Getting ready for Thanksgiving…

 Monday was a really great day! Karen came in and fed the hungry Dude, fed me… I had vegan scrambled eggs with bacon and cactus, lavender yogurt and apples and blueberries, along with coffee, beet kvass, and my vitamin/mineral drink. Karen got me dressed and up in my chair. Jan texted me and asked if I had time to get together this afternoon for a puppy play date with Dude and Teak. They haven't seen each other for a very long time, so it's going to be awesome. Dude and I took off for a cruise through Depot Park, to the end of the wharf and back a couple of times, and to the end of the boardwalk and back, and then we cruised home. When I got down to the corner I could hear the ring doorbell telling me somebody was there and when I looked I saw that Scott and Jan were already here, I hate being late… I texted Janet told her I would be there in about five minutes. We were so busy talking and catching up that I forgot to take pictures, they were playing so nicely, and I'm so bummed that he only got one picture. They said goodbye and took off, and Dude and I came in the house to kick back and watch TV for a while until Joy came to take Dude for a cruise. Rosa came in and started to put me to bed because Jory wasn't back yet with Dude. When they got back, she fed Dude and then fed me. She buzzed around and cleaned a little bit until my uncle and aunt came over to play cribbage, my uncle was my partner, and we lost a dollar. We started out playing with five dollars, and it's a dollar each game. I talked to my cousin Debbie, and she sent me the matching pajamas that they were all getting for Christmas. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna see them for Christmas, but I think I'm going to get a matching pair anyway. Last year we had so much fun at Christmas!

 Tuesday was another great day. Cindy came in, fed the hungry pup, fed me, and got me dressed and up in my chair. Cindy drove Dude and me over to Capitola for my appointment with my aesthetician Jennifer. Because I seem to be allergic to everything these days, it hurts a lot more, and I get a lot more burn marks on my face to wax, but I do it anyway. I can't stand to have little hairs growing out of my face. After we left Jennifer brewing to do some grocery shopping at Safeway, these days all I really getting is fruit and stuffer salads… My gut seems to be doing better, and that's a big relief. It's amazing how well my tummy does when I stay away from stuff I'm not supposed to eat. It just seems like I have to test it every once in a while to make sure I'm still allergic, or it still bothers my tummy. We cruised on home, and Dude and I rested for a while. Cindy went to get her mom. Rosa came in and fed Dude, put me to bed, and then fed me.  My cousin Rich sent me a picture of his youngest Airedale. They put a bird feeder right outside the window and tinted the window so the bird can't see the dog, but the dog can watch the bird, and she watches so intently… I think I'm going to get one to hang outside of my window.  Omar sent me a picture of him, his girlfriend, and the baby in front of a Christmas tree. They are an adorable family. We had a baby shower here for them before leaving for Mexico, and it was so much fun. My cousin Debbie sent me a couple of videos of her daughter sitting in front of the Christmas tree with a guitar and the faithful pup Bosley. She has such a beautiful voice… I find myself listening to it over and over, and it really calms me down. That family is just so amazing and loving. I wish they lived a lot closer. I played candy crush for a while, listen to music until I shut everything down at 11 PM. I fell asleep shortly thereafter.

 Wednesday was a pretty long day. Karen came in and fed the hungry canine and then fed me. I've been trying to at least eat a little bit before we do personal care because I'm always hungry before but never hungry after. I got these beef chow mein noodles from Amazon, and I am addicted. I think they must put a crack in them because I just can't leave them alone… I know they must be super bad for you. We did the personal-care, and it was awful. I think I have a bladder infection again, and there was a lot of blood… When I had my colonoscopy, the doctor said that the walls are just super thin, and I bleed easily, but it looks like a crime scene. I always really enjoy a nice relaxing bath, and best of all, it stops the bleeding. As soon as I hit that nice hot water, I feel 50% better. I decided to stay in bed because it just takes a lot out of me anymore. I've been trying to drink more water, which helps a little. I have Alexa remind me every hour to drink water, and then I take six big swallows has been working out really well. After my bath, Karen put me back to bed, and I just watch TV the rest of the day until Rosa came in.  I found some pictures online of laughing Sal. She's an animated doll on the boardwalk that laughs and moves around… I thought it would be fun to beef her for Halloween next year. My friend Tim is always taking his dogs, they have a few dogs, and the board and take care of some others, and he took some pictures of the ocean.  I found this place online. It's called Unifury, and they do personalized people and animal products, you pick the color and length of hair and breed and color of the animal, and you can make pretty much anything you want… My favorite is the long sleeve T-shirts. You can also put wings on the personalized dogs if they have passed. Just out of curiosity, I emailed them and told them that I like the personal touch, but I'm in a wheelchair, and they immediately sent back a drawing of somebody in the chair, and it was perfect! I love this! I bought a mask with Dude and Robby with wings, and it turned out amazing! Rosa came in, and she fed the hungry guy, and then she fed me. She scurried around and cleaned up and put up some decorations for Thanksgiving in a week. I swear everybody and their family is so talented! I listened to music and edited some more pictures until it was time to turn everything off and go to sleep, and I did just that.

 Thursday was a really awesome day! I think Tuesdays and Thursdays my favorite days besides the weekend because there's no personal care, which means I get to eat breakfast, get up in my chair, and have the whole day to do whatever I want. Cindy came in and fed. Dude fed me and got me dressed and up in my chair.  Today is Thanksgiving and Karen took off a couple of days to go visit her parents. As I cruised down Laurel, I found my chair just turning down Felix and headed towards Neary Lagoon. I used to cruise down Neary Lagoon every morning… It's just a block away and so gorgeous! When it started raining and when I started noticing this really handsome guy that works at Depot Park with the best smile in the world. That's when I started going through Depot Park every day just to see his amazing smile! A couple of years ago, they started building a Bee and butterflied natural habitat, and I took pictures of the process. It was so cool! Since then, there's many plants, habitat nature signs, and birdhouses, and they made the whole thing into a maze that you can walkthrough. I have the whole day ahead of me, and I'm so excited. It was gorgeous, and the sun was warming up the world. I only saw a few people… I need to start coming this way more often. We cruised through Bay Street Park, and when we got to Westcliff Drive, we decided to turn right and cruised down Westcliff instead of turning left and going down to the wharf and the boardwalk like I usually do. It was a great decision, I got so many beautiful pictures, and I ran into a couple of people I haven't seen for a long time. From cruising up and down Westcliff with Robby, I met a guy named Wes and his dog Pilar, I think he's a retired professor from UCSC, and he cruises all over… It sounds like he has an amazing life. I tilted back in my chair and listen to the waves and my music that's always blaring. It felt so good laying in the sun. I cruised down to almost the second dog beach, and then I decided to come back, and as I was coming back, a lady jogged right by me and stopped in front. It was Aki… It's been several years since I have seen her, but I follow her on Facebook, and I know she is a busy lady. We talked for a while, got caught up, and promise to do something soon. I told her that I had tickets for Michael Franti's stay-at-home concert that I would watch with a couple of friends in the driveway, all of the covert rules applied, of course, and if she and her husband Alex wanted to come by, it should be pretty fun. I cruised back. What a great day! I got home, and we still have a couple of hours to hang out and practice commands before my uncle,  my aunt, my cousin, his two daughters, and my mom came down for Thanksgiving dinner. It's just the seven of us, and my aunt pretty much made everything. We ate so much that there really wasn't even any room left for dessert, so we just sat around and chatted for a while.  When I first moved here, we did all the snacks and horse d'oeuvres first, but then by the time it was time for dinner, everybody was full, so we decided not to eat anything before dinner. Rosa came in and fed Dude, put me to bed, and then fed me. I couldn't wait to start editing my pictures, but I fell asleep as I was doing it.

 Friday was another great day. Cindy came in and fed Dude, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. Aki sent me a couple of pictures that you took when I ran into her yesterday on Westcliff Drive, I was such a wonderful day! They already started decorating the wharf for Christmas, they don't really do a lot for Christmas, and I think somebody told me it's because of the owners… For Halloween, they go all out, but they don't do a lot for Christmas, whereas the boardwalk does a lot for Christmas and not very much for Halloween, if anything at all. As I was cruising through the boardwalk, I saw the bubble/fog machine, so I took some pictures and videos of that. I remember they had it last year, and I looked all year for one but couldn't find one… Omar has a nephew that works on the boardwalk, so he said he would talk to him and try to get me one. I'm so excited! We cruised to the boardwalk and then up and down the wharf one more time, and then we headed home. I finally took pictures of my Halloween decorations in the living room. I always keep my door shut so I can get out there. Rosa came in and fed Dude and then put me to bed and got me something to eat. I edited pictures for a while but then made myself shut everything off and go to sleep. I fell asleep thinking that I started wearing my CPAP machine again for my New Year's resolution.

Friday was another really great day. Karen came in and fed the hungry pup and got me some breakfast, sausage links, greens, blueberries, apples, lavender yogurt, coffee, beet kvass, and X factor water before we started with personal care. We are back to where we have to change my SP tube two or three times a week, I had to have blood taken for labs last Tuesday, and I took a urine sample and test it to see if I have a UTI. Still, the lady grabbed it and said: "This is not on order," and threw it in the garbage before I could ask her to have it tested anyway. I'm trying to drink a lot of water, so maybe that's enough. Everything went really poorly, and personal care ended up taking up most of the morning and the afternoon. I was so tired and worn out. I just decided to stay in bed and rest. I slept a little bit on and off, edited many pictures, watched TV, and listened to music… The same old thing on a different day. Rosa came in for Adriana. She had to go to Mexico to take care of her stepdad, so she's out for two weeks. Rosa fed the hungry boy and then fed me, swept, and vacuumed undecorated a little bit.

 Saturday was a relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry pup, fed me, and then put me on my side for a while while she did some laundry and straightened up the garage a little bit. She sent me back up before she went home, and I'm not feeling really great. I think I have a UTI again. Luckily I'm going to go give blood to the lab on Tuesday, so I'll just take any urine sample, and they can give me some antibiotics.  My cousin Rich sent me some pictures of them going to get a Christmas tree for Christmas. I have fond memories of living up on Bear Creek Road when I was younger and working at the tree farms handing out saws and taking in money.  I saw Deborah from LaVie come by and brought my yogurt and my beet kvass. I really love their products! Yesterday when my cousin's kid Melia came over, I showed her a big beautiful butterfly in the driveway, and it looked like she was dying. She was trying to flap her wings but couldn't… Melia took it back over to ask my aunt about it and took some pictures, so she sent them to me. I spent most of the day trying to remember to drink lots of water, editing pictures, and listening to music until Rosa came in. She fed the hungry hungry boy and then fed me and then cleaned up a little bit and then went home.  My older brother in Oregon Stanley sent some pictures of their family on Thanksgiving, they look like they were having such a great time, and I miss them so much! I watch TV and edit it some more pictures until it was time to shut everything down.

Sunday, Adriana came in and fed the hungry hungry pup and then fed me. We had planned on doing some personal care and a nice long hot bath, but we wasted a lot of the morning, so we decided to do it tonight. It'll be nice to get it all out of the way so I can get up and cruise around tomorrow. She left, and I just edited pictures, listen to music, and watched TV until she came back in at 2 PM. She fed Dude again, and then she fed me, and we got started. I was so glad when it was over, and I think my UTI is back stronger than ever. I hope getting rid of all of those supplements isn't going to be a mistake. We got everything done, and I was bloated, freezing, and just exhausted. I had some medical marijuana and finally fell asleep.