In My Own Words

Wow, I was filling out the customs forms for three packages I’ve got ready to go in the mail, and since they’re going out tomorrow I put tomorrow’s date on the signature line – 06/01/2010. It hardly seems possible, but there it is, in black and white. Proof positive that sometimes time flies even when you’re not having fun!!

We had a good weekend, and I suppose I’m ready to go to work tomorrow. I spent today doing laundry and putting together four care packages. Well, I got three completed. I need to pick up a few more dog items for the fourth box, which is going to Caeser at FOB Endeavor. I thought I had enough to fill a large FRB, but I didn’t. Another 5-lb. bag of food and a few more treats and toys, and I can seal it up and send it on its way to Caesar.

I got to chat for a few minutes with SSG Pelfrey; one of the packages I’m sending tomorrow is for his troops. Since he never got a list together, I packed a box full of random “stuff.” He said that’s perfect, because he and his fellow Rakkasans love “random.” He’ll probably be on R&R by the time it gets there, but he assured me somebody would open and share any packages that came while he was gone. You never know…sometimes if packages arrive while the contact is away, even if it’s labeled “Att’n: Any Soldier,” it all gets stacked on their bed until they get back. I’d hate for the Red Knight troops to have to wait to dig in to their box of random stuff…LOL!!

Also had the opportunity to chat with 1SG Winning for a few. I mailed a box to him late last week. I gave him a heads up that it was on the way, but I didn’t tell him what was in it. I sent him a set of Harley Davidson sheets; he bought a Harley last time he came home from Iraq, and he misses his bike. A tank just isn’t the same, somehow…LOL! Of course, there is other random stuff in the package; I filled the space around the sheet set with all kinds of goodies. Like 179 individually wrapped Twizzlers…The container they came in wouldn’t fit in the box, so I had to improvise. (Note to self – if you put 180 Twizzlers in a gallon Ziplock bag, it will not zip. If you eat one of them, it will zip.) Also gum, Breath Savers, magazines, and the latest three issues of the I-24 Exchange. I should be able to hear the smile all the way over here when he opens that one. (Did I mention he loves Twizzlers?)

He told me not to forget to send the I-24 Exchange. I still think it’s hilarious that a tanker from Ft. Carson, currently somewhere in Iraq, enjoys reading our little rag of a paper. He’s getting a big kick out of the Dr. Webb saga – “Stay tuned for the next episode of “As the Stomach Churns.” Will or won’t our phantom director actually come to Cheatham County?” He reads the sheriff’s report and the letters to the editor, and has commented that there seem to be a lot of nuts in Cheatham County. I told him most of those stay on the south side…ROTFL!! Perhaps I should send The Advocate, too…hmmmmmmm…then he could compare.

Well, the dryer just stopped, and it’s full of my work clothes. They have to be put on hangers pretty quick or I’ll have to get the iron out. I hate ironing. So, I suppose this is as good a place as any to sign off for now. Y’all take care, and thanks for reading.