Thursday July 28 2016

I am editing my blog entry from the Homes of Hope.

Let's start by saying Faith, Courage, Strength.

Yesterday I have distributed the schedule for CNS to the whole apartment complex.

I have done it as always as every Wednesday showing my good tracking capabilities ...

I  had booked for a hair cut and I had time to cook and write


A letter to my family in English and block letters.

I cooked Zucchini Risotto.

I  prepared the base by dicing onions, celery, carrot

I sliced the Zucchini squash.

The soffritto was made by  using Coconut Oil. 

This is a good Oil for high temperature cooking.

It cooked for 40 minutes

I added a bouillon cube for flavor.

Later I added olive oil and grated  Parmesan cheese

Here is me cooking with my white Apron 

Later in the evening   I went to  Supercut. I felt I was in need of a hair cut so I booked one.

I got another break from the gym. Diego drove me to the hair cut.

We had a fun conversation and we had a nice time.

He told me that his brother owns a barbershop  and he cuts is hair on a regular basis.

This morning  I did money management. I have $75 for grocery and $24 for the outing. 

The latter is always good for me as any money left are going to charity at church. 

The former is a different story.

I shop at TJ's and  get all good and healthy food. 

 I have a Personal Account money I can use in case of need. 

My IPC  in charge is always kind to inquire with me whether I need any money.

Anyway as always I took a  stroll at the park.. it is my morning PT to feel the weather.

Right now it is boiling hot.

I had a good breakfast. Healthy eating comes from taking care of oneself.

Coffee, frothed milk, High Fiber cereal blueberry and Strawberries.

Good breakfast and good healthy hydration.

A lot of water as it is hot outside..

The usual flowers at the apartment look great

Today  James helped me to make another hole in my belt..

I am not loosing my pans any longer.  I don't have to tighten the belt that much that it hurts my back 

Thank you James

I am loosing weight slowly and steadily.

This morning  I came to the houses Hope 

I brought stickers for all the kids around as always, They were happy.

It is good to be able to put a smile to the kids of the facility.

Brandon showed me around the new house. I t is ready for young adult

 This is the current view of the Outside of the Homes of Hope
This is a Foster Parent Agency that is devoted to helping kids and family in need for a help.

The pictures below are  a view of the inside of the  new home.

 It is almost ready and it is going to be used for emancipated youth. 

It looks really good to me

The kitchen

A bedroom

A bathroom

Another bedroom

A third bedroom

The living room

Construction on going.

The house  is made in solid stone. 

The building is solid and fresh. It has a good thermal isolation and inertia.

This old style building architecture remind of a previous house I had.

Many years ago I did my postdoc at Cornell University in upstate New York.

It was from 1997 to late 1999

At the time I was renting a house at the edge of the Cornell campus.

It had the very same architecture as the house I visited early today.

I am glad I had the chance of visiting this place.

It made my day it brought me back some good memories.

The boys are doing fine. They are attending a summer camp

Simona is  well she is busy as always I was not able to talk to her at lunch. 

She called me early  today before taking off for her day.

Here at the Homes of Hope there is a new router, It has been installed today.

It expand the IT capabilities for the Home.

Good Job Brandon and Jon

Wednesday July 27

Yesterday evening I went to Walmart for buy wheat flour.

I did not go to the gym.

While I was waiting I stayed in the apartment. 

I  made Pizza as the dough was due to be used.

I dressed the pizza with pizza sauce, crudo ham and mozzarella.

I used basil and sprinkled the pizza with Olive Oi..

I used the pizza stone and the pizza shovel for baking. 

Bob made me as a present some time ago.

The picture of myself were taken by Miss Marisol who did my coverage last night.

As I was cooking I wrote a nice letter to my family

I am inviting them to keep doing well in life as they have been doing thus far.

After cooking I cleaned the kitchen carefully.

I like to leave in  a clean apartment.

In the evening I was reminded I had signed to go to Walmart. Hence I  went  for  Personal Shopping at Walmart

I picked  Flour  for using for my pizza or cooking spree.

I did not go to the gym. It is OK I have been busy otherwise.

Today it is a very hot day in Bakersfield.

I did my morning PT at the apartment 

my breakfast.

Flowers at the park

The kids are fine.

Chicco is going to see  a Dodger game in LA

Lapo is going to play with the  summer camp

today in La Canada they have  brought some real snow for the kids to play with

I am going to House of Hope today

Over here I have been working on a project for Homes of Hope.

As always I brought stickers for the kids.

It is a small gesture that sparks interest and joy in their lives.

I am planning to keep bringing here more stickers

Enjoy

I talkedwith my mother back in Italy. She is doing fine. 

She is battling with a long standing health related situation.

She is going to be fine.

It is about time to leave

Giuseppe

Tuesday July 26 2016

I am feeling today?

I am using my words in a very measured way.

I slept very poorly and I already  had a PRN medication this morning.

Yesterday evening I came back at the CNS apartment from the therapy at CNS Mt Vernon..

I wrote a letter to my kids.

I like writing to my family whenever I have time.

As you all know this activity is known in the local language at THP.

It stands for Therapeutic Home Program.

This would imply my home is in Bakersfield.

My home is in fact in La Canada. 

I am recovering for a brain injury here in Bakersfield.

At the moment while here I am taking care of the apartment of CNS at my very best.

I clean, I take care of the supply.

Recently I  asked for a maintenance request.

I noticed the  Aluminum plates of the stove were rusty.

I  asked to have new ones.

I keep the Aluminum plates clean and wash it regularly.

Yesterday I was given the smaller ones. 

The bigger ones are  12 inches diameter.  

Very much like the Silicon wafers I used to work with.

Maintenance confirmed me they are going to take care of it very soon.

Anyway  I cooked myself  a healthy dinner.

A summer salad with boiled eggs..

I added spinach, avocado, tomatoes and a sliced apple.

Finally after dinner as I always do I was driven to the 24 fitness gym on Gosford.

A place for me to enjoy: it is  a great environment.. as it it said the community at the gym is great... You and I  understand the difference.

Yesterday I had yoga with Lilli.

A lot of good move, standing and equilibrium, A lot of breathing and relaxation.

Yoga is a good work out as it involved a lot of moves where you use your own body as weight.

Breathing and focusing on each other.. 

At the end of Yoga a good will: focus on the good things of life and speak always highly of each others.

After Yoga I had static cycle with Lolita.

This is a wonderful good cardio exercise.

She is inviting the class to modulate the resistance of the bike.

As always I sent the bike on high so that I could fully extend my legs.

At the gym Damian, Richard, Maria, Marnita, Gloria, Debbie and her husband.

Dolores drove me to the gym at 5:45pm while Laurie  was there to pick me up at 7pm.

Before leaving I took the time to stretch my muscle, It is good practice to devote time for stretching.

It makes the next day easy on the body.

In the morning as always I took a stroll at the park... it is a very hot day in Bakersfield.

PT in the morning.. kind of very hot right now.

Flowers  to Simona

Simona called me this morning to mentioned that the kids are attending a summer camp.

They have  swimming at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. They are going to cool down over there.

I had an interesting call from a relative of mine.

I do not hear from it that often.

I know the reason of what had happened. 

I remember it, my wife remembers it.

No need to get into further details.

Monday July 22 2016

It has been a good and fulfilling weekend.

Simona and the boys are back in LA. They are however stranded by a fire going on over there.
She is staying back home with the boys. The air over there is filled with ashes and it is not safe for her to drive to Bakersfield.

Moving along my weekend activities

Last Friday July 22 I made myself dinner as always and wrote a letter to the boys

I made myself dinner with Whole grain rise and broccoli

Finally I  went to the gym. I had Zumba with Caroline

As always I  had a lot of fun at the gym.

At the end we snapped the usual set of pictures.

Caroline with a hat, Rachael M. . Maryline and Aju Ugu  M.

Rachael is back, she went missing as she was recovering from a bad foot.

I am enjoy very much the gym 

Post Zumba I was feeling recharged

At the gym Lee greeted me and he is said he is impressed by my progress.

He mentioned he is a real estate broker and he was in a car accidents.

He is himself recovering from his car accidents wound.

Last Saturday July 23 it was my Brother Francesco birthday.

Well I call him to wish him Happy Birthday.

A bit of comment is required on this matter.

I have not received any thing from him in any recent times.

Perhaps he has forgot about the California side.

Well let's say it is perfectly fine like this.

Our eldest son has his very name, Simona's dad had also a similar name.

Let's say we have drawn inspiration from the family roots.

The usual activities of my  Saturday morning  are the following.

First of all washing all my clothes, changing my bedding, washing my bathrobe and my towel.

Making sure it is all clean and dried.

In the morning I went to do Shopping a TJ's as always.

I spent $81.48 got all I good and fresh food.

Stickers and some working sheets for our kids.

At TJ's they all appreciated the pictures of the boys in Italy.

Of course I purchased fresh Salmon Ceviche ingredients. Cilantro, Cucumber, Avocado.

On Saturday morning I checked the mail for the latest Economist.

In the mail I found a letter from my mom in Italy

In the afternoon after grocery shopping I made Ceviche (Carpaccio)

Salmon, cilantro, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber. The fist got cooked in the lime juice.

The veggie were added after cooking the fish.

Cooking in the lime juice.

Obviously part of my Saturday was spent by cleaning the whole apartment

Next Saturday I will have time to do recycle as Sarah has set it for 2pm

Once in a while I need to do it has well.

In the afternoon I went to see a movie. At the Maya I saw Star Trek Beyond.

I saw the movie in MPX surround sound system. 

As I had enough points I had a discounted ticket.

I used the extra money I had for  my church offer the following Sunday.

On Saturday I wrote and sent a letter to my mother in Fano Italy where she is currently at the seaside.

I learnt that to Italy the Postal Office requires fours stamps. 

I writing to her in Italian I realized I am getting  a bit rusty.

On Sunday morning I went to church at S.Philips the Apostle

While at church I was greeted by J.

He was there with his wife.

He stopped me, shook my hand and said me Hi Joseph.

In the community is good to be recognized.

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

It was a hot day so CNS provided me transportation to go there.

I took advantage of the fact I was early to do 20 minutes of steppers.

Good for my walking abilities.

As every Sunday I took my weight.

 It is 177.4 lb

I showed to Amanda and Melissa is not here.

She took note of it.

According to the web my weight of 177.4 lb for 6.1 height frame  falls within the normal Body mass index.

I am feeling well knows days

After the gym I walked back to the apartment by myself.

I enjoyed the walk.

The temperature was more than 100 F and I had to pour  water on my had to keep my brain within a reasonable temperature range of operation.

It was so hot... I learnt what it feels like to be in the Sahara desert.

I fee like I need a better hair cut. I booked one for this Wednesday. The latest one was only a month ago but they did not do a good cut,

Flowers for the ones who like the shot

Enjoy the reading.

By the way no newspapers today, the kiosk refused to cooperate with me.

I therefore returned the money.

Honesty, Integrity and trust.

A long way in life.

My light lunch today

Cream cheese and salmon sandwich. A healthy salad, Kiwis with Apple slices.

By the way Simona and the boys are fine.

The boys are going with the summer camp at the beach in LA.

It is meant to have a great day away from the fire smoke.

Sincerely

Giuseppe