Here in the midst of rounding up funds and items for Christmas Care Packages, I adopted another group of soldiers this morning. Yeah, I know…but I just happened to click on a name at AnySoldier when I logged on to check an updated status (I don’t know why I chose that particular name, it just happened) and I couldn’t help myself. They’re on a remote outpost with no access to a PX, and are requesting socks, t-shirts, boxer briefs, basic hygiene gear, dsiposable plates, bowls & eating utensils. I’m a sucker for a troop that is asking for such basic items instead of video games and computers and such. So of course I had to request their address, and I’ve already got one large box ready to drop in the mail tomorrow for them. I’ve recruited a couple more friends to help with their request, so we’ll have them taken care of in no time.

A friend and fellow troop support junkie in East Tennessee made a $100 donation on my ChipIn site for Christmas packages this morning, which is a great help. Thank you, Patricia – you’ve got a heart of gold! I have pointed out before that my most generous donors have been Vietnam Veterans and troops I have previously supported when they were deployed. I need to add “family members of active duty troops” to that list; Patricia’s brother is stationed in Vicenza, Italy with the 173rd Airborne and has been deployed to the sand box in the recent past. I can only assume that since all of these folks have been there, done that, from either standpoint, they understand the necessity of supporting our Warriors more so than the average person who has neither been there, nor done that, nor experienced the worry and fear that goes with having a loved one in a battle zone. God love ‘em all – Bonnie Roach, Dana Courtney, Andy Bailey, Randy Grailer, Alicia Guiliani, Larry Thompson, Mike Apelu, “My Joe” Keller, Patricia Cooper Simpson, Faye Wilson, Lynn Seifert, Sharon Kinnard, Michelle Galipo, Doyle Pritchard – I couldn’t do all I do without ‘em!

I’ve got Paul & Jennifer’s three girls for the night, and it’s time to get them settled onto pallets on the living room floor for some sleep (or for some giggling, wrestling, tattling, and what-not) because I’m a tired old lady and I need my rest. LOL!! Thanks for reading my ramblings. Catch y’all later; maybe by then I will have caught my tail…

We have several Warriors who enjoy homemade cookies. I haven’t had the wherewithal to send much lately, nor to bake cookies in any quantity at all. I put out an “all call” via e-mail at work this week, as there is a Marine who works for the Board of Ed who is currently deployed to Afghanistan, for whom we’ve gotten together to make a couple of care packages. He’s one of the troops I’m wanting to send some homemade cookies to; therefore I don’t feel so bad asking for a little assistance from my co-workers.  In my e-mail I asked if anybody would like to bake some cookies to include, or donate ingredients for me to make cookies, or help with postage. I got one anonymous donation of $20, left on my desk while I was at lunch. In the next couple of days I got $20 donations from two co-workers, a promise to bake some cookies from another, and cookie ingredients from still another. I used one of the $20 donations to buy flour, shortening, sugar, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and a lb. of butter and made plans to bake as many cookies as possible this weekend.

Shawn and Jini needed a sitter for Friday because they both had to work from 4:00 until closing time, so I got Jeremy and Ana to help with the cookie project. One of our Soldiers loves peanut butter cookies; they happen to be his favorite. So of course, I had to make some of those.  I gave Jeremy and Ana each a fork and showed them how to smash down the cookie dough and make the criss-cross pattern that peanut butter cookies are known for, and that became their job. Jack came in the kitchen and made the comment that I wasn’t just making cookies, I was making memories – how true! He grabbed the camera and took a few shots of us working on the cookies. I posted the pics on facebook and sent a message to the troops we’re sending cookies to, so they could see the “Keebler elves” helping make treats for our troops. After the peanut butter, we made snickerdoodles and gingersnaps; the kids’ jobs helping with those were to be my taste-testers, which they both did very well. Naturally, they had to taste the dough as well as the finished product.

Making memories with the grandkids

The whole time we were working, Ana was asking questions. She wanted to know if they were her soldiers too, and if I was going to take the cookies to them, could she come with me. She asked if soldiers had kids, and if so, do their kids have toys and bikes and pets. She wondered if the soldiers shared their cookies with the bad guys, would they stop hurting people and be nice so our soldiers could come home. She wanted to know why the bad guys were so mean, and why don’t our soldiers make them be good. Every answer I came up with prompted yet another question. When we were done making the cookies, she asked if I would put a picture in the boxes of her and Jeremy helping me so our soldiers would know they helped. She’s a regular little Chatty Cathy…LOL!! I suppose I can print out some 3×5 or 4×6 copies of the pictures PaPa took and include them with a note in each package of goodies I send. Here are a couple of pictures of our project:

Jeremy making criss-cross patterns on peanut butter cookies

Ana making the criss-cross pattern on peanut butter cookies

Today the weather was cold, wet, and miserable, so I spent the entire day completing the cookie project. I made two batches of peanut butter no-bake cookies, and double batches each of chocolate chip oatmeal, chocolate & butterscotch chip oatmeal, and raisin & walnut oatmeal. I was on my own today, but somehow I managed to get the job done. I have packaged them in quart-size Ziploc bags and now am ready to get boxes packed, addressed, and ready to go in the mail on Monday. I hope the troops enjoy eating the cookies as much as the kids and I enjoyed making them!

When I mail off a letter or package to Iraq or Afghanistan, I never know which snail will be on duty at that particular time. I always hope it is Zippy, but there are no guarantees. I mailed off some cookies to two of our Warriors in Afghanistan on March 11th. One box was going to a Soldier, the other going to a Marine. The Soldier received his box of cookies within 10 days; the Marine still hasn’t gotten his. Obviously in this case, Zippy got the first box, and Cletus got the second one. Heck, for all I know he may have gotten hungry waiting for someone to notice he was glued to the tarmac again and eaten the cookies…who knows? So there we have Jason, our Marine, in Afghanistan with his heart set on homemade cookies, and who knows when or if they will ever arrive. Thanks, Cletus….

I mailed off two boxes to SSG Morford on Saturday, March 26th – one for her female Soldiers, the other for her male Soldiers. On my facebook wall this morning, bright and early, she posted that they just got the packages and were so excited to get them. If you do the math, you’ll find that it took a mere FIVE DAYS for both boxes to arrive in Afghanistan. Kinda makes me wonder if Zippy is on speed…I’m glad they received both boxes at the same time (to keep things fair) and that they got there so quickly.  One of SSG Morford’s female Soldiers sent a sweet “Thank You” e-mail to me and to Bonnie this morning, as well. That should help brighten Bonnie’s day in Bagram; I know it brightened mine in Cheatham County!

The second graders at West Cheatham Elementary sent two boxes of items last week. On Friday, the Future Business Leaders of America Club at Cheatham County Central High School brought in 6 large boxes full of stuff, to include 3 boxes of thermal mugs with lids. Yesterday a teacher from Harpeth High School brought in 6 boxes and 3 bags full of items. Another teacher from Cheatham County Central sent over a box of things one of her classes brought in. The collection box here at the office was full to the top, so I went ahead and took it home. After I left the office, somebody from Sycamore High School left two bags full of stuff in my chair. Then Paul called me last night to tell me one of his friends on facebook who is a teacher has collected items from her students and will be bringing it over to the office this afternoon on her way home from school.

Currently, there is so much “stuff” in the Soldier Room that there is just enough room for a path from the door to my work table (which is also buried in “stuff.”)  I’m going to have to get things sorted and packed in boxes as I go. It’s looking like I may wind up with 40 or more large FRB’s when it’s all said and done. Based on my past Christmas care package experience, I had saved $200 to cover postage for 16 boxes. I’m putting my faith in God to provide the rest. He’s never let me down yet. (He’s made me nervous a time or two…LOL!)

Sharon handed me $100 this morning for postage. Two friends on facebook made donations on my website http://helpmstracysupportthetroops.com , one $25 and the other $50. (The $25 donor had just made a $40 donation a few days ago.)  Every once in awhile our director will give us permission to wear jeans if we will contribute to a cause, like Christmas Anonymous, a fund raiser for a little boy at one of our schools who has a life-threatening medical condition, and now postage for care packages. Friends at the office are making donations for the right to wear blue jeans to work today; I’ll know in a little bit how much that brings in.

All in all, I have to say I am truly impressed and very thankful for the response to this extremely worthwhile endeavor. There will be a lot of happy troops on the receiving end of the generosity of so many people.  I’m honored to have a part in getting all these donated items to our Warriors who give so much on our behalf.

For six months I followed Sis’s postings on facebook of the ups and downs Nafe went through before he finally lost the fight, and I shared those postings with my facebook friends since they were all lifting him and the family in prayer throughout the ordeal. Several sent cards and words of encouragement to Nafe, which not only raised his spirits but also touched Sis’s heart. A lot of these people I have never met in person, and probably won’t in my lifetime, but I feel like I’ve known them forever and I consider myself fortunate to have them as friends. When Nafe passed and my heart was breaking for Sis, there were many kind words and condolences posted; a lot of my fb friends signed the online guestbook, lit candles, and left hearts for the family on Mitchell-Jerdan Funeral Home’s website.

The day after Nafe passed, a fellow AnySoldier.com troop supporter and friend from Louisiana went to my website and donated $50 in Nafe’s honor. Another friend & fellow troop supporter in Alabama went to the site and donated $50 to help with the trip to Illinois. Today I got a beautiful card from a friend & fellow troop supporter in Texas with a $50 check enclosed, and the message written inside the card says “I didn’t send flowers to Nafe’s funeral because I wanted to make a donation to your favorite cause. Please use this check to fill a box for some of your soldiers in honor of Nafe’s memory. You are loved.” Is it any wonder my eyes have been leaking so much lately?

I want to send out special thanks to “Maddog,” Carol, Patricia, Phillis, as well as to everyone who prayed for Nafe for six months, sent cards & letters to encourage him, and offered condolences at his passsing. Honor in Great Britain, Cornelia in Greece, Laura and Denra at Ft. Campbell – y’all are treasures! Hugs {{{{{{Everyone of you!}}}}}}

My troop support account was down to pretty much nothing again, so I haven’t been able to send many boxes lately. I baked bread Sunday to take to work Monday and sold all but one loaf. That gave me $40 to deposit. Tuesday when I got to work, I found an envelope on my computer keyboard that had “For the troops” written on it; when I opened it there was a $20 bill. A friend on facebook whose daughter recently returned from Afghanistan went to my site and made a $15 donation. Then when I got home and checked the mail, we had a check from the mortgage company, a refund of $200 from our escrow account. Jack and I each got $50 and put the rest toward a bill that was due. You can probably guess where my share went…

So now I’ve got $280 and change in the troop support account, and we’re going to hit Sam’s Club this weekend. I’m going to buy cookie ingredients so I can send some cookies to Ron, Dana, Kenneth, and Jennifer’s cousin Andy, a few bread ingredients so I can raise some more dough for the troops, and a lot of goodies for care packages. I intend to spend no more than $150 at Sam’s, so I will have enough left for postage. I hate when I run out of postage before I run out of “stuff” to send…don’t you? LOL!

My friend Tracey wants to help with a bake sale to raise dough for the troops; she has already checked with Wal-Mart and they said we could set up in their parking lot. I’ve got a banner ordered that is supposed to get here by September 15th, to hang on the front of one of the tables. Tracey’s quite a cook; I expect we’ll have a lot of goodies to sell. Then she and I will have to go shopping for “stuff” for our troops, and have a packing party. It’s nice to finally have somebody from outside the family who wants to help!

Above is the rough draft of the banner I’ve ordered for the bake sale. I made a few minor changes to it, but this gives a basic idea. This will hang on the front of the table when Tracey and I set up shop in the Sprawl-Mart parking lot. I’m going to put an ad in the AC Times and the I-24 Exchange, and maybe hang up a few signs here and there before hand, and hopefully we’ll be able to raise a few bucks for our Warriors! They need our support now more than ever, I think.

Now I’m all out of words, so I’m going to sign off. Catch y’all later! Thanks for reading my ramblings. If I didn’t blog, I’d probably explode or something, then who would clean up that mess? LOL! Take care. Hugs {{{{family, friends, Warriors}}}}

Our 28-year-old nephew Nathan has been in ICU since February 13th after a horrendous car accident, and has been on quite a roller-coaster of improvement followed by setback. His Mom (my oldest sister) has been at his side for the majority of his stay in first Carle Hospital in Champaign, IL and now Barnes Jewish Hospital in St Louis, MO. Nafe hit a rough patch earlier this month, and his doctors prepared everyone for the worst – but he’s rallied around and is off the ventilator now. He’s not out of the woods by a long shot, but he’s not currently knocking at death’s door either.

My Dad took a fall at the campground where he’s host, and wound up in the hospital unable to stand or to use his hands. He was moved from the local hospital where they’d taken him, to St. John’s in Springfield, IL, where there’s a neurology department. An MRI showed there was a narrowing of the spinal canal at C4 and C5 vertebrae, down to 4 cm from 12 cm, which the fall he took aggravated and caused pressure on his spinal cord. That is what caused the inability to use his hands and legs. Surgery was scheduled, and was performed on Monday. I wasn’t able to be there, but thankfully family members who are on facebook kept updates posted. The surgery went well; he’s doing good. They’re talking about sending him to a spinal injury rehab facility for a couple of weeks of intense physical therapy focused on the type of injury he has before sending him to a skilled nursing facility.

On the Soldier side of my world, I was able to send out several care packages this month. Some recipients I have heard back from, others I have not and likely will not. We got a thank-you note from one of our Ft. Campbell troops letting us know they got the package we sent and that everybody enjoyed the snacks and goodies; I sent a reply to the note the next day so I wouldn’t forget.  Last night I composed letters to several of our Warriors, which will go in the mail today.

One of our Warriors is on R&R, getting ready to go back to the Kitty Litter Box in a few days. One will be going on R&R soon. I just heard from one a couple of days ago who just got back in Feb., was reassigned to a different base, and is already being deployed again. (I hate that…I’m sure his wife and little ones hate it even more than I do!) Another of our Warriors is in a rough place at the moment, and he and his Soldiers could use a little extra morale boost. I could only send one or two boxes, but one of my friends (and fellow Support Junkie) came to the rescue – she adopted his group and was able to get 22 boxes of goodies together and sent out. God bless you, Patricia! You are a prime example of why Tennessee is nicknamed the Volunteer State, and it has nothing to do with college basketball!

We’ve had some unexpected expenses this month and the budget is really tight. It is going to take a little time to get things caught up, and in the meanwhile I’m going to be mostly sending cards and letters to our Warriors. I guess that’s better than a jab in the eye with a sharp stick, but I still feel like I’m letting our Warriors down. I’m going to have to get over that, I know; it just might take a little time. (I can hear Sis saying “Oh, my heck…just put on your big girl panties and deal with it!” So, Sis, consider it done…LOL!)

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Feel free to comment; any feedback, positive or negative, is always welcome.

Me: Y’all are on the list for a care package this week. Is there anything in particular you need or would like to have?

Him: I can’t think of anything we specifically need at the moment.

Me: So, if I throw a bunch of random stuff in a box, you’re good with that?

Him: Mail is such a treat, we’d even be happy to receive an empty box.

Me: Well, since it will cost the same for postage whether the box is empty or it has 20 lbs. of goodies inside, I reckon I’ll just pack it full of random stuff. Sunflower seeds, twizzlers, granola bars, trail mix, cookies, crackers, pretzels, mac & cheese, ramen noodle cups…any favorites?

Him: That all sounds wonderful. Although, think how much simpler it would be to fill out a customs form for an empty box…

I found that particularly hilarious because any “Support Junkie” will tell you that filling out the customs forms is the most aggravating thing in the world. Gotta list all the contents, how many of each item, the weight and the cost, all in a too-small area on the form. So he’s right – a form for an empty box would be a piece of cake…LOL!!

Y’all have a great day; catch ya later.

Some of you reading this know that I hate shopping. I know, that’s just not normal…women are supposed to love going shopping and spending money. I even know some who like to go shopping and not even buy anything; just look at everything in the store. But if I have funds available for care package items, I LOVE wandering up and down the aisles with my shopping cart and picking things out for our Warriors. I tally everything up as I go, and when I reach the limit I set for myself before we even got to the store, well, I just stop putting stuff in the cart and head for the checkout. This trip I got quite a variety – Slim Jims, Beef Jerky, sunflower seeds, trail mix, several varieties of granola bars, Easy Mac cups, ramen noodle cups, Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee cups, crackers and cookies in individual serving packs, Twizzlers, Oreo cookies, Rice Krispy treats…I can’t even remember what all; I just know I spent a little over $200 including sales tax, and it looked like a mountain of “stuff” when I got it carried into the house.

Last night I got two boxes packed and put them in the mail today for two of our latest adopted troops. You know how people say it’s a small world…well, I’ve discovered that it really IS a small world. One of our latest adopted troops is 744th EOD; their request said “anything that they can eat, read, or play with is welcome.” I’d already decided the first package to them would be filled with a variety of “anything they can eat,” which is exactly what one of the boxes going in the mail today consisted of.  I was talking to  our oldest son Paul one day last week, and he said something about Jennifer’s cousin Andy, who is an EOD tech, having just left for Afghanistan a couple of days earlier. I didn’t put two and two together until he said Andy had not deployed with the rest of his unit; he’d been sick or something and had to catch up with them; they were already boots on ground in A’stan. Well, guess what? Andy is with the 744th EOD…so I indirectly adopted an indirect family member and didn’t even know it… You know that group is going to get a little extra “spoiling”…LOL!!

I sent out an e-mail this morning to everyone at the Board of Ed asking for donations of summer items for care packages. The list included sunscreen, lip balm, eye drops, saline nasal spray, baby wipes, flavor packets for bottled water, squirt guns, water balloons, anything to help cool off our Warriors, protect them from the elements, and help them relax a little bit. Only one person mentioned the e-mail – at lunch time, Kinny told me he has two packs of water balloons he had bought for his grandkids to use at the pool, then thought better of it when he imagined little bits of broken balloons getting jammed in the pool filter. He was wondering what to do with them, so when he got my e-mail request a light bulb went on over his head – send ‘em to the sandbox! So even if nobody else donates anything, there are two packs of water balloons that I didn’t have before. Every little bit helps.

I’ve got enough funds left to pay postage on 8 more large FRB’s, and probably have more “stuff” than will fit into 8 boxes… That’s the way it always goes, though, as every AnySoldier Support Junkie can attest to. So I’ll send what I can, and God will provide for the rest; He always does!

Our Soldier, SPC Dana Atkinson is now Cpl Dana Atkinson – go Dana!! She’s taking two of her Soldiers before the Soldier of the Month board tomorrow (or today, since they are 8 hours ahead of us, so it’s already tomorrow where they are…) so we’re all wishing them the best of luck – Go “Q” and Andy!! Hooah! Sounds like I need to make these troops some more cookies; they’ve obviously been working hard and definitely deserve a treat.

I have clothes in the dryer that I need to put on hangers before they get all frinkled and wrinkled, then it’s time to think about hitting the hay. Thanks for reading my ramblings, and as always, feel free to comment. That’s the only way I know if anybody is reading my blog or not. I don’t suppose it would matter either way, since I’ll keep on writing regardless, but it sure is nice to get a little feedback. Hugs {{{{{{y’all}}}}}}

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…

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.