On Monday I had an appointment in Watsonville at the wound treatment center, they didn’t make me a follow-up appointment and that is good news because it means that my pressure stories healing nicely and it will be gone in no time, I say it’s about time. Teresa is going to be off on Tuesdays for a while so she will be able to help me out on those days, I’m really excited because we seem to get a lot done. I keep finding somebody to do maintenance around here and then I never hear from them so I’m just going to look everything up online and get instructions on how to do and have Teresa doing, she can pretty much do anything. I had a guy come out on Tuesday to test the water and find out where to install a water softener. My skin has been so dry since I moved here and I’m really hoping that it’s because of the hard water, I have never had a hard water before. They’re going to come back on Wednesday to install it so I guess I will find out. On Wednesday Teresa, her husband and his friend and I went to the catalyst club downtown to see UFO, it was a really great show and it felt really good to get out. I hardly ever get to leave my house after six o’clock because that is usually when I have to go to bed. There was another bad they are called Zen Vendetta that opened for them and they were also really good. One of the guys came up to Teresa and I and gave us one of their CDs so we went back and had them all sign it, they were all very sweet. Today Susan, a massage therapist, came by and gave me a two hour massage and it really felt good. She really knows what she’s doing and she’s very funny so I am always looking forward to seeing her. Tomorrow is the Williams annual Halloween party. Teresa and I are going to be mermaids and of course we will be working on our costumes up until the last minute. The party is not until 7 PM but going to have to wear my costume all day so everybody is going to think I’m very strange when I take my walk down to the wharf. I know it’s really going to be a lot of fun. Last night we finally put up the last of the Halloween decorations so my morning attendant took a bunch of pictures, she did a really good job.
Why do creatures make some people act really weird? I got a bunch of praying mantis cocoons and put them around my garden and checked every day and I’m just now finally starting to see them, they are so cute but they freak me out. I opened my door the other day to go outside and one was right on the corner of the railing just staring at me, his little head following my every movement. I scooted by him as quickly as I could and did the same on the way back in. The next time I opened my door to go for a cruise on the wharf he was on the ground in front of my door so I closed the door and came back inside. I opened the door a little while later and this time he was on the door and before I could shut it he crawled to the top and just sat there. I decided to go ahead and go for a cruise but leave the door open so he would not get crushed. He was there for a long time and even when it started getting cold I could not close the door because I didn’t want him to get hurt. I really love watching them but always from a distance, I’m afraid that they’re going to jump on me and although I’m not sure what would happen but I try to avoid it. Stanley and Corrine came down Friday to visit for the weekend. On Saturday we went to the Spirit store, I LOVE that place. I got a bunch of little furry mice and some spiders to put in the web on the porch and Corinne got a Victorian Princess costume, he looked really cute in it. After that we decided to go down to natural Bridges Beach and check out the monarch butterflies, they are passing through Santa Cruz. I have gone down to the beach a couple of times but never down to the trails, it was so beautiful and I will definitely be back. Tomorrow I go back to the wound care clinic in Watsonville AGAIN, is this thing ever going to heal?? It seems like everything takes for ever. On Tuesday we are going to finally finish decorating for Halloween outside, we had to hold off because of the big storm but the weather is nice and again except for the very high humidity. On Wednesday I’m going to the catalyst club downtown to see UFO in concert, I can’t remember offhand what they sing but I looked them up and they did recognize a couple of their songs. Saturday is the big Williams Halloween party, they have one every year and although this is only my second everybody always has a really good time and they always make everybody feel so comfortable.
I just got back from a cruise around the wharf and that always cheers me up. People are so funny... they think that pelicans are so cute, and they are adorable, and they want to go up and stand next to them and have their picture taken. The lady that did that today will probably never do that again, I think the pelican fit her whole head in his mouth and I could not help but laugh thank goodness looking around I was not the only one laughing and I think she was the only one NOT laughing. I cannot believe that it is finally Halloween, Halloween is my favorite holiday and I am so glad that I have Teresa to help me decorate because she is so creative. Melissa has already been here and painted my windows, they look AWESOME. It’s kind of sad because after October is Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then there really isn’t anything else until Easter and then I have to wait until October again. I guess there is new years and Fourth of July. I’m finally going to get my standing frame. Here I have been saving up for it and come to find out that Medicare is going to pay for 80% of it, if I had known that I would have got it a long time ago. On my first appointment I didn’t get to stand very long, in fact I only got about halfway up, because they brought the wrong standing frame. I have to go at least two more times so they can make sure just one person can stand me up, it will be a lot easier because of my ceiling lift. They also attach a blood pressure cuff to your arm and check it every couple of minutes to make sure your blood pressure doesn’t drop dramatically. I can’t wait to stand in my standing frame and play my Wii game, I’m hoping that will make the time go by faster and I really haven’t been able to play it very much.
Unfortunately I’m not going to be able to name the dog and I’ve already decided that if the dog has a silly name I WILL rename him. Most of the dogs at the CCI center are labs and retrievers, some shepherds... all very smart breeds.Last night my brother, Robert, David and Corrine came down to pick up Roberts new car. Our neighbor was selling an original 1990 Mazda Miata so we snagged it up. After some maintenance and new tires we were told that it would last him a long time and be a great little car for him. I ended up getting a late but Corrine and I got to go to the kids festival and the Greek Festival for a little while. After they left I cruise down to the wharf and came home and heather cooked me a really great dinner, it was a great day.Sunday I decided to cruise down to the wharf and check out my favorites, the pelicans and the sea lions... their faces are so cute, they remind me of puppies. Then I cruised over to the boardwalk, I am really surprised at how crowded it is on a day where there is no sun and a little wind. I went downtown to see if there was a lot of people at the Greek Festival and there was. There was a lot of Greek food and a lot of jewelry but not really too much of anything else. They also blocked off a couple streets for a bunch of antique stuff, everything looked pretty cool and of course I forgot my wallet again.People are so funny when it comes to pelicans. I see them inching a little closer, a little closer until the pelican gets annoyed and tries to fit their head in his mouth or tries to bite off their here and then they look surprised.My biggest fear finally happened, I was going for a cruise down past the lighthouse and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I drove up into the ice plant and tipped over my chair. A couple of guys came running over to see if I was okay and to see if I needed an ambulance, I told them I was okay just a little humiliated and they up righted me and made sure that I was okay and I headed back home. Of course when the shock of everything happens you can’t feel anything but now my head and my neck are really sore. I don’t know if there was any damage to my chair or my arm yet but it was pretty humiliating. It seems like it happened so fast but at the time I remember my uncle telling me that if you ever tip over in your chair remember to hold your arms in, I did and it probably saved me from a broken arm... thank you uncle Dick.
The last couple of days I just decided to just get out and cruise around. For some reason it’s usually hard for me to make myself get out and go somewhere unless I have a destination, no more of that. I just start rolling and see where I end up. Today I went down to the wharf, cruised around the boardwalk. They had fences up blocking off part of the boardwalk and I learned later from Heather that they are redoing the haunted house. I cruised around by the trails behind the boardwalk and ended up downtown so I cruised over to the nursery to look at waterfalls. Last weekend I bought a birdbath and I saw a waterfall that would look perfect in my yard. It wasn’t there so I’m just hoping that they moved it and didn’t sell it, if they sold it I guess it just wasn’t meant to be mine.Yesterday I cruised over to Ross, I LOVE Ross. I’m definitely going to have to go back there when Teresa is with me because they have some really cool Halloween decorations... I’m so excited that it is almost that time.Last week I got a call from Margaret who owns the Golden fleece, she is making a couple of... how do I describe them. They are basically turtleneck sweater’s but they are no longer in the middle of my stomach, perfect for putting on and taking off while I am in the chair. The one that she made is a variegated blue and green made out of baby alpaca, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and very warm. She’s going to make me another one out of the baby alpaca and then make me a couple more that are going to be able to be washed more often. I was really nervous to get anything made out of alpaca and then Teresa told me that they just shaved them and not kill them so I felt a lot better.The final concert on the beach was AWESOME. I made sure that I went there plenty early that I would get a good seat and I did. The rice lady is still trying to take up a lot of space but I think that she thinks she is more sly about it, she just throws down random stuff around her. As long as I have enough space to park my chair and I can see the stage I am happy.I finally got the call... I’m going up to Santa Rosa in November for a two week stay at the CCI, Canine Companions for Independence, and I’m going to come back with my new canine companion and I am so excited. Teresa is going to go up there the second week and stay at the dorm with me so I just need to find someone to stay with me for the first week or find a caregiving agency in that area.A new caregiver started work last week, her name is Tami. She is a registered nurse who was recommended by my massage therapist Susan and it seems like she’s going to work out really good, she had training for two days and she starts solo on Sunday. She worked for a quadriplegic gentleman for 3 1/2 years but they had to put him into a care facility.
