Do you feel "left behind?"

When your spouse deploys or goes "away" (i.e. TDY), do you feel as though your spouse "leaves you behind?"

This is a question for anyone who is willing to answer.  Something I was thinking about today and wondered what you all think.  There is a purpose to my question, which I will kindly explain in a follow-up post in a few days.  I will not be giving my own opinion in this post - that will be in the next post.

Please answer "yes" or "no."  Then, if you feel so inclined, write something that justifies your answer (WHY you answered the way you did).  I appreciate it and I promise I will explain soon!

Thanks!

Out and About

If you live around the Washington, DC area, there are a couple of events taking place this weekend that may be of interest to you. First, there's the Joint Services Air Show that will take place at Andrews AFB beginning today through Sunday. Today would be a great day to go because only DoD cardholders are allowed in today. The show is open to the general public for the rest of the weekend. If you get over there, look for the USAA tent with a skydeck!

Also happening in Washington is the GI Film Festival. On Sunday, the festival will feature a panel on milblogging and our own Joan D'Arc will be sitting on the panel. Tickets are only $5. You can buy tickets here.

Anything happening where you are this weekend that you'd like to share?

Military Mom Wins "America's Favorite Mom" Contest

Terrific News!

SOLDIERS’ ANGELS FOUNDER WINS!
Patti Patton Bader Named “America’s Favorite Mom”

PASADENA, CA May 11, 2008 –Soldiers’ Angels founder Patti Patton Bader was named “America’s Favorite Mom” in a primetime television show Sunday night on NBC. Sponsored by Teleflora and hosted by Donnie and Marie Osmond, the show highlighted fifteen outstanding mothers who had distinguished themselves in categories ranging from Working Moms to Military Moms and “Non-Mom” Moms. 

Humbled by the honor, Bader is thrilled to be able to use it to continue the Soldiers’ Angels mission of “May No Soldier Go Unloved.”  As the grand prize winner, she will receive $250,000, a set of household appliances, and other valuable items.  Bader hopes to apply the winnings to her plans for a small ranch that will allow newly returned soldiers to relax with their families after deployments.

“I really am lucky to know so many heroes in my life,” said Bader, who herself has two sons in the Army, one currently deployed to Iraq.  “Whether they are the troops who serve our country or the amazing mothers here on this America’s Favorite Mom program, I am honored to be in the presence of such inspirational people and also am humbled to know that America thinks the same of me.”

Bader is also excited about the opportunities this platform gives her to help people learn more about America’s military heroes and options for supporting them and their families.  The attention she has received through the America’s Favorite Mom events has already drawn a number of new volunteers who want to use their talents and connections to help support the troops.

"America's Favorite Mom" Will be Crowned Tonight

A reminder to watch NBC tonight at 7:00 EDT to see Donny and Marie Osmond crown America's Favorite Mom. There are three Military Moms vying for the title.

If one of these three moms win the title, here's how they plan to spend the prize money:

Patti Patton-Bader 

Patton Bader wants America’s soldiers to be the big winners. “I plan on using everything to help heroes. Everything,” she says, referring to the wide variety of prizes she could receive if she is lucky enough to win. “It is a true honor to stand with these fourteen outstanding moms," she adds.

Melinda Gintilas

If Melinda wins, Adam said, they plan to donate part of the prize to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and spend $10,000 or so buying groceries for families at the Fort Carson post exchange.

Rosanna Vasquez-Brown

I can't find an article that states how Rosanna plans to spend the money, but click here to watch her moving video.

All mom's are special, and I hope all of you are having a wonderful Mother's Day, but I'm biased and I'd love to see a Military Mom win! Good luck to all of you.

Discussion Time

Let's have a discussion about new military daddies!   

Read the article after the jump - then please share your thoughts and opinions on the information provided.

Request for Milspouse Bloggers

If you operate a blog (or know of a blog) that you'd like to share with the rest of us, and it was not listed on this thread, please leave the blog name and url in the comment section. I'm sure there are new blogs which have cropped up since we posted the first list and we'd love to know about them so that we can pass the links on to SpouseBUZZ readers. 

We Certainly Love Our Milpets

Let me begin this post by thanking all who participated and made this posting possible.  My hope is that the included photos will bring a smile to everyones face. 

I thoroughly enjoyed putting this post together.  Receiving the photos and the stories that accompanied the photos - made me grin from ear to ear.   

Now..........Behold the superb lineup of Milpets!

This and That

A reminder to watch NBC's Today Show this morning. In the 9:00 a.m. EDT hour, the military moms vying for America's Favorite Mom will be featured on the show. After you watch the show, go vote!

This month, our very own GBear has knocked Tony the Tiger off the cover of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal boxes. GBear is being honored for her wonderful work with Sew Much Comfort and her picture will appear on the cereal boxes. The boxes are only available in commissaries. Pick one up, GBear's GRREEEAAAATTTTT!

Words Aren't Adequate

Do yourself a huge favor. Grab some popcorn or beer or whatever floats your boat. Give yourself an hour, and watch. 

I feel pretty small right now.

If you're interested in the book, The Last Lecture, click here.

If you're having trouble with the YouTube video, which pauses in some spots, you can click here and watch it via Windows Streaming Video or Google Video. I recommend the Windows Video version, I didn't encounter any blips with it. You can fast forward to about eight minutes in when Randy begins his presentation if you choose the Windows Streaming Video. Whatever you do, watch this in its entirety.

America's Favorite Mom: The Military Mom

Updated: Click here to see the video if you missed the show.

NBC and Teleflora are hosting an "America's Favorite Mom" Contest. Over the past three months, people have nominated their mothers for the honor and online voting has been taking place. Three contests (one per month) have been decided and winners have been declared in three categories; America's Most Humorous Mom, America's Most Inspirational Mom and America's Most Popular Mom (TBA soon).

Now comes the big contest - America's Favorite Mom. Today, the semi-finalists were announced. They will appear on NBC's Today Show beginning next Monday, May 5. NBC has selected three semi-finalists for the "The Military Mom" category; Patti Patton-Bader, Melinda Gintilas and Rosanna Vasquez-Brown. These three ladies will be on NBC in the 9:00 hour next Monday morning. Patti (founder of Soldiers' Angels) was voted America's Most Inspirational Mom in the March contest and now, all of these women will be competing to be named a finalist for America's Favorite Mom.

Tune in next Monday and then go cast your vote. As often as you can. Wouldn't it be wonderful for a military mom to win?

Calling Milspouse Pet Owners

Most of you know that I really love my pets - large and small, so..........

Do you have pets?  Large, small, domestic, exotic?

Wanna have some fun and put Milpets in the spotlight?

Weekend Homework Assignment

Which category do you fall in, and why?

- You married into the military and loved the lifestyle from the outset.

- You married into the military and found it difficult to transition from the civilian world, but learned to like it (or are learning to like it).

- You married into the military and didn't like the lifestyle from the start, and still don't.

If I'm missing a category, feel free to add your own. No right or wrong answers here. We all have unique experiences and perspectives. Please tell us as much as you're comfortable sharing (anonymous comments are welcome). We're interested in hearing your stories.

Role Reversal: A Soldier Fighting a Different Kind of Battle

Military spouses are usually the ones left worrying that we could lose our spouses. But sometimes, the roles are reversed and it's the service member who loses his or her spouse. Last week, AWTM and Guard Wife spoke with Reid Stanley, a soldier who lost his wife to cancer. I encourage you to listen to the interview (it begins approximately 24 minutes into the program, so you can fast forward to the 24 minute mark). A good reminder to do regular breast self-exams and schedule a mammogram, if necessary. Reid Stanley's blog site can be found here.

Reid's steadfast devotion to his wife, and his effort to keep her memory alive, is impressive. So too is his desire to fight for all women who are victims of breast cancer. I know Ellicia would be proud. Reid hopes to participate in Avon's Walk for Breast Cancer in memory of Ellicia. In order to participate in the walk, Reid needs to raise $1,800. SpouseBUZZ readers have been very generous so far. Thank you! Reid is very close to his goal - he's 87% there! But he needs an additional $230 to push him over the top. If you can spare $5, or even $1, please consider making a donation, which you can do by clicking here. You can make an anonymous donation.

Thanks to Guard Wife and AWTM for bringing our attention to Reid's efforts.

Welcome Aboard, Copyright 1951

I've spent this rainy day enjoying a book given to my grandmother by my grandfather.  Titled Welcome Aboard, it was published in 1951 and he wrote inside, "To my loving wife, Annie, so that we may avoid the "Rocks and Shoals" peculiar to the social life within the service."

I always find interesting (and very dated) tidbits in this book that was probably so helpful when the information was current.

Today's nugget, from the section on Government Quarters:  "they usually have a living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and bath.  Quarters for senior officers may have three bedrooms and two baths."

Something to think about, huh?

Salute to Our Heroes: Live from Ft. Hood

Today is the big day.

Show starts at 12:30 CST and runs until midnight. You can watch below, or just hop over to SyncLive througout the day.

Watch this show and more at SyncLive.com

I'll be dipping in and out of the concert all day/night. If you have a SyncLive account (free), join me in the SyncLive chat room during the show.

For all you mothers out there...

My husband showed me the following "bit" of a woman/mother singing a song about, well... being a mother.  My kids watched it with me and even they were laughing.  So if you have 3 minutes and need a laugh - and something all mothers can identify with - click on the link below, sit back, and enjoy!

Like a "Retired" Jersey

My husband went into the field last week, and he was instructed to bring an old set of BDUs or DCUs to wear for some part of the training.

Uh oh.  Remember this?

We don't have extra BDUs and DCUs anymore.  Crap.

Love Never Loses Its Way Home...

After receiving  a few e-mail in response to a post on my personal blog encouraging me to post here, I will oblige.

I suppose the news broke faster in my area because this soldier's parents live near.  I have carried this young soldier's photo/prayer card with me for nearly four years--the title of my post is taken from it.  I had prayed for his family and for him and hoped with them that he would be found.

The Army says now that he has.

I'm sure many of us will be holding thoughts of this soldier and his family in our hearts today.  And, although words are truly inadequate, I hope some comfort can be found in the fact that thousands of people will be joining us in our thoughts, prayers and gratitude for Matt.  Godspeed, SSG Maupin.

Feel Good Friday!

Looking for an inspiring story or two to perk up your Friday?

Then THIS is the post for you!

A Request for an Interview

Andrea Downing Peck, a writer for Military Spouse Magazine, has a request for those of you who may be interested. If so, you can contact Andrea at canwrite4u@yahoo.com.

I am currently working on a story for the magazine called "A New Definition of Normal: How Should a Parent React to an Empty Nest." Not only am I looking to interview an empty nest parent or two, but I would love to interview someone whose spouse has retired from the military at about the same time their child has left the nest. That double whammy of changes would seem like a particularly difficult transition - and one that few outside the military would ever endure. 

My deadline is April 7.

Oh. My. God.

This morning I thought, "Wow!  Things seem to be going really smoothly lately!  How nice!"

That is a very stupid thing for airforcewife to do.  Very stupid. 

The War Before

One of the hardest things for me to hear from people when my husband is gone or deployed is, "I'm sorry." 

Beware

This has nothing to do with milspouse issues, really, but I think it's important. I fell prey to an email scam several years ago. Since then, I've been incredibly careful when it comes to my email. I've recently tightened the screws once again because too many questionable emails were slipping in. Occasionally, email that originated from a legitimate source is discarded by me (or my spam filter) out of an abundance of caution. I prefer dealing with the problems that are associated with that (why didn't you respond to my email?) than the alternative. You have to be careful because the spammers and identity theives are so sophisticated today. It's easy to be fooled.

Landing in my junk folder recently have been emails that were from Hallmark.com. Hey, look, someone sent me an e-card.... But as I suspected, it wasn't from Hallmark.com at all. Even if I had believed that it was, I wouldn't have opened the link. I never, ever open a link that isn't from someone I know and trust. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Click here to read more, and pass the link around.

I truly despise people who do stuff like this!

What Would Melody Do?

I'm not entirely socially adept.

"What? Oh no, airforcewife! I'm utterly SHOCKED! I thought you had calling cards, wore your hair in an elegant chignon, and had white gloves of various lengths for different social visits! You seem so prim and proper!"

Sure, you know that's what you were thinking. I'm good at hiding the truth.

Luckily for me and anyone who has had to attend some kind of airforcewife sponsored shindig, I have a secret weapon.

Online to Soldiers & Families Worldwide

Fort Hood has partnered with SyncLive to present LIVE webcasts of key DFMWR and other events from Fort Hood to Soldiers, Families and fans around the world.

SyncLive is a music and entertainment web community where fans can watch LIVE or on-demand shows and concerts while interacting with family and friends online. Artists can broadcast live shows to a worldwide audience from any place at any time to present their music on a global stage. Emerging and established artists, as well as several Military artists perform regularly on SyncLive and each artist or band has the ability to set-up their own profile page with background information and show schedules.

Live webcasts of music and comedy shows will be presented on SyncLive throughout 2008. Key events from Fort Hood that will be streamed via SyncLive include the Welcome Home Show, Month of the Military Child, Freedom Fest, Operation Rising Star and other targeted events.

SyncLive is proud to support Soldiers, Family members, retirees, Gold Star Families, DOD civilians and contractors by bringing them LIVE and on-demand shows and entertainment that can be accessed from any location around the world. "We are so grateful for the opportunity to salute our troops and to be able to present Soldiers, Families and their community with a platform where they can experience music together and connect with one another through individual and group chat," said Aric Berquist, CEO and Founder of SyncLive.

For further information, check out Fort Hood MWR Web site, www.hoodmwr.com or visit www.SyncLive.com for information about upcoming shows.

Hey, It's Free!

One of the very many perks of living on or near a base is definately PCS season.

Ah, yes.  PCS Season.  Otherwise known as, "I'm 700 pounds over my weight limit and desperately need to downsize" season.  For those of us not PCSing, it is also known as "Second Christmas."

Many's the time in my over 10 years as a military wife that I've found items that I absolutely COULD NOT fathom being without before I stand before the Throne of God and account for my life.  I never knew how unfulfilled I was without that papa-san frame, but when I saw it sitting conveniently on the curb across from my house I realized that it was what my life had been missing.  Ditto for the particle board tv stand and the three pedal cars my son spent an entire summer enjoying.

So when we moved away from base, I had to find a way to assuage my guilt at just throwing perfectly good items away and also score some neat free stuff I never knew I was missing.

I joined the local Freecycling list.  And I had no idea what I was getting into.

Privatized Housing - Revisited

It continues to amaze me that there are still so many comments being added about Privatized Housing.

I should not be surprised - really.  It is an ongoing hot topic.  One that profoundly affects military families.  It boils down to quality of living.

And You Thought I Needed Your Advice... Why?

I'm a "sandwicher".  I am taking care of my kids and taking care of my old, cantankerous, Russian Mother-in-Law at the same time.

And it really sucks.

As if the stress and strain of trying to care of a old woman whose mind is no longer with us across 3000 miles during deployments isn't enough suckiness, we get the added suck of career advice from people who think they know what's best for everyone involved even though they've never lived a military lifestyle.

And, since you asked, why yes I did have one of those confrontations today!

I've Spoken Too Soon

Last week we had two SpouseBUZZ authors down for the count, and I think a few more hanging on for dear life. 

Ahhh, cold and flu and walking pneumonia season.  You've gotta love it.

Meanwhile, I was smirking in my morning tea because I felt great.  I take Ester C every day, I also take about (and I'm not exaggerating here) 14 supplements daily (some are double doses, though, so it's really about 9 different supplements) - I thought I was doing great!  I thought, "Hey, airforcewife KNOWS what to do, ya'll!"  Also, we homeschool our kids, so we don't get exposed to the constant stream of boogery viruses and hacking cough bacteria that most families have to deal with.

How many times have I told myself that life doesn't offer guarantees?  And why don't I ever listen?  Because today I woke up feeling like my head was stuffed with cotton and I've had to ban all children from whatever bathroom is nearest so that I can get there in emergencies.  I don't think I'll be leaving the house today.

Curses - cold and flu crud!  And damn you, Karma! 

SpouseBUZZ Fit Club - Report In!

If I do yoga and run up and down the stairs like a hamster on crack today, I should make this week's fitness goals. 

One thing I've changed, though, is my once a day power stair attack.  Instead, I've switched to shorter term but more frequent dashes.  I try to do several stair laps every two hours or so.  It seems to have made a big difference!

Aside from that, I have to tell you about something wonderful I've discovered...

Our Own Red Carpet

So, I guess there will be an Oscar's ceremony this year.  I haven't watched that in, well, really ever.  I can't say that the things Hollywood chooses to give awards for generally line up with what I like to watch.  Mostly because I'm not too concerned about watching envelopes being pushed, and because I'm a big fan of happy endings.  I see terrible things every day, I like escape at my movies. 

But wouldn't it be great to have a televised military red-carpet event some year?  I have to wonder how many people would watch as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines are presented with various combat medals and the stories of their heroism told.  I wonder how many people would watch those YouTube clips from Iraq and Afghanistan on TV.

And, you know, can't you just see the red carpet event now?  Military spouses filing down the aisle in the nicest dresses they could find (which, I have to say, often way outshine some of the weird things the "stars" show up in) saying things like, "I got this for 10$ on the clearance rack!  Woo HOOO!" followed by someone is anxious to point out that they sewed their own dress.  Near tussles have erupted in the past as people vie for the "Best Deal of the Night" honors.

And then, of course, the dress uniforms...  Mmmmmmm - drool inducing.  Way better than Brad Pitt and George Clooney, for sure.

SpouseBUZZ Fit Club - Report In!

Okay, true confessions time - I binged on giant marshmallows twice this week.  And I had honey toast twice.  On the bright side, I made a permanent change to my lunch, having sliced cucumbers as a lunch side every day!   

But, for the most part I kept to the deal - and I even exercised every day.  I kept to my fake "stairmaster" routine, although I did have one day where I couldn't beat ten stair circuits because my legs decided that a week of stairs HURTS and went on strike.

Oh, and my dog Ike thinks I've gone nuts.  He stands at the bottom of the stairs and whines at me, while occasionally reaching over to try and grab the bottom of my pants and force me to stop running around like a crazy person.

Next week's resolutions - do the stairs twice a day, get the giant marshmallows OUT OF MY HOUSE to get rid of the temptation, and do a beginning yoga to ease back into it on three different days.

Report in, guys!  How did you do?

Can Do Spirit?

Today I woke up and was at the point of no return.  I'd had it.  I didn't care how cold it was outside, I didn't care if my kids were cranky, I didn't care if I felt overwhelmed with things to accomplish.

I WAS GOING TO EXERCISE IF IT KILLED ME.

Milspouse Hobbies

The milspouse group is a diverse one - to say the least.  But, we also have a great deal in common on many fronts.

Let's find out just how much we have in common and also how diverse we all are, when it comes to things that we really like to do in our personal time.

Do you have a hobby?

The Poacher Dude

We run into all sorts of people during our tours.  Have you ever noticed that every assignment seems to have certain personality types that people fall into?  There's usually "The Busy Guy" - this is the guy (and I use the term in a gender neutral way) that is always at work before everyone else, leaves after everyone else, comes in on the weekends, and just looks weird when they aren't wearing their UOD.

Then there's "The Complaining Guy".  You know which one - the one whose office is too hot/cold/moist/dry/loud/quiet, whose lumbago acts up as soon as someone DITY moves and the office volunteers to help pack up, who gets 1/2 the work done in twice the time as everyone else, and knows every single step necessary to file an IG complaint while often offering to coach others through the process.

We also can't forget to mention "Exasperated Guy".  Exasperated Guy is the one who always seems to have the last minute projects land squarely in his/her lap.  This is not due to poor planning, but rather because Exasperated Guy keeps telling him/herself that THIS time s/he will NOT help the people who don't do their work when they are supposed to, s/he will let them take their medicine so they will learn!  Then, of course, when crunch time rolls around, Exasperated Guy can't stand it and jumps in to pull out a last minute save.  Exasperated Guy usually has a lot Tums hanging around the office and does Pepto shots like they're mixed with jello.

Most recently, Air Force Guy and I have been having several run-ins with a type that I like to call, "The Poacher".

Mission: Accomplished

Let it hereby be known that AirForceWife can now knit socks.
Let the love flow...

Bringing a Little Navy to SpouseBUZZ

I've been working on some self-introductions, and my drafts are truly witty, or thoughtful, or just darn good.  But they will also never be perfect, and so I'm diving right in.

I'm She of the Sea, as Andi introduced in the post below.  I've been married to a Navy Intel guy for 15 years and we have four daughters.  We're enjoying the last few months of peace while he is in a pretty easy job, after which he will be preparing to deploy for 12 months.  (Really, 12, they promise!)

I'm a little in awe of the SpouseBUZZ authors and wonder if I'll be able to keep up - they are so smart, and funny, and caring.  I guess we'll find out!  I've been a SpouseBUZZ reader for a while now, and I'm learning more about the other services every day.  I'm excited to offer the Navy perspective and I hope I can relate to some Navy specific situations that other readers have.

Again, thanks for the nice comments already posted.  This place feels like home already!

Welcome Aboard

Some of you may have noticed the new icon on the right-hand side of the page. The mermaid one. At long last, SpouseBUZZ has brought a Navy wife on board. We're thrilled to welcome She of the Sea to SpouseBUZZ. You'll be hearing from our new author very soon. She's a great addition and you're going to love her.

Welcome Aboard, She of the Sea!

Anchor's Away (or whatever you Navy folk say....).

Confessions of a Military Spouse - the Ongoing Saga

To keep up with my husband, my friends from various duty stations, and my family I have no fewer than three instant messaging programs on my computer.  I may have more.  I've stopped counting.

Cheering for Shequila Farrelly

I have never watched the show, but I certainly hope my fellow Army Wife wins lots and lots of money:

The wife of a soldier serving in Afghanistan will appear tonight on NBC’s hit game show, “Deal or No Deal,” in a special episode devoted to military spouses.

The show, hosted by Howie Mandel, will air 8 p.m. Central Standard Time and feature an audience of military members and spouses.

The contestant, Shequila Farrelly, 39, is the wife of Staff Sgt. Patrick Farrelly, who is currently serving in Afghanistan on a military transition team attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Riley, Kan.

And I laughed at this part, because it's soooo true:

After being invited on the show, Farrelly said show producers peppered her with questions about her life and interests.

“Everything I talk about is military-related — duty stations, people you meet, how wives have to support each other,” she said. “We’re an important part of the mission and sometimes people forget about those things.”

27 Dresses? Just About!

I haven't seen the new movie starring that cutie from Grey's Anatomy, but the concept is easy enough to grasp...always the bridesmaid and never the bride means a closetful of some pretty heinous dresses.

Translated into military spouse-speak, weddings become military balls and my closet becomes the formal wear graveyard.

SpouseBUZZ - The Telenovela

Last night the unflappable Andi and I had quite the email flurry going on.  There was an emergency in SpouseBUZZ-land and we were at the center of the storm.

Let me preface this by saying that at Air Force Guy's new job there is no outgoing email access and no phone access for anything short of loss of life or limb.  Quite simply - there is no way to get a hold of the man unless someone is dying or perhaps if nuclear war breaks out.  Perhaps.  I'm not sure if they consider that an emergency. 

So when I got a call from his former Headquarters stating that there was a problem with the paperwork getting him into the reserves - a problem that had to be resolved by midnight, I had to go into "Pushy Military Wife" mode to get things done.  Because there was no one else to do it. 

As usual.

Pimp Your Stuff

SpouseBUZZ receives a large amount of email from readers, business owners, aspiring business owners, authors and non-profit groups asking us to write about -- or link to -- their particular project, product or service. The overwhelming majority of these emails are legitimate and are deserving of a link. Unfortunately, we cannot blog or link everything, or feature everyone on SBTR. Otherwise, we would spend most of our time promoting outside interests and little time doing what we do here, discussing life from the perspective of military spouses and being a virtual hub for spousal support.

In order to solve this problem, we've decided to start a new series here called, "Pimp Your Stuff."

Techno-Gremlins: Version Two

We knew we had comment issues last week, but thought they had been resolved. Apparently, that's not the case. At least not for all of you. Some of you are either unable to comment, or are being flagged as spammers. We're working on correcting this problem right now, but we need your help. If you are having trouble commenting and are receiving an error other than this,

The webpage cannot be found
HTTP 400   

Most likely causes:
There might be a typing error in the address.
If you clicked on a link, it may be out of date.   
What you can try:

Retype the address.
Go back to the previous page.
Go look for the information you want.

Please send an email and include the error message. If you've already contacted us, no need to do so again.

One other favor, if you're having trouble simply viewing the comment sections, please let us know. It seems that we're having an issue with page views, too. Lovely....

Apologies to all of you who have had issues commenting. We hope to have this resolved very soon.

Finding your new cheese (WHAT?!)

I recently read a great book called "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Kenneth Blanchard.  This book was recommended to me by one of my clients.  At first I chuckled at the title, but after reading the book I was grateful for the recommendation.

Knit-Along AAR

A few months back, I organized a knit-along for some of my friends whose husbands are deployed.  This week I got emails from two other SpouseBUZZers that they too had participated and finished their knitting.

The knit-along is complete!  And we have pictures!

Housekeeping Items for 2008

Happy 2008!

The new year promises to be busy and fun here at SpouseBUZZ. Below you'll find a list of things that you can expect to see at SpouseBUZZ in 2008.

Attn: Yarn Lovers in WA

Andi found this announcement and sent it my way; we wanted to spread the word on the off chance that someone might get to attend.  Yorkshire Yarns in Lakewood, WA, is hosting a needleworking night especially for Military Spouses on January 10.  If you craft -- or want to learn -- and live in the area, check out the calendar on their website for more info.

Giving and Receiving

Watching children open their gifts with wide-eyed wonder is a gift in itself. I bought my three year-old niece some clothing (she is already a mini-fashionista). After she opened the package containing a gorgeous pink coat, she held it up and proclaimed to the entire room, "look, it's so beautiful. I want to wear it everyday." Talk about melting your heart!

I'd rather give than receive because it's much more fun, but this year I received two gifts that I absolutely loved. First, someone made a donation to the USO in my name. I love that idea! Second, and rather surprising, yet fun - Mr. Andi signed us up for dance lessons. That's right - dance lessons. The man must truly love me because he hates to dance.

We start next week. We'll be learning the Swing/Foxtrot/Cha Cha and Tango. I see lots and lots of blog material in this gift. I'm hoping we can make a brief appearance on Dancing With the Stars, too. Heh...

What did you most enjoy giving and what did you most enjoy receiving?

SpouseBUZZ: A Year in Review

In a few hours we'll be ringing in the New Year, so I decided to spend the entire morning reflecting on this past year. I did that by taking a stroll down memory lane and reading through the entire 2007 SpouseBUZZ archive.

What a year it has been!

I've pulled out some of my favorite posts from 2007, by month. Narrowing down the list was an enormous challenge, but the links below served to remind me that we had so many interesting, humorous and relevant conversations in 2007 at SpouseBUZZ, thanks to you.

Awaiting Santa

I'm sure posting will be light from now until New Year's Day, but we'll be popping up around here from time to time.

From our SpouseBUZZ family to your family, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and blessed 2008. We've had the great fortune of meeting many of you this past year, and for that we are grateful. Thank you for sharing your lives with us throughout 2007.

For those of you with deployed spouses, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Most of us have been there and we know that this can be a tough time of year for military families. If you're feeling blue and want to chat sometime Christmas evening, let us know and we'll open up the chat room.

Last I checked, Santa was in Shanghai, China and headed this way. Much to do before he arrives....

Singing for MWR

Anyone been watching Clash of the Choirs? I haven't seen it, but blogger Jammie Wearing Fool emailed to say that two Ft. Sill soldiers, Captain Brian Saul and SSG Kent Kramer, are a part of the Oklahoma City Choir.

On Monday, [Blake] Shelton's choir sang a moving salute to troops fighting in the Middle East. The song, "Life is a Highway,” was dedicated to the armed forces and highlighted two of Oklahoma's members, Army Sgt. Kent Kramer and Capt. Brian Saul, who both recently returned from tours of duty.

Looks like they're doing pretty well, too. If the Oklahoma City Choir wins, they will receive $250,000, part of which will go to the Army MWR. Looks like we only have one evening left to vote. Voting rules here.   

Host a Virtual Holiday Party for Your Deployed Spouse

On Friday evening, December 21, SyncLive will be featuring a "Salute the Troops Holiday Show". The show will be broadcast over the internet, so anyone with a connection will be able to watch it live. One of our favorites, Cliff Hudson, will be participating in the show. So too will other artists of To The Fallen Records. More details after the jump.

This reminds me that I've been meaning to share with you a way that you can host a virtual party for your deployed spouse. The entire family (and friends) can participate, too. No matter where in the world they may be.