Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

Halloween is always a lot of fun.  The kids get so excited and some of their costumes are so creative you can't help but smile, I even have some candy left over. this year we had a lot of kids come to the door.

Tomorrow I'm going to stay in bed and rest, still battling pressure sores.

The next holiday is Thanksgiving, I love Thanksgiving.  Stanley, Janet and the kids are going to come down and hopefully my Uncle Dick, Aunt Kathy and maybe even Rich, Vanessa and their kids will join us.

Next week David and Deziree are going to come down and go to a concert with my mom and I in San Francisco and stay for a couple of days.  It has been a long time since I have seen them and I'm really excited.

Rich, the trainer came by today and said that he thought Brodie had a stroke.  When I saw her on Monday morning that's what I thought also.  The doctor said it was an inner ear infection but you could touch her ear and she doesn't move away, it's her ear was really infected I think she would be screaming if you touched her ear.  Regardless of what happened she's getting back to be her old self.

Corinne called me last night to see if I felt the earthquake.  They did not feel it in Modesto but they heard about it and wondered how we were doing.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Shake, rattle and roll

I was woken up at around 8:00 p.m. by the sound of rattling and by bed shaking, talk about a rude awakening.  I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be and it really didn't seem to last very long.  My mom called me to make sure everything was OK and to let me know that everything was OK with her except that she can't find one of the birds, Sweet Pea.  I immediately turn the channel to CNN and found out that we just had a 5.6 magnitude earthquake, 9 miles from San Jose- Epicenter is near Alum Rock, CA.  My niece Corinne called to see if I felt it and if everything was all right.

Today was a good day.  My pressure sore is almost completely gone so I got up today and went to the mall.  I was talking to my mom on the phone and she said that she needed to go to the mall and to go shopping and since I had to go to those two places also I stopped and picked her up on the way.  We only made it to the bank to and to the mall because Brodie was looking really tired and I didn't want to overdo it with her.  Tomorrow the trainer is coming so I guess I will go grocery shopping on Thursday.

Brodie scare

Monday morning scare

This morning right after the massage therapist showed up Brodie started acting really weird so she said that she would take her to the vet for me so I called Lulu to meet her down there.  I have noticed since Friday night, everything always happens Friday evening after 5 p.m., Brodie's acting really lethargic, the left side of her face was really droopy and she was sleeping all the time.  It was even hard to get her to go outside and go to the bathroom.  She was still drinking a lot of water but not hardly eating anything at all.  At first I thought that she had had a stroke.  After a couple of hours the doctor called and said that it looks like either Brodie has a really bad deep inner ear infection or something wrong with her brain so they sent her home with some antibiotics, steroids and some cream, five different prescriptions, and said to watch her for a couple of days and did she was not any better I need to take her to Santa Rosa for a MRI, that sounds really expensive.

When Lulu brought Brodie she seem to be a lot better, back to her old self.  She is still sleeping a lot and the left side of her face is still a little droopy but she is eating again and even trying to play a little bit.  I never had children but it is really heartbreaking to see something that you love so much miserable or in pain and not knowing what to do. The doctor said that her face would always be droopy and she would never be able to blink her eye again.  Last night I saw her blinking her eye and her face was less droopy.  the doctor is going to call me today and give me the final results of her tests.

I called Rich, the dog trainer, and she said to go ahead and see how she was doing this afternoon and if she's doing better he's going to come over and work with her again tomorrow.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Closer and closer...

Wow, the progress on the House in Santa Cruz is amazing.  I haven't been able to get updated pictures for a while and I can't believe how great it looks.  They have the apartment above the garage framed so you can see what it's going to look like and the stairs inside are done.  I didn't get to go check it out because my Sunday attendant didn't show up again and Brodie is looking really sick, I'm going to take her to the vet first thing in the morning, I feel so bad just looking at her and I wish I could take the pain away is.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Santa Cruz

Today I was supposed to go to a support group in Los Gatos but I didn't make it.  Lulu is filling in for her cousin, Gracie, who had surgery and wasn't able to get here until noon, that's when the support group started.

I went to Eastridge Mall to get a toe ring sized because it was too big, they told me that it would be ready on Monday.  While I was there I went to Clare's and got a couple of ankle bracelets with matching toe rings.

Tomorrow I'm going to Santa Cruz with Angie, Rosie and my mom.  I haven't been there for several weeks and I hear there's a lot of progress being made.  The roof is on, that is a big relief because it looks like it's going to start raining, and the stairs are put in so my mom can see what her upstairs apartment is going to be like.  I'm so excited that I cannot sleep.

I'm trying to drink a lot of water because I've had a real dull headache the last couple of days and I think I have a bladder infection.  My whole body, or what I can feel of it, feels like a million pins are sticking in me and everything hurts. sometimes I just get tired of drinking water all the time but I need to make myself do it anyway.  I haven't been drinking my juice in the morning and I can really feel it.  I have a pressure sore and two really big blisters on my foot and ankle.  In order to lay on my side I need to strap my leg and see if you don't do it just right I end up getting blisters.

I worked with Brodie for a little bit today and she did really good, I just need to keep it up and I plan to.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Dog trainer

The dog trainer came out today and he really seem to know what he was doing.  He taught me how to get and keep Brodie's attention, I was really shocked at how easy it was.  He said it would probably about four to six months to get rid of her aggression towards other animals.  I was very impressed with him and I'm excited about working with Brodie every day that I can. He is also a big fan of the Dog Whisperer, Caesar Milan, and wait to see him last Sunday at the Flint Center here in San Jose.  I was so bumbed that I missed the opportunity.  I have been watching the web site and I get the newsletter and I don't not how I could have overlooked it.  I hope he comes back this way again.

For me one of the hardest issues after my injury is time.  Before my injury I lived 150 miles from my job.  By the time I commuted to work, worked, commuted home and did the laundry, the dishes and clean the house and the yard I really wasn't much time left to do much of anything else but I did not mind at all.  Since my injury it seems that I have nothing but time.  A lot of time to sit around and think about what I used to be able to do that I can do now.  Do my own laundry, clean my house, get dressed and ready to go within 20 minutes, now takes about three hours, drive, walk... When you have a problem or something bothering you it's nice to get up and stay busy and not have to think about it, I can no longer do that. it is especially hard when there is a problem or you're worried about something.  Most of the time since I'm not very active during the day, even when I do get up and get out, I don't sleep very good at night.  I used to really panicked me but now I just try to watch TV, play cards or chat on the computer.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Another weekend

Lulu ended up going home early on Friday because she could not find a masks to wear while she was spraying the material adhesive.  She started getting really quiet and squinting her eyes so I knew that something was wrong.  I finally asked her what was wrong and she said that she was very sick and very dizzy and needed to sit outside for a while and she was going to call her husband to come and get her.  Her husband came in and said that he was going to take her home and leave her car here so I told him to tell her not to come in on Saturday.  She looked really bad.  She came this morning, Sunday morning, to pick up her car and said this to his feeling much better and that she will be in tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. so I can go to the support group at Valley Medical Center.

My mom came over and maybe some breakfast on Saturday.  I remember growing up one of my favorite breakfast was Rice with warm milk, butter and a little bit of sugar so that is what she made for me, it was perfect for the cooled morning.  The rest of the day I just sat around and watch movies and played cards on Pogo.

This morning Leticia called and said that she wasn't feeling very well and she didn't get much sleep last night so she wasn't coming in.  She called at 6:30 a.m. and I can't believe that I slept right through it.  I woke up at 9 a.m. and I was looking at the monitor, I have four cameras set up around my house so I can see what's going on, and I didn't see her moving around and then I noticed I had a message on my telephone.

My brother David called me yesterday to see if my mom and I would like to go with him and his daughter to a concert in San Francisco on November 5th.  He said he was going to find out for sure if he could get the days off so that they could fly down here for a couple of days, go to the concert with us and then go home.  He called me this evening and told me that he got the days off so I ordered the tickets.  I haven't seen Dave or Deziree for a long time and I'm really looking forward to it.

I was going to call and see if Deziree wanted to come and help me decorate for Halloween, they are not allowed to celebrate it in Georgia because they believe it is evil.  She is very creative and I know she would have done a great job but it just seemed like time flew by so fast and I never got around to asking.

I've been having a really hard time trying to pick out what colors of granite, tile, stucco... everything for my new house.  It seems like every time I go I see a different color that I like.  Finally my aunt suggested that I just let Charlie pick everything out and what a relief that was.  I assume that Charlie was busy building my house and didn't really have time to help with stuff like that but he said that between him and his tile and flooring guy they could put together a great place, I am so thrilled because they have been doing it for several years and I know that Charlie has really good taste.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Fabric

Today I went to Beverly's fabric to get some material for my headboard and footboard.  It doesn't look too hard when they do it on TV and a couple of the ladies at Beverly's fabric were a big help so I think it can be done.

Hopefully by tomorrow I can get the rest of the Halloween decorations up so I can finally get all of these boxes out of my living room.

Tomorrow Aunt Kathy is going to come over and finally finalize my will.  A friend of hers is a notary so she's going to come by so we can get that out of the way and after that it looks like finally it will be downhill.

I just have to sell this place and sell my mom's place hopefully by the end of this year and by February or March we will be in our new place.  I think my mom is excited about living in the two-bedroom apartment above the house and I think she's going to be really happy there.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Decorating for Halloween

This year Madonna pretty much decorated for Halloween and she really had a lot of fun.  Apparently where she is from they do not celebrate Halloween and she has never decorated but I knew she would do a good job because she is very creative.  I haven't been outside to see what she has done yet but I can see the inside and it looks great, I'm excited about seeing what the outside looks like.  I stayed in bed today as I wanted to hurry up and get everything decorated before Halloween and the only way girls have time to do it is a they don't have to get me dressed and in my chair.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Target finally opened

I found some material in one of the closets in the back room so I took it to the lady that makes my camps for me.  I'm very tall and I always did have a problem finding pants that were long enough and it makes it even worse when you're sitting down all the time.  It really bugs me when my pants aren't long enough so I found a lady that will make pants for me as long as I need to feel comfortable and I don't have to worry about pockets or buttons.

They opened up a new target down on the corner from where I live so I went down to check it out, was pretty big and they seem to have just about everything except for material which I was looking for.  My headboard is falling apart and I need to reupholstery so I'm looking for some heavy material.  They are actually building a really big shopping center and it has just about everything you can think of, he figures that they would build it when I plan on moving to Santa Cruz.  One of the problems with living here we go anywhere by myself, everything is too far away.  At least I will get to enjoy it for a couple of months before I move into my new house.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to go to Beverly's fabric to see if I can find some material for my headboard and maybe even get enough to make the footboard match.

I used to know what I was going to do from day-to-day and didn't really have very much time for anything else.  Get up, take a shower, go to work, come home, eat dinner and go to bed.  Saturday and Sunday was basically clean the house, do the laundry and take the dog for a walk.  Now it seems like I don't really know what to do with myself most of the time.  I try to make plans every day to do something but there really isn't anything that I have to do or anywhere that I have to be.  I guess there's good and bad to both lives.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

What is your favorite time of day?

I think my favorite time of the day is early morning.  I was talking to a friend the other day and the subject came up.  I usually wake up about 2:00 a.m. and really don't want to go back to sleep.  It's the only time that I really have two myself to look around and appreciate my home, my family, my friends... basically my life.  I know that I have until 7 a.m. where nobody will be asking anything of me.  Unfortunately, that is the same time that Brodie chooses to release gas, she can be pretty potent sometimes bad enough where she has to leave the room, I wish I had the same convenience.

Today I go to see Kathy to get my teeth cleaned.  Last time I was there, I go every four months, she told me to try brushing with warm salt water becomes my gums bled a lot so I started doing that and I'm curious to see if it helps, if it doesn't it was just a really nasty experience.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Service animal

Stanley, Robert and Corinne came down on Friday evening and we ordered pizza, it had been awhile since I had it and boy did it tastes good.

On Saturday we got out of here early trying to beat the traffic to the Gilroy outlets, always a fun place to go.  We hit just about every store and then had lunch at Applebee's, this was only my second time eating there and it was pretty good.

The only bummer of the day was when I was trying to go into the Sony store.  The security guard that was there at the door denied my access into the store because I had Brodie with me.  I told him that she is a service animal, she has her service animal bandana on and she could go pretty much where anybody else can go but he said no matter what she still a dog and cannot come in the building so I asked him if he could call the manager.  I don't like to cause problems but I feel that everybody should know what the ADA laws are so that the next person going into that building with a service animal will not have any problems.  Stanley saw that something was happening and came to the front door and said that he was done and we should just leave.  After leaving I ran into Rich who is the co-facilitator for the Monday support groups at Valley Medical, he was furious and offered to go back with me to explain the laws to the security guard but by the time we got back neither the security guard that denied my access nor the employee that was calling the manager were there.  We did talk to the security guard that was there and he said that the guy was new and just didn't know the laws but the manager had told them that service animals were allowed in the store.  After I got home I wrote a letter to Sony and I sent them the laws for service animal.  I also printed a few extra copies to keep in my backpack in case this happens again.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The weather is getting cooler, it was a nice day to day

I just talked to Charlie and the house is coming along great.  It looks like were going to get the roof on the second story apartment next week.  I'm not going to be able to go see it this weekend but I will be able to either next Wednesday or Thursday or the weekend after that.  I just know that there's going to be a lot done by the time I get over there to see it again.

Yesterday my mom made some killer chili and my uncle Dick and Ellen brought me some down last night along with some garlic bread and some kind of Mexican salad.  My mom had a leak in her wall and they had to tear up the carpet to fix it so my uncle, my aunt and Ellen came over yesterday to help her put her room back together.

Stanley, Robert and Corinne are going to come down on Friday night and on Saturday we're going to go to the Gilroy outlets.  We don't usually see Robert very much but my brother told him that if he did not come out to pick out his school clothes that we would take them out that we would pick them out for him and you know how finicky teenagers are?

Today we went to my new favorite place and I got some eggplant and then we went to Home Depot to get some tomato worm repellent for my mom's tomatoes.  After that Brodie and I walked down to the park, only about four blocks, and Lulu drove down to meet us.  We ran around the park for a little bit and try to get Brodie to chase the ball.  It's funny because when she's here at the house she gets all reved up and wants to play but when we take her to the park she will catch the ball a few times and then take it and go under a tree and try to prop it.  Dogs are so funny.