This is why I don't like to make New Year's resolutions: there are so many distractions to keep me from fulfilling said resolutions.  I know I should update more often, but then I have to manage my bills, my emails, and frequent naps.  Then there are the phone calls for doctor's appointments and prescription refills.  Not to mention the doctors' appointments themselves, especially if I have to take Access-a-Ride.  If I have an appointment in Manhattan which takes a couple of hours, I am literally out of the house for at least six hours, between the cushion I allow to arrive early at my destination in the event of delays, waiting time for my return trip, and the return trip itself -- especially during rush hour traffic, and including other pickups and dropoffs.  In theory, you would think I could use my ipad to field emails and write articles, but in reality, the wheelchair tie-downs don't keep me steady enough, and the ride is so bumpy and jumpy that I can't even read.  The only thing that works is listening to an audiobook.  I am often too tired to concentrate on even that.  When I finally get home, I am pretty wiped out and often starved and need to eat something.

New Years Eve I went to the annual get-together at my friend Nancy's house.  She has a bunny rescue out of her home in Great Neck.  Most of the people who attend are rabbit-rescue people I only see once a year, which is more often than I see most people anyway.  Nancy caters in Italian food from a great restaurant in the area, and it's a low-key evening with some really nice people.  Louise drives and she used to drop me off and pick me up, but a couple of years ago, she just started staying with me.  Now she looks forward to going because the food and company are so nice.  It takes two  to transfer me into the car however, and Diane was luckily up for the task.  So she worked that night and came with us.

The weakness on my left side has become more pronounced and my latest wheelchair modification addressed this, providing guides on either side, to force me to sit straight.  And on Thanksgiving, I rode in a car for the first time in almost 11 months.  I typically ride in a car to the Walk to Defeat ALS in late September, the Rabbit Care Conference in late October,  Thanksgiving,  Christmas and New Year's Eve.  In 2012,  my team didn't do the Walk to Defeat, we didn't go to the Rabbit Care Conference, and I didn't go anywhere for Christmas.    I feel badly about not going to my family for Christmas for the last two years, it looks like the Rabbit Care Conference is a thing of the past for me, and I don't know how much longer we will be doing the ALS Walk to Defeat.  In the best of times, people move on.  The problem with a disease like ALS [especially when there are speech issues] is the opportunities to bring new people into my life, are slim to none.  I noticed when I rode in the car Thanksgiving and New Years Eve, that I lean to the left, without the benefit of the guides I have in my wheelchair.  So I have to sit against the left end of the back seat, or devise some kind of stiff pillow or wedge to hold up my left side.