IMAX

I had a great weekend.  Stanley and his family got here on Saturday morning so Stanley, Corinne and I took Brodie and Tue Tue to the lake to run around for a while.  We saw Harry Potter the order of the Phoenix on IMAX at 2 p.m. and then went out to dinner at Holders Country inn, it was a great day.  Whenever Stanley comes down we seem to have a bunch of errands and maintenance for him to do and we really appreciate it.  We went to Orchard Hardware Supply and ran into Leticia and her husband.  One thing we went to get was a 50 foot garden hose for my mom.  While we were looking Stanley dropped three of them on his toe and it started bleeding, very strange since I hurt my toe the day before.

On Saturday we went back to the Tech Museum and it was very interesting.  I can't believe I have lived here all this time and have never gone there.  Then I found out that you can see the IMAX movie and then see the museum for free.  I took Brodie to the park across the street and we walked around for a while and watch the kids play in the water.  It is a really neat park and I plan to go there a lot more.  It's right downtown and every Thursday they have a band there and a lot of really good restaurants that I would like try.  Then we came back home and ordered pizza.

Today I'm just relaxing and staying in bed and watching movies.  My morning attendant left at 10 a.m. and I have the rest of the day all to myself.

My poor toe...

Yesterday something happened that I have always been afraid of since my injury.  It started out as a really nice day.  I went to IMAX and picked up the tickets to see Harry Potter and then went to Smart and Final, I have always wanted to check it out and it's basically right across the street.  I really liked it.  You don't have to buy as much bulk as Costco.  After we came home I took off my AFO's,Ankle-Foot Orthoses, basically braces that I wear during the day so I don't get foot drop again.  Then I decided to go get some KFC, I have been wanting to try it since they change the recipe, and because my brother and his family were going to be here and I wanted to have something for them to munch on in case they were hungry when I got here.  So instead of putting on my shoes I decided to strap my feet in and just go in my socks.  When I was getting out of the van at KFC Lulu looked at my feet and said "Oh My God", never a good thing to hear.  She lifted up my foot and her hand was covered with blood.  I remember hearing that there's really nothing you can do for broken toes except for rest them up and let them heal so I decided to go ahead and get the chicken and go back home and take a look at the damage.  When I got back into the van there was a puddle of blood where my foot was, that was a little bit scary.  When I got home Jerry was outside so I asked his opinion and he agreed that there would be nothing they could do in emergency at Valley Medical except make me wait for six hours.  When Lulu took off my sock it looked like it was just the toe nail on my Bigfoot got pulled away from the skin.  That doesn't sound very good but it was a relief, nothing was broken.

When I was living in Los Banos I went outside one time and for some reason took off my shoes and as I was driving down the street I felt my chair roll over something so I immediately stopped.  I thought I ran over my foot and since I cannot feel anything it's hard to tell.  I went in the House and call the hospital and they wanted me to come in right away to get x-rays, I was an hour and a half away from the hospital and no way to get there so they told me to put my foot up, put ice on it and if it started to swell somehow I had to get to a hospital.  It turns out I think I just ran over my shoes that I had taken off but it was pretty scary.

While I was in the Independent Living Center I went outside one day with my hospital moon boots on and my foot jumped off the pedal and Iran over my foot.  I could not see my foot but I could see blood in the moon boot so I had to just sit there until somebody came by or came home.

Like I said my biggest fear is always to break something for hurt myself really bad and not even know it.  I have heard some real horror stories from other people who don't have full feeling in their bodies.

the last day of the fair

I didn't make it to the fair to see Colin Ray, I was just too hot.  I went Friday because I figured it would be cooler in the morning but I only ended up staying an hour because of the heat.  Usually I wait too long and get myself overheated so I left before it got too bad and it's a good thing that I did because when we were pulling in the groundskeeper stopped and said that the electricity was out and asked if I needed help with my generator.  They are always so nice and when the electricity goes out they come down and start my generator for me and turn it off when the electricity comes back on.  Luckily I turned the air conditioner way up before I left so was kind of cool in here.

Next Thursday Stanley and his family are going to come for the weekend.  We're going to go see the new Hairy Potter movie at IMAX, that should be pretty cool.

I was going to go to the support group tomorrow but Madonna just called me and said that she would not be in because her mother is in the hospital and she went to be with her.  I called Lulu and asked her to come in early so everything will be okay.  I just hope everything is OK with Madonna's mother.

Alameda County Fair

I really have a lot of fun with Deziree and David.  Stanley brought David here and Deziree flew in the next day.  We went to a miniature golf course and then of course the next day I saw even bigger and better one.  After miniature golf they played Wheel of Fortune and one about a thousand tickets.  We also had one night where we got pizza and watched movies.  We went to the Alameda County fair in Pleasanton and a bunch of food that was not good for us and then had cotton candy.  It always seems to go by really fast when family visits and there's never really enough time to do everything that we would like to do.  Luckily they will be back in a couple of weeks.  It will be nice to have everybody here.

Tomorrow's Fourth of July and Lulu is off.  My mom and I are going to go out to dinner and maybe go see a movie, there are a lot of good movies out there.

On Thursday Colin Ray is going to be at the Alameda County fair so I'm going to go see him and spend the day at the fair.

Cribbage

I had a really nice birthday.  My mom called me this morning, David called me this afternoon, Stanley sent me a package, I got a card from my good friend Johnny and my longtime friend from New Mexico, Rick, called me.  I met Rick several years ago online and we became fast friends, we never seem to run out of things to talk about.  When I move to Santa Cruz Rick promise that he would come to my house warming party.

Yesterday I had an appointment with Dr. Yim and as usual he was very impressed with the progress in my right arm.  He said it's about time to go back to Stanford to do more research study so I'm just waiting for Lisa to call or e-mail me.

Tomorrow I'm going over to Valley Medical.  Sue called me and asked me if I would bring my van over for a couple of the recovering injury people to try out.  This way they can see if they can fit in a minivan comfortably or if they need to get a full-size van.  Later that evening my uncle and aunt, Ellen, Rex and Sandy and possibly another couple are going to come over and play cards.  We're going out to eat first and then probably come back here.  It is always so much fun to play cards with them.

Keith Urban

Keith Urban sure does know how to put on a good show, he is definitely a crowd pleaser.  Whenever he comes to San Jose I make sure I get tickets and I am never disappointed.  The concert was Friday and by the time I got home and in bed it was 3 a.m. so needless to say I didn't do anything on Saturday and today I'm taking it easy also.

There's a restaurant at the HP Pavilion and I always wanted to try it.  It looked like a really nice place but I was not very thrilled with my meal.  I ordered a bacon wrapped fillet and although it looked nice it was overcooked and the sauce that they put on it tasted like a combination between soy sauce and barbecue sauce.  The vegetables were good and the garlic mashed potatoes were also good.  I think I would have rather had a hot dog from the concession stand.

Tomorrow is my birthday and after that the next couple of weeks are going to be really busy.  David is coming here next weekend or the weekend after to cook me breakfast for my birthday.  He always tries to come down when he can to make us a special meal for our birthdays.

On the 26th Modesto David and Deziree are going to come down and stay for a few days.  I'm trying to think of things so that will not get bored.  Pleasanton has a county fair and that is always fun.  I have been going for the last couple of years because the one here is only for like three days and not very exciting.  It's always really hot too because it's at the beginning of August.  I think my mom and Deziree are going to drive David back to Modesto because they're having a birthday party on the 30th for Janet, I don't think I'm going to go unless the weather cools down.

In July everybody will be here, Stanley and his family and David and his family, I can hardly wait for that.  We're going to go see the new Harry Potter movie on IMAX and there's a restaurant right across the street that have been wanting to try.

Progress in Santa Cruz

Today is going to be a nice relaxing day.  I have a lot of movies that I got from pay-per-view and after my morning attendant leaves I'm going to watch them.

Yesterday I went to OT at Valley Medical and Lynn said that I am doing so well she already discharged me.  The grip on my right hand is so amazing I cannot help but lift everything I can, it is really a great feeling.

When I met Tom in the park the other day he was really amazed at how much I can move my arms for my level of injury.  It really motivates me to do the best that I can.  Lisa from Stanford wants me to do more testing probably next month, her and her staff are so cool is nice to hang out with them.

Tomorrow I'm going to Santa Cruz in the morning to take pictures of the progress on my new house.  I have not seen it since it got started but I hear they are making a lot of progress.  After that I was supposed to go to OT with Lynn but since she discharged me I don't have to go so I probably just go to the lake and cruise around for awhile.

This weekend is going to be pretty slow.  Saturday I don't have anything planned but I think on Sunday my mom and I are going to go to the movies and out to eat.  We used to do it once a week but then both of our lives got pretty busy and we haven't done it for a while.

I cannot wait to move to Santa Cruz.  I met someone yesterday at Valley Medical that lives there, in fact right up the street from where I'm going to live.  My houses on a cul-de-sac and from what I hear everybody there is very friendly and they have a lot of block parties and barbecues.