Garden, Daycare and Soldier Mail

It's been a while since I wrote last.  It's been a busy several days.

I have been busy handmaking cards for a Soldiers' Angels card signing this Sunday.  It probably won't be a very big event, I am having a small info booth at a business yard sale, but I do hope to get the word out about SA nonetheless.  People will be able to get information about SA as well as write words of gratitude or thanks on a card for one of our heroes.  I have made over 100 cards, which may not seem like a whole lot, but that will be over 100 heroes who will get extra encouraging words from home.  And who knows perhaps we will get a few more volunteers to adopt a hero.

I've gotten a few letters and an email from some heroes.  It always makes me smile whenever I do hear back from someone I've written.  Speaking of which, I am a little behind on sending out my letters.  I reduced my name intake to 6 names per week instead of 14.  It was just getting unmanageable.  On the bright side, a friend of mine gave me a printer.  An older printer, but one that will work with my mac mini, so I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth.  The only thing I need is to get the cable from her that connects the printer to the computer, and I'll be all set.  She even hooked me up with four extra cartridges of ink.  I'm doing the happy dance.  With that, I will probably be able to increase my names every week.

Concerning my garden; I guess I don't have as green of a thumb as I thought.  For the most part, the plants are doing good, but the heat hardy marigolds haven't liked this cold spell one bit and they are mostly dead.  I was warned about that, so I have no one to blame except myself.  It has been raining a lot, so they probably drowned.  They are only supposed to be watered a few times a week.

The swimming pool did end up coming back even though I leveled it out.  I decided that I needed to take more drastic measures, so I went to home Depot and bought a few of those clamshell border rocks.  So far, they have been working great.  I wish I had thought of that sooner.  And, even though they only border most of one side, they still look good.

Raven's daycare is closing at the end of April.  This is both bad and good.  Bad because, well I hate to see any business close down...bad because they were a great daycare/preschool and Raven learned a LOT of things there and made a few good friends.  Good because I will be enrolling her in the daycare program that is on the school premises where she will be attending kindergarten this year.  I am hoping that she will be getting to know some of the kids in her class before she gets there.  There's nothing like being the new girl and not knowing anyone.  Raven isn't that shy, but I also don't want to put her in that position if I don't have to.  The bad thing is that she will only be going to that site until the end of the current school season.  They don't have a summer session there anymore, so I will have to transfer her to a different site that does.  My friends who pick her up for me on Thursdays and Fridays are going to kill me...lol  When the school season starts, Raven will go back to her school and have care before and after school on the days I work.  When I don't work, I will get a few hours in the afternoon all to myself.  Whatever will I do with myself!!

I think that is all the updates I actually have.  Sad, isn't it?  Thanks for sticking with me.  I really need to do something more exciting with my life.

Just an update - Nothing More, Nothing Less

Not too much has happened in the last few days. I sent in the paperwork for the CNC position. After I got home from that, I noticed that one must be a Soldier Angel for a minimum of six months before getting that title. Ooops. Oh well, I wrote the lady I have been corresponding with and let her know that if I wasn't able to become one right away that I had no issue waiting the extra four months. Until then, there is still plenty I can do for the troops overseas. I've been dreaming about different types of fundraisers and things of that nature.

I really cannot believe the crazy weather we've been having as of late. Two days ago it was 60 degrees and yesterday morning I woke up and birds were chirping and the sun was shining. Later on that day we got a dusting of snow and this morning I awoke to four inches of snow and slick roads.

Spring, hurry up and get here!

Today I brought some post cards into work for anyone that might want to write a word of thanks or encouragement for the troops. I have 9 total. We'll see what happens.

I haven't had such a passion about anything in a long time. It's always been about my survival and the survival of my daughter. Now that I'm out of survival mode (stable job, apartment, food, clothes, etc) I have begun to give back to humanity. Yes, soldiers are part of humanity. People might not always agree to the reasons they get deployed, but they are still part of us, part of our country. They deserve our respect and our support. And, I'll do that in any way I can.

So, now it's back to work. Back to the mundane job of managing numbers. It's a living, and one that allowed me to get out of survival mode, so I really cannot complain. It's easy, and gives me time during the day to think about other things......like my soldiers.

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The Proverbial Monkeys/New Soldier

I'm sure we've all been there. That financial feeling of utter dread. That feeling that you won't be able to get out no matter how much you work, fight, promise, beg and steal, you won't ever be able to get out from under the bills. This seems to happen every year for me in some way. Last year and this year it ended up being Raven's daycare expenses. Last year it was the purchase of a car that at the time seemed to be needed and was promised to be paid back. This year it was an unexpected move that caused me to become so terribly behind on the daycare.

Raven's daycare have been extremely patient with me. I tried to put myself on a plan after moving earlier in 2010, but I never got out from under the several hundred dollar debt that it ended up incurring.

Well, this year I did my taxes just like I do every year. Because I made so much more money in 2010 than 2009, I ended up in a higher tax bracket, oh goodie. So, that being said, I didn't get as much back as I did last year, but hey, it was enough. I got that return back today and was able to pay off the $1,130 in daycare expenses and get my rent paid. I've also put several hundred dollars away in my savings account, some which will be used to make my trip in April. I can't wait for that. After all that, I will have enough left to go grocery shopping, do some clothes shopping for Raven, and catch up on the rest of the bills. That's about it though.

At least I will have that monkey off my back.

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In other news, I adopted a second soldier yesterday. This one is actually a Marine. I was having a difficult time figuring out exactly where he's from, but I think that I will have better luck with the packages this time. He did leave some comments for me as to what he needs and wants. I think I am going to become very familiar with NASCAR by the time his deployment is over. hehehe...

I've sent him a card in the mail today introducing myself. Those are always the hardest. Really, no one wants to hear about my boring life. I mean truly that is why I joined Soldiers' Angels in the first place. So that my life would be a little less boring. If you are wondering, yes, it worked. Or is working. I have something to tell people now. Something that isn't just "I work, I go home, I take care of my daughter." I LOVE being an Angel.

They still need more volunteers to become Angels. If you are interested, please visit www.soldiersangels.org and sign up. There are teams you can join if you don't want to adopt a soldier. When I have been there for six months I will be eligible to join a few of the other teams, like the Angel Bakers team. I love to make cookies, cupcake and all sorts of other treats. When I'm there for two years, I will be eligible to join the K-9 team. I don't want to spread myself too thin, so we'll see what happens.

Ok, that is my public service announcement for the day. :)


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Everything else in my life is going pretty good. I still need to get motivated to get my apartment cleaned up. AND, I really need to invest in a writing desk. I've got paper, post cards, other cards, envelopes, and stamps just in a huge pile on my tiny computer desk, and it's a total mess. I can't hardly find anything and things keep falling off the table. It's really lame.

Now if I could get my laundry done and get motivated to get everything else clean I would be all set. I guess I've got the spring cleaning bug a bit early this year. I think I'll take a whole two days and just get it done. And find time to continue to run.


I'm going to be busy for a while I think.


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Good morning faithful readers. All three of you. hehe... Well, here I am again with more chaotic ramblings.

The last few days have been pretty good. On Tuesday I worked, which sucked, but we've all got to do that, right? Actually, work is ok for the most part, just not very challenging anymore.

Yesterday was filled with all sorts of adventures. I walk/jogged my first day of C25K. See my other blog for more info on that. Afterward Raven and I went to Bella's Grove and dropped of my PC so that an acquaintance of mine could take a look at it. I hope that all it needs is a power supply. That shouldn't be too hard to come by or replace. Wish me luck on that. I hope that at the very least I will have enough oomph in it to save the pictures that are on it from last year. Everything else is replaceable.

The visit at Bella's Grove turned out to be irritating. There is a girl who frequents there, whom I will call....Loxie... and I cannot stand her. Loxie has this irritating need to be the center of attention everywhere. Usually I don't want to hug her, touch her or be near her. I didn't want to look like a total bitch yesterday, so I gave her a hug. Gah! Things were fine for a while after that. I spent most of my time talking to another friend who was there.

Loxie just had to push my pet peeve button. No one but me raises their voice to Raven. If I think she's doing something wrong, then I will say so. No one else. Now, that's not to say that I am against other people warning her of things that are not right. I really don't have eyes in the back of my head after all. But getting mad at Raven for being a kid is not something I tolerate well, and I told Loxie as much when she got upset at her for nothing, really. That was just the start of the irritating events of yesterday.

Loxie must not have been getting enough of the attention because she decided to bring one of her cell calls to speaker phone. I won't get into the specifics of the call, but I will say that the entire thing was completely inappropriate. If this friend of Loxie's really needed help, Loxie could have have gone to the one that she really wanted to talk to privately and not dragged the rest of us into a pointless conversation.

Loxie's friend really sounded like she was high as a kite, and I told Loxie that the friend should stay off the drugs. Then Loxie accuses me of calling her friend a druggie, which I didn't, but I wasn't the only one to make that judgement about her friend. First impressions are a bitch, aren't they!

I really wanted to send Loxie a message letting her know exactly how I feel about her, but I don't want to that come off as ...weak. I have a hard time formulating spoken words instantly. Usually my written words come out more eloquent. What I really want to say to her is that I don't like her; her energy is one that irritates me to no end, and there is a reason why I don't want her touching me, not even for a pinky shake. Who the hell does that anymore anyway? I would also tell her that she is extremely obnoxious and that I'm not the only person who feels that way. She is difficult to be around and it is frustrating that she feels the need to always be the center of attention. Even Raven is not THAT bad. There are other ways to get noticed than being in someone's face like that all the time. And, I know this. I used to be just like her when I was younger until someone set me straight, to my face, that I was irritation, annoying, and that was why no one wanted to be around me. Perhaps I will send a letter to her or talk to her about it. I don't want to crush anyone's spirit, but she needs to know about her irritating personality. And that she should never try to hug me again.

If that makes me cold, so be it.

After we left Bella's Grove (upset and irritated) Raven and I went to get some dinner and then to home. After dinner I put on some music and finished some post cards that I am sending to other Angels for their projects. I got the stack of mail together and dropped it off at the front desk of work this morning. It makes me feel good to do things like that for other people.

Raven fell asleep rather early last night, so I got her jammies on and put her to bed. I stayed up to watch Vacancy which is comparable to Psycho on steroids. I love horror movies, and it was just as freaky this time around as it was the first time. Perhaps that's just me.

Raven woke up after that and wasn't tired. Go figure. It was about 10pm. So I thought we could use a "feel good" movie after all that horror. I put on Disney's Sword in the Stone, and about halfway through I couldn't stay up any longer. I left Raven to put herself to sleep, which she does rather well on these occasions. She woke up today with no issues at all, and actually woke herself up. That's rare, even on days I get to sleep in.

I've been thinking more about signing up for that certificate program for event/wedding planning. I just need to figure out how I can fit the payments into my budget. The course is accredited, but I don't think that there would be any grants or scholarships available for something like this. I don't know. Perhaps I will check into it. I just know that along with the physical changes I am trying to make, I also want to make career changes as well. I do not want to be stuck in this office forever doing mind-numbing work for the rest of my life. I know I can do better.

I think that's it for the ramblings today. As always, thanks for reading. Please subscribe and also do not miss my C25K blog. There's a link at the top of the right hand column.

Remember that you are judged by the company you keep. No matter how good of a person you might actually be.


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First of many..

I sent my soldier his first letter and care package today.  Nothing too special, some coffee, chocolates, a sewing kit and a teddy bear that Raven thought would help ward away bad dreams.  There were other things included in the list, but I didn't feel the need to give the whole list.  Not sure if he'll like everything or not, but I got some great new ideas for next care package.  I think I'll include a calling card among other things.  I had no idea what to write about so I just told him a little bit about myself.  What do guys overseas really want to hear about anyway.  I have no clue, but I'm sure I'll get some great ideas from the Angels forums.  

Until next time... 

Stay strong

Stay brave

Stay free...

A New Year Dawns

It is the dawn of a new year, and I am looking forward to it very much. I begin this year alone, much like I did last year, but the catch is that I will actually stay alone for much if not all of this year. I do not look upon this as a sad event, but one that I can truly be okay with. I won't have anyone there to talk me out of my tax return this year.. lol

This year brings a few changes. I've decided to make some healthy changes to my lifestyle. Eating right is the obvious change. It hasn't been the best so far, but I am slowly making progress on that front. I have also taken up hoop dancing. I'm hardly any good at it, but like everything else in my life, it is coming along nicely.

My daughter, who we'll call Raven, turned 5 in December. She is such a sweet, outgoing, beautiful girl. Growing up a bit too fast, perhaps, but sometimes not fast enough.

Raven and I have taken to hoop dancing together. She is really good for a girl her age. She an do tricks that I can't even dream of doing yet. She's such an inspiration. This is after she picked up a hula hoop in Toys R Us, tried it once, failed, and said she never wanted another hoop again.. lol...

I only have a few goals this year.... lose weight, eat better and spend more time with Raven. She's worth ever minute spent. And I mean actual quality time, not just trips to the movies. I am thinking of taking her to a museum sometime in the near future or perhaps to the library and get her a library card or something. That way we can read books together. She loves to pretend to read her stories to her stuffed animals.

We are also taking on a project together. I adopted a soldier today. Our commitment is to write one letter per week and send one care package per month. I used to send Mike stuff when he was overseas and also to another friend of mine. I decided that adopting a soldier who may not have family or friends to send him anything was a great idea and something that Erika and I can do together. I'm sure she will enjoy picking things out for our soldier. Perhaps I will be able to talk her into drawing a picture or two.

There are a lot of things that I plan on doing with Raven as far as community service goes. I am tired of constantly thing about myself. I have had to do that for the better part of most of my adult life just to survive, but I'm a lot more stable financially and home and all around life, so I think it is time to give something back. Besides, I have three days off during the week, and I'm tired of spending them at home. The winter months are rough for me because I like to be outside, but I can't stand the cold weather. Some of the stuff I am considering doing is putting in some time at a local food bank, visiting some senior citizens, volunteering at a soup kitchen, things like that. I think that Erika will benefit greatly from these experiences, and so will I.

That's about all I have for today. I'll try to keep this blog updated more often. I write in so many places it is hard to keep track.

I feel really good about 2011. That perhaps I can make a difference in someone's life and they in mine. Happy New Year!