Great changes!!

Good evening everyone,

It seems like it has been a very long time since last I wrote. My wife and I have had a great 2010 so far. Cathy recently enrolled herself in classes through Valley College and has been doing very well. She goes to class four days a week and has to travel throughout the San Fernando Valley with the MTA and Access. Today is the day before Cathy's final paper in her English class. The books her class read was the "Kite Runner". Cathy enjoyed this novel very much. Cathy has made great steps toward furthering her education. Cathy has plans to continue the rest of the year taking classes toward her Associates Degree.
Its about that time of year again, when the sun stays out longer, and the temperature goes above 90. During these times Cathy and I are drinking as many fluids as we can to keep hydrated.
I am looking forward to somewhat warmer weather to help with my breathing and comfort. I have had a very tough and trying three months dealing with the discomfort of my breathing as well as the tumors that have been growing for the last six months. I saw my doctor at UCLA and has them removed from my arms and hands. Unfortunately I have more that need to be removed. My doctors have told me that sunblock helps with the growth of more tumors. I am scheduled to see my doctor again this coming Thursday.
Cathy and I have done very well this year budgeting and monitoring our spending on items we need rather then what we want. Cathy and I are looking forward to her two month break from classes before she starts summer classes. We plan to visit old friends whom we haven't seen in ages. These next couple months will be great to fill with fun activities with friends and family.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Randy and Cathy Horton
rfourwheels@aol.com

Happy Holidays and New Year to our Friends and Family

Hello everyone,

Seems like it has been ages since last we wrote. My wife and I have been very busy these last couple of months. To start our holiday season my wife and I celebrated our one year anniversary on December 7th 2009. We ended up having a nice lunch together because we knew how busy we were going to be all month. This past year seems like it flew by. The seasons came and went, and I feel my wife and I grew a stronger bond as a couple. The whole month of December our staff decorated our home to our liking. They really made it feel like our own "north pole". From decorations like snowflakes and wreaths, they did a great job. I have had my christmas tree for quite a long time, and this year I really wanted to open my wife's present and I know she wanted hers as well. We placed them under the tree and counted the days til we could open them. Christmas morning in Southern California was sunny and warm. Not too far to the north we could see snow capped mountains. We exchanged gifts and I am sure my wife was happy with the gifts I gave her. Cathy listens to her Dolly Parton CD's all the time. I don't know what my wife is trying to tell me, but, she gave me a bottle of Tim McGraw cologne. This stuff smells great and maybe my wife thinks I'm a little bit like Tim McGraw. I also gave my wife a nice dress for "special occasions". For dinner my wife and I went to Denny's where we had our favorite meal, breakfast, for dinner! Cathy had an omelette and I had biscuits and gravy.

New Years was right around the corner and my wife and I stayed home for this years countdown. My wife was asleep by 8 p.m. Cathy had recently had some of her medication increased and she was exhausted. I was able to stay awake and see the ball drop. It's amazing to think we are ten years into this century already. A lot has happened in ten years.

Not too long after New Years my wife needed to see an optomotrist to check her eyes. We were excited because Wal-Mart recently made many commercials and ads stating they provide eye checks as well as prescriptions. I don't know if anyone with a motorized wheelchair has ever been in that Wal-Mart to have their eyes checked because they were unable to provide the eye examination. We went that whole way and no one told us anything on the phone. Good news though, Wal-Mart was able to design Cathy's brand new glasses. I think she looks very pretty in her new glasses, but she thinks she looks like a dork. I tell her, if dorks are as pretty as you, I must like dorks.

It's been over a year since our incident with the MTA, but, our lawyer is making progress for our case. Right now, it is Southern California's rainy season, and it is truly coming down. The rain moves so fast that its hard for us to time when we want to go out. Today, unfortunatly, Cathy had to make a doctor's appointment in Northridge, right in the middle of this massive downpour. Cathy got very wet being outside for a brief amount of time. She is home and drinking plenty of hot fluids. We are looking forward to another great year and hope to hear from everyone soon.

Warm Regards,

Randy and Cathy Horton

rfourwheels@aol.com

You can never be too careful

Greetings everyone!
I wanted to take the time today to focus on something everyone should think about everyday, safety. I was on my way to get my afternoon beverage from the 7-11 down the street from where I live. I have taken this route more times then I can remember. Today though could have been extremely bad for me. I was crossing the street on the walk signal, when a driver, who was obviously in a hurry came within inches of really causing me some damage. I was lucky to have staff members with me, because this driver tried to make a quick getaway like nothing happened. I like to think that with my safety reflectors I stand out during the nighttime hours, but this incident was during the day when a driver can clearly see my chair. My first instinct was to stop this driver. I thought twice about this, because I could have put myself in harms way. It made me stop and think about keeping safe at all time.
Cathy is working extra hard to cut down on her smoking. She is doing all the things the doctors tell her to do as well as finding activties to keep her mind off of smoking. Activties like her crossword puzzles, word searches and watching her favorite show, Dr. Phil.
My wife and I can't wait to begin our Christmas Decorations all over our house. We have found a way to be festive while saving money at the same time. We are once again going over different ways we can save and spend our savings on the things we enjoy. Stay tuned for next week.

Randy and Cathy Horton
rfourwheels@aol.com

Keeping Busy!!

Greetings everyone,

With all the excitement we forgot to mention our trip to the LA Zoo. It has been a couple months since my wife and I took a trip to see all the new additions to the Zoo. With transportation my wife and I made it to the zoo around 11 a.m. and stayed until 4 p.m. It is always a nice trip to travel outside as well as see the animals inside the zoo. My wife and I were able to work on our tans as usual and share the day with our two caregivers. The four of us had a nice lunch, and toured the zoo until our ride had to pick us up. We plan to return to the zoo when the weather is cooler.

I had a day to myself this past weekend on Sunday. I visited some friends from the CDR which is the California for Disability Rights in the Valley. I hadn't seen my friends in a while and it was nice to catch up and talk about old times. I have been an active participant with the CDR over half my life. I have experienced first hand the progress as well as the downside to California state policies in regards to this organization. With my friends and collagues we all spoke together about our plans and ideas of how to make California work better. We all hope in the future that our rights will be protected and expanded.

Feel free to contact us at rfourwheels@aol.com

Our visit to Hollywood

Greetings everyone!!

Today my wife and I decided to change our schedule a little bit. We were up and ready to go at 4:00 a.m. The sun wasn't even up yet the air was cool and there was zero traffic. Our ride picked us up at 6:00 and we arrived at Paramount Studios around 7:30 a.m. We thought it was cold outside, but when we got to the audience waiting room....that room was cold. It felt like a prison with all the people in the waiting room. When the show started we had a great time. This was my second live filming of a tv show and Cathy's first. We are both huge Dr. Phil fans which is why we made sure we got great seats for the show. We saw two tapings. The first show was about a couple thinking about divorce. The second show was Cathy's favorite, it was about the Dr. Phil family that has been struggling for six years. Cathy has kept up with the families ups and downs over the years. This was a complete surprise for me. I wish we could have met Dr. Phil in person, but, he was so caught up with the stories and we had to leave early because of transportation. We plan on going back to see another show of Dr. Phil and The Doctors. We will keep everyone updated on our fun from the Dr. Phil show. Please write back and let us know, if there are any shows you have seen or wanted to see in person. We love your responses back. You can email us at: rfourwheels@aol.com

Autumn months

Greetings everyone,

We went to our favorite place again this past week. I'm sure everyone knows the place, has seen a commerical, or two. My husband and I have finally found a staff member that can keep up with us, while in the park. We think she will be a great prospect for the 2016 Olympics for long distance running. By the time my husband and I are done taking her to all our favorite places. She loves the overtime which allows us to stay later, and not feel rushed to leave. She is young now, but when we are done with her she will very old. We love her to death, which is why we make her move around so much. =) She is part of the family now. We have plans to take her to the Zoo on Thursday and a return trip to Disneyland the next day. We can't wait to see the new show at Disneyland. It is a holiday attraction that has already come out. As the days get shorter we travel to more places. We love this time of year and can't wait for Christmas.

End of summer adventures

Greetings everyone,

Now I like a nice bus ride just as much as the other guy......but, this past Wednesday was like searching for a needle in a haystack. My wife and I were notified that a company near LAX was installing bright yellow straps on older and newer model electric chairs for the purpose of helping MTA drivers latch their safety harness onto the electric chair. Not every driver that we have encounted knows what the straps are for. Hopefully in the very near future, the MTA can notify all drivers and MTA employees of the additional steps to secure an electric chair.

Like all adventures this trip had to take a little longer then expected, a whopping 10 hours worth. Most importantly, my wife and I have the safety straps on our chairs. We are doing our part to help transport ourselves and our chairs. Let's see, if the MTA does their part as well. Most drivers don't ask us if we need the safety belts. More times then not, we ourselves have to remind each driver we encounter to strap our chairs down.

To all of our friends, family, neighbors and acquaintainces, please let us know your thoughts and feelings on this subject. My wife and I will be very interested to hear your thoughts and feelings. You can email us at rfourwheels@aol.com

P.S. We thought we broke a record last time we blogged about the amount of trips we have taken to the state fair.......well, we made it six times. Can't wait for next year.