Author: Jen Rios

A Double Feature

I was talking with my Mom a few days ago and I don’t know how we started talking about this movie but I haven’t seen it since I was a child so I told her that we should watch it and so we did:

We actually rented it on Xfinity so we watched it twice because we had it for a 48 hour rental and then last night I told my Mom we should have a trilogy so we watched this one today:

I am really liking seeing the movies that I saw as a child as an adult and it’s quiet, illuminating! I have seen Pollyanna so many times because that’s my Mom’s favorite movie but I haven’t really watched it until today! All I remembered, was the really big pieces of cake. I hope tomorrow to complete our trilogy with Parent Trap, but if not, at least I had a double feature from yesterday and today.

Complicated Dance

I have been using an electric toothbrush since October 2021. I think it was not even a year after I started using it that the motor started to wear out:


By the time that happened, I could no longer use my manual toothbrush to brush my teeth. So, my brother bought me a new toothbrush! Now, I have figured out that I just glide my hand along my teeth, so the toothbrush stays lit up ‘Green’ the entire time.

I feel that I know how to brush my teeth now! But, there is a new development. Because your ears, your nose, and your throat, are all connected, I usually only get my top teeth brushed before I have to, either, blow my nose, or itch my ears!

I must tell you that blowing your nose with your top teeth, having just been brushed, but not yet fully rinsed off and flossed feels extremely weird! When I grab a Q-tip to address my itchy ears, that’s not comfortable either with toothpaste film in my mouth and before I have even flossed my teeth!

This all started to happen this year and I’m still trying to figure out what to do because I am not the one putting toothpaste on my toothbrush anymore. I don’t have that much control of my hands. So, it is sort of a complicated dance for my Mom to put toothpaste on my toothbrush, while I am either blowing my nose or using a Q-tip in my ears and she just waits.

We had the complicated dance this afternoon and I’m sure we will again this evening because we spoke to the woman who fit me for my wheelchair, and she told me that as the disease progresses, I become more sensitive to every stimulation!

Dave, has already come to my house, and he has a different seat for my new wheelchair. It’s a combination of foam and padding. I’m still working on that one in terms of a new wheelchair. There is so much red tape!!! it’s all a bit frustrating!!!

An Influence

I was talking to Sean a few days ago and I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I think that I am an influence on Sean. I’m talking about being a musical influence.

Sean and I have commented on the same song when we see a movie and we listen to a lot of the same music as he was growing up because I was actually growing up as well!

I had told him that my Mom and I watched Never Been Kissed a few days ago and he commented on a song that I was going to put in my blog post I wrote about it, but I decided to go with “Cutting Crew” instead. Here is the song he was talking about:

He told me that was the first time that he heard Madonna and said this was a banger but neither of us had experiences like that in high school.

He has already told me, almost apologetically, that he is NOT into U2! I told him that it’s NOT for everyone but I love them!

My Mom and I seem to be watching older movies these days because it’s easier on my eyes! HD is too much for them and I’m not sure what I am going to do because I use soft lightbulbs in my house, because the LED are too hard for me, they hurt my eyes but the LED is more cost efficient but my eyes can’t handle them but I read that LED it’s going to be the only thing available soon…

Good Thing

I am sitting in my living room with a winter hat on! Seriously?! In May?! But check this out:


It’s a really good thing that I had to abandon using my spring flavored chapstick because this is straight up winter temperatures! I will see about spring time flavors on the 17th to get my eyebrows waxed, haircut, and see my naturopath.

The Seanie Mix

I texted Sean today at 1:38 this morning because I just realized it is May 1 and that is the day, 22 years ago, that I found out that I was pregnant. I texted him that and added this song in my text because this was the song that was playing in my car when I turned it on and laced my arms through the opening of the steering wheel and rested my forehead on the top of the steering wheel:

I have never forgetten so many details from that day, because that was the moment when I realized that I was NOT alone.

This is a 22 year old memory, but I can remember wearing gray Champion, sweatpants, and a free Western T-shirt that I had gotten during the past academic year. My wet hair was in a messy bun after my shower. I don’t remember my appointment time, but I already knew that I was pregnant but I needed confirmation.

I can remember the details about the woman who spoke with me at my appointment, her name was Laura, and remember her lavender sweater set. Those memories are playing in my head right now because I don’t think I am going to sleep anytime soon.

That place is on Telegraph road and no longer is a women’s clinic. But every time I pass it, I will never forget the events of 22 years ago, today and they are forever ingrained into my mind!

I had made a “The Seanie Mix” CD just like I made “The Daddy Mix” CD. I have just added songs to a playlist on Apple Music now. I have most of the songs that were on “The Daddy Mix” CD. that is just titled, “Daddy”and I have a “Seanie” playlist but “Your Song” is NOT on it. I think I’m going to do that right now and then try my hand at sleeping…

#MyGirlL: My 2nd SALTS

I was going to write about this yesterday, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to really think about it but today, as my Mom was walking into my room, I smiled broadly just thinking about it so now, I have to tell you!

This all happened on Friday but Friday was a really rough day for me, but just before I was given dinner, my Mom let Leia out and it was raining so she put her raincoat on. But, then my Mom commented on the fact that her raincoat was not properly a fixed to her and it slipped off of her shoulders!

My Mom opened the door to retrieve the raincoat just as Leia did her business and was coming back in because she does NOT like getting wet! On Friday, I smiled to myself a bit as my Mom told me about Leia’s raincoat falling off of her and her, not wanting to get wet.

I was thinking about that today is my Mom came to get me out of bed and that’s why I was smiling broadly! I do not have a daughter, so it’s fun to spoil her with silly outfits, but she seems to like them now!

Too Much OR “Your Feet are So Small!”

Early this morning, when I was trying to fall to sleep, I had a memory that seriously made me chuckle! I thought that I would not remember my thoughts from early this morning during the day, but I did, and I started to laugh again!!!

Maybe I thought of this memory, because today is Thursday! What I am thinking about or what I was thinking about this morning was the fact that Mr. Flint washed my feet. I think it was in my New Testament class.

I think this memory made me chuckle because when I think about me in high school, I shake my head because I was too much! Way too much! But the fact that that is true, retrospectively makes me feel better. I was absolutely way too much in high school but I loved it and I had fun.

I recently talked with Mr. George and he asked me about my diagnosis and I told him, December 28, 2000. He gasped and asked me incredulously, “Right after high school” and all I could say, in response was a resigned, “Yeah.”

But I had a great time in high school and for my class, Mr. Flint was going to wash people’s feet because we were talking about the Lord’s Passion. I was re-counting the story to my Mom today, and I said to her, I guess holy Thursday has always been a big deal for me!

I remember Mr. Flint told my class that he was going to wash our feet similar to what Jesus did during his passion and I got excited for that! He wrote our names on a piece of paper for him to draw to choose the people whose feet he was going to wash. Then, he if we didn’t want to get our feet washed, will just tell him to pass.

I think he had called six different people’s names, and ALL six of them declined from having their feet washed. Then, he paused a moment, and reluctantly read my name! I acted like I was a contestant on the Price Is Right! I sat toward the back of and I remembered that I jumped up, and started running toward the front, threw my hands over my head, and let out a, “Woo boo!”

I remember that I was so excited and had no problem taking my socks and shoes off at all even though I was at school! I remember that Mr. Flint, when he started to wash our feet as he was explaining the symbolization of what Jesus did,

I do remember him telling me as he was washing my feet, “Your feet are so small!” I remember, laughing and telling him that that’s how big they are!

Executive Decision

So, last night, I felt the hint of a scrape on my lips as I put my Chapstick on before I went to bed. So, this morning, I was too. groggy to deal with it so I threw the old tube out and started my new spring chapstick before we got into the restroom. But then I saw this just after I applied the cucumber mint Chapstick:


I feel a little bit chilly, and I wasn’t sure that I could continue wearing my spring chapstick. I looked through all of my boxes of Chapstick and I had another pomegranate one, so I made the executive decision to go back to wearing pomegranate Chapstick. I think I will try again May 17, that is my naturopath appointment and my haircut.