Catching Up

Tuesday, 7 March 2006

Wow, it really has been awhile since I've written! These past few months have flown by.....How can I sum up this past month?

Hmmmm....

As I go along with the routine of Bikram yoga four times per week (still nursing my left hamstring I hurt weeks ago, but I've been told it will take awhile for it to get to 100%, especially since I keep pushing it harder than I should), my dog waking me up at all hours of the night (she kept me up since 3:30 am this morning - I'm still in search of a muzzle that she will not take off within 30 seconds), spending time in Kailua with Mike, going to many professional development meetings and trainings (seems as if I hardly teach these days, and it's already the end of the third quarter!), and collecting donations from friends and family for my dad's upcoming fundraiser, here are some highlights of the past month:

* Mike's friend Wendy visited from South Carolina and we took her to the Art After Dark at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. We also went to the Kamehameha Schools' Ho'olaule'a, a festival/fair of sorts at my old high school campus, with good local eats, local plants for the garden (which Mike bought plenty of for his house!),Hawaiian music and entertainment (of course, there were malasadas!), and the famous "haole brownies" mix to bring home from the country store. On her last day, we also went to the swap meet to buy some goodies and ate dim sum in Chinatown.

* A week ago, my really bad day started off at 6:30 am when, after driving into town from Kailua, I rushed and pulled into my driveway, swiping my brother's brand new 2006 truck. His monster truck ended up with a little boo-boo on the bumper, and left some nice scratches and dents on my side of the truck. The day only got worse after that, but then my spirits were lifted when I took my dad to meet Peggy Chun for a visit. Peggy is a local artist who was diagnosed with genetic ALS in 2002. (Her grandfather, mother, and twin sister all died of this rare form of the disease, although it has progressed the same as my dad's. Peggy now lives with a feeding tube and trach and can only move her eyes.) I had met her daughter-in-law Kimi the day before when I went to listen to and participate in a professional development training on ALS at a nursing home. She was excited to offer me donations (three signed beautiful paintings by Peggy) for my dad's fundraiser and said to come by and visit. Although Peggy only has the use of her eyes, she uses the ERICA computer system to communicate and was very talkative with us. Even though we were late, she and her nurses were so gracious, meeting us outside with umbrellas on the rainy day. Peggy's room was filled with tons of art (not a blank white space in the room) surrounding her bed, Native American paintings by her sister (who was actually the artist, but after she passed in 1987, Peggy picked up the paintbrush), paintings by Peggy, photos of family, signs for the nurses and visitors to please let Peggy finish typing her thought before interrupting her sentence. Peggy typed her conversation so fast using her eyes, and she wanted to share so much information on what devices to use for swollen feet, braces for the hands to prevent the fingers from curling, nursing care, keeping a sense of humor, and how important it is to start a "Share the Care" group (She said she'd even talk to Bernie to convince her.) She told us about all of these experimental drug programs she's participated in, a sleep test he should take to monitor his oxygen levels, gene tests to find out if there perhaps specific genes related to ALS, etc. Eventually Kimi told us we probably should go because Peggy would talk forever, and she might be better over email. I took a whole page of notes while we were there. They sent us off with the three art pieces, and Peggy called us "new friends". It was so nice to meet Peggy and Kimi. Kimi has since wrote saying Peggy wants to have us over for a dinner party.

* We now have new care providers, Emma and her niece Mosi, who will help watch my dad in the mornings when my brother or I can't be there, since my Uncle Jimmy moved back to California last week Thursday (He was here for 10 months to spend time with my dad and to help his body recuperate as he has a rare kidney disease.)

* This past Friday, Mike spent time with his niece and nephews in shifts. I came for the later shift, to play with "Bert", the fat Jackson chameleon Mike found down the street and has now adopted as a pet, to eat Macaroni and Cheese with green Power Ranger food (a.k.a. Spinach), and watch Shrek 2 with the boys.

* My good friend Joel fixed my brakes this Sunday (yeah, the squeaking is gone!!! Too bad my dents are still there on the side of my car...But, really, thanks soooo much Joel!) after I spent the day helping Miya shop with the baby. She's offically "retired" as she calls it, quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom. But, she still hasn't figured out how to grocery shop with baby in tow, so I pushed the cart. I'm sure there will be many more days where I help mommy and baby!

* Had an Oscar-viewing party at Miya's. We all put our votes in for which movies and actors would win, along with $5 each. The pot went to the winner with the most correct votes. Unfortunately, I did not win. The new stay-at-home mommy did. Surprise, surprise.