Ramblings from a Retired Shooter: Lazarus And The American Veteran

Ramblings from a Retired Shooter: Lazarus And The American Veteran: Many of us know the story of Lazarus and how Jesus raised him from the dead. For those that do not know a good friend of Jesus named Lazaru...

My Week

I went to ABATE meeting on Thursday. I tried Miller Lite 64 calories. Not bad so I picked up a case.

I mailed a box to a lady in Afghanistan on Friday.

My son asked me to wake him up Friday before I go to work so he can take his car over for maintenance all day troubleshooting. The garage said they would give him a ride back. I woke him twice before I left for work at 8:00. I called him 4 times leaving voice messages. Then called Rugless Auto to see if he had arrived and they said “no”. How’s he ever gonna get a job? He called me about 2:25PM and told me he’s been up since 11 but he thought it was too late to take his car in and feared he’d have to leave it there for the weekend. Whatever!


I got an email Open Range, my internet service provider, that they were discontinuing its nationwide operations and by evening I was cut off. I’ve been having such rotten luck. My HP computer crashed in September and I had trouble getting a refund of the new hard drive much less acknowledgement of the extended service pack. As a result I’ve been getting by on my husband’s Macintosh. I needed a PC tower for the non-compatible Apple stuff and Internet Service so went to BLH and got a refurbished Dell and Xandadoo. Xandadoo is so slow that I don’t think I’ll continue its 7 day trial. My son needs internet for his Kingdom of Camelot. On the up side, I got an email the HP was finally refunding the cost of the hard drive that did not work and I had returned since I wrote and sent a copy of the postal insurance label. Tuesday I went to the cable company and got in on an introductory internet offer so I’ll cut off Xanadoo.



I rented a movie from Family Video and noticed they had a special display table for videos for the troops. I made a contribution at the checkout. The clerk asked me to sign the card for their wall. I pulled out a Soldiers Angles card and told him to staple my card to their card. I watched Water For Elephants with my son.


Saturday morning I got up early and did some grocery shopping. I had some coupons at County Market to use up before Sunday. Items were greatly discounted but mostly things that I don’t use. However, I got them and took three bags over to the Food Pantry.


I stopped by the Avenue Thrift store and picked up this double Lane recliner. It had stuffing coming out on the top right but I patched it and you can hardly tell. It is so comfortable and nice for a lap dog. The recliner did not fit in my Murano by just a little bit so my son and I had to borrow a pick up to bring it home. I found a matching pillow with a yellow tag (the half off color at the time) and a tapestry with a yellow tag that complimented this. That should stretch the life of the chair especially with pets.



Sunday after church I went to the Kumler Church where ABATE was hosting the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless. Time are tough and even our motorcycle poker runs had trouble raising money and donations for silent auctions but organizers got plenty of donations for this dinner. Kudos. One of the first in the meal line was my cleaning lady, Margret. It was nice to see her. I told her I’d been helping with the dinner the last 3 years and she didn’t remember seeing me last year. I thought for a moment and then realized that was the year of my accident. However, I did take pictures of the Thanksgiving dinner so I know I was there but probably was seated more.

When I got to work on Monday, I learned that a coworker’s father had passed away. His mother had passed in May. How sad. I've been having everyone sign a card and accepting donations for the charity mentioned in the obit.

In the evening I continued my lessons for the historic ball that’s coming up. These are really more like social mixer dances because we change partners frequently but I would not go without a partner because some of the women have to dance in the male position. I can’t do that so well with my height because we have to create a high bridge at time for others to go under and stuff like that. I’ve been going with Gene from the VFW. He seems to be enjoying the lessons. He said he really liked the movie “Of Gods and Generals”. I loaned him an outfit for the event from my collection of historic costumes but warned him that it’s not a general but a sergeant outfit.
I got a letter in the mail from one of the ladies that I had sent a box of goodies to in Afghanistan thanking me for the package. I’ve also been watching the facebook reunion of my previously adopted soldier on his return to his family.

It rained on Tuesday so I didn’t get to walk my dogs. I did see someone riding a motorcycle in the rain.

I’m trying to get my advent wreath candles to stay upright with foil. Floppity Flop Flop!

The eBay auction with items donated to Soldiers' Angels in support of Project Valour-IT is now LIVE! There are 23 items up for bid, with auctions ending anywhere between early Sunday morning and mid-day Monday.  Auction items handcrafted jewelry, a handmade camo-print purse and consumer electronics.  Go check it out!

My Week

I took a ½ day off on Tuesday and all day Wednesday to ride to Pekin, IL for a PGR mission for KIA LCpl Jordan Bastean. Weather this time of year gets real iffy for riding but the plan worked well.  Mornings and evenings are too cold but mid-day is fine.  The way things worked out, I went the 70 miles in the afternoon for the visitation, stayed the night with the Kerby’s, and rode back Wednesday afternoon after the funeral.  He was only the second burial at the new Prairie Haven Cemetery in Pekin.    The city could not have done a better job at honouring this 19 year old that died for our country.  The people on the streets stood there as we went by and their emotion was contagious.  A floral shop had employees at the side of the road with blue and white shoe boxes which I presumed they held flowers to be thrown on the hearse.  I later learned they were white doves.
There was a little girl in our flag line with full leathers and red sunglasses.  I told her I had red sunglasses and then put them on to show her we looked alike.  She was a real show stopper. The procession of motorcycles was real slow and difficulty standing up without an occasional foot down.  I saw the lady ahead of me periodically shaking her sore clutch hand.  It was hard but it didn’t kill me.  It was a bit windy on the ride home but doable.

 

On my way home, I had a cell phone message from IL DVA about a ceremony in Chicago at the Pritzker Military Library on Dec 16, 2011 for all the Veterans of the Month for 2011. 

 

Wednesday evening we had a meeting of the American Legion Riders. We discussed our POW Missing man table, Wreaths Across America, and food drive during the Christmas parade. 

 

Saturday I didn’t feel well.  I had belly cramps so I was in pain.  I didn’t get too much done but I managed to take down the Halloween decorations.  Sunday I got the leaves raked and bagged for pick up this week’s pick up.

I picked up a bunch of 1/2 off Halloween candy for the soldiers' boxes at Walgreens. I left one bag in the stores' own drop off for the local guard too.

 

Alan yelled "BOO" and made me scream --- again.  I got to be careful to make that SMACK playful. After all he does have PTSD and you should see me snatch the remote from his sleeping hand.

 

My sister in Wisconsin reported seeing a bald eagle on a tree outside her window.  That’s cool.

 

 Sunday I treated my sons to Annual Mostaccioli Dinner at church.

 

Monday I went to an American Legion meeting.  I brought up the fact that military retirees will get the Jan COLA on Dec 31^st thereby making 13 pay periods for tax purposes.

 

Now I’m putting together plans for Veterans Day.  There’s an annual ceremony by the mayor honoring veterans on Thursday followed by the Catholic War Veterans meeting.  Friday there’s a ceremony in the Chatham Square at 11.  Then there is a free meal at Applebees for veterans.

 

11/01/11

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To honor Americaís veterans and support Project Valour-IT, Soldiersí Angels is holding an eBay auction on Veterans Day Weekend and your donations are needed to make it happen!

From patriotic to practical and beyond, your gift will help a severely-wounded hero receive an adaptive laptop from Soldiers' Angels.  We need to move quickly, but Angels have an amazing way of coming through under pressure!

To submit your item for auction or ask any questions, email beths@soldiersangels.org with subject line ìAuction.î  Be sure to include ALL of the following in your email:

1. Quality photos of the item you are donating for auction
2. Full description of the item, appropriate for posting on eBay 
3. The minimum amount for which you want your item to sell 

Items must be mailed to Soldiersí Angels as soon as possible (in most cases, before the auction is completeóshipping details will be provided when you email).

Our Florida Soldiers' Angel blogger sent a link to a story at Big Hollywood about a singer using his talents to support Soldiers' Angels:

Whenever we meet folks who take the time to show their appreciation to our brothers and sisters in uniform for all the sacrifices they have made and continue to make for freedom’s sake, we take an instant liking to them… especially when they turn out to be extraordinarily talented and are using that talent to support our troops. That is exactly what singer-songwriter-musician and owner of Guilty Dog Studios Joe Merrick is doing.

Go read the whole thing.

Business Honors Fallen Marine With Dove Release

Business Honors Fallen Marine With Dove Release