A Thank You Brings a Smile

Well for those of you who follow my blog you know I haven’t been writing, in fact I’ve been asking you to write postcards and send them to me. This past Saturday I was part of a very special ceremony. I wanted to thank a WWII Veteran. I started by asking fellow members of Soldiers Angels for postcards and then writing a blog about Edward Middleton a 94 year old WWII veteran. Well it seems my postcard book has made a splash.

Here is the link to the Army’s news feed, complete with photos.

WWII Vet Edward Middleton

I must first thank everyone who took time out of their lives to send me a postcard.

I must thank the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team (formerly the 30th Infantry Division) for their participation. SSG LeCompte, (and the other members whose names I’m sorry I don’t have) did an awesome job.

Last but not forgotten my husband Sgt Feinstein who helped me every step of the way.

I don’t do this for the recognition I just want to make a difference.

The sounds of Freedom

Tonight I sat with my injured right leg up as my husband David, watched his alma mater play in the college world series. Yep, he had a beer in hand. The game was momentarily drowned out by the sounds of helicopters flying overhead. This was preceded by artillery training.

I have heard that some people living on base complain about the sounds caused by night time training exercises, I never have. To me just like the sounds of baseball coming from the TV they are the sounds of freedom. David made the choice to join the Army, I made the choice to marry him. We then chose to live on base, so I see no reason to complain about the sounds of freedom.

I for one smile when I hear a drone overheard, or helicopters roaring about. Even our cats have adjusted, they have both grown up hearing artillery fire from training, and helicopters. I call them army cats. I completely understand that the military, especially here at Fort Bragg, needs to be ready to operate in any and all conditions, not just daylight.

So let my windows rattle, and try to drown out my tv shows. I will still smile about being part of the Army Family.

Yes I still write when the artillery booms in the distance, and think about my plot as the helicopters thunder overhead. Sometimes the noises break loose plot bunnies and cause them to hop about giving me plenty of ideas. Now if I could just keep those army cats of mine off the keyboard I might get more writing done.

(Please note plot bunnies are what I call ideas, we don’t own, nor do we want any real bunnies.)

I am so proud of….

On Wednesday my husband David went to the promotion board. He is an active duty soldier in the US Army. I stayed home and fretted would he make it. I knew in my heart he was well prepared by his squad leader, but at the board anything can happen. He came home with a smile, gave me a big hug and said, yes I made it. So now it’s a waiting game for promotion points.

I have also been nominated for some kind of volunteer award. For those of you who do not regularly follow my blog, I am a busy volunteer, at ASOM, Soldiers Angels, and of course my FRG (Family Readiness Group). I am proud that my work has been noticed, not that recognition is why I do what I do. In fact the opposite is true. I don’t like being the center of attention and just the thought of attending some volunteer recognition lunch… Well let’s just say not my thing. If you want to read about some of my volunteer adventures just browse my other blog posts.

Now I just have to get a few surprises in store for hubby & his upcoming promotion.

Well if I want any chance at reaching my goal of bombarding Dad with 100 pages to edit upon his return from France I’d better get back to pounding keys.

1-7 ADA Homecoming

I made this from photos I took at the homecoming.
I was cold and wet, but happy. I will let the video do the talking for me on this one.
Anyone I took individual photos of gave me permission.
The music is by Daniel Smith and he routinely allows this song to be used for tributes to the U.S. Military.

He in fact gives this song away for free.

My thoughts on Valentines Day

In one week many people will be spending money on flowers, candy jewelry and the like. This one day has been made a focal point in numerous relationships. I think this is wrong. It should not be the one day of affection and love showered on a couple that sets the tone for their whole relationship. I think it’s the little things that one does every day for their partner or spouse that should set the tone.

I do countless small things for my husband on many days of the year. First if you don’t know me you must realize my husband is a member of the United States Army. I am very proud of him for wearing the uniform. Some of the small things I do for him are simple and take only a few moments others take a bit more planning.

Here is a list of some of them:

I get up after he leaves for PT, and lay out a clean uniform for his return.
I will make him breakfast, no not everyday, but some of them, especially when I know he has a rough day ahead of him
I have gotten up as early as 1am to make sure him and some of his buddies can get a hot home cooked breakfast before heading to the field for training for a few weeks.
I slip notes and his favorite snack, or poggie bait into his pockets or his assault pack.
I deliver food and other little things to him during the regular duty day or when he pulls a 24 hour shift.
I have been known to put together his dress uniform when he is too tired and worn out from his busy days.
I pick up various uniform pieces he needs, these are not always easy to find.
Having a hot meal ready when he comes home from the field
Waiting in a parking lot for 8 hours to see him for 2 minutes just because I knew he’d be there at some point.

This is just a partial list, I am sure there are more. I think these small acts show more love and caring throughout the year than anything I could do on that one day everyone wants to focus on.

Will I do anything for Valentines day? Probably but I tend to go with humor. Most likely I will get him a card from the cats and maybe a gift from me, but it won’t be huge, or if it is a large gift it was something we were looking at buying anyway.

Am I telling you to ignore this holiday?

No, not at all. Feel free to celebrate the 14th of February. I just want you to remember the other 364 days of the year. Find a way to show how much you love your partner or spouse every day.

David I couldn’t be more in love with you or prouder of you. I also love all of the little things you do for me.

With a few tears in my eyes I think it’s time to return to working on my novel…..