July 31 Update

What have we been up to?! Well Chaz has been going to all of his therapies and the girls and I have been moving and cleaning! For the record I do not recommend moving twice in one week. But it's over and we have a place of our own.

This week Chaz had his blood drawn for the third week in a row and for the third week in a row, there was no sign of infection. So Thursday the Picc line came out. He also got to finally get on a bike. He had been working the hand bike machine, but nothing is better than the real thing. Other than those big things he's just been going to PT and OT everyday.

Last Sunday with the help of our friend Laura who just showed up, we moved from Fisher House 2 to Fisher House 3. You may be asking why? Well WRAMC is closing and since Fisher House 2 and 3 are on campus they have to be shut down too. The WTB had told us last week that our apartment wouldn't be ready until weeks later or possibly after August 15. We were one of two families left at Fisher House 2. The other family was done with treatment and we're leaving Monday so the house manager wanted to go ahead and close our house. I totally don't blame him. Might as well get it done when you can. So we helped him out and moved Sunday. He gave us keys Friday and told us to take our time, which I had planned on doing, but then Laura showed up and she, Chaz and I rocked it out and poof it was done.

Tuesday morning I was sending Chaz off to his appointments and then I joked, "I bet you the moment I get everything organized the way I want it, they'll call to say the apartment is ready." He told me I was probably right. Sure enough Tuesday afternoon, I got it done and had just sat down and was watching TV when the phone rang. Sure enough it was Chaz's first Sargent telling me he'd have keys for us on Thursday morning and I needed to meet them at the apartment building at 8am. I immediately burst into laughter. Chaz looked at me like I was crazy and the first Sargent asked me what was so funny. So I told him what I had said that morning. He apologized and I told him that was unnecessary that's just the way it goes sometimes. So Wednesday I began repacking and I got all the details into place for Thursday morning.

Thursday I woke everyone up, sent Chaz off to his appointments and then the girls and I went to go sign for the apartment. We met our new squad leader (yes we got another squad leader, this is number 5 I think, but we really like this one) and the staff Sargent in charge of the housing. Both were super cool. We had to go through all the inventory. The Army provided us with furniture, dishes and the basics to get started with. Being OCD as I am we went through everything before I signed.

The girls and I went back to Fisher House to find Chaz was working away trying to get a jump on everything. That's when he showed off his lack of a picc line. We both thought, "Oh yeah, one less thing!" I then told him his squad leader was coming at 12 to help get our move on! I made a pot of chili that morning. Once SSG Sage got there we sat down to lunch to get fueled for everything. Then we started loading. Luckily I packed up 5 boxes of stuff to go to TN so we were able to get everything moved in two trips!

Deryn and I took the cart we had borrowed back to Fisher House and to let the house manager know what was going on. Then we were off to Target to get our new bedding and a few other essentials. We got back to the apartment and unloaded and then I found out I forgot sheets for mine and Chaz's bed. The girls' sets came with them, so I had to run back to Target and get sheets. I came back and crashed!

Friday we got up and went back to WRAMC so Chaz could go to his appointments and I went to clean the Fisher House. They don't have housekeepers for the rooms only the common areas of the house. So I went and scrubbed the rooms from top to bottom for the next guests. Then we came back to the apartment and finished unpacking. MSGT Barnes, one of our LNOs, and his crew came by and were our official first guests.

Saturday we went back to Fisher House because the people from the foundation were in and wanted to meet some of the families. The house manager asked us to be there and we were happy to do it. Then I took Chaz and the kids back to the apartment and I ran back to target for the other things we needed.

We are loving our own space. It is so nice! I do not know who pays for the apartments. I know that they do not take our housing allowance because I asked. We have a mortgage to pay and can't afford to lose that money. If we had to rent a place, we would have just stayed at Fisher House until Chaz was well. But WTB has these awesome apartments and you just have to wait your turn to get one. Currently there are 20 families in these apartments. I plan to find out where the funding for these apartments come from, because I would like to know who to thank. It is awesome to have our own place. Fisher House is great, but it was time for us to move on. We will always be thankful for Fisher House giving our family a place to live. The Army would have just kept us in a hotel until the apartment was ready. those who know me, know I have to have a kitchen. I relieve stress by cooking! So God Bless the Fisher Foundation for recognizing the need and fulfilling it.

We finally have a place to call our own and we are "moving on up". Sorry Chaz and I were singing that song because we are in a high rise! We can really get moving on with our new normal. Chaz and I feel like it's a type of graduation day. It's exciting to move on, but we're going to miss our fisher families and miss being on campus and in the middle of everything. But we're growing up and now we'll be checking out the Silver Spring MD area to see what all we can get into around here.

You can check out our apartment at 1200eastwest.com at any time. You can see that the Army is taking very good care of our family.