Traumatic brain injury.

I believe that most of you know that I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a concussion, in a car crash 7 years ago. It's changed my life in a lot of ways & I wanted to share some of that journey. 

I've learned a lot from other TBI survivors, several people I discovered through my own online research (the lawyer that represented me against ICBC, suggested it).

One is Micah Jones, she started "Brainsong, the Micah Jones foundation" which avocates for women with traumatic brain injuries. You can find her on YouTube, here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaWtcB9rUE
or her foundations website here:  http://www.brainsong.org/
or on Facebook, here:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/BrainSong-The-Micah-Jones-Foundation/187485431292692?fref=ts

Another is Melissa Anderson Wanna, you can find her video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP1iKqcGfD8

I am working on a video for YouTube, as soon as it is online, I will add the link here.

I won!

April 21. 2015

There's a cool place in Sumas called SuperDuper, it's a truck stop/convenience store. It's got good prices & has some wonderful deals if you buy gas there. Robert was shopping there last week & got some tokens for this cool crane-style game, like you might see at Playland at the PNE. If you pick up the block of cheese or butter & drop it down the chute, you win! 
I won a 2 pound block of Pepper Jack cheese!

Unfortunately I can't do this anymore. They used to give tokens for the machine to any paying customer. Now it's only for people who buy $20+ in gas.

Happy anniversary, snow & a new camera.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Wow, I was sending a link to my blog to a friend & suddenly realized that I haven't made a single post yet, this year. I have been blogging since June 2013 (I think, some of the early posts, I didn't date), so it hasn't become a habit yet.

Robert & I celebrated our 4th anniversary on January 4th. It was wonderful, there was still snow. We had lunch at our favourite little restaurant "El Nopal", in Sumas.

We had some beautiful sunny, warm weather in January, as well. And I've been experimenting, learning about new Sony camera, which also takes panoramics! 

Sumas is a pretty little town. We've enjoyed walking around exploring. (Feb/2015)

Some new photos that Robert & I have edited using a cool new program for the I-pad, called Snapseed. 

And some cute Easter frames.

Christmas cards

December 31, 2014

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, or Solstice,  or whatever winter holiday you ascribe to & celebrate. Also, a Happy New Year to come.

I spend the holidays in Boise with my husband's family. I took lots of pictures & made many Christmas cards.  Here's a few: 

I am still working on my book(s), my websites & online companies. And I am also still struggling to lose a bit of weight. I will keep you all apprised as to how things are going.

Free software & games

Sunday, November 23, 2104

I was just playing a new game that I got for free, when I realized I have never mentioned this site in my blog!  The original site is called giveaway of the day, & can be found here: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/. They give away all kinds of amazing free software here. The only downside to it is this; because you are getting the software for free, you do not get any free upgrades or tech support. You must install it the same day you downloaded it. And if your computer crashes & you have to re-format (or get a new computer), you are out of luck. But it can be really good way to test drive stuff, which you can later choose to buy.

They also have a site called game giveaway of the day, but I have noticed in recent years that some days they do not have a new game. But, they have a list of apps, phone games, which is new. Their address, is: http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/

I also have 2 really cool sites that have tons of free full games, that I really enjoy. I will list those here, as well.
http://www.myrealgames.com/

http://www.myplaycity.com/

I have a few others, I will update this list later.

There are raccoons in the swimming pool!

Friday, September 26, 2014

I just woke up & looking outside at the pool (closed now for the season, until Victoria day 2015), missing those raccoons. We had 2 raccoons in our swimming pool last fall (Oct. 13,2013), they've been seen in the courtyard by other tenants, but this was the only time anyone has ever seen them in the pool. We were getting ready for bed when Robert looked out the window & saw them in the pool. I got dressed, grabbed the video camera & took a couple of videos, Robert took 2 with his I-Pod. I joined them all together using a freeware program called All Free Video Joiner, which you can get for free (along with a lot of other useful audio & video software, all freeware as well), at:  http://www.allfreevideoconverter.com/products.html

There were 6 raccoons all together, 4 of them were hiding in the bushes, they left when I tried to get them on film. I generally check at least once every evening, hoping they will come back, but I never saw them again. A couple of days ago I realized why they might have left the area. Next door to our complex is a house, next to them is a big lot, which used to be wild, trees, blackberry bushes, etc. But they have cut most of the trees, they are putting up some condos. So perhaps the raccoons were living there & got scared away. Or if they lived in the wooded hillside behind our complex, the noise might have scared them away. Or they might have chosen to leave if their normal food sources left, because of the building racket.

Share a coke & a bee sting. Quite a day

September 12, 2014.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I woke up in pain as I often do. Took my medications & went back to bed for 1/2 an hour. After making coffee & getting my sweetheart up, I jumped on a bus & went to the University of the Fraser Valley Abbotsford campus, to get 2 free cans of Coke. If you are curious about the share a coke program, you can get more information here: http://www.shareacoke.ca/#comeAndShare
A lot of the dates are already past, but not all of them. 

Because I have a fairly unique name, I can't get the cool personalized pens or Christmas ornaments, that people with more regular names can easily do, at the dollar store. There are places you can special order them, but that can get expensive (I usually wait for the deals!)

Then I went to the women's food bank, & missed a bus & couldn't make it in time to go to the Salvation Army for free veggies. But overall, a pretty good morning. Except that I managed to gash my wrist on the sign at the bus stop at the University.

Then hubby & I did some shopping. One the way home from shopping, we were waiting for the bus home at 7 Oaks mall, when I got stung. I am not sure by what, as it stung me in the back & Robert was a ways away & didn't see it. All he saw was a tiny bump (like a mosquito bite), so I took another Benadryl & we went home. About an hour later, I started noticing that my breathing was becoming laboured & my lips & tongue were swollen. I called the nurse's hotline, they recommended calling 911 & going to the hospital. The nurse told me to get Robert to give me my shot first. I freaked out & couldn't do it!

At the hospital they asked questions, examined my vital signs, observed me for a while & gave me another anti-histamine. Then they let us go home. So, all in all, an interesting day. Mostly good, but. I learned something new, while at the hospital. If I take an anti-histamine & my reaction is getting worse, I can take a different one (say for instance, Zyrtec & Benadryl). I never knew that before, so it is handy information to have.