As the new year begins and we look back at the last year, so much has happened and we are always left with the thought of “where did the time go?” This is no exception.
So much has happened to our family and the year has been so busy that we may not have kept you up-to-date properly. Hopefully, with this letter we can catch you up and show you what has changed.
The holidays are a time of family, friends and sharing and we invite you into our lives. We may not keep in touch the way we would like, but remember, you are always in our thoughts and hearts.
We hope this finds you safe, warm and content. May you be showered in riches of love and comfort; because THAT is what life is all about. Family is everything. Without it, you could have all the money in the world and happiness will elude you.
Jamie’s company for the last 3 years has been part of a multi-million dollar contract with the government. The contract came up for bid in March. The process ended up taking nearly 2 months. In the middle of May we were told that EWA Services did not win the bid on the new contract. Things started going bad from that point on.
We were all told that we would no longer be employed by EWA as of 30 May. However, the new company MAY bring you on board with them. Well, we all had our interviews a week before the contract ended and Jamie was found out the last Thursday she had not picked up. When she went to work the next day, she said her good-byes. Many of the high ranking military people she worked with were very upset. By the end of the day, Jamie had a job offer. It was much less than her pervious job but at least it was something.
The new company, Blackhawk Management, came on board this contract having no idea what to expect. Many things were just so wrong with the company that Jamie came home more and more distraught each day. Not only did she have to take a pay cut, but her medical insurance increased by 5 times and the person that was in charge of her, she had trained not 3 weeks prior. She was treated badly and each day she came home crying. It was time to find another job.
So, after the last exercise, she packed up Joshua and took him down to Florida to “visit her parents”. Anthony could not come because he was going through some VA medical appointments to get his claim done. While visiting, she did her hardest to get job closer to home. After 2 weeks Jamie got some good leads but no biters at the moment. All was good though. At the very least, Joshua got to see his grandparents.
About a month after her return, she was contacted by Raytheon. They offered her the perfect position, without an interview. The pay was the same but the benefits were outstanding. The job would be in Jacksonville, Florida and she would be doing the same thing she did in Germany, encrypted email and information assurance/security. It is what she has wanted to do since she got back from Germany, and the bonus was she got to do it close to her family.
On October 21st, we packed up our house and moved to Florida. What an ordeal. Hopefully this will be our last big move; at least one that we have to do by ourselves. It took us 3 days driving a big U-Haul and car jam packed with 2 cats, a baby and all of our belongings…well, all that we could fit. There were so many things, good things, that we gave away or threw away. But that’s the problem when you have 2 packrats living together for the last 14 years.
We moved into our new rental house on the first of November and are still trying to settle in. Ah well. Hopefully next year we can have our own house.
Life is good in Florida! Family is close and that’s the most important thing.
Anthony started his paperwork for his VA benefits a while ago. Back in August they finally contacted him and made him some doctors’ appointments for the first part of September so they could evaluate his claim. While Jamie and Joshua were in Florida, Anthony was left back in Texas to have his Migraines, hearing and stomach looked at.
When Jamie got home he had one more appointment to go to but we got the times mixed up and missed it. By that time, Jamie had her new job and they were making plans to move and couldn’t reschedule.
We contacted our local VA Benefits Center here in Florida, but they told us we had to write Texas and request a transfer. Nothing better than the old government motto of: Hurry up and Wait! So, they moved Anthony’s files and it went straight to the approval board. Within 3 months of moving to Florida, we had a ruling. He received 20% total compensation. Not as much as we wanted; but something none the less. We will be appealing it because of his migraines.
He was already told that he will be recommended for compensation for his hearing loss. When they tested him, after a year being out of the military and away from loud noises, he still has a 65% hearing loss from when he first joined in 1989.
What we were really hoping for was some type of compensation for his migraines. He suffers them nearly daily. If it’s not a migraine, it’s a rebound headache. We have tried everything we can think of: from pills, to Physical Therapy and Chiropractic care. Nothing seems to help. Though, the new doctors down here are quite wonderful and working well with Anthony. He has some new meds that help, but he would rather not take 15 different pills daily just so he can be “normal”.
“Positional plagiocephaly--a parallelogram head shape and a persistent flatten spot on the back or one side of the head.”
In September, Joshua got his helmet. It took mom and dad a while and quite a few doctors to get this, but finally it arrived.
See, when he was born, he had an extremely flat head. It can be attributed to a number of things: the way he was positioned in mommy’s tummy, being premature, lying on my back all the time. The doctors already ruled out that the plates in his skull had fused. They took a CT Scan to see that. But still, the doctors were concerned that his brain would not be given the opportunity to develop correctly so they went ahead and ordered the helmet.
Really, it’s not that bad. He adjusted in 2 days time, when it takes others 2 weeks. His head is filling out nicely. The new Doctors here said he shouldn’t need it very much longer. Mommy and Daddy decided the middle of March would be the last time he wears it. It seems to be too big and it is starting to bother him now. He is constantly tugging on it. So we went to see the Doctors again and they saw no more need for him to wear it. His head is not 100% but it is so much better than it was. We just hope when he’s older no one will notice. It is a life saver, though, when he falls down and bumps his head, he hardly noticed. Now we are getting more bumps and bruises.
Joshua turned one on 26 November. It was the day before Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. We had mommy and daddy there. Grandma and Grandpa came too. Grandma baked the cake.
He wasn’t too interested in eating it. I guess he had too much dinner. Plus, there were so many balloons and he just wanted Grandma to pick him up and take him everywhere and touch everything.
The cake was good. But he really didn’t like the ice cream mommy plopped down in front of him. My interests were elsewhere.
Christmas and new years came. Now it’s almost Easter! He will be 16 months old in a couple of days. Gosh how time does fly the older you get. He’s been talking and jabbering quite a bit. He is so smart. He just started walking about 2 weeks ago. It’s so cute. He looks like ET when he waddles. He’s already in 18-24 month clothes! To look at him now, you would never have guessed he was a preemie.
Well, I guess that ends this letter. We hope it finds you well. We have enclosed some pictures just to let you see how much peanut has grown. Take care and keep in touch.