February 4

Today is going to be a good day! Dusty and I got ready and into the hotel lobby in an hour and twenty minutes...40 minutes less than usual! I think it was a combination of being prepared for the morning (clothes picked out, etc), me taking a shorter shower, and Dusty getting a million times better at putting my compression socks on, haha (I'm still wearing knee high socks that are really tight, like women's tights or hose, that help with blood pressure and ankle swelling). We even had time for a sit down breakfast! The staff at the Sheraton have taken such good care of me and I have tons of free breakfast vouchers, but hadn't been able to use any because we're always so rushed. We not only had an amazing breakfast, but the waiter also gave me a to go container so I could pack up and take some fresh fruit with me. 

I love the mornings here because I am reminded of all the great relationships I've  formed and people I've met. The Sheraton staff greet me when I get to the lobby (Stella at the coffee stand, Greg the concierge, the doorman, and the restaurant waitress who makes sure I always have a free breakfast ticket- just to name a few.) Then I get over to Magee's main hospital for the shuttle and get to see the people at the desk there, the janitor that always gives me a hard time because she thinks her Eagles are better than my Redskins, and any nursing or therapeutic staff that may be arriving to work while I wait in the lobby for Herb. 

Speaking of Herb, I picked him up these black lava toffee covered cashews from DiBruno brothers because he seemed so interested when I was talking about them a couple weeks ago. This morning he was like "I gotta ask you something...am I a bad person for not sharing those nuts with my wife? I didn't even tell her about them" haha! He keeps them in the visor of the shuttle above the driver's seat. I thought it was hilarious. 

Two random things that stuck out to me and were on my mind today: we were behind a tractor trailer that said "May God bless you" on our way to rehab this morning and my timehop said "God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day." 

We went to Reading Terminal Market for our outing today- we have an outing each Thursday. I'd only ever been there on the weekends and knew it was difficult to get around by walking, let alone how it's be navigating through in a wheelchair. I was surprised not to have much trouble at all! I got Indian food for lunch, some chocolate peanut butter ice cream for the ride back, and a gluten free cookie for later. 

We left the market, stopped for coffee, then watched a little tv in the hotel room before I got ready for the night. I curled my hair and even wore a dress with my boots instead of my sneakers that I wear every single day. We went to a place called Continental for happy hour. They led us to the back, where their elevator was so we could be seated on the second floor (basically rearranging the place so my wheelchair could fit through the narrow hallway). Our waitress actually recognized me and said her brother goes to Magee for outpatient right now. She was so friendly and spent awhile talking with us- then took our first round of drinks and our border of edamame off our bill! I made sure to tip her well and we said we'd come back on the 18th when Dusty comes back to Philly-it'll also be my last night coming back to Philadelphia! When we left, we went about a mile down the road to pick up a pizza to bring back to the room. I really wanted to try this specific restaurant because they had gluten free crust, but we were a little disappointed (this didn't help with Dusty's distaste in gluten free anything).

I handled the weather outside so well- no extreme coldness or sweating like I've experienced pretty much every day since I've been sick. And it felt like the way things used to...getting ready and going out, doing whatever we wanted to do. I had a new appreciation for the city and just loved exploring like we did. It was such a good day overall and I'm really looking forward to more days like this.