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Watch out for Scammers during the Government Shutdown
The government shutdown is having an impact on Americans (and the military community specifically) in numerous ways. The added inconveniences, costs (commissary closings), loss of income, reduced training opportunities and much more are adding stress to military families too. With this turbulence comes the opportunity for scammers to target you as well. These folks are out there and they take advantage of everyone; but the military lifestyle creates some unique challenges and many times the bad guys know this. With the current reduced government protective resources the identify theft folks are working overtime right now; the new health care law is new and a bit confusing which opened the door…
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Awkward! Junior High Time to Step Forward
Junior High School… a wonderfully awkward time of life! Who are these kids? Adults… no. Little kids… no. On any given day they act like either one… or give an hour and they are flipping the switches and are both. This was the first time in my life that I moved: changed school districts, changed me! I walked into the new school literally a head taller than any other girl and had that raw feeling of ”who in the world am I?” Clueless. Tonight in our Junior High Youth Group we are going to be talking about a timeline. Gaging where they were, where they are going and perhaps…
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NORAD and ReindeerCam.com
I am constantly reminded how things change through the years. Computers and Internet have changed communication, from hand written letters of many years ago to nightly Skype conversations with soldiers and children, airman and wives, marines and husbands, sailors and moms, coasties and dads (and any of that mix you can imagine). This Christmas season I am so happy to have our family whole but we are still glued to the computer. There are two new loves. (Don’t get me wrong: family is more important then these fun tools. However, you can certainly take the time to watch these as a family and create memories if you are together!) ReindeerCam.comSanta feeds the reindeer, Mr…
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Small Business Saturday: November 24, 2012
I am really intrigued by this idea of “Small Business Saturday”. The premise is the Saturday after Thanksgiving you go to your local family-owned, small business stores to do your Christmas Shopping.I got this ‘chain email from my mother-in-law a couple weeks ago. Usually I immediately hit delete on chains. I get over 100 emails a day so the delete key is my friend. But this one caught my eye and hits right along the Small Business Saturday concept: As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods — merchandise that has been produced at the expense…
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50 Shades of Selfishness
Have you ever sat through a sermon at church and thought, “Holy Cow is the pastor spying on me? Taking note of where I am lacking? Making sermons that speak to only me?” There was a word running through my head all week: “Selfishness”. It was the first full week of Summer Break and every time I turned around there were kids’ toys… on the counter, on the table, on the floor, on the couch, on the deck, in the grass. You name it. There were toys. I was trying to wrap my head around the mess. No matter how much I reminded the boys to pick up after themselves, no matter how often I…
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Summer 2012 Bucket List
Summer Vacation is soon upon us. A time of year I LOVE! The lack of routine is so refreshing but amazingly enough becomes a little old after only a few weeks (and depending on the moment, sometimes only after a few days). So this summer my boys and I have created a ‘Bucket List’. Things we all want to do in the course of our lazy-days of summer. Somethings are things I want to do as a family. Some things are dreams. Others are already being planned. This is our list of plans, ideas and joys for the summer: Ride our Bike to Tasty Freeze Have a backyard game of kickball Catch fireflies…
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Father’s Day Care Package Ideas
Sending a letter to Dad Kids say the darndest things! It is the truth. I got some wonderfully done papers for Mother’s Day from my first grader. My favorite line on one was, “What my mom likes best about being a mother is _____.” His response was “Being the boss”. Who knew being bossy was so much fun, right?! 🙂 I would amend his answer to include giving hugs, kisses, sharing smiles and tickles, ‘Rise and Shine’ and ‘Goodnight Moon’ and every hour in between … but I’m sure he just ran out of space 😉 Now it is time to move from Mother’s Day and on to Father’s Day,…
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Organizing The Road Trip
The Road Trip. Part of the Great American Military-Family Experience, right? We do it to PCS across the country. We do it to visit family and friends who we moved away from so many years ago, a visit home. We do it to for some R&R, to get out and see parts of the country so many American families will never see. The Road Trip, it is part of the ‘American Military Family’ definition. So how do you prepare for such a great part of your experience as a military-family? I recently ran across some great posts that I thought I would share with you. Whether you will be travelling…
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Home Maintenance equals Money in the Bank
It is Military Saves week! A subject that is dear to my heart as Americans (including military-families) find themselves in more and more financial trouble. Sometimes saving money can be found in the simple things. Today’s blog post on saving money is about what you can do in the day-to-day. There is value in maintaining your home. Take the time — and I know we are all so very busy — to take care of our ‘stuff’ and you will find more money in the budget for other important things. If we maintain our electronics (invest in a can of compressed air for the computer as an example), vehicles (are…
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The Heritage of a Military Brat
*E*, 9 years old, came home very excited. “MOM! We have a big project at school and it has to be about our heritage, where we come from. I want to do the country of Iceland!” What is interesting is *E* is about 25% Hungarian, 12.5% Norwegian, a splash of Irish, Danish and French and the rest German. Icelandic? There is none in his blood. But it does run in his veins. I lived in the country of Iceland from 10th grade through 12th grade at the now closed Naval Base in Keflavik. My dad flew helicopters out of the 56th Rescue Squadron with the US Air Force. So when I talk about…
