We have spent DAYS planning the upcoming months of travel. Full-time RVing takes a lot of planning....and reserving. We envisioned driving until some town caught our eye, pulling into a wooded park and stopping until we moved again. We learned last summer it is wise to make reservations! Especially if you want to stay within a certain budget. We began with mapping our projected dates on the calendar....we highlighted stops in red. As I make reservations in these towns, they go green. Keep in mind we have to juggle events we want to attend and places we want to be with being in CA to get meds and keep medical appointments. Boo - this is not the fun part of RVing; Yay - we are planning to be on the move again in April.
Before the calendar can go green - I have to check websites, aps, and make phone calls. I track this on a our route planner, moving confirmed reservations to the expense trackers, and campgrounds we don't stay at to the "alternate route sheet, so I don't have to duplicate research if we need to stay in the same area again.
In addition to this we've created a family financial Excel workbook. It started as me simply wanting an expense tracker to match the categories of our budget. It grew to 14 pages now. A monthly expense tracker, an annual snapshot and a savings tracker. Our savings is very fluid right now. We knew it would have to supplement our retirement income until our plans settled out - but we'd saved to be able to take a one year sabbatical. We are trying to bank extras from various categories. I needed more info than a simple lump sum balance.
I think all this planning will be good - but it's not my natural bent. I wanted something simple and this thing grew and grew. We've both had to research HOW to make excel do what we wanted it to do....and we've had to learn anew how to communicate without frustration. ::wink::
Hours of planning - but our sites are reserved through May 20th and we have a clear picture of our financial situation.
The packet of info arrived from the Idaho State Park department. We are looking forward to that new adventure.
I will have more reservations to make in the upcoming week, but we're getting it all nailed down.
All of our recent rain IS bringing out wildflowers, green hills and various flowering bulbs. Spring is here! These photos span a couple of week's time..... Janey, one of our camp hosts, has worked tirelessly on landscaping - through the RAIN! The soil is a challenge....everything is coming up dwarfed - but the rain is helping.
One of the first signs of spring - I miss Misawa
These tulips sit right on the group and are supposed to be 12 inches
Supposed to be 18 inches - but they are blooming
We were so busy during our time assigned to Beale that we never took photos of the rolling green hills and wildflowers in spring. The moment comes quickly before it all turns "golden." I hope to get some photos this year.... These are a start. We ran out for a quick walk between the rain storms.
Whew...o.k. We have determined not to leave Beale AFB until Michael has had all his initial VA medical appointments. We are praying they will take the word of Dr. Lee, the neurologist reports etc and NOT schedule follow up appointments requiring us to stay in CA.
This "VA disability claim process" feels like THIS as we walk it out.
via google images
However, THIS week we took a big step forward! We entered the Sacramento VA center for Michael's first appointment. They sent him to the pulmonary clinic. His medical records indicated he's had bronchitis and pneumonia - so off we went. She did tests, did an inhaler, did more tests...and said we need to buy an RV I can drive. ::snort:: An unexpected directive - but o.k.
Via google images
Michael has begun a patch of Neupro. Some of the side affects are downright frightening - the one which concerns us most? Sleep attacks - narcolepsy. While he's adjusting to the meds - I ride with him to Sacramento. I'm not sure what good this will do in case of a sleep attack - but it makes Michael feel better to think of us both dying on the freeway. ::snort:: Having just read this to him, he's decided I should be doing the driving. More terror on the highways as he hates to be a passenger, and I'm not too fond of Sacramento traffic.
Some have asked why this process takes so long....here's a snapshot that will shed some light....
Via Google Image
Each claim is about this size...and yes, we do still turn in PAPER copies....Michael's are about the size of the one with the black strap. These have to be gone through and acted on......and I don't want to think of the mess of this photo.
Michael was a bit embarrassed, but I used the opportunity to find a rep to chat with. I asked him just how long from this point they thought it could be. He assured me the average is six months from the date the claim is filed until a determination is sent. By those dates, we should have a determination by 1 May. I asked him WHERE we were in the process - because it FEELS like that tangled mess above.
From the conversation, it appears we are on the left side at the Physical Exam portion. Our claim specialist will wait until all the doctor reports are in (last appt is 28 Mar), then she has a "set number of days" to make her recommendation to the regional office. They then have a "set number of days" to make a rating determination and inform us. He would NOT come clean on how many days they each have...but it is a bit doubtful we'll know by 1 May. Now, after we are notified - bottom center of chart - we have the option of requesting it to be re-evaluated, which sends us to the top of the right hand side of the chart. We've been told by everyone to expect we will need to ask them immediately to re-evaluate. I hope not and am praying they just come back with a fair determination from the start. We've been told they low-ball what they think you should get.
There it is - all you've ever wanted to know about the VA Disability Claim Process.
We have a wedding in 8.5 weeks! Stacia's Junior Bridesmaid dress arrived from David's Bridal today! They had turned it inside out to mail it - and we commented that it was much simpler than we remembered....
We turned it right side out - and it was perfect. It fits. She's good to go.
Now, if I could just find a dress like it, I'd be ready too. ::wink::
People ask, "How are you adjusting to retirement?" We've all heard the jokes of men at loose ends and wives at wit's end. The struggle is real! This is the expected norm - and that happens when you retire in a community you've lived in for years, with the same circle of friends and activities to help occupy your time. We were prepared for adjustment.
What happens when you lose your community, your friends and your church at the same time as retirement? It's military retirement - and it's rough.
Consider you had a plan to start a second career months after "retirement," and were diagnosed with a condition which throws serious monkey wrenches into your plan....now you are NOT going to Japan, you are NOT traveling around and seeing America until doors open for Japan, you are NOT traveling anywhere. You are sitting for 5 months, 15 miles from the home you lived in before retirement, on the base where you invested your LIFE - and you're totally disconnected. People aren't sure how to relate to you, you don't want to be the old curmudgeonly retired pastor...so you sit at fam camp.
Gyres - science is serious business
We are seeing our way to the other side and now, I'll admit, it's been rough. I love my husband. He loves me. BUT, we've had adjustments. We've made these adjustments with significant stress, and little community support. It's rough.
Wives - imagine your husband is now in 268.5 SF with you, watching everything you do, with very little to occupy his time - other than thinking about a degenerative neurological diagnosis which you'd both rather forget. It's rough.
Homeschooling moms - imagine your husband was now able to watch your methods, hear every lesson, every text book....and imagine he disagreed with history texts and found many mistakes in the science book....imagine. Michael has always the brainy one in our partnership. I was defensive and learned where I was insecure. It was rough.
Learning about thermal layers in the ocean
A Parkinson moment - the water was getting shaken too much so Stacia took over
Husbands - imagine you can't escape to work and that glaring error in the history book must be addressed, though you know your wife will melt-down. Imagine trying to find your family niche - when you've thought you knew it for the past 30 years. Life changes. It's rough.
We've come through. A big help has been a wonderful, local body of believers. Meeting with them gives some normalcy to our abnormalcy. Knowing Pastor Rob is faithfully praying for Michael's healing and for us to figure out what to do now that we're grown up, is a big help.
As the principal of our academy I assigned Michael teaching tasks....and bit my lips when he was rougher than I would be, or didn't assign what I thought should be assigned. Even here, we've adjusted. I do the science reading, Michael does the experiments - and corrects the mistakes in the text. He has also taken over assigning and correcting writing assignments.
Learning effect of water pressure on human lungs
Imagine you're a child in this new life. You expected to be traveling and moving to Japan....
We've all adjusted. We love more family time. It was common for Michael to put in 60-80 hours a week - week in and week out. We love having him around. We're learning how to give each other space. We're learning how to move ahead with Parkinson's. Michael is finding tasks to fill his day. We're learning to forge a new family dynamic....and we're looking forward to traveling.
I think it's been good for us to be here in our fam camp bubble....we've learned to depend on God and each other in new ways. We've learned to talk to our souls, to strengthen OURSELVES in the Lord, to surrender in new ways.
God is good. He has a plan. He's preparing us for that plan. We are content in the wait. He's working in the wait.
I hope this isn't depressing. It's real. Maybe it will help another facing retirement or feeling like they are struggling through these types of things alone. We get it. We've been there.
We're walking this out in new ways.....Singing Over Me
When I waited so long, when my tears were my song
with my hope nearly gone You held me God
To believe in the face of the dry, weary place
When you felt far away You held me God
Oh, there is freedom in surrender, oh I know it
Your songs have never stopped
You've been singing, always singing over me
Your words are still enough
And You're' singing, always singing over me
The chaos in the cause teaching me to see Lord
the beauty in the storm so I believe
When I see through Your eyes through the testing of time
We have been having a lot of rain here at Beale AFB....lots of rain.....We have had thunder, lightening, wind, rain and power outages. I do LOVE the sound of the rain on the roof of the Caboose. It really is very cozy and friendly to hunker down together in the Caboose on a rainy day.
However, the night before these photos were taken, I did have a fleeting moment of concern....would it be possible for the Caboose to be blown free of it's moorings (electrical, water and sewer lines) and float away????? Would a 21st century Noah's Ark look like a Keystone 31 ft Trailer?
I do believe all this rain has to be really good for our drought.
This "river" is starting to look respectable after the rain
Rainy days are great for catching up a delinquent blog!
