0628 hello Dolly?

I received an email from my cousin Randi today. Randi's day job is as a deputy to L.A. County Supervisor Burke. But in her off-hours, she has been working on her acting skills in small theater. Her last role was as a drunken nymphomaniac in "You Can't Take It With You" at the Center Theatre in Whittier. Her message indicated that her role went so well that she caught the eye of some producers in Whittier and may soon be a singing nun in "The Sound of Music". I wonder if she'll keep the same part but wearing a habit? Hmmmm.

Her next performance will be in "Steel Magnolias" in the part of Truvy Jones, which was played by Dolly Parton in the movie. She believes that it was probably due to her "physical similarities to Miss Parton" that got her the part, and I agreed that it must be so. They look so much alike. Check out the pic of Randi attached to this blog and you'll see what I mean. She's hard at work in getting her southern accent back into gear. More on this as it develops.

0627 take a deep breath

My parents visit with John everyday, without exception. They report that he is conscious and aware of where he is. But lately, he isn't responding to stimuli. They wheel him outside for a change of scenery, but he just sits there. John is breathing well on his own and no longer requires any respiratory treatment. He only has a nose tube for oxygen.

I had a flashback to my stay in rehab, when a respiratory tech named Jorge would come in every afternoon and hook up a breathing mask, pour in some meds, turn on the oxygen, and put the mask over my mouth and nose. He then instructed me to breathe in deeply. The problem was that he wore the most awful-smelling cologne and if I breathed in through my nose, then I would start choking and my eyes began to tear up. Jorge thought that I was responding to the treatment and attempted to suction the non-existent mucous from my mouth. I learned quickly to breathe through my mouth until after he left the room. The funny thing is that the nurses were aware of this, but were powerless to do anything about it.

0625 the GOLDEN Day ... to be postponed

Today is actually my parent's 50th Anniversary. They were married June 25, 1957.

My sister and I had some plans for it since last year, but my stroke put everything on hold. We have discussed it with our parents and we will be having a special celebration ... next year!! Just thought you should know.

0624 long hot weekend

The long hot weekend is finally winding down. Saturday was spent with walking therapy with my father, but no attendance at my church. I did some surfing on the Internet, but there wasn't much out there, except for an article on foods to avoid, such as incendiary pastries. I really wish I'd kept the link to that article.

I did, however, manage to attend second service at SBCC on Sunday, and stuck around for the Koinonia meeting in the Dugout. It was only Sheri, Eric and myself, although Stephanie was able to make it back from San Diego in tme for prayer requests. It was her birthday on Saturday, so we celebrated with carrotcake cupcakes. Sam was at church but had to go home. Jennifer had to work, and Liz was at-home but not feeling well (although Sheri had the impression that her call woke Liz up). Wendi was up in San Francisco with her mother and her brother, Bryan, for a wedding. We finished up the Lesson Eight group study, and still had time to surprise Stephanie as she walked into the kitchen. The pic above is Eric lying-in-wait with an incendiary pastry of his own.

0620 some stray thoughts

This week started off easy with no therapies scheduled until Thursday. Father helped me with walking for the first two days, and Ralph helped me today. I surfed the Internet in between walks and found some interesting stuff.

Like the article about the Canadian judge who ordered an Ontario man to not have a girlfriend for three years because the man suffered from a dependent personality disorder and was a danger to the public. I wonder how they're going to enforce that order...

And what about the new cucumber-flavored soda (see pic) that Pepsi is testing in Japan this summer? Anyone out there remember the Saturday Night Live sketch about "okra cola"?

0617 the weekend

Saturday was hot! I mean, it was hot in the shade. We don't have a/c at home but we can usually get good breezes through a combo of open windows. No luck this time.

Mike & Carol picked me up around 4:45pm and we headed for SBCC for evening service and bible study. I was expectng to see Liz there (see pic of Liz), but then remembered that she doing the 10K Mud Run down at Camp Pendleton along with Sheri, Mo, Scott, and several others. Pastor Gary attempted to tell a story about an unfortunate little bird and somehow received more laughter than the shock and concern he expected. I wonder how he will change that part of hs message on Sunday.

My Revelation study group met to go over chapter 8, but the questions provided by Steve created additional questions ... and Steve was MIA that night. So we'll continue with chapter 8 at our next meeting on July 7th.

Sunday started off quietly. Koinonia would not be meeting due to the Father's Day holiday. I found the Mud Run results online. Mo was running with his 'team' so his individual time was not posted. Sheri and Liz finished together at 1:29.14; Scott finished ahead of them at 1:12.33. I can't wait to hear the stories.

Sunday finished up with Father's Day dinner at my sister's house. Lots of great food and fun with the niece and nephews.

0615 sometimes, vending machines are too convenient

There was a link on AOL today about wacky vending machines that are mostly in Japan. Believe it or not, you can buy quite an unusual assortment of stuff from these machines. Like Asahi beer, sake, umbrellas, fortunes, pornography, sex toys, toilet paper, uncooked rice, and live rhinoceros beetles. But before we all laugh at the Japanese for this, we need to be aware of what we have here in the USA. Why, just a few miles from my house is a VONS market across from Lakewood Center that has an iPod vending machine (see pic). Of course, it takes all major credit cards. Please share if you've seen a vending machine that's unusual, too.

0615 my other right foot

So, now that I have all the correct equipment at home, I can earnestly work on learning how to walk. Last week, I was fitted for a leg orthotic for my right leg (see pic) and I use it whenever I workout. So today I had two sessions of walking through the house with the assistance of Ralph, the hired caregiver. My father has been trained, too, and will assist me whenever Ralph isn't around. This should give the push I need to get out of the wheelchair. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

0613 another Slump Day ... finally over

For most of my working friends, Wednesday is usually referred to as "Hump Day", the perceived midpoint between weekends. Once you get past the "hump", the weekend is a short two days away.

Well, during my stroke recovery, Wednesday is my "slump day", a full day of nothing. The caregiver we hired to assist me is off and no therapies are scheduled. After breakfast, I usually read, handle bills and work on my bible studies until lunch. The time between lunch and dinner is usually a drag. My father is around to help, but he isn't really strong enough to assist me with my therapy exercises. I usually spend the afternoon staring out the window or taking a nap, both of which are non-productive, as far as my recovery is concerned.

I try to schedule lunches with friends but most of my friends work or are too far away to meet. I try to make them extended sessions with either discussion or an activity; it's a great time for an afternoon movie matinee. But for today, dinner time has been reached and another Slump Day has been survived.

0613 ... life is but a dream ...

It's been awhile since I had my last ADP dream, but one came up last night. I was sitting at my manager's desk, going through some case notes. It was quite surreal. I wonder if this is a sign of how much I really miss the work that I did. I know that I miss the people that I used to work with, like Christine, Jennifer, Alma and Susan. I wonder about how much has changed since I've been gone ...

0608 update on John

My brother, John, was just moved today to a new facility. It is Ayer-Lar, at 16530 S. Broadway, in Gardena. There were some problems with the LCMSACC, so we've been looking for a new place. As far as our family is concerned, this is a temporary stay, as we are hoping to get him into a different facility here in Long Beach.

John was recently taken off the tracheostomy breathing support and has been breathing on his own.

0607 hunting the wild hala-kahiki

After three hours of therapy this morning, we took a detour on the way home and stopped at Carl's Jr., for the Teriyaki Cheeseburger combo, with hala-kahiki spread all over a to pipi i wili 'ia with waiupa'a. Along with fries and a Dr. Pepper, it was a great change from the usual lunch sandwich fare. Now, all I need is to find some place that will lomi some niu into my hulu and I'll be all set.

0606 lunch visitor

Pastor Ken stopped by with lunch in-hand; he brought in some chicken teriyaki on rice. We discussed the development of a new ministry, along with my recovery from the stroke. He gave me some things to think about, which is good. I've always appreciated the guidance I've received in the past from Pastor Ken.

0604 KOINONIA defined

In response to many questions from friends, I will clarify exactly what Koinonia is, and what it means to me.

It is the name of a LifeGroup that I belong to at South Bay Community Church in Gardena. A LifeGroup is a group of Christians that are voluntarily devoted to each other. We meet on a weekly basis to share our lives and to help each other through prayer, support and resources. We try to interact more than just once a week and quite often get together for dinner and other activities. The other members of Koinonia are Sheri, Liz, Sam, Wendi, Stephanie, Eric and Jennifer.

Although it sounds like a Hawaiian word, "Koinonia" is the anglicisation of a Greek word that means partnership or fellowship. The word is used frequently in the New Testament of the Bible to describe the relationship within the early Christian church. As a result the word is used frequently within contemporary Christian circles to describe the fellowship and community of Christians.

0603 over the weekend ...

Saturday and Sunday were light days. I was able to get in some time for therapy exercises, and some other activities.

On Saturday evening, I was picked up by Mike & Carol, and was taken to the evening service at South Bay Community Church. There was a dunk tank setup in the parking lot and we later found out that it was part of a fundraiser for the Junior High Ministry. The dunk targets for Saturday evening were Associate Pastor Ken and Youth Pastor James, and for Sunday afternoon it would be Senior Pastor Gary and Worship Pastor Nathan. Too bad I was only there for Saturday. Pastor Gary finished up his series of "Indescribable" with a photo that looked like an emerging new star. He had shared a number of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope this past month, to illustrate the indescribable nature of God's handiwork. But the photo was of Pastor Gary's own retina, as he had visited his opthalmologist earler in the week. The bright spot on the photo was the optic nerve. We're just glad that he didn't visit his proctologist instead. He also gave an account of Christ's crucifixion. He also referred to II Corinthians 9:15 which reads "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!", the only place in the NIV bible that "indescribable" is used. Wow.

After the service, my Revelation study group met to go through Chapter 7. We meet after the service on the first and third Saturdays of each month. It's not a LifeGroup; it's pure Bible study. For this time, it was just Mike, Carol, Steve, Judy and myself; we were missing John and Kiyomi.

Sunday was nice and Koinonia showed up in the afternoon for Lesson Six in our group study of "Preparing For Christ's Return" by Charles Stanley. Present were Sheri, Liz, Eric, Jennifer and Sam. In the pic are Sheri, Eric and Sam; Jenn and Liz are off to the right. We went through the lesson, worked on reciting our memory verses, shared prayer/praise requests, and had a whole bunch of just catching up.

0601 the week in review

A lot happened this week. There were therapies on Tuesday and Thursday. PT expects me to be walking on my own in a couple of weeks, but we'll see. OT is still working on getting the muscles in my right shoulder to fire correctly. Speech thinks I'm doing okay but I still can't get the right vocal chord to kick in. This should prove to be very entertaining at karaoke night.