Mark's Journal Updated and topped up

The following is a Journal that Mark is creating for Rehab. He wrote it all:-)

Mark Shilts Journal,

Friday, December 04, 2009
Yay! I started my journal.

Saturday, December 05, 2009
Got keyboard add on to make it easier to type.

Sunday, December 06, 2009
Read book. Clive Cussler’s Corsair and watched football.

Monday, December 07, 2009
I had to set the key board so that the font size was smaller or I tend to overshoot characters. This Might be part of the vision cut issue .

Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Had three sessions in rehab and they kicked my butt. I am rid of the walker YAY! I have homework.. BooHiss! I should write more in my journal and I need to move it to Carolyn's partition so we can make it easy to send to Blair.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Almost done with my book. Major homework. I do not know if I can finish it all. The mental stuff makes my brain hurt and tires me more than walking so we walked a lot. We took the two dogs on one of our walks and will never do that again. Even though they were on leashes, they pulled Carolyn all over the place. Watched news and discussed Global Warming. All for now.

Argus has a blog located here http://arguscollingwood.blogspot.com/

Thursday, December 10, 2009
PT/ST/OT day three hours of Special High Intensity Training. Kelly had a volunteer working with us. Blair had more homework and was told I should work in 20-30 minute sessions that I time. Sharon took me shopping at Von’s where I sought out items on a shopping list, Then we walked back at a double time pace. I think she was simply trying to kick my butt, because I was really tired after our session LOL. Honestly though, I always feel better after these sessions.
This weekend I’ll try to finish the list.

Friday, December 11, 2009
Recovered from Thursday, worked on some homework and walked with Carolyn. We went out to dinner at the Fish Market and ordered a fish & chips combo plate. I also ordered a cup of chowder.
All in all it was a very good day.


Saturday, Dec. 12th.
Went on a couple of walks, and did some homework.
Got a Verizon wireless modem but it did not have enough horsepower for Second Life so it is going back. We are supposed to get a fast connection on Thursday. Yay!


Sunday, December 13, 2009
I walked, did some homework. Dad and I went to a car show my Uncle Ted was in at a High School. That was a nice outing for the guys. Then we watched San Diego beat the Cowboys on the telly. A full day!

Monday, December 14, 2009
Did more homework, found all the scavenger hunt items Carolyn had picked for me to seek out. Played my V-drums, walked and watched the news. Tuesday, my nephew Alex is driving our VW Rabbit down to here so we will have a car to use. YAY!! Carolyn has posted my Journal on her blog. I better keep it clean. LOL


Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The cable guys came to dig the trench for Time Warner fast connection. I spent the morning in PT/ST/OT and they once again made me work like I expected. Pooped after that but, I am anxious to get the car down here and the internet faster so I can talk with our Second Life friends.


Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Our nephew AJ arrived with our car at about 7 AM and then he slept for three hours then Carolyn took him to the airport while the cable guy wired the house. YAY!! We have fast internet and I logged into Second Life for the first time since October. I spoke with our dear friends, Raven, Panther and Rosie. What a joy!! Carolyn limited my access so I would not get over tired. Thanks DAD and De, it was so nice to chat again with our SL family. Red sent me an instant message and that was great too.

Thursday, December 17, 2009
Kelly was sick today but Blair and Sharon made up for her absence;-) Carolyn and I went to get me a watch but the one we got sucks so we will seek out a Timex later. I had a Starbucks Mocha and scone then we stopped at McDonalds and had lunch. Having our own car here is a great thing. I know we are both homesick and will be very happy to get to our own house, hopefully in the near future. I spent some SL time seeing Raven DJ at our club and spoke with dear friends. Miss that too.


Friday, December 18, 2009
Am going for a ride with Uncle Ted and Dad at 11:00 so am resting up for it. Carolyn had the couch throw her in the middle of the night and hit her right cheek. She will probably have a shiner. [“I didn’t do it” LOL]The ride was great fun. We saw some classic cars and ate lunch too. A great time was had by all.


Saturday, December 19, 2009
Now that we have hi-speed internet, I can jump into Second Life and talk with my friends. What a treat it is to see folks, hear their voices and know that I can still operate my avatar and all the things I’ve learned are not gone but waiting to be re-activated. Went to Raven’s gig at our club, Echo Echo and had a great time.


Sunday, December 20, 2009
Did some homework and watched a lot of football. The Chargers won in the last minute of the game. WTG!! Also saw our friends Friendly Fire play at our club in SL and watched a bit of Joce’s Madness and Mayhem set. I wish my rehab team, Blair, Kelly and Sharon could access SL to see what potential it has for many patients.


Monday, December 21, 2009

Homework.. blah! Read my book and watched the two palm trees get cut down. We are going to see the Del Mar Christmas Lights thing tonight. My doctor’s appointment is January 12th and hopefully he will clear me to leave the area and we can continue rehab closer to home. I like it here, but there is no place like home

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Rehab elves got their treats of chocolate, cookies, chocolate and more chocolate;-) Worked on stuff, bought cupcake mix [actually cake mix] and spent $5.38 with Sharon. We stopped at Starbucks and Marshall’s on the way home. A good day!


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Well the septic tank is fubar so many plumbers were called. Oh boy, we have a smelly situation here. LOL Went to Starbucks and then Solana Beach to see the surfers and folks enjoying the beach. I love the ocean smell. I’m getting excited about going home in January to do Rehab local to the house. Happy Holidays, everyone.:-)


Thursday, December 24, 2009
Septic tank pumped out and fixed while we were at Rehab. All my teachers were great and worked my butt and brain as usual. Due to poor execution, my cupcakes were not done so the folks after got to eat them. LOL Went to the beach [we decided to make that a daily event] and had a wonderful dinner.


Friday, December 25th, 2009
Eggs Benedict for breakfast woohoo!!
A great Christmas day spent with family at Ted and Delma’s home with Scott, Steve, Bea, Stevie, Cheyenne, Skylar, Dad and De plus Carolyn and me  Turkey, ham and all the fixings were consumed with relish. What a great time. San Diego won yet again. No homework for me LOL.


Saturday, December 26, 2009

Beach to feed gulls and pigeons and Starbuck’s for a three pump mocha. Life is good. Second Life friends are great too and we are trying to stop in from time-to-time to connect. They are in our thoughts daily and when we get home to the many computer place, we can spend lots of quality time in-world with our family.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Did my decimal homework and boy, I just can’t subtract atm. Wonder when I will get that back? Rehab is sort of frustrating to me but I know it is helping. I guess everyone goes through the doubts and I will get through it too. We spent some time in SL with friends at the club. Joce did some great sets and we all enjoyed her tune choices.


Monday, December 28, 2009

We spent some time going to stores. We bought me some new jeans and more shirts. It’s tough only having one pair of jeans and now I have two. LOL The Monday night football game was exciting but I wish the Vikings had won.


Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Rehab!! Clocks make my brain hurt. On the up side, Togo makes a great hot pastrami sandwich and the beach was nice. I am very anxious to go North and home before the kittens all grow up.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Took and series of rides. Vente mochas, REI returns, beach trips and general outings that make the days pass by smoothly.


Thursday, December 31, 2009

Blair and Sharon were not at rehab but Joel and Kelly took care to make sure I was getting my fair share of growth, LOL. We spent New Year’s Eve in Second Life at our club with Joce and Adrian taking round one and Raven and Gussie taking round two. Saw lots of friends and had a great time sharing the laptop [we are not fond of the size of it though] with Argus and at the strike of Midnight LL reset our sim and we crashed. Typical LOL!! Happy New Year! It will be a better one I am sure.


Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year folks! Hopefully this one will be much better than the last year. Can anyone say Football? OMG game after game. Dad’s friends Peggy and Jay are here from Canada and what a nice couple they are. A blessing that they came and what a fun time for The Trapped Shilts Family Eating Team;-)


Saturday, January 2, 2010

Eat Eat Eat!! More football and trips to Starbucks and the beach. We also drove to Lake Hodges and that was a pretty drive. Being out and about is helping me normalize and feel more like myself. Analog clockwork sucks though. Spent time in SL with friends too.

Sunday, January 3, 2010
More Football watched. San Diego won again woohoo! Food shared, laughs shared and a nice ride to the beach with Carolyn rounded out our day.


Monday, January 04, 2010

Got my records from Scripps and am so ready for the doctor to give an all clear. I have a DVD and other format images of my scans for my 1/12 appointment and am making a list of questions to ask the doctor. Like when will my skull get closed? You know, trivial stuff LOL. I finished my Blair homework and you can see it above. Carolyn is teaching me what I taught her many years ago. Good thing I am an excellent teacher;-)


Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Is there ever going to be an end to football bowls? I guess not LOL. Carolyn and I have decided to find the perfect San Diego Area Donut shop. The first one was in Solana Beach and rated a 7 out of 10 due to the grease factor. We also went to the beach and did our normal Starbucks trips bringing our card up to green level status. WooHoo!


Wednesday, January 06, 2010
The best donuts so far are on Mira Mesa near the Kohl’s store. Carolyn got me some socks at Marshalls. Dad and De are going away to Palm Desert with Peggy and Jay. They really deserve a get-away and will return next week. I am excited about my doctor’s appointment and hope that we will get some of our burning questions answered.


Thursday, January 07, 2010

Rehab! It seems the better I get the more I have a burning desire to craft my own rehab;-) Sharon is now engaged [lucky guy who is getting her] and Kelly and Blair put me through my paces. One pooped puppy met Carolyn at the door and demanded his mocha. LOL Carolyn got stuff to make her famous spaghetti. YUMMY!


Friday, January 08, 2010

I have been reflecting on my Tumor “journey” and have decided that the day I knew I would be ok was when Rod [SCIU Nurse] played his guitar and sang to me. I knew everything would be fine as he opened my emotions through music. Bless His Heart. Remembering that still chokes me up. He is an angel and Scripps is lucky to have him.


Saturday, January 09, 2010

It has been great planning on getting back to the bay area and home. My gosh, we have lots of stuff to put in the wabbit;-) I’ve been thinking about what I want to do when we get back to our big puters with fast connections. I’m planning my first DJ set and have decided that I want to perform live in SL too. I am a perfectionist, so do not expect me to jump into that first thing. LOL Talked with Angie-baby and it was great to hear her voice I thank all of you for reading my Journal and leaving comments.