Good News! Praise the Lord!

Okay, before I post about Roger being home, sorry babe, I have to share my grade for my history class. So I went to check my grade online and where the official grades are posted it said, "Grades are currently not available for this term." Aughhhh! It was even a few hours after the official time when grades would be available. You know I was quite nervous about my grade in this class and I was not happy about this. So I thought, let me check my degree audit and see if there's any change from "in progress". And there it was, "HIST 481 SEMINAR IN HISTORY 2007 Fall 3.0 hrs B" I made a B! I am soooo happy!! I was almost shocked, but very elated. I immediately thanked the Lord over and over and over again. If it wasn't after midnight on a Tuesday night, I'd go celebrate. But we're in the house for the evening, so we'll have to celebrate tomorrow. Although this is Austin and there are plenty of places we could have gone even this late. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Wow, what a relief. Now I know for sure that I only have to take one class next semester and I WILL graduate in May, 2008. Oh, I am so happy. Have I told you how happy I am?! :) Now, I don't know how official this is, especially since it's on the degree audit but not in the grade display. You know I will continue to check it because I won't feel completely at ease until I see it in the grade display which is official. This also means that I didn't do so bad (I know, not correct grammar, but I don't care!) on my research paper.

I really don't care what grade I made on the paper as long as I made a grade high enough to count for my major so I don't have to take that class ever again. I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, but this was not my first attempt at this class. I tried it first many, many years ago and didn't make a grade high enough to count. I'm sure it had to do with all the partying I was doing in Northgate. The second attempt I withdrew for some reason I can't remember now. I'm sure it had to do with partying too much and a certain loser in my life that I let influence me negatively. And the third attempt, many, many years later, I dropped because I couldn't handle all the many obligations I took on Roger's first year of deployment. So this was my fourth attempt. Talk about pathetic. I'm almost embarassed I shared that. Oh well, those of you who know me very well, know I'm not the person I used to be. And I'm sure you, and my parents, are all saying under your breath, "Thank goodness."

Okay, now we can talk about Roger. I picked Roger up at the airport about 4:15pm today. It was so nice to see him in the Austin airport again. I love it when he comes home. I really don't enjoy going to Walter Reed to visit him. It's awful there. But we have been laughing since he got home. He's pretty much unpacked and seems like he never left except I have to remind him where things are and go. We went to his favorite bbq place, Rudy's on 360, for dinner then stopped at Scooter's on William Cannon for coffee and dessert. We discussed our schedule while he's home and all the things we would like to accomplish and people we need to see. I told you we'd start a new list when he got home. Of course this schedule is not set in stone but it gives us an idea of what we can try to accomplish.

So as far as Roger's day yesterday trying to get answers to his many questions regarding his PEB, I will let him go into detail in a future blog. But I will share that most of the advice he received was for him to appeal the PEB and go to formal hearing. He also found out it probably won't go to formal hearing until the end of January. Which means he won't be home for good until February at the earliest. Although I've have decided he won't be home until I pick him up from the airport for the last time, he is quite disappointed with the thought of staying longer. Of course, we both know we have to do what we have to do for his future health.

On that note, I'd like to share some scripture I came across Sunday. I can't for the life of me figure out where I came across it, but I know I was led to it for a reason. And I'm still trying to figure out what version it is. I've gone through every English version on http://www.biblegateway.com/, but no luck. So if you know this version, please let me know in a comment below. It's the same concept and meaning, but I'd like to find the version because I like it. I hope it moves you as much as it moved me. And I pray for this kind of joy for you.

I've learned how to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy, whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. Phillipians 4:12

Holiday Cards to Wounded and Recovering Soldiers

An email has been circulating asking people to send an extra Christmas card to 'Any Wounded Soldier' or 'A Recovering American Soldier' at Walter Reed Army Hospital. I asked Roger about it at the time but he was unaware of any issues or problems with addressing a card in that manner to the hospital. But today he heard something about it and sent me the link so I could let the people who sent it to me know that Walter Reed Army Hospital and the United States Postal Service can not accept mail addressed as such. The notice does give information on how you can support our troops and their families. So check it out by clicking on the link above if you are interested, but don't send an anonymous card to Walter Reed.

I finished my third anthropology test about an hour ago. I don't feel awful about it so I have no idea if I did good or bad. The grades might be out tomorrow. I'm in the library at A&M waiting to register for next semester. If I left and went home as usual after class, I would be half way through my drive when my time came up to register. I didn't want to take any chances getting the class I wanted. So I decided to hang out until it was my turn. A classmate in my anthropology class is an honor student so she gets first dibs and tried to register for a philosophy class on the first day of registration and it was already full. And it completely messed up her entire schedule for next semester. Since this is the only class I have to take for next semester and I really want to take this particular class, I'm not taking any chances of it being full. It would really be nice to take a class I would really enjoy my last semester of college. I also turned in my book review early Monday morning, so I'm done until I return from Thanksgiving holidays. I will be taking the reading assignment for my anthropology class to read on the flight home so I don't get behind. I'll also be dragging the lovely first draft of my research paper with me to review on the flight up. But I'll be bringing my travel Bible and a magazine with me too, just in case my research paper gets too boring and I need other distractions.

Well, we have one more day and a wake up before Roger & I are together again. We can't wait. We're both really excited. We have one adventure planned and not much else except church on Sunday and maybe a dinner with friends. Roger meets with his neurosurgeon tomorrow afternoon regarding his paper work. So please keep that & him in your prayers. Thanks.

No News This Week

You know that saying, no news is good news? When it comes to the military, no news can be scary. Not that I'm surprised, but Roger did not hear anything regarding his case this week. That was a shot in the dark. The military actually do something efficiently? Ha! Anyway, it's being held up because his neurologist, Dr. Miller, wants to see Roger next Wednesday. And of course, he did not tell Roger why or anything else. So it's very strange and I'm wondering what he's up to or what he's doing. I'm sure Roger is wondering that too, but not trying to think about it too much so he doesn't go crazy until then. That's pretty much a weekly tactic for surviving Walter Reed. Dr. Miller is a peculiar bird so we have no idea what's going on. I assume, you know what that leads to, he wants to evaluate Roger against the updated reports and narrative summary which were supposed to have been submitted to the Board earlier this week. Dr. Miller could make or break him coming home sooner than later. So please keep praying for this situation. Thanks. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Only One Class Left!!

I'm so excited! I met with the Anthropology advisor in between classes today and they are going to allow an anthropology class I took at junior college to substitute for a 200 level anthropology class at A&M which means I only have to take one class next semester to graduate in May. Yeah!! I have to take one 300-400 level anthropology class. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've decided to take Intro to Biblical Archaeology. I can't wait! Now all I have to do is make it through this semester. There are two and a half weeks left in school. I have an anthropology test next Tuesday, a 3 page scholarly book review due next Wednesday, the final draft of my 20 page research paper due Dec 4th and the final in my anthropology class on Dec 12. I only need C's in both of these classes although I am striving for A's. Please pray for God to give me wisdom, knowledge and understanding from the Holy Spirit.

Please also pray for Roger. He found out all his paperwork was submitted to the Board and there is a possibility he could have a decision from them maybe by the end of the week. If he agrees with their findings and is happy with the percentage of disability they offer, he won't have to go through the formal process and would start working on coming home. Which would be a lot sooner than we have been expecting with other events that happened recently. So please keep that in your prayers. I sure would love for him to be home as soon as possible. It's not fun at Walter Reed at all for him either.

Patience, joy and protection from the father of lies would help too. Thanks you guys. Love ya!

Busy, Busy Weekend

I'm blogging right now because I'm avoiding reading my anthropology homework. And I'm really behind! Okay, I'm really not that far behind, but I don't like to be behind at all. I'm trying to finish reading Tuesday's reading. Chapter 6: Deep Time and Evolution is killing me. That's why I'm doing this. I'm so avoiding it. I'm only half way through and there's 18 pages left. Then I have to start Thursday's reading. I'm sure Chapter 7: Hominid Evolution in the Pliocene and Pleistocene Epochs is going to be great! The class lectures and the secondary sources he assigns are really interesting, but the textbook for this class is awful! I mean, it's science, so it's not like the textbook is going to be like reading a novel or something. And thank goodness the professor doesn't know this blog exists because he wrote the textbook. But it's awful! Thank goodness next week's reading is completely from secondary sources and will go fast while Roger's here. I've got to get through this reading though. I have so much to do this weekend. I have a plan for every waking moment of the weekend in order to get ahead on my history research paper so I don't have as much to do while Roger's here. Tonight I'm going to organize and complete my source research. Tomorrow will be start and complete my primary source summary and presentation. Monday will be anthropology reading, maybe, and start the introduction and outline for my research paper. I'm going to need a lot of caffeine this weekend.

I'm not sure what Roger's up to this weekend. He's staying with John & Tamra. He had to get away from Walter Reed. He had a really trying day on Thursday. Thank goodness he's coming home Tuesday because he really needs to get away from there. It's hard enough to live there every day, but it seems like once a week something happens to make the place even more unbearable. And Thursday was a doozy with several things happening on the same day. I can hear the frustration in his voice. And it sucks for me because I can't do anything to help except listen and allow him to vent and pray for him. So please pray for him. I know he's more than ready to leave that place for good. He just called me. They are on there way to the church's softball team "practice" then over to another guys house to play Xbox. He needs to decompress. Don't worry, Roger doesn't play softball, although if he hadn't fractured his finger he could. He just takes pictures. And he really enjoys that. He's been bitten by the photography bug.

Okay, okay, I'm going to get back to reading. Please pray for me!

What? A post from Roger?!?

I know… I take long breaks from the blog. Quick catch up: after several months of adjusting my anti-seizure meds, waiting two weeks, doing a blood test to check the levels, finding out that the level s are too low and increasing the meds and waiting two more weeks… I’m finally at a good level. It is supposed to be between eight and ten, I’m at 8.8. I’m not sure what they are measuring, but I’m glad that I don’t have to add any more pills to my daily regimen. Right now I’m taking a minimum of eleven pills per day. But it’s not too big a deal for me. And my right big toe has stopped twitching, so I know that’s a sign that the meds are working. If I can make it through October without having another seizure, I’ll be able to drive again in November!

The weather here is downright fall like now. Lows were in the 40s this past weekend and highs were in the low 70s. Just like I like it! It will warm into the 80s again, but fall is on its way.

I have been doing quite a bit of work for the newspaper here on post. I covered a pretty big event last week that also got national coverage. I don’t need to explain it because these links do:

The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091400501.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202491.html (click the link under gallery to see great pictures)

WUSA9 (CBS) - Be sure to click the link under related video for a great story:
http://www.wusa9.com/rss/local_article.aspx?storyid=62778

NBC Nightly News (MSNBC) - At the ribbon cutting you can see my flash unit and then my head pops up with my square patch of missing hair -- nice:
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=9cf4ea65-ae72-49d8-94fa-9d90a64e5d27&f=00&fg=

Stripe - mine!
http://www.dcmilitary.com/stories/091407/stripe_28052.shtml

I have yet to figure out how to post the paper as it appeared with my photos.

I’m going to be going home on leave for a few days in early October. I got a heck of a deal on military leisure airfare on Continental. I don’t usually fly them, but they were darn cheap. It will be nice to be home for a few days and to spend time with Holly and to see my new niece!

I think that’s about it for this post. I do want to share a video that was shared with me that I only saw tonight. It makes a pretty powerful statement at the end. It won’t be some of y’all’s cup of tea, but I liked it.

Home Bitter-Sweet Home

So I flew back to Texas on Monday. Thank goodness my flights were uneventful. Roger and I had a great visit. Roger signed us up for a yacht trip through MWR at Walter Reed. We spent the day on a 49 ft luxury yacht. Talk about the life. There's no way I'd ever be able to or spend $572,000 on one of those, but man, what a life. The captain and crew from The Yacht Center were so nice. It was a lot of fun. I didn't know what to expect at first because yachts are defined differently by many people. My only knowledge of what a yacht was is from Puff Daddy and Jay-Z videos. Turns out the yacht we were on was a baby compared to theirs. After the cruise around Kent Island with a short detour to Annapolis, we were treated to an awesome lunch at a local seafood restaurant called The Jetty. It was truly unbelievable. We ate so much seafood. I was in heaven. What's so funny about that is Roger and I went to Annapolis the following week for three days and we ate so much seafood there, I was sick of seafood. We walked by a restaurant in Bethesda later that week that served crab and other seafood and I thought I was going to throw up from the smell. I couldn't believe I was sick of seafood. I love seafood. Proves the point, too much of a good thing...

So we went to Annapolis and had a great time. We toured the city, the Naval Academy and all the shops. Roger was exhausted after it was all over. We stayed at a bed and bagel on Main Street over a delly called Chick & Ruth's. You'll have to read about them to understand how unique they are. It was great and we highly recommend staying there. This place was way cool. The Saturday before we went to Annapolis, we had the honor of observing our friends Charles and Deborah get married in Warrenton, Va. Pastor John performed the ceremony and it was absolutely beautiful. One of the most personal and sweet ceremonies we've ever witnessed. The town of Warrenton is a quaint town with lots of history. It was really neat. The reception followed at a local country club which was a lot of fun. We had to leave early enough to make the hour and a half drive back to DC to make it to church the next morning before we left for Annapolis. Our friend Allison let us borrow her car while she was visiting family in Indiana. We wouldn't have been able to get away without her generosity. Thanks Allison. You rock!

We only had one week left together and poor Roger got progressively sicker. Turns out he had an upper respiratory infection. So he spent most nights of our last weekend hacking all night. We were both exhausted. And on Saturday we went swimming with John & Tamra to which Roger thought he jammed his ring finger while we tossed a football in the pool, but he actually fractured it. Poor thing, he was all messed up this weekend. A good friend of ours, Alev, gave Roger a photo safari she couldn't get to for Sunday afternoon and we didn't think he'd be able to focus a lens with his finger wrapped up like it was. But he was able to and we had a great experience in Georgetown learning how to take better pictures. It was really neat. I'll get Roger to post pictures from all these events soon. He'll be visiting his friend Ryan and his sister Marie this weekend at the community house. He's already feeling better and not coughing at all through the night now.

But as always, going home is bitter-sweet. Living at Walter Reed is not the most comfortable so although I love being with Roger and going through this experience with him, I really miss the comforts of home while I'm there. And although I look forward to going home to my nice big bed, my own private bathroom, etc., I sure wish Roger was coming back with me. Walking into an empty house all alone doesn't make those conveniences any better. I can't wait for Roger to be home. I really miss him.

Weekend Update

Well, my dad was moved into ICU on Friday evening. My mom was at my grandfather's visitation way out in Cameron, Texas and I guess didn't get a good cellular signal so she did not receive any of the calls from the hospital or my brother. When she returned home and got the news at home, she was very worried and called me. I told her that even though visiting hours were over she should go up to ICU anyway. So she did and found out he was moved into ICU because he was having chest pains and the doctors were worried about his stitches from his heart surgery in February. So they decided to move him into ICU for closer observation and for one on one care. They did perform a sonogram and ruled out their concerns. My mom said my dad looked and sounded so much better than when she saw him at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon and his blood pressure was up. I am glad they moved him into ICU. I might be a little bias, but I think my dad needs special care right now. An infectious disease doctor has been added to his case. Thank the Lord. Last I heard they were still waiting for the culture to grow to rule out a parasite, but he does not have bacteria.

Due to the flooding most of Texas has experienced my grandfather was not able to be buried Saturday. The funeral home said four by four vehicles can't even get to the cemetery which is way out in the country off dirt roads. I've never heard of this happening before so I guess they'll let us know when he can be buried. Maybe I'll be able to attend the funeral after all. I fly home this afternoon.

To add to it, Roger lost his wallet late Saturday night. Although all accounts have been closed, frozen or put on hold, so far, we haven't seen any activity. We are hoping someone is trying to figure out how to contact him. There is emergency contact information in his wallet if it is searched completely. It was very frustrating for Roger. He was so hard on himself for losing it. He expects so much from himself and can't believe he lost his wallet. Thank the Lord Roger cleaned out his wallet recently and removed a lot of unnecessary stuff. We made a list of the contents of his wallet and there wasn't much in there. There will be some cards he will not attempt to replace until he returns to Texas. And he was able to get on post yesterday even without an ID and we were able to have dinner last night without his meal card. There are some really nice people working here at Walter Reed. He has already replaced a few of his military items and will probably have a new military ID in a few days. All the police, credit bureau and such reports will wait a couple days to see if his wallet is returned.

This has been a whirlwind weekend for us full of stresses and struggles. Please pray for healing for my dad's health, peace and joy for my family, safety for my flight today, protection for Roger's identity and the return of his wallet and for God's grace and mercy for our separation. Please pray for me to be able to love, encourage and support Roger from Texas while he's still here in DC. I don't know when I'll be able to return to see him or when he'll be able to come home. Thank you for your prayers and love. Until next time...

Mr President & Ms United States

Well today was an eventful day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). I discovered shortly after I began my five mile walk that someone very important was coming to the hospital. I have to walk around the base three times to get in five miles. Yes, it's that small. And each time I walked around I noticed more police, more closed roads and gates and more excitement. A helicopter flew around in circles over head for added security. I knew it was the president as I approached the main gate on Georgia Avenue on my third round when a secret service agent came over the hill and motioned for me to turn around and go back the way I had come. I know he saw me before I saw him. There were even snipers on top of the portico where the president would enter. After I turned around some people outside the fence asked me how to get in because they had appointments or needed to get in for work. I had no good information to offer them except the 16th Street gate was still open but it too was not letting anyone in or out either. So I turned around and headed back to Roger's building. I was almost at five miles when I turned around so I had plenty of time to reach my goal and get in some cool down. After Roger & I returned to the room from lunch, he saw the motorcade from the window in his room. We knew it was for sure the president then because of the ambulance. Only the president gets an ambulance following his motorcade. The president was here to visit the hospital after he ordered a commission in March to investigate care for wounded soldiers. Here's a transcript of his speech to reporters after the visit. It kind of annoys me that reporters questioned him about Scooter Libby and nothing about improvements to warrior care. So annoying!

After Roger finished pool therapy this afternoon, I walked out the main gate across the street to Pure Bliss day spa for a treatment (a maintenance treatment not a relaxing one). When I left the physical therapy area and walked to the main lobby to exit the hospital, I almost ran into Ms. United States Kayla Downs. She wasn't wearing a tiara, but a big sash across her little framed body. I had no idea who she was or what Ms. United States was, so I did a search when I got back to Roger's room. Ms. United States and Ms. United States Woman are not affiliated with Miss USA or another of those other televised pageants. But I'm sure the process is probably the same. If you're interested in that sort of stuff, you can read all about it at their website. I'm sure she was here to see wounded soldiers also. That's really the only reason celebrities come here.

Roger also saw the commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, Major General Eric B. Schoomaker, M.D. So today was full of excitement at WRAMC.

Melissa worked Roger pretty hard today at pool therapy. He and his right leg are tired. He's going to take a short nap while I do some laundry before we head out to our friends John & Tamra Rich's home. They let us stay with them on the weekends and holidays. We're always with them anyway. We have plans for where we are watching the fireworks but nothing else. With these friends, we never know what we'll end up doing. I've posted pics from this past week. Click on this link to go to this specific set or you can always click on the flickr banner to the right.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!!

I'm here!

Well, I've been in DC almost a week now. I can't believe it. Time is going by so fast. Roger & I have been running around like crazy. He has numerous appointments each day and between traveling to and from Walter Reed or Bethesda Naval, waiting for doctors and the actual appointments themselves we are constantly going, going, going. We were so busy last week that we barely made it to meals. We were usually running into the dining facility with 30 minutes to spare which if you know anything about military dining facilities, that's when all the "good" food is out. Of course you know I'm being sarcastic. When the menu for that day runs out, they bring out the leftovers. The food is edible. We try to eat a lot of fruits and veggies. We have a salad at lunch every day. Lunch is the best meal of the day for cooked food. Breakfast is easy. Dinner, that's another story.

I thought I would have a lot of down time here so I checked some books out of the local library in Austin. Boy was I wrong. Not only are we constantly going somewhere, but at some of the appointments they actually put me to work too. During pool therapy and physical therapy, I had to be Roger's spotter. I don't mind it at all, but so much for my library books. Pool therapy is really neat. There's a 3-5 foot deep pool on the third floor of the hospital and one pool therapist named Melissa. She's really nice and knows her stuff. Roger can see how it will help his mobility and balance improve. The physical therapy where Roger goes is outside of the hospital in a portable building. The physical therapy inside the hospital is for soldiers missing limbs. And there are a lot of them here. Physical therapy is a little different for Roger because they are targeting specifics now and they show you your exercises at the first session and you are on you're own after that. Since Roger is still susceptible to seizures, they will watch him closely and assist on some exercises, but other than that you are on your own. Some of the exercises he can do outside of physical therapy. He might even buy a jump rope. That's one of the exercises he has to do in physical therapy. He was really surprised that he could jump rope but he did well. He should see a lot of improvement between the pool therapy and the physical therapy.

As for this whole Med Board process, all I can say is that it's interesting. The process is unorganized and seems to change regularly. It can be frustrating at times. They are trying to improve the process but of course anything associated with the military is not simple nor easy. Everyone associated with it seems frustrated. I'll blog more about that later. I'm going to post a few pictures of what we've been doing since I've been here. We've been invited to a baseball game tonight so we're off to get some things done before we get picked up. Check back soon.

Almost A Month

Wow, I can't believe it's almost been a month since one of us last blogged. You know I just don't think about it as often as I used to. I'm so used to Roger doing all the blogging and I don't really think about it. But it has been mentioned recently by some, so I decided I would go ahead and blog for us since I have a little more free time now.

Roger went home on June 11th. Sigh. I miss him a lot. I really enjoyed him being home. Especially since he was on leave, he was home all day. It was nice to come home to him. He worked so hard while he was here. He had a very long to do list. I really appreciated all that he did. He was pretty tired each day. We managed to have fun also. We even went out on a date night. I know, some of you are thinking, no kids and no pets, every night is a date night. But a date night isn't sitting at home watching TV on the couch together. And it sure isn't cooking dinner and doing laundry. We really enjoyed going out to eat, sitting across from each other, gazing into each other's eyes and really talking to each other. While Roger was home, our friends John & Tamra from Virginia came to visit us. They were in the Dallas-Fort Worth area visiting family and came down to Austin for a weekend. It was fun dragging them all over showing them Austin. And the weekend they came was a good one. Among the events held in Austin that weekend was the huge annual Republic of Texas Biker Rally, the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, the Pride Parade and the usual nightly live bands and other day events. So it was a good weekend for them to see what Austin is really all about. We had fun with them because living here we don't usually go out to those areas to avoid the crowds. And downtown Austin was crazy crowded. We actually drove down Sixth Street during the biker rally. I have never seen that many motorcycles in my life. It was really cool. We caught the Pride Parade as it ended at Congress Avenue while we were waiting for the Congress Avenue Bats to emerge at sunset. It was very cool. We were all amazed at how many bats fly out. No matter how many times you've seen it, it's always neat.

So I'm home by myself now. It's kind of boring without Roger. I've been keeping myself busy with chores and my own to do list, plus my daily walking. I'm up to five miles a day (Monday through Friday only). My goal now is to walk five miles under one hour and get faster and faster. I'm at one hour and 13 minutes now which includes cool down. No amount of chores or activities will make me not miss Roger though. It's been difficult to sleep. It takes me forever to fall asleep then I keep waking up. Roger and I both are experiencing problems sleeping well. But my sleeping problems will disappear soon. I travel to DC next week to visit Roger. I can't wait. I'm so excited! There are so many things I want to do while I'm there. This will probably be one of the last times I'm there, so I have a list of stuff to see and do. I'll also be working while I'm there.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph I have a little more free time now. I started today working part time from home. The project I was hired for is at the end phases so my work load has gone down enough for me to go part time. And since my work consists of tracking only now, there's no need for me to be in an office. So I will save about $50 a week on gas plus I don't have to wear make-up, wear work clothes, style my hair, pack lunches or drive in traffic. Yeah! This is a nice break and I'm going to take advantage of the available time to get lots done around the house and for myself personally. The transfer to part time also gives me the opportunity I've been waiting for to go back to school and finish my degree. I will start at Texas A&M on August 27th. It looks like I will be able to take all my classes this fall on Thursdays which means I will only have to drive one day during the week. I plan to take all the classes that remain for my degree and graduate by next May. I'm very excited about that also.

While I'm in DC I'll also get to experience Walter Reed Army Hospital and what Roger goes through every day. It's still not easy. Every day is filled with more and more ridiculous requests and changes. That place is something else. I truly hope they get this process all figured out soon so all these soldiers don't have to go through all this crap for long. The latest charlie foxtrot discovered last week is mail wasn't being delivered to the soldiers since May of 2006! Civilian contractors were involved and fired but it is still unbelievable. I mailed a package to Roger on May 10th and he received it this morning at his 0730 formation. He said there were buckets and buckets of mail at formation this morning for soldiers. That's quite sad for the soldiers that are there and could benefit from letters and cards from loved ones. I'm still amazed and frustrated how our soldiers who are injured and trying to get well are treated. It's enough to make you mad.

Here's an update on my dad. His leg is about the same. The blood clot is going to take forever to dissolve. His leg still swells up after he walks and he still tires very easily. He started experiencing drainage problems in his leg so my mom made an appointment for him to see Dr. Bond. He basically told us what we already knew, it's going to take a long time and it's not going to be a fun experience. I asked my mom to ask Dr. Bond if my dad should see a specialist. I don't know how my mom asked him so I don't know if he responded in frustration but he basically said he was the specialist and there wasn't anyone else for my dad to see. I don't know if he meant no one in Bryan-College Station specializes in this or if there's not a doctor that specializes in what my dad's got going on. Sometimes I wish I was sitting in those appointments. Anyway, the week after that (last Thursday) my dad had an appointment with Dr. Kirby. I guess the fact that my dad is not gaining weight and still tires so easy came up. So he had an angiogram or a cardiogram done on my dad and it concluded that his heart is only working at 15-20%. Dr. Kirby said no wonder you aren't gaining weight and can't exercise like I want you to. So they are going to prescribe my dad heart medication and hopefully that will help him heal faster and gain weight. And hopefully those results will help my dad's application for disability. He had an appointment and interview last week with a social security disability person. I'm sure he will be denied the first time, but at least the process has been started. I'm sure it would help with a lawyer but I think one denial will help my parents see that a lawyer would be good.

I don't even want to get started on that so I'm going to close now. I hope this long update finds all of you in good health and great spirits. I will try to be better about blogging now that I have some free time. Please keep my parents and Roger in your prayers. Until the next blog, God bless.