My car is finished

I know it has been some time since posting, however, still lots of things going on. Hang on here it goes.

Lester and I traveled to Patricks to get my car On July 28th. and this is what we saw. Pretty amazing transformation if you asked me. There is still some things that need done, but Lester and I will be working on them together. They did get the modifications made so it is easier for me to drive and a little difficult however possible for someone else. Left footed pedals and all.

Lester: that is still another thing I don't remember blogging about: He really is one of the most amazing things that has come into my life recently that I can't imagine life without him now. What a gift from the Lord I have received. We went and had photos taken after church on Sunday, and will be picking them up in a week. How I really do love this man, and how I can't wait for more of my friends to meet him. I will post some of our photos when I get them back.

In the mean time, I am working extremely hard in PT/OT with some great results. First I am using the bio-nest to retrain the brain and nerves to connect. So far almost all the nerves in the right hand are connecting with the electric stem, all fingers and thumb will contract (close to a fist), however the thumb will not open on its own, the rest of the fingers will open. My brain is not getting the signal for everything yet, but continue to pray it will come. I am able to move my pinkie on command, and sometimes the ring finger. PRAISE GOD!!!! It is great to watch the Lord working and seeing his miracles in the making. Now for PT: The nerves using electric stem are really not working very well at all. However we are STANDING!! My right leg will not allow any weight bearing, but we are working with the orthopedic people to construct a brace to help with that. Some day soon I will be standing in church to sing praises to God! I have been going twice a week, and because we are getting some great results we have bumped it up to three times a week.

So in the mean time I have been busy doing several other things these last few weeks to stay out of this crazy heat. I have started to pick my painting back up and this time doing something a little different, painting feathers.  

I have also picked up some canning jars and made relish, both sweet and spicy. Lester really likes hot and spicy things so I am trying different recipes, and I hope they all turn out.

So I ended up with 4 pints of sweet relish, 4 pints of hot and spicy relish, along with 12 pints of tomatoes. Tonight I have finished two 1/2 gallon jars of hot/garlic/dill pickles. 1/2 gallon of garlic dill pickles. I have run out of cucumbers and will be running to the farmers market Saturday morning to finish with 1/2 gallon of regular dill pickles.

Today, Wednesday, I learned how to crochet and made a hot-pad. I have found an item to help adapt the hook so that it is easier to hold. It took me about 3 hours to complete this project, not bad for a beginner if you asked me. I think that that is about it for today. However it is quite enough. I can't sit still, I want to learn so many different things and keep going with the old things that I know, that I thought I would never do again.  It is amazing how the Lord works: 3 years ago, I was planning my funeral, I sold almost everything of any value or gave it to my kids to enjoy since I couldn't. moved from a home that I dearly loved and had done so much work on to make it work for me in my wheelchair. The men in my church really did work hard to make it comfortable for me and I can't say thank them enough. Even though I am no longer there, it did make everything so much easier while I was there. Now that I have a new lease on life and reason to really WANT to keep going, I will NOT STOP.  I made a call today to start college classes. I have been out of school for 26 years so I will have my work cut out for me, but I am going to go into the medical field (therapy) to help others as much as possible. I think since I have a good insight of what it is like from the patient side, I might just be able to help someone. I haven't decided yet what kind of therapy I want to go into, but thinking about OT or Recreational therapy.  Wish me luck!

Something else that I am doing, during these past few years I have made up a couple of items to help make things a little easier at home. These items can NOT be found on the market YET.... I have emailed a group to start seeing what I need to do to make this happen. Maybe just maybe, something I have made up for my own use will be able to turn around and help many others in the future.  Please keep all this in prayer for me as things are going to keep me busy and hopping. On top of all this, I have my membership renewed at Matt Ross so I can resume my swimming. I haven't been in almost 3 weeks now, although I have been in therapy, I can still feel the difference. My therapist are encouraging me to continue the water therapy as well since it help strengthen the muscles without resistance. My goal from the first of the summer to be able to swim 20 laps a day by September, well, I am close but since I haven't been for a while I need to work back up to the 15 that I can do. To tell the truth, 15 is amazing!!!!! and I am happy with that, but I am still going to try to reach my goal. If not September, someday.

As you can see, I am staying extremely busy, which is good. But I haven't stopped doing things around our apartment complex either. Still staying busy with programs here. 

I continue to thank the Lord for all the energy He is giving me, the strength to fight and work hard to regain my body all the while giving Him the glory for it all. Goodness I know this has had turned into a novel, but I have had lots of things going on.