Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Life is the dance...

Today I got to do the notary dance again.  I got some more paperwork from Bank of America that needed to be noterized and FedExed back today.  I was supposed to get the paperwork last week and of course I didn't think about it until today so I called to leave a message and she said that it came back because it was deliberate to the wrong address, it was delivered to my mom's old address.  What annoys me is that she called me and I specifically left her a message giving her my address and she called me back to verify it.  She said that she sent it on the 21st, why didn't she call me between now and then?  Anyways, she said that it was her fault so that she would extend the date so everything works out once again.

I took a trip over to Costco to get some fruit, stuff for sandwiches and snacks.  I decided to get paper plates so I can go ahead and packed all of my stuff... I can't believe it's really finally happening.

Brodie has been itching like crazy so I am going to take her over to Petsmart tomorrow to get her a really good bath and clip her toenails, I have never seen a dog's toenails grow as fast as hers.

By the time I get back David and Deziree should be here.  My mom is going to go back over to Santa Cruz and see if she can get some more unpacking done, she called me and said that they got a lot done today... and only had about four casualties as far as dishes.

It is really quite here right now and I am nice and cozy.  Usually around this time of night my mom is watching basketball and all I can hear is the squeak squeak squeak the sneakers on the sweaty gymnasium floor.

Installing my new TV

Jeff came by yesterday morning to get pictures of how the closets are set up and to see what else needed to be done at the new house, Jeff is one of the guys that works for Charlie. He called last night and said that he got the TV up and it looks AWESOME, he said he would've spent the night there and watched it if the cable was booked up.  He also finished all three closets and has some leftover material so he's going to put it in my mom's spare bedroom closet.  I got a closet stuff the container store, Elfa products for closets.  They are really easy to install and they work great.  You map out how you want your closets, take it to the container store and they give you all of the materials.

David called and said that Deziree decided to come with him tomorrow, they will be here 12-ish.  Deziree has not yet seen the new place and in fact I have not seen her for a very long time, I am so excited about them visiting.  I love it when my family is all here and even though it is going to be a busy weekend moving I will make sure we all have time to have fun and visit.

Today I'm finally going to be able to get up and out of bed.  I need to go to Home Depot to get some rubber gloves so Dave that can be protected when he changes the outlets for Multimedia Max.  I also need to go over to Costco.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Decisions decisions...

Yesterday my mom, Stanley, Corinne and I went over to Sears to pick out my new TV and I found a microwave.  While I was there I talked to several of the guys in different departments and they seem pretty much agree that Samsung was a better brand of TV to get.  They also told me that LCD was better than plasma, I am really glad that the subject came up and I'm very pleased at what I got.  They told me that a new feature came out called... I don't remember what it's called but it's a feature that is better for watching motion pictures, it might even be called a motion picture feature.  It is a lot easier when they have the different models lined up next to each other, the Samsung picture was AWESOME.

I remember people used to tell me that everything happens for a reason.  It is to make me very angry and I used to think that people just said it because they didn't know what else to say but now I'm starting to believe that that might be something to it.  Thinking back a lot of things that happened in my life that I thought was the worst thing that could happen has turned out to be a blessing.  Last week Madonna to me that Monday was going to be her last day so I was really stressing out about what am I going to do until Thursday for my morning caregiver.  The agency that I use in the afternoon was trying to place somebody here but they did not do personal care so they really cannot help me in the morning.  I was sitting here hoping that Madonna would talk to her family and decide not to take the job or that maybe she would try it for a day and not like it but she didn't even show up this morning.

My aunt found a nurse that was going to start working on Thursday so that I could try her out but her mother passed away so she had to go to Mexico and it sounded like she would be there for a while so back to the drawing board.  The neighbors that look across the street from me are emergency room nurses from a hospital in Watsonville so they had found a bunch of applicants.  Meanwhile this morning the final cleaning crew was cleaning my house and when they overheard my aunt and said that they had a 19 year old daughter that works part time in a senior care facility and was looking for a private client for caregiving, how perfect is that?  I am waiting for her to call me back since she lives in this area and I'm hoping that she will be able to start tomorrow morning.  I'm a little nervous about somebody commuting over the hill but her and her whole family do it all up the time and think nothing of it.

Stanley got the closets taken apart and he took that and the TV that I thought yesterday over to Santa Cruz for Jeff to install tomorrow.  I called him this afternoon and he said he would be over in the morning to get the pictures, I took pictures of how I wanted my closets to look.

Stanley and Corinne left for home but it is hard to believe that in just a matter of days they will all be back and I will be living in Santa Cruz.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Moving in progress...

Yesterday Stanley and Rich showed up and pretty much knocked everything out, they got all of the boxes taken over to the garage and emptied out my storage shed and my storage unit... pretty impressive.  My mourning caregiver is packing up stuff in the kitchen and it's just taking all of the stuff down from the walls.

Yesterday Corinne and I strolled down to the new shopping center and met my mom at the new Home Depot to get replacement switches, plugs and covers or when David moves Multimedia Max to my new place.  After that we were going to go shopping but Rich was on his way back to the house and it was starting to rain so we stopped by Ross to get an umbrella and headed back here.

Today Stanley is going to take me over to Circuit City to get my new television.  About two years ago David and I went there in the picture on the Polaroid was so awesome I ended up getting it.  I have never seen a Polaroid brand television, only the camera, but I am so impressed with it I'm going to get another one.  The one I have now my mom is going to put upstairs in her living room.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

I know that one day soon things will start getting better instead of worse...

Looks like next week I have no morning caregiver.  Madonna was offered a full-time live in position and she decided to take it.  She has told me several times that she would stay with me until I leave and although she has accepted a couple of jobs that didn't work out she keeps on taking them.  The selfish part of me wants to make her stay but I know that she needs to do what is right for her and her family so I always tell her to go ahead and take it.  I guess I will wait until Monday and hope that over the weekend she decides not to take it and to come back here before I hire an agency, Monday is a holiday and I didn't plan on getting up anyway since I will be up all weekend.

Stanley and Corinne are going to be here mid-afternoon to start moving boxes over to Santa Cruz.  Rich is going to come and help him.

My neighbor called my from his job in Sunnyvale on Thursday to ask me if I was seeing any smoke from the MT Madonna fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  I told him that the day before the lift on my van finally broke beyond repair.  He had been telling me about a place next door to him called Access Options that deals with accessible vans and lifts so I decide to take a drive over there and check it out.  Everybody was really nice and helpful.  The receptionist said that she recognized me from Valley Medical, she said that we met eight years ago.  It used to go to the support groups there every Monday, I really miss that.  The owner actually took the time to come out and look at my lift even though the receptionist told him it was a Rollx and they could not service it.  He took a picture and said that he would ask around and see what could be done, piece of the ramp broke off where the cable is bolted to it.  I have an appointment to go back on Tuesday to get my ez-lock system repaired, the mechanism that locks my chair in the van so it doesn't move. Now that I don't have a morning attendant to get me up and in my chair and don't know what I'm going to do.  Sometimes life tries so hard to get you down.

Next week I guess I will just have to have the afternoon caregiver pack up whats left in my house so that everything will be pretty to go next weekend.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Sometimes there's just no more temporary fix...

I knew it was a matter of time before it happened... it happened today.  I went to go get in the van and when Aiesha let down the ramp it came down with a huge BANG and the hydraulic bar dropped.  The part where the cable is fastened to the ramp literally broke, there will be no more temporary fixes.  Keith, my neighbor across the street, came out from eating his lunch, that's how loud it was.  It looks like the ramp will have to be manually lifted indefinitely, my first stop today is Home Depot to buy some work gloves.

Vanessa and Luana came by yesterday for a visit.  Louana is so cute and she sure likes to laugh a lot, you cannot help but laugh yourself when you see her.  We went down to see Angie and her new baby Parker and Puck.  Parker is so cute and so tiny, when Charlie and Terrie were here last week and they were telling me how small it is but I thought all babies were small, he really is small.  We had a nice visit and I was a little surprise how good Angie looked or having a baby two weeks ago.  I can't believe we forgot to take a picture of all of us.

My cousin Rich called last night and said that he would come over this weekend to help Stanley take a bunch of stuff to Santa Cruz.  They are almost done with my ceiling lift and then the final cleaners are going to come on Monday so we still cannot put anything in the House but there is room now in the garage.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Trying to solve long-term problems...

Every summer that I have been here since I put in the sky light I have suffered with the sun beating down on me between about 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. until today.  I was sitting here trying to figure out a way to block the sun and then it came to me... why didn't I think of it sooner?  I have a ceiling lift that I used to get me from my bed to the bathtub, to my chair and back into bed.  I draped a sheet over the sliding part of the lift and move it over towards me until it blocked the sun.  It seems like now that I'm moving in solving a lot of problems that I had here.

I cannot believe that I can't find a way to get rid of these bed sores.  It is an ongoing problem that I have and although they don't get serious they are constant.  I have asked other quadriplegic's in chat rooms, message boards, support group's, people I run into, nurses and doctors and so far none of their suggestions to help me at all.  In order to turn on my side far enough to get completely off of the area I am pinching my SP tube, the tube going into my bladder for evacuation, and then I leak and that just makes it worse.  I have a rotating air mattress which is supposed to help but it doesn't.  The problem is it just doesn't seem to be a way to keep the off of the same area on my butt.  I saw Tony yesterday, the guy who changes my SP tube, and he suggested that I make an appointment with my doctor... that is where I started this search.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Trying out my new chair...

The last couple of days it has select HOT.  On Wednesday evening I just could not cool down and on Thursday morning I realized why, some how one of the registers in my room got closed.  When Charlie built this place for me to put each registers in my bedroom because I am usually a lot hotter or a lot cooler than everybody else, is that a great idea or what?  As much as I need to practice with my new chair I am not going outside.  I practiced with my new chair on Wednesday and I did pretty good except my left arm was really sore, I switched the driving mechanism to my left hand thinking that it would make my left arm stronger... I am starting to wonder if that was a good idea but I will give it a few weeks and they what happens.  My first time out in my new chair I didn't want to take Brodie because the steering is so sensitive I didn't want a chance running over her toes.  Apparently my morning caregiver left the back gate open, she was cleaning up the dog run, and Brodie ran out of the gate and down the street.  My only thought was that she was going to run out to Monterey Highway and that would be it for her.  I started jamming after her, as fast as I could go in my new sensitive chair, but she was way too fast.  Luckily she just ran down to where my mom used to live and turned around and ran back, I was so relieved because her hearing is really getting bad.

Dan the computer man sent me an e-mail asking me if he could use a quote that I put on it Multimedia Design web site after he hooked up Multimedia Max for me.  He wanted to put it in a brochure that he is putting together for a seminar that it's going to attend.  He also wants me to send a Max-ish picture.  My cousin is coming over today and I'm going to ask her to take a picture so I can send it to him.  I guess this is my 15 minutes of fame?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Finally the final permits...

It turned out to be a really great Mother's Day.  My uncle and aunt of course had way too much food but there was a lot of people at the party and a lot of people stopped by to say Hi, they just seem to have a really great life and some awesome friends.  There is always a lot of hors d'oeuvres and then usually by the time dinner comes around I'm way too full but I eat a lot anyways.  I hope when I move to Santa Cruz I can keep myself from gaining too much weight because when I do I just don't really comfortable.  I'm trying to lose some weight before I move there and I'm going to do my best to keep it off.

I finally got a call yesterday to let me know that we finally got all of the final permits and now the house is legally mine.  Charlie has moved on to this new project but the guys will be there for a couple of days to do last-minute touch ups and extra projects that I might have.  My uncle just called me let me know that they are finally working on my ceiling lift and that next week is the final cleaning and that we are ready to move in.  I cannot believe it is finally happening.

I'm trying to get my closet's cleaned out and take pictures so that the guys can put the closets there the same way that I have them here.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 100° so I'm not even going to try to go outside and Friday Madonna has another client so she won't be coming in, a perfect excuse to get the rest of my stuff packed up and ready to go.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Mother's Day barbecue

The other day I was watching a new series called "I survived" and it made me think about some of the stories that I heard while I was hosting my online chat room.  I will never forget one guy telling me that his ATV accident left him just off the side of the road for three days, paralyzed from the neck down, with ants and flies crawling all over his face and neck, I'm sure all over his body but that's all that he could feel.  He said that during the day it was really hot and during the night it was really cold. He said that he could hear the traffic rushing by only feet away from him but nobody could hear him screaming for help.  I cannot even imagine how terrifying that was.

I'm really looking forward to going to Santa Cruz tomorrow.  It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day for a Mother's Day barbecue and it sounds like there's going to be a lot of people there, just a taste of what my new life is going to be like when I move, busy and lots of visiting.  It sounds like a lot of the neighbors are invited so it will be a good chance to get to know them.

I think we finally decided to move over the Memorial Day weekend.  David is going to come the Monday before and work on moving and hooking up Multimedia Max and Stanley and his family are going to come for the weekend and help with everything else.  Rich is also going to help.  I'm starting to see a lot of Rich, Vanessa and the kids and it sure is great.

Today my mom gets to go visit Peter and Angie's new baby Parker.  Unfortunately I won't be able to go but it is so great to hear that they are home and doing great and I know I will be able to meet Parker soon.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Pictures of the final project...

So far it has been a really good week, lots of catching up with old friends.  I talked to John for a long time on Monday, I met John online a couple of years ago and just love talking to him.  Usually I just like talking on the telephone because the silence makes me uncomfortable but with John there really is no silent.  He always has an interesting story and makes me laugh.

I talked to Lee on Yahoo Tuesday, we've worked together at Xicor 13 years ago and got in touch several month ago.  Unfortunately just as we got back in touch he was moving away but thanks to the Internet we are able to keep in touch.  It feels really good to talk about old-times.

Vanessa and Luana came by yesterday for a visit.  They had just come from visiting Peter, Angie and Parker at the hospital.  Their baby was born on Tuesday and it sounds like they are doing really great.  It's hard to believe that the little girl that I used to babysit and used to cry whenever her mom would sing is now old enough to have a baby of her own.  Angie says that her and Peter only want to have one child... I'm waiting to hear what she says now.

It sounds like on Sunday we are going to Santa Cruz for a Mother's Day barbecue.  I'm not sure who all is going to be there but knowing my aunt and uncle it will be quite a barbecue.

So for the first inspection that Charlie got, the fire sprinklers, did not pass.  One of them upstairs apparently was not registered with the city... I hope this is not any indication out the rest of the permits are going to go.

I woke up this morning around 4 a.m. and there was an infomercial for the Jack La Lane juicer, I miss drinking the juice and I think I'm going to break it out again.

Vanessa brought over the final pictures of my house, I can hardly wait to move in.

Monday, May 5, 2008

The viewing that I have been waiting for...

I forgot that last weekend was the park wide annual yard sale.  Jerry stopped by and told me that there was this BEAUTIFUL chair from the Philippines a couple houses down and that I just needed to go look at it, it was gorgeous.  It was handcarved and hand-painted I just couldn't pass it up for $60.  When you sit down on it it feels like a hammock but it is made out of wood and it has wheels on it.

Vanessa came by for a visit and took the girls to get a Pedicure, they looked really cute.  She left Alexi here to have a sleep over.  Stanley and I drove around to see if we can find anything else at a course at a lot of stuff that I would like to have but fortunately I was in the van and couldn't look any closer, I'm trying to downsize what I have for the move.  We went to Chili's for dinner but my mom stayed here because she wasn't feeling well, we all ate way too much but had dessert anyway.

On Sunday we drove to Santa Cruz to check out the final finishing touches on the House, it looks gorgeous.  The landscaping and the handrails on the front and back ramp look incredible, I'm so excited about moving in.  It looks like we're going to start in a couple of weeks.  We went out to a Mexican restaurant to eat it for the drive home and although it was small Stanley made room for me and my huge chair.

I'm still trying to decide what kind of window treatment I want.  I really don't like blinds but I really don't like curtains either.  I thought about shears but at night I really don't want people looking in my house.  The other day when I went to Expo I saw some drapes that I really did like and they were once that I could open myself, that the ones that you pull and drape over a hook to open.  Vanessa said that she would go with me on Wednesday if she has time to help me pick something out.

My camera was broken so Vanessa agreed to take pictures for me and she will bring them when she comes on Wednesday, I cannot wait to put the finished pictures on my journal, I could not be prouder of the job that Charlie did.  I tried to picture myself living in there with all of my stuff but it is still beyond believe I'm probably will take a month or so to realize I'm not dreaming.

Charlie and Terrie met us there, I didn't think they would because Angie is about to give birth any time.  Today would be great because that would be on her and Peters anniversary.

 

Friday, May 2, 2008

Santa Cruz on Sunday...

It looks like were having an open house Sunday so it's time to try to make the house look presentable again.

Stanley and Corinne are going to be here tonight and Vanessa is going to bring the kids tomorrow for a sleepover.  We're still trying to decide it were going to have a sleep over here or at Rich and Vanessa.  I think it would be nice for Rich and Vanessa to let the kids stay here and have a little time for themselves and their new baby.

Yesterday I stayed in bed and got a lot done, how did that happen?  On Tuesday the ramp and my van broke so I called Keith yesterday morning and he came over and took a look at it and said that he would be back in the afternoon to fix it and he did.  I sent my afternoon caregiver to the post office, to wash the van and to Home Depot to get some duct tape.

I still can't really use my new chair.  They forgot to install the lap seatbelt, my caregiver needs to lean me forward in the seat in order to pull me all the way back in my chair and I am not ready to kiss the floor, and I don't have the bolt on the bottom yet for the lockdown system in the van.  I called the guy yesterday and left him a message and it looks like I need to call him again today, I was hoping to have everything so I could try my new chair out this weekend... probably not.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

The new and the old...

Yesterday I went to get a brace for my left wrist hoping it will help when they start driving my chair with my left hand.  For some reason the last week or so my left arm has been hurting really bad.  You know the feeling when you hit your funny bone, that's what it feels like except it doesn't go away... extremely not funny.

When I went to get back in the van as I lifted up the ramp the whole thing went sideways and got wedged in the doorway.  It looked like one of the bolts holding the ramp to the van came out, it was having a hard time closing for the last couple of weeks and I guess I knew it was going to happen.  My caregiver was able to straighten out the ramp and although I thought I was going to have to skip grocery shopping my caregiver said that now that she knew how to close it we should just go ahead and get everything done so after we went grocery shopping I went to Orchard Supply Hardware and bought every bolt and nut that looked like it might fit and hopefully I will be able to get one of my neighbors to fix it for me so I can go back to Orchard and get some duct tape so I can cover up the whole I put in the armrest of my van with the driving mechanism of my chair.

The lockdown in my van has not been working for a long time.  I thought maybe it was because the insight was filled with dog hair and it still might be but I have one of my caregiver's clean it out with a stick and some dust off and it still doesn't work.  I need to go down and have a bolt put on my new chair so I guess it's time to get it fixed.  I'm still waiting for the guy to call a bout the seat belt, chest strap and owners manual that he forgot to bring when he brought me the chair.

Brodie is really starting to not listen to me at all.  When I go to get in the van she starts sniffing the grass and won't stop when I tell her to.  I tried lifting up the ramp and driving away opening two would realize if she's not in the van it will leave without her but she just follows the van down the street.  She does the same thing when I take her off the leash to get into the van after I go shopping.  She will run over to any island with grass or dirt and stop sniffing.  I tried going over and pushing her but she just keeps sniffing, it's very frustrating.  I asked my caregiver to go over and grab her but she said "I don't want to upset her"... unbelievable.  After I asked her again she walked over and grabbed Brodies bandanna, which is held on by a thin strip of Velcro.  Sometimes I get so frustrated with the caregiver I just don't know what to say any more.  I think from now on I'm just going to keep her strapped to my chair whenever we are in public and hope that I can get into the van with her attached.  It's either that or break out to e-caller.