Newsletter October 2007

Blips Microphone AWTR Blip blip blips

Month in Review

؟ Resources of the week

...brought to you by FieldProblems^TM

USAA Career Center, http://www.usaa.apply2jobs.com/

Paper Hug Kit, books and cards, http://www.apaperhug.com

Holiday Gift Delivery System (HGDS), http://www.camosock.com

--mention Army Wife Talk Radio for a special discount, $19 each

Ranger Coffee, http://www.rangercoffee.com

Up and Coming

؟ Show schedule (for specific topics, read Tara's intro, but here is the line-up of our AWTR segments. Think about them and call during a live show!

December 3: Post With the Most (activities in your area)

December 10: HH6 (Household 6, tips and tricks for your life)

December 17: Mess Hall (recipes to share and try)

December 24: AWTR Book Club (pre-recorded)

December 31: Post With the Most (pre-recorded)

؟ This month, tell National Military Family Association all about yourself, the military spouse. Each week a winner is drawn for a $500.00 prize.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=h5foRuyAsFeumaE3fRIz4Q_3d_3d

؟ December 24/31 pre-recorded shows, Best of AWTR

WebWatcher

؟ Would you like to support a family in need. Try ordering a Commissary Certificate for "Giving the Gift of Groceries." There are four ways to assist or you can support the troops by donating to one of five non-profits.

http://www.commissaries.com/certificheck/index.cfm

؟ http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com, Make moving a breeze

"I have so much admiration for families who are required to move often--and do it with such ease. Harold and I have moved only three times since we were married in 1970. And just in case we ever move again, you can be sure I'll keep [this] great reader tip handy." --Mary Hunt

Moving Box Labels: When you are preparing to move and packing your boxes, buy a pack of colored permanent markers, assign one marker color to each room and label the boxes with the appropriate marker. This makes unloading the truck into the proper rooms a breeze! reader, Elaine G., North Carolina

؟ Military ornaments, mailable/recordable Christmas tree and more

http://www.christmaspeople.com, search "Our Heroes Christmas"

؟ Beneficiary Web Enrollment for Tricare Prime Programs

http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/bwe/ or 1-800-477-8227 for questions

December 2007

"Go To" Guide

Blips

Ever Lasting!

Make Your Soldier's Spirits Bright

Mess Hall

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www.ArmyWifeTalkRadio.com

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AWTR's Book Club hosted by Heather N.

DEC: Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul

Make Your Soldier's Spirits Bright

...originally posted at Military.com

Tara Crooks | November 21, 2007

Do you have a deployed soldier on your Christmas list? There won’t be a “ho-hum” holiday for your soldier with these great holiday care package ideas. I’ve captured the spirit of the season through items that relate to the sights, sounds, smells, and the tastes of the holidays. Add your own touches for a sure fire way to make your soldier’s spirit bright!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
Santa hat
Stuffed reindeer
Christmas movie
Kid’s craft — paper snowflakes
Fake snow
Fake tree
Lights
Handmade ornaments
String popcorn and cranberries
Tiny wrapped packages (use gum, mints, or small items to go under the tree)
Advent calendar
Picture book (include pictures from past holiday gatherings)
Small wrapped items to the theme of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”
A box of Christmas Cards stamped and addressed to the soldier’s family
Mistletoe

Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling…
CD of you (and your children) singing Christmas carols
CD of Christmas music
Jingle bells

Jack Frost nipping at your nose…
Holiday scented candle (pine, cinnamon, baking)
Holiday scented oil
Pine cones (scented)

Now bring us some figgy pudding…
Fresh baked cookies
Eggnog
SPAM (Christmas “ham”)
Sausage and cheese
Holiday RITZ crackers
Mixed nuts (in shell) with a nut cracker

I’ll be home....if only in my dreams...
Even though your soldier is far from home and needs pampering, you and your children need something to feel connected to him or her too. Craft a tradition for your family: buy an ornament each year, write a letter to Santa Clause, hang a special stocking, or read a special story and make sure you do it regardless of anyone’s location. Make every effort to share this tradition across the miles by video-taping, calling, or even having your soldier available via webcam to participate.

Here comes Santa Claus …
Keep in mind special ways to create the perfect “Holiday Gift Delivery System or HGDS,” as Bob Gilead from www.CamoSock.com calls it. Stop by his site and pick up a perfect HGDS in the shape of a stocking made from the fabric of your soldier’s service branch. Be creative and find interesting things online such as a Christmas tree in a tube (search eBay they’re easy to find). Most of all have fun, get the entire family involved, and put your heart into it. Tis’ the season, but to your soldier you’re the reason any gift is special.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
© Tara Crooks

Ever Lasting!

by Sheryl Kurland

Peace On Earth...And In Your Home Too!

The holiday season is notoriously the most stressful time of year on marriages. In fact, historically, January is the month with the highest rate of divorce filings. This is not to say that marriages completely fall to shambles during the holidays, but the season often illuminates and heightens problems that have been building for years. Come January, people say “I’ve had all I can take.” The following 6 tips will help take the edge off relationship tensions during the holiday season:

Love the one you’re with. Everyone looks wonderful and they’re so happy at holiday get-togethers. These observations can magnify the challenges, problems and issues the two of you are dealing with on the home-front. Are you missing something? Don’t be fooled by the razzmatazz. 99% of the time, what you have is the best of all! Don’t wallow. Instead, turn your energy spent in doubt into energy devoted to re-energizing the love between you and your mate.

During holiday parties, people tend to brag a lot about their gains – gains in their garage, gains in their wallet, children’s trophies, frequent flyer points, and on and on and on! With the realization that your list is a lot shorter, you may inquisitively look into each other’s eyes and ask: What are we doing wrong? The answer: Absolutely nothing. Whether your accomplishments for 2007 equal 1 or 100, give yourselves a pat on the back.
At holiday shin-digs and family feasts, never, ever, miss a good chance to shut up. Every comment doesn’t need a retort. Every issue doesn’t need another opinion. Speak up when it’s important, and keep your lips zipped when it isn’t. What you don’t say is often as important as what you do say.

Hug and squeeze, aim to please. The holiday pace is frenetic and it’s easy to lose each other in the shuffle. In the midst of the chaos, don’t forget to nurture your relationship. Discipline yourselves to block out time for each other, just as you do for everyone else! Actions can be as low key as sharing a hug for no particular reason, calling or instant messaging to simply say “I’m thinking about you,” or taking a 15 minute after-dinner walk together.

Start a tradition. You likely already have some family traditions in place. Initiate one solely for the two of you.

Bundled together, here are a few more time-tested tips: Repel little mishaps and misunderstandings with laughter; sprinkle compliments throughout the day; and concentrate on the things you can change and don’t try to fix things you can’t.

If you and your loved one are separated this holiday season due to deployment, be a little creative to adapt these tips to your circumstances.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season and happy, healthy 2008!

Sheryl Kurland is author of the elegant coffee-table book Everlasting Matrimony: Pearls Of Wisdom From Couples Married 50 Years Or More. 75 couples, "real-life" relationship experts, reveal the keys to a loving, lasting and fulfilling relationship. SIGN UP FOR A FREE, WEEKLY EMAIL, "TIME-TESTED RELATIONSHIP TIPS," FROM COUPLES MARRIED 50-PLUS YEARS AT EverlastingMatrimony.com.

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Mess Hall Duo

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Fig and Cream Cheese Bars

http://www.myrecipes.com

preheat oven to 350^o

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar 3 T fresh lemon juice

1/2 t. salt 3/4 cup cream cheese

6 T. chilled butter 1 t. vanilla extract

Cooking spray 1 large egg

2 cups dried figs 2 t. powdered sugar

1 cup water

Fig and Cream Cheese Bars

con'd

* Combine flour, brown sugar and salt. Stir with whisk.

* Cut in butter with blender.

* Press mixture firmly into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish

coated with cooking spray.

* Combine figs, water and 1/4 cup white sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook until figs are tender and sugar is dissolved (5 min.)

* Cool slightly. Blend fig mix and juice until smooth.

* Gently spread fix mixture over prepared crust.

* Mix remaining 1/4 cup white sugar, cheese, vanilla and egg until smooth.

* Pour over fix mix; spread to edges.

* Bake for 30 minutes.

* Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.