Thanksgiving...

Monday turned out to be a really good day. The weather was a little unpredictable but by the time I got home it was nice enough to take Robby for a cruise. I went to Home Depot to see if I could find some books that I could use to hang up my Christmas lights and keep up year-round, not the Christmas lights the hooks. I found some online but I thought maybe I could find some at Home Depot but I couldn’t find anything so I ordered the ones online, they are really nice and will last for years. Cassy took me grocery shopping at Safeway, this time I wasn’t hungry when I went so I basically stuck to what I have on the list. I got up in the standing frame but not as long as I had hoped, for some reason some days it just isn’t right and today was one of those days. My abdominal Binder slipped up and opened and my hips just wouldn’t sit straight.

Tuesday the massage therapist was catching a cold and her arm was sore so she stayed home and stayed in bed. I hope she feels better because I know she has a house full of people for Thanksgiving. I went grocery shopping with my mom and we got half of what we were going to have for Thanksgiving, my aunt got the other half. It looks like it’s going to be my brother and his family from Modesto and my cousin and his family. I’m so excited about spending time with my family and of course the food. I came home and Heather was cooking, I just love that. I got a new keyless entry for my front door and Theresa installed it, she did a really good job and it worked perfectly. I took a nice long hot bath and went to bed.

Wednesday didn’t turn out to be such a good day. I had a headache all day long that I just could not get rid of so I ended up staying in bed. It took a couple of Tylenol PM’s and tried to sleep it off and then later on in the day my uncle brought me over a mild pain pill, it finally went away. Luckily Cassy brought Jack over and he played with Robby in the driveway for a little bit. It has been really cold here so Robby hasn’t gotten the exercise that he’s used to getting and I feel really bad, he is just bouncing all over the place. My uncle and aunt came over to play cribbage with my mom and I, they killed us. I think they skunked us twice, we’ll get them next time. My brother and his family showed up and we visited for a while but they all looked really tired.

Thanksgiving turned out to be a really great day. Corinne, Lexi and I took Robby for a walk through the lagoon, I stayed on the dry land and Corinne and Lexi braved the water boardwalk. I did go back on it a little bit later to take a couple of pictures with Robby but it always starts wobbling because of the pylons that it’s on and it makes me nervous and I can’t wait to get back to dry land. We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner at my uncle and aunt’s place. Rich and his family were also there and Karen took pictures, I love the memories.

Friday was a beautiful day. Robby and I didn’t get to go to the Santa Cruz skilled nursing facility because Cassy was collecting toys at Toys “R” Us for toys for tots, she is so cool. Robby and I took a really long cruise through the boardwalk, down the Levy, to Ross and back, it felt so good to get out and about again without freezing to death. I came home and Heather was cooking, my house always smells so wonderful when Heather is here. We got to visit for a little bit and then Alexia came over and then I went to bed.

Saturday it rained a lot. I kept looking outside waiting for a break in the weather so I can cruise around a little bit with Robby. Finally about 1:15 PM we decided to just go for it and the weather actually stayed nice until we got home. I was up in the standing frame for a while and then went to bed. My uncle came over and visited for a while.

Sunday turned out to be a really good day. We put away the Thanksgiving decorations and started decorating for Christmas, I thought I had a lot more Christmas decorations than I actually do but I have a lot. Dr. Owens went down south to visit with her mom, she just found out that she had cancer, so we went up to get Bella and took her and Robby to the park for a while. It was such a nice play date, at one time there was probably about 10 dogs there all getting along really nicely. Bonnie and her owner showed up, it was really nice see them. It started getting really cold and we were freezing by the time we got finished, no one wanted to be the first to say “let’s go it’s freezing out here”.

I get so excited about the support groups...

Monday was another great day, I can’t believe how perfect the weather is. Robby and I cruised down to the lighthouse and then to the wharf, it was just getting too hot to be outside. While Robby and I were on our way back alongside the railroad tracks I noticed that Robby was limping so I tried to watch him a little bit to make sure I was not just being an overprotective mom. I saw one of the construction guys passing by and I asked him if he would take a look at Robby’s paw and he actually dropped his sandwich and drink to look at Robby’s paw, it is so funny how guys are so willing to pay attention to Robby because he is so adorable. After checking him out thoroughly from head to toe he decided that Robby was okay and actually thanked me and went on his way, it was so cute. I got up in the standing frame for about a half an hour and then went to bed. While Steve was here he gave me a couple of blown glass sculptures and I finally got lighted turnstiles for them and they look AWESOME, I just love playing here at night with the lights out staring at them.


“There are two things for which animals are to be envied: they know nothing of future evils, or of what people say about them.”-Voltaire

Tuesday was another really nice day. I got my Tuesday morning massage, which always feels amazing, while Karen cleaned out my kitchen cupboards. Karen has been working on the kitchen for a while, it was a real mess and looks so much better. After I got up Robby and I cruised over to Dr. Owen’s office to pick up a prescription. I saw this lung flute on the doctors show and it looked pretty interesting but when I went to order one you have to have a doctor’s prescription. After that we cruise down to the wharf to get some chocolate covered bacon, I saw it on the boardwalk website and decided I needed to try some. I got some with milk and dark chocolate, I decided not to try the one with cayenne pepper although it might be good. I came back and as I was cruising along the sidewalk I was thinking what a wonderful smell and when I came into my house I was so happy to find out Heather was here. I always love the way my house smells when she’s here, apparently the sidewalk in front of my house also. I took a nice long hot bath and went to bed. It’s supposed to start getting cooler and even rain on Saturday and Sunday, not looking forward to that.

"Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement." Charles M. Schulz

Wednesday turned out to be a very disappointing day. My morning caregiver sent me a message on face lock that said she had a headache and wouldn’t be able to come in, I don’t have very many more days before is going to start raining so it’s very frustrating. I ended up sleeping most of the day and watched a couple movies but it’s really hard to stay in bed anymore, I used to do it a lot more. There is just so much to do out here in Santa Cruz and especially when it’s beautiful. I had planned on going shopping today and to cost plus to get my favorite gingersnap cookies, I have been out for a while. I guess I will go shopping on Monday. Of course Robby doesn’t like being cooped up all day either, he just wants to go outside and lay in the sun... tomorrow I will make it up to him.

Thursday for some reason I just can’t get myself warmed up enough to go outside for a long period of time. I took Robby for a cruise through the lagoon couple of times but it is just starting to get too cold. I had the heat in my house turned up to 76°. I did get to watch a lot of my TiVoed shows and a movie. Teresa came and brought me some Kale, mustard chicken and potato soup and it was awesome. I took a nice long hot bath and then my aunt came over with an out-of-town friend so we visited for a while, my uncle came over later with her husband. I was supposed to go get a manicure and pedicure from Claudia and I already feel like I’m getting sick and it was cold and there was nobody to drive me so I rescheduled until next Wednesday.

Friday was our day to go to Santa Cruz killed nursing. I am enjoying going there and seeing the people more and more each time I go, I think I keep saying that but it’s true. Today they were just taking special prayers for people, it’s kind of a combination prayer/party day and visiting pets. Most of the visiting pets are Chihuahua mixes and way too small for Robby to play with but there is one dog named Molly who is about half the size of Robby and looks like a lab and corgi mix, she is adorable but doesn’t really want to play. All of the dogs have a really good disposition, the Chihuahua mixes are surprisingly not shy and yapping all the time. After we left we went to target in Watsonville for a little bit of shopping, I needed a couple of shelves for our storage cube that I got in a couple of storage bins for the garage, I also got a couple of toys for the toys for tots bins that Cassy and her parents are putting together. We also went to Orchard supply hardware to get some hooks that I can put up outside for lights and decorations and keep up their year-round. I also got a couple of payday candy bars because I have been craving the last couple of days, of course I forgot to eat one but there’s always tomorrow. Usually we do the standing frame on Friday but it was already a long day and it was getting late so we’re going to do it tomorrow, Saturday might be a better day than Friday anyway.

Saturday was our peer support group meeting. I really like to cruise down there by myself but the weather was so unpredictable, one minute it was pouring down rain and the next minute the sun was shining so I asked Cassidy to give me a ride. The first people to show up at the support group meeting was Roger and I and I thought maybe because of the weather it would just be us two but then more people showed up, the weather didn’t keep them away. We always seem to have a lot to talk about and the Time goes by really fast. We talked about having a Christmas party here at my place or having one at the hospital where we have the support group, I always wonder if maybe we have it at the hospital more people might show up. I think I’ll send out an e-mail and see how many people would be interested in coming if I have one here, I think either way I would like to have one here, the Halloween party I had here was really small but everyone seemed to have a good time. I came home and got in the standing frame for half an hour and then went to bed. Heather made this awesome fish with artichoke hearts and capers, quinoa and yellow zucchini with mushrooms yesterday so I had that for dinner. Everyone in my family seems to think that I should leave my front door unlocked, they get mad and give me a lecture when it is locked. I believe that if everyone else wants to leave their doors unlocked then they should, it should be their choice. No matter where I have ever lived I have NEVER left any doors or windows unlocked, the news is just full of people who thought it would never happen to them. It’s very frustrating but it seems to be getting unlocked anyway so I decided to just get a keyless entry and maybe everybody will be happy. The weather was unbelievable. I can see the thunder and hear the lightning and hail really loud, I was glad I was in my nice warm home watching it outside. I love to watch the storms as long as I am safe and warm.

Sunday I got up a little bit late because I knew it was going to be a long day. Teresa and Adrian came to clean the house and stopped to visit for a while, I don’t really get to talk to them much so it was nice. I took a nice warm bath and got up but didn’t really do very much because it was cold and very unpredictable, I didn’t know form one minute to the next it was going to be sunny or a downpour. Teresa, Heather, Cassy and I went to dinner at the red room in downtown Santa Cruz. We have been trying for a couple of weeks but somebody has been sick and we wanted to all go together when everybody was doing good. It was really nice to get together with them and we had a great time. The food was awesome, I had shrimp, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and pasta. Last time I was there I had a mozzarella and prosciutto hamburger and I was going to have that again but I wanted to try to get something that I could eat myself so everybody else could enjoy their meal but I forgot that I don’t do very well with spaghetti pasta so Teresa and Heather had to help me anyways. We really need to do this more often and we swore we were going to.

Another great week...

Monday turned out to be a gorgeous day, everything was so clear and fresh after the rain on Sunday. Robby and I cruised down to Dominican rehab, I had an appointment with Andrei. He is always so sweet and it’s always nice to see him. One of the laterals on my chair keeps breaking and we decided to keep it off for awhile and see how it goes. He raised up my joystick and straightened it out. He is the one who cut out of a hole in my armrest and put my phone there so I can use it, he is a genius. I was supposed to go out to dinner with Teresa, Heather and Cassy but Teresa wasn’t feeling well so we decided to go on Sunday instead. I didn’t get to do the standing frame is definitely on Wednesday.

Tuesday of course is massage Day. I used to have a lot of pain in my left arm and since I have been getting a massage once a week my arm is not sore anymore, my massage therapist says that my arm is not as tight and the tightness was what was causing the pain. Between the massage and exercise on the standing frame I feel GREAT. After the massage I got up and went for a cruise with Robby through the lagoon, up the trails, almost down to the lighthouse and through the empty Boardwalk. It’s hard to find a way to get around right now because all of the sidewalks are being repaired but I think I found a route. We came back home and I had a nice long hot bath and back into bed, it’s always so nice to get back into bed when it’s cold outside.

Wednesday turned out to be a really good day although it was a little cold. The trial that I usually use AND the sidewalk that is usually my alternative route are both closed so I am having a hard time trying to figure out how to get to the boardwalk/wharf. Another route is going through the lagoon but it’s muddy and I’m afraid that I will either get stuck or slide off the trail. We did manage to go for a cruise and got some exercise and fresh air. I came back just in time to meet a lady that is giving us a bid for the conversion part of my new van. I e-mailed Kevin again to see if he could give us a quote also but I think his e-mail got sent to my spam folder because I did not receive it. Of course I hope that I get to work with Kevin because he was always so faithful taking care of my van for several years before I moved.

Thursday was a little bit warmer than Wednesday. Robby and I worked on some commands for a while and then cruised down to the boardwalk and along the Levy. I always get nervous now when I see another dog coming towards us because I never know how that dog is going to act, this is from passing by too many aggressive dogs. I know that the dog whisperer says that my energy goes down the leash to the dog and I am afraid that Robby is going to get skittish, I try really hard not to have a reaction but I can’t seem to help myself. We came back to an empty house, that almost never happens, so I watch some TV and then when Teresa got here I took a nice long hot bath and went to bed.

Friday I was going to go to Santa Rosa to watch a friend of mine graduate with his new CCI dog but I ended up not going. It’s a three hour ride up and back and it seems kind of silly to drive all the way for an hour graduation, I need to lay back for 15 minutes every hour and it just makes it miserable to commute anywhere. Robby and I went for a really long cruise, our usual route, down to the end of the wharf and back, through the boardwalk, along the Levy to cost plus and then back through downtown. When I got home I had a craving for KFC chicken so Cassy took me over to get some. We got back and got ready to feed the dog only to find out there’s only enough dog food for that night, why doesn’t anybody tell me when I ran out of dog food? The only place around here that carries it is in Scotts Valley so Cassy took me over there to buy some more. I came back home and I was exhausted so I went to bed and try to watch a movie but fell asleep.

Saturday turned out to be a really beautiful day, the weather was perfect. Robby and I went for an extra long cruise past the lighthouse and stop to watch the surfers for awhile, to the end of the wharf and back and through the boardwalk... it was such a perfect day we didn’t want to come back home. I took a nice long hot bath, went to bed and watched a couple of movies. I hope tomorrow is just as nice, it is supposed to be.

Sunday was another beautiful day, puppy play date. There ended up being about six dogs there and they all play together nicely. I’ve been having problems with Robby not coming back to me when I call him when other dogs are around so I decided to take some chicken jerky dog treats, he NEVER gets any treats so I figured it would help and it did. After puppy play date we came back to the house. Teresa, Heather and I are going to go out to dinner for Heather’s birthday but she called and said that she wasn’t feeling good so we decided to put it off until she felt better. Teresa and I went to Costco and of course spent way too much money but didn’t really get anything that I didn’t need, I don’t get to go that often anymore and that’s where I get most of my supplies. We got a Cosco hotdog and came back home and Theresa put me to bed.

Happy Birthday Robby...

Monday once again I ended up staying in bed, of course it was a beautiful day and I would have rather been cruising around but stuff happens. I couldn’t figure out why Robby is so sleepy all the time and then Teresa reminded me that he’s taking antihistamines, I didn’t even think about that. Tomorrow he gets a bath and hopefully I will be able to take him off of them so he can beat his old lively self again. We started taking down the Halloween decorations, time for Thanksgiving.

Tuesday was once again massage Day, it should be a holiday... I guess it is for me. While Susan was here giving me a massage I mentioned that I would love to have a cornucopia for Thanksgiving. She came back about an hour after she left with two cornucopia baskets and some really pretty ribbon, she is awesome. Karen took Robby over to get a bath and find out why he is still itchy. The infection on his back has cleared up but now he has an infection in between his paws and on his lower and lip from scratching and linking. I hear him all night long licking like crazy but I have no idea he was this bad, we wash his feet every night and never even noticed. He has an appointment on Thursday with the doggie dermatologist, that even sounds expensive but whether you can do?? I got dressed and got up and went over to pick up Robby and talk to the doctor and then I took Robby for a cruise. I was going to go to the wharf because it was warm and I knew it would be cool there but it seemed like everything was blocked off. The sidewalks were torn up on one side of the street and there was a cyclone fence put up on our normal route. They are building some kind of Marine sanctuary and I think we’re just going to have to find a different route.

Wednesday I had an appointment with Claudia for a manicure and pedicure, I picked a light brown color with diamond sparkles in it. It’s the perfect color for fall. We came back and Cassy took us grocery shopping and then back home for the standing frame. I’m up to half an hour now and I love it. It really makes me feel great.

Thursday was Robby’s appointment with the dermatologist. It looks like he has a yeast infection in between his toes and on his lower lip, I guess I’m not the only one in this family that gets those. They took some blood for a blood test and put him on Diflucan, the same thing they give me. Hopefully this will clear it up. When Robby got back from his appointment we went for a cruise down to the lighthouse so I could FINALLY see how far away it is, 1.7 miles one way, I have been trying to remember to do that for a long time. We got back home and put the rest of the Halloween decorations away and got out the Thanksgiving decorations and put them up. While I was taking a bath last night my aunt and my mom came in to tell me that my other aunt was in a really bad car accident. She is really banged up, has for broken ribs... one of them punctured her lung and the other one collapsed. She also has brain damage but my cousin talked to her last night. It’s so frustrating because she is so far away but she has one of her sons with her and another son and two daughters on their way to be with her. This is so sad.

Friday turned out to be a really great day. We went to the Santa Cruz skill nursing facility and they were having a party, I guess they have a birthday party for everybody every couple of months. The theme for this party was the roaring 20s. It was so nice to see everybody having a good time, I just love the people there and they sure love Robby. After I went to Beverly’s fabric to get stuff to put into my cornucopia’s. I didn’t know that I had any but I think we found about four or five, three of them were empty. It was a lot of fun picking out the stuff to put in it. I also went to Ross to see if I could find some platters to put them on but I didn’t see anything so I will see what I have or just put them on the table. I came home and Cassy got me up in the standing frame for half an hour and then I went to bed. I kept falling asleep while Cassy was doing some chores but of course now that everybody has left I’m wide awake, Robby is sleeping like a puppy. I got a message from my cousin that said her mom, my aunt, is doing really well and they will move her out of ICU tomorrow and she will be able to go home in a couple of weeks after rehab, the best news ever.

Saturday turned out to be a really nice day. Robby and I cruised through the boardwalk, down the Levy and went shopping at the World Market and OfficeMax. I got a really nice frame for a portrait that I had made of Robby, I put it right above his food and water dish. Saturday night we played cribbage with some friends. Today is Robby’s birthday and he is three years old.

Sunday it was supposed to rain all day so I ended up staying in bed, it’s much more comfortable if I’m not going anywhere just stay in bed all day and watch movies. Unfortunately that means no play date for Robby, he is kind of stuck in bed also. I have a lot of errands tomorrow so hopefully we can make up for being stuck in bed all day.