Let’s see… what’s new lately? Well, I got an e-mail today from one of our Warriors, checking in to let me know he and his group are still kicking. He attached a couple of pictures of some kids in their area of operations. Looking at the pictures, one can’t help but think that children are children, wherever they may be. God knows the children of Afghanistan have little enough to smile about, but they all had smiles on their faces. Laughter and smiles do indeed seem to be the universal language.
However, there can be exceptions to that assumption. Another of our Warriors who is part of a Combat Camera Unit posted some pictures of Afghan children, also smiling. The caption on one picture noted that one of the children had said he would like to cut our Warrior’s throat – and he’d just handed them some candy. So – I guess that particular child was smiling because the thought of taking out one of our Heroes makes him happy. That made me sad, but then I thought about how long their country has been at war, and I concluded that it’s not really all that surprising that a child would have such a thought in those circumstances. It also made me think “No more candy for THAT kid!!”
I stopped at the post office this morning to send off a care package, and the two postal clerks that were on duty were asking me about Raise Dough for the Troops. After Ms Betty (the Postmistress) paid postage for four care packages, I dropped off 3 loaves of bread that were extras from an order, and everybody tried some. The clerks were telling me that Ms Betty took the multigrain loaf, and had highly recommended it. The two of them had tried the cinnamon swirl bread, and they had all kinds of questions about how I got such a perfect swirl of cinnamon in the center of the loaf and such. I told them I sell the bread to help fund my care package “habit,” which they said Ms Betty had told them. By the time my package was on its way, I had orders for four loaves of bread for Monday, and a request for blank order forms for later. Every little bit helps!
I have been out of stamps for awhile, so haven’t written letters lately. Today I bought a book of stamps, so I have no excuse not to write some letters this weekend. It’s going to be too cold to get out and do anything, and what better to do on a miserable cold snowy day than write a few encouraging words to our Warriors?
After spending money at Dollar General Market and Avon.com yesterday, mailing a package today and buying the stamps, I have $0.44 left in the troop support account. Yeah, a whopping 44 cents. The price of a stamp. Hopefully I’ll get some more bread orders soon, so I can mail some packages containing underwear, socks, and hygiene gear for some of our Warriors. Otherwise, I will have to wait until payday, which is the 25th of each month. I hope they don’t raise postage again any time soon; every time they do, they cramp my style. I know my fellow Support Junkies feel my pain!
I’m going to go sit in front of the fireplace while there’s still some fire to enjoy. Thanks for reading my ramblings. And if any of our Warriors happen to be reading this – y’all know the routine: Blah blah blah, nag nag nag, STAY SAFE!! Don’t make me have to come over there…
