Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

Tomorrow ends the first month of this new year. Wow, I guess this is going to be another one of those fast years. Hope I don't blink and miss something... ;-) We went to Stacy and Jackie's school today, to participate in Grandparent's Day. They provided a little breakfast and then each grade was allowed to sing a patriotic song in front of the crowd. The food was acceptable and I had plenty of water to drink. We then went to their class rooms where we were treated to all the activities they were doing, and in Jackie's class they did a separate presentation for the parents - they didn't sing in the hall. Once that was all over we came back to the house and began taking care of other things we needed to get done, like getting the Fusion smogged. Its that time of year when we need to get new license for the Fusion, and it is time for the smog check to be done. The car passed just fine and so now it is just a matter of getting the license updated in a matter of a co...

This morning I got up at about 05:45, so that I could ride my bike over to a breakfast meeting with one of the men's groups from the Point Loma Presbyterian Church. Funny part was that I was the second person to arrive (I was still pretty early), and the other person already there was also new to the group. Within a few minutes a larger group showed up and the meeting took place. It was very nice and I enjoyed the discussions that went on. They wanted to know more about Jason and exactly what had happened to him, and then also more about the family in general. I was glad I went and think I will go again - I rode my bike so that I could just go from there to the rest of my ride, and I did. The down part was that at about 15 miles I got a flat, and had to turn and walk the rest of the way back home. At that location I was only about 1 1/2 miles form the house, so it wasn't too bad. I headed back to the house because I also knew that Linda and I had to go to Jackie's "C...

Not sure when it happened, but yesterday sometime the blog broke 200,000 page hits. That is pretty cool for me. Today was another busy day, and we had the girls with us an extra day this week. We love having them with us, but because of the normal schedule we do try to plan things around when they're with us and when they're not. Anyway, they will be going with their mother tomorrow, and we'll have a few days to do some catch up. On top of that the van is still not working and I had to schedule a couple of visits from the Ability Center to see if they can figure out why it isn't working, and then possibly repair it. As it turned out I got quite a nice bit of training on how their system is put together (I hung around with the tech while he trouble shot the system). From all that I could see, the issue is with Ford and not their system. Simply put, the van won't come out of Park, and therefore we can't drive it. It was taken over to Ford, by the Ability Cente...

This has got to be one of the busiest days we've had, in the past couple of years. We got up pretty much our normal time, but the girls weren't going to be going to school today. We had a different destination for this morning - The Ground-Breaking Ceremony for Jason's future home! We wanted to be out of the house by about 08:00 and we made it at 08:01, so I considered that a total win. The  time constraint was something I had put on, as a result of the need to drive up to Fallbrook, and be there by 09:30, for the ceremony. As it turned out we got to the staging area (a Park and Ride parking lot, just off I-15), where we met up with a group of Freedom Riders (it looked like there were about 12 of them), who were to escort us to the actual ceremony, on Jason's property. We arrived at 09:15, which I found out later was a little on the early side. This was both good and bad, because it did provide us a chance to get our feet on the ground and see what was going on and se...

This has been a very nice, kick-back kind'a day. We got up this morning at about 07:00 and I went for a quick 15 mile ride, while the girls spent some time with Daddy (Jason), in his bed. Linda got breakfast going for them and when I got back I took over. This gave Linda a chance to go up stairs and get ready for church and for me to cool down a little. After the girls finished their breakfast I helped them start to get ready to go to church, and even Jason came in to provide some support. Linda came down and took over so I could go up and get ready, and then we were off. It was nice to have Jason at church with us, as several of the folks were happy to see him. After the services we came back to the house and shortly there after I fixed lunch. Then it was rest time, and we all just relaxed for a little while. I eventually went out and did a couple of finishing touches on the new chair, and brought it into the house; and that was pretty much it. The rest of the evening was just d...

Nice day for us today, though it started out a little on the crazy side. Stacy had a soccer game this morning, and we were supposed to have gotten up a little earlier than we actually did. As a result we had to move quickly to make sure we were not only ready, but also got to the game on time... and we did. We actually arrived before most of the rest of the team did, and a few minutes before the coach. Stacy had a great game, and both teams (kindergartners) played their hearts out. As far as both teams are concerned, both teams won - me personally, I believe the score was 2 - 2. The rest of the day was spent relaxed at home. There were some of the basic chores to be done, and about the most strenuous thing I had to do was clean and change Mr. Jingles' cage. For a rat, he sure is a pretty neat pet. When Jason got him originally my thought was, "What are you thinking?" Now he just seems to be a regular part of the environment and he does help to entertain Jason, so I gues...

One of the nice things about blogspot is that they have plenty of data to show how your blog is doing and what kind of readership you might be collecting. All of this data is great, IF you take the time to look at it, and sometimes I don't. I just noticed that I've past the 1200 posting mark with the blog, and that is a bunch of posts. I thank you all, whoever you are, for continuing to read and follow Jason's development. It started out as a recovery from the injuries, and now has morphed into simply what life has continued to toss his way (and in many aspects, OUR way). Getting this blog started was something that Linda suggested all those years ago, and I'm glad she did, for many reason, this has been very therapeutic for me. Linda and I got up to a nice little surprise this morning, and that was that they recycle guys had already come by, and they picked up the large cardboard box Jason's new chair came in, and I "knew" that I was going to have to go...

Today was a pretty nice day, for all of us. I got up at about 07:30, and I understand that Linda got up a couple hours later - but more on that later. Jason and I had a couple of bowls of cereal and then just a few minutes later (maybe as much as 15, I really wasn't tracking) I went out for a bike ride. Before getting our cereal, I finished cleaning the kitchen - something I was supposed to do last night - so that kind of delayed my getting on the bike. I went for a nice 27 mile ride, and probably could have gone much farther but it was getting later than I like and I felt compelled to get back to the house. When I got back, Linda was out in the garage and Jason was in his room. Linda was doing some laundry and Gracie was, being Gracie, you know laying around and sometimes getting underfoot. As it turned out I could have stayed out a bit longer and there wouldn't have been any problems. I guess I'm just a "worry wart." A little later in the day Linda and I wen...

Today started out very relaxed and kind of "normal", whatever that is. We got the girls up and off to school, and they'll be gone for a couple of days, then we'll have them again for the next five. Towards the end of that five day period is the ground breaking for Jason's new house. Actually, the ground breaking ceremony played a big part of today, as Jason and I went to Balboa for his appointments, and while there I checked with as many people I could, to make sure they all were aware of the ground breaking, and all but two of them were. It looks like there is going to be a nice sized crowd and that should make it fun. Tonight Jason wanted to take us to the movies, so we went and saw American Sniper, and it was not only a very good movie, we actually knew one of the Wounded Warriors in the movie. He is the guy in the wheel chair who is typically dressed in black - for those who saw the movie, he was the "smoker." Funny thing is, we didn't know he ...

We got the girls up this morning and they were both a bit slow in rising. Neither of them seemed too excited about going to school this morning, but once we got them moving it was much better. Linda and I have basically worked out a team effort in getting them up and moving in the morning. Basically Linda goes in and starts to get the girls moving, and I may go in to help initially. My focus is more on the food side of the equation. I make sure they have a breakfast before going off to school and to insure they have a lunch that is both delicious and nutritious (I learned that phrase from Linda) when she ran her day care. Anyway, the girls were out the door with time to get to the school and ready for their new day. After we got back to the house Jason needed to get over to the VA, by Mission Valley, and I wanted to be with him at this particular appointment. I also wanted to get a bike ride in, so I decided to ride my bike over, and let him drive. There was also the factor that he w...

This morning began with a slow moving me, getting out of bed. It felt good to sleep in our own bed again, and I guess I was kind of tired. I still woke at about 06:30, but didn't get out of bed until after 07:00. I knew the girls were going to be coming and I wanted to be sure we were ready for them. As it turned out they didn't arrive until after 09:00, so I actually had plenty of time to get some of the stuff we had taken with us, put away. When they did arrive Stacy was full of energy and happy to see us and Jackie was feeling a bit cranky, so I am guessing she didn't get enough sleep the night before. Once in the house she came to me and I picked her up for a little while, with her head on my shoulder. And, in a little while longer she was feeling much better. Linda had been feeling that yo-yo affect of being sick with the flu, when you're right at the end of being sick. First you feel better then you feel like you need to lay back down and over and over a few tim...

We are back home now, as we left Livermore this morning. I had planned on getting out at about 09:00 and we made it - I felt pretty good about that, considering how Linda was still feeling. On a big plus side, she is feeling much better now, than she did yesterday, and even better than she did this morning. I think she is over the worst of the illness, and now it is just a matter of dealing with the lingering aspects, such as the cough. We did stop to visit with David, and his family, though we really didn't stay too long. As it turns out Miriam is a bit under the weather as well, so we kept the interfacing down to a minimum. Yesterday was Dylan's birthday, and we wanted to be sure to deliver his birthday gifts. We also had some other gifts, from Christmas, and that included Ethan. Ethan was also dealing with a bug, and probably the same thing that Linda and Miriam have. He was sleeping when we arrived so we didn't get a chance to see him, and that is probably a better th...

Today was supposed to be another day of visiting with some friends and just plain relaxing. As it turned out, Linda woke up not feeling very good, and it was simply a continuation from yesterday, only a little worse. I let her stay in bed and I went to go visit George and Jane Bowen, and spent about two hours just talking with them. After that I went to visit with Joe and Toni Smith, and had a nice lunch at their place, then later I got together with a bunch of friends from the Presbyterian Church. It would have been so much better to have had Linda with me, but it turned out to be a better idea to have her just stay down. I am hoping that tomorrow she'll feel at least a little better, since we will be driving back down to Southern California. Anyway, the day is at an end and I think I'm going to be going to bed. Thank you, for all the continued support and prayers. Take care and stay positive.

Today we managed to stay in the Tri-valley area and visited with family and friends. First off we went over and picked up George and then over Linda's friend Terry's house. Linda and Terry were going to breakfast and George and I decided we were going to go to breakfast too. Terry's husband, Joe was there, so that was kind of nice to be able to see him, but he apparently had caught some sort of "bug" and we didn't want to risk catching anything ourselves. Our visit there was no more than maybe 10 minutes, though we were still able to get a couple of pictures. Yesterday I think I said I was going to be able to put some pictures out on the blog, but discovered I had left the cable at home. This means to dumping of the camera on to the laptop, and I'll just have to wait until we get back to post some shots. After breakfast, George and I did a little running around and taking care of errands, and then I dropped him off at Safeway, where he works. He really...

As many of you are aware, we are traveling right now, and as a result, getting to put a posting out on the blog is a bit challenging. The trip up to Livermore was uneventful, just the way I like travel to be, and yet still faster than anticipated. I thought it would take close to 8 hours and it was closer to 7 hours for that long drive. We even had an opportunity to stop in and visit with Linda's parents, Joe and Jess, for about 90 minutes, and it was both an nice rest as well as refreshing for us. It is always good to visit with them. We made it to our favorite Mexican restaurant at about the time we wanted to and had a great visit with Steve and Yolanda, and then finally pushed on to our final destination in Livermore. We got to bed at a reasonable hour, so that we would be sure to have enough rest/sleep for today's activities, with Sean. We did, in fact get up when we wanted to and made our way over to San Francisco, to spend some time with Sean. He is looking great (pic...

Another day with the girls doing a little better, but still far from being 100% of their normal selves. They both had temps of over 101 and we did end up taking them to the doctor's office. Apparently we are still doing the right things with them, we just wish we could get them to be feeling better faster. We kept them home from school and looks like tomorrow is going to be more of the same. The big difference is that they go back to their mom's place, and Linda and I are headed up to Livermore. We won't be able to tell how they are doing for five days. The good news is that they are progressively getting better, so we think they should get back to that 100% level soon. Not much else going on today, other than the normal things we tend to do every day. About the only two things that would be classified as different would be taking the girls to the doctor's office and us packing for the trip. We plan on driving up to Livermore to check on some personal things and visit...

These past couple of days have been challenging, to say the least. The bad news is that the girls got pretty sick with the flu, or something, before we go them, and they progressively got sicker. Both of them were running temps of up to 102.2, and we spent a few late night hours comforting them. We gave them fever reducer and cough medicine, as well as other care and that brings us to the good news. They seem to be over whatever it was, and as of this afternoon they're back to their normal happy selves. Jason spoke with their pediatrician a couple times, or at least their advice nurse, and it seems we were doing everything we were supposed to be doing, and if their conditions hadn't improved today, they would be going in tomorrow. Now it seems that isn't going to be happening, and we can work towards getting back to normal ... whatever that is. There was one kind of funny thing that happened, and I guess it was the result of crossed communications. Linda said something to...

Hey, it even rained last night ... not much, but it was wet out. Its supposed to rain again tomorrow, so I'll be keeping an eye on that as well. Linda and I were awoken this morning shortly before 06:00 by both the girls, and it was still dark outside. They were running fevers and coughing so we got up to do our best to make them more comfortable. Shortly after giving them a fever reducer and cough medicine they were doing pretty well, so that was a good start for the day. I did have to go pick up some Pedialyte and fortunately they both like drinking it. We really didn't do much except stay around the house (aside from a couple of runs I made to the store). The girls weren't feeling good and Jason wasn't either. We both kind of stepped up our efforts to disinfect everything right after the girls go through, and even in some of the areas around Jason's bedroom. By the end of the day everyone seemed to be doing a little better, so I am hopeful that it won't g...

Today started out with Linda and I getting up with specific thoughts in our heads, as to what we wanted to accomplish. Linda was going to be going out with Joselyn, to have some fun at consignment stores and go out to lunch, and I was going to go for a longer bike ride. My target was at least 30 miles, and I was able to get in 31.32 miles, and it was done in just over two hours (at 24 miles I stopped to eat some apples and drink some water, and it helped allot). Jason had his appointment with PT so we all had somewhere to go, and we all left the house in the morning. I think it was the first time for this to happen; that is, all of us leave and have different agendas. It was one of those "steps" where it seemed like we almost had a more normal life, at least for a little while. As a result of my ride I discovered I will need to stop in at the bike shop tomorrow to correct a small problem with the front derail-er. It wasn't a big problem, just that it made hills a little...

Well, here we are, into the second week of 2015, and still no time machine or flying trains (flying cars and hoover-boards do exist now, just limited in usefulness). This is going to be an exciting year, and I hope that excitement is mostly positive. There are so many things to be happy and joyous about, yet there are groups still trying to force their opinion on the rest of the world. I guess I need to be mindful of what this blog is about, and it isn't a political commentary, Jason continued to improve, and on top of that he took Gracie to the dog groomer and she got a very nice make over. It is probably the best I've see Gracie look since we took her in. Not sure where he took her, but I think it was at the shop inside Petco. While he was doing that I was out on a bike ride and got in 24.24 miles, and managed to maintain a solid 14.5 mph average. The nice part was that when I got back to the house I didn't feel like I was exhausted, and I honestly think I should have...

Today began as many for these past days have, with the girls getting up and getting ready for school. I even made some hot oatmeal for breakfast (Jackie likes to call it porridge and pretend she is baby bear). Lunches were made and Linda and I walked the girls to school (Just for the record - Jason had oatmeal, too). Once we got back to the house we all had things to work on and take care of, and Jason and I were headed for the hospital at Balboa. I guess that's about where the similarities stop. Jason and I drove separate vehicles to his appointments, as I had to come back and pick up Linda before Jason was finished with his appointments. Trying to get on to the base was a little bit of a challenge, and as a result I spoke with Jennifer Townsend (ret. Navy Capt) about what happened and she said she would work with the security folks on coming up with a solution. Apparently this is something that has been going on for several weeks now and there really is no easy answer, at least...

We kind of got up a little later than anticipated this morning, though there was still plenty of time to get the girls ready for school. The girls were awake, just hadn't come up to get us out of bed, that is until we were ready to come down. As we were headed down the stairs Jackie was on her way up. It all worked out pretty well actually. Linda got the girls dressed and I got them fed - and made their lunches. After the girls were walked to school we came back to the house and we were going to get ready for the things we were scheduled to do, only shortly after getting home Jason received a call and his appointment with the VA was cancelled (it got moved to next week), so that freed up some time. Then within a few minutes of that I received another phone call and a meeting was scheduled for noon, with the Gary Sinise Foundation - they wanted to talk about scheduling the official ground breaking ceremony. I looked at the clock and decided that I now had a few hours to get a nice...