August 13 Update

48 hours from now we will be getting in our van to go get on a plane to go home for 30 days!!!!! So long story short, things are going great and we are going home!!! Woot-woot!!!!!
 
Veterans airlift command is once again taking us home. If you haven't checked them out yet please visit their website at http://www.veteransairlift.org and learn more about this incredible organization. You can only imagine how awesome it is to have people reach out to you to help you when you're on this crazy road. Well that's what these people are doing. It's so simple. We need to get from point A to point B and flying is the easiest. Flying commercial can be a little tricky so these awesome folks donate their planes, time and resources to get our families where we need to go as quickly and as comfortably as possible. This organization just wants to smooth out our road and we are so blessed to have them out there in our corner.

Our departure has been taking the center stage in our world right now. We had to go visit with all the docs and teams this week and I had to file all of my paperwork to leave too. (Not sure if you are tracking, but I am on official Army orders to be Chaz's NMA.) So we both have to go through all the hoops and paperwork to leave now, yeah me! Seriously I never wanted to be in the Army. I have always been as close as I wanted to be. But hey at least I didn't have to go to Basic training, right?! 

Wednesday we took the girls to Wicked and had an amazing time! If you only see one musical you entire life I would say pick that one. It was so inspiring! When Elphaba sang Defying Gravity I had to fight back the tears! It was perfectly gorgeous. The staff at the Kennedy Center was just wonderful. When we walked in one of the staffers saw us and then made sure we got to our seats without any issues. They even came and checked on us during intermission and after the show. They made sure they were more than accommodating. So other than that adventure we've just been chilling out in our little apartment and enjoying family time.

Chaz's health is doing great! He is having a little bit of trouble with his right leg and his extra bone growth. (When you experience a traumatic amputation for some reason your bones continue to grow. In addition, your bones grow in what ever way they want to. Chaz's x-rays are very interesting.) We are trying a new liner and had his socket adjusted, but everything else is great. We are trying these changes while we're gone and if that doesn't work we'll try another plan when we get back. Once we've exhausted all of those plans then we may have to look to surgery down the road. But the there are no infections, no other drama right now and Lord I pray it stays that way for a little bit. I could use a few drama free days and so could my hair. I am only 32 and the gray hairs just keep popping up. Maybe this is normal, but I don't feel old enough to have so many gray hairs. Then I wonder about that too. Oh well?!

We have started homeschooling the girls. Right now we are just reviewing everything from last year. Five bucks says that's what they'd be doing in school right now. Then we are throwing in field trips, readings and science experiments. We are all having fun with it. Deryn has always struggled with math so I am really going to hit math hard over the course of this year. Ryann is only in first grade so it's reading and writing for her. I never knew homeschooling could be so much fun! I can't wait for us to get back to DC. I have even more planned for our crew!

This week felt like graduation week. We all knew that Friday was the big day. Almost everyone is going to Bethesda on Monday, but the Allens are airborne to TN. We will miss some of the chaos and confusion of the change over, but we're totally fine with that. There are going to be growing pains with this merger but in the end all will be fine. The good news is we'll all be lost together! As long as Chaz's medical care remains as excellent as it has been I can handle the rest. Yesterday we had to say see ya later to our OT. When she goes to Bethesda she will only be caring for the in-patients. So it was a sad day for all of us. We are also losing some great people to Fort Belvoir, VA. So we had to walk around and pass out the see-ya's and best wishes to them. It was so much like graduation. You know your paths will cross again, but when and you want the best for them, but you are totally going to miss them. Everyone had been there and knows what I am talking about. But the optimist in me is always excited about new things. So when we return, we begin a new adventure at Bethesda. The only change to Chaz's teams right now is the new OT. But I know our OT will make sure we fall into great hands.

I am pleased to report our new Squad Leader from WTB is working out very well. All four of us really like him. The best news of all is that he actually listens and he does his job, wahoo!!!! Now let's hope the Army doesn't snatch him away like they did the other two who were actually worth a damn. This guys came up to me and asked if we'd switch to him. I asked why and he said, "I think I can help you. You have a little reputation around here. The people with common sense say you just want someone to do their job and you're not afraid to demand it. The clueless one's call you names." I said "oh really, I can only imagine those names." He said, "Let's give it a try." Chaz and I agreed too. It's only been a few weeks and we can see we made the right choice.

We are moving right on down our road and we're having a lot of fun while we're doing it. Now it's time to stop writing and get to packing, wahoo!!! Tennessee here we come!!!!