family reunion this week, so excited…

Monday wasn't a very good day. Karen came in and fed the gang and then we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath. The Woofpack came to get Robby and after Karen got me up and in my chair Dude and I took off for a cruise, whenever we do personal care it's always really hard and exhausting and I don't usually get up until close to afternoon. Dude and I purchased some commands and then we were off. After I went over the first speed bump in the parking lot on the way to Depot Park I heard something rip and by the time I got down to the boardwalk my brace was all the way up to my chest, it's already late so do I turn around and go back or just deal with it? I started wobbling too much to drive so I headed back and luckily Karen was still here so we fix the brace and we were off again. I got down to the end of the wharf and went to get a drink of water in my water hose is gone, it's either wound up in the back of my backpack or I'm dragging it on the ground. I cruised by one of the windows and sure enough I was dragging it behind me, usually I see somebody that I know on the wharf but of course today I don't so I cruised back down to the Woody's Café where my friend Carol works and she was just leaving, apparently I read over the clip so I just held it in my lap and cruised with Carol back down to the end of the wharf and went home… I think I just wasn't meant to be out and about today. It was getting cold anyway. We got home and practice some more commands until Robby got home. Rosa came in and fed everybody and put me to bed. My uncle, my aunt, my mom, Claudia and I played cribbage and after everybody left I was out. I've been trying these essential oils to call me down and go to sleep and I really think they work, that and I listen to a book that supposed to meditate you to sleep and I think that works also… It's so much better than PMs and lorazepam and I feel great in the morning. I didn't wear my Google Glass because the pictures didn't finish downloading from the baby shower yesterday so I want to give them more time and of course the clouds were really beautiful and I wish I had them.

Tuesday was a nice relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed the gang and then drove my van to access options in Watsonville to see why the ramp will not deploy, my mom followed her to bring her back but they got it fixed in about 10 minutes… Apparently, a tube of hand cream fell down and got caught and wouldn't let the ramp open. Easy fix and no charge. By the time Cindy got back I decided to just stay in bed and rest, my brothers will be here on Thursday and Kevin, Debbie and her family will be here… My cousin Rich is also going to be here so it's going to be awesome! I watch TV, listen to music and listen to an audiobook until Rosa came in. By that time I was really anxious and frustrated from having to stay in bed all day, it used to be really easy for me to stay in bed and these days I just can't. I did have a couple of red dots on my butt so that's what I wanted to stay off of it for a day or two so I don't have to limit my time when my family comes. Rosa made me a lamb patty, zucchini, and some eggplant… Plus my chia pudding for dessert. Remove me around and cleaned me up in the bed just to give my body a little movement and I was back to being really frustrated so, unfortunately, I took a lorazepam and that helped, I really like to find a way to make myself relax and unstress without using lorazepam… I will do it!

Wednesday was a pretty good day. Susan has pneumonia so I probably won't see her for a couple weeks, I get so miserable without a massage but I would be even more miserable if I got pneumonia so I will wait. Karen came in and we did some personal care and a nice long hot Himalayan salt and essential oil bath. She got me dressing up in my chair and I took Robby for a cruise through Depot Park, over to the boardwalk and back… I haven't been over there for a while and they put a new rockclimbing ride, actually, they might have moved it upstairs, at the entrance. We cruised back and then went down Westcliff Drive and came back. I rested for a bit and then took Dude out for pretty much the same cruise except we got to go to the end of the wharf, on my way back I heard somebody say "hi Tammie" so I turned around and there was Carlos… He is always so sweet and polite! We curse back home and hung out in the sun in the driveway for a while until Rosa came in. She fed everybody and put me to bed and my aunt came over to talk to me for a while. I watch TV until I fell asleep.

Thursday was a really great day. Cindy came in and fed the crew and then fed me and got me dressed and up in my chair. The Woofpack came to get Robby so is just Dude and I to cruise around for the day. Usually, when I first take him out I see if maybe he will Poop on Karen's lawn, my aunt also said I could have him poop on her lawn too… I always try many times just to make sure he doesn't poop in Depot Park, on the wharf for Boardwalk or on Westcliff Drive. I stopped a couple blocks at the Salvation Army, that's another place that he likes to go, I heard a big bang on the glass door window and the first thing I thought is "is somebody mad because Dude is pooping on the lawn and then I just ignored it. After he pooped on the lawn and as we were cruising away I heard another bag and I heard a guy yelling "aren't you going to even clean that up?" Normally I would have the nerve to talk to him and I would just cruise away and I don't know what got into me but I turned around and cruised back to the door he was banging on and I said: "excuse me?" And he said, "aren't you going to claim that up?" I said "I would if I could, I thought going on the grass right here would be better than going in the middle of the sidewalk" then he said "maybe you should have that dog then" and I said, "are you kidding me?" He said "people lay on that lawn" and I said… Which I probably should have "I have seen men pee and poop on this lawn". He just slammed the door while he was mumbling something, I was really proud of myself but I was also really frustrated. We cruised down to my appointment with my psychologist Carol. After my appointment with Carol, we cruise down to the wharf and Stanley texted me and said that he had picked David up from the airport and they would be at our house by 1 PM. Just as we came around the corner Stanley and David were saying hello to uncle Dick and aunt Kathy and we just sat outside and visited for a while. Rosa came in and put me to bed and we ordered some Chinese food, it wasn't as good as it usually is so maybe now we need to find another place… Everything was kind of bland. Stanley and David were exhausted so they went to bed early and I just watched TV for a little while until I fell asleep.

Friday was a really good day. Cindy came in and fed the crew and then got me up, Stanley made one of his killer breakfasts and the boys hung out with mom upstairs while I took my boys simultaneously for a cruise. First was Robby, we cruised through Depot Park, over to the boardwalk and then down Westcliff Drive and back home. The ladies were still cleaning the house so I dropped off Robby and got Dude and we cruised back through Depot Park, up and down the wharf and then down Westcliff Drive and back home. Every once in a while on the wharf I ran into this guy who took the hood off of his car and puts female body parts in the engine, today was mostly manic and heads but I've also seen mannequin arms and manikin legs… The last couple of times I could swear that he was giving them away to people that stopped to ask him about it. My mom, Stanley, David and I went to Lillian's restaurant for dinner.  Just as we got there I got a text from Omar saying that there was a 7.5 earthquake, he is in Mexico. He said he just grabbed his beer and ran outside and they were waiting to see if there were going to be any aftershocks, about 10 minutes later he said there was a 5.3 aftershock. About noon my stomach started cramping and as the day went on it just got worse, I was wondering if it was the Chinese food. By the time we finished dinner and got back home, it was really bad, I didn't think Theresa was ever going to get here. She put me to bed and we did some personal care and although it was really rough I took a nice long hot bath after and felt much better. Stanley had to leave to go home and I didn't get to say goodbye because I was in the bathtub, he was going to go home and spend the rest of the weekend with his daughter before she had to go back to Oregon. I watched TV for a while and then fell asleep.

Saturday was a pretty good day. David messaged me about 5 AM and asked me if I wanted some coffee, boy did that sound good. We visited for a while and then he said he wasn't feeling well so he went to lay down, was it the Chinese food or this nasty flu that's going around? My cousin Debbie, her husband Steve, my cousin Kevin and Debbie and Steve's kids Cameron and Carmen were supposed to come down for the weekend also… They haven't seen David Stanley for probably 30 years. Carmen got really sick and they decided they had better not, it will be a nicer visit when everybody is feeling good. There is some really nasty flu going around and a lot of people are ending up with pneumonia so I'm trying to stay away from everybody. Cindy came in and for the fur babies and got me up, no Woofpack for Robby today or Monday because it's a holiday weekend. David came back in and said that he felt better and wanted to cruise along with Dude and I after I take Robby. Robby and I cruised through Depot Park and down the wharf until I realized I had the wrong dog so we turned around and cruised down in front of the boardwalk. We cruised back home and I rested for a bit before Dave and I took Dude for a cruise back through Depot Park and down to the end of the wharf where we ran into Joyful, he used to be Baba so I don't know what to call him anymore… I just call him my friend. I met him years ago, he always has on a long robe and never wears shoes… He's a monk. He plays guitar on the wharf and sings Beatles songs, just recently started playing more than Beatles songs. We hung out at the end of the wharf and visited for a while and then came on back home. David went upstairs to watch a couple of movies with my mom so I rested for a while and then got bored and decided to go cruise back down to the wharf by myself, I've been wanting to test out my new chair to see how fast it really goes… I don't want to go more than 4 miles an hour with the dogs and this one is supposed to go eight, I think I saw 7 1/2 maybe. I had several people asked me where my dog was, I don't really realize how much I probably stand out until I cruise around without the boys. Every once in a while I run into a guy I met a year or two ago named Cedric, he lives in New Orleans but comes down here quite a bit. Today he had his dog, Piro… A gorgeous big German Shepherd, I ran into him twice today always makes me smile. Unfortunately when he turned around to say hello he dropped his phone and it broke, luckily he had another one. I cruised back over to the boardwalk and then home, it was getting a little cold. I rested for a bit and then Theresa came in and fed everybody and put me to bed. She made me some salmon, zucchini, and eggplant and I had Chia putting with mango for dessert. My mom and my brother went across the street to my uncle's house for dinner, they were making chicken noodle soup. I watch TV for a while and then listen to an audiobook until I fell asleep.

Sunday was another great day. Cindy came in and after feeding everybody she got me dressed and up in my chair. My brother Dave made a killer breakfast, both of my brothers are awesome cooks! I took Robby for a cruise through Depot Park, around the end of the wharf, around the outside of the boardwalk and then back. My plan is to come back and get Dude but I started visiting with my mom and my brother, my brother was installing my new Harmony remote so I can control my TV with my Mac or with Alexa. He went upstairs to watch a movie with my mom so I took Dude and cruised back through Depot Park, down to the end of the wharf, down to the end of the boardwalk and then back. There weren't as many people out today as there was yesterday and I was getting a little cold so we cruised back home and watch TV for a while until Theresa came in. Dave fixed dinner, chicken Cordon Bleu, Brussels sprouts and Theresa cooked me and artichoke. For dessert I had some Girl Scout cookies, I ran into one down by the boardwalk… I usually get everything they have that has lemon or peanut butter in it and one box of thin mints for Dave. Dave fixed my passport storages so I'm trying to move my pictures from iPhoto over to one of the new passport storage boxes and organize them, I have 36,000 of them so it might take me a while. I watched TV until I fell asleep.