West Texas. Will this eventually be home???

1/4/06 Wednesday
Our coughs are getting worse. Didn’t get much sleep at all as I kept hacking up phlegm. Hope our bodies fight this off soon. Cherie went out and got a bathing suit and shorts that I can wear when I go to the YMCA and start getting back into shape. When I was in St. Louis I was getting physical therapy to help me recover from the wreck and being in a coma for a month. This was disrupted when I was extradited back to Toledo and I have been unable to continue that. Now I can conduct physical therapy on my own. I will have to be careful not to overdue things after being more or less sedentary for four years. At least I got lots of walking done when I wandered around homeless for nearly a year.
I called Fred to see if he needed any thing and also to see if Barb needed to go anywhere. I also wanted to schedule any future trips also but Fred doesn’t plan ahead. He said Barb would like to go to the Trilby church for food but told me to stay in and get well. I said I needed to get out anyway so would take her. He has some food for me to take to her.
The brain is working well this morning, about a 7 0r 8 despite being full of snot. No headache either. Got to go.
It is 2:23. Just got home. Am having a major slow down. Got Barb to church for food and took her to the bank to cash her check. She only got one so called her payee. Payee said check in the mail as she always seems to in order to put Barb off. She knows Barb forgets because of her brain injury. I need to take her to Social Security and try to deal with this.
I am going to fix dinner. Went to the store to get celery. This will not be easy. Writing this is hard as I forget what I was going to say. Headache is coming. I had put the chicken soup I am making on and forgot. It just boiled over. This slow down is more physical. Got laundry started. Better start timer so it will remind me of the laundry.
The timer worked and I got the first batch of laundry in the dryer…But I didn’t reset the alarm and just thought of it. I had come up to get the second load ready and messed with the chicken soup and barbeque pork I am making for dinner. With me one distraction and it’s gone. I never reset the timer. I am impressed with what I cooked and came to this computer to write about it.
When I saw my entry just above I remembered the laundry. Never got the second load ready so I hurried to get it together and poured the soap. Going downstairs I find someone else has a load of wash in so got the sheets and stuff out of the dryer. That’s typical for Bob. At least the food is good. Of course I won’t remember what I did to make it that way. Never do. I am still slow and tired. The back pain is high and the headache still making it’s presence known. My cognizance level has risen to a four from the three it was.
It was good I sharpened up a little because I finally got a hold of the Veterans rep in Detroit. I explained that I was not in prison and haven’t been with the exception of the two months in county jail when I was extradited from rehab in St. Louis. “If you guys would look at your records you will see I have been going to the VA hospital in Ann Arbor, was in the homeless program as the VA tried to find a place for me to live, have been seeing the psychiatrist, and was extensively examined by the VA in order to verify my disability for this pension that you now want to take from me. You don’t even have the right address. I haven’t lived where you sent this notice for two years” I told him. He rushed to find my file, which was “in process”, and then said someone will call me, probably tomorrow morning. That would be nice and I hope it happens but am a bit jaded when it comes to my trust of the VA to do what it says. If we lose that check it will make life real hard financially. It is hard for me to depend on Cherie because I had always carried my own weight and supported myself. I have been asked many times and again while we were in Texas why wasn’t I working. God, I want to. I have a hard time getting laundry done. I can write but have not really done anything on the fantastic book of my life and the love story of Cherie and I that I say I will do. That’s one of the reasons going back and reading this journal depresses me because I see all the dreams, hopes, and visions I have and never went anywhere with. I’m not even a good house husband as this house is a mess. I do wash the dishes and cook but don’t seem to do much else other than driving people around. QUIT WHINIING Bob. Ok, I’ll go check dinner.
Dinner was as good as I expected. I am running at a seven now but the migraine has continued to grow. I coughed a few moments ago and thought my head would explode. I am done for the night despite it only being 7:15.