In My Own Words

1SG Ron Winning wearing the infamous Christmas Tree Hat

So, the Dancing Christmas Tree Hat made it over to Iraq, and Ron wore it just like he said he would.  His unit’s facebook page included this picture, and I swiped it for my blog. He said his soldiers got a big kick out of the hat, and he was wearing it to help motivate them. Personally, I think he just enjoyed wearing it…LOL!

Of the 37 packages sent, I have heard from four of the troops that received theirs. I may or may not hear from any of the rest, but as long as the packages don’t come back to me I know somebody got them, and that’s the whole idea behind sending them – for some Soldier serving far from home to get something that lets them know they are appreciated. One of our Soldiers from Ft. Campbell wrote a thank you note for the goodies in the box, and included a separate letter for me to give to Jennifer, thanking her students for the notes and handmade cards they sent for me to include in care packages. Jennifer said her students are going to be thrilled to get his letter; I’m sure they will!

We put the last two Christmas care packages in the mail this morning. All together, 37 packages went out – one to each Warrior in the Troop Support Rolodex. I never could have done it without the contributions of the various classes, clubs, and individual folks who answered my request for help with this project. Left to my own devices, I might have been able to put together four or five decent Christmas packages, so I really appreciate the assistance more than mere words can say.

There was such a great variety of “stuff” donated. There’s no way I can possibly list it all, but I’ll give it my best shot. Items donated included: hand warmers, foot warmers, hot cocoa, marshmallows, candy canes, hand held video games, Christmas cards, insulated mugs, gloves, warm hats, thermal boot socks, all kinds of candies: chocolate, hard candy, peppermint tootsie roll pops, bubblegum, Werthers, Life Savers… crossword puzzle books, Suduko puzzles, word-find puzzles, dominoes, playing cards, dice, travel-size Yahtzee, stuffed animals, reindeer antler headbands, Santa hats, stockings, strings of Christmas lights, hygiene gear, pens & pencils, Little Debbie snack cakes of all varieties, cookies, beef jerky, Christmas note pads… I’m sure I’ve left things out, but you get the picture.

My favorite of all the donated items was this: Dancing Christmas Tree hat (click to see).

Then there were monetary donations as well, without which there is NO WAY I could have possibly paid postage on those 37 boxes. I had two packages going to larger units, which called for a larger box – one weighed 18 lb 11 oz, and the other weighed 13 lb 15 oz. The combined postage on those two was $30.87. Two of the remaining 35 were medium flat rate boxes, which combined, cost $21.40 to mail. 33 were large flat rate boxes, which at $12.50 each was another $412.50. In case you would rather not do the math, the grand total spent on postage is $464.77. I already had $200 put back for postage; the rest came from “Green for Jeans Friday” at the office, where for a cash donation toward a worthy cause, we get to wear jeans to work; and from some generous souls who wanted to help get some Christmas cheer to the troops.

There were also handmade cards from students at Harpeth High School, letters and art work from students at Harpeth Middle School, letters and art work from second graders at West Cheatham Elementary. I put a handful of them in each box until I ran out of letters; our troops enjoy hearing from the kids. I read them before I put them in care packages, and I can see why they are so popular with our Warriors. Kids are so honest, and so awesome! I included a note in each package letting the Soldiers know where the contents and the notes and artwork came from; hopefully some will be able to send a note back to let the students know they got their gifts. I don’t know how many will actually be able to do so; a lot of our guys are in locations where they don’t have access to outgoing mail. And there are several Soldiers in the Support Rolodex that even I have never heard from, but since none of the mail I’ve sent to them has been returned to sender, I assume they’ve received what I’ve sent. I do know of at least two who are sending a thank you card to the West Cheatham second graders, and I can imagine those kiddos dancing around all excited, telling anybody who will listen that they got a card from a Soldier.

Now I’m gearing down, ready to settle back into the normal pace of supporting our troops. I put together all these packages between Thanksgiving and Dec. 3, and believe me, that was quite a pace! There are at least 37 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq that will hopefully get a smile out of a random assortment of  Christmas items, and have a little better holiday in spite of being thousands of miles away from their loved ones. It’s not much, but I like to think every little bit helps.

Thanks for reading my ramblings! Feel free to comment; that’s the only way I know anybody besides myself actually bothers to read this stuff…

Here is one view of the Soldier room, full of items donated by various schools and the central office of the Board of Education. This is before I started getting boxes packed and ready to mail to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (and one group in Kosovo). Before all of this came in, I put together and mailed off six boxes, using items I’d already bought and items collected by the second grade classes at West Cheatham Elementary. I sent them out on November 20th, and have already had a message from CPL Atkinson in Iraq saying she received hers and will be writing a thank you to the students on her day off. That was unusually quick; I hope the rest move that quickly!

These are the latest boxes I’ve got packed and ready to mail. There is still lots of “stuff” to pack and send, but I’m making progress! Thanks to donations received at work, on my website, and from our son Paul, I don’t have to worry about having enough postage available. Everything is covered, and I believe I have enough stuff to send one Christmas box to each Soldier in my Troop Support Rolodex. If I can bring a smile to even one soldier’s face, for a minute or two, it’s all worth the while!!

I have made the customs forms a bit easier, just for the Christmas care packages. I’ve always followed directions to the letter, which means I have to list every item in the box, its weight, its monetary value, how many are enclosed, etc. etc. Well, how can a gift be a surprise when the contents are listed in detail right there for all the world to see? So in the “description of contents” area, I am writing “Bona fide gift for a deployed US Soldier – Holiday items, cards, games, candy, hot cocoa.” and putting $30 as the total value, just a random number, as I have no idea how much people paid for this stuff. CPL Atkinson’s package got there with that on the form, so I figure the rest will make it. I’ll go back to the tedious detailed descriptions, weights, etc. once all the Christmas packages go out.

I am nearly overwhelmed at the response to my request for items to include in Christmas care packages for our troops. I have been doing this for five years, and every year I start requesting items in October. At most, I manage to get enough donations to fill three or four large flat rate boxes. This year it’s different.

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.

In today’s mail we got our first Christmas card, which came from a group of Soldiers in Afghanistan. They all signed the card, and enclosed their official Christmas wish list. Funny – I just sent off a package with several of the things on their Christmas list in it a few days ago, which means their card to us and our care package to them crossed in the mail. And the package I sent wasn’t a Christmas care package, it was simply an all-purpose, just-because-we-care-about-our-warriors package.

Our first Christmas card came from this group of Warriors

One of our troops, when I asked what he wanted for Christmas, said he would like George W. Bush’s new book, Decision Point. So I went to Amazon.com and ordered the book, and will be enclosing it in Chandler’s Christmas care package. I’m always asking our troops what they want or need specifically, but seldom get such a specific request. I must say it certainly makes my “job” a lot easier if I don’t have to guess what our warriors want or need the most. I know nothing goes to waste; if one person doesn’t need or like something in a care package, they pass it along to someone who does happen to need or like that item. Still, it’s nice to have a wish list to work from for each group of warriors!

Donations of items for the Christmas packages are starting to come in. Sharon decorated a large box with wrapping paper and set it out at the office this morning, and several people have dropped in goodies from the list of suggested items I made. I have had phone calls and/or e-mails from three schools wanting to know when to turn in the items they are collecting. The transportation director said the other day that he’s going to be making a cash donation to help with postage and wanted to know when I’d need it. I told him I plan to get these packages put together during Thanksgiving break, and mailed off the following week. Now we just wait and see if he remembers… I just might have to have a “packing party” to get this stuff together. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

It’s time for me to hit the hay, so I’ll sign off for now. Y’all take care, and thanks for reading my ramblings once again. As always, feel free to leave a comment, a suggestion, a critique… that’s how I know someone is actually reading this stuff. If any of our Warriors happen to be reading this – thanks, y’all, for everything you do for us! And to our deployed Warriors – blah blah blah, nag nag nag, STAY SAFE!!! Don’t make me have to come over there….

In today’s mail I received a package from one of our Marines, which contained a Tennessee state flag that was flown in Afghanistan, along with a certificate stating where and when it was flown. Charlie is safe at home now with his wife and kids, thank God, and is one of my friends on facebook. He posted on my wall and said next time he and Misty come through the Nashville area, they’ll stop by to see the flag. I told him they should feel free to visit the flag any time, and while they’re here, we’ll fix them supper. LOL!

Charlie raising the Tennessee state flag in Afghanistan

The Tennessee State flag Charlie sent

The certificate sent with the flag

I got an e-mail today from the music teacher at one of our elementary schools wanting a little more information about the Christmas care packages for our troops. Her second graders want to put together a package to send. They are doing a presentation on Veteran’s Day, and they thought it would be nice to also share some Holiday cheer with some of our currently deployed Warriors. I gave her a little more information, and suggested that she have the students draw pictures and write notes to include in the box as well. I think our troops get more enjoyment out of artwork and notes from the little ones than just about anything else you can put in a package. I also told her to feel free to keep the students involved once Christmas is past, because I send packages, cards, and letters year ’round. I think it’s good for the kids, and good for the troops as well.

Also got an e-mail from one of our adopted Warriors from Ft. Campbell, in response to a letter sent to his group. Turns out he and his family live in Cheatham County and his son attends Cheatham Middle School. He said it was nice to get a letter from someone who lived in the same county, because he knew the area and it was like news from an old friend. I thought that was cool. We’ve adopted literally hundreds of Soldiers (and Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and a Coastie or two), and when we adopt them we have no idea where they are from (except by state their home base is in). What are the odds, with this big ol’ country and all the hundreds of thousands of troops deployed, that we’d wind up with one from right here at home?? It really IS a small world.

It’s getting late, and I need to wrap this up and hit the hay. I’m donating platelets tomorrow; have to be there at 7:00 a.m. It helps to be well-rested when you go…although once they get the lines hooked up and they turn on the heating pad, I’ll probably doze off while listening to my iPod anyway. When you check in, first they do the whole “mini physical” thing – blood pressure, iron count, pulse, temp, then they take you to the pheresis area and draw blood to do a platelet count and all to determine whether to take a single unit or a triple unit. Then they turn on the machine and there you are, immobilized for a couple of hours plus, while one line takes your blood out to run it through the pheresis machine and the other line puts it back, minus platelets… Yep, perfect time to take a nap – except you’re supposed to squeeze the stress ball every 5 – 10 seconds the whole time…d’oh! Catch y’all later!

Time flies whether you’re having fun or not; that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Here it is, Halloween night, which means when I wake up in the morning it is going to be November, and that much closer to the deadline for getting the Christmas care packages put together and mailed out.

I’ve ordered some fun and silly stuff for stocking stuffers, now I need to go to Big Lots and see if they have any of those tiny Christmas trees like I bought last year, along with the tiny ornaments that fit on them. I’ve put out a request county-wide for items to put in the Christmas packages, and included a list of things from the practical to the silly and everything in between. I have gotten several replies to my e-mail from folks who say they are going to pick up items from the list and get them to me at the office, and a couple of my lunch bunch friends have stated their intention to do the same. I put a deadline of “by Thanksgiving break” on the request, now I just have to wait and see what happens. I’m hoping I can get enough donated items that I can hang on to at least $200 in the troop account for postage. That’s enough to mail 16 of the large APO/FPO flat-rate boxes. I’ll be happy with sending that many – down-right ecstatic if I can manage to send more…

One of our middle school principals responded to my e-mail thanking me for thinking of the troops (is that an understatement or what? LOL!) and telling me her brother is currently in Afghanistan. She gave me his address in case I wanted to add him to my Support Rolodex; I’m getting ready to send him a Thank You card with a guardian angel card in it. I also got e-mails back from a couple of teachers saying their husbands are in the Army and will be deploying to Afghanistan soon; one before Christmas, the other some time in February. Both thanked me for taking the time to show appreciation for our troops. I sent each of them a guardian angel through inter-office mail so their husbands will have them when they deploy. One of them has a 1-year-old son and this will be the first deployment for her; she said she doesn’t know what to expect. What I expect is that she’s going into my “They also serve” file and I’ll do what I can to let her know she’s not alone. (I can already see I am going to have to buy some more copies of “Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul.” Wonder if I can get a discount for buying so many…LOL!!)

I got to chat with CPL Atkinson last night. She’s getting near the end of her deployment, and when she gets back to the states she is not re-enlisting. She intends to move on to the civilian world. I was happy to hear that; she has a son who is growing up so quickly and she’s missed a lot of special moments during her deployments. I hope her transition from Soldier to plain ol’ Mama is a smooth one and that the civilian world treats her kindly. She’s a wonderful person and has served her country well. I’ve supported her and her troops through two deployments to Iraq, and I think of her as the daughter I never had. Her real Mama and I will both be more than glad to know she’s safe and well in the real world, I’m sure!

I have laundry to finish, and it’s time for our regular Bible-reading so I suppose I ought to wrap this up and get to it. Y’all take care. To my deployed Warriors – blah blah blah, nag nag nag, STAY SAFE!! Don’t make me have to come over there!! Thanks for reading my ramblings; feel free to comment at any time. Hugs {{{{{family, friends, Warriors}}}}}

I have to say the bake sale was a success; we raised $285. It was $265, but Brother David (our pastor at FBCJ) called the day after the sale to apologize for not being able to make it due to a funeral and he wanted to buy some of the items we didn’t get sold before the rain hit. Jack took two loaves of bread and a couple dozen cookies to the church office, and Brother David paid $20 for the lot. I thought that was sweet; I had tried to tell him he didn’t need to pay, that I’d be more than happy to let him have whatever leftovers he wanted. But he said “No, I fully intended to come to the sale and buy some baked goods, and since I couldn’t make it, I’m still going to buy whatever I can. It’s a great cause.”

We had at least three people stop by and just flat-out make a donation without purchasing a thing. A few told us to “keep the change,” even though the “change” might be $5 or more. One very kind soul bought $2 worth of cookies and paid $20; this same kind soul gave someone else that didn’t have any money $5 so they could buy some goodies. (You know who you are – Thank you, and big hugs to you!!) Tim Adkins, the editor of the Ashland City Times came down and took pictures of the tables full of goodies and the banner, and thanked us for what we were doing.  Randy Moomaw, staff reporter for the AC Times, came down later and bought $20 worth of cookies and treats to take back down to the newspaper office for everyone to share.  I wrote a letter to the editor to thank everybody who came by to help provide some smiles for our deployed warriors. I submitted it to the Times as well as the I-24 Exchange. I’m fairly certain Tim will print it.

Jack and I were out of pocket Thursday through Sunday. Peg, Todd, and Sis came down from Illinois and we went to Center Hill Dam to camp. We took the canoes out on the Caney Fork River and they all fished for trout. I’m not much into fishing; I was perfectly content to paddle and steer the canoe as needed. Every day we spent several hours on the river, and every evening we sat around the campfire and talked and laughed and laughed and laughed. Did I mention we laughed? Time went by way too quickly, but a lot of memories were made and a wonderful time was had by all.

When we got back Sunday afternoon, we got everything carried back into the house and put away, I got laundry going, then I turned on the computer to see how many e-mails I had. Of course I also had to get on facebook and see what everybody was up to. Then I checked the DoD news releases and discovered 14 fatalities had been posted since Thursday… :~(  I got them posted to Fallen Heroes on Tea Party Nation, and added to my “Fallen Heroes – October 2010″ page (click here) Later we fried up some fresh trout fillets and homemade hush puppies for supper. When it was time to hit the hay, it was a real treat to be back in my own bed, after spending three nights in a pup-tent on a flat air mattress.

Now it’s back to work, same ol’ same ol’ every day. No, I’m not complaining, just stating facts. Time really does fly when you’re having fun. Our Caney Fork Canoe Adventure with Sis, Peg, and Todd more than proved that. Some day we need to do it again, but stay longer. I don’t believe I’ve laughed that much in a hundred years, and it was wonderful to see Sis having so much fun and laughing so much. Since Nafe passed, she’s not had a whole lot to laugh about – she really needed that little vacation. We were so happy that she decided to come down with Peg & Todd.

Well, tomorrow is another work day; guess I’d better sign off. Y’all take care, and thank you once again for reading my ramblings.

Yesterday evening I made chocolate/oatmeal no-bake cookies. This afternoon I baked four loaves of oatmeal/honey bread, and made some peanut butter no-bake cookies. Tomorrow I will spend the entire day baking – white bread (I have an order for 3 loaves, to be picked up at the bake sale), cinnamon swirl bread, several varieties of cookies, three fudge pies, three chess pies, and whatever else pops into my head. The only “worry” I have is that since I couldn’t have the sale on Saturday, there might not be as many people likely to come. Tuesday is a work day, after all, for anybody who doesn’t work for the board of ed. That’s the way it worked out, though, so I’m going to pray for a good turnout. Hopefully people have seen the signs I put up here and there around town, and will pass the word among their friends and relatives.

Rachel and Jennifer made rice krispy treats and brownies and brought them to church this morning to add to my bake sale collection. They’re going to East Tennessee for fall break with Jennifer’s parents & grandparents, and since tomorrow is their day to pack and prepare for the trip, they went ahead and made their contribution. Tracey Schroeder is baking for the sale, too. I don’t know what all she’s planning to make, but I do know that girl can cook! Whatever it is I am sure will be quite yummy.

A couple of my troops are home on R&R; I hope they both get to spend a lot of quality time with their families. Both have young’uns so I’m sure they’ll take the opportunity to do some fun things with the kids. I know they sure do miss them while they’re deployed, and miss so many milestones. I’ve had several warriors tell me that going back over at the end of R&R is a lot harder than the original parting when they deployed, on them as well as on the little ones. I pray for the day they all get to come home and stay home for good. Our troops and their families have sacrificed enough already in my honest opinion.

I’ve got to get up from here and get the bread bagged up and labeled, and the rest of the peanut butter no-bake cookies bagged up and labeled as well. It’s late, I’m exhausted, and tomorrow is going to be a looooonnnnngggg day… Thanks for reading my ramblings. Y’all take care; hope to see you at the bake sale Tuesday!! Cheatham County Courthouse….be there or be square…

Come on out and help a great cause

The leaves will be turning before we know it – the temperature got down into the upper 30′s last night, and we’re under a frost advisory again the next two nights. I hope the colors stick around until Peggy, Todd, and Sis come down for fall break; that would make an already nice planned weekend just perfect. Praying for good weather that entire week, in fact, because my bake sale to raise dough for the troops Christmas care packages is Tuesday of fall break week. I sure don’t want to have to put it off.

Sprawl-Mart wasn’t interested in showing support for our troops, so I called the county mayor’s office and asked for permission to set up my bake sale on the courthouse lawn; permission granted! I’m going to bake after church next Sunday, and all day Monday, and see how much I can get made for the sale. Tracey is going to do some banana bread and cookies, and a wonderful person from Ashland City Elementary has offered to contribute some goodies, as well. The Ashland City Times is going to list the bake sale in their Community Calendar; I don’t know if the I-24 Exchange will or not. I e-mailed the information and asked if they would run it, and I haven’t heard anything back. I guess we’ll see when the paper comes out Saturday if the bake sale got a mention or not. If not, oh well…I’ve been ignored by experts; they can’t hurt my feelings!

I’ve got to get fliers printed out for the bake sale and put up around town; I’ve e-mailed one to everybody in the school system, and I’ve got an “Event” set up on facebook for people to read about and share. I want to sell every crumb of every baked good we have…maybe even take a few orders for bread at the same time. Gotta get this “Christmas” ball rolling!! It’s later than you think…

I’m working on a “care package” for one of our Soldiers’ wife. She’s gone through a number of deployments, taking care of little ones and attending nursing school all the while worrying and praying for her husband to come home safe and well once again. I don’t think anyone besides her husband has probably ever told her thank-you; we thank our Soldiers, but sometimes we tend to forget that their families also serve. I think each deployment is a little more difficult than the previous one, especially for those who have deployed four or five times (or more). There’s nothing I can really say or do from clear across the country to make it easier for her and the little ones, but I can at least let her know someone cares and appreciates the sacrifices her family makes while her husband is far from home. God bless them all!!

I have to get up from here and start supper. Thank you for reading my ramblings once again. To any of my Warriors who happen to read this…Blah blah blah, nag nag nag, STAY SAFE!!! Don’t make me have to come over there!!! (And, what do you want for Christmas?) Hugs to all {{{{family, friends, Warriors}}}}