"I am an American Soldier"

This time two weeks ago we had just landed in Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...

No, we didn't break into song but I was mighty happy to be there to see The Soldier graduate from boot camp. He has been gone since January with only weekly phone calls and a couple of letters from him to keep us up to date, we were looking forward to seeing him and his new "home".

Early Thursday morning we sat amongst other families anxiously awaiting our soldiers arrival and subsequent release. They were supposed to have a demonstration showing us what they learned during their time in boot camp but with Oklahoma weather being what it is, the frosty temperatures that morning prompted them to cancel that portion of Family Day. Luckily they were able to move inside so we could witness The Soldier's promotion.

After the short ceremony he was released to us until "twenty hundred" or 8 PM in civilian speak. And as I imagined the first thing he wanted to do was eat. His one request was "anything but chicken and rice".

The big event took place the next afternoon. Again we were surrounded by other families and as we made our way into the auditorium my heart swelled for every one of those soldiers. The program started with all 196 of them standing and saying The Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Even now I get chills remembering how they stood so proudly and said those words.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of camouflage and food, but I'll never forget that moment...

I am the mother of an American Soldier. And damn proud of it.

Southwestern Chicken Soup

Yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground. It only lasted long enough to have me craving comfort food. Something cooked low & slow in the crock pot. Something like this...

Southerwestern Chicken Soup

4 cups chicken broth (homemade from the freezer)
1 12 oz pkg frozen corn
2 10 oz cans of Rotel
1 15 oz can pinto beans
2 cups green peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1.5lb chicken sliced into thin strips
.5 tsp garlic pepper
2  tsp cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients except the garlic pepper & cumin in a 4 quart crock pot. Cook on high for 1 hour and then on low for 6-7 hours. Add garlic pepper and cumin during the last few minutes.

Note: This is an adapted version of a recipe I found in the newspaper.  The original version called for a 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes and a 4oz can of green chilies, but as you can see the recipe is extremely adaptable to whatever you have on hand. 

I served it with cheese quesadillas made with homemade tortillas. And though there wasn't one snow flake left on the ground by the time we ate, it was delicious & filling.

Have a shamrocking day!

Winning*

*Mike & Molly might just be the funniest show that no one is watching. And by "no one" I mean me.

*I had a sleepover with my 2 year old niece two weekends ago and will have my one this weekend with my 2 year old granddaughter. I'm calling it GNI = Girls Night In.

The cutest niece. Ever.

*In my absence I've been cooking up a storm. Recipes coming soon. You have been warned.

*Gas prices are pissing me off. Ugh.

*I don't really give a hoot about the royal wedding. Or The Bachelor. But I will be watching Dancing with the Stars because Wendy Williams is part of the new cast. How YOU doin'?

*Crest 3D White Vivid just might be the best toothpaste. Ever.

*Insurance companies suck. I don't want to take a generic version of my meds. Thankyouverymuch.

*The soldier threw live grenades last week. And loved it.

*Despite my title Charlie Sheen is so not winning. Although I think the warlock in his brain may be.

*The big three-five will be here tomorrow...

WW: A Hairy Situation

No hair

New hair

Neon hair

FTD = Fail to Deliver

How's that saying go...No good deed goes unpunished? Ah yes, that is it.

Last week Groupon was offering what seemed like a great deal - $20 for $40 at FTD.com. Although I could care less about receiving flowers on Valentine's Day I thought it would be a nice gesture to send The Soldier's girlfriend an arrangement since he's away at boot camp.

I should have seen the writing on the wall last week when I tried to place the order but I didn't. I went through all the steps to have my order delivered yesterday only to find that you HAD to go through the Groupon link in order to use the code they provided. Once I did that all my information was lost AND even worse all the prices were a bit higher.

Um, what?!

Read the details...cannot combine promotions, etc. Okay so I can't get the sale price because of the Groupon. Kinda seems like I didn't need it to begin with but I continue with the order. I re-enter all my information. Hit submit and received a confirmation.

I didn't give it another thought until yesterday evening. I was expecting the gf to be gushing about what a wonderful surprise she received from The Soldier. When that didn't happen I sent her a text. What delivery? she says.

What delivery indeed. The short version is that they were never delivered. FTD failed to deliver. And calling them was a complete, utter nightmare. It's apparent that the call center is based somewhere other than the US. After having to repeat myself numerous times to their so-called customer service rep, all I got was "Sorry. We will deliver tomorrow."

Yes but tomorrow isn't Valentine's Day. Duh.

I was on the phone for over an hour last night & another 45 minutes today (mostly spent on hold) to find out nothing. Also evident from what I was told both times is that these reps read from a script. They have no desire to really help the customers they speak with.

Somewhere along the way I asked for the local florists number and finally got this issue resolved. Not only did the florist give me a refund but they still sent the arrangement to The Soldier's girlfriend. (She just texted to say she got them!)

It's disappointing that a large establishment like FTD.com doesn't care enough about their customers to fulfill their end of a transaction and when a problem occurs, they do not care enough correct it.

On a brighter note when I called Groupon to express my frustrations my call was immediately answered by a nice man in Chicago. He didn't handle me like a number, but conversed with me like a customer. He may have said the same apologies as FTD but sometimes it's more about the delivery than the words.

Literally.

Army Strong

The Soldier left 3 weeks ago. He was in processing the first few days so we were able to text & talk to him just about every day but now that basic is under way we don't hear from him for a week at a time. If his squad does well during the week then they are granted phone time on Sundays.

We were just settling down after dinner wondering if he would call this week when the phone rang. His voice was a little scratchy but he sounded good.* As you can imagine we were full of questions. Unfortunately the weather caused some havoc with their training schedule so they haven't done much. He actually said that it was more like girl scouts than the Army.

I think that statement will come back to haunt him soon enough.**

The Soldier seems to be adjusting to Army life quite well. He uses words like "chow" and "MREs" (Meals Ready to Eat) and does his own laundry. Already he seems so grown up. And Army Strong.












*I sent him a box of cough drops yesterday. :)

**They are supposed to train for the gas chamber this week.