Seven Snippets: Sarah Kate’s Newfound Viral Fame, The Little Couple, and I Bail on the R-Word This Year

— 1 —

The story of the Most Awesome Kid in the World keeps on giving. I thought it was neat when the race announcer, Carissa Bealert, mentioned Sarah Kate on her blog this week. I was amazed when I started getting emails from Disney cast members because the story was circulating in their offices.

Then I almost fell out of my chair when I was contacted by a man with Disney about doing a feature on her for the IRunDisney.com site to promote the various Disney races. They want to bring a film crew here to Mayberry to get video of her training with the running club, of our family doing things we like to do together (other than going to Waffle House, I’m not sure what that would be…), and the like.

— 2 —

But that’s not all! Kathy Kelly of the Special Mouse podcast contacted us about being guests on her show, and a news station in North Carolina emailed me today wanting to share her story on their website. And I’ve received countless emails from people who were there, people who weren’t, and people who wish they were 🙂 and some of those who were there shared photos with me that they took of her (if you’re reading, thank you!!!)

I continue to be astounded by the reaction she received.

— 3 —

But enough about Sarah Kate’s newfound viral fame – let’s talk about Minnesota. We leave in just over a week and I SERIOUSLY need some good weather. As in, not freezing. Last Saturday, Sarah Kate threw out the first pitch in shorts; the high temperature in the Twin Cities that same day was EIGHT DEGREES.

Anywho… we saw the orthotist recently to pick up her new knee immobilizers (that she, predictably, hates) and in the course of conversation we mentioned that we’re going to Gillette for a gait study, she’ll be having surgery but we don’t know what kind yet, etc. He expressed surprise because she’s looking so much better in the new braces (that she didn’t have when we went to CP clinic in January) that he thinks surgery can wait.

So there you have it – yet another conflicting opinion. I can’t even begin to guess what they’ll tell us when we get to Gillette.

— 4 —

There’s a new video on YouTube about Jesse Stroup, the team manager with cerebral palsy who was given an opportunity to play for his college basketball team. My sister is a professor at Georgia Highlands College where he attends and shared it with me. I love the way his fellow players speak about him – it’s rare that you truly get a glimpse into the minds of the peers with stories like this one. Click the image to watch or follow this link.

— 5 —

I’ve got a new post up at HuffPo this week. It’s not new-new, but the fact that it went up this week is …ironic. It’s a (slightly reworked) version of the post about Sarah Kate’s disastrous fun run attempt in Mobile back in January. I submitted it several weeks ago, before the Princess Mile, but it slipped through their cracks and never got posted. Since the original ended with a request to “wish us luck” for February 21, they asked me to rework the ending. I was excited about the goof because I got to write a new ending to the story. You can read it here.

— 6 —

Do you watch The Little Couple? I never have before this week but the constant ads for the new season with the adoption in India and the cancer made me curious. I’ve only seen a few episodes, but I really like these people! I could totally be friends with her, no doubt. And Will is SO adorbs. I’ve even played a couple of episodes at nap time this week and they seem to be just as effective as nuns, so … Winning! (I goofed and asked Nathan yesterday at naptime if he wanted to watch the Little People – he was really enthusiastic about that prospect, because he has Little People videos he loves, which are, as you might imagine, not the same thing).

Spoiler Alert: the season premiere episode this week Tore. Me. Up. When they went to the orphanage to pick up Zoey and she was crying and afraid and they just calmly did what they were supposed to do … amazing.

— 7—

Did you notice that I didn’t blog about Spread the Word to End the Word Day this year? I did share a few links on Twitter and Facebook, but otherwise I let it go by quietly. I don’t like the version of Andi that shows up when I blog about things like the R-word. I think my written words sound rational enough, but writing them makes me feel tense and frustrated, and the last thing I need this month is something else to stress me. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but sometimes you’ve gotta get your own house in shape before you can clean up the neighborhood, amiright? So instead of my words of wisdom (or not…), here’s a roundup of some of my faves from the week:

What Really Happens When You Use the R-Word by John C. McGinley

Do a Little More by Courtney Heigele

Why I Stopped Using the R-word (And Why You Should Too) by Shasta Kearns Moore

20 reasons to respect my child with special needs by Ellen Seidman

Have a great weekend!

This post was inspired by and is linked to Conversion Diary‘s 7 Quick Takes.