Unused gift cards

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Do you have unused gift cards lying around? Did you receive a gift card and have no desire to use it? Do you want to help others but really do not have the finances to do it? I have the solution for you.
I was contacted recently about giftcardgiver.com to help spread the word of this amazing program.
This is such a neat idea. Four friends wanted to collect gift cards to help people in need. They walked into a gathering and asked, 8 people if they had unused gift cards and they walked out with $50 worth of gift cards.
I am so excited to help out. I read on their site that 10-15% of gift cards are unused. It makes perfect sense to me considering I have a separate wallet for gift cards.
Turning in your gift cards is easy. Simply place them in an envelope and mail them to:
Gift Card Giver
PO Box 17920
Atlanta, GA 30316

What a neat idea. I encourage you to spread the word of this program. How hard would it be to walk into a mommy group and collect gift cards? For me it would help me not have guilt because I did not use all of the gift cards.
Pamela

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements:
1. I don’t understand _the Army’s timeline__ and probably never will but I guess that is because I am just a spouse.
2. I prefer _sleep on my couch__ to _sleeping in my bed, but my husband will not allow it. ___
3. My favorite smell is _gasoline, okay maybe a clean house_because _I am weird, because I rarely smell it.__________________
4. I suspect my neighbors of _think I am a slob. Because it seems like every time I walk out to my vehicle I see that trash is in my yard. Why can my children not get the trash in the can where it belongs.____________
Pamela

5 Question Friday

1. How often do you shave your legs in the winter? Let’s just say in 9 hours I will pull out of my driveway with my hero for a romantic getaway. My main concern is how do I get the forest off my legs. Having blonde hair makes it easier to forget about.

2. Valentine's Day cards for your spouse: funny or romantic? Romantic and maybe a funny one just for the fun of it.

3. What are you most looking forward to about spring? I love that I can open windows and air out the house. I can put the kids in the back yard for hours with no fear of needing sunblock. That I can make plans for the summer. That we are one season closer to my hero coming home.

4. What's your favorite way to pamper yourself? Getting a pedi and manicure. It is weird because I cannot stand them cutting my nails or filing and I look like they are torturing me. But then they massage my legs and AWWWWWWWWWWW! Then I walk out with what looks like pretty fingernails and AWWWWWWWWWWW!

5. Does your tax return go into savings or do you spend it instantly? Normally, we have it spent before we file it. This year we are just putting it in savings. I know I need to save $4,000 for school but other than that we do not have plans. Well my hero does not have plans. I am begging for 6 new dressers for the kids. We have said the last 2 years next year. We have those dressers that do not close easily, that fall out. That drive me batty. The problem is since we move often I want 6 real wood, no particle board dressers.
Pamela

This is hard

This is hard. We have been through seven other deployments but this is still hard. My children are feeling it. Even the little girl I keep is feeling it. One day this week out of the blue she said “I miss my daddy, I miss your daddy, and I miss my daddy”. She spoke in a mean voice that is not normal. It brought me to tears. Her dad is a soldier.
Jason asks each morning if daddy is home. Rob has been gone a month and is only home shortly before leaving again. So every morning he ask if Dad is gone or at work? He needs to know what to expect.
The last several nights Grace has climbed into my bed at night and not slept soundly. This morning Grace woke up after Rob left for PT and said “where is daddy”. As soon as I said he went to work and would be home later she fell soundly asleep. It was as if she as soon as she knew today is not the day she could sleep again.
This is hard. I want to take away their pain. I want them to understand it. So often people will say to me that it must be hard to deal with six kids while he is away. I always smile and make some nice comment. Honestly, the kids are what keep me going. They are amazing. The smiles, the questions, the hugs, that is what keeps me going.
But in my brain I think I wish someone noticed the kids. I wish there was a way of someone to read their mind. How they feel when there is an event and dad is not there. This summer our boat will set untouched. No long trips to the lake. Noone, to fix toys as they break. No one to complain to about mom not letting them do something. Instead they will have skype phone calls and lots of mail being sent. A countdown of days. They will have fear of rather their dad will come home. They will have boyscout camp outs without dad, movie nights without dad, lonely Saturday mornings without dad to wrestle with. They will look at his truck and remind me that in dad’s truck they can act silly and make weird noises with their body.
For today I will choose to enjoy the day. I will not think about the days to come but will think of the years to come. About the camp outs next year. About the fishing trips next year. I will think about our reunion, the wonderful hugs that come that first day. I will focus on making sure that we have welcome home signs. I will focus on summer plans that the kids and I can do without dad. I will focus on care packages. I will focus on extra hugs for the kids. I will focus on the blessings in my life and the blessings the Army has brought to our life.
Pamela

Wordless Wednesday