Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

Yesterday and today were pretty much laid back days for Jason, though we did go to Costco for a little shopping, today. Jason is attempting to get more "down" time to allow for more healing of his open wounds, and from the way they looked today I'd have to say that there is some good from this strategy. We're looking for laser treatment in September, and that should help brings back under control, so we are all looking for a positive out look for this treatment. On another note, and probably why I should have posted yesterday, Jason is now a civilian again. He officially retired as of about noon yesterday. He is now a retired Marine and will be enjoying all the benefits associated with that situation. Fortunately, because he is retired and the situation of his retirement, he is allowed to continue most of his medical needs with the hospital at Balboa. We have begun the process of getting his records being fully tracked by the VA now, and his pay to be coming from th...

Not much to write about today, with regard to Jason's healing and wound care activities. He is doing well and he went to physical therapy this morning, he filled, or I should say refilled some of his prescriptions and then we head on back home. Actually, there was a stop at Navy Fed Credit Union for a personal errand, and then another one at the housing office over here by the house. Because it is so close to the house he asked me to just drop him and Gracie off, and he would walk her home when he was finished. On his way back to the house he stopped by our mail box and picked up the mail, and then he was home. By now is was after 12:00 and all of us were hungry, so I wanted to put something together quickly. I grabbed the bread and peanut butter and started to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when Jason asked, "Have you ever had peanut butter and honey?" I had to admit that I had not, and thought the idea was interesting. I told Jason we did have some honey, and...

Today was one of those days where Jason did not have any appointments and spent most of the day in bed. I wish he would spend more time in bed, to allow the wounds to heal, but he is that kind of guy who wants to get out and take care of things. He recognizes that he needs to let his body heal, yet he also wants to get out and do things, like most of us. Anyway, he took time to clean some of the equipment he has and to just play a little with Gracie. The rest of the day was in bed. I got up and went for a nice bike ride. It wasn't too long, as I am still trying to build up to that, and Linda wanted to do a few things that required my involvement. I also was able to put some time in on Stand Up and Play, and the Quick Books work that I am doing for them. The fun part is that I am continually learning new things and still finding out QB can be used. This evening Linda and I went over to see our cats, and they are doing great. Glenn, Anne and their son, Nick are doing a great job ...

Today was what you would call a RED Letter day for Jason, as there was a bunch to get done and generally a very busy day for all of us. The girls were up early, and actually Stacy came up and made sure we were awake by 06:30. The past couple of days we've had to go down and get her up, closer to 07:00, so today was particularly nice. Both Jackie and Stacy were up and ready to head out to school, by 07:40, and Linda and Jason were ready to get them there. Linda was doing what I would normally be doing because I had my own appointment with the VA, at 08:00. Right after dropping the girls off Jason was off to his first appointment, and this is where it really gets good. Jason's first appointment was with the DMV, and Linda had to get him over to the Scripts Vehicle Training Center, so that he could take the driving assessment in their vehicle (The DMV wants those who are testing to take the test in their vehicle - and Jason was totally fine with that). Jason took the test and pa...

The girls got off to school this morning, and it was actually quite a nice morning. No delays or scrambling around to find lost items or shoes, and breakfast was easy and quick (they had multi-grain Cheerios). Right after getting back to the house I went and double checked with Jason, on his appointments, as well as other things he might want to do, and I was clear until 11:15, when we needed to be over at the Sharps Institute where Jason was to complete his final driver training. This meant that I had about 2 1/2 hours and time to get out on my bike. More specifically it meant a 15 to 16 mile ride, and that is what I did. I got back from the ride (16 miles) and cooled down and cleaned up, and got ready to go. Jason and I went over to the Sharps and within about 30 minutes he was behind the wheel and ready to head out on his last "training" session, so that tomorrow he can do the DMV version. Once he has that out of the way he will be able to finally get into his OWN truck,...

First day of school for the girls, and it was chaos... Well, maybe not chaos, just very exciting. We got up at a little after 06:00 this morning, and had the girls up a little bit later. Even with the idea that the first day of school was awaiting them, they still didn't want to get up. We finally did get them up and dressed, and both of them looked great, as well as excited to be heading off to a new adventure. We walked to school, as we do live very close, and the number of vehicles attempting to get on to the grounds was higher than usual. We already are familiar with the class room where Jackie is now going, as well as the teacher; the big challenge was finding Stacy's class room. We had to walk all of about 30 feet to find the door. Then, as you enter the door, her name was on the desk where she will be sitting. We got to meet some of the other parents, and Stacy got to meet some of the other students, briefly, then we were out of the room and socializing outside. The st...

Today is Jackie's birthday, and she turned 4 years old! We had the party for her yesterday, and we kept it kind of small, with just family attending. Jason's older brother David, came down with his two boys, Dylan and Ethan, to help with the celebrating. The cousins all get along very well and they played together, both outside and inside. I was able to get some pictures taken this time, so I hope you enjoy them. Nana and Tata also came (that's Linda's parents, so that makes them Jackie's Great Grand Parents). The visitors all stayed for lunch and for a little bit a resting period, before having to take of to get back home. Both Nana and Tata, and David and his sons, live north of here, so they all had to endure some traffic going home. Because it was Saturday, I am hoping it wasn't too bad. Jackie is like most 4-year olds and was pretty excited to see all the people and all the gifts, especially since they were for her. The funny part is that as she opened on...