study my senior year, working in a rat lab with one of my favorite professors .
I attended surgeries where probes were inserted into the brains of female rats to measure the release of dopamine.
We tested the rats’ chemical responses to different stimuli for months at a time.
Rats are naturally nocturnal animals, behaving more actively when the lights are low, therefore studies were conducted in rooms illuminated with red lights.
Christmas 2012
January 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It is absolutely no small feat getting this family of nine packed up and ready to hit the road!
Thankfully, a lot of my older children are able to contribute now.
I just give them an estimate of how many pants, shirts, socks, underwear, and PJs to pack- and they go to work.
Each child normally packs one duffel bag full of clothes and one backpack filled with things they want to bring along for the car ride (books, toys, iPods, etc).
I pack for myself and the three youngest. I decided my four year old wasn’t quite ready, after inspecting her bag to find- one princess dress and miscellaneous toys to last her the week. 
Christmas: Changing Things Up
January 18, 2013 by 1 Comment
December arrives bringing with it anticipation and dread…
Anticipation for tree-covered lights,
chilly air,
hot cocoa,
and
nativity scenes.
Scandalous Story of Love: Jobs, Kids, and Automobiles
December 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Junior year came to a close in the spring of ’94.
Duff and I planned to spend the summer in Boston subletting an apartment with a few friends from school.*
We found the perfect second floor apartment, near the intersection of Commonwealth Ave. and Harvard Ave., and moved right on in.
I secured a job at the Pizzeria Uno Restaurant right across the street and began my waitress training.
