Archive for July, 2009
Let’s show the love: I need your help!
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I recently was made aware that many soldiers in SGT Daddy’s unit where not getting the love and support they needed while they are deployed to Eastern Afghanistan. So I thought I know all of you would be the perfect group to jump in and show the love!
We’ve done it here at Army Household6 before for soldiers like PFC Hunter Levine and several others. This unit holds a special place in my heart… obviously because its SGT Daddy’s unit.
So I will be adopting 704th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) Charlie Company Headquarters Platoon! Will you help me? You guys know I don’t usually ask for much, so this is really important to me.
So if you would like to support one the soldiers of this unit, please leave a comment with your email address and I will get you a name of a soldier and their mailing address. I know that they would appreciate the support.
So what do they need :
* Write a note. Send a card or picture. If you have kids, have them write a note or draw a picture; if you have a group of kids, make a long card out of white kitchen shelf paper; have them all write notes or draw pictures.
* Sports items like baseball caps, baseballs, footballs, volley balls, soccer balls, etc. These would be used by Soldiers – or given as gifts from America to Afghani kids. And yes, it REALLY DOES make a difference
* Handy wipes.
* Newspapers & Paperback books.
* Magazines (for guys and gals).
* Batteries – AAA, AA, and D sizes.
* Puzzles, chess, checkers or other board games, playing cards/books.
* Boot socks -
* Eye drops – non-prescription, moisturizing.
* Powdered drink mixes like Gatorade or Propel, snacks, and some microwaveable items.
* Audio cassettes, CDs, VCR/DVD movies (American standard) – even if slightly used.
* PSP2, XBox360, MP3 Players & electronic games. If you send one, Soldiers will share it with lots of others.
You may have noticed our Soldiers are as often carrying candy (or a toy) as they are carrying a weapon. That is simply because Afghani kids love toys – and Soldiers love kids. With that in mind, I would add these items to a list of things you might send – if you are so inclined. It does matter!! We can make a difference for them!
* Small stuffed animals.
* School supplies – pencils, pens, notebooks and paper, watercolors, construction paper, scissors, chalk, note pads, erasers, pencil bags, metric rulers and similar items. But no crayons – they melt.
UPDATE (from SGT Daddy ) –
Thanks hon, I do have soldiers that receive nothing or next to nothing at mail call. Your generosity would be appreciated! I would recommend against sending anything baked as the heat here almost melts us, think of what it’d do to your secret cookie recipe!
Almost forgot! If you have old clothes from the kids send ’em. We see lots of Afghan kids without appropriate clothing! Shoes, preferably sandals (they love ’em here since it’s so freaking hot) would be a big hit. Anything you have though that is gently used would not go to waste and would help these kids out!
C’mon kids – we’re going to Old Navy!
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I don’t know about you but we’ll be out and about this weekend doing the school shopping thing! While I’m really looking forward to the girls going back to school, not really looking forward to the school shopping that goes along with it. (especially when they can gang up on me with 2 vs 1)
The good thing is that Old Navy has a special discount for us military families this weekend. At all Old Navy stores across the country, they are offering a 30% military discount on your purchase AND they are giving 5% back to the community. The offer is good from July 30th to August 2nd and you need to bring your military ID with you!
Also – The 1st day of every month at Old Navy , you can also Take 10% OFF your entire purchase
Day 51- Expect the Unexpected
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The one thing I’ve learned early on in our Army life was to expect the unexpected! Today was no different –
Well today was my interview with USAA here at the house! I was so excited it that I got up extra early to make sure I didn’t oversleep! (lame I know) Of course, I twittered my excitement about the interview too.
As I’m waiting for the USAA video crew (David & Daniel) to get here, I get a direct message on Twitter from a reporter from the local news ( NewsFirst5). Being the media hog that I am, I said of course! The lady tells me that they need to contact the Public Affairs office to come onto Ft Carson. I didn’t see that this would be a problem due to the fact that this interview had NOTHING to do with the Army and SGT Daddy obviously wouldn’t be there.
The video team gets there and starts setting up… then the Public Affairs office (PAO) calls. They tell me that they should have been notified that they were coming on post,etc. (this was not the case when we did our interview with Fox at Belvoir. PAO only needed to be there because my hubby was there )The PAO tells me that they need to run it by JAG real quick but “it shouldn’t be a problem.
OK, so I’m thinking — no big deal! they will get all straightened out and we’ll be good to go! WRONG!
Brandy from the PAO office calls and tells me that since “the interview wasn’t previously approved by the Commander” we can’t do the interview in my house on post. It has to be conducted off post.
ok no problem — we decided to do the interview at Garden of the Gods here in Colorado Springs… it was a beautiful day here and Garden of the Gods is such a pretty place. The crew packs up their gear, we pile into the SUV and off we go.
We met up with the local news reporter and find a nice location. Everything is great! (wait for it)
10 minutes into the interview, it starts raining lightly. The USAA team continues with the interview. We finally wrap up the interview 10 minutes later, only because its raining REALLY HARD. The kicker is that the local news reporter still hasn’t interviewed me yet.
We decide to wait it out and 5 minutes the rain starts. I do the interview with Channel 5 and some wrap up footage with USAA and FINALLY we are done. (you think this is over don’t you … )
The video team and I decide to get something to eat and the girls choose their favorite restaurant (and mine), Texas Roadhouse. So we head over there.. and GUESS what? They don’t open till 4pm during the week. I mean seriously?? What else was going to happen?
We finally get something to eat at Chili’s which was completely awesome by the way and I make my way back home to good ole Fort Carson.
All in all, it was a fun day and I thoroughly enjoyed doing both interviews. I just wish Murphy (as in Murphy’s Law) would have kept to himself. Once I get copies of both interviews, I’ll be sure to post them here on the blog.
I’m tired and going to bed… I’m sure you can understand why! : )
Day 51 – Wordless Wednesday
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My friend and fellow military spouse blogger Rachelle aka ArmyWife ToddlerMom and I when I went to her house for dinner earlier this month.
Day 49 – messing with my head
Posted by: | CommentsI guess I went a little too long without posting because SGT Daddy left a comment asking when the next post was…
We are back home in Colorado safe and sound. We had a nice time in New Orleans but I was so glad to get home and see my doggies and sleep in my own bed.
Yesterday and today was mostly about getting back on schedule and catching up on work. You may not believe this but I hardly did any work while I was in New Orleans. (i’m just as shocked as you are LOL)
July was a really busy month for us with 2 trips in 1 month. It was good though and just what I think the girls and I needed to get thru it. It certainly made the time go by faster. Now we are heading into the last few weeks of summer (woohoo!!!) and the craziness of “back to school” will ensue rather soon!
Today I was having a conversation with SGT Daddy about some financial stuff. Without getting into the gory details, he had made a decision about something regarding our savings account and acted on it. It was the first time I thought ” does he trust me with saving money or does he think I’m spending too much” It also made me wonder — does he still need me?
Now normally I would never ask these questions.. but deployment does funny things to you. It makes your mind wonder about completely irrational things.. even though deep down you know the answer. Is it because you don’t have that daily physical connection anymore?(no I’m not talking about sex either…get your mind out of the gutter people )
I did talk to SGT Daddy about it .. and he more than confirmed that – yes he did trust me and I know he needs me as much as I need him.
Deployment sucks… just saying.
Day 46 – Airplanes & USAA
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s about time to say goodbye to N’awlins ( New Orleans) for another couple of years and head home tomorrow morning. I’m so ready to get back home. I had a nice time , had some good food, got to see family members I hadn’t seen in a long time, and got my daiquiri fix but i miss my doggies!
Also, I received news from my twitter buddy John Hancock (@John Hancock61 ) from USAA letting me know that they wanted to use my story about how I used social media to help with our checking account fraud last month. So there is going to be a video guy from USAA coming to my house (ACK!! I need to clean it as soon as I get home LOL ) on Wednesday to interview me about that situation, social media and blogging. Once I find out the all the details on when the video interview will be published and such, I’ll post them here.
Once I get back home , I’ll be posting my thoughts about the healthcare and Obama plus a few other things that I’ve been thinking about.
Have a great & safe weekend!
Tammy
Day 43 – SGT Daddy ROCKS!
Posted by: | CommentsWell ya’ll (in my best southern accent) we are still here in New Orleans. We are having a nice time.. eating some awesome food, taking the kids to do all the tourist stuff in and around New Orleans.
Today we went to the Audubon Zoo and we had an awesome time. There was a lot that was familiar but a lot had changed too. There were parts of the zoo that you could tell that had also been affected by Katrina. We had fun nonetheless and it was just us girls. I’ll be posting pics here on the blog soon.. but for now you can see them all on my facebook profile feed.
I also got a very important phone call from SGT Daddy… even though every call is important this one was what I was waiting to hear. He called around 3A this morning (Central Time) to tell me that he was pretty confident that he passed his E6 Promotion Board. It was a very loud phone call and he told me “stuff” was happening and he’d have to call later. I was half asleep and said ok .
He calls me back around 4A (CST) to talk to me a bit more and to explain what the “stuff” was. (army related stuff … which I can’t tell you because of OPSEC) He told me that he did really well and got a 147. He was waiting for the official word “yes you passed”
I am really so very proud of him. SGT Daddy has really come along way with his Army career in a really short time. He’s still on his first contract and he will be “in ” 5 years this January.
Day 41 – I’m going home
Posted by: | CommentsWell the girls and I are back in my hometown of New Orleans and honestly it’s just not the same.
One is the SGT Daddy is not here with us, so it seems a bit weird to be taking a “vacation” without him. (we miss you bunches Daddy)
Secondly, the “New Orleans” that I know and love is not the same and honestly it will never be what I remember. Even all these years after Katrina and the rebuilidng (i use that term loosely from what I’ve seen), I thought the city would be further along in the process.
My Dad (aka PawPaw) took around parts of New Orleans last night and there were so many houses that still had the marks on the house from rescue units that checking for dead bodies. Many houses were had so much overgrowth it looked like a jungle.
Now I’m not saying everyplace was bad, there were several places that people were rebuillding their homes, bulldozed the current place , etc.
The thing that blew my mind was you’d see these official signs indicating some recovery projects happening. As you got closer, it would say Recovery Project … Sidewalk Patching! I couldn’t believe there were so many houses in these areas that were abandoned and the City was “patching ” the sidewalks. (full disclosure – this was near the area were the Industrial Canal was breeched.)
If I get some pictures, I’ll definitely post them so you can see what I’m talking about. All I can say is that I’m disappointed in the City of New Orleans and Mayor Nagin . I expected more from the city that I grew up in. (although I can’t say that I’m surprised )
All in all so far we are having a great time. I’ve had some sort seafood the last two nights, several glasses of beer and lots of relaxation .
I even managed to install my dad’s new Mac computer today and no major issues. (with the computer or teaching my dad ) lol I’m happy to announce PawPaw is now with the rest of us utilizing wireless technology.
Also – if you can say a prayer for SGT Daddy tomorrow (if you are so inclined ) he is going to the E-6 Promotion Board tomorrow downrange.
So as we say in Louisiana – Later y’all !!
Day 37: Realities of Deployment
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Yesterday when SGT Daddy called, I got a nice dose of reality. One of the first things he asks me is how much do I want to know what is going on? I’m thinking to myself – uh oh I know this isn’t good. I decided that I need to have information .. for me information is power. I also knew that he needed to talk about something that happened .. I was right.
So SGT Daddy begins to tell me whats been going on over there lately, and its not “happy” things. He tells me how he went to a memorial for a soldier from another unit in the 4ID. This was the first one downrange that he’s been too. He also went on to fill me in on some other things happening over there and how dangerous it is in some areas. (I’d love to give details but y’all know I can’t… OPSEC)
He tells me the story of one of their medics who was on her way to Germany to be treated for wounds and severe smoke inhalation. The amazing part of this story was the the medic was so focused on trying to save the wounded soldier that she herself didn’t realized she had been hit.
I know it helped him to talk about it and verbalize what he was feeling and going through… the only thing I kept thinking ok this is not what I’ve been thinking.
I’ll admit when we found out he was on the list to deploy, my first thought was being without him for so long. My thoughts soon turned to what if something happens to him. I didn’t really think about what about the people that go with him. There have been several KIAs with the 4ID since they left 38 days ago. This was the first time it was someone we knew of.
Now all I can think of is that medic that is now fighting for her life and her family… what they are going through, the uncertainty, the heartache . My heart goes out to them for the journey that they are now on. I guess this is just the reality of deployment.
Pictures from Afghanistan…
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SGT Daddy showing off his Biomedical Equipment Fixing Skills
SGT Daddy is on the left
SGT Daddy is the 2nd from the right.. the Unit was getting their new 4IDCombat Patches.
