Another week of this pandemic rearing its ugly little head…

 Monday was another relaxing day. Karen came in and fed the hungry knucklehead, fed me, and then we started in with some personal care and a nice long hot bath… We usually do personal care on Sunday, but we're doing it today since I went to the Mountain winery for a concert. It is nice to have a day of rest after such an amazing long night; the show was fantastic! I even got a couple more pictures from John, the venue photographer! I fell asleep right away last night, so I'm excited to relax and edit my photos! I spent most of the day catching up on my blog and editing pictures, and listening to music, Chicago, of course! Jesse came in and fed Dude, fed me, and then took Dude for a nice long walk; she planted some seeds that I had, watered the plants outside, did a couple loads of laundry, and then went home for the evening. I edited some more pictures and watched some TV until I fell asleep.

 Tuesday was another relaxing day. Jesse came in; Cindy still going to be out until Saturday… Thank goodness she tested negative. Jesse fed the hungry hound, provided me, and then took Dude for a nice long cruise…Dude always sleeps so much better when he gets some exercise, sometimes late at night, I hear something, so I turn off the TV, and it's Dude rolling around in his kennel and snorting…I picture him laying on his back with his paws in the air and his teeth showing. Every time I take Dude out to go to the bathroom on the way back, and I could see something on top of the pergola, it looks like it might be a nest that fell out of one of the palm trees from the apartment complex behind me… I asked Jesse if she would go up and take some pictures, and it turned out it wasn't a nest. Jesse went home, and I spent the rest of the day editing my photographs, listening to music, watching programs that I TiVoed, and I think I might've taken a nap or two. Jesse came back about 2 PM Fed Dude and then took him out for another nice long cruise… He's going to sleep well tonight. They came back, and Jesse got me something to eat, watered the yard, did a couple loads of clothes, and then went home for the evening. I spent the rest of the evening looking up self-help books; I found one that says "turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts." I'll give it a try; I started listening to it but fell asleep.

 Wednesday was another relaxing day. I had to cancel Susan and Andrea until I could get another covid test; it's getting terrifying… The number of people getting it is getting higher, and it's supposed to get lower so we can get back to somewhat everyday life. Karen came in and fed the hungry mongrel, fed me, and then we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath. She put me back to bed after she did a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, wiped everything down, and then went home. I spent the rest of the day thinking who else do I need to call to warn them that I was exposed to someone who tested positive, I didn't really do much else the TV was on for a while, and then I turned on some music, but I still couldn't help feeling helpless and afraid to go out. Jesse came in and fed Dude and took him for a nice long walk; she came back and said, "everybody in Santa Cruz seems to know, Dude?" Sometimes people yell out his name and turn around, and I don't recognize the person. Does he sneak out of his kennel and the house every night and go partying?? She got me something to eat and watered the yard and then went home, she wasn't feeling very good, and she was acting weird, so I told her just to go ahead and go home. I started thinking about her behavior and thought I better start looking for another caregiver if she quits or gets too tired to work six days a week; here we go again. I put an ad in a couple of places, then played candy crush until I was tired enough to fall asleep.

Thursday was a pretty good day. Karen came in and fed the hungry little guy, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. My little buddy Dude and I have all day to cruise around if it's not too hot. We took off for cruise and assumed as I got to Depot Park I knew there was going to be trouble; I could see them setting up for the Ironman competition, so I know it's going to be a little bit hard navigating around Santa Cruz with all the barriers they're going to have. I think they start at Natural Bridges Beach and run down to Cowell's beach, swim in the ocean, run down to Depot Park whether bikes are stored in the soccer field, and then from there, I don't really know where they go I just know pretty much everything is blocked off. We cruised back home because expert plumbing was going to come out and fix the leak in the water heater, I had problems with it years back, and they tried everything and then decided to bring out the father-in-law, and he figured it out. When it is adorable and helpful. The guys who came checked it out and then said they would have to call the father-in-law to come back out and do whatever he did. We cruised down to the end of the boardwalk and back and practiced a couple of commands before we headed down to the end of the wharf and back; we cruised down Westcliff Drive until it got too hot, and we decided to turn around and come back. It always takes me a while to cool down when I get overheated; I always seem to think I can go a little farther than I actually should before I get too hot. Jesse came in at 3 PM, fed my silly little boy, put me to bed, and took Dude for a cruise. She came back home and got me something to eat, buzz around, clean up, do a couple loads of laundry, and then went home. I played candy crush; I need to maybe delete this because I'm starting to devote all my time to playing that game. It's an excellent tool to sit here on my computer and think about nothing else. My blog is way behind, my email is ridiculous, and I really don't go on any social media near as much as before. My latest addiction. I listened to some music, and I made myself stop playing games every hour for a couple of hours to do something else… Anything else. When it gets closer to evening, I try to just ignore the computer and watch my TiVoed programs until I fall asleep.

 Friday was a wonderful day. Susan came in and gave me a nice long massage; there's nothing better than getting a massage and petting your best friend Dude laying next to you. Karen came in, and we did some personal care and, of course, a nice long hot bath, every week is different, and I still can't figure out what I should and shouldn't eat… My caregivers try to suggest what they think based on what I ate a couple of days before. Maybe everybody wants to blame their troubles on something specific, so they can swear they will never do it again, but I just don't know anymore. Karen got me dressed and up in my chair, and Dude and I went out for a nice long cruise. As we drove through Depot Park, I could see they were setting up for the Ironman triathlon; it's tough to get around the park/wharf/Boardwalk/Westcliff Drive, so it's always fun trying to navigate that. We cruised down to the end of the wharf and back and then down to the end of the boardwalk and back; they set up a stage on the boardwalk by the arcade. I was thinking how awesome! Finally, I will have some live music, but the sign only has one night tonight; of course, I need to go to bed early. While I was taking pictures, I was thinking to myself… There's really not many people around but just wait until the weekend, it's getting to be really super crowded again… Standing room only on the boardwalk usually and on the beach you can hardly see the sand because of all the tents, canopies, umbrellas and barbecues. We cruised back, and Jesse came in to feed the hungry hound; she put me to bed, took Dude for a nice long walk, fed me, watered outside, cleaned up and wiped everything down, and headed home. I edited some more of my pictures, watched some shows on TiVo, played games, and listened to music until I fell asleep.

 Saturday was another relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry little boy and then fed me; she bought me some fresh chorizo and made me a breakfast taco… I had mentioned that it's been a while since I had chorizo, and it sounds excellent, and she remembered! She cleaned out the refrigerator, did a load of laundry, one of the plants outside, and then went home for the day. I listened to some music and actually went on Facebook to see if I had any messages or notifications, about five messages, and 99+ notifications; I just want to close it up and go play candy crush, but I really do need to get rid of some, so I got through them. Since I went that far, I decided I may as well try to make a dent in the over 4000 emails that I have; it just seems to get so overwhelming I would rather play candy crush or cribbage online. My cousin Debbie sent me some pictures of her son and daughter; these are the sweetest, most intelligent, most talented kids I have ever met… Actually, they are more like young adults! They are each other's best friends; in fact, the whole family is more vital than family; they are actually friends with each other also. I just love watching them! Jesse came in and fed Dude and then took him out for a nice long cruise around Santa Cruz. While they were gone, I tried to catch up on my blog; I seem to be able to do more when I look at the clock and figure out they only have about an hour to catch up as much as I can… I guess I like games more than I thought I did? I seem to make everything again, and now that I'm thinking about it, I've done that for quite a while. When Jesse came back, she said she didn't feel good, so she got me something to eat and then went home for the evening; I was actually thrilled to have a couple more hours to catch up on whatever my OCD mind thinks I needed to catch up on. My favorite thing is watching TV until my eyes get heavy and I can't keep them open any longer; I was out.

 Sunday was an essential day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry knucklehead, fed me, and then took Dude out for a cruise before it got too hot. It was really great to have another round of breakfast tacos with chorizo. I usually can't sleep at night and try to think of something different and creative for breakfast, but it usually ends up being the same old thing… I guess I am just so thrilled that I can eat eggs again; I just want eggs whenever I can have them! Cindy came back with Dude, cleaned out the refrigerator, wiped everything down, and then home. I really like the thought that all doors, light switches, and banisters are wiped down daily or sometimes two or three times a day. Karen came in at noon, and we did some personal care and then a nice long hot relaxing bath before I went back to bed and relax for the evening. I had her get me some tincture, and after playing a couple games of candy crush and a couple games of cribbage, I relaxed myself to sleep.