We just hung around the Coach and hid out from the rain today (Monday) until my appointment time with the Veterans Supportive Services Agency (VSSA) representative.  I wrote about making this appointment in a previous post (HERE) when we went into the San Jose Elks Lodge to check out the Veterans Fair & Luncheon.  The meeting went well and I gave the rep all my paperwork and we filled out some forms.  The meeting was held at a combined VSSA and American Legion building.  After the appointment, we found a post office to mail the documents off to the VA with a return-receipt request.  Now all I can do is wait and see if my rating gets re-evaluated.

I was also contacted by an old Army buddy today that lives in the area.  He is a ‘friend’ on Facebook and saw that we were here.  We made plans to get together in Santa Cruz on Tuesday.  I haven’t seen Adam Breed since before I left Germany in 2005.  We were deployed to Iraq together a couple times.  He was in my welding section when I was the Chief Warrant Officer in charge of a Direct Support Battalion operation in Tikrit, Iraq.  Looking forward to catching up with him and his family on Tuesday… as I’ve said before – there’s no greater bond between men than having served in combat.

Around dinnertime, my cousin Beth texted about getting together again for dinner… Well SURE ! 🙂

Beth and her husband Keith (along with two of their three daughters) picked us up again at the Elks Lodge and drove us over to a local Mexican restaurant that they frequent often.  Great food, great company once again!  Man, what service… courtesy pick-up and drop-off… we’re getting spoiled 🙂

Unfortunately cousin Philip and his wife Tina couldn’t make dinner because he was working… he’s still trying for that first million I guess 🙂  We still have time here to get together… and if we don’t we’ll just have to stay longer, right?

Check back later to see how our day in Santa Cruz goes…  The rain stopped and it looks like we have good weather again for a while…