Monday, July 27, 2009

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.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

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.

Friday, July 17, 2009

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.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Monterey Bay aquarium...

I really like Susan, the new massage therapist. She does a massage along with range of motion and after she’s done my arms always feel really heavy and they feel so relaxed. A hot bath and I’m out for the night.

I didn’t get a chance to make it to the concert Friday before last but I hope they got the seating situation straightened out. I am definitely going this Friday because it’s going be loverboy, even though I know I’m going to have a bunch of really angry people giving me the hairy eyeball. I had an appointment to get several holes drilled in my foot braces selected where them at night instead of during the day. Of course I didn’t realize that I had written the appointment down wrong, I wondered why there was absolutely no one in the parking lot... it was 4 July and a holiday.

Last Thursday a friend of the family, Bob, came by so we took him out for dinner because it was his birthday. There is a restaurant on the wharf and I have been wanting to try because I’ve heard such good things about it so we decided to go there. When we got there we discovered it was pretty small and they didn’t take credit cards so we went next door to Gildas and had a crab Louie salad and some clam charter and it was awesome. Until I got older I never realized that there was white and red chowder and read seems to be really popular but I always order white.

To my surprise when I went to the boardwalk to find a place to sit for the concert a place that was roped off for people with disabilities was totally empty, I was there to a half hours early. Apparently the head of security had a talk with the Ziploc rice bag lady and she did not appear to be happy when she got there. She parked her scooter as close to me as she could, whipped out her little flip phone, called somebody and said “she’s here”. For a second I kind of felt like I was in one of those scary movies and about to be in big trouble. She sat there for a while and then moved around to the outside of the roped off area, which was just on the other side of me, and proceeded to tell everyone that she talked to that somebody complained about her and she was not able to save 10 seats for all of her friends anymore. I felt really bad for her friends because it sounds like she’s been doing this for a long time but is just not fair.

I got up early on Sunday because I thought it was the Art and wine Festival on the wharf, I should have looked it up the night before because it is next Sunday. So I went back to bed and pretty much had visitors all day. Jerry, my neighbor from San Jose, brought his new neighbor, April, over to visit with him. They are both motorcycle riders and like to cruise around together.

On Thursday we finally get to go to the Monterey Bay aquarium and I am so excited. Heather got me a couple of tickets a while back and we didn’t really want to go on the weekend when it was going to be crowded so we waited until Teresa could take a day off from work so we could beat the crowd. They have the new Seahorse exhibit and it’s been awhile since I have been there.

Friday is not going to be so much fun. But since Teresa also had a day off we’re going to clean the garage. We were doing really good for a while but then it just seems like there wasn’t time to work on it anymore and it’s getting really bad.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The G.I. Dr.

I couldn’t believe it when I read last night that Billy Mays, the Oxy clean guy, had passed away. Every time I saw a commercial I wished that he wasn’t so loud that he would shut up and now I feel bad for thinking that.

Today I had an appointment with a G.I. Dr., actually a physician’s assistant and it looks like I get to have my first colostomy at the end of the month, I have NEVER heard anything good about that but it is a necessary evil and I won’t have to worry about it for another 10 years.

When I got back from my appointment I had a nice little surprise, Yoda was waiting for me. I have not seen Yoda for about four days and I kind of missed the little guy. I saw Cassidy and her boyfriend when I went to the boardwalk and then I saw Alex and Aki when I went to the wharf and I told them that I missed having Yoda a round so please feel free to bring him by instead of him being alone.

My yard is really starting to look awesome, everything is blooming and growing like crazy. Patrick came by today and yesterday and said that he would plant the vine that Teresa got me last month, it is called a Ruby Star Mandevilla. I saw one when we were at the nursery and I loved it so she went back and got it for me. There are some fruit trees along the back fence and is going to look beautiful planted in the corner and growing behind them.