In My Own Words

I put two packages in the mail today to one of our Warriors in Iraq. One was full of socks, boxer briefs, and a dozen fine cigars. The other one was full of nutty bars, pop tarts, canned nuts, and individual packs of trail mix, with the “empty spaces” filled with more socks.

The cigars were donated by Mike Nelson of Leaf & Ale in Knoxville, TN. Jack has been buying pipe tobacco from Leaf & Ale for a couple of years or so, and recently joined their fan page on facebook. I joined as well, because I’ve been known to order Jack a nice new pipe or some specialty pipe tobacco blend as a birthday or Father’s Day gift. One of the posted specials was “Buy 4 Cigars, get 1 Free,” and stated that they had hundreds of cigars they’d gotten as samples at shows and such, so when the samples they had were gone, the Buy 4 get 1 deal would end. A little light bulb went on in my brain (I’m always looking for special stuff for our Warriors) and I sent an e-mail to Mike asking what kind of deal I could get on some cigars for our troops. He e-mailed back that he would send me some cigars, and they were here in three days. A dozen assorted fine cigars, no “dog logs” in the bunch. There will be a happy group of Soldiers in Iraq doing a happy dance when they open that box!  If you’re a fan of good cigars, pipe tobacco, gourmet coffees and specialty beers, check out his website http://www.leafandale.com and feel free to tell him Ms Tracy sent you.

I adopted an interesting new Warrior at AnySoldier this afternoon. As I was reading the newest postings, I came across an Air Force member listed as Lucky, Ms. Lmat (Click on those words…it should take you to her request) Well, that immediately caught my eye, so I clicked to see just who this “Ms. Lmat Lucky” might be. Turns out Lucky is a dog that was rescued from the dump as a puppy, raised and cared for by Coalition Forces. She has been a companion and protector of our Warriors for almost 2 years, and with the recent drawdown of forces and resources in the area, their source of dog food has dried up. Lucky signed up with AnySoldier to get dog food…Now, y’all, how could I NOT adopt this one?? I was the 9th person to request her address, so hopefully if I send a couple of 5-lb bags of food (or however much I can fit in a large FRB), so will everyone else send at least that much, and get Lucky started back on a decent diet to keep her lean and fit. I don’t think that’s asking too much, do you? Of course you know I will also buy treats and toys and other dog stuff to send to Ms. Lucky. I tend to spoil our dogs, and I think Lucky deserves a little spoiling, too. After all, she has an important job to do, helping keep the coalition forces safe and relieving their stress.

Well, I’m going to go for now. Need to check my facebook page and see if there are any updates on Nathan. Last I read, they hooked him up to dialysis for three hours this afternoon, they have him in restraints so he wouldn’t pull out the ventilator tube, and he’s still in the medically induced coma. Keep those prayers going up – his wife and children need him!!