An Army Wife's Love for her Soldier

This was made by the wife of one of "The Communicator's" Battle's at AIT who was recently deployed to Iraq. They just got married in March of this year. This gives you an idea of just how much our service men & women (and their families too) give up to protect our freedoms. Please watch.

21 DAYS UNTIL HE'S 21

Still havent' heard from 'The Communicator' since his Wednesday morning call to tell me his phone had been stolen. Have no idea if he hasn't been able to get it replaced, if he is in the hospital, he's mad at me or what. UGH! Trying to keep busy so I don't stress but it's hard. Maybe in 21 days he will magically be more responsible????

Yesterday morning we headed out over the hill to meet Carrie at Stamper's Warehouse for their annual Flea Market. It was in full swing when I got there. I went in & posted an up to date flyer for the Cards for the Troops project showing what we need & dates needed by. I then headed out to see what treasures I could find. The first thing I grabbed was some trading card protector pockets which I plan on using for my Cuttlebug embossing folders & maybe the Sizzlet dies if I have room left over. I found a couple of Stampin Up sets I thought I might like......I was looking but unable to find Carrie anywhere. Then my cell rang.....it was Steve looking for me (does this give you an idea how crowded it was). Carrie was at the other end & she had found some Military stamps for me. YAHOO! Finally found her & got what she found.....including some Hedgehog stamps. I looked around some more & then decided to get in line. Well I had put the sets back that I had but I then found "Power Up" Set for $6.....looks brand new! I grabbed that & got in line. I had 8 stamps & the set plus the protectors. Then.....I saw one of the much sought after "Target Document Boxes"!! This is the first time I have seen one. It was blue.......marked $1........and looked perfect so I got it too. Now I can die a happy women. LOL! I have one set of foam stamps that didn't have a home so this will be for them. Did a quick run thru the store where I got a couple of kewl things to make cards for a couple units I know & we left. Took Carrie home & then stopped to get Cocoa some goodies at Three Dog Bakery before going back over the hill & home....briefly.

I called Tom to see if he needed us to pick up anything before we came & he said "Ice". Grabbed what we needed to take & went out the door. Quick run into the store & we arrived at Tom's. It was a very nice day...... was just a small group of us but a good group. Good people, good conversation & great food. Lt. Ballard was honored in a very good way.......he shall never be forgotten.

After the late nite last nite we slept in til about 9:30 am. Watched the news......drank coffee....checked my email.......read the paper.....showered & dressed. Then outside to tackle the side of the house which I hadn't done in awhile. It really was a mess out there. Trimmed back the roses & other plants........pulled weeds....cleaned up the leaves & such on the ground....then added some new topsoil. Steve then mowed the lawn & we had the green waste full. There is a lockout for our garbage drivers currently going on here so hopefully the green waste will get picked up this week so we can do more work. It was a productive day tho.

Tonight Steve fixed us some buffalo chicken salads......very good! We then caught up on some TV that was Tivo'd. Finished up the night with Army Wives. That show is so awesome......cable just keeps getting better & better.......wish network tv would take a lesson ya know? So now I'm doing my daily/weekend post & Steve is sketching a bit. Off to bed soon..........Hope everyone has a great week.

If you haven't voted for Melissa yet it isnt' too late......just need to send an email........no other signing up for anything.

Weekend Update

I'm sure there are some out there who are wondering why I haven't spoken about "The Communicator" formerly known as 'the boy' (he's been Phased UP). Our thought about that is that if we call him such he may just do it! As I reported before he had finally received orders (not actually in hand tho) about his permanent duty station. He was to report to MO. Well when he got his wallet stolen they also got his military ID so he was unable to travel without that. In the time it took to replace the ID it seems that his orders were lost also (not by him). I guess because of that he lost his spot in MO. He had signed up to be assigned to Morale, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) for 1 of 3 locations (Korea which he gets a bonus, Germany & Hawaii)....he would kind of be like "Radar" in MASH......3 guesses where MOM would like him to go. ALOHA! These spots would most likely keep him from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan for some time to come. Prayer request inserted here! We do not want him going to Germany at this time due to that widow he met online....she's not a good thing in this mother's opinion. Most likely he will be in GA til after the 4th now.

We had a very nice weekend here. Stayed home Friday evening..............talked to "The Communicator" for quite a while which hadn't happened of late......that was very, very nice. Saturday morning we headed out to the local flea market. Steve found a couple of things tho not what he was specifically looking for. I found a new Flamingo to add to my collection......isn't he cute? After that we headed home to clean up as we were invited to dinner with The Balsley's. That was a great evening.....good food, good friends........who could ask for more?

Sunday morning I let Steve sleep in (Cocoa did too). When he woke I gave him his card (made him cry this time).

"The Communicator" called at a respectable time for a change too. I then took Steve to brunch at one of our favorite spots for breakfast, Cafe Vasiliki. Unfortunately our server left a bit to be desired which we have never had happen there....thankfully others picked up her slack. My Spanish Omelet was great as always tho it wasn't as hot at it should have been being she left it sit for about 5 min. Steve had a special for Father's Day......Cajun Crab Cakes done in an Egg Benedict style with a Cajun Hollandaise sauce. He requested & got scrambled eggs as his grandmother made him eat poached eggs way to much & he now can not stand them. From there we stopped at Walgreens to get me some batteries for my camera.....buy 1 get 1 free time (CRV3, CR2 or 123, their brand which are awesome). Then to Home Depot which didn't have what we needed & then to Target were we got this CD he wanted, A Song for My Father, which is exclusive to Target & has songs by the offspring of , among others, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Carlos Santana to name a few. Found a few other goodies & left. After that we stopped at The Balsley's to get something that they want Steve to personalize for Michael......after a bit of a visit we headed home.

BBQ'd some chicken, watched a little TV (ARMY WIVES nite ya know), have I mentioned how much we like this show?, & then to bed. A very good weekend here. Hope everyone had a good one.

GOOD NEWS FOR MONDAY

Being I have been awake for awhile I have had time to look around.....here's some interesting reads so far.

Never underestimate the value of a little dirt.

Scouting Is Alive In Iraq

And I found this bloggers write up on Army Wives which says it better than I prolly could.

More TV good news......

Nuts for Jericho campaign works.....Jericho is saved for next season

Isaiah Washington fired from "Grey's Anatomy"

Weekend Update

Hi all....
Yesterday we spent with the Balsley Family....it was Jim's 60th Birthday party (a surprise) and fun was had by all. Lots & lots of people came.....tons of food.....even a magician who entertained us. We met some great folks throughout the day.......thoroughly enjoyed it. We came home & just chilled the rest of the evening. Did find out that Operation Mom took in approximately $1400 on Monday for the "Wounded Hero's Fund". Of course owners of Chapel of the Chimes will match that so pretty good take for the day I would say.

The last couple days of the week were a bit hectic. On Thursday 'the boy' realized his debit card was missing so he called to get help. Of course he hadn't done a power of attorney for us to handle this so it was a pain but he called & got it cancelled. They sent new card here so now we have to Express Mail it to reach him before he leaves for MO on Wed. I learned how to use Western Union on Friday to send him money to get him thru the weekend & pay for bus ticket to airport if he needs it. Boy that sure isn't a easy task......twenty questions. But I guess it's good they have such security & you can't just use a Visa card to wire funds. Well with all he has gotten stolen from him in the last year I guess it was inevitable someone would get his card....luckily they didnt' get any money.

One more week left for the Soprano's....looks like they are gonna kill everyone off. My guess is AJ is gonna enlist.....not sure which branch tho. We watched the new show "Army Wives" (hey it has same executive producer as Grey's Anatomy....what did you expect?) which started tonite....we liked it. Check it out if you didn't see it.

Hope everyone has a good week.....