In My Own Words

The “busy week” turned out quite well once all was said and done. I was up late Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights baking bread and cookies for Raise Dough for the Troops, so I was a little tired by the end of each day of the sale. The first day I made $47, the second day I made $62, and the third day I made $102. Out of the zillions of cookies and all the bread I’d baked, and the four chess pies our daughter-in-law Jennifer contributed to the cause, all I brought home at the end of the last day were 8 cookies, 1 loaf of white bread, and 1 chess pie. Subtract the $24 I spent on ingredients for the cookies, and I netted $187 for care packages and postage. It might not be a fortune, but it’s a lot better than the 44 cents I had left in the Support Account.

I met all kinds of folks and answered all kinds of questions during those three days. One elderly lady wanted to know how to fill out a customs form; two young men from her church have deployed to Afghanistan and the church members want to send care packages. She said the form is awfully confusing, and they know it “has to be filled out perfectly or it will get rejected.” So I explained to her that it doesn’t have to be as specific as the instructions lead one to believe, and gave her examples of how I fill out a customs form.

She was talking about how they plan to send food and toiletries both, so I told her not to pack them in the same box. Otherwise when the package gets to the recipient, everything in the box will taste like soap or deodorant or whatever you’ve packed in with the food. The hotter the weather, the worse the flavor transference is. You never know when you send a box over there how long it might sit in the sun on a pallet before it gets where it’s going. She said she was glad to get that information, because sure enough they were planning to put it all in one box.

Another young lady came over to my table and said she had some items for care packages, and was going to be picking up some more. She wanted to know how to get them to me or to the FRG or whoever so they’d get to the troops. If what I heard is truth and not just a hopeful rumor, our guys are coming home sooner than originally expected, so I gave her one of my business cards and told her to give me a call whenever she’s got stuff she wants sent. Even when our Guard members return home, goodness knows I’ve got a rolodex full of other troops who will still be there for several months. Every contribution is a big help.

I met a new friend, TJ Jordi, who was asking for bread-baking tips; he said his bread always “falls.” I haven’t figured that one out yet; I’ve had cakes fall, but never a loaf of bread. Anyway, I’m going to be e-mailing TJ some bread recipes and tips that I’ve learned over the years that make a big difference in how the loaves turn out. He visited my website, and liked it enough that he linked it to his own page. I’ve had a lot more hits on my page in the past couple of days, which I attribute to the links TJ placed on his page.

Gotta get busy now; thanks for reading my ramblings; feel free to share, and to leave comments… To my Warriors, blah blah blah, nag nag nag, STAY SAFE!! Don’t make me have to come over there…