Sunday, September 20, 2009

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.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

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.

Friday, September 11, 2009

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.