Tuesday September 30

Already yesterday was a good an productive day for my family. I went to see my endocrinologist. His name is Dr. Nelson Madrilejo. He works at the centennial medial group.  Susanne my nurse came with me. Anyway Dr. Nelson confirmed that my growth hormone treatment  that I have been receiving for the past three years had reached the end. He recommended to stop my daily shot and to check my blood again in a six weeks, just to be sure.

I shared this good news with Simona my wife and all the CNS staff.

I wrote a letter  in Italian  to Simona my wife to summarize the discussion from the visit.

Afterward I wrote a letter to our two sons. Chicco is 9 and Lapo is 5. Whenever I write to our sons I write in English and block letter so that they can read my letter. It is actually Chicco our eldest who reads it  as Lapo is too young, nevertheless I feel good writing to the both of them. 

For Lapo I normally prepare a very simple letter with drawing  and a few simple words.

Yesterday I went to the 24 fitness gym to do Kickboxing with Christie.

I started doing cycle with Lolita and it was then time to go back to the apartment.

Over there I met Richard and Lisa. 

I also met Larry and Janice ove. I snapped a picture of them being happy together.

They are really two good and trustworthy persons.

After ward it was time to go and we went back to the apartment.

Before going to bed a wished Buona notte to my family.

Today is a new day. I woke up early as usual to come to work.

My breakfast was as usual very fulfilling:

I did not call Simona my wife as yesterday she started her academic year so she was most definitely  busy with her daily activities and with our sons.

At the clinic I had   first  CR with Erica-sama. We went at Starbucks near the Walmart store.

Erica was driving her nice and ecological Prius.

Over there we worked on Cognitive Rehabilitation (CR).

As Sarah is telling me CR is PT for the mind.

I had the chance of getting a glass bottle of tea so I can recycle the bottle.

At the Starbucks no substance with cafee are allowed.

After ward I had Yoga with Amy.

Amy has two daughters, Madison 11 and Olivia 4. Madison turned 11 last Sunday.

As I have get in the habit to bring nice letter or stickers to her daughters, they have come to appreciate my gesture.

Here is me showing the nice drawing that I have received from Olivia and the very nice artwork that Madison made for me. It is a wallet! I am going to keep them dearly with me.

The artwork with find its place in my apartment and the wallet will become my wallet.

Speaking of wallet today was my pay day as well. Michael and CNS got my biweekly money for both outing and grocery. The program works very well you are required to keep all the receipts for the two weeks and use the money either for entertainment or for food,

So I appreciate you CNS and all the work that you are putting for us.

As Sarah is always telling me we are worthy of the effort.

I agree with all of you.

Enjoy the reading.

Have a great day.

Sincerely,

Giuseppe

Monday Sept 29

Alright
church
Corall
breakfast
Sarah stickers
Breakfast



http://chiccolapo.blogspot.com/

Monday Sept 29 2014

Alright,
this is Giuseppe writing to you from my office at the clinic.
I have been working a lot during the weekend from home so you already know my activities of the past few days.

I would like to add my activities starting from yesterday evening.
As it was Sunday I went to the S.Francis Church on H Street.
We arrived early so I could seat down in a front row. As usual I met Coral at church and her family. She has several kids ranging 8 to 4. I remember she has a boy about 8 years old, then a couple of younger daughters. She knows me well and she trusts me. Coral calls me Joseph. The empathy  and the feeling of respect is  mutual. We trust each other. Or at least I feel she trusts me a lot.

At church I have greeted Amparo and Mark. They are the two person that sing at the local quire.
They are doing a really good job.

Antonio drove us to church.

After church  we came back to the apartment. I kissed good night to our kids and went to bed.

I had a good night and wake up early as usual.

This morning .I did my personal staff and had a good breakfast.
A healthy and productive day starts from a good breakfast.

As I was done I washed everything by hand, so that I could save water, power and respect the environment.

After ward I went to trough the trash that Dag had left for me and went on with my day.

I gave perfumed stickers to Jemena.

At the clinic Sarah my Case Manager here at CNS was in a meeting but had time for me  to quickly say good morning, I confirmed her that I was going to leave my letter with the stickers for Ian on her desk. She  knows  I have made a point to bring it to her every Monday. So here they are for you Sarah. Thank you a lot for your kindness and for your consideration.

Width all the respect you all deserve.

today Simona my wife starts her academic year again so she went to Caltech,

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Sept 28 being steadfast

Alright,
it is Sunday and obviously Marina is off. Simona and the kids are out so I took advantage of the current situation to do some cleaning.
Here are the activities:
I started from the bathroom, as I like it to be clean and shining. It was my task back in Verona, Italy and my mom knew she could count on me to have a job well done.

Second I cleaned the surfaces of my bedroom from the accumulated dust. I  cleaned the dust out from all the books and papers so that tonight I will sleep in a clean environment.

I did more cleaning of the faucet and of the related surfaces  in the rest room

Then I vacuum cleaned the kitchen floor, the alley and my bedroom.

Finally I have  washed the floor that I had just vacuum cleaned. 

And now the apartment is cleaned, sparkling and wonderfully friendly to be.
I like to stay in a house that is both looking and smelling well. Call me a freak, but this is what I like. As I am becoming more alert of my surrounding and more firm on my legs and movements I have fewer and fewer spills on the floor as I am paying more attention to what I am doing here.
Well it is all about getting stronger and alert about your surrounding.
It is getting back to be a pre injury person.
It takes time, patience, forbearing. I highly recommend to follow the link to patience as it explain in simple terms what being patient means:

Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.

Alright enjoy the reading as usual it is a pleasure working on my blog.
Sincerely
Giuseppe

Sunday Sept 28 second post

Alright, this is my second post for today.
I wrote a nice letter to Sara My Wonderful Case Manager at CNS. I am going to ad stickers for Ian her youngest son. I will leave everything on her desk on Monday. So Sarah, don't forget it is for your family.
Afterward I wrote a nice letter to both Chicco and Lapo our sons. Chicco is now 9 and Lapo is 5.5. Chicco goes to IV grade and Lapo goes to Kindergarten.
I normally write to our  boys during my weekend and as usual my letter is written in English using block letters.

I just called my mom Marta in Verona, Italy my home town.
She mentioned she had a good day and she went walking a bit with her friend in the surrounding. She normally visit my brother Francesco and his wife Sara, but today they both were at the soccer stadium as the Chievo was playing. The AC Chievo is the local soccer team from Verona, it is doing quite well.

My mom Marta mentioned to me that in Japan a vulcano erupted suddenly and in doing so about 30 hikers got killed. Here is the bbc news. Well this shows that anything unexpected in nature may happen. But this is an event that it has  seldom happened before.

On a more positive and light note for the day my mom mentioned that George Clooney got married in  Venice to a woman of Lebanese descent. Here is the bbc news. My wife Simona confirmed the news and she told me that she is a well known layer in London. As the news is saying she is a human right lawyer in London.
Well they definitely have chosen the right town and setting for their wedding.

When Simona and I got married we choose Rome, Italy for our wedding. Simona -the woman who later became my wife- is from Rome. So it was natural for us to have our wedding in Rome. Since that day it has been 14 years ago and as a result we have two beautiful and full of energy kids.

In a little bit I am afraid I have to go as I need to get a words with my RTC about my current needs for Personal Shopping.  I am sure today I am going to have something very important to tell her.. I normally have very important and pressing needs for either me or for my wife Simona.
By the way Simona my wife told me she is going to send me a bath robe, as I am getting cold using the local drying towel here at the apartment.
Well enjoy the reading.

Sincerely
Giuseppe

Sunday Sept 28 posting

Already yesterday posting for my evening is  as following.
I went to the movie theater to see the movie The equalizer. A nice movie with Denzel Washington.
He plays a  CIA  operative that is forced out from a self imposed retirement when he is confronted with a bad pool of Russian mafia gangster.
The way he gets involved with this people is trough defending a girl who is dragged into a prostitution ring run by the Russian mobs.

I enjoyed the movie very much.

I met again at the movie theater  a nice lady. Her name is Morgan. I asked if I could snap a picture of her so here it is for you.

Finally outside the movie theater we met Danielle. She used to work at CNS and now she is working as a dispatcher at the switchboard at the Bakersfield Police Department.
I was happy to see her again, she agreed to snap a picture with me.

Let's switch to today Sunday Sept 29.

Today this is me smiling and realizing I need to chance my polo later today. I am smiling with the picture of my family. Simona my wife is still sleeping today so  I am not waking her up.  In France they call this morning La Grasse Matinee. Once in a while Simona needs to sleep in as well. Normally she wakes up very early but weekend is weekend for you as well.

My Petite Dejounee is as following:

A very healthy and complete meal. Next time I will try to get some pain-au-chocolat.

I would like to go to prepare a nice letter to Sarah and some Stickers for Ian her son, so that on Monday at the clinic I will leave it on her desk as usual. Then I am going to write to my wife and my son. 

Enjoy the reading and have a good day!

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Friday Sept 26

Yesterday at the CNS I had art therapy after lunch.
Elana from Creation Craze came to CNS.

I have prepared a pumpkin for our kids. I have also helped the other patients in painting their art. I really like arts and craft so I had a really good time.
Elana was happy to see me and I was happy to see Elana once more!
She explained to me that she closed her studio some time ago to take care of her family.
Her studio used to be called Creation Craze, and right now she basically does a similar activities but out of her track. She has kept the furnace where she cook the ceramic pieces.

In the evening I went to the 24 fitness gym as it was Zumba night.

I had a lot of fun and as usual I inquired about Honey daughter. She told me that she appreciates me asking about her daughter. It is a nice gesture from her.

At the gym I snapped a picture of Naomi the manager. She is always happy to see me over there. She told me that her daughter was busy playing soccer.

As usual I snapped a picture of her smiling at me. A very positive and calming effect on me.

Today is Saturday so I took care of the household activities by cleaning everything, changing my bedding and washing all the clothes. 

It is all well.

Later I did my grocery shopping a Trader Joe's.

I had a  lot of fun.. I brought flowers to everybody, had a lot of fun. Brought flowers to Jamie here pictured in front of me. She is wearing a dark blue T-shirt.

I have also greeted Lisa who last week was visiting her niece in Oklahoma. Jamie is the blonde lady with the crossed harms.

Kanvas and Monica are  also pictured here below.

As usual I have also brought the bags so Simona's number was entered in the raffle.

Finally I have got special stickers for Ian. Ian is the youngest son of Sara my Case Manager at CNS.

The stickers this time are special because when you rub it they release a perfume.

I am going to bring it to Sara on Monday. I know she is expecting this little gesture of gratitude from me.

After shopping I called my wife Simona. She mentioned that today it was soccer practice for both Chicco and Lapo. Chicco is now 9 years old and Lapo is 5.5 years old.

Once I came back home I started cooking. I have cooked some potatoes and then mashed it with butter and olive oil. Finally I used it to staff the pepper I had in the fridge.

Here is the final result after cooking in the haven.I have coated the top of the pepper with pesto and Parmesan cheese. the cheese has turned dark with the high temperature of the haven. Interesting transition of color, most likely due to the high temperature.

My late lunch was based on the potatoes I had prepared earlier. I have prepared a potatoes salad with tomatoes butter, olive oil and fresh parsley.

As mentioned to you many time cooking is a form of art. And I enjoying it very much. I hope that you are doing the same as well.
Sincerely
Giuseppe

Thursday Sept 25

Let me rewind my brain to yesterday activities.

Yesterday it was Wednesday Sept 24. The weather was really nice not too hot.

As soon as I came back home I prepared  a fruit salad. My wife Simona always is reminding me to use the fruit before it  spoils, so I have been making a peaches fruit salad with oranges and  lemon juice. I will let it in the fridge for a couple of day when it is ready to eat.

I have also been preparing a wonderful Whole Wheat  Penne Pasta with Pesto and Parmesan cheese. I have also been pairing it with a healthy spinach salad with Chia seeds. 

Afterward I waited until 5 pm  to book a movie for this Saturday. Brandy took my call. Brandy is my favorite Supervisor together with all the others. 

Finally I went to the 24 fitness gym 

I had cycle with Angie. As usual we snapped this picture together.

At the gym I greeted Pete, Richard and the people I am familiar with over there. They are all greeting me back as well.

At the gym I go by Joseph.

I later started doing body pump with Silvia. Before leaving I snapped a picture of Tucker. She is always posing with the Hawaiian hi.

Afterward I greeted Jessica with a smile and she greeted back to me with a thumb up.

While at the gym I met also Larry and Janice, two good friends of mine.

At the gym CNS provided me with Diego's coverage.

When at home before going to bed, I asked my wife Simona to kiss goodnight to our two kids.

Chicco is 9 and Lapo is 5.

My breakfast has been very yummy and peaceful. Simona my wife left the house early today as usual nevertheless I had breakfast virtually with her and Sarah my wonderful Case Manager at CNS.

Before coming to work I asked Violette to please snap a picture of me for Simona. So here it is me smiling for Simona.

Before leaving the house I have watered the flowers and cleaned everything sharp. So that Simona does not have to worry about this mundane activities. 

Well  this was my day yesterday.

Thank you CNS, Sarah, Lester and I am a  very lucky dude!

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Wednesday Sept 24

Alright yesterday it was a Tuesday and as I had nothing to buy at Personal  Shopping I went to the 24 fitness gym.
Over there I had a very good time working out with Johnny, as I  had boot camp.

At the front counter I met a very nice girl. Her name is Melissa. As usual we snapped a picture together.

After to boot camp with Johnny I started doing step with Leslie. I used a flat surface to step without any actual step as I am not step clear yet.

At the gym I also met Drasdee, she is a very nice and positive person that she is always smiling and agreeing to snap a picture with me.

Today I had my blood drawn at the apartment. In a few days I will go to my endocrinologist Dr. Madrileho to check about my current IGF1 shot. The shot is about my growth hormone injection.

It was early in the morning so I woke up at 5:45 am to make sure I was cleaned and ready for the procedure. Afterward I had the chance to get my breakfast as I have to fast until midnight.


Today at the clinic I worked on CR ( Physical Therapy for the mind!) I did my best, My current CR setting is 6 letter and 3 sec. I have achieved 75% score and 16.85 speed.

I have also been working on my deductive reasoning  lesson 7.  My score today was 94% and 38.2 speed.

After ward I had Yoga with Amy. As usual I brought to her stickers for her two daughters. It is a small token of gratitude and of appreciation for her family.
Her daughters' name are Olivia and Madison. They are very young like my kids.
Over time we have exchanged little hart craft and drawing to show each other the appreciation that we share.

After Yoga I had Counseling Group .

Today is Zeina birthday, she is happy and I share this day with her by making a card for her.
So "Joyeux Anniversaire" Zeina! Keep smiling at the world as when you are happy it is contagious.

I just asked her about me sharing with  you about her birthday and she confirmed that it is absolutely fine with her.
Today's mood is captured in this picture of me smiling and being happy!

My wonderful lunch has been captured in this picture.

Chicken things on crumble bread with orange juice and spinach.

I love to cook and Simona my lovely wife is always helping me at every step. 

As she so busy right now I am not bagging her too much.. She gave me a couple of very good tips and she is always available to suggest me the best way to get to my recipe.

Here is me smiling with my coffee thermos.   I normally go through it in a day of work as I love coffee.

This image shows as well my new shoes that Simona sent me a few days ago. Also it shows the need for me to get a better tan!
Enjoy the reading as I have enjoyed writing to you.
Sincerely
Giuseppe

Thank you Sarah, CNS and Simona my love!

Tuesday Sept 23

Alright, first of all today I have met Stacey. Steve's wife. She is a nice lady. She mentioned that her daughter Lauren is doing great.

Well let me go back to yesterday activities.
Yesterday evening before going to the gym I had a light dinner

Afterward I went to the 24 hour  fitness gym.

I did boot camp with Christi.

I had a lot of fun.

At the gym I met Damian. He mentioned he knows Christa  who works here att CNS.

Also I met Lynn and Richard.

I took a picture with Drashdee that I met over there. She is doing well. She agreed to stand next to me for a quick snapshot. I am the one with the hat.

We actually had another picture with the thumb up.

Drashee is a very positive and sweet person. 

Afterward as I had time I did cycle with Angie. I know it is a bit odd to have cycle on Monday, but as it was on the schedule and CNS offered me to stay I did it anyway.

Before leaving we snapped a picture together, as usual she has agreed to snap a smiling picture with me.

Angie is always at 100%  so it is always a lot of fun for me to take her class. Again I am the one with the green T-shirt.

After my class I have snapped a picture with another positive person.

Naomi is standing next to me. She has a pink shirt I am wearing green shirt and the Caltech hat from Simona my wife.

Well at the gym Marie-Anne came with me. She is a nice person to work with, so we worked together to communicate to base our whereabouts.

I know CNS is trusting me and I on the other hand trust and encourage all the people at CNS to learn.

It is a personal challenge, like they are telling us at the gym.. you have to challenge yourself to learn and to trust yourself.

Well yesterday before going to sleep I sent Simona my wife a nice email, to wish her a good night. I know she is going to read it today,so I slept well.

As usual Simona is always in my thoughts and prayer. She has a huge job as she is really tasked with bringing together the household by keeping track of our kids and by making sure I am safe and well.

To tell it all, Simona knows very well that at CNS I am very well, she knows that Sarah my wonderful Case Manager is always looking after me. Today as usual she greeted me at the entrance and I have brought to her a small thank you for Ian her youngest son.

So overall we are doing really good at CNS.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

Giuseppe

Saturday Sept 20 post lunch entry

Well, this is my post lunch entry for today Saturday Sept the 20th.
I have already mentioned to you regarding both yesterday and this morning activities. So today I would like to introduce the topics of my Trader Joe's shopping. As you all know it is a big fun for me.

As usual I made sure to have my recyclable bags so that I entered the tickets for the raffle on Simona's behalf.
I also have brought flowers to everybody, first of all to Jamie, standing next to me to my left ( I am the one with the hat). Also to Chloe who  is the lady with a necklace  smiling in  the picture below.

In my opinion this blurry image shows the need of having image stabilization included soon or later in the Iphone. As soon as this function is included I am sure that Simona my wife is going to buy me a new phone as soon as possible...:)

As usual I have a lot of fun going over there, everybody knows me as Joseph and he is welcoming me at the store. Obviously they are all looking after me and making sure they are all helpful for me to shop around.

Before leaving I greeted Jamie with a high five.

I am an outgoing person and a person that is grateful to everybody that is helping me to move along.

Right now Simona my wife just called me to let me know they are all fine and that our sons are back from playing soccer. As mentioned to you even Lapo our youngest had started playing soccer together with Chicco our eldest son.

This picture - I have already posted before- shows Lapo playing soccer. Lapo is 6 years old. Chicco our eldest is 9 years old.

Forgive me if I tend to mention over and over my sons age as I have hard time remembering it. In this way I am sure that today I have mentioned it at least once.

Simona is my wonderful and powerful wife. She is the real reason beyond my recovery and my being here to write to you. Well Simona knows that I am well and safe at CNS. She knows she can focus on her very demanding job.
As usual I have remembered to get stickers for Ian. Ian is the youngest son of Sarah. Sarah is my preferred Case Manager at CNS. I have to say I like all the Case Managers at CNS, but as you know I have a penchant for Sarah. So at every situation I make sure she is well taken care of. As she is making sure I am doing well. It is a mutual exchanges of good will.
So the stickers for Ian are in the picture below.

Sarah knows that I will be leaving on her desk on Monday at the clinic.

Today is a wonderful day in California.

My mom is in Verona, Italy back from her vacation at the sea side.

Today she mentioned that over there it is really hot. 

She is reading a good book and enjoying her relaxed life at home.

My brother Fracesco is with Sara his wife attending the usual Saturday soccer match at the  stadium.

My sister Isabella is attending a  meeting in Spain.

My sister has a lot of activities she is attending to. She is a free spirit.

For the evening I am planning to go to the movie theater here in Bakersfield.

I am planning to see the movie Teenager Mutant Ninja turtle.

I believe it is a good movie particularly it is a movie I could be watching together with our two sons.

So I am happy to plan for it eventually if I can not make it it will be for another time.

My back up movie is A walk among the tombstone. It is most definitely of a different gender than the previous movie.

On behalf of my family I am posting the pictures of my apartment. As in today's conversation with my sister Isabella she was inquiring about my apartment at CNS, so here it is for your perusal.

My kitchen with my big fridge

The living room with the TV, I never turn the TV on, as I am constantly lessening to NPR radio.

The places where I create mostly is the stove as I love cooking for me and my wife. Whenever she comes I always prepare some very delicious food for her. Cooking requires passion, dedication and inventive.

Also cooking requires a white apron and a real fantasy. I love cooking by keeping Simona's picture with me so that she is inspiring me on whatever I do.

My personal shelf in my bedroom with the pictures of my sons

My bedroom with on the wall the pictures for my sons Chicco and Lapo, also Simona is on the far right wall.

Here we go, you have seen my apartment in this post.

thank you for reading.

Enjoy

Sincerely 

Giuseppe