BB Catch Up

     Andrew and I joined Bruce for an afternoon of OT, Beth had just finished waxing his left hand, he was lifting weights with his right hand doing 25 lbs. lat pole. (ya pull down on the cord and a weight goes up) Andrew was intrigued with the wax. He was also eying the weight machine and wanted to know what one part of the machine does. He can do a little bit more than 25 lbs.

     Bruce was telling us this morning they took him to a kitchen to see how he could reach items. He could only reach things in the frig that were on the door. She showed him how to turn his chair sideways and use a "grabber". He got a pkg of carrots and a small carton of milk, nothing heavy. He's gonna starve. 

     We might have to rearrange the food so he can grab what he wants. We also talked about the dishes and we will have to relocate them so he has access to them, might have to put drawers in the cupboards so he can open them instead of the recessed shelves we have. Kinda like dresser drawers. I think we should just put in a vending machine... With healthy snacks of course...

    Grandpa K had a lot of mail and several visitors while I was home; a cd from Thimmes, God Blessed Me, The miraculous story of a POWs survival in Nazi Germany by Joseph Banks, Patty and Joe Sandoz (we haven't seen them in ages) brought a book on cd, A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, a book, The Patriarch, The Remarkable and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw and for moi, a book, The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott, a story about a dressmaker on the Titanic. Todd Rasmassusin visited on Sunday. 

     Bruce and Andrew just finished watching the Umatilla bb game. Bruce is spoiled watching the games in 40 min. With no time outs, half times and missing some of the free throws the games go quickly. Thank you Rick Dall for making copies for us!

    For dinner Bruce had stuffed meatloaf, taters, green salad and a piece of strawberry shortcake which he ate after the meatloaf and before the salad. He didn't learn that from me. Andrew and I got some food from the cafeteria and joined him in the third floor dining hall. His wheelchair does not fit under the tables so he uses a bedside table from one of the rooms. You think this place would have wheelchair accessible tables.            

      Several people have gone home. Only four people left. People come and go here a lot faster than spinal cord injuries. We heard the man next to us that fell off a hay stack and was paralyzed when we first got here has gone home and is suffering from severe depression. We are blessed Bruce is recovering. 

     Andrew has found some kind of trivia game on his iPod. He asks us for the answers, he plays against other people on line. When we answer correctly we get crowns. We do pretty well with science, history and geography, we are stumped with entertainment, we don't know the celebrities very well. The nurses help us with answers and are familiar with the game. Bruce soon fell asleep after dinner.

      Andrew and I went to our host home. They are very kind to us and fill us with Christmas cookies. We are getting spoiled.