Author: Jen Rios

The 10th

This morning, it was extremely evident to me that it will take me a very long time to fully recover from my power outage at the end of July. I am sleeping a lot during the day even when I do not want to! For instance, I was set to watch the Lions preseason game against the Patriots last Thursday.

I was excited when I watched the coin toss at the beginning and Stafford was one of the Lions players to witness that. Once the game started, Tom Savage was under Center so Matthew Stafford wasn’t going to play in the game. That bummed me out a little bit but there were a lot of other players that I wanted to see. I even had my eye patch on because my eyes are a little bit wonky right now.

I woke up just before halftime and I didn’t even know that I had fallen asleep! I then fell back to sleep and woke up well after the game was over. I haven’t been well since I got back into my house after the power outage.

This morning, for instance, I was really dragging! I sat in my kitchen and it took an exceedingly long time to drink my Kiefer. Sean woke up kind of early because he was called in to work early. My Mom had brought him pancakes that she had made at her house so he joined me in the kitchen to warm them up to have breakfast.

When he was finished, he was putting the gallon of milk back into the refrigerator and I asked him to get me my Adkins shake. He pulled one out of the door of the refrigerator and asked me if I wanted him to open it. I have had to have either my Mom or him open it because my hand strength has gotten so bad that I can’t even open it myself.

I told him that I could do it so he set it on the counter and went into the living room to lounge on the couch. I told him that I didn’t want to brag or anything but I have been, “Playing with my ‘Fuddy Putty’ for nine days so far!”

*** As an aside, when I said, “Nine days,” I immediately thought of my first days at Western and driving with two of my new friends and girls on my floor (Tonya and Marissa) to go to the local Target store. We were strangers until this day and Marissa started singing this song at the top of her lungs when it came on the radio and yelled for us to sing along as well because, “[We] knew the words!“***

Sean kind of laughed when I asserted that I could open my shake of my own. Once I did, I let him know that today would be the 10th!

Anticlimactic OR The Last Time

Sean starts his senior year in 12 days. For me, that fact is absolutely BONKERS!!! We got his school clothes for his upcoming senior year today. For me, it was a bit anti-climactic to say the least!

Because times and my physical abilities have changed so much, he ordered his shoes online. We needed to go to the Men’s Wearhouse to get a tie and pocket square to go with his suit for his senior pictures which are scheduled for next Saturday.

We also needed to get dress shirts that I got them from JCPenney because I have credit there. I couldn’t order his exact size online so we went to the mall to pick them up. His size wasn’t in the store either so we ordered them at the checkout desk. They will arrive in 4 to 7 days to the store. Although we were leaving the store empty-handed, we did stop to get nibblers from Mrs. Fields before we left the mall.

We have always gotten his school clothes from JCPenney. Five Oxford shirts and five pairs of pants. However, since he is in the high school, they only allow him to have Schoolbelles pants. They aren’t open on Saturdays when we were out and about so we will get some pants next week. He will also pick up school supplies by himself next week as well.

My knee hurts today and I am not sure how I feel about this being the last time we get school clothes for him. I didn’t let him know that this was a big deal for me but I guess it kind of was! It all was a bit anticlimactic with ordering things online and placing an order in the store.

I really can’t believe that this is the last time but I was happy to receive those nibblers today; more so than I will ever tell Sean.

Because he drove his car, I was in charge of the aux cord and the music. Of course, I played my jam a number of times and finally explained to him the significance of this song. It played once I signed for my new car. Ali Reda told me to keep my current car because the car I signed for was not available at the dealership to be picked up. I drove back to our second apartment in my last vehicle that was not going to have accommodations. This song played on the radio:

I felt pretty independent on my ride home. Little did I know that the MS that silently raging through my body would have different plans for my independence in the coming years. So that day driving was also a, “Last Time” time than I can clearly remember.

ALMOST Forgotten Tune #52

I have heard this song twice in the past two days and I was surprised that I still knew all of the words. Hearing it, I was reminded grade school, my friend Natalie, her house was within walking distance from the school, and her mom always baking. I had to listen to the entire song both times because I had such fond and wonderful memories!

I Love You, Mr. Darcy!

Sense and Sensibility is not available for me to watch for free on my TV right now. That movie really is my jam! I have settled for Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley. I really dig that one too! I have seen it a number of times in the past four or five days and yesterday, when I was watching, it again, it got to my favorite part and I just said out loud, (Even though I was by myself in my house) “I love you, Mr. Darcy!”

I absolutely love that part of the movie even though that’s not my favorite adaptation l of the book. A&E has that distinction! I am able to watch this version because it is on Starz. The last scene has been cut out probably to save time for this viewing. I looked it up and showed it to my Mom this morning:

That could be another reason why I love so many of the Hallmark movies. Many of them have the same names as the book and movie. Either way, I’m really loving Mr. Darcy right now!

“Ooh, Ooh, Stinky Feet!”

I saw another version of this commercial five times yesterday:

Each time I saw or heard this commercial, I thought back to my childhood and my Parents’ green station wagon. Now, my brothers and I lovingly refer to it as the, “Tank.”

I recently shared that meme on Facebook and sent out a shout out to anyone who had ridden in the Rios‘s station wagon. The entire neighborhood and school rode in that car at one point in their childhood!

Because of that BMW commercial, I most vividly remember riding in the very back of the station wagon with Heather Wells, my cousin, Melissa, and or my cousinT, Shannon, or a combination of the three. We used to think it was such a treat to ride in the very back of the car when really it was just giving my Mom a much-needed break.

My Mom and I recently talked about how bad it really was to have children in the very back because the exhaust fumes would go up and into the car. Retrospectively, we all could have died!

I just laugh about it now and think back to all of us taking our shoes off and putting our bare or stocking feet on the rear window and moving them back-and-forth and singing in unison, “Ooh, Ooh. Stinky feet!” And I think of my Mom listening to oldies on the radio and hearing this song:


The Cutest Thing EVER!!!

My Mom has planted flowers all around her house since I was a girl. She absolutely loves them! They are beautiful!

This morning, she was not able to water her flowers so once we begin our routine, it was almost afternoon, so she asked Sean to go to her house to water her flowers. She told him to call her once he was starting to water them.

I was fortunate enough to witness the cutest thing ever as I got ready for the day. My Mom had Sean on speakerphone and she told him how to specifically water each flower. She told him the proper setting on the attachment to the hose and told him how long he had to water each pot.

She told Sean to talk to them and let them know that he was her grandson. I began to laugh when I saw the complete joy on her face! Sean declined from talking to the flowers but he painstakingly watered each one exactly how she told him to water it.

He was so engaged and listened to everything she told him and asked her questions when he had them. He followed her directions to the letter. As he moved to the back of the house, he asked my mom what to do with this, “Bad boy,”. My Mom immediately corrected him by telling him that they are ALL girls and they like to be called “Beauty.”

My Mom has told me before that it takes about 45 minutes to water all of her flowers. I have only watered them once in my life when I was about 16 years old. The only reason I went outside to water them was because there was a crew of workers on my roof at the time replacing the roof so I wanted to be outside to look at them.

Once Sean was finished, he told my Mom that her flowers were beautiful but he did NOT like watering them! I am so happy that I witnessed their exchange as Sean listened to my Mom and did what she said as my Mom was almost giddy at the fact that her flowers were being watered when she couldn’t water them herself this morning. It was a really good feeling to see and hear my Nom’s excitement and hear my son doing exactly what my Mom said.

A Slow Recovery

I have been back in my house with power for a couple weeks now but my, “bounce back” has still not happened fully. I am not going to lie, it concerns me a little bit. There isn’t anything to do but just wait it out.

Abrasions on my elbows and bruises on my backside have since subsided but my speech is still affected. I’m not sure if it’s the heat or just a side-effect of me trying to get back to my, “Normal.” It frustrates me to realize how slow the recovery process really is!

As of late, in the past few days even, I cannot seem to remain awake during the day. These. “Naps” are really just me, “Passing out” in my wheelchair. I never know when it is going to happen and I don’t know that it has happened until I wake up.

It’s my, “Thing” to watch the same movies over and over again. Right now, I am watching Pride and Prejudice. I swear that I was born at the wrong time because I absolutely love it and I wish I could play the piano. I fell asleep during a large portion of the movie today but I awakened just in time to see Mr. Darcy profess his love for Elizabeth.

Sean has seen me watch Pride and Prejustice and/or Seanse and Sensibility and I let him know when I am watching scenes from a dance that really, it smells pretty badly in there because back then, they didn’t place much importance on personal hygiene.

Maybe I would rather NOT be born in that time period but I love these movies! I think I just love being lost in the romance of the movie because it’s so different from my life right now. At least it helps me think about something else other than my VERY slow recovery.

Playing

It’s been four days that I have been working with my Therapy putty. I know that it is going to be a VERY long road to strengthen my hands but already, my wrists do not burn as I squeeze the putty and the extra, extra soft is actually getting easier.

I’m a little bit surprised at how much I use it but my goal is to regain some of my hand strength and I want to save my gums and still use a manual toothbrush. Sean has already tested out the extra extra soft while I was passing it from hand to hand. He asked me if he could try the red one out. The red one is the, “Firm” one and Sean has told me that it’s going to be a REALLY long time before I get there. He told me that it was difficult for him and my hands are, “Wonky” so it will be even harder for me!

I am not deterred from it though. It’s simple to mindlessly pass the putty from hand to hand as I watch TV. Yesterday, my Mom asked me to do something when she came into my house and I looked at her questioningly and looked at the putty in my hands and didn’t know what to do. She asked Sean to complete it because, “[I] was playing with my Fuddy-putty.’ “

I laughed and told them that I was NOT, “Playing”but rather strengthening my hands! My Mom told me last night as she grabbed my hand to help transfer me that it was different because I was actually grabbing her hand back. So, that’s proof that I will continue, “PLAYING with my? ‘Fuddy-putty’”!!!


“A New Car!”

I bought my current car in November 2011. It was necessary for me to buy it because my previous car, was submerged in water on my way to work very early one morning when it was still dark and raining very heavily! Apparently, cars DON’T float! That fact was something that I learned too late!

I bought a 2012 Chevy Malibu then and she is still running strong! My car is a girl and her name is, “Bea” after Colbie Caillat because one of her songs was playing the first time and I turned the radio on. Once I signed the papers back in 2011, my car went from the dealership to Advantage Mobility so my chair topper and hand controls could be installed.

I picked up my car once my accommodations were installed and the first time I drove her to my house, this is what she looked like:

A few months ago, the body shop at Les Stanford removed the chair topper because I was no longer driving. It was not necessary and it was doing damage to the roof of the car. They put a quick fix on the roof:

For me, that was a big deal because I had never seen my car without its chair topper. Well, a couple of weeks ago, those black patches placed on the holes in my roof begin to leak INTO my car. That was really not cool! My car remained in my driveway with a tarp on it until I could figure out what to do.

I waited for a day when it was not raining and had my Mom drive the car to Les Stanford’s body shop. They had the car for almost 2 weeks. My Mom picked it up on Friday. She took a few pictures for me because they detailed it and I am still trying to recover from the power outage and it is way too warm for me to go outside!

When I saw this picture, I began to cry.

I have NEVER seen my car like that and it’s been paid off for two years! I asked her to take a couple more pictures so I could see the entire car better.

She looks brand new! As I look at that picture, I can’t help but hearthe guy from The Price is Right.

I feel like I have a brand new car! I have yet to be in it but I will get to ride in it when I get my Frida Kahlo eyebrows addressed, hopefully next week.

A Rabbit Hole

I watched Across the Universe a few days ago and I absolutely love the soundtrack! I dig the Beatles because they always remind me of my cousinT, Shannon!

I have posted about songs from this movie but I’m going to add some of The other songs I dig! I don’t think I have posted these songs but if I have, you just get double sugar!

Not one of my favorite Beatles songs but I LOVE BONO!!!:

So all of these songs are basically the entire movie but I really take them! Because this soundtrack is completely Beatles music, it reminded me of another movie with the Beatles songs as the soundtrack, I Am Sam:

I used to sing this song to Sean when he was very small:

The impetus to going down this rabbit hole was a picture my cousinT, Shannon took of me from her third-floor apartment. I was thinking about driving my Parents’ car and listening to the I Am Sam soundtrack on loop. Sean was in the backseat at the time of this picture in his car seat carrier and I was still driving and walking. In other words, it was a lifetime ago! These two soundtracks reminded me of that lost time!