Dealing with insurance claim for property and vehicle damage…

 Monday was a pretty good day. Sheri is going to stay for a couple more days until she can get some new lenses but in her glasses, today is a holiday so she will have to wait for tomorrow. Lisa came in and got me up in Sheri and I took off for a cruise down to the Santa Cruz wharf and decided to have lunch. There is a restaurant upstairs at the Santa Cruz wharf that I've always wanted to try but it's a really old building and although there is an elevator is a really old building and I'm nervous about how strong the walkway is, my wheelchair with me in it weighs about 950 pounds and I don't want to fall through the floor. As we were walking around I noticed a lady and her husband coming from the very same restaurant and she was in a scooter and she weighed a lot more than I do so I got brave enough to give it a try. The restaurant was really beautiful, lots of natural wood and a beautiful view. Sheri ordered blackened fish tacos and I ordered mahi-mahi tacos and they were really very good. We also got some chips and salsa, this also was really good, and refried black beans and rice. We cruised around for a while but I needed to get back because we were again training the new girl on how to do personal care and a bath. We visited for a while until Meaghan came in and she put me to bed while we were waiting for Rosa, she is doing really good. Rosa came in and we showed Meaghan how to do the personal care and she went home because she had a family dinner to go to, we will show her the rest on Monday. After the personal care I got to take a nice long hot bath and by the time Rosa got me back into bed Sheri was tired and wanted to go to sleep, I also fell asleep right away.

Tuesday was another pretty good day. Karen came in and got me up and Sheri said goodbye and went off to her appointment to get her new glasses, what a really nice visit. I have such bad social anxiety and I get really nervous being around people no matter how well I know them, I always drink a lot baking alcohol would help. My therapist has been such a huge help in getting me to find other ways to deal with my anxieties and OCD and I really think I'm getting a hold of it. I don't get as nervous when people come to visit and I actually am starting to enjoy myself without being self-conscious and it feels great. Robby has been kind of neglected this last weekend so I took him for a really long cruise to the Santa Cruz wharf and then over to the boardwalk. There is a lot of changes going on around here, they're setting up for the Ironman triathlon… I think it's on Sunday. They are also redoing the entrance of the boardwalk so a lot of construction and ripping down and tearing up. Depot Park looks like the circus is in town with all of the tents and canopies. They built a ramp from the boardwalk to the sand, along the beach and back up onto the boardwalk along the front of the stage where they have the concerts on the beach. I was so excited because it looks like it will be strong enough to hold my chair so I will be able to go down on the sand and be as close to the water as I have ever been. Robby and I cruised back home and rested for a bit before Rosa came in and put me to bed, it's nice to have a quiet here for a while but I do love having company.

Wednesday was a pretty relaxing day. I decided to stay in bed because I was just really tired and needed a break, it's starting to hit me how sore my neck, shoulders and arms are from all of the late hours and all the clapping that I have been doing over the weekend. Susan came in to give me a massage and everything that she touched just hurt. Karen came in and fed Robby and I and I decided today would be a good day to make all of the telephone calls that I need to make. My insurance company keeps telling me I should handle this claim by myself because if they handle it my insurance will go up and there is a $4500 deductible I will have to pay, after everything gets settled their insurance will have to reimburse the but apparently it takes about two or three years and they keep telling me it's really easy so I decided to try it by myself. I called Geico, the guys insurance, and they were really really helpful and easy to deal with… I'm actually thinking about changing my insurance to Geico, I never really get to talk to my insurance agent anyway… It's always one of the girls that works in the office. They set up an appointment for me to take my van in for an estimate and leave it to be fixed, and will be ready on Tuesday. They just asked me how much it would cost to rebuild the barbecue island and I downloaded the pictures on their website and that's it… What a relief. I just relaxed and watched TV until Rosa came in to put me to bed, do some personal care and of course a nice long hot bath… It felt so good I was out before she left.

Thursday was a really good day. Karen came in and got me up and Robby and I took off for downtown to meet with Carol, my psychologist. I didn't see her last week so I have a lot to say and the time went by really fast. After my appointment we cruised over to the Santa Cruz wharf and I ran into my neighbor Mark, I haven't seen him for a long time… Practically all summer. I talked to him for a while and then cruised down to the end of the Santa Cruz wharf and back and over to the boardwalk to see the progress on setting up to tear down. It's amazing how fast they can get stuff done around here and I can't wait to see what it looks like when they're through. They are still setting everything up. We cruised back home and of course the sun started to come out so I hung out in the yard for a while, I love my yard. Rosa came in and put me to bed and made me dinner, Omar brought over some fish fillets and Rosa crushed up some breadcrumbs and added garlic and ginger and it was awesome! Omar found some potatoes that we had planted in the front yard and forgot about and left them on the table outside so she also add up the potatoes and added some onion and that was really good also. I watch TV for a while and then fell asleep.

 Friday was a really good day. Karen came in and we did some personal care and I got to take a nice long hot bath. Angela from Bailey's mobile grooming came by to give Robby a bath, the always smells so good and looks so white and fluffy. Karen got me up and brought in the cushions for my furniture on the porch that Carolina made, she does such a good job and she even put a zipper on them… She made them out of the same material that she made the cushions for my bench under the pergola and she's going to use the same material to recover the cushions on the front porch. Robby and I cruised through the lagoon, through Bay St., Park, down Westcliff Drive a little bit and back and over to the boardwalk to check the progress on the ramp and walkway they put down on the beach. It looked pretty sturdy so I drove down the ramp, across the walkway and up on the other side. It was really cool to be able to go down on the beach and to be that close to the water. Stanley took my mom to her doctor's appointment in Monterey where they stopped her heart and shocked it back up again, that just sounds really scary to me. She was really tired but towards the end of the evening she looked better than she has for a long time. I came back home because I wanted to go to the Journey cover band concert on the boardwalk and I wanted some time to charge my chair so I can make it down there but by the time my mom and Stanley got back I forgot all about it. Corrine and Nathan came by and were going to go to the concert with me but then I remembered that my battery was almost dead so I decided not to go. Meaghan came in and put me to bed and then Corrine, Nathan and I watched Keanu on pay-per-view… It was a really cute movie.

Saturday I decided to stay in bed and rest, I've had a cold for the last couple of days and it's not getting any better. Corrine and Nathan went to great America for the day so I figured why not? I was going to go on my side but the guy showed up to take a look at my automatic door openers, one of them needs to be replaced. They also have buttons with a bigger target area so I'm excited about that. Meaghan came in and fed Robby and I and turned me on my side for a little bit, she is working out great.

Sunday was a crazy day. Cindy came in and got me up and I was going to take Robby for a short cruise through the lagoon, down Westbrook Drive, over to the Santa Cruz wharf and back but when I got to W. Cliff Dr. I remember the Ironman triathlon was today since the turn around and going back through the lagoon and decided to try and make my way around the event. That was a really bad idea because EVERYTHING was blocked off so I would try to go one way and then have to turn around… It was a mess. It took me about two hours to get back home, I stopped at Depot Park to see if I can get a T-shirt from the event but I couldn't even get to the merchandise tent because all of the curb cuts were blocked off so I just went home and watched TV until Meaghan came in. She put me to bed and fed Robby and I enlisted the rest of the evening relaxing and watching TV… It's good to finally be home.