Sunday, April 28, 2013

It's going to be really warm this week…

Monday was a really good day. I thought it was going to be warm and the sun was out but it was kind of cold. It was the first day that I drove my chair without my brace so I was able to use my cell phone and it sure felt great. I got to see Otis, the guy that takes care of my yard, today brought the first time in a long time… It was really nice to see him. My aunt came over with Malaya, they came over to pick up my mom and they were taking her to pop class so she showed me her "attitude"… She is so darn cute. I took Robby for a cruise through the lagoon, up to the park, to the end of the wharf and back and then I was going to come by my house to get my shawl before I went on to my appointment, it was a lot colder than I thought. I decided to just go on and cruise down to my appointment, I had an appointment at the lymphedema clinic. The appointment was made after I had a problem with my leg swelling and developing a rash TWO months ago but I decided to go anyway because now my fingers are slowing and it's nice to go through the class in case it never happens again, I really learned a lot. She ordered me some socks and gloves that give you a massage, the really cool. I picked them up at the pharmacy on the way home. When I got home the driveway and the house smelled amazing, Heather had been cooking a pork roast all day long. Rosa was here vacuuming and she went ahead and put me to bed and made me some cold pork tacos, with homemade salsa that Heather also made, and this mixed bean salad. I was so cold and tired by the time I got home I just ate and then went to sleep. I woke up a little bit later and just relaxed and watched some TV, it was so nice to be home in my bed with my warm blanket wrapped around my shoulders.

Tuesday was a pretty boring day but it looked pretty cold outside so I'm glad I stayed in bed, hopefully it will warm up this week. I pretty much slept again all day because I didn't sleep last night, my stomach was making noise and I was getting chills and I always get nervous when that happens. I spent most of the day on my side, I think I'm going to try to do that a couple nights a week just to give my butt a rest because I am always on it whether I am in my chair or in bed. The summer seems to be when I get most of my skin breakdowns on my butt because it's so hot. Vicente has the cupboards in the garage almost finished, he took a picture and they looked really nice but I forgot to ask him to email it to me. I watched a couple of episodes of Bucwild, I started TiVoing it and the last couple of episodes have been a tribute to the guy on the show that died while four wheeling in the mud in his truck… Really sad. They are a bunch of crazy teenagers and I would never have even thought of doing half of the stuff that they do but I don't know if they should stop doing the show just because they think it's going to give teenagers ideas, teenagers already have plenty of ideas I think. Rosa came by and got me something to eat, eight the last of the chicken adobo, wheat berries with greens and asparagus and gave me a nice long hot bath… The perfect ending to any day.




Wednesday was a good day but it was cold, so much for it heating up this week. Every couple of days someone decides to block our driveway or just park in the driveway, the kind of looks like they only plan on being there for a few minutes but then it always seems longer… Sometimes hours or overnight. I noticed somebody parked last night and actually took up about half of our driveway, for some reason that just infuriates me but I don't know what to do. I looked it up online and filled out a complaint and asked them if they could give me a phone number I could call if it happens again because I know it will. I called the police department down the street this morning and of course they transferred me to another department where they wanted me to leave a message. I left them a detailed message but of course never heard back from them, do I call 911? Isn't the first thing they ask you when you dial 911 "is this an emergency?" I'm always afraid that I'm going to call and then whoever it is will leave right before they get here to tell the car away. I left them a note on their car and told them that I had pictures and that I had called the police and tow truck and that I hope they got there before he got this note. I personally think that they are selling drugs again next door and there's probably nothing I can do about them blocking my driveway. I ordered a sign that says please don't blocked the driveway or you will be towed but I doubt that's going to do any good either. The rest of the week doesn't look very promising either. It was tolerable and Robby and I went for our regular long cruise. After I got up I really wish I would have stayed in bed I go for a while feeling great and that I always have a couple days of really bad bloating, and tried pretty much everything except chewing on fennel seeds… I read about that the other day so I will try it. I wish I would've thought about it today because it would've been perfect. By the time Rosa got here I had a really bad headache, I hardly ever get headaches. My uncle brought over some goulash and it was really good. Rosa brought me some enchiladas and some Spanish rice, they were really good… I would've had another one but my uncle came over to set up for cribbage. Lee and Claudia, my uncle and my aunt and my mom and I played cribbage… My uncle was my partner and we won three dollars. It was nice to finally go to bed.
Thursday was not such a good day. I woke up with the same really bad my stomach was still bloated so there was no way I was going to try to get up and be miserable like it was yesterday. I just rested most of the day and Teresa came by to do some personal care, they felt a little better after that someone thought that when it was but come morning my headache was back so the only thing I can think about now is I must be getting allergies… I see so many people with allergies and they are so miserable.

Friday I wasn't feeling the greatest, still had a headache but at least I wasn't bloated.It was massage day and I was really hoping that a nice long massage would get rid of my headache, as hard as Susan tried it just didn't. I got up just in time to cruise down to Dominican rehab for my appointment with Andrei and Jack, we didn't get much done because somebody broke into Jack's van and stole his tools. We took off the lateral on my left side because it was just pushing me over to the right side, we decided to get a whole new back rest… Luckily the one I have on my chair is broken and it looks like it's been broken since I got it. We came back home and Teresa put me to bed just in time for my brother and my nephew to get here from Modesto. They came down for my mom's birthday.

Saturday was a great day, it was a little cold in the morning but warmed up in the afternoon and my headache was gone. My brother made a really good breakfast of spinach and bacon omelette and toast, of course no cheese for me. I'm going to try to stay off dairy for a while and see if I still get bloated. It seems like all go for two or three weeks without any problem and then I have three or four days where it's just pretty much unbearable. Andrei suggested I write it down on the calendar and see if there is a pattern, either when I'm supposed to have my period or a full moon… Anything that we can blame it on. I took Robby for a really long cruise but everywhere we went there was a ton of people, I forgot it was the weekend and starting to get nice. We came back home and Stanley, Robert and I went to shopper's corner to get dinner for my moms birthday, she wanted a taco salad. After that we went across the street to the buttery and how to pick out only 10 cupcakes, I wanted to get an assortment so everybody could get what they wanted, of course they were amazing. Lee and Claudia, Stanley and Robert, my uncle and aunt and my mom and I ate and then played cribbage. My mom was my partner and we won three dollars, I'm on a roll. We decided to cut the cupcakes and half so we could all try as many as we wanted, of course I had to carry cake cupcake and I also tried the mocha coffee one… Extremely awesome. All this after me swearing off dairy for a while, I think I'm going to be sorry in the morning. I think my mom had a great birthday so that's a great day right there. I went to sleep and my stomach was already making noises. Robby has extremely bad gas today.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. I decided to stay in bed because I anticipated bloating from the ice cream, butter and cupcakes I ate last night but I didn't have any problems at all that I didn't even take a lactad pill. I don't know what's up with me. I got to sleep in today and it was really nice, Stanley and my mom came and woke me up with some coffee and half of a cupcake… What a great way to wake up. I decided to try to update my homepage. I have been kind of afraid to do it because I'm afraid it won't publish I won't know what to do, I updated it and the published… I was so excited. My mom and my brother went to KFC and got some food, I have been craving KFC for a while now and it tasted really good. Rosa came by and we did some personal care and now is the rest of the evening to relax. It was a really nice visit with Stanley and Robert and I think my mom had a great birthday, they left right after dinner.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

I think this is going to be a great week…

Monday was a pretty good day. I got a really nice massage, a scrambled duck egg and pulled pork burrito and then slept for a while. I woke up and just relaxed and watched TV until Rosa came. Rosa came and fixed me an awesome salad and I had fish and wheat berries spinach and greens.  I usually don't eat dessert but Rosa found some rice pudding, I LOVE that stuff. She gave me a nice long hot bath and it sure felt great, I will sleep really good tonight.

Tuesday was a great day, I thought it was going to be cold but the weather was perfect. Robby and I went for a cruise through the lagoon, but the hill to Westcliff Drive, down Westcliff Drive to the second dog beach and back, to the end of the wharf and back and home… It felt great to be out and about. Teresa came by to do some more cleaning of the garage, I can't believe it's almost done and it looks fantastic. Rosa came by to put me to bed and made me pulled pork burrito and the salad, Robby and I are happy and relaxed.I just got a message from a representative of Google glasses. They are glasses that you wear that have a little media station in them AND they are voice activated. I could take pictures and movies and add them to my blog and Facebook by voice command, I'm so excited. They had a contest for people to write in and ask how they could benefit your life and I answered it. I won't get any sleep tonight I know it.

Wednesday was not a very good day. I didn't get any sleep and I think every nerve ending in both of my arms were wide awake. It was that feeling when you have the flu and EVERYTHING hurts, like when you have the chills and then somebody sticks a needle and every bump. Needless to say I didn't get up but I went through a bunch of old pictures that we found in the garage. Karen also took some pictures of the garage, believe it or not this was after… I wish we would've gotten pictures of what it looked like before.  Heather came by with her new hairdo so my mom took pictures of it before she went home and took a nap and ruined it. Rosa came by and we did some personal care, I felt much better.


Thursday was kind of a bummer day. I got up early and took Robby for cruise and came back and waited for a call from Google glass, they wanted to talk to me about purchasing an early pair to try. I was so excited and I waited around all day and they never called, hopefully I will hear from them again. Teresa came and put me to bed and organize and put the rest of my clothes back in the drawer, my houses can be so organized and I am so excited.

Friday was a pretty good day. I got sleep in, got my massage from Susan and Karen came in and cleaned my bathroom and dust, it's such a great feeling when my room is clean. I'm going to start eating oatmeal again, today was the first day and is the easiest thing to get down in the morning… Everything else seems to be too heavy on my stomach. They usually like to put blueberries, sliced almonds and some flaxseed granola that supposed to be good for you.

Saturday was such a nice day, the weather was beautiful. I took Robby for a cruise through the lagoon and through Depot Park and back, he was already exhausted. I met Adriana downtown at the tie dye shop and I dropped off six more shirts for Jeremy to die for me, I really love the way he does it. She took me over to Best Buy to pick up an all in one printer I ordered last night, mine finally died after about 10 years. On the way back we stopped at Carl's Jr. to get something to eat, I have seen their cod sandwich on the commercial and have been wanting to try one for a long time… It was pretty good. I also got some onion rings and a vanilla shake. Thinking back and rested for a while and then ran around in the yard with Robby and worked on some of our commands, he still does pretty good but he just wants to be silly and I have to not laugh and make him do what he supposed to do, he is such a clown. My aunt came over and her and my mom set up my new printer that I got at Best Buy today, my old one died yesterday… I think it was about eight or 10 years old so it was time. Rosa came and put me to bed and for some reason I was still hungry so I had some salami, cheese and crackers and also some rice pudding. Some days I can hardly eat at all and some days I could just eat all day long, luckily the days I can be very much are more girls I would be over 200 pounds again. Mostly when I get hungry is after I get into bed for some reason, I really don't like eating in my chair and I don't know why. I also would rather get something from wherever we go and bring it home and eat, I don't feel self-conscious or anything but I just don't like to eat in public.

Sunday was a pretty good day. I think he got up to 78° outside but it felt good. Robby and I cruised through the Lagoon, through the park and we started to go down Westcliff Drive but there was too many people and too many wild dog's so we turned around and went down to the end of the wharf and back into the Boardwalk and back, there were really a lot of people out today but I think it's good for Robby to work by a bunch of people and not even pay attention to them, he did a good job. I ran into Heather and Mariposa and talk to them for a little bit and then we went on our way. We came back and rested for a bit and went out and practiced a couple of commands, think I have the smartest dog in the world… Especially when he's not acting like a clown. Rosa came to put me to bed and we did some personal care. She made me a quesadilla and I had some fish, some asparagus and simply berries with grades. The rest of the evening was nice and relaxing and I watched a snapped marathon.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The weather is starting to get nice…

Monday was an okay day. I have an appointment at Dominican rehab in the lymphedema department that I had to reschedule because of unforeseen personal care issues. About a month or two ago the bottom of my leg started swelling and they look like they haven't really bad rash so I went to see Dr. Owens. Apparently she set me up for lymphedema classes and they're just finally getting around to it, thank God the swelling in my legs went down after a couple of days. I figured I might as well go anyway because if it ever happens again I will know what to do. I have a couple of hours to rest and watch TV before Rosa came to give me a nice long hot bath, man that feels great. She made me a couple of tostadas and a salad for dinner. For breakfast I had wheat berries with a poached duck egg on top and bratwurst.

Tuesday was a really good day. Vicente came over to put some dividers in the drawers in my bedroom to make it easier to organize, I'm so excited. Robby and I went for a really long cruise and then I had a dentist appointment, it was really warm and poor Robby was really hot and tired by the time we got to the dentist's office… Of course after laying there for a couple of hours he got his second wind and was ready to cruise home, we cruised home through the park. Teresa came to put me to bed and we talked about just really getting out there and purging my garage, it is such a mess I can't stand it anymore… Maybe I really am a hoarder? Anyways it ends now, I think after living here almost 6 years I have everything that I need so I just need to stop myself. Now I just need to work on getting everything organized, inside and out. I've had six years of revolving caregivers who are shovers, hiders, movers and don't remember where they put anything. I'm hoping that after we get everything organized and cleaned it will stay that way, am I dreaming??

Wednesday at looked like it was pretty warm outside, I think you got to 74°. Today was my day to sleep in and get a massage, Susan usually gets here around 8:30 AM and I get a massage until 10 AM. Karen came in around 9 AM and gave Robby a bath and cut his toenails. I rested on my side while she dusted my room. Heather came by and made some pulled pork, I LOVE that stuff. Teresa came by and brought me some eggplant with garlic sauce, brown rice with kimchi and miso soup with tofu… It was AWESOME. Teresa poked around in the garage for a while to see what we have in store for Spring cleaning. Lee and Claudia, my uncle and aunt and my mom and I played cribbage, Claudia was my partner and we lost a dollar but we played three games so that's good.

Thursday was a great day, the weather was perfect. Robby and I went for a really long cruise through the lagoon, passed the surf Museum to the second dog beach and back, to the end of the wharf and back and home. We rested for about an hour and then took off to H&R Block to meet Teresa and get my taxes done. I thought all of my tax stuff was in one folder but I was wrong, I wish I would have checked the night before to make sure. I was missing two Documents that I needed so I have to download them off the Internet and call the old place that I worked, which is now a different company, and see if I can get the information faxed to me… This is really a pain. We decided after all that we needed to go out to dinner so we used one of Teresa's groupons and went to Ristorante Italiano, that made everything better. I had fried calamari and prawns over fettuccine and it was AWESOME. We came home and did some personal care and I got to take a nice long hot bath. I was trying to get some sleep but my humidifier was too close and I couldn't turn it off, I kept hitting the button on my computer and it would turn off and then pop right back on, my right arm was getting really cold and soggy and there was nothing I could do about it except wait until 7 AM the next morning when Karen came into work, Teresa left about midnight and my arm started getting cold about 2 o'clock in the morning. A terrible ending to a wonderful day.

Friday the weather was good but it was kind of a disappointing day. I had an appointment with my plastic surgeon to see if he can do anything about my neck, there's still looks like it is sagging a little bit and I don't like it. When we got there they told us that they have been trying to call, the doctor is out on an emergency. We found out later that his wife had passed away unexpectedly, that is really sad. We did get to have Ramen noodles, potstickers and chicken bites… I had sweetcorn noodles.

Saturday was another perfect day, the weather was awesome. Robby and I cruised through the lagoon, to the end of the wharf and back into the end of the boardwalk at back… There was a lot of people. I came back and Vicente had finished putting separators in all of my drawers, it looks awesome. He was helping Teresa clean up the garage, it looks amazing and so much bigger. Tomorrow she is going to do the other half, I really got rid of a lot of stuff and I'm proud of myself. Rosa came and put me to bed, got me something to eat and vacuum and mopped my room… It always looks so cool and brand-new when she's done.

Sunday was a perfect day, we got a lot done and the weather was beautiful. I got up and was going to take Robby for a walk so I stopped by my uncle and aunt's place to see their garden, it is absolutely gorgeous. She already has a bunch of lettuce, chard, broccoli and cauliflower growing strong… She definitely has a green thumb. I took Robby through the lagoon and then back down to H&R Block to finish my taxes. It turns out we had all the paperwork that we needed, there was just a name change on one of the forms. We stopped at Charlie Hong Kong's and I got my usual, pad Thai noodles with garlic tofu and prawns… It is so delicious. I usually eat about half of it and then have the other half in the morning with it with a poached duck egg on it. We got the other half of the garage mostly straightened out and got rid of a whole bunch of stuff that I really didn't need, it actually felt great to get rid of all that stuff… Does this mean I'm not really a hoarder?? Rosa came by and for me to bed and even though I took a couple of Tylenol PMs I am wide awake and it doesn't look like I'm going to get much sleep tonight. All in all though it was a great day and I'm so glad I got my taxes done for another year.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

My right hand is coming back to life…

Monday sucked. I got a really nice massage and that was great but then we got down to the personal care, that was miserable and not so great. I think Karen finished and left about 2 PM in room so was supposed to be here at 3 PM, thank goodness Rosa was late and didn't show up until about 5 PM because I was so exhausted and worn out I needed a little time to sleep. Rosa came and gave me a nice long hot bath, that always makes me feel so much better. I went to bed and watched an episode of Bates Motel, I wasn't sure but I really like this new series. I got a quote from the floor guy today and he's going to start May 8th, I hope he does a good job.

Tuesday was AWESOME. I got up and took Robby for an extra long cruise twice, this is the first time that I have come back at the end of the day and my chair is flashing red because the battery was almost dead. Thank goodness I noticed it when I got in the door… Thank God my chair didn't die in the middle of downtown. We came back home and rested for a while and then went down to the bank to clear up some mistakes that they keep making, I hope this is the last time. Vicente fix my sink in the kitchen that had been leaking for a long time and he moved one of the outlets in my room, they put it in the middle of the wall and my caregivers kept breaking it with my bed, he moved it over by the mirror in the corner. Teresa came and put me to bed now that I have some time to relax what shall I watch?

Wednesday was another awesome day. Robby and I went for a really long cruise through the lagoon, through the park, halfway down Westcliff Drive and back, to the end of the wharf and back and then home. The weather was perfect and there wasn't too many people, we didn't go on the boardwalk because I heard a lot of screaming coming from there and I know that means it's pretty crowded, plus the beach in front of the Boardwalk was really crowded. They came back home and rested for about an hour before Rosa showed up to put me to bed and feed us. She makes the best salads with EVERYTHING in it… Besides mixed greens she put red onion, artichoke hearts, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, shredded carrots, avocado, feta cheese and croutons with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I also had a pork chop, wheat berries and asparagus. For breakfast I had a filet and wheat berries with greens and two poached duck eggs on top. Lee and Claudia, my uncle and aunt and my mom and I played cribbage, my mom was my partner and I lost a dollar. I took my brace off for a while and I can't believe that my arm is still hurting, it's more nerve pain and that is pretty common but it's even worse tonight. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow like it's supposed to.

Thursday turned out to be a pretty good day even though I didn't end up getting up, it pretty much rained all day. I wanted to go to the battle of the bands down on the boardwalk but it looks like everybody just got wet song got I stayed in bed. Stanley, Corinne and one of Corrine's friends came to visit for a couple of days. We ate some pretty good Chinese food and watched a movie called Mean Girls, I fell asleep a couple times but it looked like it was a pretty good movie.

Friday was a good day but it was cold, I was hoping I wouldn't be too warm in two thermals and a shawl but it turned out I'm glad I have all of them on. Robby and I started cruising through the lagoon but yesterday's rain made it pretty muddy and I didn't want to get stuck. We cruised up past the surf Museum and turned around when I couldn't stand it anymore.  I totally forgot about the "we are Santa Cruz" recording at the Civic Center, they were taping people just coming through for the Santa Cruz commercial. Susan reminded me when we got back but it was already 4 PM and I didn't know what time Rosa was going to get here to put me to bed, turns out I would have had plenty of time to go down there and make an appearance with Robby so we missed it. We went to the end of the wharf at back and cruise through the Boardwalk. There was a lot going on on the boardwalk and it was really crowded. We came home and rested for a while and Lexie came over to visit, I think she said she came down for the weekend. My mom and Stanley Meek pulled pork sandwiches, potatoes au gratin and a salad for dinner… It was pretty good. Corrine, Lexi and I watched the movie Mean Girls again and this time I stayed awake through the whole thing, it was a pretty good movie. I liked my hair today, thanks Karen!
Saturday was a pretty good day, it would've been better if it wasn't so cold. Robby and I went for a long cruise and ran into a lot of people, I forgot today was the wharf to wharf race AND the last day of spring break for some people, I think there's two more weeks of spring break around here. We came back and my brother made bacon and cheese omelets, he makes the best breakfasts. We rested for a bit and then Rosa came to put me to bed. My right arm was really hurting today for some reason, around the stitches is really red and swollen… I think I'm getting an infection. My fingers and my whole arm was really swollen so we iced it down and the swelling went down a little. My aunt came over with some caramel popcorn that my uncle made, he makes the best popcorn of any kind. I watched a couple of episodes of horders and then tried to rest my arm for a while, it's really hard to do with the computer in front of me.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. I have a really busy week next week so I decided to stay in bed and give my arm off break, it looks a lot better today. I laid here and watch TV and kind of drifted in and out all day, I love days like that when I stay in bed. My brother, Corrine and her friend headed home, I hope they don't get a lot of traffic. Adriana, my morning caregiver, said the traffic is ridiculous around here because there is another race and some kind of big learn how to surf thing, I saw them setting up a bunch of tents yesterday. Stanley made pancakes and sausage for breakfast, meals are always a great surprise when Stanley is here. Rosa came to put me to bed and brought me some food from her cousins birthday party, it was really good and so sweet of her to think of me. We did some personal Care and I just rested for the rest of the evening. I can't believe how sleepy I but I love it.