Christmas came and went so fast…

Monday was another day of staying in bed and wouldn't you know it was beautiful outside, while the sun was out anyway… I'm sure was still really really cold. Susan came by and gave me an awesome massage and then Teresa came by and we did some personal care, she was going to give me a bath but I still wasn't feeling very good and although about probably would've made me feel better I just feel like doing it. Last time I was sick Dr. Owens gave me this really killer cough syrup so I tried it again and ran out after two nights. I called in to see if I can get some more but I guess they didn't refill it before they closed, that stuff really knocked me out all day and if I'm going to be sick I would rather just sleep it off. The rest of the day I just relaxed and watched TV. My new Bose sound system was supposed to get here today but of course it didn't, and open gets here tomorrow while Teresa is here.

Tuesday was Christmas, I decided to stay in bed because I figured it would be cold and rainy outside… it was cold but the sun was out. Teresa came over and cooked an awesome meal for my mom and I. Roasted game ahead with lemon and Rosemary, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and lemon, leek mashed potatoes and stuffing… needless to say it was amazing. She also made some butternut squash soup that we have for breakfast. I thought that was so cool that she came over on Christmas I made us so happy, she is the most thoughtful person I have ever met. I was still not feeling very great but my mom went over to my uncle and aunts and play cribbage… I slept.

Wednesday I was still not feeling very good so after we did personal-care Teresa was going to give me a bath and take me up to the doctors. My doctor is on vacation and since Teresa used to work for my doctor all we usually have to do is tell her what I need and she fills the prescription but since she wasn't there the doctor filling in for her said I needed to come to the office and be examined. By the time I was done with my bath I was feeling even worse so I decided it's not worth the 2 hours to get dressed, go to the doctor's office in the cold and freezing weather and 2 hours to get undressed and back into bed. Hopefully by tomorrow I will fill better. Rosa came by and fixed me up with NyQuil and  and mentholated ointment, it really helped a lot. She put some underneath my nose and put some on a towel and put it in the dryer, I'm going to have to remember that.

Thursday was a really great day. Susan came in the morning and gave me a really nice massage. Teresa came and we did some personal care while she put my new home theater system together and set it up, it didn't quite work so we had to call my brother David who fixed it almost immediately… he does that. We were so excited about the home theater system working that we didn't realize the remote and all the other functions were not working so we called him back and of course he fixed it instantly. I have such awesome group around me. Heather came over and cooked an amazing meal for Teresa and I… lobster, asparagus, portobello mushrooms and fingerling potatoes, needless to say we all ended up in a awesome food coma. Everyone went home and I watched Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, it was a really good movie and a nice relaxing way to end a great day.

Friday was a really cold day. My plan was to get up and take Robby for a really long cruise, he really needed it, but that didn't happen. It was 40° outside and I'm just getting over a cold so I just couldn't do it. Teresa stayed and got a lot of stuff done so that felt good, my room is starting to get really cluttered and messy again. It's so nice to have my home theater system working again. I just relaxed all day and watched Teresa work. She took Robby up to Bayview elementary school and he ran around in the soccer field for a while so I feel better, it would have been even nicer if there was another dog up there to play with but he got some exercise and I'm sure release some tension. Tomorrow I will take him for a long cruise although it's probably not going to be any warmer. I called my aunt to tell her that Heather got the  prime rib roast for dinner Saturday night and she asked if we wanted to play cribbage so I said sure. Right before they came over to play Stanley, Janet and Corinne showed up so we all played cribbage until Robert and David showed up and they played also.

Saturday the weather wasn't too bad. I got up early and headed up to the Dominican medical foundation clinic, Dr. Owens was working today. My sore throat was almost gone but now the sinuses on the left half of my face hurt and my head was pounding, I am tired of this and I want something serious to get rid of it. They open at 10 AM and I was there a little bit after that but ended up waiting until about 1 PM, I went there a couple of weeks ago and I didn't even have to wait 5 min. so I thought I might get lucky again. When I came back everybody was pretty much just waking up and they had already eaten, my brother fixed me breakfast, and we unwrapped the rest of our Christmas presents. We hung out for a while and then went across the street to eat dinner. Besides the prime rib roast that Heather got and seasoned for us, which was awesome by the way, we had twice baked potatoes, asparagus and cauliflower. We came over here to play cards for a while and my aunt made this awesome dessert, it was bread pudding made out of Costco's killer cinnamon bread. I am really going to have to go back on my diet Monday, I'm afraid to weigh myself.

Sunday was a really great day. I don't know where my aunt gets these recipes but she made 2 more killer breakfast recipes. One had sausage, eggs and cheese… it was a casserole and man was it awesome. The other one was another cinnamon bread dish… also awesome. I start my diet again tomorrow. Robert, Corinne and I went to the movies to see Les Miserables… I have always wanted to see it but never did and I really liked it. The 1st movie in a long time that I didn't fall asleep for at least 10 min. in, Robert and Corinne loved it also. We got home and visited a little more and then Rosa came to put me to bed and my family went home. What a great weekend!

I believe the rain is finally here…

 Monday was a great day. It's really nice to stay inside and in bed when it's raining all day. Susan came and gave me a really nice massage, that always feels great. Karen came in early to clean out the outdated stuff from my secret…shhhh… snack cupboard. I've been trying to eat some of the nuts every night to raise my good cholesterol. We did some personal care and Karen hung up some really cool blanket lights in the hallway. I got to rest for a while and then my brother logged into my computer and fixed a couple things and downloaded a program to publish my website.

Tuesday wasn't a very good day and it was really cold and windy, the kind of day I wish I could just stay in bed.  For some reason the last couple of days I have just been really bloated and there's nothing I can do about it. My barely fit around my stomach and when we got it cinched up my stomach was bulging out over the top. I got up and went outside to see how cold it actually was and I could hear water shooting up the side of the house, something froze and broke. I cruised across the street to see if my uncle was home because he would know what to do but of course he wasn't.  Karen was here but it looked like you had to walk right in the middle of where the water was shooting up to turn off the water so of course nobody wanted to do that.  Karen got a stick and tried to do it that way but that wasn't working either, I didn't know what to do. I was about ready to call Vicente when I noticed a truck pulling up in front of the house, it was Otis. It is always so nice to see Otis but boy was I glad to see him right then, of course he jumped right in the middle of the water and turned it off… my hero. I had an appointment to get a manicure and pedicure so I rushed over there in the freezing cold. Samantha did a really cool design that she saw on Pinterest, all red with a Santa belt buckle on the middle finger. When I got out of there I think it was even colder and windier so I rushed home where Teresa had my electric drill plugged in and ready to warm me up.  Heather was in here cooking so of course it smelled wonderful. Teresa put me to bed and I just relaxed the rest of the evening, it was so nice to be warm and tucked in bed.

 Wednesday was just too cold. I was still really bloated so I decided to stop drinking coffee for a couple days and see if that's what's wrong, I really love my coffee. Personal care took longer than we expected so I ended up not getting up which didn't break my heart at all but I feel bad for Robby. I have a couple of errands that I needed to run so it's nice to be able to duck inside somewhere warm while we are cruising around but I just had to make phone calls instead. Today was Sonia's last day but I texted her and told her that she didn't have to come in because I was already in bed, there's not really much to do when I don't get up. I had some mustard chicken, some kale and some mashed potatoes and Karen took off for her vacation.  Karen brought me some new slippers and some awesome peppermint cookies for Christmas, I was hoping to try my slippers on today but I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow, they look really warm. It will be nice to just rest for the rest of the day and evening. Vicente came by and put the part in my dishwasher so hopefully now it works, everybody will be so thrilled. Sonia came by to get her last check and say goodbye, I'm going to miss that girl. She got 2 other jobs so she is going to be very busy. One already started and the other one starts the day after Christmas.

Thursday turned out to be a really great day. Teresa got me up and we had to be at Stanford at 11 AM for my post exercise program data gathering and final testing. I'm definitely going to keep up the exercises because it's great to see the progress that I have made, everybody doing the testing was also impressed. We didn't have time to eat so I grabbed a breakfast croissant and Theresa grabbed a breakfast sandwich and we put hashbrowns on them, they were so good. Of course there was a delay on Highway 17 so we got there about 10 min. late but we called her and told her. The testing took about 4 hours and the stick these little wires in my arm to test how all my muscles are doing the work. After that Teresa and I went Ramen House Ryowa for lunch… well dinner I guess. The food was AWESOME, we are definitely going back there. We were full and happy and as we drove by Los Gatos on 17 we could see the lights in the park from the Fantasy of Lights display at Vasona park so we decided to go check it out, I haven't been there for probably 20 years. They have a really beautiful display in the park and you turn on your radio and listen to beautiful music as you're cruising through it. We came home and Teresa put me to bed.

Friday was a wonderful day. Heather had some tickets for the Monterey Bay aquarium so she invited Teresa and I to go with her. When we started out it was raining but by the time we got to Monterey this on was trying to come out and it was beautiful. When we went to the bird habitat room a man came rushing over and said “you can't come in here with the dog, I need to call security”. I was really startled and didn't know what to do so I just left, both Teresa and Heather offered to watch Robby while I went in and checked it out but I kind of wanted everybody to go in side just left. As we were leaving the security guard came up to me and said “I'm really sorry about the volunteer, they want to do such a good job that sometimes they get a little overzealous”. He said that they just want a security guard in case the dog is not a real CCI dog, of course I don't want any dogs to attack the birds. He opened the door for us, walked through with us and let us out at the other end without incident. Robby didn't really pay that much attention to anything there except one penguin who looked like he was trying really hard to get out, Robby and him came nose to nose a couple of times and we got a pretty good picture but there was a guy there like a perfect picture. I wish he would have offered to send it to me or something because I was perfect. We looked at practically everything on every floor of the Monterey Bay aquarium and then we went to go find a place to eat. One of Heather's favorite restaurants was Paradiso Trattoria so we decided to eat there and nobody was disappointed. Everybody was so nice, we had a gorgeous view and they offered to give Robby some water. We got some abalone appetizers that were amazing, actually the whole meal was amazing. I got salmon stuffed with lobster and spinach, mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. Teresa got seafood risotto and Heather got seafood paella. We came back exhausted but had a really great day. Thank you Heather!!

Saturday was really wet and really cold. I got up and running really needed to get out and get some exercise so we did. I didn't go anywhere near the lagoon because I'm sure it was was a muddy mess. We cruised around  depot park a couple of times and then decided to brave it and just head on over to the wharf, the nice thing is that there wasn't a lot of people around… I'm sure they're all downtown or at the mall doing their last-minute Christmas shopping. It's still hard for me to believe that Christmas is just a couple days away. Last night I could feel something in my throat and now my throat is really sore and my head  is stuffed up, I've been so good about staying away from cold and flu's but I think I'm about to give you… maybe it was that flu shot I got? We got back home and we were soaked so we hung around for a while and dried off and Dave called and said my van is finished, he called me yesterday and said that the installer forgot to put the new woofers in my van when they did the installation. Robby and I cruised over there and it was really nice until we got there and it started pouring. Teresa met us there and she showed us a few tricks to run the new system and we headed home to go to bed, I was freezing. It was all wrapped up with my electric throw and keeping warm, it felt great. My aunt and uncle came over to put together my mom's desk and set up her new computer, you got to be about 8 o'clock so I assume that we weren't going to play cards and then my uncle came down to set everything up. Out of $5 and only ended up with one and I was so exhausted I couldn't keep my eyes open, I fell asleep right after I just woke up a little while ago, it's 5:30 AM… that felt great. Teresa made some fried noodles and kimchi out of the leftovers from the Ramen noodle place, it was so good.

Sunday I really didn't feel good at all so I decided to just stay in bed, it was cold and rainy all day anyway. Adriana came over for a while and said Robby and I and did a few things around here and then went home, she was probably glad to get off early. I took some codeine cough syrup and pretty much slept all day long. My hand came over and helped my mom set up the rest of her computer. It was a nice relaxing day.

I can't believe this gorgeous weather is still holding out…

 Monday was a pretty good day. I keep thinking are nice days are numbered so I really hate to stay in bed but it sure is nice to wake up late and have a massage. After my massage I had some mustard chicken, roasted brussels sprouts and spinach and then on to the personal care. After Karen was done with me she gave Robby a bath. I don't think he feels very good so I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow and see what they think. He's really gassy, he has diarrhea and he just ask really lethargic. His friend came to play with him today and all he wanted to do was lay around with his head down, that is definitely not like Robby. Heather came over and cooked a bunch more food, I will be set for a while. Rosa came and put me to bed, have I mentioned before how great she is? She's always doing extra stuff and I feel bad for her because this is her 2nd job and I don't want her to get too tired. I just feel so relaxed and happy when she is here, she just really cares about people and she's funny. My brother ordered a computer for my mom. I didn't realize that she is having a hard time seeing her little laptop, we thought it would be easier for her because she can sit in her comfortable chair but it is really small. He ordered her a 27 inch screen and she can use the keyboard and the mouse or touch the screen, David's son brought back to his attention. She is looking for a table that will fit and she's getting a nice comfortable chair from Cosco… I LOVE Cosco. I think I found a Cosco buddy with Rose's daughter Adriana, I'm so excited. For dinner I had salmon with artichoke hearts and capers and wheat berries with greens.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. I got up and did my exercises and then took Robby for a really long cruise. I was going to get my toenails and fingernails done we decided to put it off for another week. I cruised down to the lighthouse, and then to the wharf, and then to the boardwalk and then cruised over to the bank on the other side of town, of course everything that I needed to do in the bank I needed to do with a phone call so I ended up coming back home. I was right down the street from cost plus and Ross and I'm really sorry I just didn't take advantage of it and go shopping. Teresa came in for me to bed and for once I really slept good all night long.

Wednesday I got up and it was a little chilly outside.  I was hoping maybe the sun and warm it up but it didn't, I kept telling myself I was just going to go a little bit more forward and then turn around but I just kept going. By the time I got back, I was freezing so I hung out here until Rosa came to put me to bed. She put me to bed and then Lee and Claudia, my uncle and aunt and my mom and I played cribbage, is a really fun game. I think I lost a dollar.

Thursday was a nice relaxing day. I slept in until Susan got here about 830 and I think I slept most of the way through my massage. Karen came by and we did some personal care, thank goodness it didn't take very long. Angie stopped by with her little boy and the twin girls, I don't know how she does it. The little girls are so adorable that her son is a very handsome little guy, extremely intelligent. They visited for a while and then it was time to take everybody home for a nap. All I did was watch her wrangle those 3 kids and I was ready for a nap myself. Heather came by and we decided it's starting to get to be great weather for soups, Heather makes some of the greatest soups. For lunch I have some stuffed chicken, roasted brussels sprouts and wheat berries with spinach.  Teresa came by with a really wasn't that much to do so she didn't stay very long, I felt bad that she came all the way over here for nothing but it was sure nice to have some alone time in my bed… even though the Bose system is broken down. I started watching the new series called Mad Men and it looks like a really going to like it.

Friday was cold… just cold. I got up early enough to take Robby out for cruise… that said, I'm not going out there. I had an appointment with Andrei and Jack to make some modifications on my chair, they like you to drive it around for about a week to see what you like and don't like. I got a quick lesson in what not to do to make your chair NOT run like a slug. Apparently while I'm driving I hit one of the toggle switches and that's what makes the chair slow down, okay now I get it and then remove the toggle switches. I really would've like to run Robby back but again it's just too darned cold out there, it's bad enough I had to take off my shawl and one of my shirts so they can fit the laterals on my chair… I was freezing by the time they were done. Teresa and I stopped by Charlie Hong Kong's on the way home and got some noodles, noodles fixed everything. I got pad Thai noodles with garlic tofu and prawns, we also got a side of vegetables. I went to bed and relaxed, I wanted to watch a movie and then I forgot my Bose around the sound wasn't working so it just wasn't worth it, open window down the TiVo shows. Karen had the last of the decorating this morning surgery center pictures tonight… I just love Christmas.

 Saturday was another really cool day. I would have loved to have stayed in bed or even settled for staying in my nice warm house but I had to go up to the clinic where Dr. Owens works. I couldn't get an appointment with her until after the 1st of the year but I went to the clinic and soccer within 10 min., how cool is that? It was really nice to see her because I haven't seen her very long time. I was going to have Adriana drive me up there but I forgot my van is not here, I took it to lotts stereo to have a GPS and a stereo system put in. I ended up cruising up there in my chair all bundled up and Adriana met me there. It turned out I just had a really large polyp where my SP catheter goes into my bladder. I cruised back and just hung out for a while until Rosa came to put me to bed, I was cold and ready to go back to bed. I ate my leftover pad Thai noodles  with garlic tofu. It feels great to be back in my nice warm bed in my nice warm house. I'm also so thankful that I have a really great crew, caregivers, housekeeper, maintenance guy… I am really blessed. One of my caregivers told me that my dishwasher was leaking and when we finally noticed it  the floor was already damaged. I called Roto-Rooter to see if they could fix it  because they usually come out right away and they said it was in the plumbing thing it was a dishwasher thing so I called Sears and they couldn't come out until the 21st so I went ahead and make the appointment. Vicente came over and said that he would take a look at it and he figured out where the leak was an order the part, it will be here Wednesday or Thursday and he will fix it, he is awesome! I swear that man can do anything.

Sunday was a really good day. Sonia was supposed to come in for a jury on the 2nd day of training but it didn't feel good this morning so called Teresa unluckily she could come in. We probably didn't need anyone because Adriana is just perfect, 2 days of training and she could identify herself. After I got up Heather texted me and asked if I wanted to go to the movies so we went to the nickelodeon theater and saw silver linings, I thought it was a really good movie and so did Heather. After we decided to go to Pono Hawaiian barbecue, I have been wanting to go there for a long time. It was really good. I had a pulled pork bowl with brown rice, carrots and broccoli. And I got an appetizer I think it was ahi tuna and it was also awesome. We walked back and Heather cooked off a few things and made me a steak, mushroom, spinach and mozzarella cheese wrap. Adriana came to start putting me to bed because her mom had to stay at work because everybody is sick and she had to wait for somebody to come and fill in for her. Rosa showed up and they both put me to bed,  it went by quicker and it was good for Adriana to also know that evening schedule just in case…