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Are You Ready for the Army Reserve? Or, Is Your Soldier Ready for the Army Reserve?
Are you a soldier’s spouse, ready for something knew, fewer deployments, going back to school or maybe your soldier sees civilian employment on the horizon? Or are you a soldier that realizes the value of service, enjoy your Army buddies, ready to go home but want to remain a part of the Army? Or maybe uncertain financial times might make a part time check appealing while you get your feet on the ground? Major General Thurgood speaking at AMVETS conventionMilitaryAvenue had the unique opportunity to talk with someone who cares about these soldiers and their families! Army Reserve Major General Keith Thurgood is Deputy Commanding General (Support) and Chief of…
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T-Shirt to Beach Bag
Over the years I have accumulated a few t-shirts. They are an easy souvenir, a great way to remember a great time. However, over the past 20 something years I have accumulated a drawer full of shirts I never wear. I hate the thought of parting with them. I refuse to throw them away. I know if I gave them away they would /never/ be appreciated like I appreciate them ;). So my interest was piqued when I saw this simple-idea on Pinterest, where by turning t shirts into shopping bags (great for the environment!). This is not hard and it a great re-use of shirts I never wear. I was really happy with the results and…
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Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style Part Two – The Checklist
Sometimes a blog inspires new ideas and last week’s Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style brought up the idea of a checklist that might help others. Much of the same information but in a shorter format without personal details. Think of it as a guide and then add your own ideas too! Share your experiences with others too by commenting! 1 – Caring For Senior Family Member While Long Distance: print a copy of this list and put in your glove box. One never plans for an emergency long distance road trip. However, when called to go, arrive armed with a design for success. 2…
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Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style
Praying for Grandpa and Grandma as they travelOne thing that military families know about is long distance communications! We also face long separations from family and find ourselves frequently traveling a long ways to be with family. Sometimes that makes us better at helping others from a long distance too! We know the phone does not always give a clear perspective of what is going on at the other end. So when the phone rang two weeks ago with an almost distraught family member on the other end we knew there was more to come … We have a large extended family but as the military piece of it we…
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Behold the power…
… of a clean wall. As I mentioned in my post about personal goals for 2012 one of those is to get this house organized! (Personal Goals) It actually leaves me giddy with excitement to open up the calendar each day to see what needs to be done as I travel along the journey of 365 days to decluttering and organizing. Crazy, I know. But today I ‘decluttered the top of my cabinets’ (which my cabinets don’t have a top – they meet at the kitchen ceiling so I cleaned the top of my frig instead.) It was an easy two-minute job. Hmmm… I got looking around for something else to help…
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Stress and the Holidays
Stress and the Holidays. Somehow they go hand in hand. Overspending, too much food, lots of travel, work- and family-life balance; it is all a recipe for disaster. My own family of six knows first hand about all of these stresses. The 18 year old wants a laptop for Christmas (and other various $$$ gadgets), the 9 & 6 year old have had way too many cookies and are pinging off the wall, and the one-year old doesn’t like the car seat for more then 4 hour stretches at a time (making for a not so quiet trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s last weekend). And Mom and Dad can hardly…
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#79 of 101 Ways to Thank a Veteran: Send a Christmas Card
Have you read 101 Ways to Thank a Veteran? They were written with Veterans Day in mind but many for all year round. 79. Remember Veterans during other holidays, especially those without family. Send a Thanksgiving card, Christmas card or Valentines card, to either a Vet that you know or through a VA Hospital or VFW.– http://www.militaryavenue.com/ways_to_thank_veteran Last night after dinner, we cleared the dishes, did our usual cleanup routine and then I pulled out the craft supplies. Glitter, paint, glue, markers, stock-paper and oh so much more Time to make Christmas Cards for a special Veteran in my life, my Grandfather (and Grandmother). They are far from family, not…
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Army to Drawdown by 50,000 – The head “Scout” of the Army’s Enlisted Force Talks with MilitaryAvenue
SMA Chandler with 170th IBCT (see below for photo credit)Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA), Raymond F. Chandler took some of his critical time to speak with the Bloggers Roundtable on Wednesday. He said felt like the lead Scout of the Army’s enlisted force and wanted to give us a feel of what the enlisted soldiers where concerned about and how the Army was dealing with their issues. The SMA was lively, interested in our questions and provided some great responses as he described an “amazing Army”. He told us we were at a crossroads in the Army with reduced budgets and a drawdown of forces that will impact everyone.…
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NORAD is ready to track Santa’s flight
This is so much fun! Last year my boys and I pulled up NORAD’s site at www.noradsanta.org and watched Santa travel around the world on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun talking to my boys about different cultures, different time zones, the way the earth spins, different parts of the world and the boys and girls that live all around us, all while watching Santa ZOOM from place to place. You can follow them on Facebook to keep up with the latest: http://www.facebook.com/noradsantaMake this part of your Christmas Tradition. You won’t regret it: NORAD is ready to track Santa’s flight Dec. 1, 2011PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — The North American…
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The Holiday Budget
It is that time of year again. Festive lights, decorated Christmas trees, homemade treats and the celebration of traditions with the promise of a bright future. It can also be a very stressful time of year. The focus has become retail. We spend our time fretting about the ‘perfect gift’, the ‘perfect meal’, the ‘perfect ensamble’ for the brigade or unit party. All of this when we should instead be focusing on what the holiday is about. We have found joy in spending, getting the biggest, best, most luxurious. The worst of it: the stress lasts well into the new year when we overspend, don’t budget and simply spend on impulse instead of planning. Want some simple tips on…
