Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Okay why does this always happen to me...

With a week left before my vacation the attendant that promised to go on vacation with me to do my personal care backed out on me. We had made a couple of changes but before each change I checked with her to make sure it would be okay and she said that it would be. We even planned on staying two days longer and going to Disneyland, she not only said it was okay but asked if she could bring her daughter and I said yes. One evening after she left she called me back and left a message on my answering machine saying that she could not go. I shouldn't be surprised because she has done this before, when will I learn? If I had known a week before I could have gotten my other attendant to go but she needed more notice from her agency. My aunt that we are visiting in Arizona is a caregiver and will be glad to help and between my mom and my sister-in-law we will be fine and still have a great time.

On the bright side, I don't have to find two people to drive to Chico to get my rental van. Kevin, from South Bay, said that he would drive and meet them so I would not have to worry about it, Kevin is such a sweet and caring man. I will be able to pick the van up from South Bay Mobility on Friday and have everything loaded up and ready to go 8 a.m. on Monday morning. We just finished packing up my clothes and everything I will need. Awhile back I had bought a brand new set of luggage because I had planned on taking a trip to Disneyland last summer but I cannot find it anywhere. Luckily a lot of the stores are having a big sale so I will be able to go out tomorrow and buy a new set, I hope it's not going to be too crowded out there.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Christmas and Vacation

I'm starting to get a little more relaxed about the trip. I finally got a confirmation for the rental van except for the place is in Chico. Itself like they're going to deliver it to my brothers in Modesto or maybe in San Francisco. I found my luggage and I'm going to start packing on Wednesday, I'm sure that I will forget a few things but I think that's normal? I have to make sure I have everything packed for Brodie and I .

Tomorrow I'm going back to the Gilroy Outlets one more time, I know I keep saying that but hopefully this time it's true. Every time I come back from The Chocolate Factory people just fall in love with the sugarless chocolates and I end up going back. I also want to get a sweater to wear for Christmas Day for myself.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Keith Urban

Wow this was the best concert I have gone to so far. Keith Urban has so much energy and enjoys performing so much and it really shows. This was the last stop on his tour and he stayed and played about an hour longer than he was supposed to, it was awesome. Dana Carter opened for him and she also put on a great show. Of course it rained while we were leaving so I got soaked getting back to the van but it was definitely worth it. I was going to take my cell phone because we were actually pretty close and I think could have gotten a really good picture but I forgot it.

I can not believe next weekend is Christmas already, this year has gone by really fast but it has been a really good year. I thought it was done Christmas shopping but it looks like I need to go back to the Gilroy outlets to get a couple more things than I will really be done.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Christmas

Keith finished texturing the sky lights in my bedroom and bathroom and painted them and now you can't even tell that they were put in after I moved here, he also put the lights up today outside and they look so pretty. He put them all along the deck and the stairs and around the rail in the back of the House. I finally got all of the presents wrapped and they're under and around the tree.

This Saturday evening is the Keith Urban concert and I'm getting more excited every day, I've been waiting for this for months. The Christmas in the park in downtown San Jose is on the way there so I want to stop and stroll around the park, it gets more beautiful every year. There's also a couple of really good restaurants right across the street from the park that I've been wanting to try.

 

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Disneyland

I think we decided to leave Arizona a little early and stop at Disneyland on the way back for two days. Ever since the last time that we went I have been wanting to go back and I even planned a little trip last June but it never did work out. Grandpa is not feeling very well and he can't have too much company for too long and although it would be great to spend more time with Steve and Mike and Kelly and Tom and Kevin as well as Grandpa at Aunt Bobby this might be the only chance in to go back to Disneyland for a while. If this trip goes well I do plan on taking more trips regularly.

I'm going to start going back to the support groups on Monday and start a program to visit the new injuries with my friend Marv on Wednesdays. From 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. we go from room to room at Valley Medical and talk to the new patients and their families, I am really excited about starting this. I also get to go to classes that will help me better talk to people, I think that will do me a lot of good.

Friday, December 9, 2005

Crazy drivers

I decided to go to the Gilroy outlets to see what they have there. A friend of mine told me about a great restaurant in Gilroy, I'm always looking for good food. I found the restaurant but decided to go to the outlets first. On our way back from the outlets a lady turned in front of us and we had to slam on our breaks and we missed her by about 2 inches.  Stopping so fast threw Brodie into the drivers seat and she was whining.  By the time we turned around and went back the lady was gone, I was so mad.  Brodie is okay, just a small cut on her leg.

I went out yesterday and I think I finished my Christmas shopping, I have never finished this early and I'm sure that I forgot something. I got home and we were going to get everything wrapped and under the tree when I noticed I have no Christmas wrapping paper, I have wrapping paper for every other occasion but nothing for Christmas so that is my goal for today. I'm hoping to get Christmas wrapping paper and get everything wrapped and under the tree and I will be ready for Christmas.

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Pictures

My cousin Kelly sent me some pictures from when she was staying here of my Mom, her Mom and our cousin Marcy, having breakfast with Gramps, lunch at Mobos, Kelly visiting Nappa Valley and my cousin Kevin, Kellys twin.

I can't wait to go to Arizona after Christmas to visit with and get picutres of everyone else.  Some I haven't seen for over 10 years.

Monday, December 5, 2005

Getting over the flu

It turned out to be a really nice day. I dropped off some paperwork to my lawyers and I went by KFC and got a twister and went over to the Rose Garden Park. There weren't a lot of people there so Brodie got to run around to for quite a while and she had a really good time. She chased a couple of squirrels and the tennis ball for about an hour and then we went to pick up my pants at the seamstress's.

I was feeling a little better today, I have been battling the flu since Friday morning. All weekend I was taking Echinacea, Sudafed, Vicks nasal spray and DayQuil/NyQuil and today I felt a lot better.

Dawn will be here tomorrow morning to do my manicure, pedicure and wax my eyebrows and then I will take Brodie to the park again and hopefully go see a movie, I would like to see Yours Mine and Ours.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Christmas tree

I'm sitting here with all the lights out looking out my Christmas tree and it is an unbelievable feeling, it's funny how much something like that can fill your heart. It makes you think back on all the Christmases and pretty much all of them were wonderful. I guess tomorrow I get to start Christmas shopping again, that I'm not looking forward to.

Last night my computer crashed and I had to get out my extra hard drive so I could send this one to David to get fixed. Luckily he made an extra drive for me in case this happens. The unfortunate part is I don't remember a lot of my appointments this week so I been calling around trying to see where I am supposed to be and that what time.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

I feel Christmas already

Thanksgiving was wonderful. As usual we had a full house and way too much food. I bought some chips and dip and other hors d'oeuvres from Costco but nobody ate anything because they didn't want to spoil their appetite so now what do I do with all these hors d'oeuvres? I guess I will have to have a party. My mom and Rosie cooked the turkey, the spiral ham and all the side dishes, I love my mother's dressing.

Stanley and Janet went home on Thursday evening but left the kids here so we went to see the new Harry Potter movie on IMAX and then had lunch at Original Joe's downtown. The Christmas Park is already finished and it was beautiful, we walked around and check it out a little but it was cold so we headed for home. I can't wait to go back and check out the rest of it.

On Saturday Janet and I went Christmas shopping and to get a Christmas tree. They set it up and decorated it for me and decorated my house a little bit while we listen to Christmas music , it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here. I'm going to try to go to Costco tomorrow, that should be fun. Last time I went I ran it to my friend Kurt and he gave me his number in case I needed anything, he is so sweet. I didn't know that he lives in Los Banos.

Keith is finished with the ramp, the porch and the fence and it looks great, I can't believe I finally found a guy to do maintenance and he does such a great job.

Stanley, Janet and the kids are coming down for Thanksgiving. Stanley and Janet have to go home on Thursday night and they're leaving the kids here and they're coming back on Friday night. I want to take the kids to see the new Harry Potter movie on IMAX and then on Saturday Janet and the kids are taking me to get my Christmas tree and help me decorate it. I found a bubble machine on eBay and I think it's going to look great.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Abilities Expo

The Ability's Expo was really great this year. I think a lot of the reason I like to go is to catch up with people I haven't seen since the last one. I ran into Marv and his wife when I first got there. I actually saw Marv a couple of months ago when I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, he works there and also teaches scuba diving there, he is a paraplegic. He was telling me about a new program they started at Valley Medical where they are pairing up peers and having them go from room to room to talk to the new injuries and their families and he is looking for a partner, it sounds like something I would like to do. I've been wanting to go back to the weekly support groups but I have been kind of nervous about it but knowing that he will be there it will be a lot easier. They also have one on the third Thursday of every month for peers only, I have never been to this one but here that they have a lot of fun, this one is almost all men so I'm sure I will have a good time. I also talked to Bill and Lee from Max-Ability. When I get my new exercise bicycle Bill is going to come over and help me set it up and help me learn how to use it, his son has one. His son was good friends with my cousin Patrick, small world. I also ran into Kevin from South Bay Mobility. He is going to help me rent a full-size van for our trip to Arizona and help me purchase a new van, I knew that he fixed vans but I didn't know he sold them. I met and talked to quite a few people over there and I really had a good time.  I went to say hello to Eric from Rehab Specialists and see if he could help me out with a problem I've been having with my chair. The back of my chair seems to keep leaning farther and farther back than it gets very frustrating, he showed my brother how to fix it and it seems to be a lot better. I go in on Tuesday to have Tim from National Seating do some alterations on my chair but it was nice to have the back straightened up a little bit, we put some erasers behind the seat and that worked temporarily but it feels a lot better now.

After that we went to Chili's, I have been wanting to try their new steaks and then we went to see the new Harry Potter movie at the IMAX theater but all of the showings were sold out so we went across the street and saw it at the regular theater, I really liked the movie a lot. I have tried to watch the Harry Potter movies before but wasn't very impressed, I'm going to try to watch them again.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Friday

I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. feeling great and just laid there and looked at the moon through the skylight in my bedroom for about half an hour, it's going to be a beautiful day.

Last night was my first night without Brodie in over two years. The vet wants to do a bunch of diagnostics test on Brodie because of her ear infection and didn't have time to do it last night so they're going to do it this morning. Hopefully I will still be able to make it to the Abilities Expo but Brodie is more important and there's always tomorrow.

There's always a couple of movies that I would like to see and I did get a couple of offers.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Critters

It looks like we finally got rid of the critters around here. We had to take Brodie to the vet today because she got bit by fleas that the critters brought in here, I probably have the only dog in the world allergic to fleas.

Tomorrow starts the Abilities Expo. I'm going tomorrow to check everything out and see who is there this year, it is always so nice to see everybody that I only see once a year there and catch up on our lives. My brother is taking me on Sunday to help me look for a new van. Between the OT's at Valley medical and Tony I'm looking for a person or family that really needs a van to get my old one to.

Stanley, Janet and the kid are coming for Thanksgiving. After dinner Stanley and Janet are going to go home but are leaving the kids here, I'm trying to find something fun to do like go see Harry Potter's new movie or maybe Paramount's Great America.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Scarey morning

This morning when I was getting ready to take a bath I could see two men coming up to the door. I asked Madonna to lock Brodie in the bedroom before she answered the door when I saw one man looking in the window, I could see his badge, he was a cop so I told Madonna not to close the doors. Madonna opened the door and Brodie rushed out and scared them at first, Madonna told them she wouldn't hurt anybody but they backed up and asked her to put the dog on a leash, whenever somebody comes to the door she runs at them and barks with her hackles up. Then they asked her who was in the House and who was she talking to. I told them they could come in and they told me that they got a 911 call from this residence. Earlier when I tried to get online my DSL was not working so I had to use dial-up and I could hear somebody saying "can I help you?". I told them about this, apologized and gave them a little tour of my house and they left. They were pretty impressed with Multimedia Max.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Gramps

This weekend is the Abilities Expo finally. I have been waiting a long time for it because I'm looking to get a new van.

It looks like we are going to take a trip to Arizona to see my grandpa the week between Christmas and New Years. My brother David is going to fly here and help drive there. My brother Stanley and his family are also going it sounds like it's going to be a great trip. I'm going to rent a full-sized van and rent some hospital equipment in Arizona.

Keith finished putting the carpet on the front porch and he power washed my ramp and fence and it looks so silky smooth, like it was brand new.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Brochure

Lisa from Stanford just e-mailed me and said that they decided to use my picture in their brochure for tendon transfer surgery, I can't believe it, hopefully I will be able to put a copy of the brochure on my homepage .

They want me to go in after Thanksgiving to do an MRI to see how my muscles have change since the surgery, if they even have. I have noticed a substantial improvement and from their test at Stanford they have also. I'm hoping that they will be able to help other spinal cord injury candidates better in the future.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Mouse in my house

Ewwww, last Friday when Betty was cleaning the kitchen she said that she saw mouse droppings. I bought some bagels that had everything on them and I was hoping that that's what it was from, it wasn't. We threw the bagels away and there was more droppings on Monday so I called terminix and they came out on Tuesday and brought these traps. By Thursday morning we had caught one, now what do I do?? I guess I'm going to have to get the neighbor or the guy across the street to come and take it away, I cannot bear to look at it. Madonna said when she went in there this morning she could hear it screaming like it was begging for her to set it free. I really hate the thought of killing anything but I cannot have a mouse in my house.

Today I get to go get my mammogram, thank goodness I cannot feel it like other women can. I also need to go to Costco and do some grocery shopping and of course take Brodie to the park.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Gramps

Today is one of the saddest days of my life. My mom just called and said that my grandpa is not doing very good at all. He is bedridden and has to be fed. He turned 90 years old last March and was doing pretty good but now he's going downhill fast and there's nothing that I can do. My Aunt Kathy and my Uncle Ronnie are going to visit them for Thanksgiving and my mom is going to go after Thanksgiving and stay for a while, I wish that I could go. He is a great and funny man and he had a wonderful life, I love him very much.

Monday, November 7, 2005

Another day in paradise

It really turned out to be a great day. I got a massage this morning, took a really hot long bath and ended up relaxing in bed, Lulu called in sick. Laying here watching TV all day really felt good.

It's a week and a half until the Abilities Expo, I can't believe it's finally here. This year I'm definitely going Friday to beat the crowd as well as Saturday. Hopefully I will find a vehicle that I like.

Sunday, November 6, 2005

Home Maintenance

I think I finally found somebody to do home maintenance and he lives just across the street. The first guy I had over here ended up taking off owing me money, that's what I get for giving him an advance. The next company that I called lives in my aunts house and has a carping cleaning business and does maintenance. Twice I called them and they didn't call me back until after I found somebody else. This guy also has a carpet cleaning business and I have seen him quite a few times, I always see him fixing things in his house so I hope it works out... at least I know where this guy lives. I meet with him tomorrow.

Saturday, November 5, 2005

Chicken Little

Last night we had KFC and watched a movie called Robots, it was a very cute movie. While we were eating breakfast this morning there was a movie on called The Rundown, that was a really good movie, usually I don't like movies like that. Today we went to go see Chicken Little, that was a very cute movie. We were going to go to Chili's afterwards but then remembered that it is Saturday night so we decided to order some pizza and watch another movie here.

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Thanksgiving decorations

We took down the Halloween declarations and put them away for another year. We went to bring back the Thanksgiving decorations but I didn't have very many, this year Thanksgiving is going to be here. So we had to go get some more decorations, we went to Ross. They had a lot of really neat stuff there and I also found a couple of decorations for Christmas, I just love the holidays.

I no longer use an agency for my caregivers, they are all private now and I'm saving about $50 a day, caregiving agencies are just so expensive.

Stanley and two of the kids, David and Corinne, are coming down tomorrow night and staying until Sunday. I was going to go tomorrow to see Chicken Little but I think I'll wait so we can all go on Saturday.

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Halloween

Last night was really great, we actually had a lot of kids coming around and even got to scare a few of them, unfortunately as usual I forgot to take pictures.  I'm going to take some pictures of the inside and outside before we take the decorations down today but I wish I had pictures of the people because everybody looked cool. We ate a ton of pizza, in fact I woke up this morning about 2 a.m. and thought that I was going to be in trouble, my stomach and head were really hurting, I lay here for a while and ended up falling back to sleep and when I woke up at 7 a.m. I felt good, that was close...too much pizza and candy.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Halloween party

The Halloween party was a lot of fun and there were a lot of people there, Brodie was a big hit as usual. I had originally got her a Superman (or Superdog) costume but I saw a couple of other ones that I liked better. I got her a bumble bee and a dog costume. Lulu thought that the dog costume was kind of silly, she said "she is a dog why are you getting her a dog costume?" But I thought it was cute. They ordered pizza and played some games and I got to know a lot of my neighbors and that was great.

Today is a slow, relaxing day, I'm going to hang out and watch scarey movies...I can't seem to find anyone to watch them with me, bunch of whimps lol, but I love them.

Tomorrow I'm having a pizza party, I can't belive it's Halloween.  My Mom told a bunch of people at the party about my decorations so who knows who will show up, I hope I have enough candy.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Goodbye Accent Care

I get to call accent care tomorrow and tell them that I won't need them anymore. They haven't been a very good agency since they got all new people working there, they don't call and tell you when they cannot have somebody there to help you and then when you call they have no compassion. I found another company and I hope they will do better.

I went back to the Spirit store today to get a costume for Brodie. I wasn't going to dress up and go anywhere this year but I was invited to two Halloween parties so what the heck, they should be fun. I also got a couple of other things that I was looking at and I finally decided to just get them, one is a cauldron that bubbles blue and makes dry ice and the other is the top half of a skeleton that drags himself across the floor, that is going to look really cool going up my ramp with the fall in the all-around it from the flog machine, I just love Halloween.

I cannot believe how fast this week went by, tomorrow is Friday already. I want to go to the movies, to the park and then I have to go see Tony to get my tube change.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Concerts

It turned out to be a beautiful day. I didn't think the sun was going to come out but it did. I got a lot of plants replanted on my porch and in the backyard, I'm trying to get morning glories crawling on the fence in my backyard.

I ordered tickets for Bon Jovi, they sent me advance notice so I can get them before anybody else, I love this.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Spirit store

Stanley and the kids got here early last night and we had some KFC and watched TV in my room. I have this really big living room but everybody seems to gather in my bedroom to watch TV and talk, it's kind of cool.

I didn't think the sun was ever going to come out but it did. Stanley made a great breakfast and then we went to the Spirit store, I love that place. The kids got some really great costumes and we had a great time. After that we went to Red Lobster and ate way too much. Tomorrow they're going to be going home, it always seems to go by so fast.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The dreaded telephone

For some reason I never really liked to talk on the phone but I'm trying to make myself overcome things that I don't like to do. My psychologist says that it is because my phone calls were always limited growing up, my parents always said only 10 minutes on the phone and then in my first relationship my ex-boyfriend was the same way or maybe it's the fact that you never know who it is or what they want, I'm not very good or afraid of spontaneous conversation but I figure this is my house so I'm not going to let that stop me.  I started making myself just answer the phone and I'm really starting to like it. Last night I talked to my younger brother for a couple of hours and then my cousin Mike from Arizona called and I think I talked to him for two or three hours and after I got off the phone I feel great.

I finally got my bloodwork done yesterday, two prescriptions down and four to go but I have appointments for the rest then I can get the prescription for my exercise bicycle.

I have a couple of errands to do today. One of them is grocery shopping so I will take Brodie to the Rose Garden and let her runaround for a bit and then go see a movie, I'm not sure which one yet.

I just ordered tickets for Keith Urban, I went last year and he touched me.  He puts on a great show and I can't wait to see him again. We have the same seat that I had when I went to see Rascal Flats, it is going to be a great show.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

What a wonderful day

Today turned out to be a great day, the weather was perfect. We went to see Elizabethtown, it was a really good movie. After that we went to Home Depot to get some new plants for the yard, I love to sit on the porch and just look around at all the beautiful plants and visit with the neighbors.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Why do they call it common sense when it is so rare?

I had the strangest dream last night. I have been known to go a little crazy on eBay but I have really been trying to stay away from it. Last night I dreamt that we were living in our house on Loma Prieta Avenue and a delivery truck came and filled up the whole front yard with packages, we had a HUGE front yard. I walked out and saw all of the packages and my dad was there looking very nervous. I told him that I got everything from eBay and it was my early Christmas shopping. Either I don't usually dream or I don't usually remember my dreams but I was talking to a friend last night and he told me that I should write down my dreams first thing in the morning before I forget, we will see if there is a pattern. I usually dream about needing to use the telephone and not being able to, needing to go to the bathroom but there is no door or feeling like I'm drowning in just a couple inches of water.

I'm going to try again today to get my blood work done, I haven't eaten or had anything to drink except water since 4:00 p.m. yesterday, I'm starving. After my blood work we can get something to eat and take the dogs to the park.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Morning Glories

It finally turned out to be a beautiful day, the sun was coming in and out for a while but it looks like now it's out to say. I was looking at my morning glories in the driveway and they are starting to look really good. I have them going up at trellis by each pole in the driveway and now I put a trellis across and it's all filling in, it looks really beautiful.

I finally got all of my Halloween decorations up and it looks pretty good. Frank is not really thrilled about taking everything off of the lawn before he mows it every week but he doesn't complain, he is so sweet.

Stanley and the kids are coming next weekend and we are going to the spirits store to get them some costumes for Halloween. I've been wanting to go to Bonfonte Gardens so I think were going to do that also.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints

It looks like I'm going to be stuck in bed for at lease tomorrow because my chair is in the shop, they said it would only take four hours but I have learned to not hold my breath so we will see. It is just routine stuff, new tires and armrest, new batteries... stuff like that.

I was supposed to go in today for another one of my tests, I have to do a bunch of test before my doctor will give me a prescription for my exercise bicycle, EKG, osteoporosis test, blood work... today was supposed to be the blood work. I wasn't supposed to not eat anything from midnight last night until I take the this morning. I was doing really good until my attendant came in this morning and asked me if I wanted coffee and a muffin, like she does every morning, and I said yes, like I do every morning. I didn't remember until after I had almost finished the whole muffin. Hopefully I will get my chair back tomorrow and I will be able to try it again on Friday.

My mom and my aunt are going to Arizona on Friday and coming back on Sunday. I wish that I could go with them but they have to fly because my aunt needs to be back on Sunday. Next time we are going to rent a van and drive so that I can go also, it will be so great to see Steve and Mike.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Eagles concert

Wow, what a great concert. I didn't think the Eagles concert last year could be beat but they did it. There were a lot of people there and I can tell you nobody was disappointed, I could not keep still. I think they came back for about five or six encores and everybody wanted more.

Friday, October 7, 2005

Brodie

We spent another day at the vets with Brodie. They took some blood work and they're going to let me know how she's doing tomorrow.

We went to Taco Bell and then took Brodie to the park to run around for a while, it was such a beautiful day.

I can't believe the Eagles concert is finally coming up, I have been waiting for so long and I'm so excited. It looks like we're going to go out to eat and then go to the concert, one of my favorite things to do.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Second eighth grade reunion

I got an e-mail day before yesterday from a girl that I went to eighth grade with. She put together an eighth-grade reunion a couple of years ago and she's putting together another one. Both of my brothers and I went and it was really great to see everybody and I cannot wait to go again this year, I hope my brothers will accompany me again. She sent me a couple of pictures that I didn't even know she had. It sounds like she might be putting together a homepage and hopefully I will be able to help her.

I have been writing a book called Plegics for dummies and I added it to my homepage.

Sunday, October 2, 2005

Generator

Today was an interesting day. I have been training a new girl since Thursday but today was our first day alone and wouldn't you know the electricity went out. Luckily we were done using the ceiling lift but my bed started deflating and neither one of us really knew what to do. The contractor that helped me with my house suggested that I put a generator in the shed and there are orange outlets in the House that run off of the generator, the only problem is you have to know how to start a generator or know somebody that lives around you that knows how to. My mom came down and it was like the blind leading the blind but they fumbled around for a while and they decided there wasn't any gas. I have on my calendar every month to start the generator to make sure that it works but apparently looking at the reminder on your calendar is not enough, I think you have to actually start it... live and learn I guess. while they were outside fumbling with the generator of the electricity came back on so I said Brodie out to get them, they yelled at Brodie, send her back into the house, closed the door and continued trying to figure out how to start the generator.

That is enough excitement for one weekend, now I'm ready to relax and watch movies and eat.

Saturday, October 1, 2005

Busy week

Last week went by really fast but by Friday I couldn't believe that it was already over. I finally went to see Dr. minor on Thursday to get the prescription for my new exercise bicycle but she wants me to take a whole bunch of test first, EKG, blood work, a test for osteoporosis... here I thought it was going to be really easy and now I have a prescription for about six tests, I get to try to schedule all of those on Monday.

On Friday I was supposed to go see Tony and get my SP tube changed but they call me and told me that Tony was sick so they had to reschedule. I was up and ready to go 11 a.m., I love getting up and getting going that early. We went by the theaters but it didn't look like there was anything interesting playing so we went to the Rose Garden Park, it is so beautiful there and there's no dogs allowed so I can let Brodie run free without worrying about too much except for the squirrels. There were a lot of people there, they get their lunch and bring it there to eat, next week I will definitely try that.  After that I went grocery shopping for the weekend. The lady that usually prepares my meals had a mascectomy so she's going to be out for awhile. When I used to live on Elm Street we used to shop at a little store called Zanados, a little family store. It is huge now. They have a huge salad bar, a sushi bar, as well as a full bakery and meat department. They have stuffed pork chops and stuffed chicken breast that you just throw in the oven and set the timer and they also have the best twice baked potatoes I have ever had.

Today is just a slow day, watching TV and chatting on the computer. We have been training Anna all week and I think she's going to work out great. Madonna will do the morning shift, Lula will do the evening shift in Anna will do the weekend shift, this way I can get rid of Accent Care and save a lot of money so I can get my new van. Everything seems to finally be going my way, I have waited a long time for this.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Gary

Here is a picture of a friend of mine Gary sailing, it really looks like a lot of fun.  He belongs to an organization called access2adventure.com barrier free adventure.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Brodie

Today was an interesting day... Last night I noticed that Brodie kept moving around a lot from place to place, after a while I noticed that she was leaking from her bladder. I noticed because every time she would get up off of her bed it would be wet. I called the vet and they said that I could bring her in at 11 a.m. and they will get to her as soon as they can, we were there until 3 p.m. They said that they really couldn't tell what was wrong with her without a urine sample so they wanted me to bring her home and watch her for a couple of days and see if I can get a sample... how in the heck am I supposed to do that??

After that we got something to eat and went to the park, the weather was beautiful.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Down weekend

It has been a really slow week, mostly because I have had a cold so I have been trying to take it easy.

I was supposed to go to Sean's daughters baptism in Stockton, I really wanted to go to see everybody but I don't want to get anybody sick. Tomorrow I was supposed to go to Morgan Hill, the last art and wine Festival of the season, it sounds like it was going to be pretty big and depending on how I feel tonight I still might go.

Next week is going to be pretty busy. On Thursday I go see Dr. Miner so I can get the prescription for my new exercise bicycle, it is going to be awesome.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

My living will

Janet came down Friday afternoon to take me to a lawyer to make a will and to bring Anna down so I can meet her. There is a possibility that Anna will be moving in here. It will sure saved me a lot of money on the agency, about $14 and an hour. We dropped Anna off at the bus station, went on to our appointment and then we had lunch At The Cheesecake Factory. I think the cheesecake factory is one of my favorite places to go not necessarily because I like cheesecake but because the food is awesome. Janet decided to stay overnight again because she was very tired and go home on Sunday.

Yesterday we wanted to do something so we decided to go to the Santa Clara County Art and Wine Festival. The weather was perfect and Brodie behaved herself. There were a lot of dogs there and mostly she just whined when she saw one. I have noticed the last couple of times that we have taken her out that she is more likely to go crazy when she sees a service animal, I will be curious to find out why. I got a couple of wine glasses and a couple of beer glasses for my collection. We walk through the whole festival and then we decided to get something to eat at Black Angus, I have not been there for a long time and it was great.

Today is kind of a lazy day. I'm just going to stay in bed and watch movies. Janet went to The Original Pancake House to get us breakfast and then she's going to go home.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

OT and Stanford

I finally decided to go to the dentist yesterday to get my teeth cleaned. They had sent me a notice saying it was time but somehow it got misplaced and I forgot all about it, according to their records it has been about three years. It was kind of painful and there was a lot of blood but not as painful as I thought it would be, Kathy said my teeth really weren't that bad for as long as I waited.

This morning I went to OT at Valley Medical Center. Lynn had an emergency and had to go home so my OT was Rita, I had never met her before. The middle finger on my left hand got a permanent bend and we were trying to work that out, I have been going to OT twice a week for about three weeks. Rita was pulling and stretching on my finger and all of a sudden there was a big POP. She stopped and we both looked at each other and she looked really scared, she said that had never happened to her before. It was something in my finger releasing, nothing broke. I ended up going home early because the sound made her sick to her stomach.

Then, we went to Stanford to get the pictures taken for the brochures and measure the progress of my exercise program, they were very impressed and I have made a great deal of progress. It is very exciting.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Monday

Lulu called in sick this morning but I'm not surprised. She had a scratchy throat all last week and was coughing. All the little kids started back to school so they're spreading their germs around to each other and back to their families. I decided to just take a long bath and to stay in bed and listen to music all day. I also have a couple of e-books that I wanted to listen but of course I did not get to because friends were dropping by but it did turn out to be a relaxing day.

Lisa called me from Stamford to see if I was come by on Wednesday and get some pictures taken for a brochure they're putting together. They're trying to get a grant to send everybody who has tendon transfer surgery home with exercise equipment and a pinch meter to strengthen their arms after surgery. The exercises that she has me doing is really strengthened my arm a lot, I wish I would have done them years ago after I have the surgery.

This afternoon my neighbor brought in a box that UPS had left outside. He set it on my bed to open it and Brodie immediately jumped up and started sniffing and trying to help him open the box, she is usually nosy but not like this. She kept grabbing at the corners and trying to help rip it open. It turned out to be a box of homemade treats that I got for her online but I don't know how she knew. The beef bones were wrapped in plastic and there was a lot of popcorn and bubble wrap in the box. She dove in the box and pulled out a beef bone filled with peanut butter and granola. We unwrapped it for her and she disappeared into the living room and we didn't hear from her for about an hour. Right now she is barking at a because she is frustrated because she ate the peanut butter and granola away from the edges and cannot get to the middle, she is so cute.

Thursday, September 8, 2005

A beautiful day

Today we took Brodie and Tue Tue to Oak Meadow Park and it was perfect. It wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze. I like to take Brodie there because there is a lot of dogs and she's finally getting used to being around them, she's not acting aggressively as much anymore. We played catch for a long time and then came home.

I don't know if I mentioned this before or not but I'm writing a book. It was actually my brother's idea. I have been keeping this journal and writing down things that happen to me since my injury and their outcome, most are pretty hilarious. I'm also writing a little bit about each of the attendants that I have had, pros and cons and even if they have any pros and all. We thought about a really cool name... "Plegics for dummies". I thought it was kind of cool and it's really a lot of fun to write. I don't know if it's really going to go anywhere, it's just for fun.

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Dark brown hair

I finally colored my hair today. it is a lot darker than I would like but the lady said she's going to add highlights and a couple of weeks and by then it will be lighter, I guess we will see.

We took Brodie to the park and boy was she excited. She chased her tennis ball for a long time but apparently doesn't know how to stop in time and it seems like every time we come back she limps for a couple of hours, maybe if we keep taking her every day she will get used to it.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with OT and then were going to go to Vasona Park. There is a little hamburger stand by the park that we used to hang out at when I went to high school so we usually get something to eat from there and then hang out at the park.

I finally got an e-mail back from Kelly and I'm really glad that they are okay. She lives in Fort Lauderdale Florida and she did get hit by the hurricane and they had some damage but everybody is okay.

Monday, September 5, 2005

My van

Yay, I finally got my van back this morning and boy am I ready to get out of this house. It's really nice to cruise around the park and sit on the porch and visit with people but it's even nicer to be able to actually go out and do something.

Tomorrow is the day I get my manicure and pedicure and then I think then we are going to go get something to eat and go over to Vasona Park, it is so beautiful there. The rest of the week is pretty busy with OT, doctor's appointments and visiting friends.

I go see Dr. minor at the end of this month and then I can get my prescription for my exercise bicycle, I can not wait to get on that thing and start riding.

I ran into Marie at Valley medical, she is the psychologist that talks to you when you are a new injury. She was trying to talk me into going back to the support groups on Monday, I really have been wanting to but I have been missing them for so long it's hard to get back into it. She said to give her a call and she will go with me so I'll probably start going again this Monday, I really do love going and miss everybody there.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Slowing down

My house is empty again. It seems like I have had family staying here since January. I love having them around and the time always seems to go by too fast, that's why I like this journal, when I miss them I can look back and remember what we did. Kelly and her husband will be back in the middle of next month.

This weekend was pretty relaxing. I still don't have an attendant for Sunday so I have been staying in bed and watching movies. Last Sunday a couple of friends came over to watch a movie and eat a lot, it was really nice and we decided to do it every Sunday. We watched a movie called Million-Dollar Baby. I remember when I came out my aunt asked my brother to make sure that I didn't see it because she thought it would bother me but I thought it was a really good movie, Clint Eastwood looked really old but I guess that's because he is.


Today Lulu is coming in at 7 a.m. to help me trying a new girl so it's going to be a long day for her. I met the girl on Sunday, I cannot remember her name, and I think she's going to work out really nicely. I have an appointment with OT and then it's back home and back in bed so Lulu will have such a long day.

Janet is coming down this weekend to bring Anna so I can meet her. Anna took care of Janet's mother for a couple of years until they had to put her in a care facility. When I first moved in here I was thinking about finding somebody to live in and take care of the House... keeping everything organized, cooking and for backup when my attendants can not make it. Janet says she's a good person and I thought about it for a long time. I like having my house to myself and I like having plenty of extra room when family and friends visit but it will save me a lot of money getting rid of the agency. I finally decided to just meet her and I will either like her or not and that will be the decision.

I just got my chair working and now my van broke, it's always something. I can use it but it's making a lot of noise when you open the door to let down the ramp. I'm going to have to rent a van from Wheelchair Getaways until I can get mine fixed. I was going to rent a full-size van so the people that help me out can get used to driving it because that's what my next van is going to be but they did not have one available.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Family visit

Today was just the greatest day. We have such a wonderful time and I am so wound up I bet that I won't be able to sleep tonight. Stanley, Robert, David and Corinne came down yesterday to spend the night. Last night we watched a couple of movies and had some KFC. It feels really good... I have this big huge house but everybody gathers in my room and on my bed and we all watched movies and talk.

Today we had the same problem we usually always have, what to do and where to go. We decided to go to the Gilroy outlets and go shopping and it was a great decision because I think we all had a great time. One of my favorite places to eat is Antie Andies, I love their pretzels. We had a pretzel and some sodas and I brought a couple home for tomorrow. We did some more shopping and then came back and got Gramps and Mom and went to Sizzler's for dinner. Gramps is going to be moving to Arizona in a couple of days and I'm going to miss him very much.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

The week went by too fast

Great America wasn't as crowded as I thought and the weather was perfect. We got there about 11 a.m. and the day just seem to go by too fast. Lulu brought her daughter, Stelina, so David would have somebody to hang out with and they got along great and had a very good time. We got way too much sun and ate way too much junk food.

On Saturday we just hung around here and watched a bunch of movies. Stanley, Robert and Corinne are going to come down today and spend the night and they're all leaving tomorrow.

Next week is going to be a busy week and I am ready. We had a problem opening the door of the van on Friday so it looks like I need to take that into get repaired so I'll probably rent a full-size van from Wheelchair Getaways so that Lulu and my Mom can get used to driving a full-size van because that's what I'm going to get next.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

I'm back in the saddle again

We couldn't decide what we wanted to do today, we wanted to do something since I have been stuck in bed for the last couple of days since my chair broke down. We finally decided to go miniature golfing and play in the arcades. The weather was perfect and we had a really good time except for the food. right across the street was a couple of shopping malls and that's where we should have went, I love the Cheesecake Factory. The miniature golf course was so full that they ran out of everything at the food bar. Tomorrow we're going to Great America. I'm sure Great America is going to be just as crowded, I can not wait until next week when the kids go back to school.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Broken chair

Of all days my chair decided to break today. The tilt lever got stuck when I was getting ready to go to bed. It took us about an hour to get the sling on in that position, my mom happened to show up so she helped us. Hopefully Carl will be able to get it fixed so I can have it within the next couple of days.

We went to see the fantastic four today and it was pretty good. Were going to try to go to Great America while the weather is a little bit cooler and I hope we get to go. It looks like tomorrow we're going to rent movies and have pizza.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

A great day

We had a really great day and it's so nice to all get together like this. Unfortunately everybody's going to be going home tomorrow in this place will be quiet once again. Of course we had way too much food and is going to be left over for everybody for days.

My nephew David is going to stay here for a while so he will keep us busy next week. He has a lot that he wants to do. I had to go to bed a little bit early so my attendance and go home and everybody went down to go swimming. When they get back we will probably watch a movie and hang out and have some desert. There is a lot of really good-looking desserts out there.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Family get together

What a nice relaxing couple of days, I just stayed in bed and watched movies and chatted on the computer, I have not done that for a long time

This is going to be another busy weekend. My grandpa wants to go to Santa Cruz today and it looks like tomorrow there's going to be about 26 people here. I'm going to go to Costco later on to get the stuff for the party. We decided to just have cold cuts and potluck.

A cat had some kittens under the neighbors shed and yesterday Brodie got one. I have to remember she is still a dog and you just can't take that away but it was really sad. One of the guys from security came down to take it across the street to the animal shelter, I'm hoping they can come and get the other kittens before Brodie gets them also.

Monday, August 8, 2005

Visit

David, Anna Maria, Desiree, and JohnPatrick got here around 2 a.m. and they were really tired. They drove straight from Albuquerque where they were visiting Andy and Aubrey.

Saturday David and I drove to Stockton to visit Aunt Marlene. Anna Maria, Desiree and JP stayed here to relax and visit with Mom and Gramps. It was really nice to see Aunt Marlene and she looked great. Terrie and Austen drove over to visit with us also. We only got to stay for about two hours because there was three major accidents on the way and we had promised to be back at 4 p.m. One of them happened just before we got there and it was the worst one of all. It looked like one of the Paratransit buses had came off of a hill and crashed. They had a tarp on the side of the road and people were laying in sitting waiting for medical attention.

Sunday we had a barbecue here and it was awesome. It was Stanley and Corrine's birthday so we had a big barbecue, it was so nice to have all of my family here. My Uncle Dick, Aunt Kathy, Rich and Alexia also came. We had a ton of food and a really good time.


Anna Maria and Desiree left this morning to drive home and David and JohnPatrick left little bit later because they were flying. They had a really nice trip but I'm sure they will be glad to get back home. They just left but I miss them already.

My grandmas sister and her daughter are coming this week and were going to have another big barbecue on Sunday, I love barbecues.

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Georgia Van Sants

David, Anna Maria, Desirée and JohnPatrick are all going to be here on Friday. They're going to drive and then Anna Maria, Desirée and JohnPatrick are going to say here on Saturday while my Mom, David and I are going to drive to Stockton to visit my Aunt Marlene. Stanley, Janet and the kids are going to come here on Sunday for a barbecue, hopefully I will remember to get lots of pictures because I usually forget.

Kelly left for home yesterday, I'm going to miss her but she will be back in a month with her husband.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Santa Cruz

Today we had a really great day. Kelly and I went to Santa Cruz to have sushi at Mobo's. We wanted to get up there early and enjoy as much of the day as we could before it got too warm, we got there at 11 a.m.. I forgot to check to see what time Mobo's opens, they don't start serving until 4 p.m. We decided to drive over to my aunt's house and see if anybody was around, my aunt was there and my cousin Richard was just leaving to go to the beach with his daughter. My uncle had taken a trip to the dumps. We visited with my aunt for a while and looked at a house that is for sale two houses down from them, I'm going to pursue it because I would love to live by them and I would love to end up in Santa Cruz. They're always doing something, having barbecues, going camping and I would love to be part of all that. Then we decided to walk downtown and look around at all the little shops. We stopped and had a bagel and cream cheese and a cup of coffee, it was really nice to sit outside in this beautiful garden area. Then we walked around and check out a bunch of the stores. We stopped at Jamba Juice and had a drink and then headed back to my aunt's house. My uncle and my cousin had returned so we visited with them for a while. Brodie got to meet Richard's dog Isabella and they got along really well and even played together. We went and had sushi and then went back to say goodbye and then we came back home, it was a wonderful day.

Friday, July 29, 2005

A Perfect Day

Today turned out to be pretty perfect, whether, traffic...

We got to the garlic festival around 10:30 a.m. We didn't hit any traffic at all and it was only about 74°. We got in and got check everything out before it started getting warm. We tried a little bit of everything, scampi, corn on the cob, calamari, poppers, garlic bread and even garlic ice cream, it was really good. I found a wrought-iron sculpture to go on my wall in the kitchen. It looks like an old-fashioned sign and it has ivy going around it. It has a place to hang three wine bottles and four wine glasses, I'm going to hang two wine glasses that I got this year and two that I got last year, I cannot wait to put it up and see what it looks like. I also got a wrought iron clove of garlic.

Tomorrow is going to be a resting and watching movies day and Sunday Kelly and I are going to Santa Cruz to have sushi at Mobo's. I have been telling her about it and I wanted to go before she left next week.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Gilroy Garlic Festival

On Wednesday I went to Stanford so they can check on my progress from the tendon transfer exercise study, they were very impressed and I was a lot stronger because of the exercises. I can raise my left arm way above my head, my right arm is stronger and I can't do it with one. I love visiting with them because they are such a fun group, they are always laughing and joking around and I get paid for it. They gave me some different exercises to do to make even more muscles work, they're doing it two muscles at a time.

Tomorrow is the Gilroy garlic Festival and I'm really excited about that, I love garlic. I want to get up there early and beat the heat but we will see how it goes. Kelly might go with me but if she cannot make it were going to try to go Saturday or Sunday.

A week from this Saturday David is going to come for a visit. He was to drive to Stockton with us so we can see how Aunt Marlene is doing.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Gramps returns

Gramps and Kelly got back last night and it was really great to see them. Kelly and I are going to take Brodie to the park and then  the movies this afternoon and then we're all going out to dinner later on.

Tomorrow dawn comes in the morning, she comes here every other Tuesday to do a manicure, pedicure, waxing and haircut if I need it. Than I have an abundant with Tony to get my SP tube changed. Wednesday I go to Stanford so they can test the strength in my arm since I have been doing the exercises. Friday I'm going to the Gilroy Garlic Festival, this time I'm going to go early and hopefully it won't be too hot.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Phantom pain study

Both my morning and evening attendant took today off so I'm just staying in bed and watching movies.

Dr. Miner e-mailed me and asked me to help one of her friends out who is doing a study on sensation and phantom pain below the level of injury, his name is Daren.

I know Daren's father, David. When I was first injured he and Dr. Miner are the ones that put my halo on. He also fitted me for a back brace and AFO's after I had my foot drop surgery, they are from Ireland and they're both very funny and have great stories.

I really learned a lot from Daren about feelings and sensations below my level of injury. He answered a lot of questions that I have had about my body since my injury.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Aunt Marlene

My cousin Terrie called me on Monday after I got back from seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to let me know that her mother was in the hospital. I talked to my brother and he said that he went to visit her and she sounded and looked really bad, they didn't expect her to go home from the hospital.

My cousin Kelly was going to visit her brother in San Diego and then go on to Arizona to help her mother pack because she was moving. She offered to stay here and drive me to visit my Aunt but my mom wanted to go also.

Terrie called a couple of old friends of mine from when I lived there. Sandy called me and asked me to let her know when I was leaving and she would meet me there. We visited with my aunt for a little while and we could tell that she was getting tired so we went to the cafeteria to get something to eat and to let her rest for a bit. While we were leaving the room Sandy and her mother showed up so we were going to meet them in the cafeteria. When I got to the elevator Terrie and her daughter Kelly were there when the door opened so we told them we would also meet them in the cafeteria. While we were all sitting down eating and chatting my friend Shawn showed up, Terrie had called him also. It was so great to see him and catch up on his life as I haven't seen him in about 10 years. We visited for a while and then went back up to see my aunt. Everybody was saying that she looked much better than she did the day before and they were sending her to a nursing home so she could be watched and better taking care of.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Cabin fever

I finally got my air conditioner fixed and what a relief. It broke yesterday afternoon so it was a miserable night.

I talked to an old friend of mine, Rick, and he said he's going to come out in November and take me to the Abilities Expo and help me pick out a new van. I know it's time to get a new one and I know I'm going to have to get a bigger one that I have no idea how to go about picking one out, it will be really great to see him again.

All of my sores have healed up really nicely, there is just one small one that's filling in which means I am out of here. I'm so tired of sticking around the house and staying in bed, and so is Brodie although Kelly has been taking her to the park. Tomorrow we're going to take her to the park at 11 a.m. and then I'd like to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm not sure what else but something to get outside and into this beautiful weather.

New shoes

I felt really bad for Brodie when we went to Santa Cruz. The ground was so hot she could not stand still for very long, I had to roll from tree to tree and anywhere I can find shade to keep her feet from burning. When I got home that evening out of curiosity I went online to see if I could find protective shoes for dogs... there they were so next time we will be prepared.

I got a new mattress to try for my bed. It's only the second night and I'm going to have to get used to it. It's a lot better for circulation so maybe after the week is over I will like it and want to get one for myself.

Of all days my air conditioner broke this morning. By the time my attendant got here at 3:30 PM I was ready to take a very cool bath and boy did it feel great. George made a phone call and the guy will be over here to fix it tomorrow before it gets too hot out.

By next week my sores will be healed up and I will be good to go. I'm going stir crazy having to stay in bed so much but I'm convinced that as soon as I get my exercise bicycle I won't have to worry about pressure sores anymore. A friend of mine sent me the link to a group on Yahoo that he belongs to and one of the discussions on the messageboard happens to be about this particular bicycle and nobody had anything bad to say about in fact they were really excited and that helped a lot in my decision.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Ergys

Lulu has been sick for the last couple of days so I have been stuck in bed, luckily I have two of my cousins here to keep me company.

My ceiling lift broke on Saturday morning. I could still use it but it took two people to get me from the bedroom to the bathroom so I could get into the bathtub. Bill came out to fix it on Monday and while he was here we got to talking and he was telling me about a stationary bicycle that he had gotten for his son, his son Levi has a C-3 spinal cord injury but his injury is incomplete. His son Levi was really good friends with my cousin Patrick who passed away mysteriously in 1999. A stationary bicycle Is for Quadriplegics and Paraplegics to help improve their circulation and strengthen their muscles so they won't atrophy, it's also supposed to help eliminate pressure sores and help the bowel and bladder. I called Dr. Miner who has been my doctor since my spinal cord injury 10 years ago and she was as excited about me getting it as I was about getting it. I have been reading a lot about it and I can't wait to see how it improves my life.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Alameda County fair and Santa Cruz

The Alameda County fair was a lot of fun and perfect weather. They had some tents set up with a misting system to cool you down. Carrot Top was so funny , I laughed hysterically the whole time. We walked around for awhile before and after and of course ate whatever we could. I had my first Gyro and enjoyed it very much. I didn't get to have any funnel cake but we decided to go back on Saturday but when we got home there was a message from my sister-in-law saying that they were coming down on Saturday and we were all going to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk. The fair will be here next month so I will be able to go to this one.

 

Stanley and his family came down on Friday and we had pizza, cheese bread and hot wings.  We had really good luck getting to and from Santa Cruz also. We made it up there and back with no traffic and the weather was really great. The kids had a great time and I really enjoyed watching them and hanging out with them and my brother and sister-in-law. Each of the boys brought a friend so there was two extra boys but they were so sweet and did whatever they could to help me, it made me feel really good. On Sunday all the kids came in my room because I was stuck in bed and we watched a couple of movies before they left.  It felt really cozy to look around and see all the kids in my room. One great thing about hanging out with them is they never make me feel like a burden or somebody they have to bring along.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

Carrot top

It's been awhile since I have written anything in here but not much has been going on. I still spend a lot of days in bed trying to get rid of a pressures sore. Is looking a lot better and I'm not going to have to be down for much longer.

We had a nice quiet 4th of July.  I was invited to go to a neighbors for a barbecue but Lulu also was invited to a barbecue and had to leave early so I just stayed here. My Mom, Kelly and I got some barbecued ribs at Chili's and watched a movie.

Tomorrow I have an appointment at Valley Medical for pressure seating mapping so I can hopefully find out what kind of cushion will be best for me to have on my chair to prevent pressure sores. After that we are going to Pleasanton to the Alameda County fair to check it out and see Carrot Top.

I cannot believe at the end of this month it's time again for the Gilroy Garlic Festival. I went last year for the first time and it was great but really really hot, this time I'm going to go really early and try to beat the heat. I love garlic and I can't wait to try as much as I can.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Brodie's stitches

Yesterday I took Brodie to finally get her stitches out in the doctor said everything looks great, now we just have to wait until the hair fully grows back on her tail. We took her to the park and she ran around like crazy, just like her old self.

I'm going to go check it out the Alameda County Fair Thursday to see if it's worth going back, judging from last year and from what I have heard so far it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. It also looks like the weather is going to be perfect.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

The weekend

Last year we went to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton and saw Carrot Top. I always thought that he was kind of silly but he was actually really funny. The fair is here again this year for a couple of weeks and I will definitely be there.

Nick came back yesterday to install the surroundsound in my bedroom and it sounds awesome. I had taped the Eagles first farewell concert and we watched it yesterday, it sounded so good the neighbors came over to watch lol...it was unbelievable.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

A great day

Today was a really great day. David and Deziree made manicotti for dinner and a really killer salad, it was awesome. They were supposed to stay until tomorrow night but instead they have to leave tomorrow at noon, it's always great to see them but their visits always seems so short.

After dinner my cousin Michael called and we talked for a long time, he and I were really close growing up and always the best of friends. I haven't talked to him for a long time and we promised to keep in touch. I also got to talk to my cousin Steve that I haven't talked to for about 20 years. He sounded really good and he also said he was going to keep in touch, I didn't get to talk to him very long but he's going to call me tomorrow and I can't wait to catch up with him also.

Tomorrow I have an appointment at wound care, I'm starting to feel like I live there.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Happy Birthday to me

I spent most of my birthday in ER. I have been battling with a sore on the outside of my right ankle that I got from my AFO's. While trying to stay off of that I got a sore on the other side of my butt. I was going to wound care and everything was looking pretty good but for some reason on Saturday morning when I went to take a bath the one on my legs looked a lot worse so we decided I needed to go to ER. My mom was leaving the next day, today, and was nervous about leaving when my sore looked so bad. We got to ER about 7 p.m. and finally got out of there about 2 a.m. and we were both very tired. They gave me some antibiotics, said it really wasn't as bad as we thought and urged me to go back to wound care on Monday. I have an appointment at Valley Medical tomorrow anyway so I will see wound care while I'm there. It just takes such a long time for sores to heal and I'm running out of sites to lay on.

 

I did have a lot of people stopping by, calling me and e-mailing me to wish me a Happy Birthday, that was really nice. And hoping if I stay in bed all weekend I will be able to get up on Tuesday when David comes but he said if not we will stay in and watch movies and order pizza.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Star Wars lll

On Saturday Robert and I went to see Star Wars. He had seen it once before but I didn't, it was a great movie. Lulu went with David and Corinne and they went to see Shark Boy and Lover Girl. I didn't know that Shark Boy and Lover Girl were 3-D, now I'm going to have to see that one because they said it was great. David left his glasses in my wheelchair pocket so Lulu gave him hers and she didn't get to see it in 3-D Saturday night we watched a couple of movies on TV, 50 First Dates and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It feels so good at night when we are all in my room on my bed watching TV and talking. Stanley came and got them on Sunday and they left after we ate breakfast.

Sunday night somebody called and said that they have my dog. I almost didn't call them back but I'm glad I did. When I called the lady back I told her that my dog was right here but she apparently had Keisha. I gave Keisha to my sister-in-law's brother in Modesto and apparently she had gotten away. When I called my brother Stanley he said that Janet and Corinne had been out looking for her for a couple of hours.

Monday, June 6, 2005

Brodies surgery

I just called and they said that Brodies surgery went great and she is doing fine. They're going to let her rest for a little bit and then we can go and pick her up and bring her home. I miss my baby.

Next Friday were going to Modesto to see Robert graduate from middle school, I can't believe he's going into high school next year. Were bringing the kids back with us for the weekend so Stanley and Janet can celebrate their anniversary alone. On Saturday we're going to take them to Peramount Great America and then on Sunday were taking them to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk.  Kelly said she would drive.

The weekend after next is going to be my birthday and David is coming down for the weekend. It's so nice that he works for Delta and can do this.  I cannot believe that I'm going to be 44 but it will be great to have my brother and my cousin, along with the rest of my family and friends, to spend it with me.

Sunday, June 5, 2005

Kelly's visit

Kelly arrived here Thursday evening, what a nice surprise. She and a friend of hers are going to start a business of their own and she will be staying here until she can find an apartment in San Francisco. Her and her husband will be going back and forth from Florida to San Francisco. It is really nice to have her here.

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Brodies tail

Today is kind of a sad day. About a month ago Brodie injured the end of her tail. Since then we have tried everything we can think of and every suggestion from anybody else who had one but nothing worked. We took her back to the vet today for the third time and they said the only thing we can do now is amputate her tail because at this point it is never going to heal, she goes in for surgery on Monday early in the morning.

Monday, May 30, 2005

Saturday barbecue

The barbecue on Saturday was a lot of fun. We played a game of trivia television on the living room TV screen and it was a lot of fun. I really need to do this more often.

Tomorrow we are going to see Monster in Law and take Brodie to the park, we are trying to do this every day and she loves it.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Another Weekend

 Yesterday we went to see Madagascar. It was good but not as good as I thought it would be, we should have seen Monster in Law.

Today I'm having a barbecue and I cannot wait. I got some steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs and I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Nothing really

last weekend was kind of a relaxing weekend. I was trying to figure out how TiVo works and it is really awesome. I don't believe that I will ever comprehend how it works but it sure is cool.

Monday I went back over to Circuit City to talk to Gilbert, the guy that sold me my television. He told me that he would come over and program the television so I can use it with Multimedia Max. It doesn't look like it's very hard to do but I cannot do it by myself. While I was there I decided to get surround sound for my bedroom also, this is where I spend most of my time and I think he will make it sound all that much better.

Today I went to Gilroy, I had an appointment at Transitions to get some work done on my wheelchair. They readjusted my laderals, fixed my drive control and replace the seat cushion. Then they came back and had an appointment with Tony to get my SP tube changed.

 

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

My new television and he

Since my brother was here last Tuesday he went with me to Circuit City to pick out a new television for me, the sound was going out in my old television, it's about four years old. I wanted to get surround sound but they told me that with these new televisions I really wouldn't need it so that was good news.

Today was a terrific day. The guys got here early in the morning to install my new TV in my bedroom. It is a 32" Polaroid that I can also use as a monitor, it really looks great. It didn't take them very long and they were very knowledgeable and patient when explaining how to use everything. They also installed a universal remote for my living room so I can actually turn on and watch my TV in there, the universal remote replaced about 10 remote and I can watch the VCR for the DVD with a push of one button. I had a houseful of people which really isn't new around here. Besides the two guys that came to install the television, Pete, the guy that is doing the maintenance on my house, Jerry, my neighbor from next-door and George and Juliet were all here to check everything out.

 

 

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Stanley and Corinne's visit

Last night Stanley and Corinne came to spend the night. Stanley had his first follow-up visit for his eye surgery and everything looks good.

The other day when I went to East Ridge Mall I noticed that they were putting up some circus like tents in the parking lot. We went by to find out what time and day the circus was going to be and it's going to be today and tomorrow so we got tickets for today. I didn't bring Brodie because I figured there would be animals there and she's starting to act really aggressive around other animals but there were only ponies and she would have been okay. Even though there was no animals it was really exciting and they put on a great show.

Stanley cooked us dinner, a roast with all the trimmings, it was very good.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Mothers Day

Today is a pretty mellow day, I stayed in bed because Lulu took the day off as it is her birthday. It is beautiful outside and I have the French doors open so I can see outside as well as the sun coming in from my new skylight.

Last Tuesday Dave came down. It wasn't a very long visit but it sure was nice. He called on Sunday to which my mom happy Mother's Day and said he would like to come on Tuesday to take her to lunch. While he was here we went to Circuit City to order a TV for my room because mine is going out. He helped me pick out a flatscreen TV to hang on the wall and they will be here on Tuesday to install it, I cannot wait to start watching it.

Last Monday my mom and I watched the beginning of a movie about Elvis Presley and we watched the end of it last night, is going to be another special on Friday from the Presley's point of view... I hate when they stretch it out like this.

Sunday, May 8, 2005

David visiting

This was a pretty casual weekend. I did a lot of staying at home and watching movies or sitting on the porch visiting with neighbors.

My morning attendant that was supposed to come today called in sick so I was just going to cancel service for today but they said that Mimi had agreed to come. I was really excited because I have not seen Mimi for about two or three years. When I had my tendon transfer surgery I had my arms in casts simultaneously and Mimi was here for about 12 hours a day helping me with everything. After my surgery I only needed for hours and she needed more. She looked really great and we did a lot of catching up. We are going to get together and hang out or have lunch.

My brother David called from Georgia and my mom happened to be here so the whole family wished her a Happy Mother's Day and David said that he would like to fly down here tomorrow evening, take my mom to lunch on Tuesday, and fly back Tuesday night. I don't know who was more excited, my mom or me.

Thursday, May 5, 2005

Not much going on

I haven't written in here for a while and nothing much is really happening. Yesterday I went to visit Floyd at care Meridian. He said that he hadn't had any barbecued ribs for very long time so we stopped on the way and that's what we had. It is so beautiful there I love visiting.

Lula took today off for Cinco de Mayo so I just stayed in bed and watched a couple of movies. Haven't been sleeping very well at night and I can't stay awake during the day, I need to get my schedule turned around.

I was supposed to meet Kevin tomorrow for lunch but he's really busy trying to get his new home squared away some are going to try it again next week.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Ty Herndon concert

Tonight was probably one of the best night of my life. I never even imagined that it could be so wonderful. I went to see Ty Herndon at the Avalon club and everybody made me feel so special. They took us in before everybody else, sat us in the front row and kept coming to check to see if we needed anything. Julia and Michael, the managers, made it a really special evening. When the concert was over I went up to thank Julia for making it so special and she told me I couldn't leave because Ty Herndon wanted to come out and meet me. I could not believe it because I heard one of his crew saying that he could not come out into the bar area but Michael said that he was going to and he did. It was too good to be true and he was a very sweet man and made me feel very special. I will never forget that moment when I met Ty Herndon as long as I live. He loves to perform so much and it shows.

 

While we were waiting for Ty Herndon to come out I met a lot of really cool people hanging out at the club. KRTY was there and they said that starting in June they are going to have country music every Thursday night. I will definitely be there, I met a lot of really good people who could easily become good friends.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Reminiscing

Social Security called me and said that Xicor had made a mistake on my W-2 form in 2002. I had to call Xicor and it started making me think about when I used to work there...

I worked at Xicor from June 1985 until March 1995. When I first started working there I was the custodian and I loved it. There was three buildings, one 2-story building and to two-story buildings. My job was to clean the cafeterias, make sure they had paper towels and napkins, sweep the floor and straighten up the chairs and tables, clean the counters in the bathroom and make sure they have toilet paper and paper towels, dust mop the hallways and empty trash cans when they needed to be emptied . The night tying custodians cleaned the toilets and mocked the floors, all of the heavy cleaning.

Also part of my duties started to be relieving or replacing the receptionists in all buildings. I didn't like this very much but it made me feel good that they counted on me to do it. It helped me to memorize the extensions of the people and apartments and I liked that also.

Whenever the mail coordinator was absent or went home sick they would ask me to fill in for that position also. At the time I thought that was a lot more responsibility and although it made me very nervous I began to enjoy it. In between regular mail coordinators they would try to get me to take the position but I didn't want to stress. Whenever somebody doesn't get their mail on time the first thing they do is call the boss and complain, I didn't like that.

They're all was supposed to have their checks by 11 a.m. and they asked me if I could get them to them sooner and I almost always did, I tried my best but if I didn't have them to them early they would call my boss and complain. Luckily I had a great boss that trusted me with everything I did and she would tell them that if they kept complaining they would not get their checks until 11 a.m.

Weighing and posting male was also part of the job and that part I loved because that's when I got to be alone and do what I was supposed to do without too many interruptions. I usually do this at the end of the day and sometimes during lunch if there was a lot. Of course people would come down with last-minute things that need to go out and sometimes personal items, since I was going to the post office every day. I would pick up the mail at 8 a.m., usually anywhere from 3 to 10 buckets of mail, bring it back to the mail room, sort the mail and at 11 o'clock start my deliveries. The fun part of the deliveries was being able to stop and chat with people and get to know them during my rounds. People would call me from other buildings or other parts of the building to ask me to bring in supplies so I would stop by stores and get what they needed and just charge it to their department.

Eventually I started to like the mail coordinator position so I took it permanently... although my boss always said," nothing is permanent". After I took over the position part of the job was to relieve the receptionists in building 2 for 2 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch everyday. I didn't mind it very much but I wasn't always dressed for it, there is a different dress code for mail coordinator then there is a receptionist. It sometimes did give me an opportunity to take a break and relax because I didn't always have time and I liked to stay busy.

Of course everybody has their silly little quirks. This person wants his mail on his desk instead of in his mailbox, this person wants his mail on his secretary's desk, this person only once letters and no magazines...

All in all I loved my job and I could see me doing it until I retired but I got taken away from me due to an automobile accident on March 10th 1995 before I could retire.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Stanley's Lasix surgery

I finally got my taxes done today, I usually never wait until the last minute but it was a little bit harder trying to get everything together because of all the work that they've been doing around here. There's so many different people here that nothing ever gets put in the same place twice.

Stanley had his Lasix surgery this morning and slept most of the day. He came down here to eat some dinner and went back to my moms to sleep some more, they recommend this after the surgery. He goes back tomorrow morning so Dr. Ellis can check and make sure that everything is going well.  I had mine done about three or four years ago, it is amazing what a big difference it is. It is so great to wake up in the morning and not have to reach for your glasses before you can see anything.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday so Stanley is going to fix us breakfast and then he has to get going home because he has to go back to work on Thursday.

Ty Herndon is in two days and we are going to be in the front row...

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Weekend

I'm supposed to go to my moms today for dinner, luckily she is just around the corner. I'll just have to wait until there's a break in the rain and drive down there. She's making tacos, I love the way that she makes tacos because she makes them with flour tortillas instead of corn.   I woke up about 2 a.m. this morning and could not go back to sleep. I went online and found some morning glory plants. The lady that lives on the driveway side of my house is 93 years old and always complains that my driveway is a mass so I planted some morning glories in big pots and ran a Y shaped trellis so they will grow together and she won't have to look at my driveway, it's going to look very nice.  I have a 4 foot fence around my backyard and I want to get the morning glory vines to wind around that also. It's not a very big yard, mostly it's just a run for the dog but I think it would look really nice.   We did go to the nursery yesterday and I got some more plants for outside, I hope they do not die.   I'm watching a movie right now called Sweethearts Dance with Don Johnson, Susan Sarandon and Jeff Daniels. Although I have 800 channels I only watch one usually, Lifetime Movie Network. The main reason is because I don't sleep when I'm supposed to and there's always something on this channel.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

A hole in my roof

Pete started putting the skylight in my bedroom in yesterday. I guess the dust from cutting a hole in the ceiling got into the fire alarm and set it off. When he didn't answer the phone here they called my mom's. By the time she got down here the fire truck was here and six big firemen were jumping off of the truck and getting ready to run in and save my house, my mom said they seemed very disappointed that there was no fire.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Valley Medical visit

Friday René brought a guy over from Valley Medical. He looked like he was about the same injury as I am. He was really excited about seeing everything I have here and he said it made him real hopeful for when he goes home. We ended up talking for a little bit, he was very funny and very easy to be around. René invited me over to Valley Medical on Monday because they are having all of the newly trained canine companions in the day room for a little graduation puppy party. I think it will be good for Brodie as she is starting to get a little excited when she gets around other animals.

 

Saturday I stayed in bed because I was so excited about getting my room cleaned up and everything put away in the closets. Today, Sunday, I was supposed to go out to breakfast with my mom and my grandpa but my caregiver never showed up. I called to tell the agency that it was too late and to call her and tell her not to come but she said the girl did not have a cell phone... can you believe that in this day and age?

Friday, April 15, 2005

Ty Herndon

A nightclub opened up here not too long ago and I heard a commercial saying that Ty Herndon, a country singer, was going to be there. I had seen him about two years ago and had the worst seats possible. We were stage left way to the back where we could only see the side of him and the speakers were in the way, it sounded like a really good concert but where we were sitting it was very muffled. I wrote an e-mail to ask them if they were accessible and could accommodate my attendant, my service dog and I. The lady wrote me back and said that she would talk to her manager and let me know what they could do to make it a better experience. She wrote me back and said that she had talked to the manager, her husband, and they were not only going to bring me in first but put me right up front and give me complimentary tickets because I had such a bad experience the last time I saw him... I could not believe that..   I kind of feel bad now because I really didn't want any special treatment, I just didn't want to go if it was going to be an uncomfortable experience again.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

New friend

On Friday I met an online friend, Kevin from Livermore. It was raining really hard so we didn't go anywhere he just came here to check out my place because he sold his house and he's buying a mobile home.

Saturday and today I ended up staying in bed. I'm still nursing a sore on the outside of my right ankle and every time I get up seems to get worse, I think I'm going to have to go to the wound clinic next week. In about an hour my mom and Chris are going to come down and watch The Notebook with me, we have been going to try to watch it for long time. Chris's husband Bill is going to visit with my grandpa while we watch it.

I had my doctor's appointment on Tuesday to see about my back surgery and what a fiasco that was. First of all I almost didn't get in the door because the threshold was too high and the bolt on the bottom of my chair wouldn't go over it, I finally got in. Then their computer ate the CD that had my x-rays on it, it took me all day Monday to get the disk. They decided they wanted to take new x-rays so after three tries of trying to do it in my chair they decided to lift me up on the x-ray table. This took two people to lift me in three people to watch. They finally got me up there and took the x-rays with no problem. While they were transferring me back into my chair a guy standing on the table behind me slipped and we almost both ended up on the floor. Luckily one of the people watching was fast enough to catch him so we were saved only to find out he does not recommend surgery at this time, he thinks the problem can be solved by moving my laderals on my chair. Always an adventure...

Friday, April 8, 2005

Georgia Van Sants

David, Deziree and JohnPatrick got here on Tuesday night. Wednesday we decided to go have lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and then go to Peramount Great American. The weather was perfect and everybody had a really good time. David and JohnPatrick went on every ride they could and Deziree took a lot of pictures. After we came home we ordered pizza.

On Thursday I had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Miner. Lulu was supposed to take me but I got confused on the time so David ended up taking me.

Stanley, Janet and Corinne came down on Thursday evening.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Robots

My nephew David came down night before last
to stay here for a week. Yesterday morning we went
out to breakfast with mom and gramps to the pancake
house and then we went to see Robots at the movie
theater. We got there little bit early so David played
some games in the arcade. After that I ran Brodi around
the parking lot for little while because she needed
some exercise.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Family visiting

I had to take my van to be repaired any cost over $1200... it is definitely time to get a new van. I think next time I'm going to get a full-sized van because right now I have a minivan and I can't see out the windows because I am so tall and I think a lift instead of a ramp because I keep hitting my head on the threshold when I get in.

My youngest nephew from Modesto is coming here tomorrow night to stay for about a week. He is a middle child just like I was and he is very sweet and always helpfull. I'm trying to think of things that we can do so that he will not get bored. I want to take him to Marriott's Great American, Bonfonte Gardens, IMAX theater and probably anything else that he wants to do... he deserves to be spoiled.

 

My brother David is going to bring his youngest daughter and his youngest son, only son, for a visit on Wednesday night or Thursday morning and they are staying until Sunday. My older brother, Stanley, is going to bring his family on Thursday and stay until Saturday, I am really excited about that.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Sky lights

I finally got my skylight put in my bedroom and bathroom. They were supposed to be installed before they brought my home here but they did not do it and I didn't notice until it was too late. Somebody recommended these two guys, Pete and Jerry, and they did a really nice job.

I didn't have an attendant here for the last three mornings. Gloria hurt her back so they do not feel comfortable sending her back. They were going to send Madonna back but she ended up in the emergency room at the hospital. Then they were going to send Mieshia but she got sick also.

 

In two weeks my brother will be here from Georgia for a week and little David will be here. I think David is bringing Desiree and JohnPatrick and possibly Aubrey and hopefully it will be nice whether so we can get out and keep busy.