In My Own Words

First I got an e-mail from one of my Marines in Afghanistan, with a picture attached. The picture is of him raising the Tennessee State flag at the FOB where he’s stationed. He has friends in Greeneville (which is where Nolichuckey Bluffs is; our favorite vacation spot) that he’s sending the flag to. In the e-mail he said he thought I’d enjoy a picture of Tennessee’s flag flying over Afghanistan, since he figures it doesn’t happen very often. LOL!

Charlie raising Tennessee State flag over Afghanistan...

When I got home and checked the mail, there was a large manila envelope with an APO return address and a customs form, which immediately identified it as coming from one of our Warriors. Inside the envelope was a 3′x5′ American flag, and a certificate dedicating the flag to “Jake” and Tracy Roberts, on behalf of our adopted Warrior and Task Force ATTACK. The flag was flown on a mission over Afghanistan, in an Apache Helicopter, and the certificate was signed by the Pilot-In-Command as well as the Co-Pilot/Gunner. Who’s gonna quibble over the fact that “Jake” is actually “Jack,” with a treasure like that?? Certainly not me! Jake was pretty impressed, as well…

I’ve baked bread nearly every night this past week, including 4 dozen rolls I baked tonight for Jennifer to take to the early Thanksgiving dinner her family is having tomorrow. Tomorrow I am taking the day off. Well, let me re-phrase that a bit… I’m not baking any bread tomorrow. Instead, I am going to spend the day packing up the rest of the “stuff” I have on hand for Christmas care packages, and get them in the mail as soon as I can. It might be Tuesday, because I’ve requested Monday off from work so I can spend the day baking for Tuesday’s delivery. It will be an all-day job; I’ve got to bake 4 loaves of Cinnamon Swirl bread and 14 dozen assorted rolls (white, wheat, and garlic & herb). Sunday I will be in the kitchen the major part of the day, as well – that order includes 6 loaves of Cinnamon Swirl bread and 14 dozen assorted rolls, to be delivered Monday. I’ve raised a lot of dough for our troops in the past couple or three weeks…

I finally got a call from Chrissy at AnySoldier.com, to set up a recurring donation of $10 per month. I know I can spare that much for sure, from my $40 monthly allowance. I figure when I’ve got extra to spare, I’ll go to the site and donate in addition to the automatic donation, which will begin Dec. 27. Gotta do my part to help keep AnySoldier up and running! They’re the best at what they do, and all us AnySoldier Support Junkies would be lost without them! If Raise Dough for the Troops keeps rolling along at a fairly steady pace, I will try to send an additional $20 or so at random times. I expect it to level off after the holidays, but not to go away completely.

Well, I said I was going to hit the hay BEFORE 11:00 tonight, so I’m gonna sign off before I lose all track of time. I’m kinda sorta a little bit tired…If any of my Warriors happen to read this – Blah blah blah, nag nag nag, STAY SAFE!! Don’t make me have to come over there…