From the mind of Marty

I have to laugh, I actually love that Marty is encouraging me in my blogging endeavors. He actually thinks all of my online activity is called "blogging"! As of late, he keeps wanting me to share things on my blog, he wants to you to know what is affecting our family. He doesn't want to talk about his illness but he does want to talk about the woes of the State of CA.

His new daily activity is getting on the Sac Bee and reading the State worker column. It details the issues facing the State worker and different unions. Then he goes to his union website and reads what they intend to do ( not enough in his opinion.) You can go on there and find out the income of any of your state worker friends if you so choose.

Today he wants me to share this video with you. If you click on the title of this blog you can see a blog and video written today as the Governor handed down more furloughs indefinitely. Most likely the next governor will inherit this budget crisis and we will kiss 800 dollars a month goodbye again. Actually we haven't see that yet and that will come tomorrow, only to kiss it goodbye for next month.

No wonder his blood pressure was 200/100 as he left work today, I don't think that is just his disease, I think it is stress related!

Thank you!

Thanks for the prayers and support yesterday. Marty has been feeling sick all week, not sure why. His blood pressure has been high and he just feels weak all around. It was scary having him call from work and say he didn't think he could make it anymore. I was glad to be able to ask people to pray. He still isn't feeling great today, it is just one of those times.

I hate sharing the hard stuff, I try to be positive and not share the hard stuff. But sometimes I just need to vent and get it out. Really there is nothing even I can do, all we can do is pray and wait. For every one thing I share, there is much more that I don't share. Mainly because my husband doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him or for us. But, sometimes I just have to get it out! This blog allows me to document our life and have a way of looking back someday.

Last night Marty and I were praying together. He thanked God for all of our friends and family who support us and encourage us. Even though there is nothing you can do to help, just your kind words, notes and phone calls make a huge difference. We will be glad when one day, none of us will have to talk about this anymore.

Thanks for being our support team, it means the world to us. Prayers did get answered, looks like there won't be minimum wage next month! Thanks for praying about that, what a relief!

Big news, Georgia on our mind

So here's the news, We have decided after Marty's transplant we are going to try to move to Georgia. Marty has always wanted to move out of California and the desire has only grown this past year. Being stuck in Visalia not being able to travel, The State's budget crisis that has affected his income, being sick and dreaming of a future.

We think maybe this time in the wilderness has been to prepare us to move. We haven't been able to see our family in almost two years. None of our friends have been able to come visit with the exception of a couple of friends. Maybe that is what this valley has been all about.

Originally he was pushing for Minnesota but I knew that I would not survive a winter there. Last week, he read a article that Visalia is the 109th worst place to live in the United States, dead last on the list. He went to work and looked the up the best places to live. On the list he found one, Peachtree City,Georgia and he came home to share. I actually have a close friend Sarah who lives in Peachtree and knew all about it. Also a close friend from Disneyland lives in Cumming and had been trying to talk Marty into moving there.

The person this affects the most is my Dad, he is unhappy and I don't blame him. He loves coming to see his grandkids and spend weekends with us. But, he understands we need to do, what we need to do. It is a tough choice but one I think we will regret if we don't take the leap. It will be hard to leave our family, church family and friends, but one we feel we must make.

We have had a rough go at life since 2006, we are ready for a fresh start and some excitement. These last four years have changed us and changed our outlook on life. All of this will wait until Marty get's his transplant and then starts applying for jobs in GA. God could close the door and this dream might not be a reality but it is something we feel very strongly about and a huge peace about. We hope you support us in this dream and understand we feel it is what is best for us.

The cost of living is significantly less. It is close to Atlanta which is easy access for people to visit. I also plan on going back into being a doula and possibly furthering my education in the area of labor and delivery in some way. If you are wondering about the kids, they love the idea and are excited to see a different part of the country.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FurosJ6IMX0

Marty wanted me to share this article

I got a email from Marty today, he wanted me to blog this article. He said it reminded him of us and he thought it would be good to share a insight into our life as a law enforcement family. It really does describe the way I feel about his chosen profession and how life is for us. I often feel like a "single married" and go it alone as a parent at times when he is working. I hope you take the time to read the article and see something that Marty has to say.

Click on the title of this blog to read the article.

Zany adventures of Julie, cycling edition "God answers silly prayer"

On May 20, Conner and I had a wonderful experience. One of those things we will forever remember and cherish. The Amgen Tour of California once again chose our city as a start stage, this was a second opportunity to view riders from our favorite sport. When Conner was young, he got very excited when Lance Armstrong won his seventh Tour De France. We watch the Tour every summer and follow many riders and teams. So you can imagine our excitement when we found out they were coming to our town. Last year, we had the opportunity to go and meet many of our favorite riders.

We started planning days before, it had been on our calendar for months. We knew how to meet the riders since we had gotten lucky the year before being in the right place at the right time. We knew if you stood by the sign in area you could meet most of them. The thing is, since we met them last year our obsession has grown! So we spent the week chattering back and forth in "cycling speak" only he and I can understand. Marty likes it okay, E wants nothing to do with it, so mainly it is buddy and I.

So on Wednesday, the day before we decided to go to the team buses and forego standing by the sign in stage. We knew this was a gamble, but one we were willing to make. We had several riders that we really wanted to meet. As we were talking, I asked Conner to pray with me about it. We got down on our knees in our living room and we prayed. I told Conner, even though it is silly, God still hears silly prayers.

On Thursday morning, we got up and headed downtown. We had Marty drop the two of us off at the convention center. I knew the buses were parked there since that is where they parked last time. We have a big hotel in the same area and I knew since it was the only major hotel, the lionshare of riders would be staying there. We walked around the team cars, watched mechanics working on the bikes and saw many of our favorite team buses. None of the riders were out since it was early and we decided to stand outside the hotel entrance. We figured that way as they walked out, they would walk right by us.

As we were standing there, two people told us to go in the lobby. Conner and I felt that was a bit stalkerish and a tad bit rude. But a waiter came out, he told us " It's public property, go in they are eating breakfast. Don't go in the dining room but wait outside and catch them." as he was saying this he was herding us in the doors. We felt very awkward, but immediately started seeing our favorite riders. We ended up meeting every single one of our favorite riders that day. We got autographs and some of them even posed with us for pictures.

One of the biggest shockers was meeting Mark Cavendish, the world's fastest sprinter. He is known for his temper and cocky attitude. He was so kind to Conner and I, he saw us and walked over to us, before he even went in to eat! He was laughing and smiling and truly so kind to us. Here is a picture of us together



What a nice guy!

Then we had the chance to meet Andy Schleck, he is my favorite rider out there right now and my pick to win the Tour De France this year.



Then Conner got to meet Fabian Cancellara, we love when the annoucer says his name. He is currently world time trial champion.




We also met Tom Boonen, national champion of Belgium. He was very kind and friendly, he was very sore as he had crashed badly in the first stage



After we met everyone at the hotel, we ran over to where we had heard Team Radio Shack would be.We wanted to see Chris Horner and Popo. Since Floyd Landis had accused Lance of doping that morning, the media crush was insane. We saw Lance and his boss Johan Brunyeel give their media statements and saw our favorite cycling reporter covering the event. We once again met Lance and other team Radio Shack members. I will leave you with a picture of our favorite rider on that team, we love Popo . His name is Yaroslav Popovich, he has ridden alongside Lance for many years and is a really sweet guy.




  At the end of the day, Conner and I were happy. God taught Conner a huge lesson, even when you pray for silly things, he hears you and will answer. It might not always be what you want but he does hear you. We felt so blessed and were on a high for days and weeks following.

 Luke11:9-10 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

 Livestrong tee shirt=one pint of blood, Radio Shack tee shirt=20 bucks, making memories with my son=priceless

 

T family picks for Tour De France winners 2010
Marty- Hincapie, Andy Shleck, Lance Armstrong
Conner- Frank Schleck, Lance Armstrong, Hincapie
Elizabeth forced against her will to pick- Cancellara, Lance Armstrong, Andy Shleck
Julie- Andy Shleck, Frank Schleck, Lance Armstrong

The Tour starts tomorrow 21 days of cycling or as Elizabeth calls it "21 days of agony"

State of CA minimum wage order aka 90 percent pay cut for Marty!

So if you haven't heard, the Governator has put all state workers down to minimum wage. You can click on the title of this blog and read the article from the Sacramento Bee.

For us, this is a huge blow after a year of furlough days, which resulted in a 800 dollar a month pay cut. That was rough but we survived, we were the fortunate one's. We didn't lose our credit score, we didn't lose our house and we didn't lose our car. Many other's did.

Years ago, Marty and I made the decision to live debt free as much as possible. Mainly for us, this means living without credit card debt. So the furloughs have been very rough, but we know taking out a credit card would make it worse. We have been okay until now.

These cuts mean we would lose everything, our home, our car, our health insurance! Good thing Marty is eligible for Medicare because he has renal failure. The kids and I would be without though and that is a scary thought.

Marty doesn't seem to be too worried. The State Controller is refusing to comply and will appeal. Also there is a loophole, one that has already benefited them during the furloughs. Overtime, the over time system in California is crazy. Marty has co-workers who make 100,000 a year in overtime on top of their salary. Marty has been working overtime this last month and has accumulated enough to make a full months pay.

In this case, if they work one hour of overtime a wee, the State has to pay them their full wage plus overtime. So many will just work overtime and make up the pay difference. Ridiculous isn't it? You would think they would cut overtime out first before a pay cut.  So it might not affect us, but it will affect many and this time it will be worse than before.

Pray for the State workers and their families!

One thing that is in the forefront of my mind, Marty could easily go on disability and get paid more than working full time. But he chooses to remain working, so that he can get another job someday after his surgery. He struggles to go to work, work for less money and stay healthy. How many people just take the easy way and go on disability? but he choses to work and try. That is what really upset me the most.