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Going on hiatus..

Well to get right to the point, I will not be blogging for a while and this is why:

Joseph and I paid a visit to the ophthalmologist (eye specialist) on Tuesday. Joe was diagnosed with partial blindness, or visual impairment, due to nerve damage, and probably caused by his MS. Since it is nerve damage it is medically irreversible. This new diagnosis has been a shock and been pretty devastating for the both of us. As of yesterday he is no longer able to work at Toyota. We are seeking out help and resources from Blindness centers and vision rehabilitation services, also unemployment and we already have an appointment for disablilty.

So I will be leaving my morning job (keeping my teaching job if possible) for something more full-time while we work things out for Joe. We have already hit the phone lines hard talking to state foundations for the blind and we will be in touch with a vocational and rehabilitation counselor, from the Department of services for the Blind, soon after Christmas.

Joseph and I have already received priesthood blessings from my grandfather and from the sounds of it he will not be regaining his vision, but things will somehow work out. We were comforted by the blessings but that does not take away the hurt or difficulty of the situation we are now in. We have also been fortunate enough to be able to visit with our wonderful bishop last night and he is on board and ready to help with whatever we need. He has been a great support for us.

The timing is awful but good at the same time, I am on Christmas Vacation from both from my jobs and so I have the time to dedicate to contacting everyone we need to, and accessing the help we know we need.

**Disclaimer*** we are not looking for pity, or unsolicited advice, however we are looking for prayers and words of comfort from our family and friends during this difficult time. Thank you for understanding.

Really going private

Hey Ya'll just a friendly reminder, we are going private in two weeks, I need more emails if you want to continue reading!! :)

-S

It went down like this... (short story style)

(This is the true story, thanks for your comments, and as you read you will notice that I incorporated all of them into my little story, look for them)

It was a chilly morning and in the slight breeze fog hung thick. As we departed for our journey that day we knew we would arrive our destination with time to spare, we had plenty of time and we had everything we would need. Little did we know the events that would unfold on our way. The trip started out well enough, my handsome companion Joseph and I were alone, and enjoying our time together. Julius (our car) kept us warm, comfortable and entertained us by playing lovely tunes, a soundtrack for our jaunt to Spokane (my birthplace). We were heading to see a magic man, called a neurologist, who looks at brains.

Remember the fog? Fog is a funny fellow, he loves to play tricks on us poor mortals, you know. He would tease, and leave for moments just to return to us full and thick the next. His best trick though is to persuade you to think you are moving slow when in fact if you aren't careful you could accidentally engage warp speed and miss your destination completely, or leave the planet entirely. Luckily, that was not the case with us, however we were traveling much faster than that of the posted speed limit signs. (And in the right direction, we didn't get lost.) I looked down, and discovered my error, but it was too late, curse you fog!

Without my knowledge a police officer had clocked me doing 81 in a 70. He turned on his spinning red, white, and blue lights, signaling me to pull over to the side of the road. I did so. This short, round, kind faced man approached my window and checked my papers (you know insurance, registration, license). He left and went back to his squad car. I was upset, can you blame me, really? The magic man only waits so long and if we were late he may not see us. The officer noticed my distress.... I must stop to explain that there was no crying, wailing or gnashing of teeth present from myself. However the officer was so moved at my demeanor that he called another officer to join us.

The man that came was a tall, and slender man with a very large hat. He approached my window much like the round man, and he asked if I would exit the vehicle and speak to him. I did. He was so very sweet, I was led to stand beside him out behind our car, on the side of a cold and long highway. Things then unexpectedly took a serious turn that held me in complete surprise, apparently my emotional response to the first officer alarmed him so much that it must have seemed necessary for this conversation (or something very close) to take place :

"I wanted to talk to you and make sure that you are doing okay, I was informed that you were pretty upset when you were pulled over. Are you doing okay?"
"Yes, I am fine."
"Are things going alright? Are you in a fight or something? Does your husband ever hurt you?"
Shock and bewilderment hit me, full force. And must have read on my face as I responded,
"What? No. Never. My husband is wonderful and wouldn't ever do anything to hurt me.
"Well we just wanted to check and make sure you didn't need help or anything."
"Thank you I appreciate it, I was just upset about being pulled over."
"So, where are you guys headed?"
"We are headed to see a nuerologist in Spokane."
"A nuerologist huh, so why are you seeing a nuerologist in Spokane?"
"My husband has MS and has had a recently had a flare up and he needs to see this nuerologist, who specializes in treating MS"
"Wow, MS that must be upsetting for you"
"Yes. sir."
"And that must be pretty tough to deal with."
"Yes, yes it really is."
"Now that we know what is going on, you are free to wait inside your vehicle." "Thank you, Officer."

Shortly after this conversation, and after rejoining my loving, albeit worried husband in the car, the round officer approached my window. He took pity on us in our situation, and gave me a ticket for going 75+, thus reducing the fine by $50. (And just so you know, I have already paid my ticket,my first real ticket -that wasn't totally bogus! Seeing as how I obviously earned it.) We continued on our way at a much slower pace, as you can imagine. That little stop cost us 30 minutes,and $93. If it weren't for a handy cell phone, we wouldn't have bean able to call the office of the magic man, and let them know we were going to be late.

Following all of this, we did indeed make it to see the neurologist, and had a productive appointment with him. You should know that Spokane is a busy place, with many one way streets, but for a talented driver like myself and no immediate need for crazy turns, donuts or swirly maneuvers, we found our destination, and also a cute Italian restaurant in which to dine and toast our birthday. Then off to DQ where we got caught up eating ice cream, because it is the best treat in the whole world.

-S

(comments please on my awesome story!)

Riddle me this...

We were late to Joseph's appointment on Monday, because I was speeding.

Kudos to anyone who can tell me what really happened!

P.S. I will share the whole story after some fun guesses!

-S