Monday was a pretty good day. Karen came in, fed the hungry knucklehead, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. Whenever Karen takes out Dude, she gives him the command to go to the bathroom, which is "hurry," but literally, hurry is the last thing he does; after he does his business, he just lays down and rolls around like a big goofball… It's so hilarious she just has to take pictures. Today is an inspiring day because I get my first Maderma vaccine; I kept getting texts and emails saying my category came up and it was time for me to get my first vaccine, but everywhere I would sign up, it would just show an empty calendar, so I decided to wait patiently. I called my pharmacist, who had already signed me up, to get rid of a couple of my prescriptions, and she said, "I was going to call you today and schedule you for your first vaccine so let's do it now" I was so excited! I set my alarm to remind me 45 minutes before my appointment because I did not want to miss this appointment. I always love Mondays, Thursday's and Saturdays because I can get up and I have pretty much all day to cruise around… No personal care and no bath. My cousin always seems to find the coolest dogs, and he always makes sure that they are very well behaved; every once in a while, he'll send me a video of something so adorable, cool, or intelligent that they do. When he visits my aunt, they always try to make a break for it to come over and say hello to Dude. Dude and I took off for a cruise through Depot Park and to the end of the wharf and back; we headed over to the boardwalk, but just as I lay back, my alarm went off, and I didn't want to be late, so I headed up to Safeway. When I started going up that steep hill, my chair slowed way down and stalled a couple of times; oh no, not today! My mind is panicking. Should I try to see how far I can get? Should I text my brother to come and get me and take me… Thank goodness he is here! I thought I would wait until I got up to the level ground and call him if I ever make it to the level ground; it took a lot of moving really slowly and my chair stalling, but I finally made it up to the walking path in the park up on Bay Street. As soon as I got on the level ground, my chair was fine, but I decided to call my brother anyways just in case; as I looked down to call him on my cell phone, my battery was totally dead. I never use the phone, but I thought a text would take too long, so I called my brother, and he picked up the phone and said, "don't say anything about aunt Kathy because she standing right here." Without thinking, I said, "okay by," and everybody laughed; the first time in my life that I have actually said something funny was it was appropriate to say it… Usually, I think about it 20 minutes later. I asked him if he could come and pick me up and take me to get my shot, and I cruised through the park and met him on the corner of California and Bay Street. We made it on time, and I was so excited; I don't know what I would've done if my brother wasn't there to help me, but I would've done whatever it takes. I got my shot, and they wanted us to hang around for about 20 minutes, so we did some shopping; I have tried liver and onions for a really long time, so we got some for dinner. Stanley drove me back and made sure I got into my room, and then I felt safe; what a day! Rosa usually comes in at 4 PM, and that's what time Due to eats, so I texted her to see if she was on her way or if I should have Stanley feed dude; Stanley came in the right after that to take Dude out for a cruise, so he just fed him. When Rosa came in, she was annoyed and said that she didn't want to work for me anymore, it was really awkward having her put me to bed, but I didn't have any other choice. When Stanley brought down dinner, I told her she didn't have to feed me. She could just go home, and Stanley would feed me. It was unfortunate, but when somebody tells you they don't want to work with you anymore, you can't really argue? I joined care.com, put an ad on UCSC and Cabrillo College, and waited… Usually, I get a couple of applicants right away on care.com but not this time. I found a couple of other sites online where you can look at applications. While I was cruising around, I came across this Facebook page that was called "you know you lived in Santa Cruz when…" My best friend growing up had posted a picture when she was in 4H, I think both of us were a little tomboyish, but our parents made us do choreography dances for talent night. It's amazing, but she still looks the same! Somebody also posted a picture of everybody's favorite bus driver Dave, and that started off a bunch of people reminiscing about the bus drivers, and it was so cool! I like Dave, but my favorite bus driver was friends with another good friend that I met who lived above me on Loma Prieta Ave. I can't for the life of me remember his name, but he was charming. There was another bus driver whose name was Mr. Barnsley, and we just gave him a bad time; he would stare at all the girls, so we all got together and decide to yawn when he would stare at us, and pretty soon his eyes would be wandering… I guess we didn't realize that that was probably not a good idea while driving us home in the mountains. We even made a song about him, but it wasn't very nice. I also saw some pictures posted on the Facebook page about Santa's Village in Scotts Valley; I have so many fond memories of that place. We went there a lot, right next door was an outdoor dinosaur entry exhibition… We spent a lot of time there growing up as well as of course, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I realize now how lucky we were as children living close enough to these places to visit often; we even had family that lived in Santa Cruz, and we spent an awful lot of time here. While I was cruising around on Facebook, I found some Christmas time pictures of my friend Vince; he does just about everything and knows just about everybody in Santa Cruz… He and his wife are the sweetest and kindest people I know. Adriana texted me and asked me if she could fill in for her mother until I find somebody; that was a big relief. I still need to find somebody, but at least I won't have to stay in bed, and I do. I watched TV for a while, listen to some music, and edited some pictures until I fell asleep.
Tuesday was a pretty good day. Cindy came in, fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then got me dressing up in my chair. She drove Dude and me to my first appointment at the foot doctor's; usually, I see Dr. Hurrray, but today, I saw Dr. Surdock. Practically the whole time I was in there, I was looking for Dr. Hurray; every time I went there with Robby, he would do whatever he needed to do with me, and then before we left, he would pull a chair out in the hallway, and Robby would jump on him, and they would just cuddle, Robby loved that. Every time I went there, I noticed he was looking a little bit older, and this whole pandemic has just made everybody look and feels older; I know because it sure has taken a toll on me… Every time I look in the mirror, I just can't believe how old I look. We came back home, and Cindy left, and Adriana came in, asked her to take a picture of the cupboards and shelves in the laundry room… It looks like that one of the rooms we need to organize when we get time. Adriana fed Dude, put me to bed, fed me, did a couple of laundry loads, wiped everything down, and then left. I listen to music while I edited my pictures until my arms hurt and that I watch TV until I fell asleep.
Wednesday was a nice relaxing day. Susan came in to give me a nice long massage; I think my neck/shoulders/arms are finally feeling better… I think partly because the sun is starting to come out, partly because I'm doing my exercises. Karen came in, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath. Part of the reason I stayed in bed was that Angela from Numotion is finally coming out to bring me new batteries; I called them because my batteries died on March 22. I don't know why it always takes a long; I sometimes wish I would know a week in advance when my chair will break down so I can call them and maybe get ahead of it. I lifted many really cool pictures from the Internet since I haven't been taking pictures for a while. I used to post all my pictures on Facebook, but since many of them are my own, I just post them on my blog; I seriously doubt anybody reads my blog. Adriana came in and fed the hungry pooch, fed me, did a couple loads of laundry, vacuumed and wiped everything down, and then went home. I watch some more TV and eventually drifted off to sleep.
Thursday was a perfect day. Karen came in and fed the hungry boy, fed me, and then got me dressing up in my chair. As Karen was getting me into my chair, we could see a squirrel outside had grabbed an avocado from the neighbor's backyard and decided to eat it right in front of us; I see those avocados in the neighbor's yard every day. I want so much to go and grab some as they fall on the ground and rock… It just breaks my heart! It's so nice to not have to do personal care, but if I could, I would probably take a nice long hot bath every morning. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, and I have all day to cruise around with my little buddy. I had some lunch, and off we went; I enjoy how beautiful this place is more and more every day, and I realize that I keep taking pictures of the same old thing, but every time I look at it, it seems to get more beautiful. Boy, I wish somebody would talk about me like that, LOL. Dude and I took off for a cruise through Depot Park down to the end of the wharf and back a couple of times before we cruised home to meet up with Joy. I kick back and watch TV for a while until Adriana came in; she fed Dude, fed me, wiped everything down, did a couple loads of laundry, clean the kitchen, and then went home for the evening. I edited many pictures, listened to some music, and watched TV until I fell asleep.
Friday was a perfect day. Susan came in to give me a nice long relaxing massage, I finally starting to feel a little better, and I do not have to take as much gabapentin… I don't know if it's the exercises, the baths, the TheraGun, the sun getting warmer outside, or the massages, but I'm starting to feel human again. My brother Stanley took Dude to Westside Animal Hospital for his appointment; he has another ear infection. Karen came in, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath before she got me dressed and up in my chair; I ate some lunch, and then Dude and I took off for a nice long cruise through Depot Park, down to the end of the wharf and back a couple of times… It was so beautiful. I wanted to take lots of pictures. It was starting to get a little chilly, so we headed back; my neighbor Trish saw us cruised by and texted me to see if we wanted to come back and let the puppies play, she has a friend who has a gorgeous brindle boxer, and we've been trying to get together for a play date for a while. Kona and Dude play for a while, and then her friend came in with the boxer; I felt a little bad because I guess the boxer is afraid of wheels of all kinds, so she wouldn't get off of her friend's lap to come and play. I took off to come home and tilted back in my chair to rest for a bit. Adriana came in and fed the hungry pup, and then we took off over to the Civic Center to get my biweekly Covid test; after I did my covert test, she took me up to Safeway to get some groceries. We came home, and Adriana put me to bed and fix me something to eat. She washed a couple of loads of clothes, cleaned and wiped everything down, and then went home. I spent the rest of the evening editing pictures, listening to music, and watching TV until I fell asleep.
Saturday was another pretty good day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry boy, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. When I was injured, I found out that they had a spinal cord injury support group every Monday at Valley medical, we needed to go, and if we didn't go, they would come and look for you, and if you were in bed, they would roll your bed into the day room so you could attend. I didn't really like that you had to go but looking back, I'm glad I was there because I did learn a lot of valuable lessons, good and bad when I was initially released from the hospital I lived in Los Banos, so I was unable to go. Still, three years later, when I moved in with my parents, I went as often as possible. They still have the support groups, and if it wasn't too far or I had somebody to take me, I would go; they still have the support groups, and now they have a webpage with a bunch of really awesome webinars, and I'm watching a lot of those… I think I like the fact that I can sit back and watch the webinars. I won't have to be paranoid that somebody will ask me a question, I had terrible social anxiety, and I worried all day and all the way through the meeting that somebody was going to call on me. I think I'm better now, at least I think I am. There was one today about Use & benefits of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) after a spinal cord injury; I know that some are for pain and some are for stimulating muscles, so I was excited to watch it and learn the difference. I have a bunch of tens units, and in each wave unit, I wanted to learn exactly what the difference was; it turns out the lady who did the webinar works for the same company where I got my FES exercise cycle. She said that insurance, namely Medicare, will pay for the exercise cycle, but it might take a while… I was really bummed to find that out because I paid cash, and then she said if you have one, you can contact Medicare, and it might take a while, but they will reimburse you for it, so I'm going to give it a try. After the webinar, Dude and I cruised over to the wharf, and I took a lot of pictures; it was such a beautiful day. I'm going to enjoy it while I can because in a few weeks, the boardwalk will open up, and there will be even more people; I kinda like cruising around when there's a lot of people because I'm trying to come out of my shell a little and is easier to talk to random people you run into… I can talk to them as little or as long as I want, and when I'm done, I just tell them to have a nice day and leave. We cruised back, and Adriana came in to feed Dude, put me to bed, and fed me. My mom was craving pizza, so she ordered it from our favorite pizza restaurant, I mostly eat salad and wings, but I did have a piece of pizza. She did a couple loads of laundry, cleaned up, wiped everything down, and then left. My cousin was camping, and he texted me a video of his youngest daughter driving back on the quad with his prosthetic leg; I guess while he was riding his motorcycle, the peg hit the release button on his leg, and it went flying over the ravine. He couldn't stop going back and look for it, so he went back to camp, and somebody took his motorcycle and went back out looking for it; he had a pretty good idea where it flew off. He goes so often and has a lot of friends that also go, so most of them went out looking for his prosthetic leg; his daughter was going to go down and get it, but of course, it landed in a bed of poison ivy, and she gets it super easy and it's severe. I'm sure he wasn't laughing at the time, but when he told us about it, he was laughing; he ended up welding a piece of metal over the button so that it wouldn't happen again. I edited pictures and listened to music until my arm couldn't take it anymore; I'm not as sore when it's warm outside, so I've been able to go on my computer a little more. When it does get sore, I just watch TV until I fall asleep.
Sunday was a pretty good day. Cindy came in, fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then decorated a little more for Easter… I didn't realize I had so much Easter stuff, and it's really awesome stuff! I just love how the girls love to decorate, and they do such a great job. I got a bunch of hands in the mail, and I couldn't for the life of me remember why I would buy a bunch of sets of hands in different colors; I really need to stop shopping at night when I'm stoned. I looked up the email and then went to the website, and then I remembered, you mount the hands on the wall, and it holds up your guitar… Practically everyone in my family has a guitar and loves to play. I ordered six pairs, and all but two of them were broken, and the ones that were broken were scuffed up; I was so annoyed. I took pictures and emailed them, and they got back to me pretty fast and said that they were sorry and they would send me three more pairs of hands… Four would've been nice because that's what I lost, but I was so thrilled I didn't even care; if they get here in good shape, I'll forward those to my brothers and get me another set… I have a guitar hanging in my living room, and every time somebody comes to visit, they take it down and play it. My cousin Debbie sent me some pictures of her and her daughter Carmen, they spent the day together and have fun! She has the most amazing family; they're just such super sweet people, all of them! I can't wait until this pandemic is over, and we can spend more time together, they were here a year ago last Christmas, and we had a blast! Growing up, we lived up in the mountains, so it was either take the little kid bus, which is totally out of the question when you're a teenager, or stays at somebody's house until our parents get off work and can pick us up. I spent a lot of time with a family that our family knew really well, my parents went to high school with the couple, and I used to hang out with them and their daughter a lot. I could just walk to their house from high school; the dad built my house that I'm living in now, and after that, they moved to Washington… When we all got older, we didn't hang around as much, but we always had a great time when we got together. They have this amazing house with a dock and a huge lake in their backyard; I had looked on their Facebook page for a while, and I also saw really cool pictures of the wildlife in their area, so of course, I copied them. I got the results back from the biweekly covid test I took on Friday, and it was negative! For some reason, even though I know better, I took some cannabis chocolate before I ate, so by the time Adriana left, I could barely keep my eyes open, so I just watch TV until late fell asleep.
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