Category: A Bit Of Randomness

This category is full of randomness that really doesn’t fit nicely into any of the categories having to do with my road to walking.

Real or Pretend?

I had difficulty falling to sleep yesterday night because it was raining and that made my body and ESPECIALLY my knee hurt a whole lot! When I awakened this morning, I didn’t even know it was daylight savings. As I was waiting for my Mom to come by, my knee popped out! It’s been one year, 10 months, and nine days since my surgery and I can’t believe that I am still dealing with this!

So, as my Mom gets to my house and gets me into my wheelchair before I ask her to pull my ankle up and so she slowly raised my right foot up as I put the back of my chair down until I heard the loudest crack I have heard to date as it popped back into place. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry at the pain but I groaned and closed my eyes.

Sean was up and watching the Pistons when my Mom started saying it. It was either Sean or I who asked the time and she looked at the clock on my stove and asked, “Do you want the real time or the pretend time?” Sean was confused by that question and looked at his phone to get the answer. I told him how my Mom asked that question every day for two weeks that we were in Texas and in a different time zone.

I think I was about seven years old then and so I just answered with, “Pretend.” The, “Real” time was the time that it was in our normal time zone. Sean tried explaining to her that there is only real time but I stopped him and told him that she has been doing it for almost 30 years. She’s not going to change it now. Hi guess that daylight savings time really only affected me when I worked and had to get up at a certain time but now, since I don’t, it really doesn’t matter. That really sucks if/when you think about it!

Voluntary Surrender

Because my license is expiring tomorrow (because it’s my birthday!), my Mom and I went to the Secretary of State today. It was really busy there but since I am disabled, there were only two people in front of me. Once it was my turn, my Mom pushed me up to the counter and I told the woman that my license was expiring but I needed to change it to a state ID because I can no longer drive. She immediately began typing on her computer and gave us paperwork to fill out. As my Mom was filling the paperwork out (because I can no longer write well enough to fill out a legal form – my writing is mostly illegible, oversized scrawl) I took this picture:

Something told me that this would be the last time that I would see my driver’s license complete. As we finished the paperwork, I went back to the counter and gave it to the woman. She did some more typing and handed me two pieces of paper to sign on a clipboard. I signed both pieces of paper and gave the clipboard back. She gave me one piece of paper and my Mom was going to fold it up but I stopped her because I wanted to read it. I probably shouldn’t have done that.

It had my name at the top and my driver’s license number that would become my state ID number and there was one sentence written above the line where I signed my name. This sentence was, “License canceled because of voluntary surrender.” As I read that and it sunk in, my eyes began to well with tears. I had tissue in my coat pocket so I was able to dab the corners of my eyes so as not to have tears streaming down my face in such a busy place.

As I kept wiping my eyes, my Mom told me that it was OK and she tried to calm me down and handed me additional tissue. The woman had me sign two more things and then she directed us to walk down to take a picture. Well, I was happy that my poofy hair would not be on my license anymore because it rained the day I renewed my license so my hair got really frizzy!

The new ID picture is just a picture of me and my Mom and I left. After leaving, we stopped to get some chicken schwarmas for lunch. As she pulled into a parking spot at Hamido’s, this song came on:

This song has always been my song to my Mom. Sitting in the passenger seat, I grabbed her arm on the inside of her elbow like I used to just after my Abuela died. (My Mom’s Mom) We both sat there in silence and I was the first want to start crying and my Mom cried too because she finally was able to pay attention to the lyrics.

My state ID will come to my house in two or three weeks. They punched a hole in my old license because it will be expired tomorrow but stapled the paper that states that I will be getting a new ID soon to it. I need to call my insurance agent to adjust my car insurance now that I am no longer a licensed driver. I don’t think I will do that tomorrow though, it IS my birthday and that might bum me out!

At Least I’m Consistent!

Last night, as Sean was shaving, I told him that I was going to wake him up singing this because it’s my birthday:

He walked out of the bathroom with shaving cream on his face and told me that as much as he is excited for me for my birthday, if I sang that at 6:30 in the morning, he may not be too receptive to hear it! I laughed and decided that I wouldn’t sing it that early in the morning.

I opened my eyes this morning and I knew that there was NO WAY that I would be able to muster up enough strength to sing that! Just after Sean got out of the shower and was in his room, he wished me a happy birthday and I responded with the weak, “Thanks!”

When my Mom came over, she was talking about a bunch of things and as she bent over to unplug my wheelchair, she stood up straight, gasped, and started singing me Happy Birthday! I smiled as I laid in bed and we create tried to shake some jazz hands by my ears.

As I sat in my living room trying to wake up, the birthday witches started to pour in! I received texts, phone calls, messages on Facebook, and emails, I even have opened my Twitter profile about 10 times just to see the balloons! As I became less groggy, I begin to get excited! I hope I thanked everyone! I think I did but they really started pouring in! My mom laughed at all the alerts she was hearing and every time I would smile. I showed her a post about my birthday last year and it had my two favorite birthday videos:

I’ve already told my brother, Dave, that, “Today’s MY day!”

And of course I had to show her the Grand Chawhee Clip from “All Dogs Go to Heaven.”

I ALWAYS reference those clips when it’s mine or someone else’s birthday! So much so, that Sean wanted to do something after school a few days before his birthday and before he waited for my answer, he let me know that soon it would be, “The Grand Chawhee’s Birthday!” I laughed and let him do whatever he wanted to do after school because I thought it was funny that he made a reference that I constantly do because I love birthdays! At least I’m consistent!

“Poop”

When I opened my eyes this morning to my alarm going off to wake Sean up for school, I saw this post recapping my birthday. I smiled and shared it. Of all the birthday posts I received yesterday, this one had to be the first one to show up in the montage. Now the world knows that my brother, Dave, calls me, “Poop.” He’s been doing that since about the time I was in seventh grade and was 13 years old. It wasn’t until I was about 32 or 33 that my Mom noticed that he calls me that. She hates it but now that’s just what he calls me.

I knew that I would feel pretty bad today because I was so excited yesterday! It’s not Sunday, I did not, “smoke my mind,” and I am not hung over… but it kind of feels like it.

After my Dad‘s death, I absolutely love this song! It reminds me of him although he never pushed me on a swing in the park. I told my Mom that I put the sweatshirt I was wearing yesterday back on so technically, this is my, “Cleanest, dirty shirt.”

I spent the day just reading my book. When the, “Green leopard print” would show up on the pages, I just put the book down and closed my eyes to rest them for a little while. I closed my eyes when Sean left to work out and did not open them until I heard him unlocking the front door. That was a lot of sleep but I am sure that will help because I don’t sleep very well at night

I want to write about my wonderful birthday dinner yesterday but, I’m just not feeling it today! I feel like, “Poop.“

Yum!

I have always made a big deal out of my birthday! I remember one year, I had to be 25 when I went out to eat with people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That was a really good birthday! For another birthday, a friend called me and I was out to eat with my Mom for dinner. We went to Red Robin’s. He asked me where I was and told me that he would come join us. Then he asked who was there. I told him it was, “Just me and my Mom. You know, the two primary players in today’s events.” Another year, I had an impromptu birthday dinner with my brother and his family at Red Robin’s.

I thought about what I would do for my birthday this year. I wasn’t sure because I rarely leave my house and I can’t go out to eat because my motorized wheelchair chair is higher than regular tables at restaurants. I did, however, place an order at Dairy Queen for an ice cream cake. I absolutely LOVE mint chocolate chip ice cream cake!

When Sean came home from school on my birthday, he picked up the cake from Dairy Queen and told me he was going to pick up Red Robin’s to bring home to eat. I finally have gotten back onto my strict no carb, no sugar diet with the fermented young coconut water Kiefer. BUT, it WAS my birthday so all bets were off!

Sean picked me up a guacamole burger with mozzarella cheese and no onions or tomatoes with a bun! I had fries on the side. When he brought it home, I opened up the container and I just looked at it. He got some ketchup for the fries and just like Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday, I dipped my fry in ketchup and I heard the, “Hallelujah Chorus!” I opted not to get a chocolate shake because I was going to have birthday cake and I didn’t want to overdo the sugar and send myself into shock or get sick.

My Mom and Sean picked up my candles. There were A LOT candles on my cake! It was worth every carb! My birthday cake was worth every gram of sugar! I was pretty proud of myself that my birthday was the first day of the year that I had either carbs or sugar. I do really have to monitor that because I am in a wheelchair all day and can’t move by myself so it’s SUPER easy to pack on the pounds! My knee injury was proof of that! But, it WAS my birthday dinner! And it was DELICIOUS! “YUM!”

*And you have to sing that, “YUM!” like the commercial because I guess Red Robin’s is the sponsored restaurant for my birthday.!

“Are You Okay, Miss?!”

I just finished a heart wrenching part of my book. I am currently reading:

As I read, I began to cry. As tears started welling in my eyes, I am mediately thought of my students. When I taught reading in a classroom adjacent to the cafeteria, once the bell rang and I would make the announcement, “Have a good rest of the day, learn lots of stuff!” as the students began filing out of my classroom. As my classroom emptied, I would grab my book and begin reading. I always kept my book close and liked to read in between classes because it was always a good thing to have my kids catch me reading and I could get a few pages read between each class.

Depending on the book I was reading, and I know this happened at least a couple of times, my eyes would well with tears and sometimes would fall out and stream down my cheeks. Once the second bell would ring, I would close my book and wipe my eyes.

As I would do this and begin my class, multiple students would ask be quite concerned, “Are you okay, Miss?! I would smile and chuckle a little and say to all of them, “Yes. Kids, you know you are reading good writing when it evokes emotion from you!” then I would tell them that I was reading a REALLY good book!

The bookmarks I used back then we’re return envelopes for junk mail credit card offers or something. The kids who sat close to me would notice that and ask about it. I would tell them that I just needed something to keep my place in the book. I would tell them that I didn’t have a bookmark so that’s what I used.

One student and I talked about those cute little monster bookmarks where it is folded paper to look like a monster is biting the corner of the page. I told her they were really cute and she told me that a teacher from the elementary school had taught her class how to make them. She told me that she wanted to make me one. She asked what color I wanted it and what color eyes the monster should have. I told her that I would like a purple monster with blue eyes. Class started and I forgot about that conversation.

A couple weeks later, she grabbed my book and attached the monster bookmark to the page I had marked with my envelope. I was extremely touched! It was the cutest bookmark I had seen! I looked at it and flipped it over to the back and she had even written my name on it! It said, “Ms. Ríos.” I used that bookmark for a very long time! Over time, it loosened and I have since lost it. I was really sad when that happened and I hope that somehow it’s in a book of mine somewhere.

A Morning Person

I don’t drink coffee. In my adult life, I’ve just never had a taste for it. When I was working, my colleagues and friends would constantly comment on the fact that I was, “A morning person.” They were so amazed that I did this without the use of any caffeine in the morning. I felt the need to immediately set them straight. Very early on in my employment, I would wake up in the morning every day at 4:30 AM. I needed that time to let my body, “wake up” and adjust to being, “awake.” I would tell them that to me, it was not 8 o’clock in the morning but rather, noon. The only reason I was so chipper was because it was lunchtime to me. A couple years before I stopped working, my Mom would come over to my house to drive me to work. Now, she IS a morning person!

It took a very long time for Sean and me to get used to her chipper morning self! I think because I am NOT a morning person, and the fact that I raised Sean by myself, I also have made him to NOT be a morning person as well. From since he was at a very young age, I would wake him up and that is all the speaking we would do to each other until we left for school. (I’d drop him off at my Mom’s house and drive myself to work).

When I stopped driving myself to work, I still would get up super early and be awake at 4:30 just getting used to, “being awake.” Now that I no longer work, I don’t need to wake up at 4:30 to make it to work on time, but rather, my, “morning” starts a lot later now.

Even though my morning starts later, today was one of those days where I needed A LOT of time to, “wake up”! It was really rough and I looked like that little girl in that picture! Even after I got ready for the day, I was really warm just after I got ready but then I started to freeze! So here I am, sitting in my sweatshirt and winter DC high school winter beanie that Sean got for me for Christmas with my arms and mouth inside my sweatshirt.

I am watching, Love and Other Drugs for the third time in three days. (It’s free on HBO OnDemand – just know that it’s on HBO so don’t watch it with little kids). In about an hour and eight minutes into it, I begin to get sad and at about an hour and 11 minutes in, I cry. EVERY SINGLR TIME!

So here I am, watching this movie with a winter hat on because I am freezing but I thought about that picture and being in the teachers’ lounge in the morning (because I used to have first hour prep) and defending the reason that I do NOT drink coffee but I am NOT a morning person!

It IS St. Patrick’s Day!

I awakened this morning at 6:30 and thought it was Monday. I called to Sean and he didn’t answer so I called him on the phone. When he picked up, I told him that it was 630 so he should get ready for school. He told me it was Sunday. Oops! Since I was already awake, I checked my alerts on Facebook. There was a post that cited the 17 songs you have to hear on St. Patrick’s Day.

What?! There was no U2! That is preposterous! I have always had a strange relationship with Ireland/ being Irish. I want to be though! I am not Irish! I am Mexican! However, my son’s name is Sean. He is half Polish but when his dad told me that he thought Sean would be a good name, I told them that it had to be spelled the way it is spelled now.

As my Mom and I finally got our routine going for the day, I asked her what we should listen to. She told me that I could choos. Because it is St. Patrick’s Day, I chose the two U2 songs that she can tolerate:

When we got sick of listening to this song over and over again, I chose another one:

I kept telling her, “Well, it IS St. Patrick’s Day!“ Ever since I was young, I wanted red hair. My Mom’s friend’s daughter had red hair and I thought that was really cool! My Mom‘s friend told me if I ate a lot of tomatoes that I would get red hair. Well, I ate tons and wouldn’t you know, I still do NOT have red hair! I can’t stand tomatoes now!

Sean’s friends will ask him if he is Irish and he just says, “No, my mom is just weird!“ He spells his name in the proper Gaelic spelling and I remember that being hard for him to understand when he was learning his letter sounds and couldn’t understand why his name was spelled with an S and an E instead of SH. I told him that it was a different language but I started telling my colleagues that I must’ve been Irish in my past life.

I am Catholic and do not believe in past lives but I’ve decided that I was Irish, had long red hair, and was a dancer. Sean was young when The Disney movie, Bravecame out and we went to see it in the movies mostly because I wanted to see it. I liked seeing the character of Merida but was unsure of her hair.

I always pictured my hair like the woman from Riverfance that I saw on TV so many years ago.

I have since come up with an elaborate story of my Irish past life and my name was Bridget. But I always thought it was spelled like, Bridgette. I have already watched Laws of Attraction , the movie with Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore (a redhead) which is set in part in Ireland.

And probably will watch Leap Year with Amy Adams (also a redhead) n a little while. Because it IS St. Patrick’s day! Even though I am not going out drinking today, I am wearing green in my old Eagles Super Bowl Champion shirt. (I don’t have much green to choose from).

I thought for sure I U2 song would be on the list of songs you have to listen to on St. Patrick’s Day! Any of the songs would be OK! I think I just love the Irish accents and red headed people! I’ve thought about that and my elaborate Irish past life a lot today, because it IS St. Patrick’s Day!

Marilyn & Gavin 💜💜💜

I purchased Laws ofAttraction with Pierce Brosnon and Julianne Moore on St. Patrick’s Day. It was $1299. I haven’t seen that movie in so many years and I keep checking on my TV and it’s never OnDemand! I decided to splurge! I love it because part of it is in Ireland! The other reason I love it, is because this song is in it:

Not only do I love me some Gavin DeGraw but it was my friend Marilyn’s wedding song! Her husband’s name is also Gavin! She lived down the street from my parents house, we played basketball and softball together in school, and we were in Girl Scouts together! We laughed SO MUCH together!

Her anniversary is coming up next month and every time I see that part of the movie, I think of her with the utmost fondness!!! I have already watched it three times since buying it on the 17th. So, instead of being $12.99, it is only $4.33 and going down because I will be watching it numerous times!