mailing address for Jonathan

Jonathan is expected to leave for Kuwait right after Thanksgiving. Some of you have been asking about his mailing address and a "wish list" for care packages. Here is an email from him about that:
------------------------

USARCENT/CFLCC
Chaplain's Office
ATTN: Chaplain Landon
APO AE 09306

Make sure that you tell anyone who wants the address NOT to send anything until about the second week in December, because if a package shows up there addressed to me, and I haven't inprocessed (so the mailroom doesn't recognize my name) they may just mark it "return to sender" and shoot it right back.

Some notes toward a wish list...

Sunflower seeds are always good.
Jerky (if you can get it through customs).
100-calorie snack packs of various sorts.
Oriental rice crackers.
Soy nuts (Yes, I've had 'em before, and they're yummy)
Low carb, high-protein snack bars.

Maybe some yarn and knitting or crochet pattern books? I dunno about how much time I'll spend knitting. Probably more than I did in Iraq, since I'll probably have Internet access in my room so I can watch streaming TV shows on my computer and can knit while I watch 'em.

Maybe Audible.com audio-book gift certificates so I can get audiobooks to load on an MP3 player to listen to while I'm in the gym. I have quite a few books I've not listened-to yet. Since I don't have any device now except my laptop I haven't been using Audible much - can't listen on the road and can't listen in the gym - but I'll probably go through those fairly quickly once I get to Kuwait.

Can't really think of other things I might want to use over there for now. There is no shortage of books at Camp Arifjan. There's a book room in the PX mall where people can get books - not required to check 'em out or return them, which is nice because that means people can take books to read even when they know they'll be traveling before they finish the book. Therefore the only books that I'd really profit from would be books of professional interest (professional reading for
military officers or for preachers/pastors).

Maybe I'll start a blog where I can make a wish list of book titles I've run across that sound interesting to me, and I can delete them when I've read them. A blog entry of other wish-list request items would probably be a good idea, too.

--------------
I will post an update if he gets the blog set up.

*** Be sure if you mail a package that you use a flat rate box and make sure you get the discount for an APO address (it's a couple of $$ less).

videos of John Denver

Two beautiful songs and video by one of my favorite singers. (Please make sure to turn off the player at the bottom of this page before you start the video or you will hear two songs at once.)

Denise is heading to college

Recently, Denise finished the online high school completion course she started when we arrived in Georgia. She needed to have a diploma for her chosen course of study- dental hygiene. The programs are so selective, that a GED would probably have prevented her from getting into the school.

She has gone to the local community college near our home and finished the paperwork and taken the placement tests (the results will be sent in about 2 weeks.) She plans to start taking classes in January.

The bishop recognized her achievement at church yesterday. He also presented her with a beautiful Book of Common Prayer.

Jonathan has graduated

The graduation ceremony was this morning in Augusta. Jonathan has now finished the 15 week course that he needed to complete to be eligible for promotion to Lt Colonel. He gave the invocation and benediction at the ceremony.

He will be home for Thursday and Friday this week, on leave. Then he will be back to working in the office until he leaves for Kuwait in about a month.

It's very good to have him home for awhile.

Weight Watchers

I started on a Weight Watchers food plan on Sept 18th. I also started an exercise (low-impact aerobics) on Sept 22nd.

As of my weekly meeting weigh-in this morning, I've lost a total of 11.4 pounds. It's been tough, but I'm determined to get off my blood pressure medicine and get more healthy.

Soon I may have to go shopping for smaller size pants, as I now have to wear a belt. I still am not able to get my wedding ring on- yet. But the time will come soon. I'm looking forward to that.

Fabric Sale- Sat 10/09/09

Today, Jonathan, Denise, Naomi and I went to the semi-annual fabric by the pound sale at a fabric warehouse located about 1 1/2 hours east of us.

They sell the discontinued, damaged, and/or mis-ordered fabrics by the pound. When you enter the warehouse, you are given a 30 gallon plastic bag. Then you get to walk around digging and sorting through large rolls of fabric (many are 60-72 inches wide) stacked on large racks or though piles on the floor. We have learned to bring out scissors with us to cut off the amount we want from the large rolls.

You never know what kind of fabric will be available, although the majority is upholstry fabric as that is what the company specializes in. We found some nice curtains today, and some fabric for garments (which is not the usual) and some fabrics for making vestments (or for justdecorating vestments- like the 3 velveteens.)

Jonathan and I collected 59 pounds, Naomi 15 pounds, and Denise 26 pounds. We have a lot of sewing and crafting ahead of us. Now if we can just finish the projects we decided to do for Christmas gifts in time. [This is a nice problem to have :)]

Drill Competition 10/3/09 Saturday

Jon Paul and Naomi took part in a JROTC drill competition with their teams today. They left the house at 5 AM this morning, after spending a fair amount of time last night ironing uniforms and shining shoes!

There were about 15 schools competing. Jon Paul took 3rd place in Individual Knockout Drill (out of about 200 or so cadets). He was awarded a large trophy, but for now it will be kept at the school.

Here is a link to the video that Naomi made of the exhibition drill team, of which Jon Paul is a member. (You will have to copy and paste the address as I can't make it turn into a clickable link.)

http://www.facebook.com/friends/?ref=tn#/video/video.php?v=1231615637006

=====
As a side note, on Thursday there were promotions. Jon Paul is now a cadet Lt.Colonel and Naomi is a Staff Sgt.