Oh, Hello

Oh, hi.  I didn't see you there.

Come on in.  It's been a while, hasn't it?  Too long.  How've you been?  How are the kids?  Good, good.

How've I been?  Oh, you know, same old, same old.  Takin' it a day at a time.  Blah blah blah.

You don't care about details, do you?  It's all boring.  Oh, you do?  Well, if you insist, here are the highlights from the last few months.


In September, I reacquainted myself with my old friend, candy corn.   Turns out I really like candy corn.  Like really a lot.  Too much, if I'm honest.  Fun fact: Jelly Belly candy corn isn't nearly as good as Brachs.

Dangerously affordable

I went to the State Fair with Gus's family and my sister and her kids.  We ate a bunch of food, and the kids got to ride some rides.  The weather was great, and I felt pretty good, so it was a really good time.

Georgia and Evelyn were incredibly cute together

 The Martinsville guys stopped by for a visit.  We had a lot of fun, and made a lot of noise, and probably irritated my neighbors.  I had been thinking that paralysis is like a full-time job except that you don't get to go home, and you never get a vacation.  This is as close to a vacation as I ever get.

I went over to Cullen and Caitlin's house for dinner and to carve pumpkins prior to Halloween. 

Mine is the sad, mentally challenged one on the end

I took a trip with Gus out to Greensboro to buy an interesting new piece of equipment.  I wanted it because it's supposed to be good for your overall health.  It can also provide you with some useful capabilities though there are some limitations.

The other big news is that I have been experimenting with driving the van with mixed results.  The actual driving isn't difficult since I installed a chest strap so I can't fall out of the seat.  I've taken a couple solo trips without a chaperone, and they went about as well as could reasonably be expected except that I've discovered that sitting in the driver seat messes up my back really badly.  On one 5 minute trip, it triggered my sciatica to the point that I was essentially stuck in bed for the next 2 weeks, and it took a month to get the pain back to the level it had been.

I'm continuing to play with it, but I'm reluctant to try anything longer than a 5 minute drive in case my back gives out.  I can feel the pain starting as soon as I get in the seat, but it usually takes a few minutes to become a serious problem.  I've done a couple trips with my neighbor to the grocery store.  It's a good arrangement because she can't drive due to epilepsy, and I can't reach the top shelf at the store or carry a lot of groceries back to my apartment.  I've been hoping for a long time that we could work together on this, and our two trips so far have worked out great.

So I guess I've been making very slow progress.  Pain is still the main thing holding me back, and it's still a huge problem, but at least I'm learning what to expect from it, and I've been able to do some fun things in spite of it.