Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

We got back from Colorado, and doing our best to get back into our normal way of life. Of course that implies we have a normal way of life, and for the most part, that's true. Its just that our normal probably isn't the same as your normal. Jason had some specific things he's wanted to do around the house, particularly with his chickens, and then on top of that the filter system on his fish tank has decided to stop working. The dogs both needed to get to the groomer, and the house, itself needed some attention (Linda and I are constantly cleaning up after the animals, yet we just can't seem to keep everything as clean sas we'd like it). Then there is the garden... The garden is doing great, despite the water problems. We have an irrigation system and it has failed twice. Fortunately, the failures have been caught, and the plants were without water for only a day or two, and nothing died. Some of the produce was impacted, but only some. We were able to harvest a bu...

Well, I'm finally back to the blogger, and can make another update. I have been trying to get back to this point for about 3-weeks now. A number of requests came in, asking that I make some updates and changes to the appearance of the blog, and I thought it was probably a good idea. Afterall I've been blogging for over 6 years with this now, and a change was due. Problem is, I wasn't ready for the change, and I didn't understand exactly what I was doing. When I finished making the updates I exited and when I attempted to get back into it, I couldn't figure it out. Previously I was able to just get on to my blog and I knew what to do. with the new environment I was effectively locked out. Well, enough of that, I'm back in and now I know what to do. Okay, we went to Colorado, back on July 9, and remained there for 9 days. The folks at Aspen Seating had been contracted by the VA to create a new prosthetic for Jason. This was very exciting for us, as Jason had bee...

I said I would be posting on Thursday, and I also said I'd get some new pics posted. Well, I'm posting that I need to continue to get better organized, so that I can get the pictures updated. We've been dealing with a bunch of different things, with the most important, right now, being the trip to Colorado. We'll be heading out that way on this Sunday, and will probably be there for 8 days (maybe a little longer). Jason is doing well, and spending more time in bed than he cares for, so the healing has been happening somewhat. The new prosthetic from Aspen/Ride Design - in Colorado, is going to be very helpful once he has it. There are still multiple challenges, and we're dealing with them as they come along, AND we're all managing to stay positive. The girls are concerned that the Summer is going to fast, but then again I can remember having those same concerns when I was back in school (LOL). Thank you, for your patience with me getting this updated and ...

Well, we got some good news today, and that is that Jason will be heading back to Colorado for a new prosthetic device, next month. At least that is the plan for right now. I spoke with Jason's coordinator and she said she is doing her best to get all the right players coordinated, so we can have another one of those group meetings, getting the final details. When we did this last time (about 18 months ago) the meeting itself went pretty smoothly, and most of the required people were able to make it. Because it is still a hospital type environment sometimes things happen that don't allow everyone to be at the meeting, no matter how much they want to. Jason is doing well, and he has just about all the needed things in place for his chickens to survive. The last thing is an invisible fence to help keep the dogs back. Even when the dogs are simply being curious about the chickens it causes them to be frightened. The invisible fence is going to keep the dogs back at a safe distan...

Well, so much for schedules... I really had planned on posting something yesterday, but we ended up travelling all day and then socializing a bit more than I had planned. It was all good, but no post was put up yesterday. Anyway, I'm posting now. Jason is still in Fallbrook, at home, while Linda and I are traveling in Kentucky. We're here because we've been invited to participate in a wedding, and it is one of our nephews (Linda's side, her brother's son, Ben). As you might expect the humidity is quite high, and the temperatures are up a little over 90, so it is muggy, and so we stay in side most of the time. It is good to see the family and be able to spend some time together, so we'll survive the weather. Jason is doing well, and we have wonderful help for him. Joselynn is spending a few days with him, and then Isaac and Kami will be staying there at the house to help take care of some of the needs as well as take care of the animals. Then we should be hom...

Well, there have been a few things that have been keeping us pretty busy, over these past few days, and  unfortunately I don't have time right now to go over all of them, but I'll touch on a couple of them so that you have some idea of what is going on. Jason has gotten the girls signed up for Taekwondo classes, and they are really doing well. Both of them past their first "test" and were pretty excited about moving up to the next level. Both of them are still very much in the basic level of training and education, but it seems to be good fun for them, and we believe that it is helping to build their confidence. Jason's wounds are not doing as well as we would like, and most of that is due to the fact that he no longer has a prosthetic that he can use. The scar tissue is breaking down more and it seems we're moving backward more than forward. A new prosthetic is coming in about a month, but that is going to require a trip to Colorado, and a new device will...

Another quick update - - - Jason turns 34 tomorrow, and we're planning on a very low key celebration. Mostly because we already had a gathering of some friends yesterday, Monday. It was kind of relaxed and very nice to see the people here, and Jason getting out and doing some socializing. The down side is that Linda is in Hawaii right now, helping a friend. It was one of those difficult choices she had to make, but the friend did need her there, and I assured her I would be able to take care of things at the home front... and so far I've been able to. The girls got up this morning, and we went through our regular routine of getting ready and having breakfast. Not having Linda here made it a little different, but they seemed to deal with it pretty well. I got them to school on time, and they were in good spirits when I picked them up. I even managed to get a couple of errands out of the way, and a load of clothes washed. If I can manage that for another two days, then we'l...