Monday was a good day. Karen came in and fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. Dude and I took off a little bit early for my dentist appointment so we can cruise around town a little bit; I haven't been downtown in a very long time, and it has changed so much with this pandemic… Now everybody has canopies, tables, and chairs set up in the street, and every other business is closed. The last time I went in to get my teeth cleaned, my dental hygienist just said that I broke one of my crowns because of all the teeth clenching and grinding in my sleep, I feel like I have a lot of stress and anxiety and my job is pretty much always clinched these days. Even though I hate the dentist, I love my dentist! He always explains everything, and he's just so sweet; for some reason, I can never get my tongue out of the way, and he is always so patient. We cruised back through town again and set out in the sun in the backyard until Adriana came in; she fed the hungry little guy and then put me to bed and fed me. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, so Cindy came over, and she and Adriana decorated my mom's birthday, our first real get-together in over a year, and I'm really excited! My brother Dave flew in to surprise her, and another family friend Jan was cruising around visiting relatives, so she stopped in to help us celebrate; she lives in Oregon. I watched TV, and then the girl sent me pictures when they finished, they always do such an amazing job! I don't know what I would do without my dream team. Karen helped decorate, but unfortunately, she will not make it to my mom's birthday because she has another client in San Mateo. I edited pictures and tried to catch up on my blog until I fell asleep.
Tuesday was a really great day. My mom's 82nd birthday! While my mom was across the street last night playing cribbage with my uncle, aunt, and Claudia Adriana, Cindy came over and decorated the living room in my room; it looked amazing! They always go all out, and it always looks so awesome! I meant to cancel my appointment with physical therapy Yasel, but the last time I saw her, she said I'll see you next week, so I assumed that I forgot. The night before, I was thinking about it, and I didn't get a reminder from the PT department, so I texted Yasel, and she said she thought we did, but she would check in the morning. She texted me in the morning and said there was no appointment. Cindy came in, and the hungry hound dog, fed me and then got me dressing up in my chair. Dude and I took off for a little cruise over to the end of the wharf and back and then down to the boardwalk and back while Cindy finished decorating and set up the tables. My cousin Rich, his dad and mom, Jan, my brother David, Adriana and Cindy, Emily and Claudia all came over, and my mom made enchiladas, beans, and rice. Jan helped her, and they turned out really well. This was our first get-together where we had more than four or five people; there were 11 people. My mom, as well as everyone else, had a perfect time. Omar stopped by to say hello and wish my mom a happy birthday, but he had work to do, so he couldn't stay. Before dinner, Adriano put me to bed so that right after dinner, we could play cribbage; I don't even remember who my partner was or how much I won or lost because we were just having such a good time chatting with everybody. After everybody left, I made sure that they all sent me pictures, so I haven't posted on Facebook; I haven't posted many pictures on Facebook for a very long time. We had some dessert, and then everybody left, and I just watched TV and edited the pictures to send to everybody until I fell asleep.
Wednesday was a hectic day. Susan came in and gave me a nice long relaxing massage; my pinched nerve, as well as my physical therapy appointments, are going to be coming to an end soon. She's introducing me to a breathing machine that will make my diaphragm stronger, I'm so excited about this, and soon I'll be able to get back on my EFS exercise cycle again. Yasel has shown me many exercises, and I plan on keeping them going for a long time. Karen came in, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath; I was hoping we could get everything done quickly to spend a little bit of time with my little brother before he has to go home. Angela came by for Dudes grooming appointment; she is so cute and perky! Dude just adores her! April from Numotion came by to order me a new headrest and raise the armrest on the left side of my chair, I didn't realize how much I was leaning on it, and it was a lot lower than the other one… I'm going to drive a lot better now, and hopefully, it won't mess up my neck and shoulders again. Finally, I was done with all of my appointments, and Dave and I cruised over to Best Buy to get another Apple TV that he set up on my projector outside. I have the most awesome brothers, and I love hanging out with both of them; I actually love hanging out with all of my family! My brother and sister-in-law got my mom a cribbage shirt for her birthday, and she loved it! Adriana came in and put me to bed, and my brother and I watched a couple more episodes of cobra Kai; we started it the last time he was down visiting. The SCI organization in Santa Clara had a webinar about bone health after spinal cord injury, I missed most of it, but they have it on the website, so I can watch it tomorrow or the next day. They have a lot of excellent webinars. I was pretty tired and fell right to sleep.
Thursday was a pretty good day. Karen came in and fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. Another day of appointments; I wish I could cancel all of my appointments while my brothers are here, but they are such a hassle to reschedule… If I know for sure and have a little more notice, I will definitely cancel appointments when family or friends visit. I only have one appointment today with Jessica to do my hair, but it pretty much takes all day. After my appointment, the Dude and I cruised home, and I got to hang out with my brother for a little bit before Rosalie came in. She put me to bed after feeding the hungry guy and Chris around, watching a couple loads, cleaning up the kitchen, and wiping everything down. She left, and I got to hang out with my brother a little bit more before we were both exhausted and decided to hit the hay. I listen to some music for a while to unwind and eventually fell asleep.
Friday was a really good/bad day. Susan came in to give me a nice long massage; I always feel so great after! Karen came in, and we did some personal care and, of course, a really nice long hot bath, the best cure for everything! She got me dressed and up in my chair; today is my last day to spend with my brother before he goes home… The visits always just go by way too fast. The weather was beautiful, so we hung outside for a while, and I took a picture of my yard, I am way too many pictures of my yard, but I love it so much! My mom, brother, and I went across the street to talk to my uncle and aunt; talk about a beautiful yard! They are always doing something, and fixing something in their yard/garden is just amazing! There's a place in Los Gatos called the cancer store, and there's another one called the happy Dragon, and my uncle goes there all the time, and he's always finding really cool bargains! Pretty much everything in their yard he got at the cancer store or the happy Dragon. Rosalie came in and fed the hungry little guy and then put me to bed. She washed a couple of the clothes, hung out what was outside in the sunshine, wiped everything down, cleaned the kitchen, and then left. My brother made dinner and then said good night because he had to get up really early in the morning, I told him just to come in and wake me up before he leaves, but I slept right through it… Why can't I sleep like this every other day?? I watch TV for a while, listen to music for a while, and then finally decided it was time to shut everything off and try to get some sleep.
Saturday was a nice relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry little guy, fed me, and since I decided to stay in bed, we decided to thoroughly test everything in my room. For some reason, I have been really itchy, and my face is red and irritated, so I'm going to go to an allergist and do as much testing as we can to find out what I'm allergic to and were going to thoroughly clean my room and see if maybe that helps. I have a dresser in the corner that just has a lot of stuff on it and is obviously not been dusted for a long time, Cindy started taking stuff off of the dresser, and it was worse than we could've ever imagined. Everything on the dresser had just so thick; even the wall behind the dresser had dust and dog hair… No wonder my face and neck are severely irritated. She took everything off and dusted off and put it back, and then she did the same thing to the counter that is right in front of me when I'm on the computer and watching TV; apparently, the lady that has been cleaning my house is not testing my room very thoroughly, but I notice when she does she unplug things, and I get home. My TV/computer isn't working right. I decided right there and then that I would make a schedule and make sure everything is thoroughly cleaned. I've wanted to go through and just get rid of everything that I don't need that I've collected over the years. I used to keep everything nice and orderly but is just gotten out of hand recently. Cindy went home, and I spent the rest of the day planning on making a schedule to thoroughly clean everything in my house, garage and yard. Rosalie came in and fed the hungry pooch and then fed me. I told her what I was planning to do, and she went in and not only did a couple loads of laundry, but she also sprayed down my commode chair and put bleach and vinegar in the tab and read the jets; she said a lot of mold came out. Rosalie went home, and I spent the rest of the evening figuring out a schedule to get everything wiped down and dusted. Omar said he would take all of the memorial statues and garden steps that I got for Robby and make me a memorial dock piling statue in the front, so I'm trying to look for a place around here where I can get some redwood tree stumps to make them. He also sanded down and highlighted the carvings on my cousin Patrick's memorial bench, and it looks really awesome! I can't wait to give it to my cousin Rich, she is going to absolutely love it! The rest of the evening, I watched TV, listen to music, and wondered how did my house ever get so cluttered and dusty… I've always been so OCD about everything. I watch some more TV until I fell asleep.
Sunday was another relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed Dude after she took him out to go potty. I decided to stay in bed, and we tackled some more cleaning in my room; I'm starting to feel better already. It was nice to have some time to lay in bed and figure out all the changes that I would like to make in my life. Karen came in at noon, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath. I always love going back to bed after getting all cleaned out and freshened up; I have the rest of the evening to just relax and watch TV. I eventually fell asleep.