My First Lesson Re: Supply & Demand

My family and I went to Florida, for Disney World, Busch Gardens and Sea World.
I think I was about 8. Yes, because I was in grade 3.

I remember quite clearly, one day, we went to a street market with numerous vendors selling a variety of items.
There was one vendor that was selling a large turtle shell(I could easily sit on it), I begged my Dad to buy it for me.  It was so cool looking and I loved turtles! I had three turtles in a tank at home. Surely this piece would demonstrate that turtle love. I wasn't putting it together. Even something as clear as this.
My Dad then explained the concept of supply and demand. He explained that if we bought the shell, they would just find another turtle to kill and take its shell, and sell that too.
But . . . turtles . . . ?
I no longer wanted that shell. That was about 22 years ago.

I do want to say this about my memory: It is improving.
Tiny bits, each day. For 8 months, I had no specific memories of anything.
I knew, and understood who most people are that I see everyday, like Troy, my parents, and siblings. But really good friends that I hadn't seen for 3 years, apparently I was a bit unsure about.

Troy tells me that there were times that I called him 'Scott'(an ex-boyfriend from way back), while we stayed at my parents after the General Hospital. A bit embarrassing.
I know certain events happened, but I didn't know the sequence.  There was a time, while my brain was just starting to recover, that I had no recollection of these 'clear memories'.
Then I started to get these...almost sci-fi-flashbacks, usually triggered by a simple smell or even just the way the air feels. It's very strange, but rather cool.
Example: Made candy cane cookies with Mallory for this Christmas season. This recipe  uses almond extract. I damn-near cried trying one. Such great memories came back with that smell.
Ahh, the brain. 

Journal Entries After

In January 2010, while at the Wascana Rehabilitation Cenre, I was encouraged by one of my occupational therapists to keep a journal. My printing had improved a great deal! I was no longer writing each letter on top of the last one, which, I hear was a problem. I have some of the papers I wrote on at that time-it's rather funny!
But reading through my old entries, I can see my brain healing. At first it was very, this happened, then that happened. It was very...almost clinical. I would describe events as good, or went well. I couldn't even articulate that I was seeing double till that first week of January. Maybe I wasn't seeing double before then, I don't know, can't recall.
My printing was also improving, but I can really see when I was tired! The print is much worse on those days!
This is the way I wrote it, so if the English and grammar are off, it's because I have a severe brain injury.
My first entry:

Monday January 11, 2010
I had occupational therapy @ 9:45am. Went with Troy & my mom. I finished the test. It doesn't surprise me that I remember visual things. I'm a very visual person. 
I did more stuff on the light thing, so that was good. We did more complicated with double digit numbers. It was hard because my vision won't always let me see the lights, so I was looking for them & missed the numbers.
I also read which was also challenging, in that I got a slightly different meaning from the paragraph.
Then Troy and I had a nap. Well, I closed my eyes. It's too loud at the hospital to sleep. Then we went to the cafeteria and had poutine & pudding for lunch.
After lunch was the meeting @1pm. Troy, my parents & Troy's dad was there. That went well. After the meeting we met with Richelle from ABI. That was good. Talked a little bit about Troy's brain injury.
Then we had a short nap(eyes closed), then exercise therapy@2:30. We sat there for 15 minutes & finally asked about Betty. She wasn't in. Doesn't seem to be good communication between the therapists & the ward. A bit of a gongshow. But we got a therapist. I taught her how to shimmy.
Then we went and got our new glasses. Mine are real clear but man I see double now!
We went home, let our dogs out, cleaned the kitchen, took out the garbage &the paper recycling, & went to my parents for supper, & visited with my grandparents that just happened to visit my parents as well. My grandpa is having a lot of health problems, so he had something to complain about! This time. He's a bit of a pessemist. 
Then went home, fed the cat, & let the dogs out again. Then homework, & tv. And bed.

The test I finished, was one of the many different assessments for my progress. I was tested every week. For something. Sometimes it was balance, sometimes it was comprehension, sometimes it was following instructions, sometimes it was problem solving. Different every week.

Wow, I was messed up!

"The light thing" is called a Dynavision. It is for facilitating training of looking and scanning throughout the whole visual field. (I had emailed Dixon, and he told me! See, he's got my back! I wanted to call it a 'draise machine', but that's not right!!) I was having an especially hard time with this because of my double vision. My therapists say I did well, despite the dual vision.

It's interesting that I couldn't sleep while at Wascana Rehab. I was too distracted by all the monitors and beeps and the intercom, to sleep. It's interesting, because before the brain injury, I could sleep through anything! Seriously. Back when Troy and I were just dating, him and 6 of his friends decided to play Halo. It got quite animated and loud, but I still fell asleep on the coach behind them. I guess my brain had a hard time blocking out those sounds now.
Poutine and pudding for lunch? Yup, definitely not vegan yet. I had animal pieces and/or their secretions at every meal. Every meal! And I went vegan!

At first I saw Richelle Love from the Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Team. She was filling in  for Dixon, and Dixon was filling in for someone on maternity leave at the General Hospital. Richelle was my rep for the first year of my recovery. Then Dixon returned, and she went back to being an Occupational Therapist in the Adult Rehabilitative Program at Wascana. So, either way, I would've seen her! She was is very nice, and friendly, and helpful!
Troy also had a brain injury in the collision. His is considered minor because he has no recollection of losing consciousness. Apparently, the severity is based on how long you're unconscious. Just learned that!
My grandpa had colon cancer. He doesn't anymore, now. He lived, just no more cancer! Back when I wrote that entry, he did. I just wasn't putting it all together!
My grandpa is absolutely a pessimist! My sister, Mallory, and I always say, "There could be not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, but he'll still say 'it's gonna rain and the crops don't need it!'" That's my grandpa. I love him! He's taught me how not to be! I try to stay positive through everything. I'm a lot like my mom(his daughter) that way.
My 'homework' was to play solitaire for cognitive therapy, or to practice drawing-again. <sigh> How much did I spend on a Visual Arts degree?? Sheesh!