Basket cases

So I have been working on this project. It is a challenge from our church regarding servicing your community. Kind of like in the movie Robots when they say "See a need, fill a need". My plan? To give returning troops and their spouses a chance to reconnect. J was deployed in 2008 for four months. I was lucky in that he only went to Florida. I got to talk to him whenever I wanted and even saw him twice. This is not your typical deployment. Even with all the perks I got with J's unusual deployment I still felt awkward when we were together for the first few days. When he came home it took us almost two weeks to get back into some sort of groove. The one who has to stay behind learns to do both roles. The one who leaves has to be a soldier first and anything else last. These are things a military family knows and accepts.

But what if when you got home there was dinner and a movie waiting for you? Don't have a babysitter? Don't worry! The Base actually provides each family with a specific amount of hours of free child care. Not a lot of people know that. The gift baskets we are putting together has all the information about base provided programs, two free passes to the theater, and five different coupons to a local restaurant. There are also candles and some great smelling lotion, Maybe for Wife to relax before husband returns? Maybe for more of a couples activity? It is yours, use it however you want! We are working with the budget to maybe include a disposable camera. We will see how that goes. Sunday I am meeting with the team to assemble baskets for delivery in April.

My girls are GREAT! Bradford got so much information (like the childcare allowance) and swag (calenders, magnets, etc.) from the Airmen and Family Readiness. Her Grandfather is very ill and in the hospital so pray for him! Parker took care of donations, a few candles, and located spa quality lotion at a price that wouldn't break us. Shel has been my sounding board on a few items, not to mention how great she is to open her house to us so we can meet together! He husband is away on business right now leaving her with three kiddos that she home schools! And she still has time to pick up some shrink wrap. A round of applause for Shel, ladies and gentlemen. Sloan has been busy (like appearing on TV! How awesome was that?!) but still found the time to give out any ideas or time that she could. In the end it was not what they did but how they did it.

Anytime I emailed or called, and believe me I bugged the crap out of them, all four of them were cheerful and eager to help. I know that they had kids calling "Mommy", houses to clean, errands to run, husbands to talk to, but they never showed it. That meant more to me than all the shrink wrap in the world!