Yesterday was a good day , though it was kind of busy . We had many of the regular things we do , as well as taking care of Stacy ( she is supposed to be with her mother on Wednesday and Jason was asked to keep her with him , while Jackie went to her preschool ) . Stacy was with us until late afternoon , about 15 : 30 , when she was picked up . Jason didn 't get over to the gym , like he planned , but perhaps that was a good thing , and allowed him some time to just lay back in his bed . Anthony came over and visited with us , and now that I am working the QuickBooks for him , and Stand Up USA , he wanted to discuss some of the things going on . The good news is that more and more of the paramobiles are being purchased and given to the guys who need them . The bad news is that more and more of the paramobiles are being purchased and that means there is a bunch more paper work to be handled and information ( data ) to be handled . Once we were finally caught up with most of the items and issues that we needed to address , we all went to dinner . We went to a nice place , Balihi , over by the harbor . While we were there a gentleman came walking up to us and thanked us for our service . With both Anthony and Jason in wheelchairs it is sometimes easy to simply tell they are Wounded Warriors . Me , I 'm just a veteran trying to help out . We were also joined by Theresa , who is working with the Marines , and it looks like she is making it possible for them to purchase a number of units for their recreation and recovery therapy work . At the end of our meal , the server walked up to us and let us know that our meals had been taken care of , and that we didn 't have to worry about it . It was very nice to have that kind of thing happen , and to be honest , I am sure it won 't be the last . When we were done with the meal and said our good bye 's , Jason and I headed off to the movies . We both wanted to go see Hercules , and it seemed like a good thing to do . We both liked the movie and felt it was well done , just that it was such a shift from the traditional Hercules that it seemed like it was missing something . There are a few aspects that lead me to suggest that if you 're going to see it , that the first time you do , you go to a big screen . Some of the special affects are very good , and though it might look good on a wide screen TV , it looks even better on the movie screen . Anyway , after the movie we went home and it was almost midnight when we got there . I had a 06 : 00 conference call this morning so I didn 't stay up to blog . . . . I hope you forgive me . Today , Jason didn 't have any appointments over at Balboa . This worked out nice , since I was looking at getting up early for the call , then I would be going for a bike ride . Those plans changed , or at least shifted a bit . The call did happen , and it was for Stand Up and Play , and lasted for about 90 minutes . One of the items from the call required us to get something accomplished this morning , so I had to make sure everything was in place , prior to getting out on the bike . I finally felt comfortable enough to go , so I did , only I decided it would be a shorter ride ( less than 14 miles ) , and at a little fast pace . By doing this I still get a chance to burn off a few more calories , and get some better conditioning in , so it worked out . Actually , not much else happened today , other than I did get a chance to speak with Linda , and found out that she is having a good time up in San Francisco . I think she is enjoying the time , and getting to know all the new folks she 's meeting , however I think she really looking forward to seeing some of her old friends back in Livermore . She will be heading there next week , for a few days , before coming back home , to San Diego . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Another day in beautiful San Diego , and now Linda is up in the San Francisco Bay Area . Heck , with her up there maybe the Giants can start winning again . I have no idea what has gotten into those guys . I really thought they were going to be doing great this year , and now they can 't seem to win a game - but that 's another story and I have other , more important things to cover in this blog . Like I said Linda left this morning and flew up to San Francisco , to spend almost two weeks up there . When she arrived , only half her luggage came with her . Southwest managed to split the two pieces and the second one came up on the following flight . I have really become disappointed in airline travel , anymore . They used to show some customer service , and now you 're lucky to end up in a shorter line that seems to be moving . Anyway , Linda made the trip safely and won 't have to deal with them again until her next flight . Linda will be driving back down with our friend Karen Ryan , and that should be a wonderful adventure in itself . We took the girls to the library ( that 's Jason and I ) , and Stacy turned in some of the books she had checked out earlier , then she checked out a bunch more . She and Jackie both love for us to read to them , and they have some favorite stories that cover several authors . I 'll probably have to get her back over to the library , in a few more days , just to be sure none of the books are late . I don 't know how Linda was able to keep track of all of them , and where there were , but I 'll do my best to keep things going . Jason took some time to rest and relax the rest of the morning and early into the afternoon , then decided to head over to the gym again . He is making some interesting discoveries about riding in a wheelchair . . . Like how rude some people can be , and how difficult it can be to get around . He told me that he had accidentally dropped something , and could not easily pick it back up . There were a number of folks who saw him , and simply went on past , while he struggled to pick up a towel . He said he spent probably 10 minutes working to get himself into a braced position , to be able to lean forward enough to pick it up . Because he has no legs at all , it is more difficult for him to get the right balance , and if he falls out of the chair , he won 't be able to get back in ( this is one of the things that makes me nervous when he goes off by himself ) . Anyway , he did find a way to brace himself and still able to reach down low enough to pick it back up . When he came in he was still sweating from the work out and then told me about his adventure . Dinner tonight was pretty simple as I cooked some chicken with rice and vegetables , and the girls seemed to be very happy with my selection . I cooked drumsticks / chicken legs and Stacy ate a pretty good sized one , along with the rice and veggies . Jackie , on the other hand , had three plus the rice and veggies . That is the one thing we don 't seem to have to worry about , Jackie will always eat her food . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Not much to report today , other than everybody is doing well and that Jason did go in to Balboa for an appointment with PT . When we got there we discovered that the appointment hadn 't been made , and so Mike , one of the therapists there , stepped up to fill in the time for Jason . Actually , Mike is pretty good and knows Jason pretty well , so it wasn 't too difficult for him , and Jason was comfortable working with him . A short while after getting there the woman who basically runs the shop came up to Jason and apologized that it happened and immediately set up appointments through to the end of August , and now Jason has a print out of all the dates . Linda will be heading back up to Livermore , well , to the San Francisco Bay Area , and will be up there for about 11 days . She is going up to do some things with the Blue Star Moms in San Francisco , and then head over to Livermore to spend a few days with some friends and take care of more personal business . She will be then driving back down with our close friend , Karen Ryan . We are going to miss Linda , around here , but I think the time away will be good for her . She really misses all her friends , and this gives her a little better opportunity to have closure . The way we left last time was very rushed and this time she won 't be so rushed . She will be busy the entire time , just not too rushed . . . I hope . I will be taking care of Jason and the girls and I think it should be both challenging and fun . The girls are a little bigger now and Jason is doing better , so I don 't think I 'll get stressed out , just tired . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . A wonderful start to a good day . We took the girls to church this morning , but not until I had gone to the gym and did a couple of miles on the treadmill ( I wanted to get my cardio in , since I wasn 't able to go for a bike ride ) . They also had breakfast and a bath , and fortunate for me , Linda helped with that , so that I would get a chance to cool down a bit . We were planning on heading up to see Linda 's parents , and the girls were very excited to be able to go see Nana and Tata . Jason did not go with us , as we were also going up to see just how we could arrange for him to get into their home , as it is not ADA friendly . I brought up a ramp with me , and found that it wouldn 't work on their steps , so I talked with Linda 's dad , Joe , and we think we can easily build a ramp next time we 're up , we just have to do it while we 're there . What we figure is that there is a community club house that everyone , including Jason , can go to while the ramp is built , and then Jason will be able to get into the house . Once in the house he would be able to get out of the chair , and relax a little . The building of the ramp shouldn 't take too long , so it might be the best solution for right now . We had a great dinner while there , and Jason had time alone , to get a little more independence for himself . Before we left Linda made sure he had a meal ready to go , and prior to leaving we all had lunch . This worked good for him , and for the girls . On the way home we called and found that he was doing just fine , so we had a nice ride back down , much faster than on the way up ( traffic was terrible ) , and the girls were singing songs and having a great time . They did get to bed kind of late , almost 20 : 00 , but that doesn 't happen very often , and they did have an earlier nap , so it should all balance . Tomorrow is the beginning of another week here , and Jason has an appointment . Linda is planning on taking Stacy out , while Jackie will be heading to her pre - school . We 'll be busy , just not crazy busy and I am anticipating another nice day . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . I hope all are doing well , and that you didn 't mind not having a posting yesterday . At the end of the day I was kind of tired and just went to bed , rather than do my normal blog entry . On top of that I realized I left out an important item from Thursday post , so I 'll simply start today 's blog post with that one entry from Thursday . On Thursday , we all went to the Library . Well , actually , Linda had taken Stacy to the Library while Jason and I were over at the hospital . I called her when we were done and she asked if we would be able to come over to the library , and Jason was up for that . We got to the library and Stacy was very excited to see us , especially Daddy . She took him around and showed him some of the things she was involved with ( they have a reading program for the summer and she is attempting to get 100 books , in this case , since she doesn 't read much yet , she gets us to read the books to her ) . She has won several of the prizes already , and today picked up another one . It was especially nice for her , because she was able to do it in front of Daddy . I think it made Jason 's day too . . . Yesterday was a bit of an exciting day because of a couple of things . I was able to get Jason 's manual chair all set up for him ( wasn 't much to do , really , just needed to get it in the house from the garage , and the garage is kind ' a packed right now ) , so that he could head over to Marine Corps Recruit Depot and try out their gym . He went and had a great work out , at the gym , as well as a good cardio workout getting to and from the gym . He went on his own and when he came back he had that look of accomplishment . He plans on going 3 times a week , though that depends on all the other things that he has going on , so we 'll see if that fits in his schedule . The other exciting thing that happened was that I took my bike to get the tire fixed ( I had purchased a package deal that included tire fixes , as well as another couple of tune ups ) and brought Stacy with us . She found a Schwinn bicycle there that really looked good , and was just her sized . I helped her ride it around the store , since they weren 't very busy just then , and she did pretty good . I think she will be ready to get on " her own " bike soon , and then who knows , maybe we can go riding together . Today was a good day , as it began at a more relaxed pace , and then at about 09 : 00 we headed up to the dog training , up in Oceanside . While Jason was at the training Linda and I took the girls to the play area , where they immediately went for the swings . Jackie was more adventurous and willing to get on a regular swing before Stacy , and they both still need to learn the correct way to swing , without having to be pushed . We stayed for about an hour and then headed on back to the house . We thought the girls could possibly fall asleep , since it was close to the normal nap time , and they had been playing pretty hard for about an hour . . . We were wrong . They not only didn 't fall asleep , when we did finally get home they didn 't want to nap then either . Linda fixed them lunch and we had them lay down , but each time we closed the door , it was like a green light to more play . We finally let them get back up and not until this evening did they go back down . Linda got some free time to go shopping ( she loves to browse through thrift stores and look for the nuggets that can be found sometimes ) . She came home and then we fixed dinner . After dinner we say down to watch a movie - - Flight of the Navigator - - We had not seen it in quite a while , and the girls had never seen it . We talked about when Jason first saw it ( I think he was about 6 , or close to Stacy 's age right now ) and how he and his brothers all loved to watch it . I was just excited to find it in Jason 's collection . After the movie the girls went to bed , and I think we might go to bed a little earlier also . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Today started out with a message that let us know that Stacy was not coming over to the house , as she was going to be taken to the doctor - she wasn 't feeling well . We didn 't hear anything else , so we can only assume that she is okay , and we 'll find out tomorrow morning what happened . She and Jackie will be coming back to the house tomorrow , as it is Jason 's time with the girls , beginning tomorrow . We were just going to be taking care of Stacy today , to help out , while her mom was at work . As it was , I was able to go for a longer bike ride and at about the 20 mile mark I got a flat tire . It was the front tire , and there was still a couple of miles to go , to get back to the house - actually it was almost 3 miles . I had done a few good hills today and was feeling kind of tired , so I decided to give Linda a call and have her come pick me up . I think it was faster doing it this way , anyway . Once I got home I cooled down a little bit and then took a shower . Jason had come out and said that he wanted to take care of a couple of errands today , and Linda and I also had a couple of errands , so we decided to tie them all together and we got them all accomplished in a much more efficient manner . Actually the biggest effort was to go to Target to pick up a few things , then we headed over to the pet store , Target doesn 't carry the brand of cat food that we use . While we were at the pet store Jason went over to the sports supply store to pick up some weight training gloves , and then we all got back together . Jason has decided that he wants to try out the gym over at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot ( MCRD ) . He said he wants to go over there tomorrow , and will be going on his own , so that means I won 't be driving him . I think it is actually going to be a little strange not going with him , but I 'm also anxious to see this happen . I like seeing him get a little more independent , especially while doing something that he is really wanting to do . Later this evening we , Linda and I , went over to see the cats , at their foster home . They are being taken care of while we await the build of Jason 's home . Once the house is built we will be able to finally bring them back home with us , and they can rest and be happy in their new home . They are staying with Glenn and Ann , and their son Nick , and today only Glenn was there . Ann and Nick are off at Comic - Con , and being a part of the crazy scene that is happening in San Diego . Perhaps , one of these years we will go , just to see what it is , but right now it isn 't a high priority , we just have to deal with all the extra traffic . Thank you , for all the continued prayers and support . Take care and stay positive . e Jason didn 't have anything going on at the hospital until later this morning so I took off for a quick bike ride . I am starting to feel like I 'm finding my stride again , and did a quick 12 miles . I call it quick because it took me well under an hour to do - of course the hills were limited , so that allowed me to move along pretty good , and there were only about six traffic stops along the way . I might have to put a little more focus on these short trips and put in longer ones as I can . The appointments at the hospital were good , with a particular focus on the Wound Care meeting . They are happy with how Jason is doing and with the planned laser treatment . We all are hopeful that things will continue in a positive direction , and that is pretty much what we expect most of the time . The real point of excitement today wasn 't about his care though , it was about his hair cut . He received a bunch of complements about how good he looked . He got a hair cut yesterday , and left the beard . I just wonder how long he will be keeping the beard , and will he keep it up as I do , or let it grow longer , we 'll just have to wait and see . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Jason and I took off relatively early this morning , first to drop Jackie off at the day care , and then for Jason to go on to his dental appointment . Jason has a cavity , well , I guess it is " had " a cavity now . Actually a small one , but still it was something they wanted to fix , so it was done . When he was done he was scheduled for another follow up appointment , for six months from now . If we have fortune on our side it will be prior to our move to Jason 's new home , as I think that will happen close to that same time , otherwise we 'll be driving back down for another appointment . Not much else going on , other than catching up on some of my email and getting some relax time in , and did my best to make Linda a little more comfortable . She picked up some sort of bug and wasn 't feeling to good this afternoon . She didn 't finish her dinner so I basically told her to go lay down and relax , while I took care of the rest of the evening ( cleaning up after dinner and getting the girls their bath ) . Linda went up stairs and began to watch a movie , and by the time I was done with the girls ' bath , and got them to bed , she was asleep . Actually , getting them to bed was pretty easy , as Jason read to them just prior to bed time . Tomorrow is going to be an easy day , with only a couple of appointments , and then the rest of the day at home . I 'm going to see if I can possibly get a bike ride in . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Not much to blog about today . Jason rested most of the day and Linda and I pretty much took care of a few of the things we 've been wanting to do with some of the stuff in the garage . I did get to head out for a short bike ride , and I got a chance to read Oliver North and Bob Hamer 's new book , Counterfeit Lies . I recommend the book if you enjoy the old cloak and dagger type stories . I did have to put it down a couple of times to take care of other things , but it is a great read and I went back to it just as soon as I could . I also put a few hours in with Stand Up and Play , as I am doing their QuickBooks now , and I think Anthony Netto ( the founder ) is happy with what I have accomplished so far . The cool thing is that more and more people are becoming aware of the paramobile and understand just how helpful it is , in the recovery of those who can no longer get around like they used to . I recommend that you check it out , when you get a chance , and I think you 'll be surprised . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Today was a good day , with Jason heading up to Oceanside and taking Gracie to her training . She has gotten a bit lacks in her " service dog " duties , and the trainers noticed . They said it would take a few sessions and then she should be back to where she was . While we were there Gracie got a very nice pedicure and it looked like she really enjoyed it . The lady doing the work on Gracie 's feet is Alley , and she offers to all the folks there , this same treatment for their animals . We also met up with Anthony Netto and Angelica , and then went to have lunch with them after the training session ended . We met up with a friend of Anthony , Steve , who is a retired Navy Seal . He talked about getting Jason out in the water , and possibly doing some diving with him , maybe even this year ! Jason is open to the idea , so we 'll see what happens . Jason and I then headed on back to the house , where Linda had been all day . She took advantage of being the only one at home , and played the " White Tornado . " She was working mostly on our room , but touched all areas of the house . I was impressed when I got upstairs . Other than that , we didn 't do much else today . I think I might try to get a bike ride in tomorrow , but not sure right now . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Another good day here , in San Diego . We all got up , early enough - and there really wasn 't much going on in the morning . We had talked about taking Stacy to to see the new Planes movie , and that wasn 't showing until 10 : 10 , that means I had time to go for a bike ride - so I did . Actually it only gave me a little more than an hour to go , so I made it a short ride , 12 miles , and I made it in 59 minutes , and that 's including the stop lights I had to contend with . I was pretty happy with the ride , and I was also pretty sweaty . I cooled down and took a quick shower , then we all went to go see the new Pixar movie . It was done well , and Stacy had a great time . There was some " adult " humor thrown in there , but it didn 't detract from the movie . After the movie we brought Linda and Stacy back to the house , then Jason and I headed back over to Balboa , to meet with his primary , and urology . As it turned out they are concerned with the recent infection that Jason had to deal with , and it seems it never fully cleared up . We were there for a couple of hours , as they did some tests , and went over data , as well as talked with Jason . Bottom line is that they really don 't know , for sure , what we 're dealing with , and on the bright side they said that from what they see there isn 't anything to worry about . I guess that 's why they sent him home with a shot of antibiotics , and nothing more . He just has to touch base with them again next week , probably Monday . The rest of the evening was relaxed . Stacy went back to her mom 's house , so we won 't be seeing either of the girls until Monday . Actually , it will give us a couple of days of needed rest . We have some things we 're still catching up on , and this extra time will make it a little easier to do so . Tomorrow will be the first trip , in several months , for Jason and Gracie to go to their training , so that should be interesting . I think I may just take a book and sit back and read and relax . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Yesterday and today were both kind of quiet , and there really wasn 't much going on . The girls swim lessons ended today , and Stacy was particularly excited about how much she has been able to accomplish . She can not only hold her breath much longer than before , she announced she can now do flips under water . Jackie on the other hand was very happy to have the swim lessons come to an end . I think she was getting tired of being in the pool and forever having to get her face wet and sometimes under water . Perhaps in another year , or two , she will be better with the water , and it will become much more fun . There were a couple of appointments for Jason , with one of them being with the Wound Care folks . That one was a little more exciting than usual , as we were able to get with the doctors ( there were 3 of them there this time ) , and we discussed some of the future steps that we would like to explore , and it was agreed that we would see another treatment of lasing the wound and seeing if some of the excess tension on the skin can be relieved , which we hope will allow it to help close . They also discussed doing a couple of other things , so perhaps I 'll get a chance to talk about those in a later blog . Linda and I got to get out and see Jersey Boys , and enjoyed the movie , very much . It was a historical type movie , and it was done very well , so we felt like we won on two fronts . Then there was the music and both Linda and I enjoyed that as well , so heck I guess we had three fronts . Not much else going on right now , so I 'll keep this post a little on the short side . Thank you , for continuing to provide support and prayers for all of us . Take care and stay positive . Jason slept a large portion of today , and I really don 't know why , other than he was tired . Actually , that 's the part that puzzles me , because we didn 't do much yesterday , and I thought he went to sleep last night at a reasonable hour . Be that as it may , when he woke and began moving around and talking he seemed very much normal and regular old Jason . Then again , 31 isn 't very old . . . ; - ) We got up and got the girls fed , and then we were off to swim lessons . Stacy is doing very well , and Jackie is still getting used to the water . They have been working on holding your breath more and Jackie tends to want to close her mouth after she is already under water . She 's getting better at it , and I would guess that by tomorrow she will be able to hold her breath for more than 5 bananas ( they count by bananas - Stacy can hold her breath for 10 bananas right now ) . After the swim lesson , Grandma ( Linda ) takes them to the locker room and gets them dressed , and often times re - braids their hair , or puts it up in a pony tail . The rest of the day was kind of relaxed , though I did help a little with the church 's rummage sales , and took Stacy to the bike shop , and we didn 't do much else . At the bike shop I was attempting to get some trainer wheels for the bicycle Stacy has ( it was given to her by a friend of ours , Fred Thomson ) and found that they don 't make trainers for that particular one . Apparently the rear axle isn 't long enough , and to get it replaced with a longer one isn 't economically feasible . We 'll just have to figure this one out because Stacy wants to learn how to ride a bike , a 2 - wheeler . Tomorrow will be another day , with a chance for the girls to go swimming , and for me to go for a bike ride . I don 't need to be back at the house until about 10 : 00 , so that means I can go for another 20 + mile ride . I 'll just see where that takes me , and enjoy the scenery . Thank you , for all the continued prayers and support . Take care and stay positive " Just another manic Monday . . . " Okay , maybe not that crazy , but it was kind of busy to get started this morning . We had planned that , because I wanted to get out for a 20 + mile ride that Linda would do the driving to the swim lessons . Basically it meant that they were going to go to the swim lessons ; drop Jackie off at the Child Development Center ; and , then come back to the house . This would have given me a generally good early start on the ride . It didn 't happen that way . . . Just as we were getting ready to get the van loaded up , Linda couldn 't find her wallet , which contains her I . D . ( very important for getting on a military base , even if it is just a hospital ) . We all got involved in the search , and because of the time ( didn 't want the girls to be late for their lessons ) I said I would take them to the base and not go on the ride . We got to the base , and the lessons went off very well . Stacy is doing great and Jackie seems to have lost most of her fear of the water . Afterward Linda dressed the girls , mostly just Jackie , as Stacy is dressing herself pretty well now , and they came out . Jason had another time sensitive appointment , to go sign some papers , over at the school by the house . We had just enough time to get there , and we managed to do just that , and Jason got the papers signed . We dropped Jason off at the house and took Jackie to the Child Development Center and came back home . It looked like most of the stuff at the house was under control , and so I decided to go ahead and head out for a ride after all . It was later in the day , than I usually go out , but because of the marine layer it was still very cool , and that made it much better . I put in 22 . 5 miles and had a good time . I was tired but felt like I had finally gotten a longer ride in . The rest of the day was pretty laid back , and we did managed to get a few things done ( chores ) around the house , and then dinner was simply fish fillets , rice , vegetables and salad . The salads ( Linda actually made a green and also a fruit salad ) were very good , and I probably could have gone with just those , but I managed to eat more . Tomorrow should at least begin a little less crazy , so thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Wow , July 13 already , and that means that half the month is almost gone . . . already . I can still see and almost feel this past Christmas and New Year . I guess time flies when you 're having a busy life and enjoying things around you . We took the girls to church this morning , thought Jason remained back at the house . He wasn 't feeling up to being up anymore than he absolutely needed to be ; so , it was okay by me that he stay down and rest . It looks like we might be making some headway on those two wounds again , finally , and being down is contributing to the healing . At church the service was out on the huge lawn , in front of the Library , right across the street , from the church . It was different and actually kind of fun . Many of the folks were saying that we should have done this long ago , and that they hoped it would be done again . There was a BBQ after the services were over , so the girls were more than happy to head back over and get a couple of hamburgers . The rest of the day was spent with a couple of visitors coming by , from Serving Spoons . They provide a Sunday meal , once a month , and today was the day . It was great , we didn 't have to worry about fixing lunch or dinner , though we still had to fix a lunch for Jason . I got a call from Sean , out youngest son , and it was good to get a chance to just relax and talk with him about what he was doing , and what some of his plans were . Neither of us was in a hurry , and it felt like a real discussion for a change that didn 't have a time pressure on it . Tonight Jason read the girls four books before they went to bed , and we could tell , from the sounds emanating from the room , that they were all having a great time . Linda and I always like it when the girls spend more time with Daddy , and they have lots of fun in the process . Tomorrow we will be getting up to get the girls to their swim lessons , and then , unless something else comes up , it will be basically heading back to the house , after Jackie is dropped off at the Child Development Center . I am thinking that I can get out for a bike ride , and I just might shoot for more than 20 miles . We have a call , late morning , on the development of the house drawings and I want to be home for that call . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . A nice day for Jason , and for the Ross family . The day was relaxed , and though we did do a couple of things , it was one of those days where we should have done more , but just didn 't want to . Linda had a meeting today with the Blue Star Moms , and other than that , we all stayed home - well , there was a trip to Costco , and that was it . About the same time that Linda went to her meeting I took the girls to the local park , so they could run and have some fun . There were a couple of other small children there and they all immediately got into simply chasing each other around , with no particular target other than to simply run . We stayed there for a little while and then they all basically decided to leave at about the same time . With that , we walked back down , towards the house , where there is yet another smaller park . We stopped there this time and the girls ( just the two of them this time ) had more fun and when they got a little tired we walked the rest of the way home . The timing was good , as it was now lunch time , or at least getting close , so I fixed lunch and read them a couple of books . Now it was nap time and they went in to tell Daddy they were going to take a nap now , and so they did . Just a few moments after they laid down Linda arrived back and we were all back at the house . Linda and I sat and talked a little while and then decided a quick run to Costco would be good , as we were running low on a couple of things , so we went . We were back in about an hour , and the girls were still sleeping . Jason said he hadn 't heard a sound out of them . Though within about another hour they were awake again , and it was fun time , once again . Linda fixed a nice simple dinner of chicken and rice with carrots . Stacy and Jackie both loved the chicken , and ate a bunch of the carrots . The rest of the evening was again reading to the girls , taking care of a few chores ( like laundry and simple cleaning ) , then it was bed time . Not a great deal was done today , but it was a nice day and we enjoyed each other 's company . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . This morning started a little awkward with a rush to get up and over to the girls swim lesson , and then we found out that they didn 't have swim lessons on Friday . Actually it worked out because Stacy and Jackie were there anyway , as their mother brought them ; seems she didn 't know there were no lesson on Friday either . Stacy looked a little tired , and then we found out the girls didn 't go to their swim lesson on Thursday , because they had been up late the night before , with Stacy going to the Cher concert with her mother , Wednesday evening . Jason was not happy about this , but understands when the girls are with their mom she can take them anywhere she wants . The rest of the morning was a little more organized , with Jason needing to take care of a small issue at the base , and then we went to get some breakfast . The girls remained with their mother , as Nana is in town ( the other grandmother ) and Linda said she understood that if she was in town and leaving , she would want to be able to spend a few more hours with the grand kids ; so , she asked Jason and he said he supported that and the two stayed for the rest of the morning , and into the early afternoon . After breakfast we came back to the house , so that Jason could lay back down , and then Linda took off to go do some thrift store shopping for the girls . I stayed at the house with Jason , and took care of a couple of things for Stand Up And Play . Just as Linda came home , Jason and I were getting up to head up to Pendleton , as the First EOD Company was having a retirement ceremony for one of their senior members . The Master Gunnery Sergeant was retiring , and Jason wanted to be there . He knows some of the guys and thought it would be a good show of support , since a bunch of them came to his retirement ceremony . The down side was the drive home , traffic is not friendly on I - 5 , especially on a Friday evening - because of this I decided to drive the extra distance and come back via I - 15 , and it was much better ( I think ) . When we got back to the house , Jason was tired , and immediately went to lay down . The nurse from Maxim was here , and wanted to do their regular assessment of Jason , so that 's what happened . Fortunately it didn 't take too long and in just a short while after she was done , Jason was asleep - sound asleep . Linda and I fixed dinner for the girls and figured we 'd feed Jason after he woke up . Of course that could be tomorrow morning , and in that case we 'll just fix breakfast . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Today was a mixed day - it started out well enough , as I got to go out for a bike ride , and put in 16 miles . After that I came home and made breakfast . I had promised to fix breakfast today , a few days ago , so I needed to fulfill my commitment . It was a simply chorizo with eggs and potato combination , and of course tortillas . Jason 's friend Rebekha had never had them , so it was a first for her , and she seemed to enjoy them . I then did some work with Stand Up And Play , and a bit later we , Linda and I , took the Fusion down to get it washed - it was looking pretty bad . That is pretty much how the day went . Nothing outstanding going on , and nothing happening that caused us any hardship . Well , there was one phone call that Jason received from the VA . Apparently there has been some sort of a goof up where he has to go out and test again with the driving , otherwise there isn 't going to be much progress with the truck . As you might guess , this kind of irritated Jason , but he soon regained his composure and said he would be moving forward with this in the morning . We also need to get over to the hospital tomorrow for some other things , so we might just stop by and talk with the VA rep . who is there , most of the time . We will be picking up the girls from their swim lessons tomorrow morning , and the lessons are over at the pool by the hospital , so that will be an easy stop . They will be staying with us for the next five days , so we may end up doing all kinds of stuff with them - we just need to figure out what it is we would like to do . The only other thing we did was to take Rebekha to the airport , so she could catch her flight back home . It has been a good visit , and Jason enjoyed having someone else around , besides Mom and Dad all the time . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . First we took the girls to their swim lesson , and they were then picked up by their mother , so we won 't be seeing them again until Friday . After that , Linda and I headed back to the house to pick up Jason , and Rebehka , to get Jason over to his appointments . Actually , at this point , Linda took off to get her hair done , because we were planning to go have some fun tonight and she wanted to look her best for me ( she still does stuff like this for me . ) and wouldn 't by done until the afternoon . Jason had a couple of appointments , with the big one being his dental appointment - or at least to me it was the big one . He got his teeth cleaned and the tech came out complimenting him on how good his teeth looked and told me we did a great job in getting his teeth taken care of , when he was a child . Jason then told her that he never had braces and she was totally surprised . She then said she hopes his girls inherited his teeth because they looked great . He has to go back in to get them cleaned again , in about six months , so that isn 't too bad . His visit to wound care was pretty much as it has been over these last several weeks . Rod , the guy who has been doing most of the dressing care in the office , said that things were looking okay , and that we would need to keep an eye on the right side . What this means is that he agreed with me , because I told him that the right side was showing some signs of trouble . The left side , however , is doing much better and I am hopeful that it will soon be closed . The evening routine was anything but routine . We got ready to head out to our cruise on the San Diego Harbor Bay , to be followed by dinner . We were the first to arrive , by only a few minutes , and found out that we had a private boat , while the other group all had to go on another one . The other boat was bigger than the one we were on , but that 's okay , because we had a more intimate tour , and enjoyed ourselves . The dinner afterward was quite nice and the Commodore of the Yacht Club sat down with Jason and had a very long conversation with him . By the end of the evening they were swapping jokes and having a great time . We were asked to come back again , so we just might have to do that . These cruises are put on by the San Diego Yacht Club , and offered through the Armed Services YMCA . This is the first time we 've been able to take advantage of them , and are glad we did . We came back to the house and within a few minutes I was on the computer , checking my email and found a bunch of stuff on my FaceBook , where bunches of folks wised me a happy birthday . I have to admit , it made me feel pretty good . Otherwise , we just relaxed a little and then went to bed . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Today was a very nice day for the Ross household . We took the girls to their swim lesson and then we went to the famous San Diego Zoo . We have memberships and this was our first time to get to exercise those memberships . We all ( Stacy , Jackie , Grandma and Grandpa , Jason and his friend Rebehka ) . The only thing , was that it was a very warm day and the sun was very bright . We did our best to stay in the shade but we were all feeling the affects of being in the sun by the time we left , and that was only a couple of hours later . The girls really enjoyed riding the tour bus - and so did I . Linda and I actually took the girls back to the zoo , later this evening , after dinner and we looked around a little more . Funny part is that they were mostly interested in the baby ducklings running around the park . Not much else going on today , though tomorrow is going to be a little more , on the busy side . We have been invited to go out on a dinner cruise , out on the bay . Linda and I have wanted to get a chance to do this , for several months , so now we finally get to go . Jason and Rebehka will be joining us , and we will get a chance to see how Gracie does out on the water . Thank you for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Yesterday was an awesome day . We went to see the Giants vs . Padres game at Petco Park and it was a very good game . We again sat in the owner 's box and had some of the best seats in the house , and watched the Giants win their second victory over the Padres . The only problem with that is that the Padres had to loose , and I kind of like that team as well . The Padres have been good to Jason and me - heck , the entire family , these past couple of years and so that makes it much more difficult to want to see them loose . I do have to admit that I would like to see the Giants make another World Series . After the game there was a concert / performance by Gary Sinise and the Lt . Dan Band , and Jason got to go on stage and address the crowd . He was like a natural performer out there . The crowd loved him and he was able to talk with them in total comfort . I think he enjoyed it more than he expected . The band it self was really good to listen to and the people were dancing and jumping . It went on for about an hour and a half , and that plus the time at the earlier ball game was the longest Jason has been up for a long time . When we got back home , he was tired and in just a short while was totally asleep . I went up to do the blog last night and in a short while I was tired to the point that I had no idea as to what I was typing . That 's when I decided to not attempt the blog . This morning we all got up early because the girls ( Stacy and Jackie ) had swim lessons this morning , and they begin at 08 : 00 . We got there with time to spare ( a few minutes ) and then the girls were in the pool getting their first lesson . It was fun watching them go through the steps with the instructor , and they were so very happy to be there . I have some pictures to post , though they 're going to have to wait until tomorrow , at the soonest . Again , I am tired ( not like yesterday , but still too tired be selecting the right picture to post ) , and will be attempting to go to bed early . Rebekha took us out to dinner this evening and we all had a great time . Tomorrow is another early day with another swim class to get to , so I 'm going to be going to bed soon . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Nice relaxed day , and change from yesterday . Jason is doing much better and it looks like everything is a go for the ball game tomorrow ( Giants vs . Padres ) . We actually watched the second of the three game series on TV , tonight and the Giants won . Tomorrow will be the last game these two teams play this year , barring any strange playoff shake out . What is difficult about these two teams playing is that I find myself wanting to cheer for both of them . The Giants have always been my team , since I was a young boy , in the San Francisco Bay Area . I 've supported them in their worst years and enjoyed the victories of a couple of World Series . With the Padres , Jason and I have been here for a couple of years now and they have been very good to us . They arranged for us to get the Bruce Bochy autograph ball , and all the other contact we 've had with the team . I have made a couple of efforts to get in contact with the Giants and have not heard back from them , at all , and that is disappointing . Anyway , we will be going to the game and Jason is going to be receiving some additional recognition , down on the field as well as on the stage with the Lt . Dan Band , after the game . There is going to be at least one other Wounded Warrior there , a friend of Jason who actually works for the Padres now ( and he 's a Boston fan ! ) . I 'm planning to wear my Gary Sinise Foundation shirt and hat to the game to show a little neutrality . The game and the show afterward is going to be a long stretch for Jason , so they are making arrangements for him to be able to get out of his chair , should he need to rest . We will be watching the game from one of the luxury boxes , and we are pretty excited to be able to go . What really makes this special is that this time Linda gets to join us , and she has not been able to attend any of the Giants games in several years . I think she wants to wear her Giants gear , and that 's okay , we 'll see what finally happens in the morning . Enough about tomorrow - today Jason and I took Gracie to the vet for a check up and to get some shots . It was a pretty fast visit and Gracie did great . While we were there Linda and Rebekha went to do some shopping . . . imagine that , two women who want to go shopping . Jason actually want to stop off at a gun store but they were closed , so we finished and came back to the house . The rest of the day was spent resting and for dinner I grilled some burgers . We had beans and salad to balance it off , and that was pretty much the end of the day . . . Oh , yeah , while we ate we finished watching the ball game and we were glad to see the Giants win . Okay , Rebehka wasn 't too happy , as she is a Padres fan , but she took it in good spirits . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . This morning started off with a " Bang ! " That was because I got up , just a little before 08 : 00 and got dressed to go for a bike ride . We didn 't have any appointments in the morning , or anywhere else to go , as far as I knew . I came down stairs and saw that Jason wasn 't looking to good - he had that pained look on his face , and I knew something was wrong . He had gotten another UTI ( urinary track infection ) , and with him they are VERY painful . The bike ride was cancelled and within about 10 minutes we were headed to the ER at the Naval Hospital at Balboa . When we arrived , as you might expect , they were very quiet , and we were only the third vehicle in the upper parking lot . Usually that lot is full , and the lower lot has a bunch of cars . We walked in and got immediate service , and they got Jason in to their medical area ( as opposed to the waiting room ) and the nurses and doctors started to come in and see what was going on . One of the doctors was actually a doctor that had worked with Jason back in Bethesda , when Jason had the H . O . surgery , and he remembered Jason . We waited for about two hours for the lab results , with the occasional visit from a nurse or corpsman , then the doctor came back again . " Yep , you have a urinary infection . " Jason just gave him one of his famous looks , and then the doctor said , " I just need to get the paperwork done and then you can go pick up your meds and head on home . " It was about 10 minutes later we were on our way to the pharmacy , and that only took another 15 minutes . We got back home and by now it was lunch time . Neither Jason or I had eaten much of anything , so we were both hungry . I ran over to In - N - Out to pick up some burgers , and it was the first time for Rebekha ( that 's how she spells it - I spelled it incorrectly the first time ) . Apparently they don 't have them back in Michigan . Jason was feeling a little better and soon fell asleep . At about this point Linda and I figured out that we were not going to be going to the Fair for the Fourth of July celebration . A couple hours later Jason was awake again , and I talked with him and he was no longer in the mood to get out , so he basically confirmed that we weren 't going . That 's okay , because we were happy that he was feeling better , and I really didn 't want to get stuck in the traffic anyway . We ended up with a Back To The Future - athon . . . sort of , where Linda and I sat back and watched all three movies . Jason and Rebekha basically stayed back in his room , where she kept him company , while he rested , and they occasionally watched something on his screen , via Net Flix . All - in - all , it turned out to be an enjoyable evening - we just didn 't have the seats we thought we 'd have for the fireworks . As you can probably tell , we don 't have the girls with us right now , but that 's okay , we 'll see them on Monday . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Today began with me going out for an early morning bike ride ( about 15 miles ) , and prior to leaving I checked in with Jason to make sure I had all the schedules and appointments aligned in my head . He told me he had two appointments , with the first to be at 10 : 00 . This was good because it gave me about two hours for the bike ride followed by a cool down . I left the house and just after 08 : 00 and got back at 09 : 05 . I felt it was a good ride because I did hit mostly green lights , and only three long red lights . Actually , the red lights allowed me to catch my breath a little . I got back into the house and sat down to cool off a little so that I could take a shower . I did this and Jason and I made our way out to the van . Jason went on his way to his first appointment and I went over to the ASYMCA , to talk with the about an up coming fishing trip that Jason and I are signed up for , and also to simply visit with Cherri , the director for a few minutes . While sitting there Jason gave me a call and let me know that he had made an error and that in fact , there were no appointments today . He didn 't have any appointments until next week . Jason came down to meet up with me and the two of us visited with Cherri for a little while , then we left to get back to the house . Neither of us had had any breakfast , so we were getting hungry , so when we got back to the house we all decided to go out to breakfast - of course by now it was closer to lunch . We were all sitting about the table talking about everything and Jason asked that ever important question . . . " You guys want to go see a movie ? " He wanted to go see the new Transformer movie , and we all piled into the van and headed for the theater . The movie was interesting , and it did actually have an good story line , I just don 't think that it was a movie I can recommend . Right after the movie Linda and I went over to see Ann , and the cats , and everything is going good there . We stayed for a little over and hour than then headed back the house . Both cats are doing well , and the hair loss that Pumpkin was experiencing has just about gone away . Candy is a nice healthy cat , and still doesn 't want to deal with any more people than she has too . She stayed hidden for the most part until it was about time for us to leave . We got to spend a little time with her , then we had to leave . Thank you for the continued support and all the prayers . Take care and stay positive . A bit of a busy morning for us , as both Jason and I had appointments , and to make it a bit of a push , we also had to get Jackie to her pre - school , and pick up a friend of Jason 's at the airport . My appointment was with the VA , Dermatology wanted to take some pictures of a couple of spots on my back and shoulder , and one behind my left ear . There wasn 't too much concern about them , just that because I am so fair skinned that they want to keep an eye on it . That means Linda and Jason have to " monitor " any changes , since I can 't see behind my ear , or on my back ( funny how that works ) . After that appointment we took Jackie to her school and then we ran to pick up Rebecca , at the airport . I found out that the USO will validate a parking ticket stub , if you take it to them - and you also have to be military or retired military , so Jason qualifies on two fronts . What this did for us was to allow us to park for free , while we waited . Rebecca is a friend of Jason , and they have known each other for several years . She is out here to visit with family / friends ; visit with Jason ; and , to just see the San Diego Area - be a tourist . She came with us , back over to the hospital , to finish up with Jason 's appointments , and those went until almost 14 : 00 ( 2pm ) . I really felt kind of sorry for Rebecca , because she had been up since 03 : 00 this morning , or more like midnight , California time , and traveling is tiring anyway . When we finally did get back to the house she finally got to get a little relaxation , and kind of went to sleep on the couch ( we let her sleep ) . She woke a little later this evening , but that was after Linda and I had taken off to go see a movie ( Begin Again - we liked it , and recommend it ) . When we came back she was talking with Jason , in his room , so we popped in and said our hello 's . Tomorrow there are another couple of appointments and I want to get a bike ride in , in the morning , so we 'll see how the day progresses . Thank you , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive . Today was a nice easy day for Jason , and the rest of us . Not too much going on , and honestly , about the biggest thing that happened was that I took the SemperFi Rollx van in to get washed . It looks pretty good now , and I think the folks at the car wash did a good job of getting all of Gracie 's hair of the interior area . The only other thing that happened was that I went for a nice bike ride ( just over 12 miles ) out to the Cabrillo National Monument , and worked the old legs pretty good . Some of those hills are on the steep side and I did feel it . Where I felt it the most was when there were a bunch of other riders out there passing me up , when going up the hill . Now I could pull the " age " card , but the truth be known is that I just haven 't gotten into the right workout pattern , and I am still out of shape . Linda and Stacy had a great time , going and doing some shopping , and library time . Stacy loves the library and even came home and wanted to pretend the house was a library . I hope the positive focus on books and reading continues , it can only be good for her . Thanks , for all the continued support and prayers . Take care and stay positive .