SELF PORTRAIT FRIDAY

 

Katy has decided that we needed to show off our porches for Self Portrait Friday this week. I told Katy that I would play this morning not realizing that is is uaually still dark when I leave for work, so Katy this is the best I can do, considering it is like 0630 this morning.

I listened to Erik's audio blog this morning, by the way which is great, and he says that the southern porches are different. So this picture is for you Erik. Keep audio blogging it is great Erik.

SOLDIER UPDATE...

Michael's new toy (laptop) arrived this week all in tact via the snail mail. The HAJI Internet has not been working very well this week and he has been working a different duty, so have not had much time to instant message with him. Michael, I have posted some pictures of your cousins Justin and Lauren from the ballgame last night.

STAY SAFE AND COME HOME SOON MICHAEL. WE LOVE AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH

THE CALL FINALLY WENT THROUGH FOR HIM.

1 HOUR 39 MINUTES AND 22 SECONDS after my cell phone rang earlier tonight, I sat back with this big smile on my face. We had a lot of catching up to do. He has been trying to call since he made it back to the sand from R&R, but with Hurricane Katrina making her appearance, that put a small damper on the phone service in Mississippi.

After many attempts at trying to get through to us, along with several voice messages that he was at least able to leave on our cell phones, and one call that was disconnected tonight, we can finally breath a sigh of relief.

It has been a very long 33 days.

He sounded great. He is working nights right now, which is actually not too bad for us back home to be able to communicate with him. I do believe that I would have lost my mind if it werent't for yahoo instant messenger and the webcam.

He is still awaiting his new laptop computer to arive via the good ole snail mail. Tomorrow will be two weeks since it was mailed. Other than our soldier so ready to come home for good, we discussed what was in the three care packages that were mailed last week and the one that will be mailed tomorrow. It will definately be Christmas in October for him. He had so much snack food, that he had told me not to send anything for a while. I can assure you that he won't need anything for quite some time again now. LOL...

The long awaited phone call has came, and I think that I can now get a decent night sleep.

Thanks Michael for being so patient with the terrible phone service that we have had. It was great to hear from you. Love and Miss you very much.

STAY SAFE AND COME HOME SOON.

P.S. Thanks so much to Some Soldiers Mom for her wonderful post today. She has said it all. Our soldier's have no idea just how precious each and every instant message we get, each letter or package that we receive, the emails, but most of all, and phone call. We cherish each phone call, as if it were the last. Thanks SSM for the post. You have described me perfectly.

HE DOES HAVE SOME FUN IN THE SAND.

 


20 Peices of bubble gum in there.

AMERICAN GOLD STAR MOTHERS

President Bush has proclaimed today as National Gold Star Mothers' Day to honor America's fallen heroes.

In 1928 a group of Gold Star Mothers met and organized the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.

My heart goes out to all the American Gold Star Mothers'. I can only imagine what these mothers go through everyday. Don't know if I could handle being in their shoes right now. These proud women should be honored, not just today, but every single day for their patriotism, sacrifices and for their service.

HAVE YOU THANKED A SOLDIER TODAY?

THANK'S TO ALL OUR SOLDIERS.




Suport our Troops weekend kicked off last night in Washington, DC. About 100 patriots attended. I would love to have been there with all the other patriots last night. Thanks to Andi's World for putting all of our comments on a banner and taking it last night.





Thanks to all our HEROES at Walter Reed Medical Center, and to all our Soldiers that are deployed and serving our country.

STAY SAFE AND COME HOME SOON.

NO SPF FOR ME TODAY!

Sorry Katy I had school last night, and I did not cook, so I am going to have to pass on today.

Thanks to Erik for the audio post. This is great. Well at least it is to me, because I don't talk to Michael on the phone very ofter, and this is a way for him to at least hear my oh so country voice. Sorry Erik, but is is really country. Nothing I can do about it.

Michael, I actually did this without tears for once. You will be proud of me.

I love and miss you Michael.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Thanks to Holly at Mudville Gazette for the mentions.

A missed phone call and small town devastation

As I left Jackson, MS yesterday afternoon headed about 100 miles south to go to a funeral, I decided that I would get my camera out, as I knew that I would see lots and lots of Katrina damage.

I also thought that I would log on to yahoo instant messenger, just in case I lost phone service, I would at least have some communication. I had not been logged on any time, when I hear that little tone that lets you know that you have a message. Yes it was Michael. He had tried to call my cell phone, and all he got was a busy signal. He tried calling the house, and no answer there either, but at least he left a message, and yes I have listened to it now three times. I will be so glad when they get all the cell phone towers back up after the hurricane. My cell phone should never be busy, and of all times for it to be, is when he is trying to call. I hate missing his call. Thank goodness for IM.

I was instant messenging with Michael for the first 30 minutes of my trip, and trying to snap pictures all at the same time. Finally lost service and communication with him at some point in the middle of nowhere.

As I made my way through the back roads of Mississippi, I realized that a lot of the area that I was passing through still had no power. I saw power trucks everywhere. I was speechless as I saw most of the devastation. I don't think that I have ever in my life seen such. I stopped several times along the way to take several pictures, and even had the opportunity to speak with a lady, that seemed to be in her 70's. She was kind enough to let me take pictures of what was left of her beautiful yard, and even invited me in for a glass of luke warm water, as she put it. She was going on her 22 day without power and had just had her telephone restored on Monday. I just thought that we had it bad further north, but I was wrong.

I thought that I would share a few pictures of the oh so kind lady's yard. She amazed me with her upbeat attitude and her beautiful smile that was on her face, after all she had been through. She told me that she had actually enjoyed the peice and quiet, and was able to sit back and appreciate the smaller thing in life. Thanks Mrs. Hattie for allowing me to take these pictures, and sharing a part of your life with me.

SELF PORTRAIT FRIDAY

KATY and her idea for today's SPF is about medicinal laughter. Those three small toddlers must be doing this to you Katy. This is the best I can do Katy. My imagination has not been working this week. I will be curious to see how many will play this one Katy. LOL. Thank goodness for a very large picture folder on my computer.





Creature doing what she does best.
























SOLDIER UPDATE...

Everything is fine with our Soldier in the sand. He is pulling duty, and is on a different shift. We like this kind of duty. Hope he gets to stay on this assignment. His new toy was mailed this week, so maybe by this time next week he will have it.

This one is for you K.

Pictures of that handsome face just for you (K). I figured it had been way to long since you had seen that pretty face. So here you go...I had to convince him that I just did not have enough pictures of him already. Don't think he bought into that. LOL...

They are not the best pictures, considering that is him on the web cam.





















CREATURE WEARING HER NEW PATRIOTIC COLLAR THAT THE VET GAVE TO HER ON SATURDAY. SHE REALLY MISSES YOU TOO MICHAEL.

9/11 MEMORIAL. WE WILL NEVER FORGET

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING

(Picture taken on September 9, 2005 at our house)

Four planes (2 into the World Trade Center, One into the Pentagon, and one in a field in Pennsylvania) four years ago today took the lives of several thousand inocent people in a matter of hours.

THIS DAY WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN

Short recap since 9/11 for our family.

I remember this day as if it were just yesterday. It has changed so many lives. Thanks to President Bush for a fine job in leading this country through such tragedy. I stand behind you, as you are my soldier's Commander in Chief. Thanks again for a job well done.

Three months after 9/11 is when Michael joined the Army National Guard. He graduated from High School in May 2002. Left for Boot Camp August 2002. After a short 6 weeks back in Mississippi he then headed to Wichita Falls, TX in December 2002 for the oh so long 42 weeks of AIT. Graduated from AIT the following October (2003). January 2004 he began working at MEPS with the National Guard.

Then came the phone call on a Saturday night in May 2004, day before Mother's Day. I will never forget. Michael was at the race track, and I was at the house all by myself. He was put on alert. August 13th, 2004 , along with several thousand other soldiers he headed to Camp Shelby for several months of training. November 2004 was 30 days of training at the NTC in Ft. Irwin, CA. Ten days of R&R, then exactly 6 months later he pulled out from Camp Shelby headed to IRAQ.

Thanks Michael to you and all the other soldiers for everything you are doing for the people of Iraq and our Country.

STAY SAFE AND COME HOME SOON.

WE LOVE AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH...

A couple of must read poems over at Blackfive and Under the Northern Star. Thanks Liz.

155TH SOLDIERS NEED OUR HELP

The following soldiers had received no information about their families earlier this week:

• Staff Sgt. Terry Seals of Poplarville; hasn't heard from his wife or his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Seals, also of Poplarville.
• Spc. Travis Hisaw of Pass Christian; hasn't heard from his wife.
• Staff Sgt. Stanley L. Peters of Sandy Hook.
• Spc. Billy T. Smith of Tylertown.
• Sgt. Arron M. Waldrop of Tylertown.
• Spc. Roderick B. Duckworth of Wiggins; hasn't heard from his wife, Chalesha, or his father-in-law, Shelby Kennedy.
• Pfc. Forest Reynolds of Long Beach.
• Sgt. Freddie J. Cagle Jr. of Gulfport.
• Sgt. Robert B. Hance of Pascagoula.
• Spc. Kimberly E. Garrett of Collins.
• Sgt. Paul Decoronado of Ocean Springs.

Our guys need our help, so if anyone has any information about the above family members, please contact the American Red Cross at (877) 272-7337 or the Hattiesburg American at (601) 584-3111 to have information forwarded to the soldiers.


Wayne's Mom has sent me an email asking that I post this information on my blog.

I have already been to 6 shelters in the Jackson, MS area last week with a list of names. This list is much smaller than the one I had last weekend. Looks like some have been located.

SPF

Here you go for my Self Portrait Friday. I thought that I would show you these three WAR FACES. You gotta love these three. Aren't they just so innocent looking. Looks like they are trying to show some muscles.



















This is the best I could do you guys...Not much of a WAR FACE. I like the first one much better.

















Take a look at ERIK'S SPF. You gotta love this one too. Then for the rest of the WAR FACES go on over to KATY'S blog and see all the other faces.

Please keep Noah and his unit in your thoughts and prayers as they try to pick up the peices and move on after loosing a fellow soldier.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.


P.S. Michael new computer arrived, and it is almost ready to be shipped out on the snail's back. Just need to buy a hard case and it's on its way.

LOVE AND MISS YOU...

APPRECIATION

I have definately learned the true meaning of APPRECIATION for so many things these last NINE days.

LIGHTS...I now know just how my grandparents survived without electricity. I can not tell you how many times that I have passed by a light switch and went to turn it on, and remembered, no lights. I no why they went to bed when it got dark outside and why they would rise at daylight.

WATER...Shower/Bath. That is all I wanted the first couple of days. Then when the water would come on for a few hours a day, I would be like a kid with a new toy. Cold Showers/Baths, I never thought that I would appreciate cold water so much. I can now say I have actually taken my share of cold showers and baths. Don't wish to do it again, but I can now handle it. Don't know what I would do if I had to hand wash clothes all the time. What a job. Terrible for your back also. No more cold water.

ICE...That is another story. For two days I could not find any ice. I am a diet coke addict, and I just can't drink the things hot. But for two days, I actually drank a few that were warm. For those two days, I searched and searched for ice. I will now buy ice trays. I threw mine away several years ago when I realized all they were doing was taking up space in a cabinet.

GASOLINE...I will never again be without gasoline. I have never in my life seen such a mess at the gas stations. People were ready to kill over gasoline. They would get so frantic if they thought that you had not waited as long as they had for gas. I was desperate for gas at one point for our generator. Thank goodness for our soldiers new motorcycle and his truck. Those were the only two vehicles that we were able to get gas from. So that new motorcycle came in handy. I actually appreciated the Motorcycle bein in side my house Michael.

So I will go home this afternoon to a cool house. Just might try to make a little ice inside. LOL...

Thanks to everyone for the calls, emails and comments. They were all greately appreciated. I am actually excited about going home today for once. I should be back to normal tomorrow after very long hot bath. I am sure that it will take me several days to get things back in order, but at least I can get it done with a smile on my face and no sweat.

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE...

NOAH IS ON HIS WAY BACK TO THE STATES...

Hope you have a safe trip back to the good ole USA Noah...

SSM and her better half will be headed back to the states tomorrow. Wishing you two a safe trip home. Noah and his family still need our support. He has a long recovery ahead of him.

I would like to remind everyone, that if you have not hit the DONATE button for Noah or made a donation to Soldiers Angels , please do so. Most of Noah's personal things were destroyed when the VBIED drove into the building that he and his unit were sleeping in. We all know how men and boys love their toys, such as Portable Sony Playstation, MP3 Players, DVD's and DVD Players.

I did not know much at all about Soldiers Angels until Noah was injured, and since then I have learned through SSM that they play a huge role in our soldiers and their families lives. They are one awesome organization. Many thanks to them for all they do for our Soldiers and their families.

My heart goes out to Noah and the other Soldiers in his unit for their loss yesterday.



P.S. Well it is time to start sending care packages again. My soldier is back at his FOB, and I need something to occupy my time again. (You need to tell me what you need/want, unless you want me to send you a box of nothing). Just don't forget the snail mail is still slow.

First package is already on its way, with lots of goodies.

Still no lights, but the gasoline shortage seems to be getting much better. The cold showers are another story...

Stay Safe Michael. We love and miss you.

LATE NIGHT PHONE CALLS...

When I was awakened last night at precisely 10:25 p.m. by the house telephone ringing, it took me just a second to realize what was going on, only after total panic. Carla I know that you can just imagine all the thoughts that flew through my mind. Thank goodness for no electricity, otherwise I would have seen who it was on the caller ID before I picked the receiver up.

The lady identified herself as D. with the Army National Guard. She was wanting to know if we were ok after Katrina, and to know if I would like for her to send my soldier an email telling him that we were fine. So by this time I am breathing again. I nicely told her no thank you, that we had already been in contact with him, and he knew that we were ok.

It was so thoughtful of her to call, but it sure got the best of me for a few seconds. My phone never rings that late at night, so I always think the worst when it does, especially with our soldier in Iraq.

I was then wide awake, and could not go back to sleep for a while, but when I did, I slept like a baby. I kept the generator on all night so that I could have the fan blowing. It sure helped me sleep so much better.

So Carla, needless to say, you were on my mind a lot last night. Sure hope that all is going well with you guys in Germany. Please keep us posted. If anyone has not donated to Noah's Wounded Warrior Fund, please do so. I have the link on the right side, and all it takes is just one click.

AFTERMATH PICTURES FOR YOU MICHAEL...

Thought that I would share a few aftermath pictures. After three days of hard hard work, Marcus has the yard back in shape. He has not done anything with all the trees that fell in the edge of the woods yet. Those can wait until it is cooler.














































Ok Michael, you see your truck. All the vehicles are ok and we are not keeping anything from you. We are ok, I PROMISE.

SELF PORTRAIT FRIDAY

I decided that I would play today. It's not like I have anything else to do, besides sit in the heat.

This is not my normal furniture, but when you have no electricity, and no water, you do what you have to do. We put our mattress on the floor, as it is a little cooler the lower you get to the floor. Only televisions is a small one that holds 8 D size batteries. I honestly don't know how my grandparents lived with no lights and all the necessities that we have in today's time. At this point, we are just thankful that we still have a home.

Our gasoline shortage in our area is so bad. We finally were able to get gas from one of the vehicles last night just to put in the generator. The only one that we could get any from was Michael's truck (which I am going to have to post a picture of it, as he thinks that we are not telling him everything, because he has not seen pictures of the vehicles. I promise Michael, all vehicles are ok...)

Go visit all the others over at KATY'S and see how they relax on their furniture in front of the TV. I envy them today. LOL...

More Pictures

I just wanted to share a few more pictures that were taken on Monday during Katrina. We still have no lights, no water and our phone service is off and on. I am at work today, just to charge up all of our cell phones, laptop and video cameras. We have had no luck in finding a generator so far. I mainly wanted the generator to keep my freezer cool, but we are told that if we have not had a generator recharging it by now, that we should not attempt to try to save anything in it at this time. I am still searching for one, but only to possible stay cool with a small window unit.

We are very fortunate in our part of Mississippi, when we see the news and pictures in the papers from the coastal area and New Orleans. We can pick up our limbs, trees, etc., but most of those people in the coastal area and New Orleans don't even have a home to go back to.

I will post aftermath and clean-up pictures in several days.