Monday, June 30, 2008

Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty?

How is it possible that I never had ahi tuna?  I LOVE seafood.  Every time that I have seen it in a cooking show, I just realized that I watched way too many cooking shows, it always looked like it was raw on the outside or in the middle and that always scared me a little bit.  I would have tried any kind of sushi until I saw an article one time about a truck broke down while bringing fresh raw fish to a sushi restaurant and because the driver wanted to get paid for the load he did not say anything about the fact that the refrigeration broke and the fish was ruined.  But remember seeing pictures of a lady who was so sick and her body was all black and swollen.  For a long time after that I would only eat cooked sushi but now it depends on the restaurant.  The tuna that Heather made had a wasabi mayonnaise sauce and she made some tossed greens with a Chinese dressing and some carrots and snow peas... do I talk about food way too much??

Cassie, her brother Jack and I cruised down to the kitchen store to get one of those magnets for the dishwasher that says clean/dirty.  There's so many people around here and even though there are some obvious ways to tell some people just can't tell if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty, I hope this makes it easier.  On the way back we stopped at longs to get a more taffy, and you believe I went to the boardwalk where it was made and it was stale, they actually have a machine there and you can watch it pull the taffy but somewhere between there and the bins right next to it got stale.  The taffy at longs WAY on the other side of town is a lot better.

Tomorrow Brodie had an appointment to get her toenails cut but they call this evening and canceled so I asked Cassie she wanted to go to Mobo's and have Sushi and maybe cruise downtown since the weather has been so nice.

 

Sunday, June 29, 2008

I love duck...

I love duck.  I have never had it before but I prefer dark meat and I remember somebody telling me that if I prefer dark meat I would like duck.  It was so moist, not a bit dry.  I think what I'd just like most about white meat is that it is always so dry, the sauce that she made to go over the duck was awesome.  Heather also made some arugula with garlic and mushrooms, some killer rice and some orange beets, I have never even seen orange beets but they sure are good.  I remember watching the cooking shows and seeing the creations that they put together at wondering how everything tastes, now I get to find out and it is great.

My uncle came over and tried a bite of everything and of course I loved it also.  He hooked up a fan to the bottom of my bed under the sheet so we can see if it will help with the pressure sore, it definitely can't hurt.

Cooling down in Santa Cruz...

Of course last weekend I decided to put away my winter clothes because the weather was starting to get really warm so of course last week was really cool and windy.  Yesterday I was waiting for the sun to come out, generally in Santa Cruz the sun does not come out until noon.  It came out a couple of times but not enough to warm up and that was gone again, time to dig out my winter clothes again.

David called when he got home and asked me to check and see if he had left his laptop in the spare bedroom, I think he knew that he hadn't.  I felt really bad it wanted to call the airport but I had no way of describing it.  I call the couple days later and said that it was at the San Jose Airport so my mom drove a San Jose to pick it up, I was so relieved because I know he has EVERYTHING on his laptop.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday seemed to be repair days for everything that has turned up since we moved in.  The shelves in the cabnets were not reinforce, the garage door kept flickering and there was a big leak under the kitchen sink.  Everything got fixed except for the leak under the kitchen sink because when the repair guy got here there was nothing wrong... isn't that what always happens??

Heather made me a couple of salads because she was going to be busy for a couple of days.  The salads had chicken, apples, grilled onions, brea cheese... it's so wonderful to try new things and it amazes me how people can get so create.  She came over this afternoon and said that she was going to cook duck this evening and she would bring it over, I cannot wait to try it.

Somebody sent me this and I thought it was so funny I just have to share it...

I was having trouble with my computer. So I called
Eric, the 11 year old next door, whose bedroom looks
like Mission Control and asked him to come over. Eric
clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
 
As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what
was wrong? He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'
 
I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless
inquired, 'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In case I
need to fix it again.'
 
Eric grinned.... 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten
T error before?'
 
'No,' I replied. 'Write it down,' he said, 'and I
think you'll figure it out.'
 
So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T
 
I used to like Eric.............
 

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Santa Cruz just keeps getting better...

Another great day in Santa Cruz California.  I got up this morning and decided to go see if the lagoon was open and it still isn't and it doesn't really say when it's going to open again.  I went to the 7-11 on the corner to see if they had  little cans of cat food so I can't crush up all of Brodie's pills and hide them, it worked like a charm, she didn't even have a clue.

I came back and my mom, my aunt and I went through a couple of boxes in the garage and of course got rid of most of it.  We decided to go through a couple of boxes every day until they are gone which will probably take several months.

While we were cleaning out the garage we could smell something wonderful.  Heather was in the kitchen cooking up a few meals because she's usually pretty busy on Fridays and Saturdays.  She made talipa with pesto sauce, avocado and feta cheese AND roasted bell peppers with artichoke hearts and onions AND white kidney beans with spinach, it tasted as wonderful as it smelled, how did I get so lucky?

The massage therapist came back at 8:00 p.m., what a perfect time to get a massage.  After the massage I am so relaxed I just feel like nothing could go wrong.  I forgot to warn her about my supra pubic tube, a catheter that goes straight into my bladder just under my belly button, and she sat on it and it came undone, I was really embarrassed and apologize but she was really cool about it.  She just picked up the end and said "is this supposed to be plugged in somewhere?"  The massage therapist I had in San Jose and I ended up talking pretty much through the whole session but this one likes everything to be quiet except for some soft music, much more relaxing.  She is a super neat lady.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Bad week...

This is turning out to be not such a good week.  On Saturday my aunt ended up in the hospital with heart palpitations, apparently it has been going on for quite some time, my neighbor across the street has shingles and can not go to work for a while, my neighbor to the right of me, Heather, threw out her back and I am stuck in bed for a couple of days because of pressure sores... they say when it rains it pours.

Today I've met my new massage therapists.  It has been about a month and my neck, shoulders and arms are really feeling it.  She is a Friend of Autumn's, from across the street.  She is a really neat lady and really made me feel comfortable, a huge plus when you're getting a massage.

Heather came by today to take inventory and throw out the stuff in the refrigerator that looks like a science Project.  There was a lot of stuff left over from the house warming and she is going to incorporate what she can into meals for the next couple of days and go shopping for a few other things, she is so creative and I cannot wait to see what she whips up.

All of the sudden in the last couple of days I'm having a really hard time trying to get Brodie to take her pills.  I know that she has a lot, especially since her ear infection, but she just has to take them.  Peanut butter worked for a long time but now she's just refusing to take it so we tried meatballs and she will take it a lot better but later on in the evening she gets sick and throws up.  She takes two Benadryls, two fish pills, three antibiotic pills and a hip and joint pill not to mention the ear drops.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Housewarming...

Dave and JohnPatrick got here on Thursday morning and of course that was the day that Multimedia Max decided to take a dive so we decided to ignore it until after the open house.  Stanley, David and Corinne got here on Friday evening.

What a great weekend.  I was a little nervous on Saturday because we got a late start but it turned out to be a really nice day, of course we had way too much food but everybody tried their best to put a dent in it.  We were running a little bit late and Stanley made awesome breakfast burritos for everyone.  David and Cassie cut up all of the fruit and I did a really good job. People started showing up around 11:30 a.m. and it was pretty steady all day long, a couple people would show up to tour the house, something to eat and then leave.  About the middle of the afternoon it started raining HUGE raindrops, the day before it was like 101°.  A lot of the neighbor showed up and I'm so glad that I got to meet them because there are some pretty cool people that live around here.  Charlie, Terrie, Angie, and Parker were the first to show up and of course everybody wanted to hold Parker, he is so adorable and so calm and happy.  They brought a quilt for both my mom and I that Terrie had made, this is the a quilt that she has made for my mom and I and they are GORGEOUS.

After everything slowed down Dave and I took some of the kids to the lagoon but there was a sign on it that said it was closed because of the danger from all the fires.

Stanley, David and Corinne had to leave on Saturday evening because Corinne and Robert had tween camp to next morning and they were trying to get ready to go on a two-week vacation.

Sunday Dave decided the best way to fix Max to reinstall an earlier version, every once in a while Dave has me back up my computer when it's working really well... thank goodness for that.  The last time I had done it was in February and amazingly enough everything came back up and was working great, Dave didn't have to do very much at all.  He also got my mom's TV upstairs to work, they said that he thinks that got turned sideways so it wouldn't come on for a while, I swear my brother can fix anything.

On Monday Dave, JohnPatrick and I decided to go to the beach and boardwalk, this was the first time I have been there since I moved and I cannot believe how close it is, during the day I kept thinking... it's going to be a long drive back over the hill to San Jose and then I would remember that it wasn't very far at all, only a few blocks.  We ate lunch on the wharf and really enjoyed it.  We went to Circuit City to pick up a DirecTV box or my mom and to check out a Nintendo Wii games, my mom is going to get me one for my birthday.  I saw couple of articles on the Internet that said it was a great exercise and it looks like it is going to be great.  They did have a couple and they said that they are old really quick but we had seen them the day before at Costco and decided to get it there since it was a little cheaper and we had to get up from there anyway.  Of course when we showed up we looked all over the store and couldn't find any.  We finally solved somebody that worked there and asked them and they said that they never say in the store very long as they would get another shipment in a month, we should've gotten it the day before.  When we got back we were supposed to go to The Wooden Nickel with my uncle and aunt but there was no car in their driveway so I decided to come back here and call it the day, I think everybody was exhausted.  Cassie came over and she put me to bed and I was immediately out, I woke up this morning as my brother and JohnPatrick was leaving so I at least got to say goodbye.  He works at Delta, fixing the simulators, so he gets to write or free but on standby.  He said that it didn't look really good but they were going to hang out at the airport and hope for the best, I really hope they don't have to wait for very long.

Heather is going to come by today to do inventory in my kitchen and see what she can whip up.  We all tried her spaghetti the other day and it was AWESOME.  She left the wheat spaghetti, which I have been wanting to try, and it was actually very good.  She is fixing a lot of healthy and delicious meals for me.

Friday, June 20, 2008

David coming to visit...

I woke up this morning thinking about my old place, people keep asking me if I miss it and I really don't.  I miss the neighbors and it was the first place that I owned but nothing can beat this place.  My old place had three bedrooms and although the master bedroom was supposed to be in the back of the House my brother had an idea to move the master bedroom to the front bedroom and put French doors so that I could see what's going on in the living room, dining room and kitchen, it don't know what I would have done WAY in the back room when I have company if he hadn't thought of it.

Yesterday we went through some more stuff in the garage and although we did make a little dent there is a lot more to go through, it just got too hot to sit outside.

Today by the time I take a bath, get dressed and get up my brother, Deziree and JohnPatrick will be landing at the San Jose Airport.  It hasn't been very long since I have seen him but I always miss him very much.

Cassie is taking the grocery shopping today.  I don't really have to grocery shop too much now because Heather is really hooking me up.  I did see a commercial for peanut butter and mint M&M's and they need to get some of those.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The perfect wheelchair...

I had a really nice birthday.  My brother and his family from Modesto sent me you tube birthday videos periodically through the day, pretty cool.

Jim came here to install the electronic doors so that I can open them with Multimedia Max or a remote, what a relief that finally is.  My Mom doesn't have to get up every morning at 6 a.m. and come downstairs and unlock the door so my caregiver can come in.

I finally took my new chair in to be adjusted and it sure feels a lot better.  I decided to have the driving mechanism switched back over to the right hand side... what was I thinking??  I thought that it would strengthen my left arm but it only made it sore every day, maybe it would have strengthened it and not been sore anymore but I decided to not wait and see.

When I got back from Rehab Specialist Heather was cooking in my kitchen and it smelled great.  She made some spaghetti sauce, barbecued pork tenderloin, rice that tastes like popcorn and sautéed spinach with mushrooms and garlic... I was in heaven and I couldn't wait to get to bed to eat.  I usually wait until I get to bed because it's more comfortable.

Today we are going to go through more stuff.  We finally got everything from the old place here and now we're trying to sort it out before the house warming party, which is this Saturday.  I'm glad to have the old place finally ready to sell because my aunt and uncle have been spending a lot of time there and are very tired.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Busy week...

This week has been so busy trying to get ready for the housewarming party here and getting the old place patched and painted to get ready to sell.  I really don't know how I crammed so much stuff into a three-bedroom house or how I thought I was going to cram the stuff from the three-bedroom house into a two-bedroom.

A baby shower on Sunday was great.  There was a lot of people that I haven't seen for a long time.  It was really great to sit down and talk to Charlie as a friend and not as a contractor, Charlie is the best barbecuer I know and he always seems to know where to get the best meat.  Our families used to be so close and I'm hoping it will be that way again.  The cake was SO cute. It had peapods and caterpillars made out of frosting, the detail was incredible.  It had a cow pushing a stroller on top, Angie loves cows.  It was also really cute to see Peter and Angie carrying Parker around, they just looked so natural.

On Sunday Heather came by to meet me, see what kind of food I liked and check out my kitchen.  She is the head chef here at the Coconut Grove Restaurant and has agreed to cook for me five days a week.  Basically it is whatever he cooks for her and her partner and/or whatever she ends up cooking at a restaurant.  We seem to like the same foods and so far her meals are GREAT.  I'm trying to a little bit healthier so she said she would help me out with that.  She told me if there was anything that I would like to try she would make it for me.  I told her that I always wanted to try beef Wellington, I have seen the take-home chef and other chefs cook it and it really looks good.  She said of course that would take a little preparation and asked me when my birthday was, I told her it was tomorrow and she laughed but today really is my birthday.  It was just funny away that they came out.

Monday I had to go to Valley Medical Center to get my SP tube change.  The drive actually wasn't that bad, I had anticipated it to be a lot worse.  It was nice to see Tony and they don't have to go back for amonth.

Yesterday I took Brodie to her new vet down the street so they could get to know her and all of her problems.  She was two for a lot of shots and they pulled something really nasty out of her ear, no wonder she was miserable. they do not do grooming but they will cut Brodies toenails every two weeks until the quick is short enough to keep her toenails as short as they should be.  Dr. Martinalli said that Brodie looked really good but is definitely looking older so she told me to be sure to keep giving her plenty of exercise.  Around here that certainly isn't a problem, we have been cruising the lagoon and downtown Santa Cruz a lot.  After the vet visit Cassie and I went to Mobos for sushi, I haven't been to Mobos for about a year at it was definitely not disappointed.  After that we went to Longs to get some taffy and some peanut butter and mint M&M's.  When we got back here Heather came by to check out my pantry, spices and cooking apparel to see what I need it so she can sometimes come and cook here.  Later she came back and brought me a KILLER shrimp salad, she makes the best dressing.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Parker's baby shower...

Yesterday the sun was out most of the morning so I decided to take Brodie for a walk over the lagoon bridge, it is so gorgous there.  We got to the end of the bridge and started through the park when all of a sudden I can feel raindrops so we turned around and came back.

Christina, my new morning caregiver unfortunately starts classes in the morning for a month on Monday so she introduced me to her cousin Susie.  Christina brought Susie with her yesterday and showed her the routine and it's only been two days but I think Suzy's going to work out great.  Susie is going to work Monday through Thursday and Christina is going to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I'm getting ready to leave for the Costas for Parker's baby shower.  It looks like it's going to be a beautiful bay and I haven't seen the Costas for a long time.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Cleaning out the old place...

I woke up yesterday morning and looked out the window and there was my van, all fixed and ready to go.  The lift worked and it felt great... I couldn't wait to try it out.


I remember several years ago walking across a really long bridge over a lagoon and I remember that wasn't very far from here so brodie and I set out in search of it and we found it.  The last time I went I remember when we got to the part that was over the water Bridge was held up by pontoons and I started getting really nervous thinking that the wheelchair might be to heavy I panicked, made the chair go as fast as possible and thanked God when I reached the other end.  Since than I have talked to a couple of people in chairs that have rode across it several times... if they can do it so can I.  It was so beautiful and peaceful and I did really well until I got to the part where the water was, I just could not make myself do it.  We turned back and went the other way until we came to what looked like a stage with a bunch of benches around the end of bunch of podiums that explains the wildlife around.  We found a trail and followed it until we came to another bridge with water, I will work on my fear of water another day.  It was a beautiful walk, something I think we are going to do every morning.  It is only two blocks away.

The next day I decided to try and find Trader Joe's by myself, I looked up the map and MapQuest.  The sidewalks in Santa Cruz are not the best sidewalks for a wheelchair and I was driving with my left hand, a scary combination but I have to learn to do it.  I got about half way there and realize that high school must just let out so I decided to turn around and try it again another day when it wasn't so hot and I had someone with me.  On my way back home I saw my mom and my aunt pull over and my aunt jumped out with a hat.  My uncle saw me drive by their house in 98° weather without a hat and sent them out looking from me, I never even thought about wearing a hat.  On the way back I walked by a fence and the dog came jumping out and I guess brodie was trying to protect me went for the dog and bounced off of my chair and sent me into a tree.  My leg rest came off with my foot still strapped to it.  Luckily my aunt decided to walk backwith me so she was there to pick up the pieces.  For the last couple of months my knee has been swollen and I'm waiting to establish a doctor here so I can see what's wrong, of course that was the same knee that got twisted.  I came back home and we looked at it and it looks fine.

Yesterday my mom had a doctor's appointment in San Jose so her, my aunt and I went to see if we could sort through some more stuff the old place.  Jerry came over to help and we got a lot done, we're hoping to finish the rest of it up today.  We have three piles... garbage, donation and what we're bringing over here, luckily the donation pile is bigger than the other two because we're running out of room over here.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Fix the van AGAIN...

Yesterday we were on our way to San Jose... do you know the way to San Jose... after I got into the van we could not close the door, my van has been going downhill for a long time.  The cable for the ramp broke about two months ago so we have to manually put down the hydraulic ramp.  My uncle has a friend who is a welder, NOBODY else would Weld it because of liability but he said that he would, he is such a neat man.  He took my van to his shop yesterday and call the couple hours later and said that it was fixed, every time I get my van fixed I get so excited, it's like getting a new van over and over.

Today I get my new dryer.  My dryer is about six years old and just hasn't seemed to dry anything but when we have the repair man come out he said there was nothing wrong with it.  Another expense that really didn't need right now but what are you can I do?

We're going to head to San Jose tomorrow morning to try and separate the things in the old place into what we are going to bring and what we are going to donate, we were going to have a yard sale but that sounds like a lot of trouble and right now we just want our lives to get back to normal... whatever normal is.

Janet and Corinne are going to come tomorrow afternoon to help sort stuff out they will stay until Friday.  I can't wait to take them to the Thai restaurant for the bubble tea, green tea milkshake with tapioca balls in the bottom.

I finally got a hold of Dan the computer man from Multimedia Max and he fixed my telephone AND programmed a couple of buttons for open sesame to install the automatic doors.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Strawberry festival...

Yesterday was the strawberry festival in downtown Santa Cruz. Cassie and I stopped at The Bagelry and had a bagel and a cup of coffee on our way to the festival.  I had been to the bagelry once before and I remember how beautiful and peaceful it was out in the back.  They have a patio in the back that is fenced in and the fence is covered with ivy and climbing flowers.  There are also a couple of cats that hang out there which was very uncomfortable because Brodie is president of the cat haters club and made a terrible disalay, it is really embarrassing to have your service animal acting up.  that pretty much got her wound up for the rest of the day because she even went a little crazy when she saw dogs.  Cassie took me to a Thai place and introduced me to a green tea milkshake with tapioca balls at the bottom, it was delicious.  The strawberry festival was really packed and the first thing Cassie wanted to do was the cakewalk and she won some snickerdoodles, when we got back she heated them up in the microwave for a couple of seconds and they were great.  While we were at the strawberry festival I had a couple of carne asada tacos and of course we split a strawberry shortcake.  Apparently on the weekends there is always something to do around here, I love it.

Jerry came by today and brought me my mail from the old house, it was a beautiful day and he decided to go for a motorcycle ride.  He is going to help us tomorrow go through the rest of the stuff in my old house and figure out what we are going to donate and what we are going to bring over the hill.  Right now I just want to get rid of that old place because it is costing me $1000 a month.

The new place looks really good.  We got a lot of stuff put away and we are still trying to thin a lot of things out, it's really heartbreaking to move from a three-bedroom to two-bedroom... I have a really hard time parting with my stuff but I have to admit I'm doing really good so far.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Finishing touches...

People are always asking me if I can feel hunger or if I can tell when I'm full, I have been trying to figure that out for a while now.  I don't know if I think I'm hungry because I smell food because I happen to notice what time it is.  I think that I do feel full because there is some days when I can eat forever and other days I take a couple of bites and I cannot eat anymore.

Yesterday was very frustrating.  It was only the second day that I have gotten into my new wheelchair and it is just really uncomfortable but I don't know what to do about it.  I had my old one for so long I pretty much know what to do to make myself comfortable in it.  I know that the armrests on my new chair or too low and the back of the chair was not straight so I felt like I was leaning back.  I tried to not think about it and pretend that it did not bother me, everybody kept telling me that I just need to get used to it.  This morning when Christina came in I was telling her about it and she said" let me take a look at it".  The next thing I know she has the armrests moved up and the backrest straight up and down, I am so excited and very impressed.  I think she is going to work out great.

David and Deziree left this morning.  We got everything done, and I think a little more, that we had planned.  It's always sad to see them go but they will be back in a couple of weeks for the housewarming party.

It looks like my mom and I are going to Modesto on Saturday for David's graduation.  I was a little bit worried about the heat but hopefully it won't be that bad.

My cousin Rich is finishing up putting up drapes and they look GREAT.  It really looked like they were professionally done... what my talking about, they were.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Dreaming

I remember at one of the support groups at Valley Medical the subject came up about dreaming and being in a wheelchair.  I said that when I dream about myself I am never in a wheelchair but if I am walking I have a really strong feeling that I shouldn't be.  One of the peers said that it was because I did not yet except my injury.  I was talking to my brother David this morning and the same subject came up and he said that it made more sense that since I wasn't in a wheelchair when I dream it makes more sense that I do except my situation.  I have never thought of myself as denying my situation.  We were talking about the reaction people have when they see me or anybody else in a wheelchair.  This is the only way that my immediate family and friends have known me for a little over 13 years, my youngest niece and nephew have never seen me walking and they don't even seem to notice.

One time while I was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Stanley and the kids I ran into a friend that I met at the support group who works there. we talked for a while and then my niece and nephew came running up to join us.  He mentioned that he was really surprised that they came up and talk to him so openly earlier asking questions, he didn't know they were with me.

It has always been the rule people are not allowed to touch a service animal or they need to ask first.  I agree with the ask first part but I really don't see any reason to tell people they cannot pet Brodie, feels he is a very good icebreaker.  I think some people are a little afraid of approaching somebody in a wheelchair and when you start yelling at them is going to detour them next time.  Brodie loves people in and she is so irresistible everybody wants to meet her.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

moving day/week

Wow, it feels so great to be in my new house.  EVERYBODY has been helping I am so thankful.

David and Deziree got here on Thursday afternoon and Rich showed up on Friday morning at 8 a.m.  They loaded up all of the stuff that my mom that I would need to stay in the new house... our beds, clothing, supplies and of course our dogs.  Stanley, Janet and the kids plus one showed up on Friday evening and by Saturday everybody was wildly unpacking while I was just trying to stay out of everybody's way.  I sure did have a lot of stuff but it's understandable going from a three-bedroom to a two-bedroom so needless to say I had to get rid of a lot of stuff, I really hate to part with my stuff but I did it at it really didn't hurt too bad.  we just put the stuff in the garage and sometime soon we are going to have a big garage sale and that I won't have to look at it or think about it anymore.

Stanley, Janet and the kids one went home on Sunday evening and Janet and Corinne will be on Thursday.  Rich, Vanessa and Luana have come by every day to unpack the remaining of the boxes and put up my drapes that Janet, Deziree and I picked out at Bed Bath and Beyond, everything really looks great and I am so thrilled.

The only thing that didn't go smoothly is the installation of my computer and Multimedia Max.  Multimedia Max is a computer program that basically runs your house by voice command or using the mouse on your computer.  Multimedia Max turns on and off lights, open and close its doors, answers the telephone, changes the channel on the television, currents and the heater/air conditioner... basically anything that you can run with x10.  First of all David could not get the computer to boot up so after a trip to Circuit City and to Santa Cruz computer store I got that fixed but that was having a problem with the infrared but finally got that fixed tonight. tomorrow David Jeff are going to finish up and we will finally be settled in our new place.

Brodie doesn't know what to think.  All of her stuff is here but she keeps looking at me like she's ready to get into the van and go home.  We went for a long walk today down to the animal Hospital to see if they were accepting new clients but we didn't end up going in so I'll probably go back tomorrow.

So far my new caregivers are working out GREAT.  Cassie, the evening caregiver, lives right across the street and she is a really great girl.  She is young but very mature for her age, her mom and step Dad are both emergency room nurses in Watsonville. she picked up the routine really quick and is always willing to do what she can to help.  Christina, the morning caregiver, is also young but does have some experience.  The lady that was supposed to start the morning caregiver job lost her mother and had to go back to Mexico to take care of things there.  Charlie brought out a cleaning agency to do the final cleaning that he was familiar with and recommended for the final clean.  We were going to use the cleaning girls that our neighbors to use and when we interviewed them they did not speak English so the agency that Charlie use ended up interpreting for us and later came back and said that he would like to put in a bid.  They also did yard work and maintenance and laundry and would change the birds cages once a week... pretty much everything I need.  My Aunt jokingly asked them if they happened to know of a caregiver and the man said, "as a matter of fact, my daughter".  Everything worked out great and I have the best family in the world.