Blonde By Design

A Time to Reflect with Thanks ...

Happy Veterans Day!

A time to reflect, with THANKS, to our Soldiers of past and present.
While those who have gallantly served our Country are on your mind,
today is also a good day to start gathering ideas and gifts to send in
Holiday Care Packages for our Soldiers currently serving overseas.

AnySoldier.com is a good site to browse through, pick a soldier or a troop
and show them you care.  It doesn't have to be expensive to give.  A card
and a letter mean as much to these soldiers as anything.  If you need some help,
you can get ideas on what to give by browsing through my  Project Kandahar in 2007.

The Post Office supplies Flat Rate Shipping boxes that can save you a ton
on shipping expenses. 

Take a moment to send your love to a soldier or give a helping hand to a soldier's
family here, stateside, waiting for their beloved to come home.

Do it because you can.

*hugs* 

My Twitter Friends are Rock Stars ...

Twitter has opened the door and allowed us the opportunity to walk into the lives of some amazing people through 140 characters and pressing SEND.

One of those truly amazing, extremely kind, very sweet, shyly FUN, talented and smart people I've had the privilege of knowing is Annie Boccio.  She's multi-faceted and if it's a technology trend, she's probably been there before you even knew it existed.  She doesn't go out of her way to draw attention to herself, yet she's a Queen at wordpress, helping people who ask, and runs a successful business, pixelcurrents.com where she produces magic for her satisfied clients.  Annie is a pleaser.  She gives, she tries hard and she cares.  She's one of those rare combinations of people that come into your life and touch it in positive ways and yet, you  may not have exchanged more than a few dozen tweets.

 

Some of you may remember The Kandahar Project that I started after connecting with Jim Long (@newmediaJim) via Twitter while he was on one of his many trips overseas. 

What you may not know (because, while I Thanked everyone, I was so exhausted after the project, I dropped the ball on getting ALL the details out to you) is that Annie's husband, Pat, donated 25 very awesome USB Flash drives for the Kandahar soldiers Christmas care packages and they absolutely LOVED THEM! 

Another important FACT you may not know; Kindness and Giving are a part of the framework in the Boccio Family.  Pat, Annie's husband is locally known for his giving and volunteering in Green Brook, New Jersey where they live.

As a matter of fact, Pat, an Electrical Engineer (who runs a successful business himself), is not only Annie's awesome husband of TWENTY-THREE Years, father of three equally awesome sons, but he's also currently running for the Township Council in Green Brook, New Jersey! 

Pat has always been involved in helping out his community and now he's taking it one step further.  Personally, from what I know of Pat and Annie, if I lived in Green Brook, New Jersey, Pat would definitely have my VOTE.

GOOD LUCK, PAT and Thank You, Annie for being such an awesome Twitter friend!

*hugs*

 

I bet you wondered ...

I bet you were wondering if I was everrrr going to  tell you about the Kandahar socks?

I will.  I plan on it.  I meant to way before the way before of now.

*blinks*

I'm afraid I let life, health and struggling to keep my head above water while focusing on keeping a cheery disposition get in my way. 

Soooo, I twitted the socks away while floundering in writers block.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

*impish grins*

But, some day when you look here, you just might see the rest of the story.  It's overdue, you know?

(yes, I know you know .. lol)

The Christmas Light of PEACE ... Please Join Us ..

Amongst the cans & boxes of candy, cookies & goodies sent in the Christmas shipment to Danny Allman & the men serving with him in Kandahar were 25  luminary's (one for each man) to burn the Light of PEACE on Christmas Day. (more on the Christmas shipment to come)

Please JOIN US in burning the LIGHT OF PEACE on Christmas Day with our special men & women serving our country in Kandahar & stationed throughout Afghanistan.

Grab a candle ... any candle ... and symbolically burn it in Unity of Love, Light, & PEACE for our Country & the World on Christmas Day and each day forward in our lives ...

Let our lives be war & trouble free ...  amen.

Twitter Rock Star Shipment...

This is what your sponsorship helped to produce to send to our adopted soldiers in Kandahar. (more pictures later)

My  Tuesday was pretty much consumed putting the finishing touches on the shipment of boxes filled with stateside care on it's way to Danny Allman and his troop of men in Kandahar.  Twenty-five men in all.

Filling out those Customs Declaration forms was truly the only really bad part.  It took FOREVER it seemed.  I think I spent one whole night filling out forms.

The local Post Office extended VIP treatment to me for the Kandahar Christmas shipment. They loaded a bin, ushered me through the back, and opened a lane just for me and our 46 boxes packed with Christmas treats for our guys in Kandahar.

It really only took about an hour to process all of the 46 boxes ... and I got teased a lot for *yawning* so much. (they counted)  Can you say tired?   I was so exhausted!  But, it was the good kind of exhausted.  The kind where you know you've completed your task on time.

I'm still a bit wiped out from living in the energy of over drive while I was rushing to meet the USPS shipping deadline (which had been moved up).

More later ... but for now  I wanted to take a moment to bring you up to date and say THANK YOU to all of you who have sent cards, letters, sponsored the shipping of boxes, sent boxes & care yourself.

In a day or two (after I get some much needed rest & catch up a little bit on my life) I'll post more pictures, do the drawing  and share some more.

No, Ann,  I honestly didn't know today was the 5th.  I totally rushed to drop off my rent payment on my way to the Post Office.  *laughs at self*  My days have been such a blur!

The Night Before Kandahar ...

Twas the night before the Kandahar Shipment was due ...

Boxes were piling, counting them one and then two ..

Goodies were sorted and stuffed with such care...

Twenty-six Boxes were packed, soon to find there way there...

The creatures were stirring, at times out of control, the house was abuzz with excitement to go ...

There's more to box, more tins to fill ... Cookies and candies, surprises galore ...All a wonderful goodness to greet Kandahar's door.

(This is part of what your sponsorship was helped to produce ...) (well, except for Izzy ... she just happens to know I'm busy and ... well .. she's a blonde in training.  Need I say more?)

The Kandahar Pantry ...

My new home was MADE for giving.  WickedStepmom has recently asked me, "Where do you keep all of that STUFF?"

Why, in the Kandahar Pantry, of course!  When I moved I gained this wonderful walk in pantry just waiting to be put to good use!

And yes ... this is all stuff on it's way to Kandahar.

The blonde has a plan ...  light the energy of the world with kindness and produce peace in our lives...

Through goodness all things prosper ...

... or something like that ...   

*sending love*

Recently sent ....

This past week I sent the guys in Kandahar the fixings for Spaghetti.  Personally, spaghetti is on my list of *blechh* foods, but LOTS of people love it!

I made a trip to the Goodwill store and picked up a variety of used books.

If you have any good reading material laying around your house that you wouldn't mind parting with, pick up a FLAT RATE shipping box at the USPS ($8.95 shipping) and consider sending them to our guys in Kandahar.  Anything to  take their mind off of war for a moment would be great!

Despite my ability for kindness & doing good deeds, I still couldn't resist the silliness of sending THIS book to our guys in Kandahar.  It made me giggle just a little bit.

A box full of trees & lights were sent, along with Christmas cards the guys could use to send home.

What's Christmas without snowflakes and a nativity of some type .. and of course, some tasty popcorn snacks to munch on while decorating for Christmas.

White Trash for Kandahar ...

Although I may need to make another batch of fudge for the guys in Kandahar, I've moved on to White Trash.   

White Trash:

3 Cups EACH of Corn, Wheat & Rice Chexs              3 Cups Cheerios

3 Cups stick pretzels

2 Cups Peanuts - dry roasted

3 BAGS of WHITE Nestle Chocolate Chips

3 TBL. Spoons of Vegetable Oil

Mix all of dry ingreidients in BIGass bowl.

  In double boiler, melt white chocolate & 3 Tbl spoons Vegetable oil, stirring constantly until chips are melted.

Fold melted white chocolate into bowl with dry ingredients. (use bigass wooden spoons -- and hands, after mixture has cooled enough) to evenly coat all dry ingredients. (oh!  And wash your hands! lol)

Spread coated candy out on wax paper until cool. (approx 2 hr.)

When cool break into pieces & place in air tight container.

*smiles* 

Now you can have a White Trash Christmas, too!!!

(p.s.  This is a Nail Nazi recipe -- guaranteed to please any sugah addict)

Cooking for Kandahar

I'd planned on doing my Kandahar Christmas cooking this weekend, but with the shipping date moved up, the rest of my life has had to step up to the plate as well.

If you're planning on sending a package to Kandahar, PLEASE NOTE: In order for packages to arrive in time for Christmas, USPS has moved the shipping date UP from Dec. 11th to Dec. 4th.

Also, please know that ALL of your gifts & cards are appreciated! However, UNLESS you have been sending to the guys on a regular basis & established a rapport, Please DO NOT send homemade goods or any item that is opened.  This is for THEIR safety.  Please remember, they don't know you and how good your heart is like some of the rest of us may.  It's not a rule intended to offend or hurt you, but one to keep our soldiers safe from any unsavory sorts.

So, I say, let the Christmas Season begin!

The first batch of peanut butter fudge is cooling while the second batch is waiting to begin.

If *You* would like to send a card, letter of encouragement, or care package to Danny Allman and his troop of men in Kandahar, please join us in sending Christmas cheer.

Danny's address is:

Danny Allman,  JRCC, Kandahar,  APO AE  09355

Take a moment before your life goes in to complete holiday full gear and send our guys a card, letter or package of care.  Sending a care package to our soldiers doesn't have to be expensive! You can send a thoughtful package for under $15.00.  Ask me how.

If you need ideas or have questions about care packages, please email me here.

If you would like to sponsor or be a part of sending the 30 plus care packages I will be sending out on December 4th (or sooner), sponsorship donations may be made through PayPal.  The email address donations are sent to is:  spriteskandaharproject@yahoo.com

100% of ALL donations are used to ship or purchase items for care packages.

Anyone donating $5 or more will have their name put in a drawing to win 5lbs of fudge.

THANK YOU for helping me to bring our soldiers Christmas Cheer!

If you'd like to give to a soldier, another Sprite approved site to check out is AnySoldier.com

*Sending Love & the Spirit & Joy of the Season to All*