Ok...

So I haven't been great at posting much of anything here (already). I know. I get it. I'm a horrible person and deserve time out. I get it.

Life's been... messy lately.

I'm getting screwed over at work on a daily basis and there's not much I can do about it. I've been looking for a job with comparable pay but there's very little opportunity for employment out there right now. Being in the Detroit area, with all the layoffs from the Big Three, everyone's looking for work.

Myself included.

Let me back up by saying that I like my job - or rather, I like the work. I enjoy it. It's all the hoopla and bullshit that surround that I can't stand. I work for a local municipality, and while they'll all claim it doesn't, politics (or more appropriately, politicians) play into every decision made.

I'm tired of being told that there's no money to hire me full-time, officially, and give me the benefits (I need health insurance people!) that EVERYONE else is getting, while they expect me to still work full-time and let them screw me over.

But what to do? File a grievance with the union when no grievance we've EVER filed has gone our way? File a grievance and get shit on even more from management for making a fuss and taking it up the ass quietly like a good little employee?

My immediate supervisor told me today that he is quitting. He's gotten another job offer, accepted it, and gave his notice.

You have no idea how badly I wish I could follow him out that door.

I want to work, I like to work. I don't know how people can stand sitting around doing nothing all day. I guess I don't have the typical 'union mentality' that the laborers all say I should have. Maybe it's because I'm not a laborer. I'm clerical, and working my ass off for a city that doesn't think it's necessary to have even a single fulltime Building Dept clerk, DURING THE SUMMER. Height of construction season. I was ready to scream all less summer becuase it's an impossible task - having EVERY SINGLE THING cross my desk. A year ago, they had two full-time clerks in my department. Now, they won't even hire one.

But I'm not supposed to be angry or upset or feel cheated by this.

How do I want it to work out? Mid-June, our busiest time, on a Monday morning - our busiest day of the week - I'd like to just walk out.

Just leave.

No warning. No hints.

Just me. Gone.

But then again...I guess that doesn't make me different from anyone else.

In news shocking to no one...

How is he not dead yet?

What makes it all worth it...

I received an email today from soldier named Travis. There are times when we may go for two or three weeks, sometimes two or three months, without hearing from anyone and even though we know we're doing something good just be writing, it can be discouraging after awhile when you hear nothing from anyone.

Then somedays you open your inbox to see an unfamiliar name and the short message you see is enough to make you sit down and write a thousand more letters. The line was short, and it may not have even thought much of it, but it's the simplest words that sometimes get to us the most:

"It was truly emotional to recieve such a response from you."

He went on to talk more about himself, but that one little line gave me more motivation that anything else he could've said.

Thank you Travis.

Writing to our troops...

Join the Soldiers Angels Letter Writing Team
It will cost you nothing more than a 39 cent stamp. I have to dig out my folder, but eventually I'll be adding bits and pieces of letters I've received from soldiers. Nothing makes me want to write more than a little note saying 'thank you' sent from the Sandbox.

Operation Beef Jerky

Operation Beef Jerky has been enacted by the House of Jerky to raise $10,000 for the Soldier's Angels Foundation. For every pound of jerky purchased through the www.houseofjerky.net/SA fund site, House of Jerky will donate $10 to help the Soldiers' Angels Foundation continue to provide the love and support our armed forces desperately need.

Soldiers' Angels Foundation is a not for profit organization that is dedicated to ensuring that our military know they are loved and supported during and after their deployment into harms way. With the donations by House of Jerky, Soldiers Angels will be able to continue to provide aid and support not only to our military heros, but also their families. Projects like Blankets of Hope that provides homemade blankets given with love to wounded heroes and Armor Up hich provides Kevlar blankets for under supplied troops are examples of the many beneficial Soldiers Angels projects..

Join Operation Beef Jerky and help House of Jerky support our troops, purchase jerky for yourself, or purchase jerky for any soldier with free shipping to APO addresses. .House of Jerky, the best jerky in any house, is one of our troops most requested items. Go to www.houseofjerky.net/SA fund site today or call (812) 624-0186.

Deployed Family Support

We have a new team at Soldiers' Angels, geared toward helping the families of the deployed.
Soldiers' Angels"DEPLOYED FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP"

MISSION STATEMENT

Deployment is not only difficult on the soldiers; it is incredibly difficult on the soldier's families. It affects the whole family and friends of the family as well. Although many families have great support systems in place, there are too many families that are not as fortunate. We have identified a need to provide a network of assistance to those who do not know where to turn or who to turn to.Soldiers' Angels has created a project called "Deployed Family Support Group." This team will provide TLC to all family members; (i.e., wives, husbands, girlfriends/boyfriends, significant others, and/or friends) in need of encouragement and support. Support will be provided primarily through E-Mail and electronic communications. Taking care of family members who have been left behind by their deployed loved one is just one small way Soldiers' Angels demonstrates our gratitude for the sacrifices families are making, not only for us, but for future generations as well.

If you know a family member that you feel might benefit from the support of an angel from the "Deployed Family Support Group" please submit their name(s) to Renee Jurgensen at familysupport@soldiersangels.org or deployedfamilysupport@gmail.com .Or you can discuss “Deployed Family Support Group” first with family members, friends, or even our military heroes and have them contact Renee at threejarr@yahoo.com if they would like to sign up for the extra support and TLC that the Deployed Family Support Group provides

Give me a break...

Seriously?

Seriously?!?

I keep waiting for Ron White to jump out. "Drunk in PubLIC. No, I was drunk IN A BAR."

But what will it be?!?

What will it be? Who knows...

A place for me to rant endlessly about my oh-so-favorite shows and my oh-so-favorite things in life.

I'm a member of Soldiers Angels and that takes up a good portion of my thoughts these days. It's basically a program for 'adopting' deployed soldiers for the length of their deployment and showering them with the minimum of a note a week and one package of month. I signed up with the idea of adopting one, and am now up to four "officials". There's also different "teams" I'm a part of. LWT (Letter Writing Team- one to write to soldiers you haven't officially adopted, TLC - those that need some extra care, Cards Plus - filling requests for cards/letters for special occassions, Blankets of Hope - providing blankets and backpacks for wounded soldiers, and the E-Squad, providing support via email to our deployed troops.)

It's not about politics or the war or whether or not I agree with it. If I had my way I'd want them all home curling up next to their loved ones and kissing their kids goodnight as they tucked them in bed. But that's not a reality today and while I may disagree with their reasons for being there, they do not have a choice. They signed up knowing the possibilities, and it's heartbreaking to read messages from these guys and girls saying that they're not sure what to expect when they come home - if people are going to hate them or accept them. How sad is that? Most of these kids are younger than I am and have more courage than most people I've met.

But that's enough of that.

I love my soldier adoptees and nothing I've done in my life has felt nearly as rewarding as being part of Soldiers Angels. There's an indescribable feeling to get a note from a stranger thousands of miles from home, thanking me for thanking them. And until you're a part of it, you won't know how that feels. So if you have it in your heart, we could always use more Angels. If you want more info, let me know. I'd be glad to ramble some more about it.

Now I'm off to find a prettier layout...

The first...

So I'm jumping on board with everyone that already has a blog. Er, jumping back on as I had a little space somewhere before for quite a few years that I called my own. I don't really know why I stopped blogging then. I really have no reason, but I needed a break from it all I think. So I'm back. A new place, a new me, a new name. Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy in 'real' life? Just start over where no one knows you, no preconceived notions, no reputations, no...anything.

But I'm here now. And I'm not exciting, trust me on that. I'm just an average girl going through a quarter-life crisis, not sure where I stand or where I want to go. But I'm here.

Right now that's good enough for me.