since my last entry, i have officially re-entered the driving world (i only drive during the day and haven't drove outside of homestead or on any expressway, but still, woo-hoo for me!) & though it may seem like small potatoes, i've been doing laundry & dishes again (praise God for the ability to perform such menial tasks)....
i've been driving myself to therapy, the grocery store, the bank, the pharmacy.... even the gas station! i feel so liberated (though all the new developments are accomplished with alot of "tweeking" to meet the needs of my physical handicaps)....
the hospital where i go for therapy is less than five minutes away (f.y.i.: my grandma, God bless her, is my chaperone on most of my outings)....
as long as the store i'm going to has electrical shopping carts, i'm good to go.... i just walk (very carefully, it's still a very wobbly world) on in with my walker (after hunting for a handicap parking space because apparently those placards are just handed out like nothing, humph!) and find a cart, put my walker in the basket or behind the seat (sometimes the registers hold it until i'm done shopping) and i buzz along my merry way....
it's a good thing we drive on the left side of vehicles in this country, otherwise i would have a tough time with things because i can only use my left hand.... needless to say, i have to get pretty creative when trying to figure out how i' m going to do certain things.... i might have to go down an aisle twice if something i need is on the right, but it's the way it is.... i can be pretty stubborn so i won't ask for help unless there is no possible way i can figure out how to do it myself (i actually attribute most of my progress to my stubbornness, go figure, not to mention God's awesomeness)....
i think drive-thrus have been the scariest, whether it be the pharmacy or mc d's, they can get pretty tricky (but i've done a good job of maneuvering those especially since driving with my left foot is tricky enough)....
on the home front, as long as i have my trusty little rolling stool, i can do just about anything (except mop the floors [slippery floors are a hazard; i've fallen about seven times in the past two and a half years and broke and bruised a few things along the way] or cook [i still can't feel heat/cold on about eighty percent of my body, which makes that pretty hazardous too]).... i just plop down on the stool in front of the washer/dryer in the garage to get laundry done (i've got a system going).... then it's a dance between my walker and the rolling stool around the house to get things done (i use my handy little swiffer vac/duster)....
in the kitchen, i load the dishwasher, clean out the fridge, fix the pantry (all while sitting on my rolling stool).... mind you, i have to take short breaks every now and then to rest my left arm, but i get things done, my way....
i still long for the days where i could just get up and go and walk and jump and run and skip and dance, but i have hope that maybe one day, i'll get there.... God is GREAT!!!!
so, that was just a little glimpse inside my daily goings on, as they say in books.... tune in next year for more updates....
i wish everyone a very blessed and happy new year! much love to all! :)
