Monday is the first day of a long week. Karen is on vacation, and I only have a morning caregiver on Tuesday; I get to stay in bed the rest of the days. I love staying in bed when it's my idea, but when I have to, it really sucks! I couldn't find a caregiver to fill in while Karen is out; hopefully, I will get a lot done on my computer. I sent my new computer to my brother, and he's getting it all set up for when he comes in January; I'm excited about the new computer! My mom came down to feed Dude; she provided me with a plate Cindy made last night for breakfast. Heather made these fantastic frittata's, so I'll have one for every day until Karen gets back, along with Cindy's bacon. I am loving mornings so far! My first task is to make a list of what I want to get done, if I don't, I will forget, or I will just procrastinate while playing games and try to convince myself that I'm trying to remember what I need to do. After I made my list, I procrastinated while playing games anyway. I'll start my list tomorrow… Famous last words? I found a bunch of movies, and I'm going to start watching one every night, some of them I've seen before but a long time ago and loved and some new ones. I saw a movie with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish, and it was excellent; I love Tiffany Haddish. Although I know who Billy Crystal is, I've never really watched any of his movies, but now I really like him… I'm going to have to go back and watch some more of his films and see if he is this funny in all of them, all the ones he is supposed to be funny in anyways. Rachel came in and fed the hungry, full of energy pup and then took him for a nice long walk. She returned and provided me, cleaned up, and then went home. I watched some of my TiVo chose and deleted some to make room for all these movies. I added pictures and listened to music before I fell asleep.
Tuesday was a really great day! Cindy came in and fed the hungry pooch, fed me, then got me dressed up in my chair. My first appointment was with my aesthetician, Jennifer; I always look forward to seeing her and catching up a little… She is so sweet and fun to talk to! My second appointment was my yearly Medicare exam with Dr. Owens; I was doing really good about keeping up with my appointments, but because of a lot of things, I haven't been perfect about it lately… One of the things I plan on doing more efficiently in the new year. Although this pandemic has been a nightmare, I have noticed that I have more confidence in myself, and I'm not afraid to stand up for myself anymore. After Dr. Owens, we went shopping at Whole Foods, and while I was there, I got something for dinner; I was hoping Cindy would give me something to eat before she left, but she didn't have time, but she made me a plate so my mom could feed be later. I tilted back for a while and saw that my brother Dave had sent me something, he joined an improv class at the local theater, and he really loves it! Not only that, but he is really good at it; I knew he would be because he is swift and funny with the comebacks… Both of my brothers are really good at that; they keep me laughing all the time! Rachel isn't coming in until 8 PM because I'm going on the New Year's Eve train with Trish; I'm so excited! I have been on the holiday train several times, but the New Year's train just started this year; I think this will be another yearly tradition. I enjoy singing Christmas carols on the holiday train but the New Year's Eve train had a DJ, and he played a lot of new songs and oldies, something for everybody! It wasn't even that cold, I thought I would be freezing, but I was really comfortable. They had apple cider and these guns that shoot bubbles; it was just so much fun! I came back, and Rachel was taking Dude out to go potty; I wanted to take him, but I'm glad I didn't because the car we were in had a lot of people passing through, and Dude would've expected everybody to stop and say hello. Rachel put me to bed, and even though I was really excited about editing the pictures, I was cold and exhausted and fell right asleep.
Wednesday was another day stuck in bed. My mom came down and fed the hungry little guy, then fed me; I'm so glad she's around, and I can count on her when I need something. I watched movies all day; I'm really like this… Everybody keeps talking about all these great movies they watched. For some reason, I just can't concentrate on the TV long enough to watch a whole movie; usually, when I go to the movies, I fall asleep for about the first five or 10 minutes… No matter what I do, I just can't keep awake. When I'm alone, either I don't get sleepy and fall asleep, or I just watch it again; if I do so, it doesn't matter. I just can't figure out why when I'm by myself, I cannot fall asleep, but if someone is in here visiting, it's hard to keep my eyes open; it's just weird. My brother and sister-in-law flew from Oregon to stay for a while; when they got here, they came in to say hello quickly before going upstairs. Luckily they basically stayed in the doorway and said hello from across the room because my brother came down an hour later and said that the whole family back in Oregon tested positive for Covid. They looked online and found a place to get a rapid test, Janet tested positive, and Stanley tested negative. They made arrangements to get a rental car to drive home; they were brilliant and got a four-wheel-drive so they could operate in the snow. Janet gave my mom and my aunt a great big hug when she got here, I was in bed, and they couldn't reach me. It's getting terrifying, and it seems like everybody around me is testing positive; it's scary! Before I knew it, it was 4 PM, and Rachel was coming in; she fed the hungry hound dog then took him for a nice long cruise. She got me something to eat, cleaned up, and then home when she came back. I spent the rest of the evening editing pictures, listening to music, and watching TV before falling asleep.
Thursday was another day in bed. My mom came down to feed Dude and me; I think this is the last day I have to spend in bed… Luckily the time Karen was gone went by fast. All this time laying in bed and looking outside, I think of how lucky I am for all the other days to be able to get up and get out; what delay it's been raining, so it makes being wrong a lot easier… I just worry about Dude daily to get some exercise. All this is in the middle of me trying to get Dude to lose some weight. Stanley went to rent a four-wheel-drive vehicle so they could get home, Janet doesn't feel good, and I think it's going to be a miserable ride home for her… Stanley tested negative for Covid, but I think it's inevitable after driving back 10 hours in the exact vehicle with Janet. What a rotten vacation for both of them; I feel so bad. I know they're going to feel really great to get home and take care of their family and themselves. They packed up and said goodbye from the doorway; Covid made this a terrible time to be alive; every day is so scary and uncertain. The numbers keep rising up and up, and with this variant, they predict that everybody will get it; I keep taking tests, not knowing if I just want to get it and get through it or if it will be really rough on me and have lasting effects. After Stanley and Janet left, I watched TV and surfed around on the Internet until Rachel came in. Rachel fed the hungry little hero and then took him out for a nice long walk; she usually takes her car so that if it does start raining, she can run back to the car and stay dry. When they got back home, she fed me, cleaned up a little bit, wiped everything down, and returned home. My favorite part of the evening… Everybody has gone home, and I have the whole evening to watch/listen to whatever I want and have my room way too cold or way too hot. I watched another movie and found some really awesome Christmas pictures online; I think I'll save them from making Christmas cards out of next year. Only 365 days until Christmas. I watched the texts between Stanley, Janet, and my mom until they got home safely; what a huge relief! I can't wait for my Covid tests to come in, so my mom doesn't have to wear a mask and gloves anymore… She has a hard time breathing anyway, and with the mask on, she just feels like she suffocating all the time. I was lying here thinking how wonderful it would be when all this is over; I definitely have a new appreciation for life. I drifted off to sleep.
Friday was a nice relaxing day. Karen came in and fed the hungry hound dog, fed me, and then we started doing some personal care. It was adorable to have Karen back, and since I haven't had any personal care since Sunday, I am certainly ready for that. It's hazardous to wait that long between having personal care done, but I just don't have anyone; when this happens, I think next time I'm going to plan it out better, but if you can't find anybody, you can't find anybody. I always think that somebody's going to think about it and help me out, but I should know by now that that's not gonna happen; if I want something done, I need to specifically make sure it's going to happen. I need to start taking care of myself myself. Needless to say, personal care took a lot longer than it usually does but man, what a relief! After a nice long hot bath and back into bed, I wasn't even hungry, mostly relieved! Every time this happens, I file to take better care of myself, exercise like they should, eat like I should, and hopefully, it stays with me this time. Karen cleaned up and gave me a cannabis gummy before she went home. I tried to relax and take a nap before Rachel came in; hopefully, I would feel better and eat something. I watched another movie before Rachel came in; she fed the hungry knucklehead and fed me. She washed a couple of loads of laundry, took Dude out for a nice long walk, cleaned up, and then went home. The rest of the evening, I contemplated how I would change my life for the better and stick with it this time; my mind started flooding with ways to improve my life… Almost faster than I can write it down. He spent the rest of the evening thinking of New Year's resolutions, looking up audible self-help books, finding inspiring quotes, and trying to figure out how to make a vision board. My brother sent me a picture of himself; he looks like he really doesn't feel excellent. A couple of days after he got home, he ended up in urgent care for about five hours, waiting to see a doctor; he found out he had black spots on his lungs. I hope my family in Oregon starts feeling better soon. I watched another movie before I fell asleep.
Saturday was a good day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry little guy, fed me, and got me dressed and up in my chair. Dude and I took off for a nice long cruise; it's going to be a beautiful day! We cruised through Depot Park, it keeps saying a food truck-like vehicle at depot Park, and there's a sign that says Coovid testing, and I keep wanting to stop by and see how you would sign up for it… The way this new variant is spreading, I feel I'm going to need to know at some point. There was nobody around, but there ere a sign that said appointments and walk-ins. I cruised over to Cowell's beach and took some pictures; the ocean is so incredible! We cruised over to the boardwalk; I like to cruise the boardwalk first because then if it gets too warm, I know there will be a nice breeze on the wharf. Started to take down the decorations; I wish I could run into somebody taking down the tree and asked them if the Christmas tree lights came in a box and if I could take a picture of the box… I really love those lights, and they look heavy-duty likely will last for a while. We cruised down to the end of the boardwalk and back and practiced a couple of Dudes commands; that is usually the perfect place to practice because there's not a lot of people around. As I reached the end of the boardwalk, I remembered that our first support group meeting was going to happen in a couple of weeks, and I would really like to find a way to get over to the wellness center on East Cliff, getting across the bridge is now accessible because they made it wider… A couple of times before they widened it, I had to go back to the beginning of the bridge because somebody was coming across on a bike, or they stood and lifted the bike up on its back wheel and let me go by. Usually, when I go across the bridge, I go off to the right, and there's a cliff overlooks the beach and the boardwalk; it's so beautiful! Today I went straight because I was on a mission; the sidewalk started to get narrower and narrower, so I decided to turn around and try my GPS and see if it would get me there. I cruised along the trail above his cliff, but after I went away, I got stuck again; I didn't know how to get over there for the meeting, and if they started, the support group would be a pain. They used to be at Dominican rehab, a couple of miles away, but it was easy to get to. My aunt said that she would be glad to take me, but if I could get over there on the bus or para-cruise or lift line, that would be better, I always prefer to get places by myself if I can. I found some really cool murals; I love to cruise around and take pictures of the murals. I found my way to the marina and rolled back home through Arena Gulch, Robby and I used to cruise through there all the time, but Dude and I don't seem to venture very far past the boardwalk and Westcliff Drive… When it's more comfortable, we will try cruising around different places in the summer. We rolled back home, tilted back, and rested for a while. I got a message from one of the ladies I met at the support group, and she said there's a guy that takes people with different abilities out in his boat and asked me if I wanted to go; I was really deathly afraid of water, and the thought of taking this big 720-pound chair out in a boat just really scares me… I feel like I'm not going to make it if the boat tips over in this big anchor that I have strapped to my butt. Rachel came in and fed the hungry hound, put me to bed, then fed me. She cleaned up, did a couple loads of laundry, cleaned Al the floors, and then went home. I really like that she always cleans the floors when she gets here and sometimes when she leaves because there's so much dog hair everywhere. After editing some pictures, blogging, and listening to some music, I watched TV until I fell asleep.
Sunday is a combination of my worst day and my best day; I love that we get the personal care and bath out of the way and start Monday fresh, but personal care is just getting to be harder and harder on my body. Even though the nice hot bath and going back to bed make up for it, I'm glad we do it that way. Cindy came in and fed the hungry mongrel, fed me. She took down and put away some of the Christmas decorations; I feel like this will be the last time that I put up decorations, or at least for a while. Everybody is so busy, and it just seems to be a hassle to do it anymore, nobody is as enthusiastic as they used to be, but we will see. Cindy left to pick up her mom, so I played candy crush until Karen came in. I meant to take an at-home Covid test, so Karen gave me one, and it came out negative; I am always relieved, although I haven't felt any symptoms. She fed the hungry lab, and then we got started with some personal care; I've been trying to drink water, so it is going faster, and before we knew it, I was in the bathtub and then back in bed, and Karen fed me and then took some pictures of Dude before she went home. Canine Companions for Independent are still emailing me every month to check on Dude's weight, he got really overweight over the pandemic, and I've been trying to get him back down for a while. They put him on a metabolic diet, and he was losing weight; when it got down to where it was almost manageable, I put him on this diet that I had been reading about online, it's called the farmer's dog, and I looked and smelled pretty good. The vet then switched him to prescription dog food to help him not get so many air infections. While he was on that dog food, the vet found two of his teeth that were cracked all the way to the skull and had to take them out. They said he needed to be on a soft dog food for several weeks, so I went back to the farmer's dog. While he was on the farmer's dog diet, I noticed that he wasn't getting near as many ear infections, so I thought it was all set. He finally not only lost what he was supposed to lose but a little bit more, now that we're able to be out and cruise around some. Apparently, CCI does not like to put their dogs on a soft diet, or if you do, they want to be watered down Kibble. The new guy who took over keeping track of the graduates and their dogs said he would talk to the vet, but they would probably want me to put him on something water down. He got back to me in a couple of days and said that CCI did some research and found that the farmer's dog was a good dog food to be on, so they said it was okay that I tried out for a while. They did want to increase his intake by 60 to 80 cal, so I called the farmer's dog, and they said they would improve his diet by 80 cal and we could watch his weight. The rest of the evening I just watched TV until I fell asleep.
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