Monday, July 11, 2016

Leaving Suburbia - Again

Our day began early.   By 0745, we were sitting outside the VA with another vet - all of us hoping to score the first 0900 appointment. All appointments are walk-in.  Jim wanted to see a different VSO than us;  we DID both score the first appointment of the day.  Our VSO is very encouraging. She stressed again  she'd never seen a claim go as quickly and smoothly as ours has - God has blessed us in the  midst of the storm.  She told us to give the VA and the Department of Defense a month to work out their kinks - if they don't she'll step in and get the ball moving. Basically, we're waiting for  the massive amount of paperwork to hit the right desk.

It's never fun to have others voice the prognosis for Michael; words like permanent and static still don't sit well. We chose joy today, over anxiety about the future.  We left the VA office in fairly high spirits and picked up the kids from the girl's home. We arranged to meet Mom, Dad and Lorri for lunch before we picked up Yuuki (who was sleeping over with my parents) and headed for the border.

And here we are....dinner is done....the van is unpacked....we visited Mom G....and we're settling down for a night around the fire.  We love to visit our family in Suburbia - they all have lovely homes. We love to get back to our simple life. I think we've become minimalists at heart.  (Except, of course, for techie items...I'm dreaming of a Go Pro at this point.)

Keep On Looking

It's no secret we've been looking at various options for a new home. Our trailer is showing some wear and tear - and our van is about done pulling the thing over the mountains. The doctors say we need to find a rig I can drive. I'm not comfortable pulling the trailer with the van. The van is  still running well, and we are in no danger of it exploding; but we think it wise to begin to consider options. 

There is a man in Tucson who is convinced he "has our motor home." Maybe - but we continue to look....and you never know what you will find when you look in Eugene, OR.  I could drive it, it has 2 stories, the custom artwork on the side appeals to me....but Michael drove on by.  I guess we need to keep on looking.