Support our Troops - Send coupons

I received an e-mail from a friend in Germany today.  In that e-mail was the below (which is verbatim).  Please take note that coupons overseas are good for six months after their expiration date.

Please share this information with others as appropriate, particularly folks in the US who may not use all or have expired coupons to send along in support of the overseas military families.

The Army Community Service office in Kaiserslautern, Germany, has a coupon program to help benefit US military families in the area on their purchases at the local military commissary. Coupons are sent in from individuals and organizations back in the US to help the families save money on their food and other purchases. The commissaries benefit too by receiving a processing fee on all redeemed coupons (and that potentially saves all taxpayers).  PLUS, most coupons are good for up to six months after their expiration
dates in the US. So, no need to throw away expired coupons back home, just send them along for the ACS program over here.

The mailing address is:

US Army Garrison - Kaiserslautern (which can be abbreviated USAG-K)
Army Community Service
Unit 23152
APO AE 09227

Normal US postage may be used. (No need for international stamps.)
Thank you for your support.

Note from me:  I remember shopping at the Commissary in Heidelberg.  When I walked in the front door, there was a box full of coupons.  Many of us would stand at the counter and sort through that box to see if we could find coupons for purchases we planned to make.  Unless we subscribed to the local paper from "home", we had no way to get coupons unless it was out of magazines.  Postage to mail your coupons is minimal because you are not paying to mail to a Europe address.  You are paying to mail to a US address.   So please support our troops overseas.  This costs no money on your part (other than postage).  Just grab extra coupon flyers from the grocery store when you visit the next few times.  Or throw your expired coupons to the side.  When you've got a stack, mail them off.  Or send a shout-out to friends and family and get a large collection and put them in a manila envelope.  Or send out a shout out to your bloggy friends.  Do it.  For the troops.  So get out there and spread the word.  Please.

I've done it - I bought a laptop

I've loaded Norton Antivirus, and other than a quick e-mail to my daughter to tell her it was up and running, this is the first thing I've done.  Yep, I have my priorities straight!  My daughter was my go-to person when I was trying to figure out what to buy.  I'm clueless about all these giga's and mega's and all.   You might as well be talking Greek when you talk to me about that stuff.

So - hopefully I'll figure out how to download the software for my camera, and then the photos from my camera.  I have some of you saved under my favorites, and I'll have to get those off the work-issued laptop, so I can "reach out and touch you" when my heart desires.

It's gonna be a slow process.  Because I'm such a doofus with this electronic stuff. 

My family gets so frustrated with me because it takes me so long to make decisions.  I've been talking about getting new cell phones, changing cell phone plans, and changing internet/cable providers for months and months and months.  Seriously - at least six months.  I just never seem to make a decision.  I've been talking about getting a new laptop for over a year.  Yep.  Sad, but true.  A year.

I've already seen things that are different with this laptop, and it's going to take this 58-year old woman some time to find out how to maneuver around.  God help me.

But needless to say, I'm so excited ! 

Questions about Google Reader

I’m new to all of this blogging stuff.  I’m finally figuring out how to read new posts with Google Reader.  Yay me!  Up until this point, I’ve always requested post updates via e-mail.  But sadly, I didn’t create a new e-mail account for those e-mail updates.  Nooooo…I wasn’t smart enough to do that!  So when I get home for work each day, I sometimes have 50+ e-mail notes from bloggers that have a new post to their blog.  God help me when I leave and go out of town for the weekend and don’t have access to my account for two days.  I can come back and it’s not an exaggeration to say I sometimes have 150 or more e-mails.  So I’m figuring this Google Reader stuff out.  It’s been slow, but it’s happening!

But I’ve got some questions:

1.        Why do I see everything for one bloggers post, but only maybe the first paragraph of another bloggers post?  Is there something I can do so I can see the entire post?

2.       I see a listing of blogs down the left-hand side of Google Reader.  At the top, I see a heading entitled “subscriptions” and I’m thinking the number that appears at the end of that heading is telling me how many new post updates are being displayed (those that I haven't read).  Is that right?

3.       Under the heading “subscription”, I see a list of what I assume is the title of the blogs I follow.    Correct?

4.       Why is it that sometimes I go through all the unread blogs, but there are still numbers displayed after the heading “subscriptions”?  I can look through the listing of posts (all ninety gazillion of them) and I can see numbers at the end of the blog title, and when I click on the blog title, I see posts displayed that I didn’t see when I was scrolling through the new posts.  Huh?  Why is that?

5.       If I read a post that I want to “open” (what other word would I use?) either to read after I’ve gone through all the new post updates, or to enter a contest, or to leave a comment or whatever, is there a way to do that without going back up to the title of the post, right-clicking and then opening it in a new tab?  Surely there is a way to do it easier than what I’m doing.

6.       How do I un-follow a blog I am following?  I’ve been reading blogs for about six years, and my tastes have certainly changed a lot in those six years.   And is there some sort of courtesy you go through to let a blogger know you’ve un-followed them?  I know that a lot of you are concerned about the number of followers you have (I don't know why, but maybe one day I'll understand).  And I know you get concerned when you lose some.   So please educate me.  I want to be a good girl.  At least about this.  Yeah, yeah.  I pick my battles.  I don't always want to be a good girl.  That's no fun!

Is there anything else I need to know about Google Reader that I haven’t already touched upon in this post?

My H2H Charity Quilt is finished

Debra at Debra's Design Studio just completed the quilting on my H2H Charity Quilt, and I'm so pleased with the final results.  I worked in Kosovo and Bosnia, and the locals I worked with loved bright colors.  I'm making the assumption the folks in Romania love bright colors too, so I hope I made the right choice with my color selections.  Being fairly new to quilting, I was bumfuzzled as to what pattern to use, so Debra came up with this one.   This was my second time to do a 9-patch block.  The first time?  The first time was my initial introduction to Debra.  She had asked for donations of 9-patch blocks for a quilt that she would make that would be auctioned for the American Cancer Society.  She even had to send me the 9-patch instuctions and answer my questions about her color requirements.  I know I bug her to death with all my questions, but she's been a trooper about it, and has been there for me every time I've needed her.  And I've needed her a lot. 

Huge thanks to Debra!!!!
This is my first 9-patch quilt, and my first charity quilt.  I did it.  I can't believe it.  I did it.   Yippee!

Chance to win iPad2 and $1,000 in cash and Cool Video

Still Blonde After All These Years has two posts that really caught my attention this evening:

Are you interested in entering a contest for a chance at winning an iPad2 and $1,000 Total Cash?   The giveaway begins on June 6, 2011 at 12:01 am EST ends on June 20, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST.   Head on over there and throw your name in the hat.  I'll wait....  hum, hum.....whistle, whistle...

Okay...you back now?  Okay!

Well, now that you've done that, how about taking a few minutes and having some fun!

Still Blonde After All These Years also posted a really cute video showcasing “American Pie” and some of the fun-loving residents of Grand Rapids, MI.  The video was shot on May 26, 2011, and they have already had about 3 Million YouTube views!  I can't imagine the planning that went into this video.  I loved it!  I remember having to write an essay in college based on the song "American Pie".  There was all this controversy about who the song was written about - Elvis?  Buddy Holly?  The Big Bopper?  Richie Valens?   Ha!  Some of you young whippersnappers know who Elvis is, but probably don't have a clue who those other people are.

So - that was some serious stuff and some fun stuff. 

I LOVE music, and those Michigan residents looked like they were having a blast filming the video.  I'd love to do something like that!  That is sooo me!  Fun, fun, fun.

Good luck with the giveaway, and let me know if you enjoy the video. 

Is this crazy or what???

Our condo unit had a 'get-together' at the clubhouse this evening.  The condos used to be apartments back in the 80's, so they're freestanding units, four units to each building. 

I don't know many of the residents here.  I don't venture outside after I get home every day...I come inside, change into my pj's (if I'm lucky), sit down and start reading blogs, or do a little housework, then sit down and start reading blogs.  Gotta keep my priorities straight, ya'know?

So anyway, I didn't really know anybody at the get-together.  I’m just walking around speaking to this one and that one, trying to figure out where they lived and explaining to them where I lived.  One of the men I was talking to had super-duper white teeth.  So I made a comment about how white his teeth were, and he said he just had that whitened last week in Brazil.  My reply?  "Holy cow, what in the heck were you doing in Brazil?"  He said he was a pilot for XYZ Airline.  That was my opening to talk about what I did on Friday.  "I just went to a flight attendant open house Friday , but I didn't make it”.  His reply?  I wish I had known!!!  I could have given you a letter that would have put you three steps ahead of everybody else.  I told him I couldn't go back and apply again for six months, so we exchanged e-mail addresses and he's going to give me a letter the next time I apply.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.   He’s always been by my side.  And He’s done some awesome things for me.  Isn’t He wonderful?

Connecting Fabrics on clearance for $2.98 a yard

Sandi at Piecemeal Quilts has a post about a sale Connecting Threads is having.  Visit her blog and get all the facts! 

You'll be glad you did!!!!

Have I lost my mind? Part 2

Update to previous post about the flight attendant Open House I attended. 

Well, I didn't get selected.  But what an eye-opener this was!!!  I wasn't told why I wasn't selected.  But we were told if we were selected, we would be required to attend a 23-day class in Memphis, TN that starts on June 21st.  Your air travel to/from Memphis was provided.  Lodging and meals are NOT provided.  There were about 150 men/women at the Open House.  We had a brief overview/slides giving us information about the airline and the flight attendant duties, how the assignments were handled, and a brief overview of the company benefits.  All of that took about two hours.  We were given a break and told names would be posted of those who were selected to go through to the next session - those blasted interviews I was dreading so much.   I work for the government as a budget analyst.  Congress just sent us our money, and we're in high gear trying to get ceiling letters out and we're already gearing up for this fiscal year to close and the new fiscal year to open.  This is our busiest time of the year, and there will be very little leisure time until probably November.  So I'm sitting there very dejected knowing there is no way I'd be able to go to Memphis for 23 days.  That would have been my first hurdle.

I'm disappointed.  Yes.  I am.  The introduction they gave us was so interesting and informative.  Then part of the way through the overview, I realized it would be impossible for me to have this as a part-time job while still holding down my full-time job.  I had discussed all of this with my supervisor and he said we'd work around the schedule the airline would assign me.  Neither of us had a clue what that involved!  Not.a.clue.  Like I said, this was truly an eye-opener.

Oh....and during the question and answer session, someone asked if we were not selected today, could we come to the next Open House (which I understand is next month).  Their answer?  No, you have to wait six months before you could attend another Open House.  What???  No reason was given as to why.  But it didn't make much sense to me.  All in all, I guess the bottom line is - I'll need to wait until I'm retired to pursue this dream.  There is no way I could go through the training and the work assignment required.  I now have a new respect for flight attendants.  I never in my life realized they had to go through all this.  Especially for the amount of money they get paid.  It's definitely not a career choice they made to get rich.

Watch out world!!!  When I retire, I'm trying this again.  In the meantime?  I'm going to learn airport codes, and I'm going to try to come up with sample questions they could be asking during the interview.  And if you know anybody that can share flight attendant tips, please send them my way.  I especially need to know sample questions that may be asked during the face-to-face interview. 

Because I am going to be READY for my next Open House.   I want to be as prepared as I can be so if I am fortunate enough to make it to the face-to-face interviews, it'll be a piece of cake.  Mmm...and I love cake.  I think I'll go celebrate with some.  Because after all - this is a time to celebrate.  I overcame my fear and at least went to the Open House.  Yay me!!

Have I lost my mind???

I'm 58 years old.  I have a full-time job.

I wanted to be a stewardess when I was 20 years old (now they're called 'flight attendants').  My boyfriend (later my husband, now my ex-husband) said if I became a stewardess, he wouldn't date me any more.  So I didn't pursue my dream of becoming a stewardess.  Like yeah  -   love IS blind! 

 So why am I telling you that?  Well....because I've taken the day off work tomorrow.  I'm going to an Open House to be interviewed for a position as a flight attendant.   YIKES!!!!

I understand it's grueling.  Many, many questions dealing with thinking 'outside the box', how to handle situations, multi-task and handle customer problems.  And who knows what else?

My problem?  I'm not a good test-taker.  I freeze up when you put me in an interview situation.  I freeze up taking pen and paper tests.  I freeze up and many times wouldn't be able to tell you my own address.

But oh, I want this so bad.  And I don't even know if I have a chance at all.  From what I've read on-line (I haven't found a phone number to be able to talk to a real live person), if you make it through the interview and are selected, you then go through 21 days of intensive training.  Memorizing airport codes, announcements, etc.  So...does that mean they wouldn't hire a person that has a full-time job?  I wanted to start working part-time (my understanding is I can pick/choose my own flight days - but I could have been misled by someone about that), and then once I felt comfortable being a flight attendant and knew it was REALLY something I wanted to do for a long time, then I'd put in my retirement papers.   I'm not even sure if they'll hire me since I already have a full-time job.  I don't know that I'll be able to work the grueling hours/shifts they'll want me to work.  So I may be wasting their time.

I will admit I was a bit surprised when I found something about the starting pay for a flight attendant.  Believe me, I was totally surprised.  But I'm not pursuing this for the money.  I wanted this 38 years ago.  And I want it now.  It is a dream I never forgot.

I had told myself I wasn't going to share this on my blog.  But you know what?  That's one of the good things about having a blog.  I can throw my dreams out there to all of you, and you stand behind me. You're my extended family.  All 21 of you.  ~smile~

  So, if you would, please think of me tomorrow.  Send a few thoughts my way.  My family is supporting me in all of this, and I'm thinking if I am fortunate enough to be selected, this would give me the second career I've always wanted to have.  One that is "fun". 

Have I lost my mind????

I hope not.