Monday, July 11, 2016

Monday July 11

Already here is the summary of my day since last Friday.

I did what I felt doing and enjoyed  it,

Last Friday I wrote to my kids




Had something to eat - good and healthy.

Then went to the gym to do Zumba with Caroline



Ari, Saira, ,,, Caroline 



As it was Caroline Birthday she kindly posed for a picture for me 


A nice gesture from her side.


On Saturday morning the usual activities.
I took care of cleaning the apartment and washing all my clothes.

I went to do Grocery Shipping at Trader Joe's

The experience was as following: 

1) The schedule was not maintained as the service was provided in a late fashion

2)  The driver did not know where to go either 



Anyway my Trader Joe's experience was very good as always.

I like Shopping over there.


I am buy Organic food whenever the produce  has a  thin skin.

If the skin is thick then the produce does not need to be Organic.


I greeted Jamie and all the other people over there.

Jamie is always kidding with me. Before leaving we got used to have a picture taken next to the flower. I did not realize she was making me bunny ears.. it is alright. It is part of the fun.








I showed her the picture of Lapo loosing his front teeth.

We talked about the tooth fairy and about her experience with her kids.

Good healthy shopping requires determination to cook  and money.

I spent $104.63 and enjoyed my shopping very much.

The bill was as mach as  I like to eat healthy.

I got a new set of stickers and had dark chocolate for all the people at CNS.


With the freshly purchased Salmon I made Ceviche.

Cilantro, tomatoes, lime and cucumber



I cut the lime and let the salmon soaking in the lime juice for a while.


I had it with Tostadas.

Of course it is better than Sushi and more reachable than Sashimi in my opinion.


I only have it once a week.. otherwise it is too much raw fish.


On Saturday  morning before shopping I spent time cleaning  the whole apartment;

- Cleaning the kitchen floor with a broom


- Washing the floor with a Sifter





-running the carpet cleaner on the carpet of the living rooms and both bedrooms.



- Cleaning the bathroom: washing the faucet, toilet, shower and floor


- cleaning the mirror


Running the vacuum cleaner on the carpet of the whole apartment


Of course I changed my bed, washed all my clothes and the usual cleaning of my personal items.


at 2pm I talked with Anna my IPC. I asked for $50 cash req that I promptly received.

I also let her know that I do not need any thing for Personal Shopping for the upcoming week.

I cooked a lentil soup.



As it was going  I wrote another letter to my family


At some point in the afternoon evening I went to see a movie.

The movie was The Secret Life of Pets in MPX theater.

She is Morgana


I showed Morngana Lapo's tooth. I had the impression she appreciated the gesture.


Anyway I did not enjoy at all the movie outing.

We were left at the movie Theater without any information on the service schedule.

In my opinion this is not the way you are supposed to provide any service.

Let's say this: an air company that provides a similar service is bound to loose customer's loyalty.

And it lost my loyalty.

And of course the fellows  were ... smoking outside the movie theater.


Both Jay and Wesley were happily puffing clearly there is an advantage in been able to smoke to kill time.


Here is the little documentation about smoking 




Oh yes because at CNS you do not drink beer and in return you are subjected to passive smoking..


Afterward we were  all confined with  the same van.

The air was filled with  remaining of the cigarette smoke as it is customary for the ones that smoke: 
a tail of smoke follows them everywhere.

I frankly can not stand this situation and  CNS is apparently unable or unwilling to control


Next time I will not be going to the movie it is decided, kind of tired to be subjected to the conditions I am subjected.


Last Sunday I decided not to go to church..

The last time I was there I did not appreciate the company. Austin and his boyfriend were also there  sitting next to me. At some point exchanging affection gesture. It is a line I am drawing in the sand.

Hence no more church.it is was decided and I complied as well.


On Sunday I had time to write to my boys another letter


As I had time on my hands I wrote a Happy Birthday letter to my brother in Italy





His birthday is upcoming. Well as a matter of fact I have never received anything from him.
Not a card .. nothing at all.

You draw the conclusion the situation is calling for.

On Sunday I walked to the gym by myself following a well tested procedure.




I left the apartment at 12: 35 pm arrived at the gym at 1:10 am.

I worked out until 2:30 pm following my own program.

At the gym I talked with Lolita and saw Sylvia.

Lolita was curious to know what I was doing over there.

I showed her my own program.

 Leg, chest and shoulder. At last Abdominal for stability.

 A lot of repetition: increasing progressively the number of series ( 5)  and the number of repetition


She said it was fine. She also recommended me not to forget to stretch before leaving.

And so I did it. I am normally stretching after any physical activity.

Of course I took my weight. I am at 178.8 lb


I walked back from the gym




It takes 20 minutes of walking with a steady pace. Paying attention to the rules of the pedestrian road.


After the gym I had a post workout Protein shake


Some ice, a banana, hemp protein and a blender came handy.



Enjoy the reading.


Friday, July 8, 2016

Friday July 8

Lapo is enjoying the beach environment with Simona
They are in Italy in Rome.

The boys are having a blast



Chicco told me the boys do not want to come back to California any longer.


Well.

I am getting stronger and more independent.

Yesterday I had Zumba with Mike and later I had static spin with Angie

Angie mentioned she went to Vegas for the July 4th celebration.
She mentioned she used to leave there.




At 7pm it was time to leave and I was ready.

I had a shower and a snack and then went to bed


I slept very well.

The day is very pleasant walking in the park and helping around at my best at the apartment



It is all well.
Going to the Homes of hope
Sincerely




Thursday, July 7, 2016

Thursday July 7 2016

I just had a call from Simona.

She is back in Rome after that much travelling.

I talked with our kids. They like staying in Rome: the friends, the environment, the food.

They just discovered the Sicilian type  breakfast: Brioche and gelato.

 Elena brought back from Sicily the brioche.




Yesterday I wrote a letter to my boys




 I also went to the gym after distributing the new schedule for the week.

I  booked for the movie on Saturday.

I then went to the gym: Cycle with Cassie (static cycle) and then body pump with Naomi.

Cassie showed me how to stretch my right back  muscle that has been giving me a lot of pain recently. It is something related to my back.. while stretching and keeping a good posture it is feeling better and better.

Anyway I feel it is an on going  physical exercise for me.

I had money management completed today.

Walked in  the park, helped around at the apartment at my best.







A nice lady brought me today some Chinese Currency.

As I showed her the other day that I had kept a Chinese coins from a trip of mine to China.

It happened many years ago just before my accident. So I do not remember much about it.

Here is a picture of the RMBs she brought to me.

It is worth about a dollar. Thank you for the kind gesture of consideration.






I am writing to you from the Homes of Hope in Bakersfield.

Everybody is very nice with me. I like the environment.

Today I brought stickers to everybody.. Whenever I am here I always have stickers for the kids.

It makes my day being able to bring a bit of thoughtful joy in the kids here at the center.

I have been completing my job over here. Brandon is always able to find me a good and interesting job.

I had a good lunch: I had a good thin chicken breast breaded that I cooked yesterday at the apartment.

I then had a healthy salad with spinach, cucumber and chopped apples.

A couple of  slice of brown breads.

It is all good.

Earlier I talked with Simona, they are doing great at home in Rome until Sunday.

She is staying in Rome with the boys

Where is she heading next?

She is going to be busy in Hamburg Germany.

Over there she is visiting the Mark Plank Institute. Her former PhD thesis advisor  Bjorn Stevens (pictured below) has become the director of the Institute



On her agenda are two seminars during the visit.

While in Germany he is going to stay as a guest with Bjorn's family.

I remember when we all used to leave in Westwood- near UCLA.
We had a condo in Camden Avenue and they had a nice house at the edge of the campus.

We used to see each other more frequently.

Bijorn's family is well known. Her two daughters are fully grown teenager.
Her wife Andrea is originally from Germany.

I guess they all will talk about each other families and of course about how the research is going.

 I am sure it is a success story for the both of them.

Simona will show how tall the boys have become.

Our eldest Chicco is as tall as Simona, and he is not done yet.

Lapo is following suit his brother.

They both have good genes.

Enjoy the reading
Giuseppe





Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Wednesday July 6

I received a post card from my family.
They recently went in Verona, Italy.









I have been going to Body pump at the gym,

Body pump and Zumba yesterday good cardio and good muscle tone

Repetition and focusing on enjoying the practice.

I like the gym environment a lot.



The kids are in Rome Italy.
They are enjoying their staying.

Elena brought back from Sicily Brioche.
The boys are going to have breakfast with Brioche and gelato.

They love it a lot, Anna mentioned the kids do not want to come back to LA any longer.

In the morning I did my usual PT. Walking with long stride and making sure it is a properly corrected movement.

First part of my money management is completed.



\




I kidded a lot with all the maintenance crew that is at the apartment.

I read the newspaper for today: Hillary Clinton, NASA Probe entered in orbit around Jupiter

Enjoy the reading and the picture. I made sure it is only focused on me.



Ready to go to the homes of hope.
Sincerely
Giuseppe

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Tuesday July 5 2016

The  kids are enjoying being at home back in Italy.

I am cooking in Bakersfield at CNS...

I had a really good weekend but the church experience..


As always last Friday I went to the gym to work on my Zumba with Caroline

I had a good time as always being at the gym

It is a good cardio exercise. A lot of fun and great light  movements.


Caroline with red pans, Lee with a blue shirt, Saira with a light blue shirt, Joseph me with Nike apparel. another person from Bakersfield.



Last Saturday I took care of the apartment as always I am doing during the weekend: bed linen,  my personal clothes, the bathrobe.. the normal house duties of the Saturday morning.

The family is back in Rome.

They are enjoying very much the summer. They went  at the beach where swimming pools are also available.

The boys in full gear






On Saturday I also did grocery shopping at Trader Joe's as always.

I spent $112 on food and had a water spillage all over my back pack...


As I shopped I had fresh Salmon to make Ceviche.

A lot of lime, fresh salmon, cilantro, onion 


I let the fist cook in the lime for a while with the onion.







Add condiments and  chopped cilantro. As I had added also a  ripe avocado.

I had the ceviche with the Tostadas.

I also had time to do some THP (Therapeutic Home Program)

Writing to improve my hand coordination for small movement..
Yes I know the story..after all


On Saturday evening I went to see a movie.
I saw BFG by Spielberg.



I believe it was a good movie.

I cane late as I did not want to take the van with a bunch of other people that normally smoke.
It is a choice, and I am proud for doing so. 
It is a good trade off.. 


Simona took the boys for a tour of Rome.

They went to the Aventino. It is an historical hill within Rome. It is one of the legendary seven hills  of Rome.





On Sunday July 3rd I went to S. Philips church




Now regarding this point I feel I need to make a point to the whole CNS.

I am very frustrated by this matter.

I was taken to church with another male patient and his boyfriend.

They both stood next to me. The church is so large that there isn't any need for them to stay next to me on the same desk.



"What bothered  me is that at the moment of exchanging the peace sign.. they warmly embraced.

Call me old fashion. 

The church is so large that there is place for everybody certainly they can seat far apart for me"

I hope the situation is being clarified once for all.

After church I walked to the gym



I stayed until 3:05pm. I walked back and signed in at 4pm on time for a shower and my Metagenics.





I really enjoy my walk back and forth. Always following the rules of the pedestrians road.

Most people in Bakersfield are very kind. Once in a while you find a person that is very tense or nervous in the car. It is alright.

I am one of the few that walks on the roads.. well I like it this way.


I came back and took care of a few things: shower, having a dinner 
with a light fruit desert.



Cleaning even more and again 


Last Monday July 4 there was no CNS and I was OK.

The kids went to watch the Angry Birds movie.

I talked to them over the phone and they said they enjoyed it.


In the afternoon I went to the gym. At  2pm as always I was signing out from CNS.

I walked to the gym again.

It took me 20 minutes to walk over there.


I am steadily increasing the number of repetition on each set rather than increasing the value of the weight.

My body is getting stronger by handling more repetitions of the same. Right now I am focusing on the things that my body tells me it is fine.

I was done at a quarter past three. I let CNS know I was coming back
I walked back 




I signed back in at 3:47pm

At the apartment I cleaned myself.

I cooked Zucchini squash risotto




With the left over I made a frittata.





For lunch I had a left over frittata to eat, a salad and a fruit.

A lot of water.
It is all good.

I called the boys in Rome, Italy. Anna answered that they were already in bed sleeping as they were both tired.
It is OK, let them rest for the day.

I sent a message to Simona who is busy with a conference in Trieste Italy.

Enjoy the reading
Giuseppe








Friday, July 1, 2016

Friday July 1st 2016

Simona is in Rome with the boys

They  are all having a good time



Simona here is having her best breakfast: Cappuccino.


I am writing to you from the Homes of Hope where I am doing voluntary job.
It is good 
Everybody is being nice with me.

I am enjoying it very much.
I was showing these pictures to Miss Vianney 

Today I met  Cherilyn 
She is a very nice lady

I am good.
I had permission to take this picture. I asked John.

I worked on a list of free software for time sheet management.

I sent my list to Brandon 




Yesterday at the gym Zumba with Mike and then cycle with Tiffany


Enjoy the reading 
Have a good weekend
Time to go
Sincerely
Giuseppe