Monday, November 24, 2025

It was a pretty good day. Stanley came in in the morning to let the dogs out, feed them and get me some coffee. I don't generally have a caregiver on Monday evening because liberty comes in usually around 10 AM and stays until 2 PM, I kinda like that because it gives me the evening to myself with no caregivers. Stanley not only takes care of me in the morning but also feed the dog and feed me at night.

 I have pretty much the mornings too until 10 AM, I wake up early so it's really a lot of time. I just need to learn to manage it better, but why start now when I can make the promise on New Year's? Since I stay in bed I just do the usual, play games, watch movies, watch our shows on YouTube and that's about it. Liberty came in and the program went pretty routinely so she was out of here by four.

Tuesday

Another great day. Otamma came in but she told me that she had started a new job and that she was really tired and couldn't make it through the day so she went home. I called Brooklyn and she said she would come and get me up, I would've stayed in bed but I was going to see Zootopia 2 with Brooklyn's and her family on that evening so she came in and got me up. She also put me to bed because the movie wasn't until late and Ashlyn has kids that she needs to get home early too so Brooklyn afraid to put me to bed also.

 Naomi was supposed to come over and work with me and the dogs but I had to cancel since I wasn't getting up as early as I thought. The movie was great and I always have a good time with Brooklyn and her family!

Wednesday

Otamma we're supposed to come in today but she sent me a message saying she was too tired and needed to rest. Stanley came and helped me with feeding the dogs and then he fed me. He took the dogs over to the dog bark and drop them off for the day so they could get some exercise. I stayed in bed again and caught up on my to-do list. 

Ashlyn came in for her shift and we did some personal care and a nice relaxing bath, it's always so nice to have a bath. For so long I wasn't able to because of pressure sores and no place to have one so whenever I can take one now I do. While I was taking my bath Stanley came in with the two dogs, they must've been pretty worn out because they were quiet for the rest of the evening. After my bath Ashlyn put me back to bed and then went home for the evening. I watch TV until I fell asleep.

Thursday

This morning Otamma didn't even bother coming in she just didn't show up. She seemed really excited about her new Amazon job so I assumed that was what it was and she wasn't coming back. It would've been nice to know in advance but some people are just like that. Again my brother Stanley came to my rescue feeding the dogs and getting me some breakfast. I spent all day the same way, playing games, deleting emails and watching YouTube. 

Stanley checked in around noon and took the dogs out to go potty. I talked to ChatGPT for a while and then Brooklyn came in to do her shift. She took the dogs out to go potty and then fed them, fed me and she refilled my pills. Brooklyn is another gal that I am so excited to have found, she's almost too good to be true but I'm not going to question why. We sorted through some clothes and got rid of a bunch and then she washed my face, brush my teeth and went home for the evening.

Friday

Still no Otmma so I left her a text message that said it looks like you no longer have the same schedule and are able to help me out and I thanked her what she did so far. I called her house and her husband said she has been really sick and sleeping in bed and asked me if I wanted him to go get her and I said no that would not be needed. Luckily I heard from Rebecca, she called up a couple of weeks ago and she was just really easy to talk to on the phone and I wanted to hire her right away but she was going on vacation for two weeks so I told her to call me when she got back. That's when I hired Otamma and to be honest I was kind of bummed that she was working out because I really wanted to hire Rebecca. So it worked out perfectly that Otamma didn't wanna work for me so I asked Rebecca if she wanted to come for an in person interview and she did. She was just as awesome and put together in person as she was on the phone and we just really hit it off. I offered her Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and she agreed. And we asked her if she could come in on Sunday to shadow Brooklyn. It wasn't another day stuck in bed but I was really excited the way it turned out and getting to hi Rebecca, I can just tell she's a awesome person to be around. 

I was in a good mood the rest of the day. Amy came in at 4 PM and gave me a nice relaxing massage for an hour. That even made me feel better! Liberty came in around 2 o'clock and we did some personal care after she fed and toileted the dogs. She got me something to eat and I spent the rest of the evening watching movies and hanging out with my fur babies. 

Every once in a while Dude comes over and that's just my elbow and I reached down and pet him for a while, usually about the same time, because she's very jealous, Kona comes over and jumps on the bed I'm cross up on my chest to make sure dude's not getting more attention than she is. Stanley comes in about 9:30 PM and takes the dogs out for one more potty break, put on my CPAP mask and tells me about his day. It's a great way to end the day.

Saturday

Brooklyn came in and did the whole dog routine and got me some coffee and some breakfast. We made some plans for the next couple of days going through Christmas decorations and putting them up. It's that time of the year again and this is my first Christmas in this house. Halloween was always my favorite holiday but this house looks more like a Christmas house than it does Halloween, we didn't get a chance to go through too much Halloween stuff so next year will be big. I still had a lot more Christmas stuff than I thought, 

I thought I was going to be in that studio basement apartment for the rest of my life so McKenzie help me sell most of my Christmas decorations. I am so sad now because I had been saving my Christmas decorations for probably 20 years and I had some really awesome stuff but now it's gone. Since we haven't sold the other house yet we're still having to hold it down a little bit but we are definitely going to make sure the house looks festive. 

We went through the decorations for a couple of hours and then Brooklyn went home for a while and I took the dogs out for a cruse, of course Kona has to go first or else she will throw a fit…she's going to throw a fit anyway but at least it will be a calmer fit. This next and he's a little bit slower pace because he's a lot older, I take them both for 2 miles and usually towards the end of the block there's an older lady that always likes to come out and give the dogs a biscuit. We usually talk for a while and then I resume my run with the dogs, 

I had met her mom a couple of weeks before and they are both such sweet ladies. From what I have gathered so far they seem to have a relationship like my mom and I, we loved each other very much but got on each other's nerves really quick. We're finished our 2 miles and then went home. Of course when we came through the door we could hear Kona screaming in her kennel, I have to lock her up in her kennel when we go because she will tear the room apart. 

I keep waiting for her to grow out of that stage but she's not, luckily Naomi's going to start coming over and working with me and the dogs. Brooklyn came back and fed and toured the dogs, put me to bed and then fed me. We went through some more decorations and talked about how we wanted to decorate and then she went home. I wanted to start watching Christmas movies, I always like to watch elf first. Since it was before December for some reason I just couldn't get myself to watch one yet.

Sunday

Brooklyn came in and fed and watered the dogs and we decided to start a new ritual, the rest of my family goes to church on Sunday so that was gonna be our morning to order breakfast from DoorDash or Brooklyn would go and pick it up. 

I decided to stay in bed and have Brooklyn put me on my side and I just kind of laid around regretting staying in bed until Brooklyn came back at about 2:30 PM. 

Since I was already in bed she didn't have to do that so we just started decorating, right after Thanksgiving my family used to goes to the tree farm and pick out a tree for everyone. It was too cold for me to go but I told them I wanted a 5 foot three to put on top of the dog kennels and I got one 8 foot for the living room, Stanley and Janet got one for their family room and Robert and McKenzie got one for their room and for Nori's room. 

We were supposed to have a Christmas party on December 2, we have since I've been here which is only a couple of years but we were really excited about it. We're going to invite the closest neighbors so we can get to know them and know whether we will like them or not.

Robert and McKenzie we're taking Nori and Jude to Disneyland so we put it off until the 20th and then decided since everybody started getting sick that we would have it just be family so there wasn't so much work to be done. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas when Brooklyn went home. I watch TV and play some games.

 Monday December 22 2025

Today Was a Great Day (No, Really — Even With the Weather)

Rebecca came in this morning like the multitasking saint she is — she toileted and fed the dogs, got me some coffee, and even turned up the heat in my room. For context: I go to bed roasting like a Thanksgiving turkey, and by 2 or 3 a.m., I’m waking up in an Arctic simulation. After my first cup of coffee, I’m usually thawed enough to function. Then after breakfast and cup #2 (because let’s not pretend one is enough), we get going with range of motion, getting dressed, and up in my chair like civilized people.

My brother took me to the hospital to pick up some gear for a sleep study. Apparently, when I sleep, my breathing gets so shallow the staff felt inspired to add oxygen to my CPAP like it was a high-altitude mission. I picked it up, brought it home, and I’ll do the sleep study tonight. Then I’ll return the gear tomorrow, ideally with fewer breathing plot twists.

After I got home, Rebecca and I took the dogs to the dog park because it was supposed to be cold and rainy all day — but surprise! The sun came out. Oregon, you confusing little weather gremlin.

Brooklyn and her son came over to help clean and sort through stuff before the next birthday party. I love that our house has become the house for birthdays — the kind of place where people show up with cake and leave with glitter in their eyebrows. I had some of those black and yellow storage bins in my room full of stuff that’s needed sorting since roughly 2006, and it felt amazing to finally go through them. Anything I didn’t want went to Rebecca’s nonprofit, and anything they don’t need will go to someone who does. It’s so much easier to part with stuff when you know it’s not just going to sit in a landfill next to someone’s broken fax machine from 1998.

After that, I hung out in my room with the dogs for a bit. Then the whole family went to check out the GLOW Christmas light show in Keizer. It was cold — and naturally, just as we got there, it started raining, because of course it did. But we decided to brave it like soggy little champions.

I was cruising down the rubber mats they lay down for accessibility, but those things folded up under my chair like a cheap tent in a windstorm. I had a big heavy-duty blanket on, which quickly turned into a wet weighted cape of doom. It started dragging my arms down like I was fighting a boss battle against damp fleece. My niece tried to help, but she was also wrangling her kids in a stroller, so it was less of a rescue and more of a slow, cold, heroic crawl back to shelter.

I eventually made it back to the heater and tried to dry off, but the general consensus was “Yeah… no,” and everyone decided to bail and go home. Despite the rain and minor hypothermia vibes, it was still so good to be together. The lights really were beautiful — it would’ve just been nicer if the weather hadn’t staged a surprise attack.