The hot weather of summer brings up new issues of making yourself as comfortable as you can so that you can enjoy some fun in the sun and the shade. Remembering my first summer in a chair, brings back some pretty extreme discomfort. That hot, black, non-breathable material that the seat of my chair is made of made any skin surface in contact with it, sweat and then chafe, not to mention sticking clothing to me as if I had sprayed my body with glue before dressing. With all that sweating and g...
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Last night, I completed the item on my summer bucket list, "Speak to one group about this website".  To be honest, I already knew that I would be speaking. By writing it down, I pretty much sealed my escape hatches as I have always believed myself to be a "stay in the background" type of person and certainly not someone who could actually speak and be heard.  I went to this year's Parent Leadership Academy class and spoke to them about this website and giving back to the community or being a ...
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I only have a couple more things to say about creative cleaning and that will finish the Spring Cleaning series so we can go on to... Living Life in the Summer! Which will hopefully be quite a bit more fun.  So let's get down to business because I can't wait to do some summer living and perhaps even check off a few items from that summer bucket list.

First: Cobwebs and Dust Bunnies: For these messy critters, I have a extendable handled duster... It looks like a really big, blue Q-tip. With it ...
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On this subject... First to mind comes... YUCK!  Second, if there is any way possible, get someone else to do it.

If I didn't lose you in the opening statement then you are ready to try it for yourself so it's "on like Donkey Kong!" (That sure was a fun game back in the days of Super Nintendo.")  Anyhow let us talk a bit about supplies.

The Sponge Mop is your friend: Notice that when I talked about doing the floors last time, I didn't tell you to cut down the handle of your floor mop. The reaso...
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I am only calling it Spring Cleaning because I am talking about it in the Spring time. Cleaning house is one of my least favorite of things to spend my time and energy on, but alas it is most necessary and facing the matter head on, I do feel better when my house is clean... Well I should say cleaner, rather then dirtier. With a lot of us either cut or greatly reduced in the home care department thanks to budget cuts, and a legislature that listens to the squeakiest wheels that squawk the lou...
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I have always found it hard to make "goals" for my life. As I am not a member of the Head Shrinking Society, I can only guess that I have a fear of failure and a goal means to set it in your mind and keep working at it until you have succeeded.  A Bucket List on the other hand, you can keep your entire lifetime, you can put things on or take them off without ever feeling that you have failed because it is more like a glorified dream shopping list.

Most of us have played the game of "What I Wou...
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Over the winter months this year, I managed to not only catch every bug that came into the house, I also experienced some physical setbacks. As a consequence, I was confined to my home for a pretty good chunk of time and although I was not happy being so isolated, I got used to being stuck this way.  When you are by yourself for long periods of time, your mind has a way of making you feel useless, unworthy of being in society and just downright helpless. For a short time I even wondered why I...
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I love to read.  My bookshelves are so overloaded that they are almost a hazard to human and animal kind. Recently I decided that it was time to "weed out" and donate the books that I do not like all that well.  Naturally, some have been sitting for years and I have forgotten if the story is good or not so I decided to re-read them. The very first one on the stack is called December by, Phil Rickman.  I know what you're thinking. "Why in the holey heck is she bringing this up?" Hang on a few ...
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An issue that has long been on my brain is the parking situation for legally permitted vehicles, transporting physically impaired people.  As I wrote in the previous issue, there seems to be a lot of blatant disregard from both those who're  using disabled parking spots, without permits and those who are responsible for making sure those spots are used by those who really need them.

Here is a little challenge for you to prove my case in point. On a rainy day, go cruising the disabled parking s...
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You can most likely guess that I have been sick, simply by reading the title of this post. I have the pleasure of living with a 2 year old "germ factory" That is, he is 2, goes to day care weekdays and brings home a lovely variety of germs that he then transfers to the other household members in the spirit of love and affection. Even if you happen to pin him down and swab down his face before the spirited smooching sessions, I figure there are roughly several billion active germs on his lips ...
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I do not make a very big deal out of New Year celebrating. We will have an extra nice dinner, but not a feast after all of the rich, fatty foods of the season and the energy expended to make it all. New Years is a kind of winding down holiday for me. The children had their Santa visit and after days of preparing for it and some cleaning up after, I keep things simple and low key after all someone has to pack up all those Christmas decorations and nag someone to put them in storage but that wi...
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I had to leave this blog alone for a bit because I found myself being spread a bit thin. I forgot for a time that the rule is. Take care of yourself first so that you have the strength to take care of others.

When you have a family that you love and you want to make every Christmas a special memory, it is easy to forget your own needs. You don't even have to be mobility impaired to be affected by the "Holiday Exhaustion." Impaired people just get a little more worn out, faster. It is important...
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This time of year can be pretty difficult for a lot of us. The weather becomes colder and damper. That alone can cause flare ups in those of us who's pain worsens and gets better like the tides of the ocean. As you can see, I am no stranger to pain. In fact, if you were to live daily with me, you would know the bad days simply by how I rattle like a pharmacist's tote bag when I move. Before you get the wrong idea, you should know that I try very hard to keep the narcotics usage way down, simp...
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Every year the day before Thanksgiving, is pie and prep day. This is the day that makes "The Ginormous Feast" quite a bit less stressfull if it is handled right. By now you have shopped for everything and you know your menue. Now is the time to sit down, go over all the recipes and think what can be done ahead of time, on pie day.

Pie! First thing in the morning, after making sure the kitchen is really clean and as uncluttered as possible, we bake the pies and any other desert someone has made...

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My kitchen is the hub of our home. It is the place where everyone gathers anytime a good smell is either comming from, or about to come from it. My kitchen is also not suited to my abilities, and renovation is so expensive that it is out of the question, it is my responsibility to figure out ways to work in it safely, not only for myself but also the 2 year old "helper" under wheels.

Plan ahead is always the beginning of any of my cooking projects, I ask someone to reach down any ingredients t...
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This afternoon I am going to Safeway to shop for the ingredients for our Thanksgiving feast.  We are going today for two reasons. Number 1, it takes about a week in the refridgerator to defrost a turkey of the size that I hope to find, around 20 pounds. And number 2, my daughter Elmo, goes to college every day and also has a job at a local motel front desk, so we have to work around these things in order to fit in the regular, Living Life stuff in.

For the last week or so, we have been making ...
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I am fortunate to have enough room for a workshop. One corner is devoted to making soap, one for long running restoration projects and one corner is for whatever craft or project that suits my fancy at the moment.  I can hear you saying, "Wait a second... Rooms usually have four corners... huh?" Well the fourth corner is unfortunately the never ending project of laundry, both dirty and clean.

Why am I sharing my workshop with you?  Actually there are two really good reasons for this post.

The f...
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The last two storms that came through here reminded me that it is time to get ready for winter. After last winter and spring where we had 3 major power outages, we need to be even more prepared then other folks. If you're like me, snow means instant homebound and I prepare accordingly. First lay in as much of a supply of non-perishable food stuffs as you can afford. I know that is hard concidering how much the government gives us to live on but do the best you can. If you can find transportat...
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Every year around this time, my thoughts turn to the smell of roasting turkey and baking pumpkin pies and the delegation of cooking chores. Delegation does take a bit of planning in order for things to go smoothly and that is why I am discussing them now.  I usually start the process of seeing who is doing what on Halloween.

I love having the Thanksgiving feast. What I don't love is being too exhausted to enjoy it so over the last several years, I have learned to put my trust in my loved ones....
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Everyone feels left behind at one time or another, it doesn't matter if you are physically impaired or not. It is different when you are left behind because your mobility equipment is too much trouble or too bulky to fit somewhere. I know this feeling even though I understand in most cases the necessity, it still bothers me on occasion.

We are fortunate to live in an area that is rich in history. That history is also an exception to the ADA laws and unfortunately, those of us using wheels can...
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Halloween is on monday and if there are children in your life, it is time to celebrate! In order to do this, I focus on the things that I can do rather then the things I can't. For instance, I can't go on the trick or treating run, but I can make the annual freaky feast of Blood-N-Guts, (spaghetti with a super thick meat sauce) Garlic Bones (bread sticks formed from either ready made dough or from my bread machine) and rotten teeth (whole kernel corn, half dyed green, and mixed together after...
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Part of Living Life, is shopping and I decided to write about the places that I shop, here in Living Life because of that simple fact.  Also it is a good thing to be able to see how easy or hard it is to shop in certain businesses and with a record, someday anyone can check before shopping, whether or not it is worth the trip.

Anyhow, I went to Walmart on sunday, therefore it is the first business that I shall talk about.  I like Walmart, mostly because I can get cheap laundry soap and toilet ...
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Today I break from the norm. Because I can.

I wish to discuss the age old question. How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Look at it this way, a woodchuck is about the size of a healthy beaver and beavers while they can chew wood, have never been known to chuck it. Simply put, beavers do not have the upper body strength to actually chuck wood but do woodchucks? I think if they do chuck wood, it must be very small wood, which brings up another question then. Why? I...
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The Tuolumne County Courthouse is a historical landmark, I think it would be very odd going through town if it wasn't there. It was also built a long time ago. I say a long time because I have no urge to be accurate on it's age, that isn't the point I wish to dwell on. What I wish to talk about is it's unacceptable inaccessibility. Yes I know others have talked about it which is why there is a lot of quote, "politically loaded questions".  There are plans on the table to build a new Law Cente...

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I've been in a fair amount of waiting rooms since I started using a chair full time and frankly, I am amazed at the lack of forethought that goes into the planning of them. You would think that in a doctor's office of all places, it would be totally ADA compliant but I find most of them hitting the just barely compliant mark at least in my books.
Doctors and Sonora Community owned clinics listen up!  (also the Social Services office)
Those lovely privacy cubicles that you have up are a great i...
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The first time a receptionist told me that whilst I was sitting in my chair, I laughed, quite hard actually. Much later I realised that statement is just a conditioned remark. She was just seeing another patient not a person and that is the statement she had uncontiously repeated hundreds of times a day. Thing is what do you say if you are a receptionist to someone that brings their own seating? I was recently asked just that question by a receptionist at a clinic in Modesto. Before I tell yo...
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