December, 2006

  1. Back Home Again

    December 28, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    After a 6 hour drive through rain, wind and massive amounts of blowing dust, we are home in Scottsdale.  Our trip to San Diego was fun and memorable.

    Christmas was very special spent with my family — Mom and Dad, my brother Jack, his wife Ashley and the girls — Hannah, Mackenzie and Zoe.  It seems my nieces have got the musical genes from both Jack and Ashley.  Hannah, 9 almost 10, plays violin.  Mackenzie, 6, received a guitar for Christmas and both girls received an electronic keyboard from their grandma so they could learn together.  Zoe, age 2, will entertain you at the drop of a hat with her made-up songs and dances.  I love the way she combines the ABC song with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  She makes up her own lyrics, which only a two-year-old could understand, but they are still sweet to hear.

    While I was in San Diego the week before Christmas, and Norm stayed in Scottsdale to supervise work on our home, my brother helped me rebuild Ivan, my trusty computer.  Ivan received a great makeover!  He now sports an Intel Core 2 CPU 6600 at 2.4 GHz on a 2.39 GHz motherboard with 2.0 gigs of RAM, a new video card with 512 mgs of video RAM, and a spiffy new box from ASPIRE called an APEVIA X-QPack.  This thing is half the size of my old tower and so easy to manage.

    My new chair is running great and I’m really enjoying it because it’s so much nicer than the old one.  Perhaps I’ll post a review in a few days.

    There is so much to catch up on now that I’ve returned home.  All our old carpet was ripped out of the house and we have vinyl that looks like slate tile.  It’s beautiful, but our house is in a shambles as all of our possessions had to be boxed up and moved out and then back in again.  Norm didn’t have time to unpack much before he joined me in San Diego.  We’ll be playing the “where did I put that” game for quite a few days.


  2. New Power Wheelchair Pictures

    December 22, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    Ok, finally!  Mom took these.  In the second one I am raised up to full height.

    My new Quickie Rhythm

    full height


  3. Holiday Time

    December 22, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    I’m enjoying a visit with my family in San Diego.  Been here since last Friday, but unable to blog until today.  My new chair is working great and I will post a pic when I get one I like. :smile: Norm arrives tomorrow and I am looking forward to that.

    Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!


  4. It’s Here!

    December 13, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    Finally, I have my new wheelchair.  We went to Southwestern Medical at 11:30 this morning and didn’t leave till almost 2 p.m. because of all the little minor adjustments that have to be made.  It’s working great and I just love it.  Norm and I had a late lunch and got home a little while ago.  I raised my chair up the full 10 inches which puts me at about 5 foot 8 inches tall and I rode around my house.  It was a life-changing moment for me.  I am still seated, but I feel as if I had been given the ability to walk.  It’s hard to explain.  Unless you’re someone who uses a wheelchair all the time you really can’t understand how limiting it is to view the world from 4’2″ tall.  It’s a little disconcerting as well to be so tall suddenly, so I only do it in small doses.  I actually feel a little bit lightheaded.

    In the privacy of my own home with my husband near me, I broke down and expressed my true emotions.  Tears of joy welled up in my eyes.  Norm thought I was upset, but I assured him it was happy tears.  He left a little while ago to do some errands and while I was alone the joy of this moment that I feel deep within my spirit began bubbling over and I could not help but praise God in words only he could understand and thank him for this marvelous gift.

    I’m a bit tired and need to rest for a while, but soon I will post a picture and possibly a video.


  5. No Chair Yet…

    December 12, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    …but soon. The armrest are 1 inch too short so they will put in a spacer to make them the proper height, but they have to go out and buy longer screws.  Also, they have to drill some new holes so they can move the go stick box to the right position for me to reach it comfortably.  One other adjustment with the foot rests and then it should all be correct.  They are working on those things today, so possibly tomorrow I can go back to get the chair.  We still have to program the sensitivity of the go stick, but that shouldn’t be too hard and it’s all computer stuff.  And we all know how well computers perform.:wink:

    Just to clarify my earlier post: I’m not driving to San Diego by myself.  Norm is driving me to Yuma and my dad will meet us there.  He’ll switch vehicles with Norm and Dad will drive me the rest of the way.

    I talked with Mom about having to use the manual tiedowns, and she says that we’ll just make it work.  I love my mom and her can-do attitude.  God has blessed me with the most wonderful people in my life.


  6. The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Gimp Girls…

    December 11, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    …Often go awry! I have been waiting forever it seems to get my new wheelchair. The new armrests are here so I’m scheduled for 9 a.m. tomorrow to see if everything works. The only caveat is that they didn’t make the new armrests quite to the specifications we asked for. Perhaps they will work or perhaps not. We won’t know until we try. However, we won’t be able to get the new wheelchair docking station installed in our minivan until after Christmas because they are booked solid at the place that does this kind of work.

    This really screws up everything. I’m supposed to leave town on Friday for a much-anticipated visit with my family in San Diego. They’re all looking forward to seeing my new wheelchair, but I’m not sure I’ll have it and, if I do have the wheelchair, I may not be able to bring it. Not having the new wheelchair docking station installed in the minivan means that we have to use manual tiedowns to secure my wheelchair. Not that simple a procedure and not something that would be easy for my mother to do. You see, Norm isn’t coming with me on my trip. He’ll be staying behind until Christmas when he will meet me in San Diego. Why is he staying behind? Because we scheduled some much-needed maintenance work on the house during the week that I will be away. I can’t be here while the work is being done so that’s why I planned an early trip to San Diego when normally I wouldn’t go until Christmas.

    Sometimes I wonder why I bother to make plans!


  7. Faithful Friends That Are Dear to Us

    December 11, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    Sunday morning I found myself wondering how I was going to get out of bed. Norm had some physical problems during the night and he was in bad shape and unable to help me. I called my friends Tracy and Terry (TNT) and they dropped everything to come to my rescue. I don’t know what I would do without friends like that.

    Norm is doing better so we are back on our own again. TNT were fantastic yesterday in all that they did for me and Norm. God bless those special people!


  8. Overheard at the Scottsdale Waterfront

    December 11, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

    Sometime late last week Norm and I had visited the new Scottsdale Waterfront shopping center.  (The water is the man-made Arizona Canal.)  We saw old friend who is working there as a valet/greeter and he told us this funny joke.

    Too little green peas were crossing the road but they get hit by a big truck.  They are rushed to the hospital where one little green pea dies from his injuries.  The other little green pea also sustained injuries and the doctor comes in to give him a report on his condition.  The doctor says, “I have good news and bad news, which do you want first?” “Give me the good news,” replies the little green pea.  “The good news is that you will survive your injuries.”  Then the little green pea says, “Great, so what’s the bad news?”  The doctor replies, “you’ll be a vegetable for the rest of your life.”


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