Author: Jen Rios

November 2019 Faves

Please forgive my oversight! With Sean turning 18 this past weekend, I was a little bit discombobulated and thus, forgot to post my faves. Better late than never, I suppose! Sean and I ended up going to eat at Red Robin’s in Westland on Warren Road. The parking spot we ended up parking in was an extra large disabled one, man! Shout out to you and your accessible ways, Red Robin Westland!!! I will never forget the spot where I could comfortably be loaded into and out of my wheelchair.

I think this post will serve as a reminder for our birthday dinner and my boy’s 18th birthday. As Sean drove, he used his phone to navigate and I used mine for tunes. Well, I always HAVE TO start off the music with my jam! Saturday was no different:

It always seems to get a chuckle out of Sean. I recently thought about this album and put it on my Apple Music playlist. Sean remembers these songs from his youth. I played the CD on loop in my car for the entire summer I think. Maybe even longer.

Prince has been on my mind lately and I recently read Mayte Garcia’s Book about her time with Prince. She also has MS. I thought of his epic halftime show years ago and asked Sean if he had ever seen it. Unfortunately, he has NOT! I told him to watch it and witness Prince willing the heavens to open and it to rain!

Super Bowl footage in case Sean doesn’t search it out himself:

ALMOST Forgotten Tune #59

I woke up this morning and called my Mom. As I waited for assistance to get out, I checked my Twitter feed and saw a tweet from someone I just recently followed. It said, in part, “Grey sky morning.” OF COURSE I thought of this song and of better, more able-bodied days. They opened for up Third Eye Blind the summer after my senior year.

Also, I have to find out how I can watch this show in this video. Sean got me out of bed.

Incoherent

Tomorrow is Sean’s birthday. We will celebrate with dinner on Sunday. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I went into labor at about one or two in the morning just after Halloween. My Nom ended up driving me to the hospital because I was at her house when I realized that something was terribly wrong.. She told me to call the hospital I was set to give birth but when I did, they told me that I needed to go downtown to the main hospital because the place that I was supposed to give birth was not equipped with an NNICU in case my baby needed to be delivered.

I did just that and once I got to the hospital and was admitted, the doctor hooked me up to a prenatal monitor because since I had MS, I was a high-risk pregnancy.. I spent November 1st pretty much incoherent. A nurse came in periodically to check my vitals and she took one look at me and asked me if I knew where I was and what day it was. I told her that I was in the hospital and it wasHalloween. I said it was Halloween because that was when I declared that I could NOT carry this baby anymore!

The doctor came in to see me during rounds in the morning on the 2nd (Sean’s birthday). Because I have been in and out of sleep is I try recover from/deal with this rain and cold, I’m reminded of that day 18 years ago. It’s hard to believe that it really was 18 years ago now! I never thought that I would be as disabled as I am now but this is where I am.

Bye-Bye

So, all of my Facebook friends know that I have watched Hocus Pocus 31 times up to this point. It’s my favorite Halloween movie. I did not join Facebook until I stopped working in July 2017. I didn’t start watching Hocus Pocus 1million times until last year. I watched it 11 times. I purchased it on October 1st on Xfinity. I wanted to get my money’s worth! I have watched it so many times that it has only cost me $.64 each time I watch it. And, I own it for next year too! I went with Sean and my Mom to see it at the IMAX and The Henry Ford:

A different Facebook friend told me about that one and it was great!

Another friend tagged me in this post on October 4;

And the tags from my Facebook friends have not stopped! And a lot of them are really cool! I love every single one of them! I will share some here:

My YouTube feed was filled with random, interesting facts about Hocus Pocus

I shared those on my Facebook timeline often. For example:

Then, there are the videos also. I tried to share them here but I couldn’t. The first one I received was from a cousin in Florida:

It was Hocus Pocus through the lens of Snapchat filters:

And then two more of my cousins shared this song which made me laugh hysterically!

I was tagged in this post today:

Also, my niece sent me this shirt today:

I received it when I was already dressed for the day and I currently am bundled up in my sweatshirt with my hood tied around my face pretty tightly. In fact, that’s the reason I haven’t watched the movie today. I feel awful! It has been raining for days, my body hurts, and my knee is killing me on top of everything!

I will definitely rock that shirt next October often because:

But now, I have to say “bye-bye” just like Winnifred in her song.

Because I am not feeling well, I seem to be falling in and out of sleep often today. I will just play my favorite October song that I don’t think I have posted here this year yet:

I better do that before it’s too late!

“SaQUAD” OR Tune #40 Inspired by GMFB

My Mom was over at my house on Sunday when I could catch the second half of the Lions game. Things were going pretty well but then I saw Saquon Barkley‘s run. He shed three guys for a first down. My Mom was in the kitchen but I called her to come see the replay because it was so amazing (Even though it was so not cool!).

I explained to my Mom about last year, the breakfast table naming him,”SaQUAD” because of this picture.

We scrolled through the images and also saw this one:

My Mom saw the pictures and asked me if he works on his legs. Well, YE-AH!!! I told Sean later in the day that she asked me that and then we both laughed.

I remember seeing him work out because he was injured a few weeks ago so they had footage of him working out on GMFB when I first saw the video, I wondered why he always wears spandex. Then, I thought about it more and those aren’t spandex! His quads are just HUGE!!!

So, GMFB had their #AngryRuns segment yesterday and I knew this run was going to be on it. What I didn’t know or expect was the unanimous vote!

I tweeted them after the segment was over:

I wanted to post about that segment yesterday but my Dad was on my mind pretty heavily! At the end of the segment, Kyle references Gnarls Barkley so, here you go:

Good Show

Toward the end of GMFB, my Mom got to my house and went to the kitchen to begin making us some breakfast. It was more of a brunch because it was kind of late but we can’t begin our morning routine until after I have eaten something. Because it is gotten colder; I have stopped drinking my protein shakes. I prefer to eat something warm.

She brought tortillas with her for Sean and I told her that I wanted eggs and sausage. She asked me if I wanted them in a tortilla. Well, OF COURSE I do!!! Is that even a question?!

She handed me a tortilla filled with hard eggs and bits of sausage. I took a bite, closed my eyes, and I told her that it reminds me of Texas! Breakfast burritos will always do that to/for me! We started talking about the fact that my Dad had always made the BEST eggs!

Because Sean will be 18 on Saturday, I recounted the story of my Dad waking me up and offering to cook me breakfast because he had something to talk to me about. He told me that my Mom and he were bothered and concerned about the fact that I was NOT coming home for dinner. It was the summer after my senior year?! I was moving to Kalamazoo in the fall to attend WMU, I just wanted to be with my friends! I told him that I was moving to the OTHER side of the state and that he just didn’t understand.

I continued my story by telling my Mom that back then, I was seated at her dining room table and was freely swinging my legs. (Back when I still could control my legs). I told her that I will never forget in my entire life my Dad taking a step back in her kitchen so he could look directly into my eyes and telling me with the utmost to gravity, “At least you know you’re coming back!”

I stopped swinging by legs immediately and understood that even though my Dad did not have the, “College experience,” he’d let me know in those six words that being shipped up to Vietnam to fight in a war was so much bigger than anything I was doing that summer! I NEVER was late for dinner again as long as I’ve lived with my parents.

After we both finished our breakfast, we began our routine. My Dad was on my mind and we started talking about his funeral. There are so many events from that time, even 13 years later, that are crystal clear to me but I still can’t remember anyone’s face at the mausoleum. I do not even know who was there. Everyone wanted to hug me though but I was so distraught I just let my hands fall to my sides and allowed myself to be hugged but I could not even return the hug.

As my Mom washed my hair this morning, I let the tears flow freely. My Mom added that that was the best funeral! It really was! I think it was the day after the funeral where I told my Mom that I pictured my Dad standing in the back with his arms crossed over his chest and slowly nodding his head with a determined frown on his face and saying, “Good show!”

It really WAS a Good show! Pretty much the BEST! Even as I write this, I can’t stop crying but I have had fond memories of my Dad and I wonder what he would think about Sean being 18 in just five days!


A 3rd Day?!

I think that it’s primarily the weather that has caused my, “Fun Day hangover“ to continue for a 3rd day. Really?! A 3rd day?!

I was pretty out of it this morning as I watched GMFB. My Mom commented on my face while we completed our morning routine. She told me that it looked miserable and I let her know that it FEELS miserable! My knee popped out three times as we completed our routine which hurts so badly!

I spent the early afternoon in and out of sleep and I was extremely uncomfortable. I have already graduated to wearing a winter hat in my house. It’s actually Sean‘s winter hat. It’s a Carhart hat and it’s pretty warm!

After a while of sleeping on and off, I was awake and I watched Hocus Povus. I kind of had to set myself straight because it’s too early for Christmas movies just yet. We haven’t even had Halloween! I think it is the 29th time I have watched that movie this October and it was well-worth the price of buying in on Xfinity. I’m getting my money’s worth for sure!

Maybe this is just the cold settling into my bones and I’m just going to feel this awful until spring. That really stinks!