Mail Call

Nolan's permit reached him today.....exciting. Michael got his license too, but we didn't feel the need to take a photo. Nolan can continue "Driver's Ed" with a "permanent" permit now. 

A Tale of Two Kites - #WYFF

Michael spent a happy afternoon in the Fam Camp lounge watching the Oregon/Oregon State and the Washington/Washington State games. Ducks won - simply confirming I'm a jinx to the Ducks and Seahawks. If I don't watch - they win.

I tried to find our "holiday" box - and couldn't. THIS is our traditional day for getting a tree, decorating, watching Muppets Christmas Carol, and pulling out the books and such for Advent.  None of these were on the agenda for today. In my hunting for "the box,"  I found  kites.

We are in an outer loop of Fam Camp. Our loop has only 4 spaces (others have 8), this leaves quite a bit of open space in front of our trailers. On the other side of the street from the camp are open fields.....I'm not sure why we hadn't thought of kites before. We have plenty of wind.  Within minutes, Nolan joined me. It was both relaxing and exhilarating. Just what a day failing to live up to old traditions needed.

Nolan with The Legs

Our fun kite from Florence, OR

As fate would have it ,the little tie-dye kite we bought in Florence, OR hit a gust of wind and lodged in the one tree in the area.

Danger, danger!

It became apparent 95% of this tree was dead and Nolan would not be able to free the kite by simply climbing in the tree.

Do you spot Nolan in the tree? 

Alex observed the situation, and came out to take advantage of the opportunity to "fly the legs," meanwhile, Nolan and I taped together everything we had that would give us a bit more reach.

Alex is happy to help!

About this time our neighbors returned from a walk to the Commissary. She said she'd told her husband, "Look there are pants flying in the air." ::snort:: He brought out a ladder and a couple of more poles to lengthen the one we'd already made.  Nolan climbed to the top, extended the long arm and got 90% of the kite down. The kite, the string and 1/3 of the tail were rescued. We'll add some more ribbons and it will be good as new.  I had a good talk with Mrs. while Mr. held the ladder. Seems they retired in their mid-late 40's in 1995 and hit the road full-timing. They will be here until the end of February - I plan to pick her mind for oh-so-many-tidbits-of-helpful-info.

Like a good neighbor....

We all decided to go on a kite walk. I see more of this in our future.....yes, we were aware of the power lines and were appropriately cautious. We had a mission. We went to roust Michael from the lounge - which we did. He joined us for a bit of flying....and then it was time to move on to Part B of the Day after Thanksgiving.

It's a true friend who not only observes your slightly eccentric Friday behavior but makes plans to JOIN you in your craziness! 

It's Pizza and Game night with the Gherkins - but we couldn't really fit many in the trailer. The D family invited us over to their TLF for one last Friday night blow out.

Nolan was SO happy he found victims for Monopoly

I informed the men they looked like druggies in the Thanksgiving photos. They obliged and posed for a keepsake photo.

Much better

It was a great day! Our feet had plenty to keep them busy, football, kites and friends! The best kind of day!

BTW, I know our friend's names, but they wouldn't want it online.

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above. 

The Rest of Thanksgiving Day

I've prayed for at least one friend to last a lifetime at each assignment. God answered that prayer with several during our assignment at Beale - or at least we assume so from this vantage point. ::grin::

This year we tossed Thanksgiving traditions and participated in a totally new round of activities. The lounge has a few channels and Michael has been enjoying football. He spent the morning watching a game or two.

I discovered a campground laundry room is EMPTY on Thanksgiving morning - so I did laundry.

The kids played games.

We touched base with several of the elder Gherkins.

Treasured friends from the chapel are preparing to move overseas. They cleared housing on Wednesday.  We joined forces and caravanned to Roseville for Thanksgiving dinner at Lucille's BBQ. What a novel idea. No stress, no work, no mess - just lots of excellent food and enjoyable conversation. My only regret is the Thanksgiving Tablecloth is in storage., a rather short-sighted decision on my part. I may go find a small one and make it for our RV'ing years.

I picked up this vet on the corner and brought him home for dinner.

All in all it was a great day. We were happy to squeeze in more time with these precious  friends.  C and I used to joke about our upcoming moves. She said she prayed we wouldn't leave until she did. Our retirement was 3.5 months before their scheduled move....and yet...here we are - preparing to say goodbye to them this week.  I think her prayers were more powerful than ours. ::wink:: 

What in the world is God doing? or Thanksgiving 2015

Via Google Images

What is His will in our current situation? We'd like to think it's unclear - but Paul makes God's will crystal clear. 

Rejoice always - cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving, choose joy - ALWAYS

Pray always.  Be diligent - extend the effort to sit with God in the situation.

IN everything give thanks. We've simply not reached the place where we can thank God for the recent changes in our lives.  Maybe, someday, we will thank Him for Parkinsons. This year, we're  content to thank Him IN the situation.

We were given a plaque at our wedding which said,

"Sometimes God calms the storm,  sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms the child."

Sort of an odd wedding gift* - but prophetic.  God is letting the storms rage in our lives - and honestly sometimes the children are also raging - but we're learning more and more to let Him calm us in the storm.

Via Google Images

Here's our list of things we are thanking Him for this year - IN the storm.

• BreAnne is 20 weeks pregnant with a baby girl!
• We get to spend more time with Michael.
• Dear friends.
• Trailer life is successful (Stacia's word).
• We're debt free.
• In spite of the close quarters, all the kids have their personal cubby/bunk. (Alex)
• Thankful I'm not back on active duty (Michael).
• Family
• Precious visits with Gherkins in WA and OR.
• Hot showers and good water pressure at Beale Fam Camp!!!
• Thankful for unlimited data via Omnilynx and very sad to lose it on the 30th.
• Yuuki is younger than we had been thinking - she's 10 - I think.
• Facebook forums of full-timers which helped us transition into full time RVing.
• A nice space to land for four months.
• Beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
• Retirees can check out books at the base library - we'd been missing books in our travels.
• Thankful to be traveling America - to be on this adventure (kids).
• No one sleeps on the couch or table and that means I have a quiet place in the morning to study and pray.
• We brought our bikes.
• Michael is home for Thanksgiving - wasn't always the case. 
• Dad doesn't snore anymore - thank you CPAP.  This DOES make RVing better.
• A God who walks beside us in every situation.

* Thank you if you are the one who gave us this plaque those 32 years ago. I'm sorry we can't remember who gave it to us.  We suspect it was Ken Taylor. 

About that Cruise

Our children bought us a cruise through Travelocity on Carnival for Michael's retirement. They were super-saver tickets. When insurance was offered it was made to sound like insurance for luggage etc and our son, knowing we could care less if we lose our luggage, declined it.

Our doctor informed us October 30th he did not think it wise for us to travel. He didn't want us driving down the highway, let alone to the Bahamas.  We contacted Travelocity and followed their instructions.

We heard nothing - until 12 Nov - 13 days later.  At that point they changed their instructions. We needed to CANCEL the reservation before Carnival would review it. AND now we were within the window where we would be penalized 75% if we cancelled the ticket. If I waited until the 13th we would be penalized 100%. Nifty how they managed to contact me on the very last day to get any refund?

I realize some have had GREAT experiences with Travelocity. This is not the first time I've had trouble with them. While in Japan I was scheduled to fly when a typhoon hit. I couldn't fly. Travelocity wouldn't refund.

Nonetheless, I called Travelocity and attempted to beg for a bit of compassion.

They would not let me travel with another person.

They would not let me give the tickets to two other people.

My choices were 1. lose 75% ("and tomorrow it will be 100%") or 2. take the cruise alone.  I was NOT talking to the call center by the time I was done. I had "escalated" the call 3 levels.... "You have reached the escalation center."  OK - "WHO IS ABOVE YOU?" Finally, the cream of their crop was talking to me and gave me these two options.

I reminded her the doctor didn't want Michael to travel as he was on a new drug which may have complications. I asked her what in the world I would do if I were in the Bahamas and he had a heart attack or such. Her response - from the top level supervisor of Travelocity -  "That sounds like a family issue to me." OY vey! I was DONE! She began to read her script again about how they can't help us, how this was a super-saver ticket and insurance wasn't purchased... and I actually interrupted and told her not to read the script again. I understood what she was saying. Policy did say we should lose 75% of the tickets, and I couldn't change the names. I had just hoped for a bit of compassion.  I told her to cancel the cruise. They kept 75% of the price and refunded the rest to Josiah.

I decided to write to Carnival again now that the cruise was cancelled. On 12 Nov I re-sent all the email traffic between their company and me and the doctor's letter.  I explained what Travelocity had concluded and I asked if they would show a bit more compassion and consider the situation. I NEVER asked anyone for a refund - I just asked to be able to reschedule or to change the names on the tickets.

We waited. We prayed.  Josiah is a rock! We all felt terrible about this.

We received an email from Carnival. " You’ll be pleased to know that we’ve made a one-time exception to our policy.  Given the circumstances, we’d like to extend a  $$$$ discount towards a future Carnival cruise." The discount and the $300 and change Travelocity refunded totals the cost of the cruise. We have two years to book the cruise and they will apply the discount. We will not book through Travelocity. I understand that the amount they refunded was probably their "cut" from the tickets and Carnival had been given the 75%.....however, their LEADERSHIP'S flippant lack of compassion "Sounds like a family issue...." well that's what lost them my business forever.  

So, we are going to go on the cruise - just not now.  We are not doing business with Travelocity ever again - no "super saver" deal can make up for this total lack of compassion or customer care.  We are humbled by Carnival's willingness to extend grace in our time of need.

Trip to Sacramento (Neurologists)

Michael and I took off yesterday for a little trip to Sacramento. Nah, it wasn't a couple's getaway - it was a trip to see two fantastic neurologists at UC Davis.  They talked with us, asked questions, and ran Michael through a gamut of performance tests again.  They noted the progression of his symptoms and the effect being off the meds for Essential Tremors had made (none).

photo via google images

The upshot of the trip is they both confirmed they are "confident in the Parkinson's diagnosis," and Michael is starting meds. There may a bit of a hold up as the base doesn't carry the med the neurologist prescribed. The base pharmacy is trying to talk our neurologists into another med, and said it would take a bit of time to get this one if they insist. We suspect they'll insist, and he'll have the meds by next week.

The timing of this diagnosis - right at retirement - makes it a bit of a challenge. Most still have work to occupy their time and mind while they settle into the diagnosis.  Not much changes in real life, as they adjust to living with a new condition. For us, it affected our immediate work/ministry plans....and now our driving plans....We talked about ways to continue to "think ahead" and not make retirement all about Parkinson's.  We were a bit discouraged to be reminded this is the "beginning" and things are going to get worse, but that's all the more reason to get busy doing the things we feel God is calling us to do.

We also discovered: my stubbornness and sense of humor are gifts Michael should appreciate, we love both our neurologists, Michael can't eat aged meats and cheeses any longer (going to have to research), and he has gained an amount of retirement weight, too. Michael doesn't gain weight.  We have some assignments to focus on between now and our next visit.

The plan is still to stay in the area until the next appointment. At that point, if all is well, we'll hit the road again and come back for appointments every 3 - 6 months.

Prayers are appreciated that this med will give Michael relief from some of the more troublesome symptoms with very little side effects.....AND that we have grace to deal with the ones he does experience. 

Socializing on the Loop

Saturday we got to celebrate THIS little one's first birthday.  Teegan is a beautiful little girl. She was NOT overly excited about digging into her cake. ::grin:: 

She was still reluctant even after Daddy showed her it was o.k. 

We knew Ky and Amy in our active duty lives....it is fun to connect now that we're all "out" and living the life at the Fam Camp. 

They invited several from the Loop and it was a great afternoon getting to know our neighbors  a bit more. Everyone, but us, are hitting the road in January. We will stay until Michael's neurology appointment in February. 

The above photo (though unflattering) illustrates a few things I want to comment on: 

• I have no scale with me but I've obviously put on some retirement weight. 
• I met Betty in the laundry room our first week here. She and Joe, her husband, have been full timing for years. They have family here and come back to Beale Fam Camp each year. I've learned a lot from her in our conversations. She brought over some YUMMY tangerines from her son's tree this afternoon! I want to grow tangerines in my yard. 
• I enjoy how the full-time RV life brings together all generations.The other couple attending were our age; retired from the Navy in June and are full-time RVing.