Holiday Mail for Heroes 2011

It's that time of year again. A time when I ask my fellow bloggers, readers, and facebookers to open your heart. I'm not asking alot. The only monetary contribution needed from you is postage. It's the Holiday Mail for Heroes program through the American Red Cross. All I ask, is that each one of you send two cards following this program, for our soldiers over-seas. Two.


These soldiers are spending the holiday (for many, it's not their first one) away from their friends and family. These Dads, Moms, Daughters, and Husbands will not at home for the holidays. War doesn't take Christmas off. A simple card can help ease the heartache for these young men & women who are serving their country for YOUR freedom. Two cards. It's not alot I'm asking for.

If you have children in school, it would be a wonderful project for the entire class! Contact their teacher. I did last year, and one school sent almost 200 cards. The other even more! (Here's my post from last year) Thank you very much everyone!

The following is from the American Red Cross website, and details the program.

Holiday Mail for Heroes Program
The holiday season is just around the corner and it’s time again to

start thinking about being part of the 2011 American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes. For a fifth year, American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are partnering to ensure all Americans have an opportunity to send a touch of home this holiday season to members of our U.S. military, veterans and their families, many of whom will be far away from home this holiday season.

Starting this fall and throughout the holiday season, the Red Cross is working with Pitney Bowes, a mail stream technology company, to collect and distribute holiday cards to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world.

The process is very simple and takes no time at all - All you need is a pen and piece of paper to share your appreciation for the sacrifices members of the U.S. Armed Forces make to protect our freedoms The Holiday Mail for Heroes mail box is open and ready to receive for your cards.

Please send all mail to:

Holiday Mail For Heroes

P.O. Box 5456

Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Sending a “touch of home” to American men and women who serve our country is the perfect way to express your appreciation and support during the holiday season.

Card Guidelines:
Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney
Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the
country.


Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

• All cards being sent in for 2011 Holiday Mail For Heroes program should be postmarked no later than Friday, December 9, 2011.
• Ensure that all cards are signed.
• Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards
  addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this
  program.
• Only cards are being accepted. Do not send letters.
• Do not include email or home addresses on the cards, as the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos, as these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
• Participants should limit the number of cards they submit to 25 from
  any one person or 50 from any one class or group. If you are mailing a
  large quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing
  envelopes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will
  be removed from all cards before distribution.
• Please refrain from sending holiday cards with glitter. Many of
  these cards will be delivered to military and veterans medical
  facilities and the glitter could interfere with a patient's recovery.

The Military Families Ministry (MFM) also has their Stocking for Soldiers project. Blog post is here for those in Colorado & Pennsylvania.

Stockings for Soldiers

The Military Families Ministry (MFM) has launched their 2011 Christmas project. http://www.militaryfamiliesministry.com/Home.html

Stockings for the Troops

I talked to my husband, who is current Army, about this project. I asked him if this is something the troops like, or is it a fluff piece. Hubby said, "No no, the soldiers really appreciate this kind of stuff." I then asked him if I should do this, and he said that would be wonderful! So, in addition to making some myself, I wanted to be sure to pass the word to all my fellow Colorado peeps, and those in Pennsylvania who has a MFM chapter there as well. Hubby said, it's not on the list, but don't forget to include chewing tobacco....However, tobacco, alcohol, and adult material cannot be shipped. Sorry.

This is from the MFM's website....

Please join us in sending stockings to our deployed troops who will not  spend this special holiday with their families.

We are asking individuals to get their families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, churches, and other community groups involved in this effort.  There are thousands of men and women currently deployed, defending our freedom, who will spend Christmas in a foreign country--away from their family.  Help us love, support, and encourage them this holiday.

This is a great family project to reinforce the importance of giving to others, particularly those who sacrifice so much for us.

What can you do?

Make or buy a stocking - maximum size 18 inches (you can purchase stockings at Dollar Stores for $1.00 or kits at Michaels Craft Store for $4.99)

Fill it with the following items:

candy canes

hard candy (no chocolate)

hand & foot warmers (small packets)

lip balms

hand lotion - (small - unscented)

hot chocolate packets

Individually wrapped cookies (no homemade - they won't survive the shipping)

beef slim jims

small packs of trail mix, peanuts, pretzels, fruit snacks, etc

ramen soup packets

home-made or bought Christmas card with a personal message from you

Then, spread the word - ask everyone you know to make one stocking, get groups or clubs involved,  talk to your local schools and community organizations, they are looking for projects this time of year. Download our flyer and pass it around. 

Stockings should be stapled shut at the top and must be received by Nov. 15th to ensure prompt delivery.

Completed stockings must be shipped by November 23rd to ensure our troops receive them by Christmas.

MFM - Colorado drop off locations:

• High Plains Bank, 235 South Ash Street, Bennett
• Mountain View Fellowship Office, 1422 Monroe Street – Unit A, Strasburg
• Byers General Store, 568 North Hwy 36, Byers

MFM - Pennsylvania drop off locations:

• State College Alliance Church, Whitehall Road

Other items the military appreciates:

AA & AAA batteries

baby wipes

eye drops

bug spray

drink mixes - individual packages for water bottles

toilet paper

body wash

shampoo

deodorant

sun block

crackers

food bars

any type of non perishable food items
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Nylons
Oreos
Non-Melting Candy (no chocolate unless it’s M&M’s)
Razors
Playing cards, puzzles, word searches, hand held games
Coffee, in filters
Powdered creamer – any flavor

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you are encouraged to help those over-seas this holiday season. You don't have much time, so HURRY!!!! <3


Here are a few others around the US doing similar programs:

• Lamar, Colorado - http://www.lamarledger.com/ci_19233525?source=rss_viewed
• Denton, Texas - http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/opinion/editorials/stories/DRC_Editorial_1104.269cb3714.html
• Wilmington, Deleware - http://stockingsforsoldiers.org/
• American Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail

Leghorn no more.....

Saturday we lost another chicken. A second one. She was also one of our originals, Lemon Pepper.

Lemon, the day before she was stolen

We had gotten two chickens 2 1/2 years ago. Honey & Lemon.
Honey died a few weeks ago. We still don't know how. And now Lemon Pepper.

Lemon in July '11

We've seen a couple raccoon lately. Could very well be the culprit. We've also had a black cat hanging around lately, getting into the garbage, and had chased it out of the chicken run once. Also a possibility.

Lemon & Honey a couple days old

We didn't find lemon's body, but I will put a marker in our graveyard for her. She was stolen, and dragged over the fence. Feathers EVERYWHERE.

Almost a year old

It was sad. My daughter was with me when I discovered what happened. We followed the trail of feathers, but never found her. That might have been a good thing. My daughter wants to get another Sexlink (Honey) and Leghorn (Lemon) next spring to 'replace' the two we've lost. She has taken it well, but is very sad.



RIP Lemon. You will be missed.

Whazziss? : caterpillars

This is a section we call, "Whazziss"?


We have a number of trees in our yard where at first glance, we thought there were giant cob-webs in the branches.



After taking a closer look, we noticed they are more like cocoons for hundreds of Caterpillars. Hmmm.  I've never seen anything like it. These things are HUGE.



What is it?

Love Thy Neighbor

One thing I really like about living out here in BFE is the people. The main reason I moved form south Florida four years ago, was because of the rude people.  That and the heat, the concrete, the crime....need I go on?  I've lived most of my life in and around Ft. Lauderdale. In that area, you don't talk to strangers. I'm not talking what you tell your six year old, I mean it doesn't matter if you are six, sixteen, or sixty...you don't talk to anyone on the street, in a store, or at a stop light for fear you will get hurt or killed. You walk with your head down. You don't make eye contact. You don't introduce yourselves to the new neighbors for goodness sake! Sad isn't it? You expect everyone to be a stalker, a rapist or a killer. You know every time you do business you're gonna get screwed. When someone calls on the phone, family in the Midwest would start a conversation, "Who is this?". If you live in the Midwest, this is normal. If you life in south Florida, you'd say, "Who the hell is this, and don't ever call here again!" and hang up before even hearing who it is on the other line. It's a scary place to grow up really.

I didn't realize how paranoid of everyone I was until I moved out here, and had no reason to be.

Our second day here, we were outside, and this man comes walking down our driveway with a HUGE dog lopping behind him. Being a city girl, my first instinct was to put up my 'badass' persona, and find out what the heel he wants. Turns out he was just the guy who lives on the other side of our property line, beyond the creek-bed, and wanted to come down the road and introduce himself. Hubby was out with me, so he talked to him. I'm shy & paranoid, so I just sat back, watched the conversation and pet the dog. Paul gave us his phone number and told us if we needed anything to call.  Of course being jaded like I am, I figure he's just being nice and didn't mean it.

A couple days later, a guy and two boys came ambling down the road towards our house. Thankfully hubby was outside, because I just can't deal with new people like this. It freaks me out. They introduced themselves, spoke a little, and they went on their merry way on their walk. Turns out one of the boys is now in a few of my son's classes. The Conner's I think was their name. Cool.

As we drove these winding dirt roads to and from the towns and cities, be began to notice that everyone, I mean everyone, waves at each other on the road. Whether you are driving, walking, or whatever, you wave. Huh. People around here are...........nice.

As I'm out front doing stuff, I've had a couple people stop by and tell me, "Welcome to the neighborhood". I still freak out, and my first instinct is to be defensive, but I'm getting better.

I really started to find out how nice people around here were when I had the Dirctlink guy come out to see if we could get wireless internet. Big Jim was sorry that there wasn't a way, but was very conversational, and spoke about how he lived in the area for over 30 years. The conversation moved to our troubles, and one of which being our well.  The guy actually walked around with me, and checked out some stuff in the basement trying to figure out what was wrong with our water pressure. I mean, this guy was here like 45 minutes or more, AFTER he told us he couldn't service our home with internet. No way in Florida would anyone do that! They'd jump in there truck and goof off until the next appointment, not help someone with an unrelated matter!

Of course, lets not forget my truck breaking down. Oh boy, that was a day. My truck broke down on the way back from the bus stop, in the middle of nowhere. Hubby was off on a special assignment shuffling dignitaries around and couldn't come home. I knew NO ONE here to get a ride home with. It is twelve miles from the bus stop to home. A long walk that I wasn't looking forward to. Then of course, I had no way to get my truck home, nor to pick up my son from school (30 miles from home). About 15-20 minutes sitting there waiting for hubby to call me back to possibly find a tow truck for me, a woman who I've seen at the bus stop pulled over to ask what was wrong. She was soooooo nice. Not only did she flag down a guy who was also taking his son to school to give me a ride home (she couldn't as she had a Dr. appt.), but she volunteered to pick my son up from school that day AND take him & pick him up until my car was fixed. Debbie was a savior that day and really changed my outlook on people. She went a couple miles out of her way everyday for a week for me & my son. It was also great cuz her son is in the same grade as mine and in a few classes together. To make the whole disastrous truck breaking down thing even less stressful, later that evening when hubby got home, the guy, Bill, who gave me a ride, helped hubby tow my truck with his truck. How awesome is that?! It's also cool because even though his son is a grade below mine, they're in study hall together, and ride the bus. My boy is making some friends. I'm sure it has alot to do with the kindness of the kids out here as well.

Boy, do I really need to make these guys some thank you cookies!

One last thing that really makes me liking the people out here a helluva lot more than Florida is, when hubby was out working on the fuel pump, one of the bolts on the tank cover snapped.  Oddly, a while later a guy pulled into the driveway. He said he was neighbors with Bill and wanted to stop by to introduce himself. When the guy found out that he had a bolt break, he was like, "Come with me, we'll find someone with one". They went off to a couple houses, and Willie down the street had the right bolt. We didn't have to make a third trip into the city (a 3 hr jaunt, mind you) for another part!

Hubby was told, that around here, since it's so far to the city that if you need something, you ask a neighbor. If your neighbor doesn't have what you're looking for, he'll know someone who does. You save things around here. Parts, tools, equipment, etc. in case your neighbor needs something. If someone needs to borrow your chainsaw, you do, cuz next month, you may need to borrow their backhoe.  It's just a wonderful experience, and something that is just so foreign to me.

Kindness. Helpfulness. Courtesy.... Amazing!