A little update...a year later :)

Well not a whole lot has changed in the last year I made a post. I'm still working insurance for USAA and Ray is still attending college, except now towards his bachelors degree in Technical Management and at DeVry University. He is set to finish in less than a year, depending how many classes he takes at a time. He does have a part time job now in the IT department of his school which he really likes. From what I hear the staff are all friendly, joke around together, seem to like him, and even include him on their twice-a-week ordering out for lunch that the company pays for. What's nice is anytime there is a question about classes or his financing he can just drop in to ask. However we are still struggling financially because of the VA Education benefits-they are always dropping the ball on something at the last minute, therefore we get no payment or less of a payment.

The latest in this is that now Ray is exhausting his Chapter 30 benefit at the end of August. With the Post 9/11 GI Bill now available we found he can continue school by filing for an extension under this program for up to 12 months. However the VA will not accept an application early, he would be penalized if we start the processing time. He must apply the day AFTER chapter 30 is done, go through the estimated 3-4 week processing time (all of Sept) but it is expected to be even longer with people enrolling in school for the fall. He will still be in the middle of attending class, receiving no benefit, and our household will be up to our eyeballs in debt because of this. I don't understand why this must be so difficult??!!! So, the VA makes our lives a living Hell, seemingly on a regular basis.

A real vacation for either of us, even up to Austin is so far from reach now (not to mention a Carribean cruise again) I want to cry just thinking about it. Moving to San Antonio, when I think about it has just been so difficult for me. I am a picky friend-picker, I guess you'd say. I don't have one of those friends like I used to as a teenager that I could just simply dump all my problems onto and they won't judge me. I haven't found many genuine people here, it sucks that people like that are few and far between. I don't know if this will get better with time or if it's just gonna be the way the cookie crumbles here.

Summer Update

Well, just wanted to give a quick update.....

Ray will be graduating from ITT Tech in mid-September, just got all the details on that. No big decisions will be made until we know what/where his new job will be, since we are not confined to just San Antonio. If something really good comes up outside of town then we will consider our options. I am hoping we can move out of this town home by year's end if we're lucky! Otherwise things are normal for the most part, carrying on with everyday life. For me, I am trying to take things one day at a time since I have a bad tendency of stressing over the unknown. Hope everyone else is doing well!

Here Goes!

Brutus

Brutus and I

Ray in his new "going out" suit

Ray and his brother crushing Cascarrones (mexican tradition-used at celebrations like Easter and Fiesta, eggshells filled with confetti) over their heads on Easter Sunday

Ray's formal suit, which he wore to a wedding recently

Milo lazing on Ray's dirty laundry :)

Us in fall 2008