Merry Christmas...

On Monday a few weeks ago, David my brother from Georgia, came to visit. Stanley, my brother from Modesto, came on Tuesday and we had a really nice visit. We mostly just hung out and went to get Santa Cruz slug sweatshirts at UCSC campus. It is always great. It looks like for a while I’m only going to be able to get up for a couple of hours a day. My pressure sore just is not getting any better and now wound care called in the visiting nurses and a treatment called the wound vac. It is pretty much what it sounds like and it is supposed to heal the wounds about 50% faster. It is a couple weeks later and I’m still pretty much confined to my bed except for a couple of hours every other day. All of my time out of bed is dediated to Robby, exercising and practicing commands. He loves Santa Cruz and so fun to see him prancing around sniffing the air. Christmas was AWESOME. I have the best family in the world. They brought everything in my room so that I could watch everybody open their gifts because I had to stay in bed. Corinne was going to stay here with me for a week but she got an offer from a friend to go skiing, I can see her right now shushing down the slopes. Tomorrow I have an appointment at Stanford, a bone scan, and on the seventh I have an appointment at Seton medical center, they are supposed to be the best wound care facility around. Unfortunately I had to reschedule my follow up to team training next month. They were very understanding, they are the greatest group of people at CCI. I worked it out with the visiting nurse so that I can take a shower right before she gets here, the no shower thing was driving me crazy. She calls me about an hour before she’s going to be here and we just take off the wound care vacuum and then she puts it back on when she gets here.

It's been awhile...

On Monday David, my brother from Georgia, came to visit. Stanley, my brother from Modesto, came on Tuesday and we had a really nice visit. We mostly just hung out and went to get Santa Cruz slug sweatshirts at UCSC campus. It is always great.

It looks like for a while I’m only going to be able to get up for a couple of hours a day. My pressure sore just is not getting any better and now wound care called in the visiting nurses and a treatment called the wound vac. It is pretty much what it sounds like and it is supposed to heal the wounds about 50% faster.

I am pretty much confined to my bed for the last couple of weeks so there really isn’t a lot to blog about. A lot of doctors appointments and thankfully a lot of visitors, I don’t know what I would do without the visitors.

Yesterday I took Robby over to pet Smart to get his picture taken with Santa. As soon as he got up next to Santa he just melted, Robby is such a flirt. As soon as Santa started petting him he just wiggled all over the place and laid down, it was so cute and the pictures were so adorable that they gave me a couple of them, they are only supposed to give you one. I think the cutest thing was when Santa started singing to Robby, the tune was Santa baby but he made up his own words... scratch me Santa, scratch me right there all the day long, scratch me Santa right there Oh yeah that is the place, scratch me Santa right there and a little lower please... it was so adorable and Robby LOVED it.

The Lions Club and the Christmas party...

Last Wednesday I was invited to the Lions Club in Los Gatos to meet all of the wonderful people who helped me to get my service dog, they really are a very caring group of people. Of course Robby loved it because people were lining up to say hello to him, once you start loving on Robby it is often necessary to get a restraining order... he just loves attention. They have a Lions Club here in Santa Cruz and they asked me to become a member so I can show them the side of having a service dog that they don’t often see, I cannot wait to get involved in that. They gave me an award for speaking in front of everybody, it was so awesome. There was somebody there from the Los Gatos paper so I’m anxious to see the article they wrote, hopefully they will send me a copy.

On Sunday we were invited to a Christmas ornament exchange party at some friends in Los Gatos. After the Lions club luncheon on Wednesday we went downtown to pick out some ornaments for the exchange. We had a really good time and I came home with the ornament that I wanted, people were stealing each other’s like crazy. They had a new puppy there that was just a little bit smaller than Robby and they ran around and played almost all the time that we were there, they had so much fun and it was so neat to watch them. I had never seen Robby play like that, I hope they can play again. Robby doesn’t have any playmates here, he slept so good that night.

On November 8th I was invited to Canine Companions for Independence to be matched with a service dog. It is a very long and detailed application and definitely worth it. I went to the abilities Expo in Santa Clara a couple of times and CCI had a booth, when I went to ask them about getting on the list it was several years long and as I recall they were not even taking names anymore at the time. I went online and found a private trainer. They trained the dog within e-collar and although I HATED correcting her with it it did not work anyway, by the time I got my hand on the button to correct her it was too late... I quit using the e-caller. She was about four years older than I was told and she had a lot of health problems so she just became my spoiled aggressive pet. I love her very much and lost her to bone cancer in January 2009. One afternoon I was going out to lunch with my mom, brother and his kids and a restaurant that we were going to eat at denied us entry because of my service dog. Usually I would try to stand up to the guy so that next time it won’t be so hard on another person with a service dog but since I had my family and we were hungry we went across the street to Chili’s. While we were standing in line waiting we started talking to a couple of ladies at as it turned out one or both of them belong to the Lions Club. Jan said that she would like to help me out with getting a service dog. I thanked her and said goodbye and really didn’t think that I would hear from her again, within a week I had an application for CCI. I filled out the application and within a year or two I had an appointment to the CCI campus to be matched with a service dog. The process involves filling out a very detailed application about me, my needs, where I live... after the application there is a telephone interview, a personal interview, a tour of the CCI campus and the final interview. I was extremely nervous about staying on the CCI campus for two weeks, I have really never been away from my house for longer than a weekend. I made list after list and check them several times and finally I was packed and ready to go. I had two of my caregivers picked out to go with me, one the first week and another the second week. Check-in at CCI was 5:00 PM and I didn’t want to be late so of course I was there at about 2 PM so we drove around town to see what was there. The rooms were very nice. There was three beds, a huge closet and our own very accessible bathroom. They supplied all the medical equipment that we needed, hospital bed, hoyer lift, shower chair or bench... The first night that we were there we met the caretaker and he assured us that if we need anything else all we had to do was ask him, he was true to his word and a very sweet man. I wasn’t used to the schedule but I really liked it. We had to be in the training room by 9 AM and there was usually lectures, demonstrations and hands-on experience and we were usually out of there by 4 PM. The volunteers came in and made us an excellent lunch every day at noon, these people are awesome. I started to get to know the other people in the dorm and everybody was so sweet and willing to help and just really an awesome group of people, they all became just like family. Because the trainers already knew the personalities and the capabilities of the dogs we were pre-match with a dog in three days and were responsible for taking the dogs back to the dorm and taking care of them. The dogs were already trained and we were there so that they could train us. Of course every match was perfect and these dogs are impeccably trained. Of course the two weeks flew by and before I knew it it was time to for graduation, it was an awesome experience and I’m sad to know that I was leaving my new family and going back home. We got to meet the family that raised our puppies and they were all such loving people and so proud. One of the team trainers was a war veteran wounded in Iraq. We all got a motorcycle escort from the campus to where we graduated, that was so awesome and I know it made me feel very special. it was so cool the way they were so synchronized stopping traffic and escorting us.

I am leaving this morning for CCI...

On Friday Teresa, Heather and I went to see” the men who stare at goats”, it was HILARIOUS. Kind of weird and off-the-wall but absolutely funny.

Yesterday I stayed in bed but the day went by fast because it was the last day to pack everything up, I wonder what we forgot? I always make a bunch of lists and sweat at this time I will never forget anything but I always forget something, it’s not the end of the world if I do because there is a Costco six minutes away from CCI and they always have whatever I forget.

I tried to make myself go to sleep early last night so that I wouldn’t be up all night thinking about everything, even though I closed my eyes and try to shut down my mind it still went crazy. Two weeks is a really long time to be away from my house, I’m just not used to it. I am getting to the point where I can go for a cruise and not feel the urgency to get back home, I wish I knew what that was.

My goal is to leave at 10 AM and I think it takes about three hours to get there. I want to get everything unloaded and then check to see how much room I will have to store groceries in the kitchen and then go to Cosco. Teresa and Heather made some soups, stews and even some chili to freeze and they all look really KILLER. I just want to get some fruit for the mornings, a spinach salad and some bread, Heather made some really awesome chicken salad.

I’m going to bring my cell phone but I’m going to be without my computer and my TiVo, I’m pretty sure that when I get back there will be no more room on TiVo.

I’m still very excited about meeting my new best friend and I’m going to try really hard to let no one, including myself, spoil him or her rotten.

Uncle Dick said that he would come over in the morning and fill up the squirrel feeder for me So I guess I thought of everything.

Countdown, two more days...

I cannot believe that I’m leaving in two days, I have not even started packing but I do have a list so hopefully it will go smoothly. Yesterday while I was getting dressed I saw something really big out my bedroom window which is the dog run. When Teresa pulled back the curtains there was a huge raccoon eating the squirrels apples and peanuts. I talked to my uncle later on that night and he said that the night before there was two raccoons on his back porch eating dog food. Today I am going to get my fingernails/toenails painted and my eyebrows waxed and then Teresa and I are going to take Heather out for her birthday, we missed it last week. Susan came yesterday to give me a massage, that girl is wonderful. She said that she is going to be dropping off her son for camp next week in Santa Rosa and if she can she will come by Canine Companions for Independence and give me a massage, that would be awesome.

Packing for my trip to Canine Companions for Independence...

Thursday night was my first night taking a bath with soft water and I can assure feel the difference already. My caregiver said that my skin is softer and my hair is shinier, I knew this was going to be a good thing. My biggest concern was that the water was not going to harm my new service dog or my Mom’s birds and the guy assured me that it would be fine. They now use potassium instead of salt and it won’t harm the animals.
I can’t believe that in two weeks I’m going to Santa Rosa for two weeks and I will be bringing back my news service dog. My caregivers, friends and family are going to really have a hard time leaving him or her alone for a month, nobody can talk to him or her or even look at him or her and I know it’s going to be really hard for everyone.
This is the second year in a row that I accidentally found the cold water classic surfers down by the light house. I went for a cruise down to the wharf and I could hear voices across the ocean and I’d see a bunch of flags so I decided to go check it out. The weather was beautiful, a little warm but the ocean breeze made it perfect. I watch the guys and gals surf for awhile and came back home to my house smelling really amazing, Heather was in the kitchen cooking.
The other day I was sitting here watching the squirrels getting peanuts out of the peanut feeder when I saw a cat jump up and she was sniffing around and all of a sudden a squirrel came running up behind him chattering and scared him away, it was the funniest thing ever.
Today Teresa is going to help me pack for my two week stay in Santa Rosa at Canine Companions for Independence to get my new service dog. I am so excited and a little nervous, this is only the second longest stay that I have had away from my home since my injury and I am furiously making lists and hoping that I don’t forget anything... I’m sure I will.
My mom and my aunt Kathy are going to go visit their brother and sister in Arizona, I know they will have a really nice trip.
My uncle and aunt have a really good friend that can make anything out of wood and he does really amazing work. He is making me a picnic table and benches for my back porch, one that is going to be tall enough so I can actually get my chair underneath it and the legs are back far enough so I can roll under the end of the table, I have NEVER been able to do that so I am so excited to see what it looks like... he's bringing it sometime this week.

Annual neighborhood Halloween party...

Every year my neighbors have a Halloween party and it is always awesome, I have only gone to two but so far I agree. Usually they have it at their home but last night it was at the veterans hall downtown. Teresa basically made most of my costume and she did a really awesome job. Cassie and her mom came over and did my makeup, they are such cool people and they really make me feel important. Before we left my uncle and aunt came over and took some pictures and invited us to come over for a turkey sandwich with all the trimmings, I forgot how great a turkey sandwich is after Thanksgiving. We were going to walk but my uncle offered to drive us so we decided to take him up on it. We were a little nervous when we got out of the van and we could hear really loud Mariachi Music but then a very cute gentleman took us up in the elevator to the party we were looking for. When we first got there there wasn’t a lot of people but it soon filled up and the place was packed. Everybody was having a really good time and dancing, I love to watch people dance. We left kind of early because everybody was exhausted. Teresa and I have been staying up late the last couple of nights and we really needed to get to bed although we have been having a blast. It is such a nice change since usually I need to be in bed by five or 6 PM, that is what time I care to restore working. Sometimes I can have them do something else and stay up a little bit longer but most of the time I go to bed way earlier than I would like. Cassie, the girl across the street has agreed to work for me once in a while when I want to stay up late.

A new water softener...

On Monday I had an appointment in Watsonville at the wound treatment center, they didn’t make me a follow-up appointment and that is good news because it means that my pressure stories healing nicely and it will be gone in no time, I say it’s about time. Teresa is going to be off on Tuesdays for a while so she will be able to help me out on those days, I’m really excited because we seem to get a lot done. I keep finding somebody to do maintenance around here and then I never hear from them so I’m just going to look everything up online and get instructions on how to do and have Teresa doing, she can pretty much do anything. I had a guy come out on Tuesday to test the water and find out where to install a water softener. My skin has been so dry since I moved here and I’m really hoping that it’s because of the hard water, I have never had a hard water before. They’re going to come back on Wednesday to install it so I guess I will find out. On Wednesday Teresa, her husband and his friend and I went to the catalyst club downtown to see UFO, it was a really great show and it felt really good to get out. I hardly ever get to leave my house after six o’clock because that is usually when I have to go to bed. There was another bad they are called Zen Vendetta that opened for them and they were also really good. One of the guys came up to Teresa and I and gave us one of their CDs so we went back and had them all sign it, they were all very sweet. Today Susan, a massage therapist, came by and gave me a two hour massage and it really felt good. She really knows what she’s doing and she’s very funny so I am always looking forward to seeing her. Tomorrow is the Williams annual Halloween party. Teresa and I are going to be mermaids and of course we will be working on our costumes up until the last minute. The party is not until 7 PM but going to have to wear my costume all day so everybody is going to think I’m very strange when I take my walk down to the wharf. I know it’s really going to be a lot of fun. Last night we finally put up the last of the Halloween decorations so my morning attendant took a bunch of pictures, she did a really good job.

Monarch butterflies...

Why do creatures make some people act really weird? I got a bunch of praying mantis cocoons and put them around my garden and checked every day and I’m just now finally starting to see them, they are so cute but they freak me out. I opened my door the other day to go outside and one was right on the corner of the railing just staring at me, his little head following my every movement. I scooted by him as quickly as I could and did the same on the way back in. The next time I opened my door to go for a cruise on the wharf he was on the ground in front of my door so I closed the door and came back inside. I opened the door a little while later and this time he was on the door and before I could shut it he crawled to the top and just sat there. I decided to go ahead and go for a cruise but leave the door open so he would not get crushed. He was there for a long time and even when it started getting cold I could not close the door because I didn’t want him to get hurt. I really love watching them but always from a distance, I’m afraid that they’re going to jump on me and although I’m not sure what would happen but I try to avoid it. Stanley and Corrine came down Friday to visit for the weekend. On Saturday we went to the Spirit store, I LOVE that place. I got a bunch of little furry mice and some spiders to put in the web on the porch and Corinne got a Victorian Princess costume, he looked really cute in it. After that we decided to go down to natural Bridges Beach and check out the monarch butterflies, they are passing through Santa Cruz. I have gone down to the beach a couple of times but never down to the trails, it was so beautiful and I will definitely be back. Tomorrow I go back to the wound care clinic in Watsonville AGAIN, is this thing ever going to heal?? It seems like everything takes for ever. On Tuesday we are going to finally finish decorating for Halloween outside, we had to hold off because of the big storm but the weather is nice and again except for the very high humidity. On Wednesday I’m going to the catalyst club downtown to see UFO in concert, I can’t remember offhand what they sing but I looked them up and they did recognize a couple of their songs. Saturday is the big Williams Halloween party, they have one every year and although this is only my second everybody always has a really good time and they always make everybody feel so comfortable.

My new standing frame...

I just got back from a cruise around the wharf and that always cheers me up. People are so funny... they think that pelicans are so cute, and they are adorable, and they want to go up and stand next to them and have their picture taken. The lady that did that today will probably never do that again, I think the pelican fit her whole head in his mouth and I could not help but laugh thank goodness looking around I was not the only one laughing and I think she was the only one NOT laughing. I cannot believe that it is finally Halloween, Halloween is my favorite holiday and I am so glad that I have Teresa to help me decorate because she is so creative. Melissa has already been here and painted my windows, they look AWESOME. It’s kind of sad because after October is Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then there really isn’t anything else until Easter and then I have to wait until October again. I guess there is new years and Fourth of July. I’m finally going to get my standing frame. Here I have been saving up for it and come to find out that Medicare is going to pay for 80% of it, if I had known that I would have got it a long time ago. On my first appointment I didn’t get to stand very long, in fact I only got about halfway up, because they brought the wrong standing frame. I have to go at least two more times so they can make sure just one person can stand me up, it will be a lot easier because of my ceiling lift. They also attach a blood pressure cuff to your arm and check it every couple of minutes to make sure your blood pressure doesn’t drop dramatically. I can’t wait to stand in my standing frame and play my Wii game, I’m hoping that will make the time go by faster and I really haven’t been able to play it very much.

Santa Cruz County fair and the Wool Growers Restaurant...

On Friday I went to the Santa Cruz County fair with Teresa and her husband, they are separated but get along very well... she calls him her wasband. We got to see most of the exhibitions but mostly we went in there for the fair food and to see blue oyster cult and we were NOT disappointed, they really put on an awesome show. I was at the Boardwalk last year when they played that I was with some friends and we strolled around instead of watching the concert, it’s almost just as enjoying to watch the people that attend the concert. I can’t believe I lived in Los Banos for several years and NEVER went to the Wool Growers family-style restaurant. My uncle and aunt go there a couple times a year and beat a group of people, last night there was 11 of us. Some of them day in a motel close by and others just drive to meet for dinner. It is a family restaurant and nobody goes away hungry. First they bring you a bottle of red wine and some French bread and butter. They bring you some homemade vegetable soup and beans and a lot of us mixed them together with some wine. Next they bring you a tossed salad and potato salad followed by some lamb stew, everything tasted really good. Then they bring you your entréé with some homemade french fries, you get your choice of a New York steak, prime rib, pork chops or chicken. I choose the prime rib and it was AWESOME. I was wondering why they had a bottle of chocolate syrup on each table and then for dessert they brought out one of those little tubs of ice cream then I remember getting in school, with the paper lid that you pull off. Everyone sits at these big long tables but there are a couple of smaller tables around the outside if you prefer to sit alone. Everyone was laughing and having a really good time.

Falling down...

Unfortunately I’m not going to be able to name the dog and I’ve already decided that if the dog has a silly name I WILL rename him. Most of the dogs at the CCI center are labs and retrievers, some shepherds... all very smart breeds.

Last night my brother, Robert, David and Corrine came down to pick up Roberts new car. Our neighbor was selling an original 1990 Mazda Miata so we snagged it up. After some maintenance and new tires we were told that it would last him a long time and be a great little car for him. I ended up getting a late but Corrine and I got to go to the kids festival and the Greek Festival for a little while. After they left I cruise down to the wharf and came home and heather cooked me a really great dinner, it was a great day.

Sunday I decided to cruise down to the wharf and check out my favorites, the pelicans and the sea lions... their faces are so cute, they remind me of puppies. Then I cruised over to the boardwalk, I am really surprised at how crowded it is on a day where there is no sun and a little wind. I went downtown to see if there was a lot of people at the Greek Festival and there was. There was a lot of Greek food and a lot of jewelry but not really too much of anything else. They also blocked off a couple streets for a bunch of antique stuff, everything looked pretty cool and of course I forgot my wallet again.

People are so funny when it comes to pelicans. I see them inching a little closer, a little closer until the pelican gets annoyed and tries to fit their head in his mouth or tries to bite off their here and then they look surprised.

My biggest fear finally happened, I was going for a cruise down past the lighthouse and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I drove up into the ice plant and tipped over my chair. A couple of guys came running over to see if I was okay and to see if I needed an ambulance, I told them I was okay just a little humiliated and they up righted me and made sure that I was okay and I headed back home. Of course when the shock of everything happens you can’t feel anything but now my head and my neck are really sore. I don’t know if there was any damage to my chair or my arm yet but it was pretty humiliating. It seems like it happened so fast but at the time I remember my uncle telling me that if you ever tip over in your chair remember to hold your arms in, I did and it probably saved me from a broken arm... thank you uncle Dick.

I'm finally going to get my service dog...

The last couple of days I just decided to just get out and cruise around. For some reason it’s usually hard for me to make myself get out and go somewhere unless I have a destination, no more of that. I just start rolling and see where I end up. Today I went down to the wharf, cruised around the boardwalk. They had fences up blocking off part of the boardwalk and I learned later from Heather that they are redoing the haunted house. I cruised around by the trails behind the boardwalk and ended up downtown so I cruised over to the nursery to look at waterfalls. Last weekend I bought a birdbath and I saw a waterfall that would look perfect in my yard. It wasn’t there so I’m just hoping that they moved it and didn’t sell it, if they sold it I guess it just wasn’t meant to be mine.

Yesterday I cruised over to Ross, I LOVE Ross. I’m definitely going to have to go back there when Teresa is with me because they have some really cool Halloween decorations... I’m so excited that it is almost that time.

Last week I got a call from Margaret who owns the Golden fleece, she is making a couple of... how do I describe them. They are basically turtleneck sweater’s but they are no longer in the middle of my stomach, perfect for putting on and taking off while I am in the chair. The one that she made is a variegated blue and green made out of baby alpaca, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and very warm. She’s going to make me another one out of the baby alpaca and then make me a couple more that are going to be able to be washed more often. I was really nervous to get anything made out of alpaca and then Teresa told me that they just shaved them and not kill them so I felt a lot better.

The final concert on the beach was AWESOME. I made sure that I went there plenty early that I would get a good seat and I did. The rice lady is still trying to take up a lot of space but I think that she thinks she is more sly about it, she just throws down random stuff around her. As long as I have enough space to park my chair and I can see the stage I am happy.

I finally got the call... I’m going up to Santa Rosa in November for a two week stay at the CCI, Canine Companions for Independence, and I’m going to come back with my new canine companion and I am so excited. Teresa is going to go up there the second week and stay at the dorm with me so I just need to find someone to stay with me for the first week or find a caregiving agency in that area.

A new caregiver started work last week, her name is Tami. She is a registered nurse who was recommended by my massage therapist Susan and it seems like she’s going to work out really good, she had training for two days and she starts solo on Sunday. She worked for a quadriplegic gentleman for 3 1/2 years but they had to put him into a care facility.

Not back in the saddle again...

An 82-year-old friend of the family got mugged a couple of weeks ago and I am so excited to say that they caught the guy. Think goodness he confessed so that Helen does not have to go through a trial. Apparently he has had a drug problem for a while and hopefully he gets what he deserves and get off drugs.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty boring because for most of it I have been stuck in bed. Last Monday I had an appointment with my primary care doctor and an appointment with my rehab doctor on Thursday. I got a blood test for menopause and to see how severe my colitis is. On Monday I have an appointment in Watsonville at the wound care clinic and it looks like I will be going there a couple of times a week for awhile.

Today turned out to be a really great day. Yesterday it was 101° here in Santa Cruz and I was so afraid that it was going to be the same here today because I was invited to a barbecue across the street for Alex and Jack’s birthday. They have some cool friends and I always feel so comfortable around all of them. I thought the weather was going to be really warm but it actually started cooling down when I went over there and I had a really great time.

Cassie is going to start working for me again on Friday. She worked for me when I first moved in here but she was going through some problems so we agreed to wait a year and try it again, she is doing so much better now and I really hope that works out.

It has been a while...

The concert last Friday, Greg Kihn, was awesome. The lady that usually tries to take up a lot of space was just keeping to herself, maybe they finally helped her to understand.

When I got home the Modesto gang was here. It was Stanley and Corinne’s birthday so they came for the weekend. Corrine brought one of her friends and they decided to spend Saturday at the Boardwalk. After that we all went out to dinner at Mobo’s and of course everybody loved it.

So far this week I am just staying in bed because of our pressure sore that just won’t go away and it’s really making me stir crazy. Heather and Linda came over and kept me company today and Heather cooked a really good dinner... calamari with butter and capers, squash and zucchini strudel, asparagus and rice and for dessert tiramisu.

I did get up this week because my niece, Corrine, is staying with me. On Monday we went to go see “the Time traveler’s wife”, I called to see if Heather and Linda would like to join us and they said they probably wouldn’t make it but showed up, it was a nice surprise. I thought the movie was going to be kind of strange but I liked it very much. On Tuesday I went to see Claudia to get a manicure and pedicure and Linda came over to the house to cut and color Corinne’s hair, it looks really cute and she loves it.

Lexi came down to stay for a couple of days so we cruised the wharf and then went to rent a couple of movies. While we were on the wharf we saw a sea lion that had gotten tangled up with a fisherman’s line, it really broke my heart to see the fishing hooks dangling from the side of his mouth and not be able to do anything about it. We found a whale watching rental shack and talk to the lady and she said that if we took pictures she would look at them and call the authorities but there probably wasn’t much that can be done. As we were leaving we saw a rescue team out by the lifeguard building and told them about it and they said that they were out training and that they would go and take a look and see if there was anything they could do, that made us feel a lot better.

The concert this week is Patty Smyth and the scandals. I haven’t decided if I want to go see that but I think it earlier that day we are going to see “Julie and Julia”, that looks like a really good movie. I’m really going to try to start going to the movies at least once a week, by myself if I can’t find anybody to go with me. I did a couple of times by myself and had no problems but that was when I had Brodie but I know I can do it they will just take a couple of times to prove to myself how easy it is.

Next week is back to staying in bed until my pressure sore is totally healed. I made the mistake of letting one of my caregivers take pictures so I could see the progress and it really scared me so I will have to make myself just stay off of it until it is healed.

What a nightmare...

What a huge nightmare that colonoscopy was. First of all I had to go without eating, until having to drink 4 L of thick, nasty, pineapple flavored goo the worst thing I thought could happen. I got it all down and amazingly was able to keep it down but it made me feel horrible, I had to constantly fight to keep it down and my stomach was so bloated I thought it was going to pop. From what I heard from everyone else it cleans you out really fast, not for me. Because I cannot run to the bathroom whenever needed they gave me something called a colon catheter. It basically looks like a big jellyfish in the top of it fills with water so it does not slide out, perfect I thought. It constantly leaked around the edge so somebody had to be here at all times. Teresa stayed here until 11 PM but had to work the next day so my mom ended up staying up until 3 AM, my caregiver was supposed to be here at 4 AM. I had taken a bath the morning before but I was so sweaty from the chills and the constant sweat that I took a bath in the morning, about never felt so wonderful, and got dressed to go. The hospital part of it went really smoothly. They didn’t have a portable Hoyer lift but the people that they got to help transfer me really knew what they were doing, sometimes not very common in the hospital. The cool thing was I got to see the inside of my colon, I thought it was cool anyway. It turns out the only thing that was wrong was some swelling and I can take care of that with medication. They gave me some 7-Up and a banana muffin, put me back in my chair and sent me home... I was SO glad that that was over and I won’t have to worry about it for another 10 years.

Thursday and Friday I just stayed in bed and on my side to try to get rid of a couple of pressure sores. I’m really sorry that I missed Ray Parker Jr. at the free concert but I will definitely be at the next one, Greg Kihn Band. I sure hope the lady isn’t there that takes up all the space because this week I’m really not in the mood to be nice about it.

It felt so great to get out today and to get out of the house. Teresa and I went over to check out the new Safeway store and then to get some Chinese food. I have been craving Chinese food for a long time and it was awesome. Heather called me this morning and said that she didn’t feel good and she was going to stay in bed for a day or two and recuperate. I just found out that somebody ran over the plug for my wheelchair charger, of course they had to do it over the weekend. I think what is the most disappointing is that nobody said anything, it's going to cost $250 to replace.

Getting ready for the big day...

Thursday ended up being a really bad day. I did get up but ended up going back to bed. My mom was in San Jose playing cards and my aunt and uncle went to my uncle’s MRI so is just Lexi and I.

Friday I felt a lot better and it was so nice to be out and be able to get out of here so I went for a cruise through the boardwalk and the wharf. Friday evening was Eddie Money on the boardwalk. I went there two hours early to get a good seat but of course my buddy was there blocking most of the area with a giant cooler and a big suitcase, some people just never learn. Heather had talked to head of security an he was supposed to make sure that the security guards watched out but the beach and boardwalk were so crowded you could hardly even walk around. The concert was AWESOME, he did not sing my favorite song but he puts on a really good show. He brought his godson on the stage to play the harmonica and introduced him as Billy and I remember thinking how familiar he looked. He is autistic and in the Special Olympics and I saw him every couple of weeks, he works at Safeway in San Jose... small world.

On Saturday Susan came by to give me a massage and it felt so good, for one reason or another I had to cancel the last three sessions so I was really ready.

Yesterday I just stayed in bed. I’m having a colonoscopy on Wednesday so I’m trying to clean out my system. They gave me some stuff to drink and because I am paralyzed from the chest down they have a catheter for your bottom, sound like a lot of fun.

Today and tomorrow I’m only allowed to drink liquids, as long as they aren’t red or purple. Heather is going to come by and see if she can put some flavor in the low-sodium chicken broth, she take such good care of me and I really appreciate it.

Spending a week with Lexi...

I did not make it to see starship at a free concert on the beach. I wanted to but we started cleaning the garage and I just didn’t want to stop, we still have a long ways to go but it’s getting cleaner and more organized.

On Sunday Teresa took me out to breakfast at Gilda’s and I had a crab and avocado omelette and it was awesome. I also had the best Bloody Mary I have ever tasted. They had the Art and wine Festival on the wharf and although there was a lot of people there was only about 10 booths and there really wasn’t a lot to see so we didn’t stay very long.

On Monday Lexi and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I really liked it but kept falling asleep, I seem to do that whenever I watch a movie with someone or go to the movies. If I’m here by myself I cannot fall asleep for the life of me. On the way home we decided to stop and rent a couple of movies to watch later. Jack from RTG rehab came back to fix my chair, one of the panels on the back broke and he ordered the part a couple of weeks ago. He also had to order another foot rest because I crash into things so much that I work down another one. While I was talking to him and mentioned that I needed some maintenance done around the house and he said that he used to do maintenance at a resort in Tahoe and that he would be willing to help me out when he could. I have been looking for so long and I am so excited, he is a really neat guy and I totally trust him.

Yesterday Lexi and I went to get our fingernails polished. Lexi has been here all week and I really like having the opportunity to get to know her and to hang out with her more, she is awesome.

An awesome day and great food...

The Monterey Bay aquarium was AWESOME. The first thing that we saw was the seahorses. One species looked like a green branch floating through the water, it was unbelievable. Another one looked like a pregnant stick. Everything that we saw just took my breath away it was so beautiful. I can even think of how to describe any of it so thank goodness we took a lot of pictures. The jellyfish always amaze me, one group of them looked like a floating strobe light. We got to see them feed the otters, they were so cute.

I watch this cooking show in the morning called coastal cuisine. The chef on there is named Tene Shake. I am always so impressed with how great every dish looks that I promised myself I would try one of his restaurants when I went to Monterey. I remember the name of two of them and were walking down the wharf I saw it so we decided to try and it was just as good in person as it looks on TV. As we were leaving to come home a guy walked by and Teresa said “that looks just like the guy on the cooking show “so I turned around and sure enough it was. I don’t know what I was thinking but I decided to turn around and go say hello to him, I NEVER would do that and I don’t know what got into me. He was talking to somebody and I was so nervous that I interrupted and said “I just ate at your restaurant and I watch your show every morning” he shook my hand and told me that there was going to be a new series, I told him the food was awesome and he thanked me for the complement. I will definitely eat there again and I highly recommend it to anyone who is anywhere near the Monterey wharf. The name of the restaurant is Isabel’s.

I did not go to the concert on the beach tonight. It was starship starring Mickey Thomas and I am a little bit sorry but we started working on the garage and it started looking so much better I just didn't want to stop. Teresa and I had a really long day yesterday and didn't get much sleep so was probably for the best.

Heather and Linda came over and Heather grilled us an awesome dinner. Today was the seafood day at Costco so I got some scallops and she skewered scallops and shrimp, barbecued some zucchini and made this awesome mango salsa... after dinner I could hardly move.