July 6 2026
Monday
We're still not quite at 100% on the work schedule, but we're narrowing it down. Liberty texted me and said she hasn't been cleared to return to work and will keep me posted.
Brooklynn came in, fed the dogs and me, then got me dressed and up in my chair. I always have the girls set up my computer a certain way, so when I come back at any time during the day, I can be on it right away. I also leave the back door open a little so that the dogs can go in and out at any time, and so can I.
I took Kona out for about 3 miles, and by the time we were finished, it was way too hot to take Dude out, so we just played ball in the yard after I cooled down. The dogs love being out in front because there's plenty of room to run around and bark at everything that goes by. I like it too, not only because I can sit outside and listen to the waterfall, but also because I can watch the Koi fish, and I don't have to worry about them getting out of the yard and going up to the road. When it got too hot out there, I love that there is a lot of shade but it still gets hot.
We came back in and just hung out till Brooklynn and Haylee came in. Haylee was going to shadow Brooklynn to learn personal care so she could take on more evening shifts. I'm excited because she's very reliable, never rushes, and is willing to stay longer if I need her to. It went really well, and I am confident that Haylee will do a great job.
After they left, I relaxed, logged into my blog, and gave some nuzzles before I fell asleep.
Tuesday
Tuesday was one of those wonderfully productive days that leave you feeling like you squeezed every last drop out of the day!
Haylee came over first thing, fed the dogs, got me dressed, and helped me into my chair before we headed out for the first appointment on the schedule. Our first stop was Cascade Infusion for another urine test to determine whether I'll need another round of antibiotics before my upcoming bladder scope and Botox procedure with my urologist.
Now, can someone please explain why my insurance happily pays for Botox in my bladder but not on my face? Who exactly is admiring my bladder? I'll never understand the mysteries of modern medicine!
What I thought would be a quick appointment turned into an all-day adventure because they needed a clean urine sample. In between, we made it to my cardiology appointment, where, thankfully, everything looked pretty normal. That's always good news, even though my blood pressure continues to do its own thing. This morning it was so low it wouldn't even register, yet for the last several days it's been running unusually high. One of the many "joys" of living with a spinal cord injury—I never quite know what it's going to do next.
After the cardiologist, we headed home so Haylee could change my suprapubic (SP) tube and collect a sterile urine sample. Then it was back to the hospital, where I discovered I was also scheduled for lab work and an EKG. What started at 8:00 that morning didn't wrap up until nearly 2:00 in the afternoon.
It was a long day, but honestly, I loved every minute of it. There's something incredibly satisfying about checking off a whole list of appointments and knowing you've done everything you can to take care of yourself. Those are the days that leave me tired—but in the very best way.
When I got home, there was a message from Naomi saying we could bring the dogs over at 4 PM and pick them up at 8 PM. We weren't able to bring them over this morning because I didn't have anybody to drive them, which made my day! Everything is checked off my list for today!
When I got home, my brother and Robert were outside with the kids, so I went outside to hang out with them for a while. The kids love riding around in my wheelchair. The youngest one always gets upset because everybody sits in my lap, and he has to sit on the footrests. He can't or doesn't really know how to hang on tight, sitting on my lap, so I would rather have him closer to the ground.
Mya came in and fed the dogs just in time for Stanley to take them to Naomi's. They always get so excited when Stanley reaches for the leashes. We straightened up my room a lot, she put me to bed, and got me something to eat. This week's menu is amazing: chicken and spinach in some kind of delicious sauce, shrimp fajitas, roasted vegetables, spaghetti squash, strawberry-and-banana Chia pudding, coffee cake loaf, and a zucchini chocolate chip loaf. I am in heaven!!
I straightened up and organized the bathroom closet. She told me that if I ever want anything straightened out and organized, she is my girl because she loves doing that! Music to my ears! Unfortunately, she goes back to college in September. I shouldn't say "unfortunately" because I am super proud of her, and I always want the best for her! She is a gem!
I tried to write in my blog before Stanley comes in to put my CPAP machine on, my words aren't very audible with that thing sucking on my face. I started watching the sheep detectives earlier in the day but kept getting interrupted, so I thought I would wait. I turned it back on and made myself stay awake until it was over. I loved it! It was hilarious and touching!
Wednesday
Haylee came in, fed the dogs, got me a couple of cups of coffee and some breakfast, and, of course, I procrastinated a little before getting dressed up in my chair. I kept saying I'm going to quit procrastinating and just have a cup of coffee, get up from my chair, eat breakfast, and have another cup of coffee, which would've been a really good idea today. 8 o'clock came around. The quantum fiber guy showed up to put a modem in my room. He came to offer us quantum fiber a couple of weeks ago, and we signed up. When they showed up, they said they needed a boom truck and had to reschedule. Instead of rescheduling, they just decided to show up this morning. It better be worth it, I hear good things about it, and right now we have Verizon and Xfinity because we can't get it at both ends of the house. The quantum fiber guy said we could get it at both ends of the house with one extender. I'd like to cancel two Internet services and pay for one.
A couple of months ago, we had solar installed on our roof, and they came by today to inspect it to make sure it's working. I've always heard good things about solar and have been wanting to try it, but there wasn't enough sun at the old house. Here at the new house, we have plenty of roof in the sun.
Brooklyn came in to take me to my ENT appointment and brought her husband, her son, and her daughter. They were going to stay here and hang out while she took me to my appointment, which is right pretty much across the street from here. I think they wish they had stayed here because I had to get a hearing test and then a regular appointment with my ENT doctor, with my doctor, Brooklyn, and her family came back here to grab Dude and Kona so we could take them to Mento Brown Park for a little hike and a swim. We did about a 2-mile hike and ended up at the water, and there went Kona. She loves the water but doesn't quite get the hang of swimming yet. She gets in the water and kind of panics, but she'll learn. After all, shoes and lab!
We came back here, and everything had quieted down, so they went home. The pack and I came into our room, and it was so nice and cool!
Earlier, Chris texted me and said that he was going to go over to 55th and grab my other tractor tire, the bridge for my backyard, an acute sculpture for the backyard, a disc swing for the front yard, and a big storage bin we used for packages.
They were here, and they were in better shape than I thought they would be! I was so excited! I wanna plant some roses in the tractor tire, and I can't wait to see how my yard looks with all this cool stuff from the other place!
I got a phone call from Cascade Infusion. All they said was that there was an accident in the lab and that I needed to take another sample of your sample and bring it in. I'm supposed to go to the County fair with Stanley and some of the people from his church tomorrow. I asked Haley to come in tomorrow morning at 6 AM so we could do another clean catch, and she said she would.
Thursday
Haylee came in, fed the dogs, put me to bed, got me something to eat, did some personal care, and then a nice hot bath! I wrote in my blog, " What's the rest of the Sheep Detective movie? What a great ending to a perfect day!
Hayle came in, fed the dogs, got me dressed, and put me in my chair, and Stanley drove me over to drop off my hair and sample. After checking in and waiting in the waiting room, I went in, and they asked what time I would collect the sample; immediately, my mind went, "Uh oh."We took the sample at 7 AM, and it was 9 AM. We didn't refrigerate it, so it was in the bathroom. They said it wouldn't be acceptable and that we needed to do it again. They gave me a specimen cup because I used my last one yesterday, and I brought it home. We got another sample, immediately drove it over to the hospital, then met the people in the church and went to the fair… finally, that is finished!
My arms had some nerve pain, so I took a gabapentin, forgetting that it makes my head a little fuzzy, and that's why I usually take it at night. My blood sugar and my blood pressure has been a little bit high. At first, I thought it was stressed from running around all that morning. I took my pills, but I didn't eat because I wanted to be able to eat something at the fair.
We met up at the church, and there were about 10 people there. Most of the people piled into the church van. I'm Stanley, and I took one lady with us. We got there, and everybody immediately rushed to the air-conditioned building. The 4-H arts-and-crafts was building. When I was growing up, we had 4-H, and it was so much fun! All the classes learning about different things, and then when school was out, the start of summer was 4-H camp. Awesome memories! My eyes were getting blurry, and I was feeling a little lightheaded, so I kept tilting back in my chair, but it wasn't helping.
I tried to cruise around and talk to people, but I just wasn't feeling very good. Not today! I finally told Stanley that I needed to eat something, so we got everybody together and went towards the smell of the food. Unfortunately, my mind was more on getting something in my stomach than on looking around to find what I really wanted. I ended up with teriyaki chicken noodles, and then people started showing up around me with awesome-looking hamburgers, Gyros, and something that took this lady both hands to carry to her table and looked delicious! I found out later that it was called an elephant's ear. It looked about as big as one. While we were eating, Robert, Mckenzie, Nori, and Jude showed up; it was a surprise. I remember thinking that I see them a lot around the house, but I don't really see them out and about.
I hope that changes this summer because I'm hoping to go do a lot of fun stuff around here with the family! As I was tilted back, a family came up to me, and the lady was talking to me. Her face, voice, and gestures were so familiar, and then it dawned on me. It was Heather! Heather was a caregiver before I moved to the place where I live now. She had to step down because she got cancer, and she has an infant and two other kids to take care of. This can't be happening! My mind was flying all over the place as I was talking to them. I got to meet her husband and the kids, such a sweet family. It turns out she and her husband went to school with Mckenzie The pastor and the junior pastor, Nathan and Josh, came around and said that they also recognized them from school. Heather looked awesome, and it was so great to see her! After lunch, we got ice cream, and they checked out the sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and guinea pigs. It sparks memories of us sitting down, eating this delicious dinner, and fighting over whether it was rabbit or my friend's rabbit. I used to hold it and play with this little bunny. I was so sad for a long time. It didn't help that my brother kept asking me why bunnies were so awesome… four drumsticks. We went back to meet up with everyone else because I was getting hot and everybody was getting tired. We waited right near the stage where a bluegrass band was playing. My brother and I both love music so much!
We headed home, and just in time, I think, my phone died, and my body was overheating. I was just starting to feel better, so I didn't want to feel bad again. The dogs were gone at first. I panicked, then I remembered Naomi was going to come and get them at 3 PM and take them for some exercise. I tilted it back in my chair and enjoyed the air conditioning.
Mya came in, put me to bed, and we checked my blood sugar, but it wasn't happy, so it was vegetables and celery for me for dinner tonight. I was so sleepy, and Mya said that if I fell asleep, she'd just work around and organize stuff. This girl is so good at organizing, and she loves it! I did some nuzzles. I watched a couple of not-very-bright people get arrested while everything was being recorded. After Mya left, I hurried to write everything down in my blog before I forgot.
Friday
Liberty is still unable to come to work, so Brooklyn came in to cover her shift. She went to the beach with her family yesterday, and her legs were tired from walking in the sand. She fed the dogs, got me some coffee, dressed me, and put me in my chair. Mackenzie, Nori, Shiloh, and Jude came in for a while. They had fun lying on my bed and watching funny animal videos, but that didn't last long, and they were running around, ready for breakfast. Mackenzie took them to the kitchen. Nori's favorite thing to eat in the morning is eggy bagel, you have to hear her say it because it's so cute!
Before Brooklyn left, she hooked up Kona, and I took her for her 2-mile cruise. I've been practicing opening and closing the front gate outside, and I'm doing pretty well with opening it from inside or out and closing it from the inside. The gate opens in or out, so I just need to work out in my mind how to open the gate out so I can close it. I was trying to pull it closed outside the gate, but I got my hand caught. I don't know whether it was caught on the gate or on my chair, but I couldn't pick it up or move it. I texted Mackenzie, but she had three kids and probably didn't have her phone with her. Pretty soon, Stanley came out of the house and helped me get my arm unstuck. What am I gonna do when I live here by myself? Hopefully, the old house will sell soon, and Stanley and Janet will buy their own house and move out, and Robert and Mackenzie will move out and build their own place on the property.
After I took the dogs for a cruise, we came back and hung out in my room watching the sheep detectives again. I love that movie! Until Haley came in. She came in early, and I didn't want to feed the dogs an hour early, so she put me to bed first, then fed the dogs. We did personal care. I got to take a nice hot bath and went back to bed. I did a couple of nuzzles, wrote on my blog, and watched the movie until I fell asleep.
Saturday
Brooklyn came in, fed the dogs, got me some coffee, and got me dressed and up in my chair. We were thinking about something to do, so Brooklyn looked up some yard sales on Craigslist and found this big, massive one. The guy was raising tuition for his kid, and he went and made bids on storage units that people had forgotten or just didn't want. I remember watching a series called Storage Wars, and I loved watching everybody go through their storage units to see what they got. I would have so much fun doing that because I love going through stuff. It was definitely a massive sale! They had everything you could think of there. We went around and gathered what we wanted, and out of the corner of my eye, I kept looking at this really cute little Hello Kitty drum set. For a long time, I've been wanting to get Jude a little guitar set because I think he would love it! I decided I would just ask the guy what he wanted for the drum set. We had a lot of stuff, and I'm still on a budget, so I was hoping it wouldn't be over 100 bucks. The guy was practically giving this stuff away. I asked him for everything that we had in our pile, including clothes, Nike tennis shoes, a mini guitar, a princess backpack, a little Fisher-Price interactive toy, and some other stuff that I can't remember. $40?? Are you kidding me?? What a great deal! So I asked him, "Just out of curiosity, how much for the little drum set?"He said everything for $45. I got a little drum set for five bucks. It came with a little stool, a foot pedal to pound the big drum, two smaller drums, and a cymbal! I wanted to go back through everything and get a lot more stuff, but I think I did a pretty good job of staying within my budget. Brooklynn texted Mackenzie, and she said they were close and would go by to check it out. Well, they came home with a big haul and had fun, and so did we. Now for the fun part, we get to go through, and here is your reminder to send, see, and show each other what we got. We were just looking for toys for the kids. I just want everybody to love coming over here and having a good time while they're here. So basically, it's for all seven of the little great-aunt's kids. Brooklyn put the clothes in the washer because everything kind of smelled old and a little bit like urine. Brooklyn had to go pick up her husband from work, so she took off. When I heard the kids come home, I texted and asked Mackenzie if they went, and she said yes, they were looking at her hall in the living room, so I went out to the living room. The AT&T guy came to talk to her, so I stayed in the living room with Robert and Jude and watched soccer. After the AT&T guy left, I asked my brother, my nephew, my great-niece, and my great-nephew to come in and see what we got them! I was so excited about seeing the reaction to the drum set! The next thing I heard was my other niece and her boys coming to visit, and my other nephew and his two girls. Brooklyn texted me and asked if I wanted to take the dogs to Mento Brown Park. I really wanted to stay and visit with all of my nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews, but I really wanted to take the dogs to the park. I left them here cooped up all day while we went yard sailing, and I felt guilty. It was so nice to get out to the park, and the weather was perfect! We let Kona go for a little swim, and then we picked one of the trails and hiked around. By the time we got back, everybody was in the kitchen eating, so we came right back here to my room. TJ and Kamaya went outside for a little bit while Brooklynn put me to bed. All the little kids came marching into the room. It was so cute to see them, and they were looking around to say hi, and I'm trying to see their expression when they see the drum set. Luckily, Stanley was videoing it because I was already in bed and I wouldn't have been able to see. Of course, I didn't think to turn my overhead camera on until just now, when I said that. They were all having so much fun, and it was awesome!
After everybody left, I was just ready to knock out. I've been really sleepy all day, and when they asked me to go to the park, I almost said no, but then I thought, what am I crazy? I'm not going to pass up an opportunity for the pups and me to go to the park! Of course, now that the excitement of the day is over, I'm not really that tired. I'm pretty sure the pups and I are going to get some really good sleep tonight.
Sunday
Sunday was a great day! Brooklyn came in and fed the mongrels, got me some coffee, dressed me, and put me in my chair. She told me that the yard sale we went to yesterday was having another yard sale, only this time everything was a dollar. We cruised by the bank and got some money, and headed over to the yard sale. We cursed through it really fast, and it just didn't seem to be as exciting as the day before. We got a few things, but nothing to get excited about. We got one truck for the boys, but of course, they're boys, and they wanted to fight over it. We found another one to take to the other boy, and they were thrilled to each get their own. When we got back, I wanted to take the pack for the regular 2-mile cruise, but I ended up sitting back in my chair and napping.
They were having a baby shower for my niece, her second little boy. It was over at her mother's house. Her mother, at one point, cooked for me, and she is so good with plants! And cooking and baking… this lady can do anything. Everything in her yard in front, both sides, and back was big, beautiful, and perfect! Nothing like the plant boneyard in my yard, but I keep trying. The thing was Winnie the Pooh, and everything looked so adorable, from the decorations to the food. It was a little warm, but I stayed under the awning, and there was a nice breeze. It was nice seeing everybody. Before we knew it, everyone was saying goodbye, so we decided to hit the road as well. We came home, and Brooklynn got here shortly after and put me to bed. I didn't get to catch up on my blog because, before I knew it, Stanley was here, putting the CPAP machine on my face. It's really hard to enunciate words on Dragon dictation and impossible to type everything, so I decided to wait and do it when my face isn't obstructed. I was really tired anyway; it was a really long week, and it wasn't too long before I was out.
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