BlaBla Blog

Despite the bad news our lives keep moving forward.

Seth and John both started swimming lessons a few weeks ago at the Y. Seth LOVES to swim and be in the water but is frustrated that he doesn't get any fun free swim time. They have him doing a lot of laps and technique exercises. His class is 45 minutes long but he pretty much poops out after 30. I see improvement already but he's not quite ready to give up the floaty.
John and I are in the baby class and we do fun stuff like kick and splash and blow bubbles and jump and reach. Now I have a hard time getting him NOT to splash me during bath time.

Dave and I will get to go to our first parent-teacher conference on Wednesday to hear how Seth is doing. I'm really looking forward to it. Seth's not much for telling me about the details of his day at school..... all I usually get is..... "it was fine". So I have lots of questions.

I've handed in notice at work that my last day will be on the day before Thanksgiving. I'll get a week and a half off to get ready for Ft. Jackson and spend quality time with Dave and the kids. Work is very generously letting me keep my cell until I actually leave the US, so I won't have to wait in line at the pay phones. They've also approved lots of overtime for last week, this week and next so I can get some extra pay before I leave.

Despite the bummer news, we are still hopeful . After speaking with my case manager further about this exemption case, it appears that there were no medical personnel on the board who reviewed the case. According to the paperwork I received, the reason my claim was dissapproved was because it did not "demonstrate personal hardship". But I will still go through further medical screening when I arrive at Ft. Jackson where I will be seen by real medical personnel. I'm sure they will do further tests...xrays, mri, nerve studies etc. to verify the probs in my spine. So...we'll just have to wait and see. In the mean time, my time at Ft. Jackson will be kept busy with training 7 days a week and of course some exercise. Yikes! Time to start running again. Oh Joy.

The Verdict

After waiting almost 4 months, we finally found out today that I will be going to Ft. Jackson on Dec 7th after all. My medical exemption case was dissapproved.

So it was a bummer of a day.

No Word

As I suspected, it appears that SFC M is off today and tomorrow for Vets day. So for now I will keep breathing and keep occupied.

The Dreaded Call

While out for dinner last night with Sarah and Bill, I took advantage of the good cell reception and turned my phone on. (I have no reception at my house) I had 3 messages.

The first one (from Wednesday) was from my case manager. The commander's decision on my medical exemption case has been made. I just need to call him back tomorrow to find out what it was.

It's funny. On our way to the restaurant last night to meet Sarah and Bill, Dave and I were talking about how we thought with the holidays coming up that it would slow the decision even more since paperwork would sit on desks and families would be on exodus. We were hoping not to hear from them until after Christmas.

Nevertheless. The call we've all been waiting for has come, and now I have to wait a whole day before I find out if I will be with my babies for the next year or not.

On an added note: It occurred to me this afternoon that I may not find out until Wednesday. With Veterans Day on Tuesday, the Army (or at least my previous posts) would always make it a 4-day weekend and give Monday off too. So, it's likely that I won't be able to get ahold of my case mgr until Wednesday. Great.

6 Comments!

Woo Hoo! A record for me. I checked my blog today for the first time in a few and I had 6 comments!! Amazing!!

Thanks to you 3 Chicadees and Ain't No Mountain for your lovely responses.

You made my day!

A Wiggly Adventure

Yay! The Wiggles came to Buffalo tonight and Dave and I treated the boys. I think we were more excited for them than they actually were. John was stand-offish and clung to me until the last 1/4 of the show when he finally got off my lap and stood up and danced.

Seth had a great time until the Wiggles split up and walked through the crowd. "Sam! It's me Seth!!" he shouted. Sam came the closest to us but was still a level down. Seth was SO dissappointed that he didn't get to ask Sam a question (though I have no clue what that question was). Poor guy.

I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of all the adventure, since I was expecting mania with children everywhere and lots of traffic. We had a really nice time, boys were good, people were kind and took their turns out of the parking lot (something that would never have happened in Augusta) and hopefully a memorable experience for the boys before they're too old for Wiggles.

Halloween

Last weekend we went to the local farm market to buy pumpkins and fresh apples. We made applesauce, apple cake, the boys ate a gajillion apples each, and then carved our pumpkins.

For Halloween we walked around the local neighborhood. Seth (obviously) was a T-Rex and John a Block. John's daycare had a parade in the morning where local businesses down the street gave out candy and Seth's class had a party.