Monday was a great day. Karen came in, fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. Most people don't like Mondays, but I do because I have all day to just cruise around and do whatever I want. Dude and I took off for a cruise through Depot Park, down to the end of the wharf and back. It was such a beautiful day, I just love everything about living here, and I feel so lucky. I wanted to burn off a little bit of Dude's energy because he has a puppy play date with Teak, one of his Canine Companions for Independence buddies. We came back and hung out in the driveway for a while until Jan and Teak came; as soon as Dude saw the van, he got all excited because he knew it was time to play. It's really nice to visit with Jan while the boys run around and play; it's so much fun to watch them. I miss having the CCI puppy play dates, I've always had a bit of social anxiety, and I'm usually a nervous wreck until everybody gets here, but then everybody has a good time. The puppies play, and we just sit around and chat; when I moved here in 2008, I met this really cool guy named Roger at Dominican rehab, and we decided to start a wheelchair support group. He had tried to before, but it wasn't really successful, so it kind of died off. The same thing happened with hours; we called it wheelchair stories admit always varied from two people to 10 people; after a while, it seemed like the only way people would show up his own holiday parties when we had lots of food it eventually dwindled out. We tried it again several years later, and this time, we tried to get people to come and talk about different stuff; we had a chef named food Smith… He makes amazing meals and delivers them. I was using his service at the time. We also had a friend of a friend, this lady cooked for me when I moved into this new place, and she was amazing! She was the head chef at Coconut Grove down at the boardwalk, and she rented one of the units next door to me in the triplex that my uncle and aunt owned. She not only started cooking for me, but she became a perfect friend. Her wife was an acupuncturist and knew a lot about Chinese medicine, she came in to talk about medical marijuana, and of course, everybody showed up for that. Eventually, people started just not showing up again; we figured that people just didn't have the problems they have in San Jose with accessibility, so we thought it would be better to shut it down again. I did find a perfect friend in Roger; she's a lovely guy and just knows how to get stuff done. He ran the wheelchair clinic and scheduled all the wheelchair fittings and repairs with the wheelchair technicians and physical therapy. I really miss the wheelchair support group, and I was hoping it would make being around people a little easier, and it did. Having the puppy play dates here is even better because they are right in my driveway, and I don't have to cruise down to the hospital. Jan and Teak left, and Dude and I came inside to kick back and watch TV for a while until Rosa came in; she fed Dude, put me to bed, and then fed me. She vacuumed, scrubbed out my tub, wiped everything down, cleaned up the kitchen, and then went home. I edited my pictures; I love looking back at the pictures and reminiscing about the day after him, all tucked in bed and comfortable. Some pictures of my cousin's kid, wife, and the baby popped up on Facebook, so I copied them into my photo album. He lived across the street with my aunt and uncle for a while, and sometimes he would come over and watch a movie with me, or we would go out and cruise around town; I kinda miss those days. It was a great day! I watch TV until I fell asleep.
Tuesday was a perfect day. Cindy came in, fed the hungry pup, fed me, and got me dressed and up in my chair. She cleaned up while I took Dude for a cruise through Depot Park and then down to the end of the wharf and back a couple times. Cindy texted me when she was done and then came to pick us up at Cowell's Beach. We went to this little Mexican restaurant that I have wanted to try; I used to cruise by there all the time when I got out and about more, and it's always packed, so I kept telling myself one of these days I was going to try it… Cindy told me that she tried it, and it was. I got an el pastor taco salad, and it was amazing! I will definitely be back! After lunch, we went for my first visit with my new physical therapist, I have been in pain for so long, and I'm so happy to finally get to meet somebody who could possibly help me. When I first got there I saw a familiar van, it was Foster… He has a nonprofit for people with different abilities, and he does a lot of outings and get-togethers; she is really an amazing guy! We were greeted in the parking lot when we first got there, and the lady told us to fill out some paperwork, gave us some new masks to put on, and said to just wait, and the physical therapist will come out and get us. When the physical therapist came out, she introduced herself and said that her boyfriend Nathan worked with me a while back; her name is Yasel. As we cruise through the building to where her work area was, I thought I heard somebody say, "there's Tammie," but I was too nervous and too excited to find out if Yasel was going to be able to help me. After we filled out some paperwork, she said, "I think somebody's coming over to say hello" I turned around expecting to see Nathan, and it was Roger, what a nice surprise. Roger is the guy I helped start up the support groups and the guy who always helped me when I needed help with my chair. Another super sweet and really well-known person in Santa Cruz! Yasel will definitely be very knowledgeable and very sweet, and I can already tell it very pleasant to be around. She told me the first thing she noticed is that my right arm, the one that I drive my chair with, is not even touching the armrest, and that's part of the problem. After several years of my elbow dropping like that, she said, no wonder you're having a lot of pain; I was really excited because this girl really knows her stuff! She asked me many questions and then checked my range of motion with her little measuring instruments and set me up with six more appointments, aside from the six I already have. I could think of so many things that Yasel could help me out with, and I was so excited to meet her! She showed me some exercises that would help, and she asked me what my day-to-day schedule is like. As we were leaving, again she said, "here comes somebody else to say hello" I turned around and there was Nathan, it was really nice to see him. Besides working with him, I ran into him one time at depot Park and then another time at an exoskeleton demonstration at Dominican rehab. After the appointment, We drove by and picked up Rosa and then came home; Rosa fed the hungry pup and then put me to bed; and I really wasn't, starving but I tried to eat a little bit. She wiped everything down, vacuumed, cleaned up the kitchen, and then went home. I watched TV for a while, edited pictures, and thought about what a great day it was… Since I've been here in Santa Cruz, I have met some really amazing people, and it has just given me so much confidence! It's really nice to go out into the community and be recognized by so many amazing people! I eventually drifted off to sleep.
Wednesday was a nice relaxing day. Susan came in and gave me a nice long relaxing massage; I don't know what I would do without her, especially this last couple of months. Karen came in, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot relaxing bath. I decided to stay in bed a lot of the time. By the time we're done, if I were to get up and get dressed, it would only be for a couple of hours, and it's really not worth it. I watched TV, listen to music, try to catch up on my blog until Rosa came in. She fed the hungry pup, fed me, and then buzzed around and did a lot of cleaning and wiping everything down… She works in a care facility during the day, so she's always making sure that everything is clean and sterilized; I love that! Omar sent me a picture of his adorable baby; I have never seen a happier baby in my life! Adriana sent me a video that she took from her doorway; you can hear the foxes yelping right outside her door. I have turned on the camera outside a couple of nights, and I could hear them also; they are really loud! She went home, and I watch TV until I fell asleep.
Thursday was another relaxing day. Karen came in and fed Dude, and that got me something to eat. I decided to stay in bed because it's so cold outside, and I just end up feeling miserable at the end of the day. She noticed ants all over the kitchen, so she spent a long time cleaning up after them and throwing a bunch of stuff away and I had on the counter. She decorated a little bit for St. Patrick's Day and then went home. I ended up watching TV most of the day, listen to music, edited pictures, and catching up on my blog. Joy came by and took for a little cruise, and then we visited for a bit. I had a video visit for my spinal port injury Dr., it was just a follow-up. Adriana came in and fed the hungry boy and then fed me; she decorated some more for St. Patrick's Day and found some containers to put my cereal in so the ants can't get at them. She cleaned the kitchen and wiped everything down before she left. I listened to music and edited my pictures until I fell asleep.
Saturday was a busy day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry Dude, fit me, and got me dressed and up in my chair. One of the spinal cord injury websites that I follow as a webinar on electrical stimulation and how to use it for muscle tone and pain, it's perfect because next week, when I see my physical therapist Yasel, I want her to help me out with the best placement for the pads. Luckily they have a library, so I can forward it to my physical therapist, and she can watch it also if she feels like it. Adriana came over to go get a couple of blocks from storage; I needed to grab Valentine's Day decorations box and the St. Patrick's Day decorations box to put away the Valentine's Day decorations up the St. Patrick's Day. I haven't been there for a really long time, so I asked her to take some pictures of storage to get an idea of how everything is put away. Cindy cleaned up the kitchen and threw all the expired stuff away; she also started decorating the living room. I cruised down for my appointment with Jessica, I just love when I get back home, and everything looks so festive! Omar sent me another adorable picture of his son, such a cutie pie! Adriana put me to bed, did a couple of laundry loads, wiped everything down, cleaned up the kitchen, and then went home. I don't go on Facebook very much anymore, but when I did, I saw a friend request from my cousin Michael; what a nice surprise! When we lift up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, he lived with us for a while, and it was so awesome; it's just like living in the same house with your best friend and being able to see them whenever you want. I message back and forth with my cousin Debbie; I miss her until I got really sleepy and said good night. I watched some TV until I fell asleep.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry boy and then fed me, noticed it was always getting fed first? Just because he's so darn cute! Cindy vacuumed off both of Dude's beds, and each one filled up the canister about halfway. Cindy straightened up the garage, an ongoing job. I was looking at some Facebook profiles, and I found many really cool pictures to download. My exes sister how to picture of his ashes, awaiting in some huge decorating beads… I tried to get a close-up of the waiting to put it online and maybe find something similar because I really love it! A couple of my other friends at some gorgeous pictures, and since I wasn't going to be taking any today, I decided to grab them off the web. Keith came over and brought Dude hiking vest and a rain cape, he is so sweet and thoughtful, and Dude just adores him… He gets so excited and starts running around looking for toys to bring him. Karen came in at noon, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath; I went back to bed all nice and relaxed and fell asleep shortly after… I woke up a little while later, watched TV for a while, and then drifted back to sleep.
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