Wow. It has been two weeks since I postted. Sorry for the long gap. I have been pushing on a few things.

In our favorite player jerseys Rachel (Stuver), Spencer (Pereira), and I (Gallagher) attended a delightful Austin FC 1-0 win over LA Galaxy at home. Sadly that was followed by a somewhat brutal away loss against Houston (0-2). After the LA game, we went out to see David Nihill do a hilarious comedy show about books. Really. His warmup act was a comedian who had done rap for Cirque du Soleil and did an improv rap based on five audience ideas, including Rob’s suggestion of the Austin FC Armadillo mascot. It was brilliant.

We had some nice dinners out, going to Uchiba for Rachel’s birthday and having a nice peri peri over at Lakeline Mall at Peri Peri Republic. It was the first time we have been Uchiba and it was all delicious. We had the omakase plus some extras to make it enough food for three. I particularly loved the fatty Bluefin ngiri and the tiger cry bao. I had chicken tenders with hot sauce, some falafal with mango chili, and paneer with orange sauce. The mango lassi was especially good.

I have been killing it in therapy and workout. My new immobilizer has been a huge help. I am standing for 10-15 minutes most days, with a goal of getting that up to two 15-minute stands. I walked outside for the first time. Two sets of 160 feet, almost doubling my previous best. After the walk, we went in my wheelchair down past the school at the end of my street to demonstrate my skills at navigating difficult sidewalks and safely crossing streets.

I gave a talk at a LEAD meeting of Rehab Without Walls patientafor Earth Day. My talk was “Embrace Joy” on how stroke survivors and other rehab patients can embrace joy even when our circumstances might suck. I am considering an alternate career path for the future writing, speaking, and coaching people about how to Embrace Joy. It is rather my passion now and I really want to share. If you are interested, join me over at my substack. I am trying out charging for subscriptions that include all of the book drafts and will give a copy of the book to you when it comes out.

Still keeping up the work inside. Twice I have walked up 13 steps to the landing on our staircase where I take a short break in a chair before backing down the steps (so the railing is there for my right arm). I feel like a real boy.

I am aiming for five days a week I make my own breakfast or lunch. It’s not much, but every bit of independence means something. I also am supposed to be cooking one dinner a week. Need to focus more on that. It is hard.

Today, my friend William came over for an hour and we organized my big toolbox in my garage. We are slowly making progress. William quoted Winston Churchill: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”