Monday Feb 29 2016

It is the last day of the month of February.

Normally February has 28 days. Once every four years it has 29 days.
Whenever it happens it is called a Leap year.

This trick allows the synchronization of the Gregorian Calendar with the orbit of the planet Earth around the sun.  Enjoy the day as it will not come before 2020.

The activities for the weekend have already added as I have been working a lot.
Good breakfast as usual, a lot of healthy food.

Oatmeal, milk, granola, blueberry,  yogurt and a lot of good dark coffee.

The local flowers are really beautiful. The camellia are blossoming.

As it is getting hot, I started wearing shorts again.

First observation I need to tan a bit.

Second observation is that my weak capillary system  is  showing around.

I have birth marks on my left leg on my calf. On the back of my left arm.

On the left side of my belly. It is all coming together with my original brain injury located on my right side of the brain. If you are interested in reading about it, it is like last time at the following link. AVM.

There are also 

interesting medical chart to read, here is an example of it.

Here is some more pictorial information.

I match the following sites: Head (right), arm (left) leg (left) and stomach (left side)

Quite amazing there is an explanation for everything...

Back in Italy my family is well.

My mother had a very busy weekend, She attended a conference.

She likes to be in place with people around her. She was making the point that she likes the social aspect of the experience.

Here is the cat of my brother Francesco. 

The cat's name is Farang.  He is a very happy cat indeed.

 Time for lunch. I had a good lunch, outside..it is a warmer day (21C) I put shorts on and it is still too early for it. 

I had a left over salad, a lot of carbs and a bit of chicken breast.

As a side I had a couple of 

At the AAC I have been reading the daily newspapers and news of the day.

I have been checking on my blogs, had lunch outside, washed my mounts carefully and  I am working more and more on my blog. Checking the spelling and the accuracy of the events.

Enjoy the reading

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Sunday February 28

I first start to resume my activities of last Saturday.

I  cleaned the whole apartment, I went next to the 500 building where many washer and drier machines are available. I was able to take care of all my personal clothes as a well as house  items.

I end up the week with so many items to wash and clean: sport attire, jeans, Shirts... you name it I have it.

I finally went to do Grocery Shopping at Trader Joe's the place where I  like to shop

I stayed focused on  my list sway away from the marketing of new products.

 I did pretty well as  I spent $78,35 certainly within the reach of my current budget of $75.00

I  got  a new supply of stickers and I had the usual tickets for the raffle as I brought back the reusable bags.

Last Saturday Feb 27 I also wrote a letter to my boys

For the time  being I am keeping it here at the apartment. I am going to sent it back home in La Canada to mu family in the near future.

Then I went to the movie .

I greeted Morgana, she mentioned her school  is going fine.

As usual we exchanged information about my family doing.

I snapped a picture of her smiling.

 I  got a green tea and Edamame snack.  

At the movie theater the concession has started to sell good healthy snacks.

I changed my personal preferences.

I have not been drinking any sodas since a long time (nor I have any craving for it)

Recently I stopped  having the ice cream (Dibbs) as well

You see in life  all you need is making the decision to stop having something and that is it.

As it is said "Alea Iacta Est" 

I went with the soy beans (Edamame) and a green tea at the concession stand.

Both foods healthy an enjoyable.

The movie  was quite an experience (sarcastically speaking of course). 

A real peace of artwork, filled with a really great plot and acting. 

The movie itself has suffered for poor public appreciation. 

You can check the fact here.

Here is a nice quote from the following website.

Zoolander‘, while far from a bad movie and has a couple of laughs, has a scatter-shot tone, weak characters and couldn’t strike the right balance between being a satire of the fashion industry and also be a spy/mystery film. But since nostalgia is selling in Hollywood, comedians are looking for any movie to make a sequel for regardless of how much or how little fans are clamoring for it. The original movie wasn’t a box-office hit when it came out but I’m sure it had a fan-base that have been begging for 15 years for the continuation of Derek Zoolander’s story. However, after seeing it, I’m sure those people now their lives full of deep regret.

As usual on Sunday morning I went first to church at S. Philip the  Apostle on Stockdale Hwy.

The congregation is getting ready for Easter Sunday. The gospel of the day is that Jesus appeared to a Samaritan woman and talked about her believes. 

The church was packed, I found seating at some point next to a kind couple. At church I greeted miss Caroline as well.

There are new priests more malleable and more in tune with the audience and above all with the current world.

The previous priest was an old style person, not a bad one, yet he was very predictable in his repetitive topics. I personally had never liked it that much.

After church It was time for me to go to the gym.

On Sunday I have my own personal program to do at the gym. I normally do a lot of stepper.

 This time I switched it and worked on different parts of my body.

I focused my exercise  on my lower extremity strength (i.e. on my legs) a lot of repetition for all sort of my legs muscle: front tights, quadriceps and calf.

In addition I  worked on my inner core (abdominal) for my stability.

 My body felt  really well.

Diego did my coverage a the gym from 2pm to 3 pm. 

At 3pm I was ready to leave the gym per the agreement with him.

While at the gym I took my weight.

 On Feb 28th it  is unchanged at 180lb

I then came back to the apartment got a shower and dinner

I used the chicken breast I had cooked beforehand.

I mixed it with Arugula Salad, carrot,  pearl tomatoes, nuts and mozzarella ball.

It sounds really good, as it was delicious to me,

I partitioned the salad in half. Half for dinner and half for lunch the next day.

My wife Simona and the boys had a very busy day

When I called her she was cooking for the week.

Enjoy the reading.. 

Sincerely

Saturday February 27

Last Friday as usual I went to the gym to dance Zumba with Caroline

She is the lady at my far left. Next to me at my left is Salve. At my right is Sira and then Racheal.

At the gym I have also greeted Lee.

Zumba toning is a great cardio routine and it is performed at the beat of a really good music.

I enjoy it very much.

At about 7pm as usual it is time for me to leave the gym at to come back home at the apartment.

Simona had the evening off for herself. The kids were at Marina's place and she went to have her nail done.

She was squeezing in a bit of time for herself once in a while.

Miss Alexis R. took me to the gym and back Along  the way an accident had happened a few moments before Alexis was coming to pick me up. She was extra careful in driving me back to the apartment.
Once inside I checked in and fill in a good appraisal form on behalf of Miss Alexis R. for her extra careful driving skill. A sign of appreciation.

Meanwhile  my mother in Italy sent me this picture of the Camelia flower just blossomed on her balcony.

It is a great shot

This morning I noticed there are other camelia flowers here at the apartment.

I frame it and took a good shot.

I washed all my items in the 400 building there are more far more washer and drier available. I had no trouble doing all my laundry today.

I guess I am going to switch to the 400 building place for the time being.

I let my item drying in the 400 building and went to do Grocery Shopping at Trader Joe's.

I got everything on my list, stirred away from the marketing enticing offering.

I managed to spend $78.35... the clinic passes me $75 for the Money Management program.

The offset comes from my Personal Account that is managed by my IPC.

I had stickers, ticket for the raffle as I brought back my brown reusable bags and finally coloring sheets for Lapo.

I wrote to my  boys a letter 

At 2pm I met with Jesus for the following item: no need for any Personal Shopping this week, no need for extra money. We also agreed for this upcoming Tuesday to start the so called bus training program.

I am filling  my daily bog and will go to nursing for my head ache.

I am going to catch a movie tonight.

Jesus helped me (cued me) to identify the movie that is good for me..

 I need something for my head

Going to Nursing.

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Friday February 26 2016

Yesterday evening I returned home at the apartment after therapy.
I checked my food and found that the chicken brest was due to be used within the next couple of days. I decided to cook it.

I have been using my  food while it is within its expiration range. I like to keep my food fresh,  healthy  and under control.

As usual I seared the chicken breast in  the nonstick pan.

Using Coconut Oil I prepared the cooking  pans for the oven.

I dressed the chicken with the following spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano.

The chicken cooked for about 40 minutes in the oven at 350F. Toward the end I set the grill to Low setting to brown the chicken at the top.

 I checked it was cooked all the way trough its thickness. And in fact it was well done. It was ready for dinner.

As a side I prepared a healthy Arugula Salad with carrot, cherry tomatoes, and Olive.

I dressed with Olive Oil and  Balsamic vinegar. This  is my preferred home made dressing.

I do not use any other dressing purchased at the store.

I had dinner and  later It was then my time to go to the gym.

I always have my dinner before going to the gym. 

It was my day for doing Zumba with Mike. It is an aerobic exercise at the bit of the music.

I enjoyed it very much.

After Zumba I had cycle with Tiffany. The usual full extension of my legs. 

At the gym Tiffany was motivating the whole class by saying "Stay focused on your effort, feel the beat and reflect on today's' effort. At the end she recommended us to thing about what we did while there, what we can do better the next time around."

I did not feel taking any picture of the instructor in front of all the class.

Post gym I was feeling very well

Meanwhile Simona was having a work dinner at Caltech. 

The restaurant over there is called The Ateneum 

It is a very nice place as you can see from the link above.

The kids are fine and attended Taekwondo practice.

When I came back at the apartment our eldest Chicco was reading a book while our youngest Lapo was playing.

This morning I woke up early and had a nice stroll in the nearby park.

Chicco was up and getting ready for his day. Both Simona and Lapo were still sleeping.

I went around the apartment to snapped beautiful pictures of interesting flowers.

Flowers next to the Swain Center.

Daisies near the apartments

Southern California is blessed for having such a great  weather.

I had  a good breakfast.

Milk, granola, yogurt, Oatmeal and a coffee.

Good for the morning.

My brother Francesco called me from Italy.

He is doing well. Always busy with his work.

The company he is working with opened a showroom at about 40 minutes drive from Verona our hometown. Right now in this place there are a few more people working. He is the most mobile of all as he needs a computer and an internet connection to do his work.

I had a really rewarding lunch. 

Today I had a  very yummy wrap and a couple of fruits. I passed on the cupcake.. easy for me.

I made the mistake of eating the Doritos chips. 

Note to self,, stay away from the chips from now on..

It left a very nasty aftertaste in my mount. Even after washing my mount once, drinking milk, washing my mount twice.. Really a nasty concussion based on the reaction of the papillary glands of my tongue. 

I had lunch outside under the patio. The weather is very conducive toward staying outside during this time of the year.

I called my  mom Marta in Italy. She is well. She mentioned she had an artichoke, cheese, nuts. As fruit she had strawberry and  a banana.  She is doing her very best. Keeping herself busy with many cultural activities at her best.

during lunch I also called home where our sons where home for lunch. Today they have collaboration day at school. It means that once in a month they both come back home for lunch.

They were both busy with their electronic activities.

The boys are always 

Enjoy the reading.

My plan for the next few days are the following ones.

Later tonight I am going to the gym as I have Zumba with Carolyn.

I am going to meet the usual familiar faces. Lee, Rachael, Lisa and a few others.

The weekend is going to be spent in the following activities:

cleaning the apartment early in the morning. At 10:30am Grocery Shopping at Trader  Joe's. 

The goal is to get as close as possible to the budget of $75. I will get a new supply of stickers and have a good time.

In the afternoon I would like to go to catch a movie

Based on the review it might 

Enjoy the reading..

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Thursday Feb 25

I have been doing my best. I have been keeping my apartment tight.
I clean it at my best on a regular basis. Whenever I see it needs something I am on it. I am Proactive.

Today I run out of sponges, I went down to maintenance to get some.


Yesterday in the afternoon  it was the outing schedule day.
I distributed the outing schedule  at  the apartment complex.

At 5pm I booked for movie for this Saturday.

I always go at the movie on a Saturday afternoon at the Maya theater.

On Friday evening I enjoy working out by having  Zumba Toning at the gym. Carolyn leads the class.

Yesterday  evening I had a good an healthy dinner.

 Butternut squash pasta with a healthy arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and carrots.

I added some black olive as well.
Homemade Italian dressing: Olive Oil, Balsamic vinegar and a tad of salt.

We all need to be careful with the salt intake.

Too much salt in the diet make the blood pressure increasing to unhealthy level.

 Later it was time for me to go to the gym.

I had stationary cycle with Cassie. She is the smiling lady at my right hand side beside me.

  I kept the pace of my  cycling rhythm locked to the music pace.
 It is the way it goes at the gym. She is encouraging the whole class to follow her lead.

She is repeating: "Yes I can do it, I have a goal to reach, I stay focused on my goal"

At the end of the class she was encouraging us to reflect on the following positive aspects:

- how well our  effort of the class had  gone
-what the effort of the  hour spent over there was like.

At the gym the usual familiar people. Damian, Georgia and a few others.
I did not see Pete nor his wife Michelle.

I greeted Janice and Larry her husband.

They are both good persons. I always stop by and greet them all.

 I met once Cassie with her grandma at church at S. Philips the Apostle here in Bakersfield.

After working on my stationary cycle skills  it was time to do body pump with Sylvia.

I did a lot of repetitions and stayed light.

I  have been doing my best in bending my legs and in keeping my balance. 

Using my core is key in making steady progress.

Sylvia concurred with me not to overcharge my body with necessary weights.

We are all regular of her class, some other people have better physical skills than me, I am fully aware of my current limitations. I am working hard in staying withing my current capabilities.

I have injured my back some time ago, it is a strained  back muscle.

At time it still hurts, I am trying to keep a good posture. It has been improving slowly and steadily.

The goal for me is to protect my back and my progress.

Both aspects of my physical recovery are a work in progress as you know very well.

Before leaving I greeted Sylvia and as she was in the middle of the class I did not want to bug her with a picture.

I also had time to  weigh myself.  On Feb 24 my weight is 180lb. 

According to Simona I am still 5 pounds above my ideal weight. 

It is 2.7% above my ideal weight... practically I am there. I need to keep it steady.

Anyway I am feeling well the way I am  right now.

Today is a warm Californian day.

The temperature is  steadily increasing.

I had my second parts of Money Management completed.  

As usual I had $75 for grocery and $24 for outing. 

The outing money for me is always on the spot, between movie, snack and church I have it perfectly balanced  down to the single cents.

The grocery shopping is still the point where I am getting off.

At time  I bought  too much.  I got hooked on certain products that I purchased with the notion I am going to use them at some later point. 

The morning hours are still cool and pleasant, the evening hours are warmer still.

At the park I did my usual walking around. I snapped a panorama view and kept a steady hand to get a good panorama shot.

It took me a couple of trials to reach my goal, the result is very nice.

This morning my brother Francesco called me from Italy.

He mentioned that out of his two cats one went missing. The missing one's name is Farang.

The other cat's name is Morgana.

Francesco told me that most likely Farang felt that he was going to die. 

He left the house to die in the open field  alone by itself.

Francesco gave me this explanation. 

Francesco was hoping to take care of Farang until its last hour.

Well it is gone the way it is gone.

My mother emailed me to let me know my two letters to her arrived. I wrote her and sent my letter to Italy. It is a gesture of  caring for my mother.

She is a good woman.

Not surprisingly I had a great lunch based on yesterday evening dinner.

While I was eating lunch outside under the patio I called my mother in Italy.

She mentioned she received my letter and post card I sent her last Wednesday.

I purchased the post card at Bear Lake last week. The post card is of Cedar Lake. The letter is from me written in Italian. I sent it all to Verona addressed to my mom.

She mentioned she  is doing well and  devotes her time to attending conferences and interesting events.  My mother likes art events and cultural happening.

She is doing her best to keep an active life.

She depends on public transportation in Verona to get around town.

Nutrition recommendation from the following link.

Protein

Seafood, white-meat  Poultry, Milk, Cheese, Yogurt, Egg, beans.

High protein diary

 Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, low fat Swiss Cheese,

Eggs, Milk 2%, Tilapia, Quinoa, Ademame etc etc

Sincerly

Enjoy the reading

Sincerely

Wednesday Feb 24

Yesterday evening I went to the gym as I had no Personal Shopping to do. I seldom skip the gym as I  enjoy that place very much.

Beforehand I had a very healthy dinner.

I prepared scrambled eggs frittata mixed with the leftover rice.
I used three eggs. I divide the food into two portions.

For yesterday evening and another for today's lunch.

 I also  cooked broccoli flowers in a pan. Lightly seasoned.

 A couple of pieces of fruits completed my dinner. Healthy carbs from fruits and vegetable.

Yesterday my kids worked at their homework as their evening activity.

I talked to Lapo our youngest. He told me our eldest Chicco was doing something very important and could not come to the phone. He talked to me in Italian then told me "something very important" in English.

Finally Chicco was available and I greeted him warmly.

It then  was time for me to go to the gym.

Over there I enjoyed my workout. I had body pump with Ellie. Light weights and many repetitions is the way to go. I am not the type of Bulky person.

I am focusing on my lower extremity range of motion, precision and breathing in between the exercise. Overall fitness.

Right now my legs' bending together with my core  is plenty for me to work upon.

After body pump with Ellie it was time for doing Zumba. This is a rhythmic and enjoyable way to do  more cardio exercise.

Kyle drove the sprinter with several other patients.

There was  barely  place left  in the sprinter for fitting all the patients  that needs to be transported to several gym places.
Beside at the gym I knew it was time to leave and I went to the men's room to wash my hands.
I was chased in the washroom. 

Please CNS I know what the coverage's rules are about.

Please wait respectfully your place is outside the washing room

Obviously the usual one N...k had the most attention of the evening.
At the gym I weighted myself.

On Feb 23  my body was  182  pound.

Today's breakfast. Easy and healthy.

Warm Oatmeal, cereals with milk, yogurt and a coffee (not shown in the picture)

Bakersfield  had a earthquake just yesterday. It was a magnitude 4.8 quake. The epicenter  was near Wasco.

The apartment shook up, it was a quick rumble. A fast moving wave passed by.

The wooden structure of the apartment absorbed the strong rattle.  

It is an elastic structure after all. It is supposed to absorb and bend lightly to accommodate the local seismic activity. 

This fact is reported in today's newspapers as well.

Today's park is a relaxing view.

I walked around and enjoyed my day. Peaceful and fresh hair. Spring is around the corner, nature is waking up slowly. I am observing more activity in the nests and a bit more insects around the park.

At the apartment I greeted James and all the maintenance crew.

James mentioned that today he  was scheduled to change the kitchen water mixer in the apartment 623. 

It had trouble mixing the hot and cold water.

We will see how it goes later today.

As usual this morning Simona took the boys to school.

Today Simona is busy at Caltech and she could not take my call. She did let me know this morning when She told me she had visitors.

She is always busy.

It is getting warmer and warmer. It is 75F (24C) outside.

For the next couple of days is will stay so. The weekend is going to  be a few degrees cooler.

I had my lunch outside under the porch.

The weather is nice and relaxing.

As mentioned I had lunch with the left over of my dinner. I had partitioned it beforehand on purpose.

Broccoli flowers, scramble eggs frittata and grapes.

A lot of healthy carbs from the veggy and fruit, protein from the eggs.

It is a good and a balanced lunch.

Water as a drink. I do not drink soft drink I am over any time of soft drink.  I simply do not enjoy it any more. Had I been drinking any, today I am definitely not.

I like to eat as healthy as possible.

Normally I  watching my food intake.

I have my cheat days as well, it is all human.

I would not a human person had I not my special dietary days..

I like to stay outside.. as soon as I am back I have the following experiences:  smelling  and coursing.

 I am observing and reporting.

At time the smell of human excrement in pervasive  in this place.

People screaming and cursing is nothing new as well.

People get changed by the staff because they are incontinent and while they receive the service they course to the staff that is assisting them.

How much pain and relentless sorrow is associated by me witnessing day after day these aspects of the clinic? I am talking about myself, the staff is certainly here to perform their duty.

Why getting  surprised after all, why reporting your the normal daily  routine.. because it is based on my observation and on my daily sensation...

The  feeling of sorrow and guilt for myself  to be here is at its maximum...

I feel  really shocked as this is an ongoing situation.

At time this places smells poorly, it sounds  poorly with a lot of coursing and mean words.

Had I l to learn some bad words, this is the best place to learn for me. to witness and appreciate what a poor behavior is  like.

Very likely my kids have witnessed half of the bad words used at this place.

I mentioned to you all many times, the real world is outside, this is an artificial place...

Well, my point is that I can not accept nor identify with this place..

Why I am still  witnessing all of these aspects?

Has my soul been so bad and so poor to receive such a harsh punishment please?