Monday was a great day. Karen came in and fed me for the hungry little guy, and they got me dressed up in my chair. I'm still unable to go very far before the batteries on my chair die, but it's about 4 miles, so hopefully, it's enough to keep Dude slim and trim and happy. We cruised through Depot Park over to Cowell's beach to take a couple of pictures from one of my favorite spots; unfortunately, I can't get as close to the ocean as I usually can because they took out the extension Beach ramp… They take it out during the winter so that the water doesn't ruin it, but the sad part is I can't get very close to the ocean, and the winter is when the best waves are there. We cruised down to the end of the wharf and back, and then I decided I better go home before my chair stalls; this is so frustrating! First, I couldn't get up because I didn't have an evening caregiver; now that I have an evening caregiver, I can't get up because they don't want me to drive my chair more than two or 3 miles AND they're not going to even be able to come and look at it until the 19th. I have a friend Roger that used to work at the wheelchair clinic, and usually, when I email him, she knows everybody there, so he really gets them going, I hate to bother him when he's at work, and I feel like the only time I message him is when I need something. He's the one that started the two support groups while I was living here, but it didn't work out, we were thinking about starting another support group to meet down at Dominican rehab, and hopefully, more people will come and join us. This will probably be my last look at their incredible Halloween decorations before they take them down; I can't wait to see what they do for Christmas. I'm so glad that I got to get out for at least a little while because staying in bed all the time makes me crazy and cranky! I have a new caregiver that can't really practice because I haven't been getting up. I tilted back in my chair for a little bit when we got home and waited for Rachel to come in; she fed the poor starving pup, put me to bed, and then fed me. She watched a couple loads of clothes, vacuumed my bedroom and the living room, brushed my teeth and washed my face, and then went home for the evening. I'm getting closer and closer to catching up on my blog, so hopefully, by the end of the week, I will be all caught up. I still find myself going back to that silly candy crush game; I just can't stop myself. I made myself watch a couple of scary movies, and then I fell asleep.
Tuesday was a perfect day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry mongrel, then got me dressed and up in my chair. While Cindy cleaned up, Dude and I took a quick trip down to the wharf and back. We all piled in the van and said, you drove us to Capitola for my appointment with Jennifer, my Esthetician. I missed my last meeting, so we had a lot to catch up on; Jennifer is not only lovely and funny but very talented. I knew it would be rough, but my face was bright red and raw; it looked like I had got a face peel. It looked like she went over and over in the same place with the wax, but she didn't; I figured since I'm wearing my mask all the time now, I'm going to have her polish the inside of my nose. She sent it a couple times, and it really looks like it would hurt a couple times at some point in my life. I've had one hair plucked out of my nose, and it hurt a lot, but when you yank them all out at the same time, it doesn't hurt although it looks like a rat, the first time I took a picture of it because it was so gross, but this time I didn't. We left and cruised over to the farm in Aptos, last time we ate there, we sat outside, so I didn't know there was a little souvenir store there, and they had a lot of adorable babies and children things. I found this memory book with envelopes that folded any right about special times in your baby's life; I just had to get one for Mackenzie and one for Corinne. There were so many cute things in there that I would've liked to get, and I think if I had a little bit more time and room, I would've gotten something else, but I know that we will be back. Whenever I see little cute baby stuff now, I just can't help myself, I know everybody's taste is not the same, so I hope they like it. We cruised by Safeway to pick up some prescriptions and get groceries for my mom and me before coming home. I got my usual Cobb salad with prawns, avocado toast, and a giant old carrot cake cupcake, and of course some white chocolate mocha coffee.
We cruised home and ate; it was just as delicious as I remembered. Rachel came in, and Cindy took the garbage out to the front of the street and then went home; this is Rachel's first day of putting me to bed by herself, and there was no doubt in my mind that she could do it, and she did it After she fed the starving pup. She did a couple loads of laundry, vacuumed the kitchen and the bedroom, wiped everything down, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and then went home. I was cruising around on the next-door neighborhood website, and I saw that somebody named Laura DeLauder had posted an entry; I grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and one of my best friends how to sister, but I couldn't remember if her name was Laura or Pam, so I decided what do I have to lose I'll send her a private message. I asked her if she lived upon Loma Prieta Ave. in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and she immediately came back with, "yes, Tammie, I remember ridding Ralph up to your aunt and uncle's house" well,,, that answered my question, I couldn't believe it… What a small world. We talked for the rest of the evening; it was so nice to reminisce with her. I didn't really remember hanging out with her a lot, but I guess I did. I remembered some stuff talking to her that I hadn't thought about in a really long time, and it felt great. Susan messaged me and said that she got into a car accident and wouldn't be able to come in the morning and give me a message, she didn't say much else, but I hope she's okay. It was getting late, so we decided to call it a night and do some more reminiscing tomorrow. I watched TV for a little bit before I fell asleep.
Wednesday was another good day. My face is so raw and hurts so bad from getting it waxed yesterday… I've never had a reaction like this before, and I hope it's the last time. Susan is still recovering from her automobile accident; she says she feels better but doesn't want to push it, and I don't blame her. Karen came in and fed Dude, fed me, and then we got started with personal care than a nice long hot relaxing bath… My favorite part of the day. She put me back to bed, got me dressed for the day, and up in my chair. Karen took Dude down to his appointment with Dr. Martinelli for follow-up after his surgery, and she said he's doing great; thank goodness because I hate seeing him on all those drugs… He would just lay there and cry. She cleaned up and then went home. I still can't go very far because of my batteries, but Dude and I did cruise over to the end of the wharf and back; that's about as far as I dared to go these days. I came home, and I was cruising around on the Internet, and I found many pictures from my favorite photographer in Santa Cruz; I love this guy's photos! Rachel came in and put me to bed after she fed the hungry hound, and then she fed me, vacuumed, organized a little bit… I love how she picks something every day and cleans and manages it. After she went home, I listened to some music while editing some pictures, watched some of my shows on TiVo, and just relaxed until I fell asleep.
Thursday was a really long and tedious day, although at least I got to get up and out for an hour or so. Karen and Maria came in for Maria's first day to learn the routine; she is good friends with Rachel and is going to do Saturday evenings and fill in first when somebody goes on vacation, which is so lovely because the holidays are coming up and that's usually when I need somebody. She caught on really fast and was really confident; I really like her! Karen is getting ready to go on vacation, so we found her just in the nick of time. Dude and I cruised down to the end of the wharf and back, he got a little bit of exercise, and I got some ocean healing time. We came back in just enough time to rest for a bit before Andrea came in to help me organize/purge my garage, it is looking so good, and it seems like the more I perch, the better I feel! We started to do four hours, and by the end of the four hours, we were both tired, coughing and sneezing, and I was always a little cranky. Rachel came in and fed the artery pup and put me to bed, she has been massaging my back, shoulders, and arms before she puts me into bed, and it feels so good… It's getting back into the cold weather again, and I now started to get that pinched nerve on both sides of my shoulders. At least the pressure sores on my butt are healed up, so soon, I will be able to get back on my exercise cycle, and I can't wait! After putting me to bed, she called me something to eat and then did a couple of the clothes, cleaned up the kitchen, wiped everything down, and then went home. I always have to listen to some music for a while and play Candy crush until I wind down; then I can get into working on my blog and editing pictures; usually, I like to wait until my caregiver leaves because while I'm dictating into my blog, they always think I'm talking to them plus a picks up every little sound around me. I watched a couple more scary movies until I fell asleep.
Wednesday was another good day. My face is so raw and hurts so bad from getting it waxed yesterday… I've never had a reaction like this before, and I hope it's the last time. Susan is still recovering from her automobile accident; she says she feels better but doesn't want to push it, and I don't blame her. Karen came in and fed Dude, fed me, and then we got started with personal care than a nice long hot relaxing bath… My favorite part of the day. She put me back to bed, got me dressed for the day, and up in my chair. Karen took Dude down to his appointment with Dr. Martinelli for follow-up after his surgery, and she said he's doing great; thank goodness because I hate seeing him on all those drugs… He would just lay there and cry. She cleaned up and then went home. I still can't go very far because of my batteries, but Dude and I did cruise over to the end of the wharf and back; that's about as far as I dared to go these days. I came home, and I was cruising around on the Internet, and I found many pictures from my favorite photographer in Santa Cruz; I love this guy's photos! Rachel came in and put me to bed after she fed the hungry hound, and then she fed me, vacuumed, organized a little bit… I love how she picks something every day and cleans and manages it. After she went home, I listened to some music while editing some pictures, watched some of my shows on TiVo, and just relaxed until I fell asleep.
Thursday was a really long and tedious day, although at least I got to get up and out for an hour or so. Karen and Maria came in for Maria's first day to learn the routine; she is good friends with Rachel and is going to do Saturday evenings and fill in first when somebody goes on vacation, which is so lovely because the holidays are coming up and that's usually when I need somebody. She caught on really fast and was really confident; I really like her! Karen is getting ready to go on vacation, so we found her just in the nick of time. Dude and I cruised down to the end of the wharf and back, he got a little bit of exercise, and I got some ocean healing time. We came back in just enough time to rest for a bit before Andrea came in to help me organize/purge my garage, it is looking so good, and it seems like the more I perch, the better I feel! We started to do four hours, and by the end of the four hours, we were both tired, coughing and sneezing, and I was always a little cranky. Rachel came in and fed the artery pup and put me to bed, she has been massaging my back, shoulders, and arms before she puts me into bed, and it feels so good… It's getting back into the cold weather again, and I now started to get that pinched nerve on both sides of my shoulders. At least the pressure sores on my butt are healed up, so soon, I will be able to get back on my exercise cycle, and I can't wait! After putting me to bed, she called me something to eat and then did a couple of the clothes, cleaned up the kitchen, wiped everything down, and then went home. I always have to listen to some music for a while and play Candy crush until I wind down; then I can get into working on my blog and editing pictures; usually, I like to wait until my caregiver leaves because while I'm dictating into my blog, they always think I'm talking to them plus a picks up every little sound around me. I watched a couple more scary movies until I fell asleep.
Friday was a very frustrating day, I really wanted to get up, but I just didn't want to risk it with my batteries dying. Maria came in and fed Dude, fed me, and then she took Dude for a nice long cruise… Who knows when I'm going to be able to get up again. When they got back, she brushed my teeth, washed my face, cleaned up the house a little bit, and then went home. I called Numotion and told him that my batteries were dying; luckily, I had taken some pictures because when I called, the guy said, I need you to take some pictures, and since I'm not in my chair today, that would have sucked. I sent him the photos, and he even said, this is your fourth set of batteries, so I think it might be something else besides the batteries. Then he said we could have somebody come out on the 19th. Can you believe even though they know that the problem is and that there is a problem, they still have to send somebody out to make sure the batteries are dead… I even sent you some freaking pictures!! The sad thing is that my motors went out, and the lady is supposed to come out on the 13th and bring my engines; why can't you just get me some more batteries or at least look at it then to reassure everybody down there that my batteries really are dying? This company is the worst! Although I can even say that because the other wheelchair company for this area sucks just as bad! I'm supposed to go with my cousin, his daughter, and their family to the Monterey Bay aquarium on the 13th, and now I'm going to have to cancel that, and the tickets are nonrefundable. The only thing worse than all this happening at once is all this happening at once and me having to stay in bed and think about how frustrated I am all day! My hospital bed is also dying, so I want to hurry up and get that replaced before it completely dies; I called and left a message, but the guy I usually deal with is on vacation, so I left him a message. Rachel came in and fed the hungry pooch, provided me, cleaned up the house, wiped everything down, and then went home. Without this time in bed, I am getting a lot closer to catching up on my blog, a lot more time to delete my mail, edit pictures, but all of that is making my arm really sore. Before I got off the computer, I found more images of Robert and McKenzie's baby and a picture of Corinne pregnant, which really cheered me up! I tried to get off the computer at 10 PM to rest my arm for the rest of the evening; I tried to just listen to music, listen to an audiobook or watch TV until I fell asleep.
Saturday was a great day. Karen was on vacation, so Cindy and Adriana came in to do some personal care in a nice long hot bath; I'm thrilled that they double-team to me because today is the CCI Halloween puppy play date. Omar came by to help decorate, and it was so great to see him… He just got over-covered 19, and he was so afraid that he wasn't going to get his taste or smell back, but he did. Everything went really smoothly, and I was up and dressed and had enough time to cruise down to the wharf and back with Dude while they set everything up outside. These ladies are so unique and always there to help! Not many people RSVPed, but we figure whoever came, we're just going to watch the puppies play and have a great time. There ended up being about 10 people and five dogs, and it was perfect! We had a good time watching the puppies play and then watching everybody dress themselves and their dogs in different costumes and take pictures. I dressed up as laughing Sal from the boardwalk, and people either knew who I was or they knew who I was but couldn't think of it; I guess that means it was a perfect costume? Dude was a carousel horse; I wish you would've had time to go down to the boardwalk because I wanted to cruise around and see what people's reaction was and then take a picture in front of the actual laughing Sal; I knew that my chair wouldn't flow down there because the batteries keep dying at about 4 miles and I do want to get stuck, so I thought about asking somebody to drive me there, but that didn't work out either. We all had fun, and nobody got hurt, so I considered that a successful Halloween party. At one point, I couldn't find Dude, I looked in the dog run, behind the picture frame, and I couldn't imagine where he went to… I even came in and checked inside the house, thinking that he had had enough of everybody, and as I turned around to go out there, he was on the porch became the cherry tomatoes off the vines and eating them. I'm happy I got at least one Halloween party this year; I had two of them planned, but because I didn't have a caregiver and because my chair batteries keep dying, I canceled the first one. Since I had so much candy leftover, we decided to put up a canopy in Adriana's freight yard, have our own little party, and hand out the rest of the candy to everyone passing by… It was so much fun, and I just love hanging out with these guys. I was talking to Adriana, and it was so much fun we decided that we were going to do that for every holiday, have a little party in the corner and hand out candy and good cheer to everybody that walked by, a couple people that were driving even parked to come over and chat with us for a while. It was getting a little too cold for me, so Rachel and I left the party and came back here, and she put me to bed, and she and Maria went back to the party and hung out some more. Maria came by with her costume, and she looked AMAZING! I had been admiring these two houses around the corner that had these 12-foot skeletons that are lit up and have shiny little beady eyes; I really wanted to get one, but I looked online, and they were about $300, so I figured I would wait until after Halloween and hopefully find one on sale. I found out the next day that Maria's daughter lives at one of the houses. I started editing my pictures because I wanted to put them on Facebook, but I was too tired, and I just fell asleep.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day. Maria came in and fed the hungry pooch, provided me, then took the hungry pup out for a nice long cruise. I'm so glad to have somebody here who can take him out and give him a little bit of exercise because I can imagine when I stay in bed is super bored. She came back, cleaned up, and then went home. I had her make me a plate for later. I listened to music, played games, meditated, and watched TV until my mom came down to feed us… It didn't seem like I did much, and I can't believe the whole day is gone by already. My mom came down and fed Dude, fed me, and then went back upstairs. I edited some pictures, listened to a book on tape, and watched TV until I fell asleep.
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