M*A*S*H

As I mentioned in the previous post, we're learning the rules of home ownership. Just two weeks ago, Jay learned the hard way to "cut away from your body." He had just returned home from work and was using a large pocket knife to cut the box containing our new microwave, when he stabbed himself behind the right shin. He immediately applied pressure and quickly felt numbness in his leg.

I promptly transported Jay to the  ER only after first spotting the blood stains on our new carpet! After internal and external stitches we headed to the pharmacy for bandages only after getting directions from family and friends since we're new to the area! Later that evening Jay's leg REALLY swelled up. I called the ER, but instead of returning we decided to sleep and get into his primary care physician's office the following day.

Next day the physician seemed to believe he had an infection and prescribed antibiotics. After no improvement Jay returned to the physician a week later. He continued to ooze from the wound, have a cold leg, inability to bear weight and walk, and increased swelling and bruising. He was then put on stronger antibiotics and given a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon.

Last week we saw the orthopedic surgeon who felt the infection has gone, and didn't appear concerned with the symptoms of his injury. It appears that Jay DID cut a vein and nerve and the numbness in his leg is permanent. When touching the wound, Jay experiences a "zinger"(an electrical shock feeling) in his ankle/foot. The surgeon says this is common, and if remains bothersome, Jay can elect to have surgery to place the nerve deeper into the soft tissue. He took the external stitches out and Jay had a follow up appointment scheduled for next week.

Going into Tuesday's follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon (exactly two weeks from his date of injury), we were very concerned as there had been no real signs of improvement. Jay continued to have oozing from his wound, problems with gait and weight bearing, and continued problems with swelling and bruising.

The surgeon continues to not be concerned with what we feel is Jay's lack of progress and that all our concerns are common with this type of injury. He says Jay is past the point of real concern for complications. He has made a referral for physical therapy, prescribed compression stockings, and wants Jay to decrease his use of crutches and try walking more around the house. He believes the recovery can take up to an additional four weeks before Jay can return to work (since his job is all on his feet), but it could be sooner. We've been in communication with HR and will be filing the necessary paperwork for Jay to go on medical leave for short term disability.

Here's Jay's leg (six days after injury). I've been kind to those with weak stomachs not to show the first pictures at the time of injury, although some of you got the gross text. For those who enjoy that sort of thing, just let me know. We'd be happy to send you a gross picture for Halloween!

I too learned a few lessons after trying to carry the laundry down the stairs last week. My feet came out from under me and I landed right on my back and slid down a few stairs before grabbing the rail. My back is still quite score. That day our parents were over to help put in our new microwave. They did the work while Jay and I were on the couch with ice, feeling quite pathetic. My dad called our house a M*A*S*H unit.

On the flip side of all of this, the transition of ownership at work has gone well. Erin, Silvia, and I took our bosses out for lunch the last day (my birthday) and we presented them with a shadow box full of memories of our years together. Dan and Julie I believe felt our gratitude. Since their leave, we have met the new owners and are looking forward to the future of the business.

 

I've been enjoying my birthday celebrations. Girls night out with my friend for dinner and a movie on my birthday, then a few days later brunch with my parents and Jay, and a week later lunch with my mom and cousin. We're now enjoying free time with Jay's Uncle Bill and Aunt Cathy from Canada. It's been nice to have some fun after all the recent stresses.

Thank you all for the birthday and get well wishes of texts, messages, emails, and calls. We appreciate the prayers of healing and the transition at work and the grace for being late at posting once again.

Home Sweet Home

It's been a month now since we've move in and SO much has happened. Our last night in our apartment was spent frantically packing last minute items and making the necessary preparations for moving day since we didn't know until last minute that we'd actually get the keys and escrow would close in time before moving day.

We were so blessed to have many of our friends and family help us move. Everyone arrived right after we picked up the moving truck at 9:30am. Near 11am most of the contents of our place was in the moving truck. We couldn't believe how quickly everything was loaded even with all the help. While all the "men" were loading the rest of the contents, the "ladies" took a packed car over to our new home and began cleaning up a bit before the rest of the gang arrived (since we didn't close as early as we thought, we didn't have the extra two days we planned to clean up BEFORE move day). Then when the moving truck, along with two pick up trucks arrived, we spent the rest of the day unloading and unpacking. As many of you might remember, the day we married was one of the hottest days of the year, and well our move day was no different. Thank you to those who helped, we we're SO touched by your labor of love and to those who prayed us along this journey and into our home, THANK YOU!

Since moving in, we've been trying to make our home feel like home rather than a storage unit. We've been cleaning, unpacking, and organizing to at least a more "livable" condition. We've also been making repairs and replacing appliances. Our dad's have been helping us with all these "projects." We've learned the rule quickly, that "nothing is ever easy."
(just a note, our walls are NOT yellow, they're neutral tan)

One of the "treasures" of our new home is that our bedroom feels like a tree house as it looks onto a courtyard with pine trees. One of these trees sits directly outside our bedroom window. We've seen squirrels run up and down trees, but recently we got to watch a squirrel eat a pine cone RIGHT outside our bedroom. It was fun to watch Mr. Squirrel in action.

(check out the video of Mr. Squirrel at the bottom of the blog!)

 another beautiful treasure

Just after a week of being "homeowners" we enjoyed a wonderful visit with my cousin Nicole and her family (on my dad's side) visiting from Colorado. My mom hosted a delicious dinner since our house was still in boxes. We had a GREAT time as an extended family and especially enjoyed playing with the littlest cousins (whom it was my first time meeting). Both Autumn and Trent initially were shy, but quickly warmed up to all of us. Autumn enjoyed writing and illustrating her own book and also being the photographer for the evening. Thanks for a wonderful visit we miss you already!!
making us do a funny pose

now a serious pose

busy making her book

having Christina read her book

Changes

Housing Changes

Many of you know that Jay and I have been toying with the idea of purchasing our first place for some time now. This down economy has had an upside. It has allowed us (and others) the privilege to purchase a place that otherwise we would never have been able to afford. At the end of April after getting a good referral to a loan officer and real estate agent, we began our search for a condo locally. We took advantage of an FHA loan with it's low down payment. Most of our weekends from May to August were devoted to viewing listings. We branched out of our comfort zone, only to find we REALLY wanted to stay close to work and family. We found it hard to find the "must haves" of our list in our price range, but knew we wouldn't settle either. We eventually had to up our price and knew this would drastically change our finances. We needed to have an open floor plan, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, TWO parking spaces, and GUEST parking! We put in several offers and had several "let downs" particularly with a place we liked to call the "Disney House." However, God had another place in mind for us and a designated time (Acts 17:26). Around our trip to Encinitas, we got an offer accepted although we had to negotiate, so as to "meet in the middle."

While in Escrow, we learned that Jim and Jen, who have graciously allowed us to live in their condo, needed to sell it by the end of this year to avoid the capital gains tax changes. We're SO thankful that God orchestrated everything that we were already in escrow by the time we found out this news. Since then, Jim and Jen have listed our current home and we were busy packing for our big move. You can view the links to each listing in the email notification you received; due to privacy, I didn't want to post them here.

We can't say that this process has been easy or even fun. Maybe in the beginning, but then it got A LOT harder. The process had its moments of pleasure and disappointment. It's been both physically and emotionally draining up until the very last minute. It was just this evening before our move day, that we actually closed escrow and received our keys, only then to learn our moving truck fell through. But God has faithfully guided us each step of the way, providing encouragement and small reminders of the plans He has for us during those times of disappointment and uncertainty. This house is His and His glory is evident.

 Work Changes

Jay's job has been stable and he continues to have job security. While attending my first ever IRS Tax Forum, my bosses and dear friends Dan and Julie announced to Erin and I that they will be selling their business. Although the terms of the offer are still under negotiation, we do know that Erin and I are being sold along with their firm and will likely receive an increase in pay. Dan and Julie have placed their current home up for sale and plan to move to their new home in Northern California where their kids and grand kids live and where they're purchasing a smaller firm.  The change wasn't necessarily a surprise to us although the timing was. The transfer of ownership is set for October 18th. This of course came at a critical time for us while in escrow. We are happy for them and VERY thankful that they have been so gracious to think of us by ensuring we have job security especially before escrow closed.

IRS Tax Forum 2010

Early this month I attended The IRS Tax Forum held in San Diego near Old Town. Dan, Julie, Erin and I left a day early so that we would have some time to poke around town and register early. After checking into our hotel, we went to Old Town for shopping and dinner. That's when Dan and Julie shared their future plans for the business. The following few days were filled with various tax seminars. It was very informative as there are many new changes for this upcoming tax season. The evenings were spent at the mall right next to our hotel. We'd go shopping and have dinner and just get out and walk around. Our last day after a few seminars that morning, we headed out to Mozy's Cafe for lunch on our drive back home. It was a GREAT time for us as a team (minus Silvia who had started school) considering the changes that we learned were coming.

Gratitude

We just want to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for ALL of these posts. Now you have a better idea of what has been occupying our time. We thank those who have supported us during this journey. Our current condo is mostly packed and we're ready for the challenges of home-ownership. I quite frankly am tired of living with the "bare essentials,"  wiping out our food supply, and using "to read, to send, to file" clips in my hair in the morning, since I accidentally packed them in a box that is of course no where to be found. Thanks again from the new "homeowners."

Welcome to Encinitas

Jay and I have been wanting to visit Matt and Julie down at their home in Encinitas for some time now. With the stress of house hunting and getting ready to start escrow, we needed a little getaway. It worked out great we could go down there for our anniversary weekend. We're SO glad that we did this semi spur of the moment trip, because it was just the medicine we needed for the stress we'd been under. Matt and Julie made our little getaway SO much fun!!

After arriving late morning on Saturday we took them to The Counter where we all enjoyed a late lunch. Then they drove us around a bit and pointed out the local spots. We then went back to their place, just to lounge before they took us to dinner as a treat for our upcoming anniversary.

Here's a local statue that often gets decorated or dressed for various occasions or just because.
It was sporting a wig and dress when we drove by. 

Matt had Jay practice balancing for his unofficial surfing lesson the next day.

Delicious dinner and drinks at Yu Me Ya Sake House

great wall of sake

The next day was spent at the beach 

were I stayed on shore to read, take pictures, and 

soak up the sun, while the gang went out surfing.

Here's them heading out

Matt and Julie who are great instructors!

Julie and Jay

Jay waiting for the "perfect" wave

all three together waiting

catching a ride on waves

surfer Jay

before going home to change, we stopped for DELICIOUS burritos at  Mozy's Cafe

 Syd

give a dog a bone

That evening we cooked a nice dinner together. We had chicken, steak, grilled sweet potato and mango salad, and I made pots de cream for dessert. Julie's grilled salad was amazing!

Monday Jay and I were able to sleep in while Matt and Julie headed to work.
We leisurely got up, partially packed and then headed out for a late breakfast.
We found The Potato Shack Cafe where Jay enjoyed a monstrous pancake combo meal.
His pancake was bigger then a dinner sized plate and looked something like this