VIDEO: Sinbad Stops By SpouseBUZZ LIVE Tacoma

We were lucky to have an impromptu visit by the comedian Sinbad at SpouseBUZZ LIVE Tacoma. Sinbad was hysterically funny and offered his advice to military wives on how to deal with their husbands. Unfortunately, we didn't capture his entire "free seminar" for milspouses, but we got some of it on video. Click here to watch.

Thanks for the laughs, Sinbad. You rock!

Click here to read the Tacoma News Tribute article about SpouseBUZZ LIVE Tacoma.

Stop Number Two on the Fall Tour: San Antonio

Just a reminder that the SpouseBUZZ Fall Tour will land in San Antonio one week from today. If you haven't registered (it's free), click here to register. For you Ft. Hood spouses, San Antonio is only a short drive from Killeen, so please come join us. We're going to have a great day full of fellowship, laughs and free stuff! We'll wrap up our fall tour on November 15 in Seattle, Washington. Click here to register.

Testimonials from past events:

Not much I can say except WOW! It was an awesome day. It is a day that turned my life as a military wife into a different direction. It made me put into perspective some things that I guess I just didn't have a grasp on yet. – Sgt's Wife, SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Hood

Thank you for a wonderful event. Loved it. When you have another one I want to come and bring all the young wives from my unit. What a wonderful experience, absolutely worth the babysitter and dragging myself out bed. Thank you!!!!!! – ArmyMom, SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg

I walked out a bit shelled shocked from having had such a great time and being treated like a VIP for the day. And to think I actually considered not going! – Navy Wife, SpouseBUZZ LIVE San Diego

It was a great day. Thank you guys for coming out. I had no clue what I was in for but so glad I went! - photogbreezy, SpouseBUZZ LIVE Hampton Roads

SpouseBUZZ LIVE: Ft. Bragg/Pope - Here We Come!

The SpouseBUZZ team is super excited about taking our next LIVE event to Fayetteville, North Carolina, home to Ft. Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. If you've never attended one of these events, you are in for a real treat. Soon, you'll be hearing just how fun and important our LIVE events are. Not from us, but from military spouses who have been there and gone through the experience. For now, you can read the account of one milspouse/journalist who attended SpouseBUZZ LIVE San Diego.

When I registered to attend the Spouse Buzz Live San Diego conference for military spouses, I was expecting to maybe meet some nice people and get some decently helpful information. After all, this was just a free conference.

My expectations were extremely low compared to what I actually experienced.

*****

I walked out a bit shelled shocked from having had such a great time and being treated like a VIP for the day. And to think I actually considered not going!

Read the rest.

As was said recently, "this ain't your grandmother's event." SpouseBUZZ LIVE is truly an "electrifying" experience. As one past attendee told me, "opportunities like this don't come along very often, you have to grab them when they do."

Fayetteville is a great location. It's a decent drive from places like Charleston, Camp Lejeune, Ft. Jackson, the Virginia/Washington, DC/Maryland area and Ft. Stewart. This is an event which is ideal for a "girls weekend." Some of you have already said you're planning to caravan to SpouseBUZZ LIVE, and we're going to reward a few of you for doing just that. Everyone in the caravan that brings the most spouses to SpouseBUZZ LIVE (outside of a 60 mile radius from Fayetteville) will receive special prizes, on top of the free goodies that each attendee will automatically receive, so start coordinating your girls road trip now.

Details: SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg/Pope will take place on December 1, 2007 from 9:00 - 3:00 at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux. If you're coming from out of town, the Holiday Inn will offer you a special, military rate (space available). You will need to call Jessica Taylor at 910.323.0111 x7105, tell her you will be attending the SpouseBUZZ LIVE event and she will take care of your reservation.

Agenda:

Time	Agenda Item
9:00 – 9:30	Registration/Receive Goodie Bags/Vendor Stroll
9:30 – 9:45	Opening Remarks by Special VIP Guest
9:45 – 11:15	Panel #1: A Humorous Look at The MilSpouse Experience.  Moderated by Melinda (Guard Wife) Ruthie (Air Force Wife) Sarah The Famous Toad (MaintToad1) Carrie (Semper Fi Wife) Homefront Six
11:15 – 11:30	Break
11:30 – 12:00	Express Yourself: Making Virtual Connections
12:00 – 1:00	Food, Fun and Fellowship
1:00 – 2:30	Panel #2: No, You’re Not a Weirdo: Finding Your Inner "Wonder Woman."   Moderated by Andi Rachelle (AWTM) Cris (Love My Tanker) Carren (Joan D’ Arc) Ginger (GBear)
2:30 – 2:45	Raffle Prizes Awarded by Vince Patton of Military.com
2:45 – 3:00	Closing Remarks by Andi

Our website for SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg/Pope will be up and running very soon. No need to wait for the website to register. We're opening registration today, Click here to register. We're offering an early-bird registration fee of $10 through the end of October. The fee will be $20 for registrations made in November. The fee is non-refundable, but is transferable. Thanks to the generosity of Military.com, registration is now free. Seating is limited to 300 spouses. Registrations are first come/first served, so reserve your spot today.

We have some wonderful surprises in store for you at SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg/Pope. Each of our LIVE events have been amazing, and this one will be no exception.

Please plan to attend. The SpouseBUZZ team wants to meet you. Tell your friends about SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg/Pope. Make it a girls weekend, or a girls day out. Are you a male spouse? We would love to have you. As much as Toad enjoys hanging out with all the ladies, I'm sure he would be thrilled to see a few male spouses in the audience, and so would we. Come relax, laugh, cry and bond with hundreds of other military spouses. Listen to great conversations, meet interesting people, make new friends, load yourself down with free stuff and walk away stimulated and energized. Hey, we need each other - especially now. 

We want to extend a very special thank you to Military.com, the premiere sponsor for this event. Military.com has been incredibly supportive of all things SpouseBUZZ, and we are grateful for their deep commitment to the military spouse community.

More announcements and information about SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg/Pope will be coming in the next few days. Stay tuned...

UPDATE: Click here to view photos of our last LIVE event.

Click here to listen to our radio broadcast featuring past SpousBUZZ LIVE attendees. This broadcast will tell you all you need to know about SpouseBUZZ LIVE Ft. Bragg/Pope AFB.

In Focus: T.A.P.S.

NOTE - THIS POST WILL STAY ON TOP TODAY, SCROLL DOWN FOR FRESH POSTS.

As a community of military spouses, one of the most important things we can do is advocate for those who are unable to completely advocate for themselves due to circumstances. . 

We at SpouseBuzz continue to hear from our readers "What can I do to help?"  And we hear this, not only from the military community, but from civilians as well. 

When it comes to our Gold Star Families, we want to do right.  We have learned over the course of time, that one of the best things we can do, is listen.  To allow those who have lost an opportunity to share the life of the one that has been lost. 

Andi, had the foresight to invite Shelly Hall to the Spousebuzz live event in San Diego. 

Shelly, taught us so much in the very short conversation we had. Her candor, and strength were amazing. She is an inspiration to anyone who has had the blessing to hear her speak.

Shelly Hall is a volunteer for T.A.P.S., in the community outreach program, and she acts as a mentor.  Shelly Hall, Mother of 5,  lost her Husband 2nd LT Kelly Hall, in a training accident.   Shelly  spoke openly about her grieiving experience, and about how T.A.P.S. worked for her, and how she now mentors other spouses. 

Shelly has also been generous, and has joined us on SpouseBuzz Radio to talk about her experience, and her continued efforts to mentor to others.

Because as much as we long to help, and want to help, in the end there is a unique perspective that T.A.P.S. can provide that most of us cannot fulfill. We can however, support  those, that can offer experience.  Being able to offer and convey that hope, and feeling that only another Gold Star Survivor can understand. 

There is no substitute for experential understanding.

In Focus: Operation Good Shoes

If you're budgeting for back-to-school shopping like I am, you will more than likely be in the market for some good, sturdy shoes.  Or, even if you don't have kids, you know some.  And, if you know some, you know they have LOTS of outgrown shoes lying around their closets.

Wanna help give those shoes a whole new life?

In Focus: Homes For Our Troops

At the breakout session on starting your own blog at SpouseBUZZ Live in San Diego, we talked a lot about OPSEC and safety.  One attendee suggested that we set our blogs to private, so that only invited friends and family can read.  While I certainly understand the importance of staying a tad incognito in a world where creepy things can happen, I know for a fact that if my blog had been set to private, I never would've met some of the most cherished people in my life.

Nearly four years ago, I got an email from a retired Air Force fellow about a post I had up on my blog.  That one email started a hearty exchange of ideas and cross-linking between our blogs.  Mike Reed and I became best blog-friends.  He always woke up at the crack of dawn, so he was always the first person in the US to read my blog posts from Germany.  His was always the first comment of the day, and he was there to help me through the rough spots in my husband's deployment.  I'd like to even think I helped him a bit, since both his Marine and Soldier sons were deployed as well.

Two years ago today, I lost my best blog friend when Mike Reed died suddenly of a heart attack.  His last blog post was a link to me.  His passing left a hole in my heart and my life that still hurts to this day.

His obituary suggested that memorial donations be made in his name to Homes For Our Troops.  It is because of my friend's death that I know about this wonderful organization, which is why I want to share it with you today.  It's Mike's legacy, in a sense.

A Sneak Peek at "Army Wives"

The television series Army Wives will debut on June 3 at 10:00 EST on Lifetime. The series is based on the book, Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives by Tanya Biank. "Real" Army wives have been buzzing about this for a few months. Will Army Wives be a sensational, Hollywood portrayal of life as an Army wife, or will it be pretty close to the real thing? I had the opportunity to view the first episode of Army Wives, and it's too early to make a definitive judgment, but after viewing the DVD four times, as of now, my answer is... yes, and yes.

Operation: Military Kids

This past Christmas, while visiting family in my home state of Iowa, I had the opportunity to speak with my aunt, Chris Gleason, about something that is near and dear to her heart; Operation: Military Kids (OMK).  She happens to the the Iowa liaison and is able to see, first-hand, the positive effects of this program.  We didn't have much time to really discuss OMK right then, but she piqued my interest and I visited their website right away.  The following excerpt is from their website:

Operation: Military Kids (OMK) is the U.S. Army's collaborative effort with America's communities to support the children and youth of National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers impacted by the Global War on Terrorism.

The goal of Operation: Military Kids is to support geographically dispersed children and youth of National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers.

The Other Canteen in the Field - the USO

Just days before hubby left for his last deployment, we experienced one of those coincidences that we in the military almost take for granted because they happen so often. 

We were doing the final heavy load of wash and sitting on the top of luggage to try and get the proverbial "ten pounds of [ahem - family blog] into a five pound bag".  I was flipping through the channels on cable looking for something that would make us laugh.  We really needed to laugh. 

As I passed one of the movie channels, hubby suddenly sat up straight and yelled, "Hold on!  I remember that!"

Valour-IT "Competition" Results

Hello, everyone!!!  I wanted to report the results of the Project Valour-IT Veteran's Day fundraiser.  In case you missed my post about Valour-IT, click here and see what it's all about!

The goal for this year's competition fundraiser was $180,000... and the goal has been met and exceeded!  Here are the results:

Marines - $51,228.85

Navy - $47,112.12

Army - $46,395.00

Air Force - $36,693.10

TOTAL = $184,428.00

I am sooooo thrilled and excited to know that so many wounded troops will benefit from the amazing generosity of all of the donors!  I want to send a heart-felt THANK YOU to all who donated to Valour-IT!!!  This project gives more than a laptop and voice-activated software to wounded troops... it gives them independence, hope, dignity, and a connection to the world!

In Focus: Project Valour-IT

What is Project Valour-IT, you ask?  Well, I am here to tell you all about it so please read the entire post... you won't be sorry that you did!

Valour-IT means "Voice Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops."  The project provides laptops and voice-activated software to wounded service-members who are unable to use "conventional" computers and keyboards.  In other words, if a wounded service-member has wounded or amputated hand(s), he or she will be provided a laptop and voice-activated software from Valour-IT.  But here's the kicker... these laptops and software can not be donated to our wounded service-members without the amazing generosity of the American people who have donated (and continue to donate)to this project.  As of October 4, 2006, 650 laptops and software packages have been donated to our service-members!!!

Sew Much Comfort - In Focus

NOTE: "In Focus" will stay on top for a couple of days. Scroll down for fresh content.

In our post 9/11 world, American military personnel are serving their country in a variety of dangerous situations and locations.  As a result of discharging their duties, a number of them are seriously wounded.