This life of paralysis is very difficult! I'm sad and being treated for depression. I had been feeling more positive last week while my mother-in-law was visiting. I love her.She encouraged and helped me to be more motivated with doing my exercises and with trying to do more tasks on my own but since she left here to return home (3 hours away, in another state), I miss her terribly and have come to realize (that living with men -hubby- and -son- and having no sisters or daughters, nor mother) how very much I am in need of female companionship. Now that my mother-in-law is gone from my home, the house and my life feel a bit empty.

However, this post won't be all negative and 'woe is me' as I do have some positive accomplishments to tell since my last post. A few weeks ago, I was finally able to put on my AFO (Ankle and Foot Orthotic)and shoe without assistance which enables me to be totally independent with dressing myself each day and also means that I no longer need to awaken my hubby for assistance should I require a middle of the night trip to the bathroom (luckily for me, that doesn't happen often-it can take 20 minutes to put on the AFO and shoes and arm sling(all required for me to walk).

Three nights last week I was able to prepare dinner(supper) for my family with minimal assistance (this made me happy beyond belief)! It was tiring standing at the stove top but was nice to hear my hubby joyfully say 'Look at you; you're cooking!' and my son say 'Mom, it's cool seeing you cooking again.'

Another accomplishment: I went grocery shopping with hubby and his mom (I used one of those motorized shopping carts. I had a blast! At one point, while motoring around, I looked up at hubby with a huge smile on my face and said, 'I'm shopping!' Hubby said it made his heart happy seeing me so happy. Are you wondering what meals I prepared? For those of you who know me personally, you can probably guess which favorites I made... Sausage soup, one night. Lasagna another night and one Weight-Watchers recipe that we all enjoy...pork chops with a spicy Dijon mustard sauce. On one other night I made a sweet-and-sour sauce to accompany a stir-fry dish my hubby made. I can't share my soup or pork chop recipes but I can give you the link to the sweet and sour sauce. It was quite good. I found it at About.com: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/sauces/r/sweetandsour.htm

That's all I have for today. Thanks for reading my blog.