Sue and Asha reminded me tonight that my blog is getting moldy on page two or three so I thought I'd brush it off and bring it back to page one for a while. Here's what going on in my neck of the mountains:
Patrick began his Rhythm Study- therapy today. His brother took him because I had a meeting at work that I couldn't escape. He came home with homework, which is what he is working on as we speak. I am manning the timer for him.
What this therapy consists of, is a desk-sized poster
Patrick is an amazing man. One of the things I love most about him is his compassion.
There was a story published in a Chicago paper about seven years ago about a little girl who had been attacked in her apartment complex. She was a pre-teen (can't remember exactly,9-12 years old) African-American girl living in a tough neighborhood. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and left for dead. The details of the attack were in the paper, and they were beyond comprehension. They appeared in
Patrick has always been a bit of a homebody. I have never minded too much because Patrick and I always enjoy each other's company, so having an evening watching our favorite shows together is usually what we are doing when I am not at work. But because of the stroke, Patrick is watching way too much tv. He changes the channel to MacGiver at 2:00pm. This is scaring the hell out of me..
All of the hobbies he had pre-stroke he has not been able to do. He spent alot of time downloading music
Thursday marks the first day of school for Brandon- Let the games begin!
School is always a challange for Brandon. He is ADD so following through on homework is just this side of impossible for him, and etremely frustrating for Patrick and me.
Patrick had his stroke in Feb and I was in a daze the last days of this past school year, consumed by helping Patrick to recover. Now that school is upon us again, I am really nervous. I remember the beginning of last year, Brandon had a leaf proje
Today is not the day I had hoped it would be. Ya, it's still Thursday like I thought it was, and Survivor is still on tonight for me to watch tonight after work, but I thought today might be a turning point for Patrick's recovery. Nothing went as I had hoped.
His first appointment of the day was at a different rehab facility with a therapist who is certified in the Saeboflex. We got there as scheduled, filled out the 8 pages of forms when his name was called. The woman told us to follow her
Like Bonnie, I haven't blogged since October, so I feel it's time for an update. While I don't feel like there has been HUGE changes since I last blogged, I have decided to do several blogs (I hope, anyway) over the next week or so focusing on different aspects of my life.
This one will be for Asha, who usually likes to hear my war stories from work. Here you go Asha:
The first update about work that I should mention is: I DON'T THINK MY BOSS HATES ME ANYMORE!!! Yippee!!! I think she i
I am a manager in a restaurant. I was a server for this same company for 8 years before going into management. I think I will share a story from time to time. Some of the things people do...
Most recent winner of "YOU'RE COMPLETELY JOKING, RIGHT?" goes to:
On mother's day we had a couple in their 30's dine with us for dinner. Mother's day is the unequivicable busiest day of the year. Their server went to set down their basket of delicious, warm, free biscuits, and one slid out the th
While Patrick was staying at the rehab facility in Carbondale, I would drive the 4 hours to see him whenever I could. He would check himself out of the facility, and we would spend the day seeing what trouble we could get into to, usually going out to eat, walking the mall and such.
On one visit, we went into a store in the mall that sold very touristy/new age items, like incense, oils, paper lanterns, dragon statues, and all kinds of funky feng shui junk (misspelled, I'm sure) and also
It's funny how you can remember certain things so easily and block out other things without ever knowing. I have been trying to remember the events of Patrick's stroke, and sometimes it all seems like such blurr. The early memories surrounding the aftermaths of his stroke play in my mind like watching a movie in super fast motion with an occasional second or two in normal play- maybe only remembering the faces of those around me, a word or two, or how the daylight lit a room. I guess my brain w
But I dig "supernatural" topics. No UFO's... ghosts, ESP, and stuff like that. I have never had an experience that I believed to be from the other side, but I enjoy reading stories and watching shows on the topic from time to time . My sweet husband humored me on our last anniversary with my interest.
We have started a tradition of staying an overnight trip on our anniversary. Ususally, I plan the trip by looking for interesting places within a few hours drive and we plan it from there. I
I have nothing else to blog about, so why not share someone elses thoughts for a bit.
"Wake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness--if you had little time left to live--you would waste precious little of it! Well, I'm telling you...you do have a terminal illness: It's called birth. You don't have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason--or you will never be at all.
My two days off have come and gone in a blurr. Yesterday I tried to finish up the Christmas shopping, and had felt like the finish line was in sight. I stayed up until 2am wrapping them all. It really shouldn't have taken that long, but I was already tired and I had to disguise the gifts so my boys wouldn't know what they were getting as soon as they saw the boxes. Trying to figure out what misc. household items I could use to help keep the gifts from shifting around in the boxes and adding wei
I posted this along time ago (I have edited it a bit), but in The Spirit of Halloween, I'd thought I'd post it again. Skip to the end of the blog if you'd enjoy visiting the link (click on MY that is underlined, i don't know what I did, but it works ) to the bed and breakfast and check out the photos or read the story of the mansion. The bedroom on that page is actually our room that night.
I dig "supernatural" topics. No UFO's... I like ghosts, ESP, and stuff like that. I have never h
Tonight I took home my step-son from his weekend visit. Actually, I didn't take him all the way home, we meet halfway most of the time, including tonight.
It began to flurry a bit which was nerve racking. I don't have the best night vision anyway, and seeing the snow look like it could come right through the windsheild did not help. To add to it, I get nervous on wet/slippery roads, especially when passing semi's and around bends in the road. The reason for the curve thing is because I was
Today was part II of IV of my root canal/crown. Yes, I know you are all jealous, try to contain yourself.
I got to get jacked up with lots of novacain though, and I could not feel anything on the left side of my face including my left nostril and sinus all the way up to my eye. While playing with my face, biting in the inside of my cheek and flicking my nose to see what it felt like (I was bored, the dentist was gone forever while waiting for the novacain to take effect) I began to wonder:
I know I should probably blog all the "ups" seperately and raise the percentage of positive blogs vs."down" blogs, but that wouldn't be as much fun as this "whole bunch of ups". So here is a list from the past week or so:
1. Brandon competed in a soap box derby race (St. Jude fundraiser) this weekend. It lightly rained all morning, so they had to cut the number of runs for each racer from 3 to 2, but he didn't mind a bit. He ended up winning 1st place in his weight class! Way to go, Brandon
I have a restless spirit today. Actually, for the last few days. It's like I have this yearning to do something that sits under the surface waiting to manifest, but never does. It's that damn sneeze that builds and builds and then ...nothing.
I am the book with no pages. The canvas with no paint. The song with no melody.
It's a very strange sensation. There is an emptiness that can not be filled until I know what is missing.
Kristen
Today did not go as planned. Usually, Thursdays are me and Patrick's "busy" day. A typical Thursday schedule looks like this:
Make sure Brandon is off to school by 7:50am. Leave the house by noon to get the the University 45 minutes away for our 1pm speech appointment. Work with the therapist for an hour, drive the 45 minute stretch back home, going directly to our 3pm Saeboflex appointment. Be home by 4:15 and meet Patrick's personal assistant who usually does more speech therapy with hi
Today is a day to mark on the calendars. It's a boy!!!
I haven't talked about it here until now because I didn't want to jinx it, but today, my husband adopted my son. He is 13 years old. Patrick and I have been together since my son was 18mos old, living together since he was 3, and married since he was 8. Patrick is the only "father" he's ever had. It's nice now to be able to drop the quotation marks. Patrick is his father, and that is that. I don't honestly think it will change the relati
Today we had a person from the Department of Human Services come visit us to determine if Patrick was eligable to have someone come in for a few hours while I was at work. They will make sure he takes his pm meds, make his dinner, and stay for a bit. They approved us for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. That is good news for me, a little less stress on preparing meals. I hope this service proves to be helpful. I can hire someone myself to do it if I want, unfortunately, I don't have many friends in
This is a long one-sorry.
I have been to the ER 4 times in the last month. I feel like as soon as I walk in the door they shouldn't even need to ask for a name. Yes, the address is the same, no the insurance hasn't changed, yes, the birthday is correct. Which room of eternal pergatory would you like us to wait in today?
One visit was for me, one for my son. These two visits lasted about 3 hours each, and everything was basically okay with us. The other two visits were for my husband.
I am so excited! A server from my work asked if she could be our homemaker assistant!
I was talking to a few of the servers at close one night, just chit chat, and talked about trying to find someone to help with Patrick and Brandon this school year. I had asked her if she would be able to put up a notice at her school, and she started asking me about what I needed. She said she was interested in it, and after talking about the hours and pay she decided yesterday she wanted to do it.
I was sleeping on the bed when Patrick's stroke occurred. In my sleeping haze, I remember hearing shuffling going on in our room which I interpreted to being Patrick changing out of his workout clothes. But remembering this is almost more of a feeling than a memory-I was sleeping pretty good.
The next thing I remember is hearing shampoo bottles falling in the bathtub. I was annoyed by the sudden sound, but thought very little of it and resumed my slumber. I don't know how much time passed
This entry is specifically for my family, although It's not so personal that I care if others read it.
I know some of you have been to this site before because it was easy to recognise your user name, although I noticed it's been a long time since you posted. And I know mom knows of the site because she sent me here. All I ask is that if you have recognized me, try to refrain from reading any of my blog entries or any threads I may have started. I certainly don't anticipate saying anythi
