Sunday, January 27, 2013

Awesome weather...

Monday Susan still wasn't feeling very well so I probably won't see her until next Monday, she is going on vacation this Thursday. Karen came in and we did some personal care and I just decided to stay in bed all day anyway, the day went by fast but it really did feel good. Rosa came by to give me a bath but I was so comfortable I didn't want to move so were going to do it tomorrow, I can't believe I turned down a bath but I just wanted to relax.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. As soon as I acknowledge how great the weather is of course it starts cooling down. I went up to Sunshine Villa to get a Manicure/PedicureAnd thought the weather was going to heat up a little bit because it was supposed to be 70° today, it wasn't 70° today. By the time I got out it was comfortable but not really warm. Rosa came early today to give me a bath and boy did it feel good. Susan was still not feeling very well so we thought it was better she can come over. I'm not going to see her until next Monday so I might be taking a lot of hot baths. Of course by the time I got to bed and set up I already have one of my fingernails chewed off, I HATE when they get an even and I just can't stop myself. The bath was awesome and I just relaxed the rest of the night. I forgot that tomorrow they're going to come and change out my DirecTV box so everything that I have TiVoed will be gone so I better get cracking, this time I was smart and copy down all of the shows that I TiVo… thanks Karen. I'm sitting here and I looked on the front porch and noticed a bunch of flashing red lights, that's never good. My mom said there was a cop car, an ambulance and a fire truck at the end of the street. There is a super steep hill and people just insist on riding their bikes down the hill and I would say a quarter of them never make it, but doesn't seem to be anything that anybody can do about it and it breaks my heart to watch it happen week after week. Vicente came by and put the light post in my yard, I had one at the end of my driveway on each post and somebody came along and slugged it right off so I decided to put it in my yard where hopefully nobody can get at it. I think it looks really good and I can't wait to decorate next Christmas.

Wednesday it started to get cold again, so much for our awesome weather. The cable guy came at 8 o'clock to change out the receiver in my room for one that can record more and has more space. In order to do that she had to configure each one in the house, I have 5 of them, and it took him 2 hours so Wednesday was pretty much a wash as far as getting up and getting out BUT at least I got my new receiver. For some reason I just couldn't stay awake and pretty much slept the whole day. Rosa came in at 4 PM and fed me and I just wanted to go back to sleep, we were supposed to play cards at 7 PM and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to stay awake but I did. Not only did I stay awake but I made $6 with my mom as my partner. I figured since I slept all day that I wouldn't sleep at night but I slept all night also, that is awesome and almost never happens.

Thursday personal-care took a lot longer than we thought and I think it rained all day long so another day in bed, both Robby and I are getting really stir crazy.  Tomorrow we are definitely out of here early.  And I had a big event so she brought me over some enchiladas for dinner, I can't wait to break into those.  She also brought over some Spanish rice and some coleslaw.  I am so lucky to have Heather around to cook for me, she is awesome.

Friday was a great day. I got up and took Robby for an extra long cruise. I had an appointment and I was going to cruise down there with Robby but he was pretty tired, sometimes I forget what a great workout running alongside the chair is for Robby. We went to Hanger and got my new braces, these ones are much more streamlined and shorter, I can't wait to start wearing my real shoes and boots. Teresa and I decided to go to CafĂ© Cruz for lunch, I had been there once before and wanted to try the calamari sandwich but I was unable to so that's what I thought about all day… of course we were at the wrong time and it wasn't on the menu. I got a steak sandwich on garlic bread and Caesar salad, it was awesome. Teresa got a hamburger and fries and her hamburger also looked awesome… definitely a place to go back to. We came home and Teresa worked really hard around here to make it look nice for my family, I need to make a schedule so that everything starts getting done again. I went to bed and relaxed for a while. It was a good day!

Saturday was both a good and a bad day. It was a bad day because I ended up staying in bed and was so beautiful outside, I kept getting really bad chills and then you could see some kind of white cloudy stuff come out of my bladder… I don't know if it's just some sort of bladder sluf, bladder stones or something else. It was a good day because my little brother Dave flew in from Georgia to stay until Thursday. We always have so much fun but the time goes by way too fast. I sent Rosa home because I know she had a house full of family that she had to leave and I didn't want to stop visiting with my brother. My uncle Dick came over and we ordered pizza and honey barbecued wings and just sat around and visited, it was so nice. As everybody was getting ready to go to bed the electricity went off, this time for about a half an hour. Thank goodness I have a generator for my room.

Sunday was a really great day. My high school friend Lisa and her daughter Tiffany came by to visit for a while. All during high school Lisa had a crush on David and I think the feeling was mutual but nothing ever happened, I think her crush is renewed after seeing him again and she said also her daughter has a crush on him. He is so funny, caring and just an all-around great guy to be around. After Lisa and Tiffany left we went over to my aunt and uncles to have spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. It was Luana's birthday and everybody had such a great time. I used to never appreciate kids very much but I sure like being around them now, they're just so funny. I came back and Rosa put me to bed. I'm so glad that somebody talked me into writing something down every day because I love going back and reminiscing every once in a while, without the blogger probably wouldn't remember anything.

Monday, January 21, 2013

I hope this is the beginning of a warmer week…

Monday was a pretty relaxing day. Karen came in to give Robby about and file down his toenails. I got my massage from Susan and of course personal care took most of the rest of the day. Rosa came in to give me a nice long hot bath, I pretty much had someone here from 8:00 AM until 9:30 PM I hope I can sleep tonight. I have started trying to keep the computer and the TV shutdown from 10:00 PM and listen to audio books but even with everything else off my mind just keeps wandering and I always have to pull myself back into the book, I end up listening to them over and over because I'm afraid I'm going to miss something… I don't know if that's good or bad.

Tuesday was a pretty good day, it was a lot warmer than it has been so I was able to take Robby out on a much-needed… for both of us… cruise. We cruised through the lagoon, down West Cliff to the surf Museum and back, down to the end of the wharf and back and home. I met with a guy named Keith who has a petition for enforcing off leash dog discipline. He gave me a copy so I can get people to sign it. I bought some outdoor curtains for my porch and Vicente came by to install them but I accidentally ordered the short ones and they looked kind of funny so I packaged them back up to take back to bed Bath and beyond and order the longer ones, it's going to be really cool once we get them up. Teresa came by to put me to bed and Andrei came by to take the lateral off of my chair, it's going to be about 2 or 3 weeks until I can get an appointment in the lateral is just making my trunk bend way too much and it's really uncomfortable… I can't wait to try it out tomorrow without.

Wednesday was a really great day. I got up and sat outside in the sun for a while, it felt so great to see the sun again… it almost got too hot out there. Teresa came by to take me to my appointment at Valley Medical Center, they want to do some more hand surgery because my fingers get in the way when I try to grab stuff with my pinch grip. There wasn't a lot of traffic on Highway17 at all so we got to Los Gatos early and decided to go to the Cancer Store, how exciting. We didn't have very low so we cruised in to check out what they had, I'm sure that after Christmas is a really good time to go because everybody is getting rid of those unwanted Christmas gifts. Robby and I cruised to the back of the store and turned left and there was uncle Dick, I was just telling Karen when she was getting me up this morning “wouldn't it be funny if I ran into my uncle at the cancer store”. I think he goes there just about every day, they are and the Happy Dragon. We didn't get anything but went on to Valley medical. It was really nice to see Dr. Hentz, Dr. Shem, Dr. Yim and Lisa. I did the research study with Lisa pretty much every other year but the rest of them I haven't seen for probably 10 years, I can't believe they all remembered me. They even asked me how my elbow healed after the suture anchor popped out of it. A couple of years after I had my tendon transfer surgery I noticed a bump on my elbow it got really squishy and gross and when one of my caregivers pushed on it something that looked a little like an arrowhead popped out with a green string hanging off of it and a bunch of puss…of course I freaked out and took pictures of it and sent it to Lisa who sent it to Dr. Hentz. He sent me to the hospital to get the wound cleaned up and told me it was a suture anchor that got left inside of me, I guess it happens. They decided that they could help me so I'm going in for surgery on February 22, I get to go home after the surgery but I will have a cast on my arm for 4 weeks. I need to call Jack from ATG tomorrow to find out about getting my drive stick on my chair switched to the  left-hand side, I always wanted to see if I could drive with my left hand but I'm not looking forward to it… it will definitely be worth the end result. We were deciding where to eat and there was a bunch of really good places but of course everything is closed from approximately 2 PM to 5 PM so we ended up going to Wendy's, I had never been to Wendy's before. I had a bacon hamburger, french fries and a Sprite. I was getting full but I did not want to stop eating because it was so good, I didn't finish my fries. I probably shouldn't have been that because the last couple of days the bottom half of my legs have been really swallowed by the end of the day and there's really bright red petechiae on my left leg but I couldn't help myself. As a rule I eat really well but every once in a while you have to eat something like that, good choice Teresa. I came home and Rosa put me to bed and Lee and Claudia, my uncle and my aunt, my mom and I and Lee's sister played cribbage, it was a full day but so nice.

Thursday was such a beautiful day. I got up and took Robby for a really long cruise. While we were out at the lighthouse Museum I met a really nice couple who just moved here 2 days ago. They started talking about technology, she was very impressed with my chair and what it could do. He seemed to be very active I know he surfed and wind surfed. They told me about the Maverick waves, they were really excited. I guess you can't actually go watch them surf because it's in a really dangerous area but they have a festival with closed-circuit TV, it sounded like a lot of fun and I wish I had someone to go with. After we got home Teresa showed up to wax Karen and I, I think if we do it every 2 weeks it will get so bad… it's so awful getting old.

Friday was another great day. Susan was sick so I decided to go ahead and get up and enjoy this gorgeous weather. Robby and I cruised through the lagoon, down W. Cliff Dr. and back and down to the end of the wharf and back I came home and Teresa put me to bed.

Saturday I decided to go up to the clinic where Dr. Owens works, sometimes it's a good way to see her without waiting 2 or 3 weeks. She put me on some Lasix and said she was going to send the visiting nurses over for edema therapy. I think it's getting better now so we will see what happens. Adriana was going to take me to Costco but we had a bit of a wait at Dr. Owen's office so we decided to wait and go on Sunday. I came home and Rosa put me to bed and I played a couple of games of cribbage with my uncle and aunt and my mom and Claudia. I was so sleepy I kept falling asleep and they kept having to wake me up.

Sunday was also a gorgeous day. I got up and cruise Robby through the lagoon, through downtown and over to cost plus, I love looking at everything over there… they have such cool stuff. I was going to cruise over and check out Ross but Adriana texted me and said she was done and was going to come by and give me to take me to Costco, Adriana loves to go to Costco is much as I do. I was kind of hungry when I went so I got some things that are probably shouldn't have. Everybody was talking about the Super Bowl and even though I don't watch football I saw the chicken wings and had to get some so that's what I had for dinner, Heather brought me over some mashed potatoes over earlier so I have a nice dinner. They also had banana/chocolate muffins and almond/poppyseed muffins so of course I had to get those also. We came back home and Adriana put everything away and I took Robby for cruise and then came back and Rosa put me to bed. I was feeling kind of weird so I slept most of the time she was putting me to bed and I slept all through the night, I was a little groggy from oversleeping this morning but after that I felt great.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

I hope it's warmer this week…

Monday was an okay day. Karen and Teresa came in to take down the Christmas decorations, the house always looks really empty after the holidays. Susan came in to give me a massage. I was mentioning on Facebook that I wanted to find some redwood rounds or some redwood stumps for my porch and she said that they have a bunch of fallen redwoods on their property and she would ask her husband if he would cut some for me, I was so excited! I have always loved redwood trees. Karen stayed to do some personal care and Rosa came in to give me a bath but there was some weird green dental floss looking string and unit out of my SP tube site so we decided we better wait, Teresa will be here tomorrow. One time I have this weird bump on my elbow and I thought maybe it was from rubbing on my chair and it got infected, one of my caregivers was poking at it and this little metal arrow looking thing popped out. I took pictures of it and send to Dr. Hentz, he did tendon transfer surgery on my arms a couple of years before. She said it was a suture anchor that they missed, kind of freaky but no harm. The rest of the evening I just relaxed and watched Dr. Phil. Heather came over and made some killer crab and corn chowder.

Tuesday was such a great day. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get up because once again personal-care took along time. I was supposed to go to Claudia's shop and get a manicure/pedicure but I didn't get up in time. The weather was gorgeous. Robby and I cruised through the lagoon and up past the Light House and back, I didn't want to come back because the weather was so gorgeous but it was time for Teresa to come and put me to bed. My aunt came over with Luanna and Melia, they are just cuter every time I see them. They got a couple of stick unicorns from the Happy Dragon, I LOVE that place. My uncle introduced me to it and I love going there, always such great stuff and great bargains. I went to bed and found me a Gumby costume for next Halloween and looked up how to diet Robby orange so he can be pokey, I can't wait until next Halloween.

Wednesday I just decided to take a bath and go back to bed, it's just so cold outside sometimes I just can't do it. I just got over being sick and there's a nasty flu going around and I don't want to catch it. It was nice to take a really nice long hot bath, that always relaxes me. I watched some TV and played on the computer. Heather came over and cooked a bunch of stuff, it smelled so amazing in here I wasn't sure what to eat 1st so I went with fish, roasted brussels sprouts and spinach. She also made some mustard chicken, one of my all-time favorites. And cooked some sausages and I know some wheat berries the rest I can't remember but everything she makes is just so delicious. Lee and Claudia, my uncle and aunt and my mom and I played cribbage tonight, I won a dollar. My uncle came in with his new motorcycle jacket and shoes that he got at the cancer store. I think the jacket and shoes were worth a couple hundred dollars and begot them for $20 each, I really miss going to the store AND it's right down the street from the Happy Dragon so usually make a day out of it.

Thursday was really cold but we went on a nice long cruise anyway. Through the lagoon, past the surfers Museum, down to the end of the wharf and back and home. I have an appointment at 2 PM with Hanger prosthetics to get new braces made for my feet/legs and the trimmed down my back brace. I will be back in normal shoes/boots had no time. We stopped at Charlie Hong Kong's on the way back and got our usual and brought it home to eat, I try to make myself only eat half and save the other half for breakfast with kimchi. Teresa Put me to bed and I watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Friday was a nice relaxing day. The sun came out but it was really cold, I'm glad I stayed inside and in bed. Susan came over and gave me a nice relaxing massage, I think I was falling asleep when she left. Karen came in with a picture of my front fence and was kind of worried, somebody wrote in the Frost “I love Tammie” She thought that maybe I had a stalker. It turns out Susan wrote it so we all felt better. Karen did some personal care and I got to relax and watch American horror story: Asylum, I love that show. Lexi came over, I haven't seen her for a long time. We visited for a while and she watched some of the show with me, it was really nice because I having been able to hang out with her for a long time. My aunt came over and said that they were making hamburgers, my aunt and uncle make the best hamburgers so of course I couldn't turn it down. They also made fried potatoes and broccoli, I passed on the broccoli stuffed myself miserably with the hamburger and potatoes. Lexi says that she hasn't seen Chasing Mavericks yet, I can't believe that. I got these little bun makers on Amazon and they are really cool and easy to put on, they also make your hair wavy.


Saturday was a really exciting day although I ended up staying in bed. Adriana was about an hour and a half late and by the time I had given up on her and have my mom feed Robby she showed up. Vicente came by to take the outside Christmas decorations down, everything looks so bare now. Bob came by and brought my new furniture, he does such a fantastic job… everything looks gorgeous and matches what I already have. His wife came by to take some measurements to make some questions for the bench seat and some pillows for the back.

Sunday was another relaxing day in bed although I'm getting really tired of staying in bed, it's just too cold to go outside. This morning my sinuses were hurting and there's a nasty flu going around so for now I need to stay where it's warm and dry, except for the humidifier. Adriana came in and took Robby for a cruise to the lagoon, I always feel better when Robby gets a little bit of exercise. My uncle and aunt came over and we all played cards, I lost a dollar. I watched a movie called Pitch Perfect, actually I think I watched maybe half of it and I couldn't take it anymore. I started to watch the latest Step Up but that it didn't even get that far. I started watching a series called Nashville and I really like that. When it's cold outside sometimes it's just nice to stay inside and watch movies.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

The beginning of a new year…

Monday was a really good day. I got to sleep in till 8 AM, a whole hour but it felt great. Susan came and gave me a nice relaxing massage. Karen came back from vacation, it was great to have her back. She came in early to give Robby a bath and cut his toenails. Personal care took about 4 1/2 hours, Karen was still here when Rosa came in. Rosa gave me a nice long hot bath and I just went back to bed to relax for the evening, glad I was in downtown or on the boardwalk because I heard it was CRAZY down there.

Tuesday was an awesome 1st day of the new year. I got up and took Robby for a really long cruise, we both needed it. I was just going to go down past the lighthouse to the 2nd doggie beach and I heard somebody from across the street calling my name… it was Risa. She called me a couple of weeks ago and I meant to call or e-mail her back and I forgot, it is always so great to see her. She said she had Robby's grandma, Pugent (I probably spelled that wrong) and 2 other puppies that she was babysitting. I thought it would be really awesome to get a picture of all the puppies with the ocean in the background so I decided to cruise all the way down to natural Bridges speech, I think we figure that's about 7 miles from here. I got down there and looked around but I didn't see them so we headed back thinking we would run into them on the way but we didn't. It was starting to get cold in my hand kept slipping off the joystick so I tried to get home as fast as possible. I ran into my aunt and uncle on the way home and they asked if we wanted to play cribbage tonight and I said of course. Teresa waxed my face and put me to bed when they came over and we played cribbage, my mom was my partner and we didn't do so good… we'll get them next time.

Wednesday was just another perfect day. Robby and I cruised through the lagoon, past the lighthouse and back, to the end of the wharf and back and through the boardwalk and back. Of course stopping several times to lay back and just watch the ocean, it looks so beautiful but is so dangerous. I often think about how tragic it would be if I just had one little slip and ended up at the bottom, nothing and no one could save me. I still get a little scared going to close but it's so beautiful I can't help myself. I didn't want to come back home but it was time to go to bed. I think I had a panic attack because as soon as I got into bed I started sweating and freezing at the same time, I hate that because I don't know what to do. Break out the blow dryer and dry my shirt and take a Xanax, it seemed to work. I wish I knew what caused them but I  thank God I have a pill to cure them.
Thursday was another spectacular day. Robby and I cruised through the lagoon and down past the lighthouse. It was a little cooler than yesterday but I still love laying back in my chair by the lighthouse Museum, watching the waves crash on the rocks and listening to the seals. I ran into Kristof, he just turned 80 and he rides his bike all the way down to natural Bridge's speech and back pretty much every day. On the way back I ran into Melanie, she works for mosquito abatement. I ran into her couple of years ago at the lagoon and I asked her about getting some mosquito fish for my pond and every once in a while she delivers it to my house, she is so sweet. It usually doesn't take very long before the raccoons figure out I have them and tear my pond up and eat them but I'm sure they eat some of the larvae. I came back home and Teresa brought over noodles from Charlie Hong Kong, my new favorite is pad Thai noodles with garlic tofu and problems… we always get a side of steamed vegetables also. I went to bed and rested for the rest of the night and watched Ted, it was pretty funny.

Friday was a really long day but we made a lot of progress. Susan came over and gave me a massage and then Teresa came to do personal care, shave and give me a nice long hot bath. It looks like my room hadn't been cleaned for a while so she cleaned it really good and it looked great. What movie should I watch tonight? Now that I got my bones home stereo system back up again I am dying to watch movies, it sounds fabulous.

Saturday was a good day although it was really cold. I got up and Adriana took me over to Costco, I can't believe I finally found somebody who likes to go to Costco as much as I do. I came back and I was going to run Robby around for a little while but it was just too cold. My aunt came over and wanted to watch a movie so her, my mom and I watched Hope Springs. I watched it the other day and really liked it a lot but I pay more attention to the movie when I watch it with other people, otherwise I'm on the computer at the same time and I miss a lot. We all liked it very much. Rosa came over and put me to bed and I just tried to warm up and relax for the rest of the evening. I swear if it's cold and raining tomorrow I'm not getting up.

Sunday it was really really cold so I decided to just stay in bed, I wouldn't have made it outside very long anyway. As it turned out I wish I would have gotten up because Robby ran out of food and I could have gone with Adriana to Scotts Valley to get him some more, that's the closest place we have found to get it… Robby and I both like to go for a ride. Last night I was really really really cold but today I have the air conditioner and the overhead fan turned on day long. I was going to lay in bed and watched movies all day but I ended up just sleeping, I guess now I can watch the movies tonight? I want our warm weather back again, I miss the days when I can take off in the morning and not come back until it's time to go to bed… just cruise around Santa Cruz all day.