The Drive has a Cover and Life is a Bear!

The cover for my book "The Drive at 35" is officially out. I have posted to those of you who follow the blog. I hope you like it. Feel free to send me comments. Thanks.

So I’m on a new diet because I went from 182 to 189 in a few weeks. What is the culprit? More like who! Gummy Bears! I’ve been eating 1 or 2 bowls per night. Damn those little guys! They add up quickly. So I skipped them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and have already lost 4 pounds. I’ve subbed them for oatmeal. I also am eating Lean Cuisine meals at lunch. My goal is to get down to 180 pounds by mid-October. I believe I'm becoming too obsessed with my weight but I also know that I have to eat healthier if I am going to give cystic fibrosis a good fight for an entire lifetime.

What’s up with sports in this town (Atlanta)? The Thrashers are gone. The Hawks are on strike. The Braves are choking at a historical (not hysterical) level and the Falcons are under-achieving. At least I have my Dawgs. Oh yeah, that’s right. They’re not even in the Top 25. Maybe I should move and bring bad luck to another city.

Any way the Braves have a big week now. They HAVE TO take at least 2 out of 3 from Philly since the Cards are playing the lowly Astros. I have a really bad feeling but I’ll be watching all 27 innings and beyond this week though I have a softball game at 9:45 tonight so I’ll be checking the score on my phone.

Speaking of softball, we are in first place and this team is really gelling. When you win, it's a lot more fun to play at 9:45 at night.

Ethan had some firsts this weekend. He used a urinal for the first time although honestly he thought it was a sink when we first walked in. I grabbed him before he made that mistake. As Andrea said, I hope he now doesn’t confuse our sink with a urinal. He also scored his first goal. Technically, he scored two goals at soccer but one was against his own goalie. Meanwhile, Avery is turning into a regular Mary Lou Retton. She’s doing somersaults with girls two or three years older than her. One of the girls told me she was amazed at how good she is.

I’m thinking the Georgia Bulldogs are going to run the table and win the SEC East. I know this sounds crazy but they have a favorable schedule and I think South Carolina is over-rated especially since they have some tough games still to come. Georgia can’t lose another SEC game and must hope that USC loses at least two more times. I think it’s going to happen. I’m not too crazy though as I think whoever we play (Alabama or LSU) will destroy us in Atlanta.

I’m still working hard to find Wish for Wendy teams or even free agents. If you’re interested in taking part, please e-mail me at andy@andylipman.com.

Happy New Year to all of my Jewish friends. The benefit of being Jewish is that we get two new year's days. The negative is we get to break our resolutions twice as often as everyone else.

I hope everyone has a good week.

Andy

In support of Andrea Sneiderman

Dear Friends and Family,

I have read some of the news articles lately and heard all of the accusations against my friend Andrea Sneiderman. I'm honestly tired of reading about them and can't imagine how tired Andrea is of seeing them.

I told myself that I wouldn't blog about Rusty's case anymore but this isn't just about Rusty anymore. It's now about Andrea, the woman who meant so much to him and the woman who loved him from the days they were dating to the morning of November eighteenth and still loves him in memory today. So I am here to defend her against people that are out to hurt her. They have gone too far and they should back off.

My friend is grieving and while I've been asked to discuss her situation by countless media outlets, I refuse because I believe the prosecution of Hemy Neuman (This is the first time I've put his name on my blog) will best be helped by less public blathering during the preparation for the trial so we all make sure he goes to prison for the rest of his life.

Andrea will have her chance to say her piece and redeem her reputation, which by the way SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TAINTED by this case. After all, it was Andrea and her children who have forever lost someone they loved. When Andrea does have her say, she will be redeemed as will all of her supporters.

I teach my kids everyday to do the right thing and think of others. All others should do the same and stop hurting people with their words. It's time to clean up the mess by allowing the professionals involved in the case to handle it and do their job prosecuting the cold blooded killer. It's bad enough that an innocent man was murdered. Let's not hurt countless others by the things we say to the public.

I love Andrea Sneiderman. I loved Rusty Sneiderman. I love their kids and their families. I know what good people they are and how much they loved each other. I refuse to sit quietly while Andrea's reputation takes a beating in the press.

Oh and to the AJC, 48 hours, The Today Show and everyone else who has contacted me, here are my comments.

I support Andrea Sneiderman. I love her and loved Rusty. I support their children, their parents, their siblings and their friends. Rusty made the world a better place. Please don't let his legacy be overshadowed by unfounded theories and fame seekers.

Andrea, if you ever need someone in your corner, just ring the bell. There are lots of "Andy Lipmans" out there who will stand by you during this fight. While you may not see our names or quotes in the newspaper, we are all around and only a call away.

Thank you,

Andy

D-Day: We'll call it a draw!

Last Friday was D-Day or should I say Doctor's Day. I suppose that D-Day fits since seeing my doctor is my own internal war. I'm scared to death the week leading up to this day because I know that the outcome cannot only change my day but also my entire life.

Andrea went to a wonderful presentation the night before and brought me a signed ball from a man who was there who is also a doctor. You may know him as Dr. J. He was there supporting "Keeping Your Cord Blood" as he lost a brother to Sickle Cell Disease. Saving Ethan's Cord Blood probably helped our son immensely as we had his stem cells re-infused 7 months after he was born to help heal his brain where the stroke damaged it. Medical science is amazing if we take advantage of it. Thank goodness Andrea has so much scientific knowledge. I'm good with sports so I'll help Ethan when it comes to that. Ha Ha!

By the way, the picture attached is one of many we had taken in Charleston by my friend Melissa. She did a terrific job. The picture is a microcasm of my life. My mom, as seen here, has always been behind me (my dad too but he couldn't make it to pictures that day). My wife and kids are always in the front of my mind as I want to get better for them. As far as me, I'm smiling in more ways than one because I know how lucky I am and how much worse things could be.

Back to the doctor, my pulmonary function numbers were down 1% which to most would be no big deal but I'm not one that takes a small dip as a moral victory. I am competitive as Hell! I don't want to accept it. My doctor said that people as they get older, whether they have CF or not, have lower pulmonary function. Again, I won't accept it. Heck, I nearly failed science classes several times in high school so I have never really accepted anything that science has told me, granted I did marry a scientist so I do everything SHE tells me :)

I'm not getting all depressed about it though, just a bit disappointed. I'm at a good weight right now (185). I've never been stronger as far as my arms, legs and chest. I run 17 minutes a day in place while doing my therapy.

It's a tough time of year for me. My dad was telling me the other day that September is his favorite month because football is back, the World Series is near and the trees are beautiful. All of that is true for me except it being my favorite. As it gets colder, which it has this week, I start to flashback to my depression where I can't go outside, the day gets shorter and I'm more susceptible to colds. You'd think that my birth month would be my favorite time of year but truthfully it's the month I fear the most.

During my appointment, I did decide to take part in my first study with regards to sputum cultures and how the cultures can determine when an infection is near.

Life in general is good. The kids are enjoying school. Andrea bought me an X-Box 360 for my birthday so I'm learning how to play it. My softball team is 2-0 and just destroyed the top team in our league 20-7. My book just went through its final revision.

Congrats to my sister Emily on a terrific fashion show at Aja in Buckhead and to my wife Andrea for a very successful Pampered Chef party in Norcross. Both events raised a lot of money and even more importantly, a lot of awareness.

I could take my test results and say "Well, it's only 1% so no big deal." I know that sounds fine to some people but I can't look at it that way. If I looked at cystic fibrosis reports that way, I wouldn't be here today complaining about them. I look at this report as a chance to prove more people wrong including SCIENCE!

Here's to my next report in 8 weeks and proving that the only science I know is Science Fiction.

Have a good one.

Andy

I'm 38 and a new Top 10!

Well I have finally exceeded the median life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis. It's a pretty proud accomplishment though I hope both my age and the median life expectancy continue to go up. I have a doctor's appointment Friday so I'm hoping for good news on my condition. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Andrea and I had a wonderful time in Florida where we surprised Andrea's mom for her birthday. I have enclosed a picture from the weekend. It was great to see her entire family there. Andrea also put together my birthday dinner there where we picked up my Nana Rose and all of us dined on Hibachi. The kids absolutely loved it! Andrea also got me "cake" lollipops with UGA logos on all of them and had them mailed to our hotel. It was very sweet of her.

Speaking of UGA, that Boise State game was depressing. Coach Richt is officially on the hot seat. Our conditioning coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator aren't far behind.

The Drive at 35 is still being edited but we are pretty sure that it will be available at the latest by February and quite possibly by this November at Wish for Wendy.

Speaking of Wish for Wendy, we still need 2 more teams if anyone knows of anyone.

I've been getting a lot of speaking gigs lately including a speech in D.C. to speak to the National Cystic Fibrosis Pharmacy.

I'm concerned about the Braves. Our pitching is a mess right now and our lineup needs to be adjusted so that the best OPS guys are at the top of the lineup. I'd have to give Fredi Gonzalez a C+ so far as our manager but I'll give him a chance to win back some points come October.

I'm excited for the Falcons season to begin this weekend. I think this team can win a Super Bowl.

Does anyone watch Entourage? That show is going absolutely nowhere heading into the finale. This show jumped the shark when Ari became a nice guy.

As an avid reader of People Magazine (yes, I'm a guy and still read it), I am sick of the following story lines: Jennifer Aniston has a new guy, Angelina and Brad are cool, the Kardashians are better than sliced bread, Julia Roberts is pretty and J-lo is the greatest. Please, People. I beg of you. Please do some different stories.

Now back to sports so I can regain my man card. The Phillies starting rotation is sick. If they don't win the World Series, I'll be shocked. I'm sick of hearing about the Packers. Does the NBA still exist? If not, I'm fine with that.

Finally, here is my Top 10 list of things that I question this week.

1. Why does the AJC still have an Atlanta Thrashers section?

2. Why when I have a doctor's appointment do I have to listen to a 5 minute message confirming my appointment and then pressing a number afterwards. Why can't they just call and say "You coming or what?"

3. Why is it when I get a bag of Gummy Bears it tells me how many calories per serving and how many servings per bag? Look Haribro or whatever company made these, I'm a Gummy Bear Whore! I'm eating the whole bag. I don't have time to do the math. Just break it to me. How many calories is the entire bag? Don't judge me!

4. Why do we still call it RSVP'ing? It's a French term. We're Americans. Let's go with a new acronym. ATEBIKYSI is a good one (Answer the Evite Because I Know You've Seen It!).

5. Why does my daughter listen to Katy Perry? Why does she have to listen to the same song 200 consecutive times?

6. Why does my son think it's funny when I put him on the potty and the truth is that he doesn't have to go and he knows I can't get that 30 seconds back? Fortunately I paused 90210 on the Soap Network. Man, now I have to get the Man Card back again.

7. Why is "Silence of the Lambs" on Lifetime? I was so excited to watch it until the commercial stated "Lifetime: Television for Women." The worst part is that "The Craig's List Killer" is on next and I really wanted to see it.

8. Why do they call zero "Love" in tennis? If someone beats me 6-LOVE, I don't feel like giving them a hug. How about calling it "Hate?"

9. Why are there toilet paper rolls that cannot be broken into more than a 2 inch section? In that case, can there be tape available so I can at least tape them together to form a normal piece of toilet paper. Charmin, can you hear me?

10. Is Paul Rudd in every movie? I have literally seen 20 Paul Rudd films this year. I wanted to figure out this question so I went back and checked out my Bar Mitzvah video from 1987 and low and behold, Paul was carrying the Torah. Son of A...

Thanks everyone. Have a wonderful week.

Andy