The Same Effect!

Yesterday, I was loving watching Labyrinth and it took my mind off of my aching body and I was taking back to childhood. I wanted to have a continuation of that feeling today so I was going to watch Willy Wonka, and the Chocolate Factory but I do not own it yet. So instead, I watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

It had the same effect! That is another movie that me and my cousinT Shannon watched 1 million times:

We loved singing this song so much! I never got married and she did not get married in June but that’s how life works out sometimes. I think I might watch Willy Wonka tomorrow..

Uncomfortable.

I’m still sitting in my broken chair and my ankles are still swollen! I don’t think it hurts so much and my heels are stressed for sure! I told my Mom that the skin is not going to break down because I sleep in my bed for 6 or 7 hours with no shoes on. My heels have a little bit of time to heal. I big toes are looking better finally. I go on the 26th to talk to the doctor.

I don’t leave the house until the 17th so currently, I am just existing. I watched two and a half movies today.

I had just finished my tour with my 3-Peat of movies from my childhood: Labyrinth, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Today I saw a new movie that was recommended to me:

and then Sean came by and we watched Book of Eli. My body hurts and this is uncomfortable.

Pretty Miserable OR “Cherry Blue Sky” OR Wild Cherry Weekend

I did not write a blog post yesterday because my chair has been broken since May 24. Today is June 8. I’m pretty miserable! My ankles are swollen, even though I am wearing compression socks My left foot and seems to be popping off of the pedal because I feel terrible I’m without my legs extended.

I thought that I could just endure it, but this is kind of rough guys! I started my Spring/Summer chapstick and my new Chapstick for Saturdays this Was going to be Wild Cherry. I was looking forward to it because not too long ago, it was Valentine’s Day and Sean brought me a baby Red Velvet blizzard. He brought us all a doughnut as well. He got me Chocolate Glazed because that used to be my favorite, but now I have to eat Chocolate Dip because it’s softer. He got my Mom a glazed doughnut.

I thought it was a very odd thing that he got a cherry doughnut, but he said that it looks good and he wanted to try it. I was reminded of my Dad because he used to like chocolate covered cherries that we used to get him for Fathers Day. I asked Sean if he liked it and he said that he did. I told him that it was genetic because grandfather liked cherry stuff too.

I needed a new flavor for my Saturdays this Spring/Summer So I searched on Burt’s Bees website. I was going to get four of my Cucumber Mint anyway. It went back-and-forth from being available to not available and when I get paid, it was not available so I decided to get it from Amazon. One tube of wild cherry was nine dollars, but you could get a four pack for 13. I went for the deal.

Well, that didn’t work out so well! It does NOT taste like cherries at all. It taste minty to me. I asked Sean to smell it yesterday and he said it smells a little bit like cherries, but he can smell the mint as well. He said that that’s the base they use. That makes sense because I didn’t like the Apple Cinnamon Crisp once I got for last winter. I still have three tubes to use. I had my mom’s apple pie in mind when I got it, but it missed the mark. I will be using it regardless this year after Thanksgiving.

When it arrived to my house, Katy Perry was playing in my head. That’s kind of an old reference because that song came out my first year teaching. I don’t kiss girls either so it wasn’t a fitting song.

The song I changed to, even though it does not taste like cherries, was a Sara Bareilles song that I love! She says ‘cherry blue skies’ in it. Because I don’t particularly like this chapstick, it taste minty so I guess I don’t mind it a bunch. I have made it a Wild Cherry Weekend this Spting/Summer!:

it kind of really stinks sitting in this broken chair, but my Mom talked to Ray this morning and Jujuan is making a house call on the 15th. It does not look like my chair will be fixed on June 17. That stinks!!!

A Whole Lot

I remember when I was an undergrad in college and I was six months pregnant. I had just gone to the neural ophthalmologist for the first time and I had optic neuritis. I thought that was very strange because I was told that MS is dormant when you are pregnant.

I was in an art history class and the prof was talking about a painting that we were going to talk about in the next class. She said that anyone with issues of seeing in different colors should stay after class so she would preview the painting with whomever stayed.

There’s one other guy with me and she showed us a painting of a tree that had orange and blue in it. I remember that I could see it so I told her that I would be okay and that was it. She was talking to that guy when I left.

I thought about this 25 year old memory because 25 years in, my vision is changing and apparently is my taste. I remember when I saw Pentecost with the Virtual Front Pew for the first time in 2018 and Fr. Mike’s vestment was a beautiful deep red. I just saw it a couple weeks ago and I think it’s tomato red now. I know That he didn’t change investments just the way I see it changed. That got me thinking…

It really bothers me that I cannot smell/taste the cherry in my Wild Cherry chapstick. I am going to use all four tubes because I’m not going to waste it and it tastes all right just not like cherries.

I’m thinking about that because I don’t want to think about my broken chair. My Mom tried turning it on when we were done with our routine and it did not turn on so I transferred to my manual chair and then to my power chair because it has a headrest which I need now. Thank God that it turned on and Dujuan called and he will be here on Monday between 9 and 10 am.

My Mom and I were talking, and if the chair is not in better shape after he leaves, I will cancel my van rentals and my doctors appointment. I will tell Christina that I will get my face waxed in July. I want to spend June holed up in my house.

This is a one month when I can just do that with my appointments. Dr. Chamas told me that my ultrasound was normal for vascular surgery and we just want to talk to the doctor about my toes (Those are NOT normal). So if I can’t go, I will reschedule it at some other day in the future.

Have I told you that my body hurts and it has been hurting since May 24 when my chair went down? Well, it does!!! A whole lot!!!

17 Days

It has been 17 days since my wheelchair has stopped responding. Well, I can move it backward and forward, but I can’t extend my legs or give my back some relief. 17 days! That’s a lot! It’s 17 days and not so much ann end in sight. Dujuan is coming on Monday so maybe something will happen but I’m really not banking on it.

My Mom got a text saying that the parts ordering is on step four of six. That might be a good thing and maybe we could take my chair in next week as I had planned. But, I had a development today…

My Mom had to leave for a bit and I was seated in my wheelchair. I had my Medical Guardian device on which is what I wear anytime I am home alone even for a short while. You can never be too sure! Sitting in my broken wheelchair is quite uncomfortable because I cannot recline at all. It has been 17 days?!

I was sitting in my chair and listening to the Catechism in a Year when I slipped. I slipped forward, so much so that my butt was almost off of the seat, and the belt was just under my armpits. It did not feel good at all!!! I had just called my Mom and told her that I had slipped a little bit. I was a little slouched. I told her that before I got really slouched annd almost off the chair!

At that moment, I pressed the button on my Guardian Medical device. Avery answered and he asked if I needed help. I have had this device for about six or seven years. I have never had to admit that I needed help Like this. I had called before when we were at the dentist in the parking lot and the wheels on my wheelchair got messed up on the ramp. I also called when my wheelchair got stuck on the porch.

My Mom called 911 when I slipped in the bathroom and I was wedged between the toilet and the tub. I cried then, but I did not call them. My Mom did. Well, today, I was home alone and I had to call them. I told Avery that sometimes they take 10 minutes to get here and he offered to stay on the line with me until they get here. I told him that wasn’t necessary and he told me to call them back if they are not at my house in five minutes.

I felt surprisingly calm throughout this whole thing, but when I heard the firetrucks coming, I began to cry a little bit. I heard the Alanis Morissette in my head as I heard the firetruck coming:

Jared and Keith cut me up in two shakes and they loved Leia up like crazy! Jared said that they both are dog people! Jared had all the information on the iPad and I had to sign. I have never had to do that before. My Mom usually does that.

Unable.

Today was a rough one. I had forgotten how unable I am in the heat! I was smacked in the face with that realization today. I cried. It’s going to be a long summer and there’s nothing I can do about it!!! I just forgot how unable I am in the heat. After 25 years, you think I would know this, but I was surprised today. Sadly…

Swollen

My Mom took this picture a couple days ago:

This picture was taken after a day wearing my socks. It does not hurt, but it does not look good at all!!!

That’s what happens when you cannot elevate your legs like you have been for the past nine years. Dujuan the tech is coming on Monday. Maybe he has some good news for us! I highly doubt it but we will see.

These toe-less socks are working out for me. I see to the vascular surgeon on June 26. I’m probably going to go without my chair working like I did last month.

Chuckle

So, Dujuan came by today. He got right to work as soon as he came into my house. My Mom asked him how many years he works on a week and he told her that he couldn’t tell her. I stayed seated in my chair as he worked. He completely knew what he was doing. He went back-and-forth from the back of my chair to touching things on my joystick.

He messed with the stuff in the back of my chair, and then he came to touch the joystick and as he touched it, I could feel my chair move. I could feel my face change and he chuckled a little bit. It was a cute chuckle because he’s a pretty big guy. He had 6’1 (because my mom asked him) And he has salt in his goatee. I will never forget that chuckle.

As he was leaving, he told us that he would let us know about the motors there are on order. So, my legs are elevated, and my butt is relaxed. I kind of want to cry, but I feel so good that I can’t. I’m sure that I will later and I’m not worried about that.

Confortable.

So, I’m sitting comfortably in my chair not quite sure how I feel. I started to read this story on Facebook:

In 2006, Denise Richards left her marriage to Charlie Sheen. She walked away with her two young daughters and the heavy task of rebuilding her life from scratch.

Her decision to leave came after facing extreme chaos at home, including Charlie’s severe struggles with drug addiction and explosive verbal behavior. Court documents later revealed that his compulsive gambling and threats to her safety had made the environment completely toxic for a young family.

Realizing she could not let her daughters grow up around such instability, she filed for a restraining order and chose to walk away permanently.

For most people, raising two children alone after such a difficult public breakup would be more than enough to handle.

But her story was just beginning.

A few years later in 2011, Denise decided to adopt a baby girl. The little girl had significant health challenges that required extra care and attention. Denise welcomed her with open arms, turning her family of three into a family of four. She committed herself fully to her new daughter’s needs.

Then, life threw another major curveball. Charlie Sheen’s twin boys were removed from their mother’s custody by social services. The two toddlers suddenly needed a safe, stable place to live where they could just be kids. They needed a real home immediately.

Denise did not hesitate for a second. She opened her doors to them.

There were no legal rules forcing her to take the boys. The court did not order her to do it, and nobody expected her to step up. She was the ex-wife, not their mother. But Denise saw two innocent children who desperately needed help, and she chose to be the person who helped them.

Suddenly, Denise was taking care of five children. Three were her own daughters, and two were her ex-husband’s sons from another relationship. She raised all of them with the exact same love, attention, and dedication. She did not treat the boys any differently than her own girls.

When people asked her why she took on such a massive responsibility, her answer was very simple. She said she just did what any mother would do because the boys needed someone.

She did not make a big announcement to the media. She did not use the situation to get positive publicity or to make herself look like a hero. She did not complain about what she had to give up to make room for two more kids. Instead, she just showed up for them every single day.

In Hollywood, celebrities usually love attention. Denise chose to focus her attention on children who were going through a very hard time. Eventually, the news reporters stopped talking about the story, but Denise kept doing the hard work behind closed doors.

She did not do it for praise or awards. She did it because those children needed stability, protection, and unconditional love. When they had nowhere else to go, Denise was there for them.

True mothers do not just give life, they protect it, heal it, and expand the borders of their hearts to make sure no child is left behind. Denise Richards proved that blood does not make a family, unconditional love does, and her beautiful children grew up knowing they always had a safe harbor in her arms.

We Are Human Angels
Authors
Awakening the Human Spirit

We are the authors of ‘We Are Human Angels,’ the book that has spread a new vision of the human experience and has been spontaneously translated into 14 languages by readers.

We hope our writing sparks something in you!

familyfirst #motherhood #inspiration #kindness #parenting

I don’t really care about Charlie Sheen or Denise Richard, but my tears came easily as I read this story. I think that’s a little relief for me. We are still waiting for my motors to be repaired, but at least I can be a little more comfortable as we wait.