Out and about...

Monday turned out to be a good day. I got up and started to take Robby for a cruise but when I got down to the soccer/skate park it started sprinkling so I thought I should turn back, good thing I did because it started raining. I waited for a little while and then started out again, I made it all the way to the boardwalk before it started sprinkling I’ve decided to just keep on going. It just sprinkled a little bit but we got in a nice cruise so it was worth it. There sure was a lot of tearing up of the roads by the wharf, kind of hard to maneuver around but all of the men working around that area were really nice and helpful. They even stopped traffic for Robby and I, mostly for Robby and I know... he gets that treatment everywhere we go. I came back and Heather was cooking and it smelled wonderful in here. I’m still trying to work on eating 4-6 small meals a day and although it’s not working very well I am staying off of dairy and the rest will come as soon as I figure it out. I took a couple of PMs because my neck, shoulder and arms have been hurting the last couple of days... I’m sure because of the weather. Hopefully I will be able to relax and watch couple of movies. I’ve decided that people with Smart cars must be pretty smart but they don’t have a very good sense of humor... I saw this lady parking her smart car and I drove up alongside and said “your car is just a little bit bigger than my wheelchair” she was not amused. She had a couple of kids with her so maybe that’s why she was cranky?

Tuesday was a day stuck in bed, my neck and my arms are getting really sore. Today is my last Tuesday stuck in bed and I think that I can handle staying in bed for one day a week. Cassy came over this morning and fed Robby and I and Teresa will be here sometime this afternoon. I watched a movie called the other sister, I have seen her before and it’s a really cute movie. I also watched a new series called relapse, a guy who deals with people who keep relapsing on drugs and alcohol. I usually watch intervention on Mondays but it hasn’t been on for the last couple weeks. Teresa showed up about 1 PM to get me up and out of here, I was so thrilled. I took Robby for a really long cruise and then I met her at a place called 99 beers on the wall and we had a hamburger and then cruised around downtown for a while and look at shoes. It turned out to be an awesome day.

Wednesday I was supposed to go and get a manicure/pedicure but the guy from Hill-Rom called and wanted to come and repair my bed so I had to reschedule my manicure/pedicure for Saturday. The guy came out to look at my bed but had to order the parts. The parts were delivered here and of course when he came out to install them the bed is working fine and it has been for two weeks so we decided to keep the parts here and just wait until we need them. I bought his bed on Craig’s list about a year ago but the guy told me that it was still under warranty, usually when you purchase a bed from somebody else the warranty doesn’t carry over. After he left I went to take Robby for a cruise but of course it was sprinkling, luckily I took him earlier so he won’t be going stir crazy. Cassy came to take me for a couple of errands but my van would not start, my guess is the battery is dead again. She put me to bed and then went to run errands for me, luckily she loves to do errands. Uncle Dick and aunt Kathy, Lee and Claudia and my mom and I played cribbage. I got some cheese and crackers and some chocolate for Easter and I can’t have any of it because of my elimination diet but they can all enjoy it. My aunt Kathy was my partner and we kicked butt, won four dollars... woo hoo!!

"Don't mistake kindness for weakness." - Albert Collins

Thursday was another day stuck in bed and of course it’s beautiful outside. My mom goes and plays cards so I pretty much had the house to myself, I watched a couple of shows that I TiVo and slept most of the morning. My aunt and Lulu came over for a visit, to take Robby out and play with him a little bit in the driveway... I think Robby wore out first. I can’t believe how big lulu is getting and she talks up a storm. I found out yesterday that Karen graduates June 11, I thought it was May 11... I don’t know if I could stand one more month staying in bed on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I might not have a choice. I think by the time I interviewed, hired somebody and train them it would be time for them to quit. Teresa came by and gave me a nice long hot bath, that sure felt great.

‎~ Dogs are miracles with paws. ~
Susan Kennedy

Friday I got a nice long massage and my chair fixed. The cable got split from leaning back in my chair so Daniel came by and fixed it for me, he also fix the headrests AGAIN. Robby had an appointment today to get his eyes examined so I couldn’t take him out of the house to go on a cruise or anything until about 3:30 PM, his eyes were still really dilated even after that so he just stayed in his kennel. I cruise downtown to exchange some sandals that I bought a while back and to get some wrapping paper at CVS. I came back and stood in the standing frame for an hour, it felt really good.

‘A dog can express more with his tail in minutes than his owner can express with his tongue in hours.’ -Anonymous

Saturday was a really long and stressful morning, by the time I got up I was exhausted. I think it was up about 20 minutes when Cassy text me and said she was out of school already, she told me it was that it be a long day for her and she wouldn’t get out until about 4 PM. I told her to give me an hour and a half to run Robby for a little bit and then meet me here at 3:30 PM. When she got here she told me that she wasn’t feeling good and she was just going to put me to bed and she wasn’t coming in tomorrow, Easter Sunday. I really don’t want the girls coming in when they are sick because I don’t mean to be sick. Heather came over this afternoon and set up a spiral ham, some sweet mashed potatoes and some green beans for us to have for Easter. I’ve been really cold all day but I’m trying not to turn the heater on too high because Robby ends up in the living room, my mom found him there the last couple of evenings. I can’t blame him because it is warm in here that he cannot do that so I put his other bed in my bathroom and hopefully that will work, there is tiled floor and it’s cooler in there.

DOGS LIVE HERE~
If you don't want to be greeted with paws and swinging tails
don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you don't like the feel of a cold nose or a wet tongue,
don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you don't want to step over many scattered toys,
don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you think that a home ought to smell of perfume,
don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you don't mind all of this,
you will be instantly loved when you come inside,
because dogs live here. ~Author - David Lester

Easter Sunday I ended up staying in bed again. My caregiver came in on Saturday evening and said that she didn’t feel good and that she wasn’t going to come in Easter Sunday evening, it was already too late to make other plans. As I was looking on face book Sunday afternoon I see pictures of her over at her friends smiling and having fun, I was so frustrated that I sent her a message... normally I wouldn’t have done that but I already have to stay in bed two days a week and it’s so beautiful outside. After messaging her I found out that she was at home sick just posting old pictures from her phone, I felt really bad for not believing her. Heather made my mom and I a really nice ham, mashed sweet potatoes and green beans for Easter dinner.

Monday turned out to be a really great day. It was misting outside but I decided to take Robby for a cruise anyway, when we got down to the wharf it started raining harder so we came back. As soon as we got back it lightened up a little bit so we took off again up and down the wharf, through the boardwalk, along the reservoir and down to Ross. We went in Ross and looked around for a little while and then came back through town. When we got back Charlie and Terri came by to say hello, I have not seen them for a very long time and it was really great. We went back down to the wharf and then came back because it was time to go to bed. The weather started out not so good but it ended up being a beautiful day.

Tuesday was so beautiful I couldn’t wait to get dressed and get out of here. Teresa came and got me up about 11 AM and Robby and I took off for the day. we cruised down to the end of the wharf and then to the boardwalk. As we were cruising down the middle of the boardwalk I saw a lady with a dog, as soon as the dog saw Robby he crouched down and froze. I looked around and there was a security officer standing right there but he did nothing. The lady laughed and said “oh look he wants to play”. There are certain ways that a service animal is supposed to act in public and this was nowhere near the train service dog but the lady must have told them at the office that it was because he had a little pink tag. It’s getting more and more frustrating watching these people say that their animals are service animals and then they try to attack my service dog. I was going to try to do something a while back but got to frustrated and gave up but I think I’m going to try again, this is just not right. We cruised down the reservoir to pets mart and I went in to ask if they have some water down somewhere for dogs, they said that they are not allowed to do that. I told them that I had my own bowl and they got somebody to give Robby some water, it was really hot out today. We cruise back through town and down to the wharf again and then back home to eat and rest and then off again for another cruise through the lagoon and back down to the wharf. It was unbelievably gorgeous outside.

Wednesday after I got up Robby and I took a cruise around the wharf and the boardwalk. The lady that does my manicure/pedicure works right about the boardwalk so I didn’t have time to go to far. After the manicure/pedicure I was going to meet Cassy at the buttery to get cupcakes for my moms birthday which was today, we had some people over to play cribbage in the cupcakes were awesome. I wasn’t going to have any because I’m supposed to be off of dairy and butter but everyone kind of insistent so they scraped the frosting off of one of the carrot cake cupcakes and I ate it... I was not the only one that agreed that was the best cupcake ever. We also got chocolate/cheesecake, mocha, double chocolate and another kind I can’t remember.

Thursday was a pretty good day even though I had to stay in bed. I watched a movie called did you hear about the Morgans? And a bunch of episodes of the office, I love that show. Teresa came by about three and we did some personal care and I got to take a nice long hot bath and go back to bed. I didn’t sleep all day like I usually do on Thursdays so hopefully I will sleep really good tonight.

Friday I got a nice long massage, got dressed, got up and met Karen and Teresa at Cosco. A couple of days ago my van wouldn’t start and I haven’t had a chance to get somebody over to jump it so I haven’t been able to use it, I hope it’s just the battery. I got a solar battery charger but if it is the battery even that is not working now. It has been a while since I have been able to go to Costco so we got a lot of stuff, we had to quit because the basket was getting too full. I met a gentleman there who is a member of the Lions Club in Watsonville, they are all such nice people. After Robby and I cruised back from Cosco we cruised over to the wharf, down to the boardwalk and part way down the canal before Cassy messaged me and said that she was on her way back from San Jose with her mom. Heather came by and cooked a bunch of wonderful stuff, it really was a great day... and I got to go shopping at Costco. My uncle and aunt came over to play cribbage, we play a dollar a game and I won six dollars... I think that’s a record.

Saturday was awesome, the days are just getting better and better. After I got up I took Robby for a cruise through the lagoon, down to the end of the wharf at back, through the boardwalk, along the reservoir and down to Ross. Instead of coming back through town I came back down the reservoir so I can stop at FedEx and get a couple of shipping forms and I went into CVS to look around for a bit. When I got home Cassy text me and said that she was out of school so I had her meet me back at FedEx so I could send my brother is new time capsule from Apple, hopefully they will improve the speed of our computers and they have a lot more room for storage. I didn’t think that I would need more room since I got the Mac but I have a bunch of photos, music and audio books. It was really warm outside, it got up to 73°, but the wind made it really nice. I was going to have somebody set up Robby’s new swimming pool so I could have Bella over tomorrow for a play date but I forgot, Robby really misses Bella a lot. I look at the pictures of them playing, I have them on my computer as a screensaver, and it really makes me sad because they always had such a great time. Lee and Claudia, my uncle and aunt and my mom and I played cribbage. They were eating cheese and crackers and I was very jealous, I’m going to have a cheese party after my elimination diet. Cheese is about the only thing I really miss. I lost a dollar.

Sunday the wind died down but it was still really nice outside, I thought it was going to be a lot warmer. After I got up Robby and I went on our regular cruise and on the way back we still had time so we were in a cruise back over to the wharf when I remembered that Robby needed some water so we came home to get him some. Before we left again I decided to practice a couple of his commands so we decided to practice turning the light on and off and as he jumped up to hit the light switch with his paw it slipped and he locked the deadbolt on the door, I can not open the door with the button on the side of my chair if the deadbolt is locked. The button for the front door was in my chair but not working so I can open the front door with a button that I have on the table in my room but if I go outside I can’t open it to get back in so we were basically locked inside the house. Luckily Cassy was going to be here in an hour so we just waited. I did the standing frame and then went to bed. I was supposed to go to a birthday party today but I’m having problems with my van, I can’t wait until my new one gets here. I’m supposed to take Robby to get recertified in June and it’s not ready by then I don’t know what they do but I will be able to go to Santa Rosa.