In My Own Words

I got the last of the Christmas items that Jini and I bought, and the ones that were donated by three people at work, packed into boxes and on their way to the troops. Now I’m ready to switch gears back to “general care packages.” During the holidays, people will send a lot of stuff, but once Christmas is past, it’s like everybody forgets we’ve got men and women in uniform who are fighting the good fight on our behalf. It’s important to let our troops know they are loved and appreciated year-round, not just when our conscience niggles at us during the Christmas season. After all, they don’t just miss holidays, they miss birthdays, anniversaries, milestones in their childrens’ lives… Keeping morale up is a year-round necessity!

We made a “Sam’s run” today. Raise Dough for the Troops has been such a success, and I’ve got more orders to fill, but was low on or completely out of several ingredients. As usual, Jack took one buggy for our household stuff, and I took one for my “Soldier stuff.” I bought 100 lbs. of bread flour, also shortening, butter, eggs, garlic powder, sugar and yeast so I can start baking bread tomorrow. I also picked up a few things that struck my fancy to put in care packages – like a tub of Atomic Fireballs, a box of hot cocoa mix (60 packets), a tub of cocoa roasted almonds, a box of 12 miniature pecan pies, a box of Chef-boy-ar-dee microwave lunches (8 cups), and a bag of Nature Valley Nut Clusters. Altogether I spent $119.77, and still have almost $90 left in the Troop Support account, with more coming from next week’s bread orders. I believe Raise Dough will continue to be a self-sustaining fund raising effort; so far, so good. It keeps me busy, but I can’t think of a better cause to stay busy for!

Gotta go work on supper. Y’all take care, and thanks for reading my mindless chatter.